The Saddest Song (17 page)

“Hurry and give this poor baby a name, Soph,” Rylee said.

Sophie looked at Ethan. “What do you think we should call her?”

“That’s up to you, babe.” He kissed her and bent down to pet the dog.

“I want to give her a perfect name. Kara, just tell me what you see me calling her.”

“You will come up with it, don’t worry,” Kara said confidently.

“Just give me a hint, Kara. I want to name her right now.” We all looked at Kara.

“Alright, a hint. But you do know this is cheating, right?” Sophie nodded and smiled.

“Okay, you are going to name her something from your favorite movie.”

“Twilight? She doesn’t look like a Bella. Besides there are a million little girls with the name Bella.”

“Wrong movie. This is the one you and your mom love.”

“Oh! The Sound of Music!” Sophie laughed, “Okay, Liesel, Marta, Brigietta, and Gretel. Gretel! That’s it! It’s perfect!”

“Here, Gretel,” Rylee called, and the dog licked her.

Rainey hadn’t said anything throughout this exchange but she had a happy smile on her face. I leaned down and whispered, “Did you have fun today?”

Her eyes sparkled as she answered, “It was so much fun. So many dogs found homes. There were so many sweet ones. I am going to ask my parents to adopt one.”

“I would love to have your help at the Shelter when you have time, Rainey,” Kara said.

“I should have a lot of time over my Christmas break, if you need me. Max, you should come too. You would love it.”

That was the only encouragement I needed. “I’d like that,” I said.

“Well that’s settled then! I will see you two in a couple weeks!” Kara hugged us all again and she was off. Rainey’s smile stayed put the rest of the day making me actually like the fact I had just offered to volunteer my Christmas break away.

Chapter 21

Rainey

Monday afternoon I had a dentist appointment, so my mom picked me up at lunch and we went to grab a salad before I had to be there. It had been forever since the two of us had been out to lunch together. Before Garrett died we had gone often. So much was different now. By the time I got done with my check up school was out, so I asked mom if she would drop me off at Max’s.

Mrs. McKinley was on the porch when we pulled up, her arms full of Christmas lights, a step ladder beside her. My mom got out to say hello and ended up helping her arrange them around the front door. They seemed to have it under control so I left them to it and let myself in.

Max wasn’t hard to locate. Guitar chords floated down from his room and I headed up the stairs. I recognized the song. It was the one he still hadn’t put words to. The one called The Saddest Song. His eyes were closed as he played, and I stood in the doorway letting the haunting tune surround me. It was beautiful, and so was he, if you could call a guy beautiful. I watched the way his long fingers strummed the guitar and waited for the song to end before I made my presence known. He made it to the end and his eyes opened, his face showing I had surprised him.

“Hey, how long have you been there?”

“Just got here. That was amazing.”

“Thanks, I think I finally perfected it. How was the dentist?”

I gave him an exaggerated smile, showing off my pearly whites. “No cavities and a new toothbrush. Could be worse.”

He grinned, and laid the guitar carefully in the case. Time to study. We had finals next week and then Christmas break could begin. Although I’d rather stand here and listen to him play, I plopped down on his couch and unzipped my backpack. How much studying we got done was debatable. Just when I became absorbed in my Lit book Max would think of something he needed to tell me. It went on that way, each of us interrupting the other multiple times until it was time to pack it up. Neither of us minded. Our grades were solid. We were seniors. There was no pressure.

“So have you written lyrics for that song yet,” I asked as we packed up our books. I needed to head home and help my mom with dinner.

“Not yet. I have no idea what they will be. I have to wait. Someday it will just come to me.”

“Your creative process can’t be rushed, is that what you’re telling me?”

“Yeah, something like that. Kind of works like your friend Kara’s psychic stuff. It just pops into my head.”

“Well, I look forward to it. I have a feeling it’s going to be my favorite song.”

“Is that so?” He laughed. “Then I will make sure you are the first person who gets to hear it.”

Max

Finals week was a breeze. I don’t know if it was because school wasn’t a huge priority to

me right now or just that senior classes were easier, but both Rainey and I studied half heartedly and felt super confident about our scores. Maybe it was the Christmas season, but life was feeling pretty good. We missed Garrett, of course. There wasn’t a day we didn’t miss him, think of him, or talk about him. It was just that we were now used to missing him. It had become part of our reality, part of who we were and always would be. I considered it a manageable condition like asthma, it sucked, but it wasn’t going to kill me. I had no choice but to learn to live with it.

Rainey and I started helping Kara with street fairs the weekend our Christmas break began. There was one both Saturday and Sunday. The goal was No Dog Left Behind and it was an eye opening experience. I guess I kind of thought that rescue dogs would be damaged somehow and that couldn’t have been further from the truth. The dogs were all different mixes of breeds, many of them purebreds, and they were awesome. I could have taken any of them but I fell in love with a three year old pitbull named Maggie. She was missing parts of her ears and was scarred from being used as bait in dog fights and yet the horror of her life hadn’t changed her disposition. She was friendly and trusting and loved everyone. I told Rainey that if she wasn’t chosen for adoption over the weekend I would ask Kara if I could bring her home so my parents would be able to meet her. Turns out I didn’t have to do that because bright and early Sunday morning they were some of our first customers. My parents liked them all, but I had told mom about Maggie so I could see that she made a special effort to spend time with her. Dad had been the reason we had never had a dog growing up, he had grown up without pets and thought they would be too much trouble. Now I heard him talking to Kara about how great it would be to have a dog to run with and take to the beach. When they left with Maggie I looked at Rainey in disbelief.

“Looks like somebody has a new best friend,” Rainey smiled, her arms full of two squirming black puppies.

“Yeah, I can’t believe mom talked dad into coming to see her, much less left with her.”

“She is such a love, how could they resist?”

I nodded, but still felt like aliens had taken over my parents. Garrett would be tripping out if he was watching. He had begged for a dog all our lives. Neither of us thought this day would ever come.

“She will bring so much happiness to your parents, Max. Garrett will be happy for them.” Rainey turned to show the puppies to a family with three little kids and I marveled how she had read my thoughts.

“You don’t have to be psychic to know when something is meant to be, Max.” Kara winked at me, and I laughed.

Chapter 22

Rainey

“Merry Christmas!!” two sets of parents shouted as Max and I opened matching red and green envelopes.

“Disneyland Passes?” We said in unison. We looked at each other and laughed. We were at Max’s house for Christmas Eve dinner and our parents said they had an early gift for us.

“We thought we would all go tomorrow for Christmas!” Max’s mom said, and I looked at my mom smiling beside her.

“This is a tough Christmas for all of us, so we thought we would start a new tradition!” My dad said, standing next to Max’s dad. We couldn’t help but act happy, and we were, I guess. Disneyland was awesome and I hadn’t been in quite a while but I couldn’t believe they all wanted to go on Christmas day.

“We bought you the year round passes so you could go with your friends anytime you like. I heard Rylee saying that they all go quite a bit,” Mom said. This was true, they went a lot. Max and I had planned to join them eventually. It was a great gift. It touched me that they all were so excited to give them to us, and to spend their holiday there. Especially my mom and dad, they had been wonderful helping all of us through the holidays. It was like we were all one big family. Losing Garrett had brought everyone closer together.

“I wish Grandma hadn’t gone to Aunt Alison’s, she is always saying she wants to go to Disneyland,” I said to Max.

“We can take her when she gets back if you want. We can go anytime now,” he smiled and walked over to pick up the guitar he had left on the couch. He began to play Santa Claus is coming to town and soon everyone was singing along. Luckily, everyone except me could keep a tune.

We had a really nice evening and everyone was sorry to see it end. We needed to get to bed early if we were going to get an early start in the morning. Max helped me on with my jacket and innocently pointed at something above my head. Looking up at the Mistletoe hanging there, Max kissed me quickly but firmly, taking me by surprise. It was a simple peck, so I felt funny when my heart sped up and I felt myself blush. It didn’t help that he just stood there enjoying my discomfort.

“Ready?”

“Huh?” I asked.

“To go home? Your mom and dad are waiting,” he said, grinning at me and pointing to the driveway.

“OH! Yeah, of course. See you in the morning,” I said, hurrying out the door.

Max followed, opening the car door for me. Leaning in he whispered, “Merry Christmas, Rainey.” The door closed before I could say it back.

The happiest place on earth proved to be a pretty popular place to spend Christmas Day. Everything was decorated super cute and both Max’s mom and mine went crazy for every detail. My dad had received a new camera and made quick work of documenting every moment, while Max’s dad made sure we sampled food from every stand in every land. Max and I took control of the rides and we made sure we all rode every single one.

After lunch, Max and I split up from the parents and went off to re-ride a few rides before we met back up with them for the parade.

“I don’t know about you but I could use a couple hours alone. My dad and his camera were starting to get on my nerves,” I said.

“Yeah, I’m afraid that he’s going to be bummed when he sees all of the pictures that you ruined with your scowls.”

“Max! I don’t scowl!” I said, scowling.

Max laughed.

“I don’t!” I insisted, hoping that I hadn’t. My cheeks hurt from smiling every time he said, “say Mickey!” Wasn’t that proof that he had gotten some good shots?

“Come on Grumpy, let’s go ride Splash Mountain.” He took my hand and pulled me past the Haunted Mansion.

“Very funny,” I said, making a face at him. “I think this was a good idea, don’t you?”

“Splash Mountain is always a good idea,” he smiled at me.

“No, being at Disneyland today. I think it was good for all of us.”

“Mom and dad needed this even more than we did. It has helped keep their minds off of Garrett.”

I liked how Max and I could talk about Garrett and it felt natural. Neither of us flinched in pain any longer at the mention of his name.

We ended the day tired and happy, listening to our parents talk about how much fun they’d had. I leaned my head on Max’s shoulder and fell asleep on the long drive home.

Max

Rainey and I skipped the after Christmas sales and spent the day bathing dogs at Kara’s rescue. I think we were both kind of surprised by how much we enjoyed helping out at the rescue. My parents were already in love with Maggie and whatever horrible abuse she had suffered in the past would hopefully be forgotten in her new life as a pitbull princess. She had dozens of toys, a comfy bed in every room of the house and a run with dad every morning. Kara was busy with eight puppies that had been born on Christmas Eve. She thanked us repeatedly for our help and we offered to come in as many days as she needed us up until we had to leave on New Year’s Eve.

“So, you two are spending New Years Eve up in the mountains, huh?” She asked

casually, as she returned the puppies to their mom. Kara never asked anything, casually.

Rainey had taken two Chihuahuas out for a short walk.

“We are,” I said, waiting.

“You making any resolutions for the new year?”

“I don’t know, should I be?”

“Well, I think everyone should begin a new year with positivity, patience and a faith that what is meant to be will find a way to be. That old saying, “good things are worth the wait” is priceless.”

“Hmm;” I mumbled, as I put the lid back on the dog shampoo and wiped down the sink. I knew she was trying to tell me something but I didn’t think it was anything to worry about. Not then, anyway. All I felt was a happy anticipation for the trip back up to the mountain.

Chapter 23

Rainey

New Years Eve was sunny and warm in San Diego. The forecast for the mountains was cloudy and cold, no snow expected. This made for a nice drive. We had rain earlier in the week which meant there would be snow on the ground up there. On the ground, but not on the roads, made for perfect conditions.