Something Old, Something New (22 page)

“You and Leo okay?”

Marie shrugged. “Not sure, but if it ends tomorrow, I can say I've been to Paris and Bermuda. New York City. Not bad for a sixtysomething country girl. He's been in Pittsburgh for the past week or so at company headquarters. He wasn't sure when he'd be back.”

Lily's lips thinned. Once again it was difficult to tell how Marie was really feeling, but she decided not to ask anything else.

O
n the evening that Trent picked to start his flute courting, it snowed. Hard. Coat on, he stood in the doorway watching the white stuff come down in blinding blowing sheets.

“You aren't really going to go over there, are you?” Amari asked from behind him.

“No. She'd never hear me over the wind, and I'd probably freeze to death.” He closed the door.

“Why don't you just play for her in her kitchen? Does it have to be outside?”

“Supposedly.” Suddenly, Zoey's assessment of the fence-painting tradition came to mind. This tradition needed to get a clue, too. It was November. He doubted any brave would be out playing the flute in such terrible weather.

He pulled out his phone and called Lily to let her know he was coming over for a few minutes.

On his way out the door, he heard Amari yell, “Good luck!”

W
hen he entered, she gave him a kiss and took his coat. He stepped out of his hikers and left them on the mat by the door. Wearing his socks, he followed her into the kitchen. “Where's Devon?”

“Upstairs, taking his shower. What brings you over besides wanting to see a good-looking woman?”

“This,” and he took the flute out of its case and played a few notes.

“Why don't I know that you play the flute?”

He played a few more soft trills. “I'd quit by the time you moved to town.”

“You came over to give me a concert?”

“No, to court you.”

“Court me?” she asked.

He could see the confusion in her face. “Yes, darlin'. Court you. It's part of the wedding tradition.”

She had her hand over her mouth now, and he thought she might be starting to cry. For once he didn't mind her tears, because these weren't from pain or sadness. “Have a seat.”

When she complied, he began.

Lily had no idea he could play so beautifully. From the first note, she was enthralled. The skill, the tone, the intense look in his eyes as his fingers moved skillfully over the keys, left her breathless.

“I'm going to play for you just like this on our wedding night,” he promised, and Lily went weak in her chair. He set his lips against the instrument again, and she wondered how many women could claim to have been seduced at their kitchen table by a man playing a flute. She was glad Devon was upstairs.

Trent continued playing long enough for her to wish he'd go on forever. He played songs that were familiar love songs from the likes of Stevie, Luther, and Teddy, interspersed with classical choices that he must have learned in school, but it was the free-form improvised tunes that she felt the most. They rose and fell, soared, flirted, and teased. And when he was done, the notes slowed and faded into the silence.

The air in the room was electric.

“Next time you play for me, we need to be in the house alone.”

Eyes shining, he said, “After the wedding you got it. Right now, I'm on the celibate diet, remember, but I'll come and play for you every evening until the night before the wedding.”

“Thank you for the great music.”

“Anytime.”

Neither wanted to move. The music had touched them both.

He stood. “I need to get going so Amari can head to bed.”

She walked him to the door and waited for him to put on his boots and coat before opening the door. “See you in the morning.”

He gave her a kiss and held her close. “Living in separate houses is about to kill me.”

“Me, too.”

He placed a solemn kiss on her head and stepped out into the snow.

Lily leaned back against the closed door and sighed with contentment.

Chapter 21

T
hanksgiving was a little over a week away, and the town geared up for the double treat of a holiday and a wedding. Trucks arrived at the Dog filled with the meat and other items Rocky had ordered for the meals. The kiva was being readied for the ceremony. Bing and Cliff used tractors to clear the snow from the field where the football game would be played and then covered it with tarps so it wouldn't have to be cleared again if it snowed.

The kids were on break and spent most of their free time helping out wherever the adults needed them. Trent continued to serenade his fair maiden every evening, and Lily tried not to make herself crazy wondering whether her son would show up for the wedding or not.

The answer came the next day. He called to let her know he was in town and coming in the door of the Power Plant. Ecstatic, she stuck her head in Trent's office. “Davis is here!”

She ran off to meet him, leaving Trent to follow or not.

Lily's mood changed as she saw the tall, well-dressed woman walking beside her son, but Davis's familiar smile reignited her happiness. He gave her a big hug. “Hey, Mom.”

She squeezed him tight. “Oh, baby. I'm so glad to see you.”

When she finally let him go, she extended her hand to the woman with him. “Hi, I'm Lily Fontaine. Welcome to Henry Adams.”

“Jessica Harris. Pleased to meet you as well.”

By Lily's estimation, Ms. Harris was a good ten years older than Davis and had on a suit that gave off the air of an executive. Lily wondered what she did for a living but held on to the question when Trent and Bernadine joined them. Lily did the introductions.

Davis shook Trent's hand firmly. “Pleased to see you again, Mr. July.”

“Same here, but please call me Trent.”

“Thanks.”

Once the formalities were over, Jessica intoned, “I'm starving. Is there a restaurant here somewhere, preferably Italian?”

Lily saw Bernadine raise an eyebrow.

“No Italian,” Lily told her. “Just a small-town diner, sorry.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

Davis's tightly set jaw told Lily a lot. The coolness in his gaze on Jessica told her even more.

Trent asked, “How about I drive? Lunch's on me.”

“I have some work I want to finish,” Bernadine replied, giving Jessica another once-over. “I'll see you all later.”

Lily went back to her office to grab her coat and muttered to herself, “This is going to be a long visit.”

Or maybe even longer, she decided after the ride to the Dog, which Jessica spent complaining about the flight and the woman who'd been sitting beside her. She complained about the weather and how cold the day was, and that she hated snow. Then they even had to listen to her gripe about getting mud on her expensive brown boots during the walk across the parking lot.

Trent held the door open so Davis and Jessica could enter first. When Lily moved past him, they shared a speaking look before he followed them inside.

Crystal was their waitress, and she stood patiently waiting to take orders while Jessica studied the menu with a disdainful eye. “I've never been in a restaurant that didn't serve chicken cordon bleu.”

“Welcome to Henry Adams,” Crystal replied, rolling her eyes. While she waited for Jessica to decide, Crys went ahead and took everyone else's orders. She turned her attention back to Jessica. “Are you ready?”

Jessica sighed with what sounded like resignation and ordered a burger and fries. Crys thanked her and departed.

The silence in the booth was awkward. Lily wanted to know more about this woman, but was afraid to ask anything for fear of what she might start complaining about.

Davis must have sensed her thoughts. “Jessica is in real estate, Mom. In fact, she was the person who sold me my condo.”

“So that's how you two met. I was wondering.”

“And since he knew nothing about decorating, I handled that as well.”

“I see.” Lily wondered if she was making sure he cleaned his plate, too, but kept that to herself.

Trent asked Davis, “You play any ball? There's going to be a football game before the wedding, and we could use a good player.”

“I'm more of a track man, but I played a little wide receiver at Rutgers.”

While they talked, Lily used the moment to study Jessica more closely. She wasn't bad looking. Lily checked out the gold hoops in her ears and the bracelets and rings. Everything looked expensive. From the way she'd been acting, it was obvious she was accustomed to being in charge, which made Lily wonder again why Davis was letting this woman be in charge of him. And what in the world was Jessica doing with someone so young?

Reverend Paula walked into the Dog. Lily waved her over and invited her to sit with them. Jessica was rude, condescending, and turning out to be a real pain in the butt. Lily hoped having Paula's Christian presence at the table would help Jessica be more charitable.

Crystal returned with their orders and set everyone's food down. After handing out straws for the soft drinks, she turned to leave.

“Excuse me, young lady.”

Crystal sighed and directed her attention at Jessica. “Yes, ma'am.”

To Lily's displeasure, Jessica sent her food back to the kitchen three times; the burger wasn't cooked properly, the fries were too greasy, the bun didn't taste fresh. As it went on and on, and poor Crystal was run to death trying to satisfy the demands, even Paula shot Jessica a few testy glances. Lily looked over at Trent, who pretended to be concentrating on his food, but she could tell he wasn't happy with the woman's self-important act, either. Davis's jaws were so tight, Lily wondered how he was even managing to eat.

The Dog was packed with the lunch crowd. The waitstaff was hustling. The jukebox was jumping to Fontella Bass singing “Rescue Me,” a title Lily found highly ironic, when the music went dead. Everybody looked up to see what the problem might be, and there stood Tamar in the middle of the room. She didn't appear pleased.

In the midst of the silence, Mal came out of the back. “Why'd you turn off the box?”

“Listen.”

“To what?”

“Listen!”

Mal cocked his head as if using his ears to search the air; then, as if finally hearing whatever it was she was referencing, he immediately went still. Lily could see that Trent had stopped eating and appeared to be listening as well, and then he smiled knowingly.

“What is it?” Lily asked.

“Drums. Can you hear them? You might not be able to, because it sounds like they're still miles away.”

Lily listened hard but didn't hear a thing. Paula, either.

“Listen for the rhythms,” he told them.

Davis's face lit up. “I hear it.”

Suddenly, Lily did, too. She had to listen hard, but there it was again, like the faint boom of thunder from a far-off storm, the cadence too even for it be a natural occurrence.

Soon everyone in the diner had picked up on the sound, and a buzz began. Lily noticed that some of the older locals like Bing and his friends hastily paid their bills and departed.

Mal called out, “Trent, take those flags and pictures off the wall over by you.”

The colorful flags encased in glass frames had been designed by Crystal for the August First parade. The pictures were of various subjects. One in particular was of the old Dog and Cow, with its hole-filled roof and duct-taped booths. Lily wondered why Mal wanted them taken down.

“So they won't be broken,” Trent explained, handing them down to her and the others in their booth.

“By what?” Paula asked.

“The Oklahoma Julys. Those drums you hear are theirs. They'll be here shortly.”

Lily and Paula shared a surprised look. Under Mal's orders the waitstaff collected all empty glasses from the diners and took them into the kitchen. Tables were moved to open up the center of the room. Tamar had taken a seat at the booth vacated earlier by Bing and sat as unmoving as the Sphinx.

Meanwhile, the sounds of the drums seemed closer. Lily could hear what sounded like voices accompanying the unceasing but ominous-sounding beat, though they were still some distance away.

Jessica said, “Davis, I insist you get me out of here.”

He ignored her for the moment as he asked Trent, “How many do you think there are?”

“Uncle Thad had nine kids, so anywhere from a dozen to thirty—who knows?”

“It sounds like hundreds,” Paula said, and Lily agreed.

“During the wars, that's what it sounded like to the enemy. They'd hear the thunder getting louder and louder and closer and closer and be scared big-time, not knowing how many braves they'd be facing. The Julys come in this way because it's tradition and fun for them.”

“It's sorta like waiting for Godzilla,” Davis said, smiling while looking out the window like an eager kid hoping to catch sight of Santa.

Trent laughed. “Pretty much, but they're mostly harmless.”

Lily noted the word
mostly
. Apparently Jessica had, too, because she'd tensed like she wanted to get up and run.

Ten minutes later the drums were so close, Lily swore the walls of the Dog were vibrating in sync with the noise. Suddenly they were inside, entering en masse and filling the air with their drumming and chanting as they slowly danced their way around the room, bent at the waist and doing a stomp step that shook the tables. This was her first look at Trent's relatives, and they were a sight to see. Most were wearing shirts and jeans, but some were shirtless and wore traditional vests that appeared to be made of embellished leather. Some were carrying long clublike sticks decorated with paint, bells, and feathers, which they beat against the tabletops in time with the drums. There seemed to be waves of them, so many in fact that the center of the room was filled with chanting, dancing men. The sound was deafening. It was the wildest and craziest thing Lily had ever witnessed. Davis was grinning, but Jessica had shrunk back against the booth as if the sight of the men snaking their way in a line to the beat of the drums was terrifying.

Mal was yelling for them to stop bashing his tables, but they ignored him and kept up the beat. The singers were in full voice, chanting in a foreign-sounding language while Mal continued to yell. Crystal was caught in the aisle near their booth. Lily saw her being smiled at by some of the younger members dancing by. One July with the face of a brown-skinned god and a body encased in worn black leather grabbed her around the waist, dipped her, and asked with a grin, “You old enough to be kissed?”

Crystal's eyes popped, and she grinned. “Yeah.”

Trent grabbed him by his leather collar. “Don't make me shoot you, Diego. Back off.”

Diego smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, cousin, but she's gorgeous.”

Trent let him go. Diego gave the wide-eyed Crystal a wink before dancing away to rejoin his relatives.

Mal was still yelling.

Tamar apparently had had enough. Raising a shotgun that made Lily's eyes go wide, she aimed it above her head and fired. The loud blast took out one of the lights and a portion of the ceiling. Then all the electricity died.

She'd been right about shotguns getting their attention. One moment there'd been pandemonium, but now you could hear a pin drop.

In the silence, Mal looked up at the damage and whined, “Dammit, Tamar!”

“I'll pay for the damage.” She stared balefully around at the momentarily cowed but smiling members of her brother's clan. “Where's Thad?”

“Right behind you, Tammy.”

He was in a wheelchair pushed by one of the most gorgeous men Lily had ever had the good fortune to see. He, too, was all in leather, and the black hair flowing down his back rippled like a stream.

Paula asked in an awed voice, “Who is that behind his chair?”

“My cousin Griffin, and thank God he's here.”

“Why?”

“He's the only one who may be able to keep these knuckleheads in line.” What Trent didn't say aloud was that Griffin might possibly be Amari's biological father, too. It was the only reason he could come up with to account for the presence of the Lakota men sprinkled in with the crowd of Julys. Their only connection to Trent's family was through Griffin. His mother, Judith, was Lakota, but his late father, Neil, had been Uncle Thad's youngest son. Were the Lakota there to help Griffin welcome Amari into the clan?

Trent's thoughts were broken by Davis saying, “The knuckleheads certainly know how to make an entrance.”

“I agree,” Lily said, watching them. Many of them were talking to the now-smiling Mal. Others raised hands of greeting to Trent before taking seats at some of the unoccupied tables and conversing with the patrons nearby.

Jessica seemed to have pulled herself together enough to snap, “Davis, get me out of here! I've never been so terrified in my life. Bunch of heathens should be arrested.”

Apparently Davis was as through with her as Tamar had been moments before. “How about I take you back to the airport, and you just fly home?”

Lily wanted to cheer, even as she pretended not to be listening.

“If I go, that'll be the end of us, Davis.”

“Then by all means, let me call you a cab. It'll take you back to where we parked the rental car, and you can cut me out of your life right now.”

Without a word, Trent handed him his phone. The number of the local taxi company was highlighted.

“Thanks, Trent.” Davis made the call.

“I'll wait outside.” Jessica grabbed her coat and purse and pushed her way past the Julys to the door.

Lily gave her son a high five.

Paula said, “I love this town!”

Now that some semblance of calm had been restored, the electricians in the crowd went with Mal to see what could be done about getting the electricity back up, while Trent told Lily and the others, “Come on. I want you all to meet my great-uncle.”