Chapter Six

“Whose car is that?” Stan demanded, coming in the front door. “Mackenzie?” He hollered so loudly Mac could hear him from her room. She tiptoed down the stairs and stood just beyond their sight line and listened, hoping he’d go into his den before she left.

“She’s getting ready to go out, Stan. Did you pick up my prescription?” Barb asked.

Mac heard the crackle of the thin white pharmacy bag and the rattle of pills as he tossed it onto the coffee table. “Sweet dreams.” Mackenzie peeked into the hallway and saw him walk to the front window and pull the curtain aside. As Barb went to retrieve the bag, he added while still looking out the window, “The pharmacist said these are stronger and you should be careful or you’ll turn into Sleeping Beauty.”

Lily said, “I know that story, Daddy! I read it in school today!”

“You did, Princess? But I bet she didn’t take pills to go to sleep, huh?”

“Oh Daddy, you’re so silly. She took a apple.”

He was still staring at Grady’s car parked in front of their house. “Mackenzie!” he yelled over his shoulder, “Who does that car belong to?”

Lily ran to her daddy, crawled between his legs, and then stood up in front of him to get a good look out the window, too. “Yeah,” she piped up, “Who is that guy?”

Stan looked down at Lily for a second, and then squinted back out at the car. “There’s a guy in there? You can see that, Lil? I have got to getglasses.”

Mackenzie walked into the front hall. “What did you do with my black jacket?” She asked Barb. “It was right here on the rack.”

“Oh, sorry, honey, I took it to the cleaners. It was looking a bit ragged. Why don’t you wear the pink one?”

“You don’t hafta wear a jacket ‘cause it’s too warm,” Lily chimed in. “I didn’t wear mine at recess today. You wanna wear mine, Kenzie? You can if you wanna.”

“Thanks, Brat, but I doubt it would fit me,” Mac said. “Barb, I hate the pink one.”

“Well, it’s all you’ve got right now.”

“Thanks to you,” Mackenzie said.

Barb’s eyebrows flew up in surprise. “Excuse me? I do you a favor and—”

“Barbara, I’ll handle this. Take Lily into the other room,” Stan said. When Barb hesitated, he added, “Now.”

“Where do you think you’re going, anyway?” he said, once they were alone. It was more of a statement than a question.

“Out. I don’t have any homework left, and in fact, I’m ahead on my science project.”

“And who is that guy?” Stan demanded.

“He’s just a friend.”

“Dante again?” He looked out the window. “I don’t know any gay boys with ’69 Mustangs. You sure he’s a gay?”

Mac blew her bangs off her forehead.

“If you let me buy you a car,” he continued, craning for a better look, “you wouldn’t need a boy to drive you anywhere. Anyway, I could’ve given you a ride. Why don’t you ever ask me to drive you anywhere?”

She didn’t want to stay in the house a second longer than absolutely necessary but she needed him to let her go. She had avoided telling Grady about being grounded for Spring Fling because she wanted to get him to the reservoir. Going on the boat relaxed him and he’d be more likely to forgive her for messing things up.

Maybe they could even plan something alone. Who needed to go to a stupid dance anyway? She gestured toward where Lily had gone and in her sweetest voice said, “You need to be here. You told Lily you’d give her more dance lessons.” As she reached for the door, her father put his hand on it, preventing her escape.

“What now, Dad?”

Flipping his wallet open, he said, “Don’t you ah, ‘Geeks’, grab a bite after? You need some money?” He reached toward her and tucked a twenty into the front pocket of her jeans. “I can buy my girl some fries, can’t I?” He leaned in to kiss her, but she reeled her head back and pretended to sneeze.

“Better not get to close. I might have something.” She shoved her hand into her pocket, curling her fingers around the money.

“Now, c’mon, Mackenzie. I know you’re not to old for a goodbye kiss,” Stan said, and stepped closer and gave her a chaste kiss on the forehead.

When he saw her roll her eyes, he said, “You know, I wish we could just skip this whole teenage phase.”

“Yeah,” Mac said, “like that’s my big problem.”

Barb walked back in and said, “Mackenzie, why don’t you—”

Stan cut her off. “Barbara, let me handle this, why don’t you?”

“But Stan,” Barb started to say, until he put his hand in front of her face, palm out, like a cop stopping traffic.

“Do you mind?” Silence. “I thought not.” Turning back to Mac, he continued, “You do want my permission to go out, am I correct? Not to mention that ridiculous trip you insist on leaving your family for?”

Mackenzie stared at the floor, but nodded. “Then start acting like the good girl I know you can be.” He pulled her to him and kissed her forehead again. “Remember, no one can love you as much as I do, sweetheart.”

Mackenzie mumbled a thanks, and left. When she was almost to the car, she pulled her hand out of her pocket, opened her fist, and let the bill fly with the wind. Let someone else spend her father’s blood money.

Grady was fiddling with the radio dial when she got in the car.

“Are you insane? I told you never to pick me up right in front of my house. My dad almost didn’t let me open the door, let alone go out.”

“Geez, sorry.” Grady flipped off the radio and started the engine. Right away Mac was sorry she’d snapped at him, and reached for his hand. He glanced over at her and forgave her with one of his prize-winning Grady smiles. He drove to the reservoir, and got a cooler out of the trunk.

“What’s in there?” Mac reached for the lid, but snapped her hand back when Grady swatted it away.

“Oh, just a little surprise,” he said, grinning.

“You’re sure being Mr. Mystery.” Mackenzie watched him as he rowed. Lily had been right, it was a warm night, and Grady wore a short-sleeved shirt. His arms bulged every time he pulled back on the oars, and the shadows got caught in the muscles. He knew she was staring at him, and the next time he stretched forward to take a stroke, he stuck his fingers out straight and as he pulled the oars back, raked his fingertips along Mac’s thighs, sending electric bolts into her groin. She almost groaned aloud. She shivered, and zipped her jacket up to her neck.

They got to their rock and spread out the blanket. Grady opened the cooler, taking out some crackers, and a bottle of champagne.

“Where’d you get that?”

“I snatched it from my dad’s wine cellar. Well, it’s not really a cellar, more like a refrigerated cabinet, but half the time he forgets what’s in there. He’ll never miss it.”

Mackenzie gave him a doubtful look and took off her jacket. It already felt like summer; a breeze lifted the scent of the fresh water and brought it to her, like a gift. It smelled warm. She reached into the cooler for a little glass container and held it up in the moonlight, trying to read the label. “What’s this?”

“Caviar. The real kind – not that cheap stuff they put on sushi. You’re supposed to eat it on special occasions,” Grady said, opening the lid. He took a tiny spoon and placed a small mound of the stuff onto a cracker. “Ever had it?” he asked, examining the shining black beads.

“I don’t do any kind of sushi. Have you?”

“No, but it’s supposed to be classy.”

“Then who am I to argue? Should be delish. Go ahead, you try it first.”

Grady raised the cracker to his mouth, popped the whole thing in, and stood arms akimbo, as though he’d just performed an act of heroism.

“Mmm,” he said with his mouth full, and gave a thumb’s up. He handed a caviar-piled cracker to Mackenzie. Following Grady’s example, she put the whole thing into her mouth and started chewing. Almost instantly she made a face.

“Ugh. This stuff is disgusting!” She jumped up and ran a few feet away, and spat it all into the bushes. “It tastes like fish!” She heard the pop of the cork, and accepted a Styrofoam cup filled with champagne as she sat back down. She couldn’t get rid of the taste, even after downing the whole cup. “How can you like that stuff?” She swished with a refill of champagne.

Grady gulped his drink too, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “I hated it. But I didn’t want to be the only one with fish breath.”

“Why, you…!” Mackenzie pounced, trying to pummel him, or at least tickle him to death. He feigned helplessness in the face of her punishment and they wrestled, laughing. She could feel her love for him float up like a balloon licked by the wind, rising, rising, until she feared it would fly away, beyond her reach.

Grady, exacting his revenge, rolled her onto her back and, grabbing her hands, pinned them over her head. “Now try to tickle me, Evil One,” he taunted. Holding her wrists with his right hand, he wiggled the fingers of his left, slowly lowering it, hovering just above the most ticklish spot on her stomach. Mac wriggled and laughed under him, anticipating the tickling, dreading it, and loving his attention.

The champagne had made them both so giddy that before they knew it, their goofing around managed to wind Grady up on top of her. The sound of their breathlessness broke the silence. He leaned in, placing his mouth on hers, his lips warm, nibbling, insistent.

The more she felt his excitement growing, the higher the balloon flew. He rolled onto his back, pulling her on top of him. They kissed. Grady groaned.

Mackenzie tossed her hair back; a gust of wind pushed it further off her face, reminding her to breathe. Obediently, she took great gulps of air, feeling both excited and sick to her stomach.

Just go with it. Do it. Can’t you be like everyone else and just hook up? It’s no big deal.

But the queasiness grew, and she gingerly slipped off Grady, and pulled into herself as she settled on the rock.

“Hey, come here.” He reached for her, trying to bring her back, trying to pretend the moment wasn’t broken.

“I have to tell you something.”

Grady sat up and drew his knees up to his chest, mirroring Mac’s posture, making it obvious he knew the moment was not only broken, but completely shattered. He combed his fingers through his hair. “What.”

“We can’t go to Spring Fling.”

Grady leaned his elbows on his knees and he looked out at the water, his face tight. “You mean you can’t go.”

“I can’t help it that my father is such an ass!”

“You know, Mac, this is getting so old. Every single event in the past six months—oh, happy anniversary, by the way, that was why I brought the special picnic, in case you were wondering – has occurred with everyone but us. There’s always something getting in the way of our having a good time together.”

Mac stood up. “If I could wish on a star and have a different father, believe me, I would!”

“It’s not just him.”

Mackenzie folded her arms in front of her, trying to protect her heart against whatever he was about to say. “What do you mean, it’s not just him?”

“You never want to do anything. We make out, and then you give some kind of excuse to get out of the situation.” Grady started rolling up the blanket, and put the cups and crackers back in the cooler.

Mac zipped the stupid pink jacket all the way up, and hugged herself tighter. “I have a choice, don’t I? Grady? C’mon, don’t be mad.” She reached her hand out to him. He turned his back and picked up the little container of caviar.

“Grady?”

He didn’t turn around, and facing the lake, flung the caviar into the water. It skipped along the surface four times and sank.