A/N: Okay, new rule I'm sticking to: updates EVERY FRIDAY. If I break it, I invite you all to leave me nasty anonymous reviews.
This is generally a light-hearted, feel-good chapter, even though like always, there are things "building" in the background. You'll probably know them when you see them. But otherwise, imagine it being the spring before your graduation, you're newly in love and excited, change is coming down the pipe so you're also a little anxious about the decisions to be made and unsure of how things will go. This chapter is all of that. Enjoy!
/
"I didn't fall in love, I rose in it." - Toni Morrison
"Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday Dear Halen
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOOOOUUU!"
Lacey, alongside her parents, sang the refrain so loudly it shook the walls. Adam clapped his hands over his ears, startled by the sudden increase in volume.
"It's tradition," she shrugged, leaning over to playfully bump him.
"Sure. Tradition."
He brought his hands back down just in time to raise them to position again as Stuart announced, "Guess who's next?!"
Ariel tried to keep a straight face and look on glibly as the same song was repeated for her, but when the boisterous final line began, she broke down into a red-faced laugh.
Both girls blew out candles furiously, a total of twenty-six for each of their thirteen years. Darlene got up to retrieve the knives for them to cut the standard family birthday cake, always store bought and always with the same design, just done up in different colors depending on the person's request. The fact that Halen and Ariel shared a birthday always made it a little more complicated.
But her mom never pulled any punches. "We sing them each their own birthday song, but they have to share a cake," she explained to Adam. "Marble."
"Because even though Halen likes chocolate too, she has to be different from me and pick vanilla. So now we're stuck having both," Ariel rolled her eyes, looking quite comical with the colorful birthday hat resting on her new Posh Spice haircut and black denim overalls. The tomboy phase was officially out and the Goth phase in. Stuart hadn't allowed black lipstick, so her sister instead wore dark brown.
"I hate it," her mom had commented to Lacey while smoking on the front porch last week. "I didn't sign up for all this hard stuff, you know?"
"Of course you did. You got pregnant," Lacey had replied ruefully.
Her mom had just rolled her eyes.
Halen remained darling, pink and purple Halen, soft blonde curls framing wide, shimmery-lidded eyes. "I do like vanilla better, thank you very much."
"A'right, Lasses! 'Ere's yer knives." Stuart redirected the argument for them to slice the cake at the same time, starting at whatever point they chose. Ariel just had to push the envelope and pick the very middle.
Lacey's little sisters, officially teenagers.
"And so the madness starts," she mumbled to Adam. He chuckled.
It had been good of him to come. The girls had been quick to extend him an exuberant invitation to their 'party', but Lacey had let him know it would be perfectly understandable if he opted not to participate. Especially as, for the couple of weeks since the playoffs, he'd not been entirely himself. But he'd shown up at five-thirty on the dot, a present in each hand.
The twins ended up with quite the spread of gifts. Their parents had gotten Ariel a gift certificate to Claire's in the mall to get her second ear holes pierced, and Halen a certificate for a makeover at Belk. Adam brought Ariel a Kurt Cobain t-shirt, as the two of them shared the sentiment that he was the greatest artist of all time, and Halen a big selection of various colored butterfly hair clips.
"So you don't have to keep borrowing your sister's," he informed Halen with a wink.
It was Lacey's own present that she wasn't at all sure about. After the other gifts had been opened, Adam glanced over at her doubtfully. He definitely hadn't agreed that her idea was a good one.
But Lacey had been stubborn.
"Okay. So…the thing I'm giving you both is kind of a big deal. And if it doesn't work out, it's okay, I can 'return' it so to speak. Who's ready?"
Both girls grinned, looking at one another excitedly, while their parents shifted uncomfortably.
Lacey went to her room and picked up the little creature she'd been keeping there, holding him tightly to her as she came back downstairs and into the kitchen.
Everyone was silent at first. Then Halen jumped up, backing away. "What is it…?!"
"It's a cat, silly!" Lacey answered, bouncing the kitten a little. "It's called a Sphynx. It's born without hair."
"It looks like a rat! I don't like it!" Halen dramatically continued backing until she was against the wall.
Darlene stood up as well. "Lacey Isabelle! Really?! Are cats the only thing you know to give people?! And where did you even get one that looks like that?"
Sundae looked around with big blue eyes, the lack of fur causing his ears to appear huge. He was a beige color with various black spots on his body where, Alice explained, black hair would be he'd grown it like other cats. He'd been dumped off at the shelter after a couple adopted him from a Sphynx breeder, but disliked the care that went into keeping him so much that they tried rehoming him. But it seemed no one local wanted a Sphynx, either.
Thus, he'd been living at Cat's Cradle for two months, and seemed to be the perfect solution to the girls' constant pleading for a pet which had gone unheeded for years due to fur allergies.
Well, that wouldn't be a problem with Sundae.
Stuart stared at the kitten, wide-eyed. "It's a Sphynx, ye say? So 'e's actually bred t'look like tha…?"
"Yes, and he's really sweet! And no, Mom, I don't always give cats. It's just that I happen to have a hook-up when people want pets, and the twins always have," Lacey answered calmly, putting Sundae on the floor. "Just try to interact with him, see how smart he is." She pulled a little ball out of her pocket with a bell at the center, and tossed it onto the ground. The cat scampered to chase it.
He was ugly, that was for sure. But he was so, so precious.
Halen still stood way back, staring at him, disgusted. But Ariel peered at him curiously, tilting her head and smiling a bit.
"What's his name?"
"Sundae," Lacey replied. "Now, the thing about hairless cats is, you have to bathe them about once a week because the oils on their skin can get–"
"Oh enough, Lacey!" Her mom had not moved from where she stood, still as a statue. "We don't need a cat here! This working at a shelter thing has caused you to lose all of your common sense!"
"Och, tis a wee bit 'arsh, Darlene." Stuart turned to Lacey. "Bu' Lass, truly. Tis a lot o' trouble, I'd wager, 'avin' a cat t'bathe every week…"
"I'll do it, it's okay," she defended. Okay, maybe it had been a little short-sighted to get the girls a cat for their birthday, but Sundae needed a home. And her sisters wanted a pet.
"Let him be Ariel's," Halen reached up to finger her curls, nose still wrinkled. "I don't want him."
"Halen, why won't you give him a chance?"
As if on cue, Sundae went over to try to rub up against the girl's leg, but she moved quickly. "Oh I can't!" She shut her eyes tightly.
"Lacey, no. Just no. Take him back," her mom demanded. "I mean it. Tonight. I can't have something like that in my house."
"You guys!" Lacey protested. She looked at Adam to defend her decision, but he just raised his eyebrows at her before looking away. He'd known all along that this would happen from the moment she'd shown Sundae to him.
"But I want to keep him!" Ariel insisted. "He won't be any trouble, I'll take care of him! He's a misfit." She sat down on the floor next to him, reaching out tentatively to touch him before chuckling. "Wow, he feels weird…"
But the kitten, oblivious to his hideous appearance, came over and nuzzled Ariel's hand before going back to roll on the floor with the ball, peddling at it.
"No, Ariel. Lacey, take it out. Now." Darlene cut her eyes back to Lacey.
Lacey sighed. "Okay. Back to the drawing board for presents for you guys." She went over to pick up Sundae, who protested with a drawn-out mew. "Sorry, little one."
"Wait. What'll happen to him?" Ariel sat up straight, gazing up at Lacey.
"Oh, he'll be fine. We'll keep him if nobody else adopts him. He can be our shelter cat. Want to pet him?" She offered the cat to Adam, who pulled back quickly.
Lacey rolled her eyes, sighing. "Okay, well…he's going to have to stay in my room until I get the chance to take him back."
Just then, Davy burst in the front door, shaking water off of himself from the rain that was falling outside. "Hey! Sorry I'm late. Did I miss singing and cake?" He came into the kitchen, his eyes falling on the kitten. "What the heck is that?"
"A cat," Lacey clucked her tongue. "It's very obvious that's what he is. Why does everyone keep asking?"
"She got him for us for our birthday, but Mom won't let us keep him. And Dad won't stick up for us." She glared accusingly at Stuart, who shrugged.
"I'm still caught at 'avin' t'bathe 'im every week."
"Bathe him once a week?" Davy came over, reaching out immediately to pet Sundae. "Why?"
"Because of skin oils. He doesn't have fur to absorb them," Lacey explained, turning to face Davy so he could interact with the cat. He stroked it under its chin.
"Hey, I'll take him!" He reached out and took Sundae without another thought. "Mom's pretty chill about this stuff. And we don't have any other animals right now."
"Oh please!" Ariel pleaded, getting up off the floor. "Then I'll get to see him sometimes when you come over, if you bring him!"
Davy shrugged. "Yeah. It's done." He looked back up at Lacey after gently patting the cat's head. "Just keep him for me til I go home, okay?"
"You got yourself a deal, Mister," Lacey grinned, shifting the kitten in her arms. "He'll be in my room. Try to get him tonight if you can."
"Oh, 'course." Davy looked at everyone else like they were crazy. "Misfits need love, too!" He flashed a shot-through-the-heart expression that made her mom crack a smile. Unknowingly, Davy was using the same term Ariel had.
"Hey," he finally leaned past Lacey to give Adam a friendly smile. "Good of you to come."
"Yeah. Didn't want to miss it," Adam returned the greeting pleasantly. But Lacey had noticed that for some reason, her boyfriend always seemed uncomfortable around Davy. She wondered if it was because Davy had played hockey for Driskell, even though he'd been key in likely saving Adam's life. She decided she'd ask about it when they were alone.
"Okay, well," Ariel began, looking at the clock. "I'm going to church. We're having a board game night."
Lacey studied Ariel carefully. "Wait, is this…are you seeing that boy from the church youth group?"
"Nah. We decided to just stay friends for now," Ariel shrugged, shoving her cake in her mouth and speaking before swallowing. "But...I don't know. I kind of like going. Pastor Pete's pretty fun."
Darlene stared in bewilderment at Ariel. "I don't know if I'm having some kind of weird dream or what. First your sister brings in a cat that looks like he's been chewed up and spit out naked, and now you want to go to church. And looking like that."
"Hey, Pastor Pete doesn't care about things like that. You see all kinds of people there, all wearing different stuff. Nobody judges or anything," Ariel went to toss her paper plate in the garbage. "So can somebody take me?"
Stuart sighed, standing up and grabbing the keys. "I'll thank ye fer tellin' us in plenty o'time."
"Hey, I just got here!" Davy protested, heading over to pick up a paper plate for cake. "You gonna cut and run on your big brother already?"
"Yes," Ariel replied bluntly, "'Cause you were late. It makes us even."
"Snap," Halen giggled. It was her new favorite word.
Davy raised his eyebrows. "Oh, I see how this is. Well don't expect to have any cake left when you come home." He picked up the knife and cut a comically huge slice.
"You'd better not even think about eating all that!" Ariel fussed, but was turned around and directed to the door by Stuart, who had come along behind her.
Davy shot her an eyebrow waggle before taking the piece and sitting down.
"You're not actually going to eat all that are you?" Darlene inquired in her best stepmom voice after the door closed behind Ariel.
He shrugged. "We'll see how good it is."
With the festivities over and an owner found for Sundae, Lacey was free to spend a few hours with Adam, after she secured Sundae in her room, bounding down the stairs and playfully tugging him by the sleeve of his hoodie out the door into the light rain as Halen sat beside Davy, providing him with an entire dissertation about each girl in her class at school and what the social hierarchies were.
"Let's take a blanket and go play Battleship up in your attic. I love it there. It's so cozy, and besides, we haven't played Battleship in awhile." She wrapped her arms around his waist as they made their way down the walk toward his car.
"No, I guess we haven't." He put his arm around her in return, but something seemed off about his behavior that she couldn't put her finger on. She looked up at him.
"What is it?" He glanced down.
"What's what?"
"What's wrong? I can tell something's going on inside your head." She paused the conversation to go around and get in the passenger side of the Porsche. Once she was in and buckled and he opened his door to get in, she continued. "I feel like it's been since the playoffs."
Adam didn't say anything right away, but buckled himself and cranked the car, sitting there for a minute, quietly.
"I don't know what's wrong with me, either."
She watched as his fathomless eyes, so full of secrets, swirled with something like sadness, and Lacey reached over and took his hand.
"Is it because it's over? The Ducks?"
He was quiet again as he stared in front of them at the street, sliding the stick into first gear. "I mean…maybe? I don't know why, though. We still see each other at school, and we all knew this was coming."
"I think it's like an adrenaline collapse," Lacey explained. "You guys built up all this energy to play the perfect game, and it was both your last game of high school and as a team. So now it's all over, and it's left you feeling…blah. Right?"
When Adam slowed for a stop sign, he peered over at her. "Do you realize how scary you sound sometimes?"
"Scary?" Lacey wrinkled her nose.
"Yeah. Like, you know, a therapist. You are literally becoming Dr. Hemby. Be very afraid," he warned in a low, serious voice.
"Really though. Doesn't it make perfect sense?"
"It…" Adam paused for a moment. "It does. I mean I get it, but what are you supposed to do about it? Like how do I get out of this? Because it's almost like everything's lost its meaning. Or maybe not all of it, but for instance, Lynn's making my favorite casserole tonight, and instead of me giving her my usual reaction when she told me, I was like, 'Oh. Okay, thanks.' I think it might have actually hurt her feelings, but it wasn't her. It's me."
"You're totally grieving losing the Ducks," Lacey went on. "And Dr. Hemby said before we move forward, we have to set our feelings free to be what they are."
"Sounds like a one-liner from one of my mom's yoga classes."
"Adam, I'm serious," Lacey admonished. "You can't stuff it down is all I'm saying. But I mean it when I say we have got to find you something else to do. Today it's Battleship in the attic. Tomorrow, it'll be scouring St. Paul College's catalog for a photography class."
"I thought tomorrow was art with Mom?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I said! Art with your mom, and then photography class hunting."
Adam chuckled. "Okay, okay. Do you like doing that, by the way?"
"I absolutely undeniably positively love it." Lacey rolled down Adam's window halfway as it finally stopped raining, and rested her head against the headrest, closing her eyes. "She's so talented. And she makes me feel that way too when I know I'm not."
"Welcome to life with Mom. You can know for a fact something you do is completely crap, but she swears it's the best thing she's ever. I don't think she's lying, I think she just sees beauty in everything that way. It's like a gift or something."
In truth, Lacey's times with Yvette felt sacred, almost like something she didn't even want to share with Adam. His mom had approached her a couple days after the last game of the playoffs with an idea: Lacey could come spend an hour or two each week learning to paint from her, and in return, Yvette would have a guinea pig to help settle her back into the role of teaching art for her upcoming acrylics class.
"I haven't taught since the boys were small," the woman had confided. "And I don't know if I can even teach people to do this anymore. It would really, really help me."
And who could say no either to Yvette or to the idea of painting classes? So Lacey had answered with a resounding yes, and her past two Monday afternoons had been spent learning basic mixing and blending techniques in Yvette's sunlight-filled studio.
When asked to bring a picture of something simple she would like to try to paint, Lacey scoured magazines until she finally found, in one of the old National Geographics Stuart hoarded, a picture of the Northern Lights. She presented it to Yvette, excited about the prospect, only to be let down when Adam's mom vetoed the idea.
"I think you're going to need more practice blending colors on canvas before we can shoot for this one. But I have a few ideas for you to pick from. Would you like to see them?"
Yvette went on to present pictures of orange slices on a plate, a goldfish in a bowl, and a red umbrella laying in the rain.
"Now I know these aren't very exciting." She must have read Lacey's mind. "But you need to start with basic, well-defined subjects at first until you learn about blending and shading. Got it?"
If ever Lacey didn't understand before, she most certainly did after her first class. She realized that what she'd wanted to do previously had been to just sit down and paint. It was learning to paint that was the hard process one had to go through to get to the other side. So much more went into mixing colors and putting them on canvas than she had ever imagined. And it gave her that much more respect for Yvette and other artists. When she'd finished for the day, all she had was a blue background…but, thanks to Yvette's coaching, it was a multifaceted blue. The blue had served for Lacey to dip her foot in the water of blending various shades so the background wouldn't look so one-dimensional. The process had taken them much longer to complete than Lacey ever would have wanted to spend on it, but the result was mesmerizing.
And what was more, she did it!
Lacey and Adam only played two rounds of battleship on the quilt in the attic before he opted to lay back and doze. Not only had he seemed blue since the playoffs, he'd also been overtired. And just after she laid back too, resting her head on his chest, she sat up quickly.
"Adam, you're burning up!," she exclaimed, remembering the heat radiating off of him the night of the Ducks' final victory. "What is it with the body heat?"
"It's fever," he murmured calmly.
"Fever?!"
"Yeah. It's been like this on some days ever since the game. It's been running between 99 and 101," he informed her nonchalantly, the back of his hand resting across his forehead, eyes closed.
Lacey couldn't believe he was being so blase about this. "Have you called Dr. Bartlett?"
"There's no need to, Lacey," he opened his eyes and regarded her solemnly. "It's an RA thing. When there's a lot of inflammation, which I probably still have in my joints right now, I run a fever. He says don't worry unless it goes above 101, and take Tylenol."
"Oh." It was all Lacey could reply, because a wave of frustration was swelling inside her. She tried again. "You do realize the playoffs were two weeks ago?"
He didn't speak right away, but when he did, he sounded tense. "Yes, I realize. Why?"
"So this means after you play a hard game like that, you could be suffering the effects of it for weeks."
He propped up on an elbow. "It wasn't just one hard game. It was a hard week. I knew to expect something like this. I mean, didn't you?"
Lacey turned to face him more fully, cross-legged, not feeling exactly like cuddling now. "I did know to expect some things, like pain and maybe tiredness. But Adam, fever? Two weeks later? And do you have any idea how little like yourself you've been acting lately?"
His eyes betrayed confusion at her tone. He opened his mouth to reply, but didn't seem to know what to say.
"I just can't believe you're as okay suffering this way as you seem to be," she finally finished, trying not to come off harsh.
"Well," he found his voice at last. "This is what I do for the game I love. I mean, that Gordie Howe quote you gave me about pain and persevering? I assumed that's how you felt, too."
"I did, Adam, for that particular game, but I wasn't prepared for you to take a hit this hard afterward. I mean, if playoffs week was this hard on you now, then I…" she trailed off.
Adam sat up. "Then you what?"
Lacey took a deep breath "Then I worry what it's going to be like for you in college hockey and even in the NHL. It's only going to get harder from here, and I don't like seeing you this way. I worry you're going to have to sacrifice your quality of life on a semi-permanent basis if you keep playing."
He looked away quickly, but Lacey could tell by the tightening of his jaw that her expression of doubt had angered him.
"I'm sorry." The apology fell from her lips. "I don't mean to throw shade on your dream. It's just that you're what's most important to me, not hockey. And I feel that if you're going to go through what you do to play, then I'm going to do what I have to do to take care of you."
"Lacey, what I need, then, is for you to believe in me, and believe I can do this." He shifted his eyes back to hers. "You might be the last person who will do that for me. Because God knows my coaches and my doctors have all done nothing but tell me how I'm going to have to eventually give up the thing I've loved the very most my entire life. So I could use a little support."
"I do support you," she countered earnestly. "But am I supposed to just sit back and watch you run your health into the ground when l–"
Lacey stopped short.
When I love you so very much.
Oh, God. She had just about blurted out a phrase neither of them was ready to handle the ramifications of. It was definitely time for a step back from this emotional chokehold.
"When you what?" Adam persisted, studying her, a little of the exasperation gone from his voice and curiosity taking its place.
Lacey shook her head. "Nothing, I don't know what I was going to say. But my point is, I don't like watching you hurt yourself like this. It's hard for me to know what to do. And I can't just pretend it all away." There, she'd regained the momentum of the conversation. "Think about it," she continued. "If we swapped places and I was doing something that was making my anxiety way worse, what would you do?"
Adam seemed to have forgotten what they were even talking about for a minute. "Um…" He fumbled for words. "Well, I like to think I'd tell you my concerns and make sure you know how I felt–which, you have by the way–and then I'd let you make your own decision, and since I couldn't change it, I'd just be present for you in any and every way you needed for me to be. And that's really all I want from you in this."
They both needed a breath. They very nearly got into their first tiff as a couple, and she'd nearly told him she loved him during the very same conversation.
Damn hockey. It had succeeded in stressing them both out.
"I-I know." Lacey tried to shake off the last few minutes. "Okay. You've made the decision to stick with it, so I will support you. And I'll do whatever you need, all right? I mean, what do we need to do right now? Get some Tylenol in you?"
"Well it probably wouldn't hurt. I can go in and get some, but…" He reached out and took her hand. "I don't want us to fight over this, okay? Ever. And I get it if it's hard for you to watch me suffer, but I don't like thinking I make you angry for just doing something I love."
Lacey sighed, closing her eyes a moment. "Adam, it isn't anger, it's fear. I don't want you to hurt yourself permanently or to feel so driven to do something you can't break out of it even if you want to. So if I promise you I'll support you, I need you to promise me something."
Adam nodded, listening.
"I want you to promise that no matter what scholarship you have, or contract you're under, or league you're a part of, or whatever…you'll quit when you want to quit. If you feel ready to go, but hate to let people down or break a commitment, you still need to put your health before anyone or anything else. Just promise you won't get all 'honorable' and try to push through if you can't anymore. Okay?"
He took a deep breath, looking at her earnestly. "I promise. I can promise that."
She smiled, squeezing the hand that held hers. "Then if you do that, I'll make you all the palm tree heating packs you want."
"You'd better mean that." Adam's eyes twinkled as stood to obediently go take Tylenol.
Lacey watched him head out the attic door and listened to his footfalls as he went downstairs, wanting to believe that after that little rumble of thunder, paradise was restored to them. But why did she still feel so uneasy?
/
"I don't know, I mean I get it that you can't change a person and what they want, so you should let them live their lives…but at the same time, wouldn't it be wrong of me to watch him run himself into the ground?" Lacey sat at the kitchen table, unraveling a strawberry twizzler and eating one strand at a time. "I mean, I guess I could just hope that he'll come to accept his limitations, even if it takes him a while. You know, let him figure it out for himself. And by the way, thank you so much for your feedback."
Her mom was quiet, her head still stuck in the oven as the cringeworthy sound of steel wool-on-metal echoed in the kitchen. "Next oven I buy is definitely going to be self-cleaning." She backed out, taking a huge gulp of air and tossing the cleaning pad into a bucket of dirty water as she fanned herself.
Lacey stared at her in disbelief.
Her mother glanced over and met her eyes. "What? I'm cleaning! How much wisdom do you expect me to dish out?"
"Mom!" Lacey felt beyond irritated. "You dish out 'wisdom' all the time, whether anybody asks for it or not. But when it comes to my relationship with Adam, you act like you don't even hear me when I talk to you about it."
"Guhhh…! Okay." Her mom began to remove her rubber gloves by the fingers. "But let me first of all correct you. I always hear you. That just doesn't mean I always know what to say, all right?" She came over, hot and sticky, and pulled out the chair across from Lacey.
"I don't know, say anything! It'll help me know you're hearing me," Lacey replied, stopping herself from grabbing another twizzler.
"Are you about to start your period?"
"What?! No! Okay, well maybe…"
"You just seem pretty out of sorts," her mom pointed out. "And first of all, that can make any situation look worse than it is. Secondly, I think you've got to trust Adam and let him sort out his own demons, even if you don't agree with how he does it, because ninety percent of your adult relationships are going to be like that. And thirdly, I think you both need to get out and have some fun."
Lacey blinked, trying to digest all the information her mom had just thrown at her. "Wait. Fun? Right now, the last few weeks of school? Prom coming up, and–"
"Exactly why it needs to be now." Her mom persisted. "And Adam's just finished playoffs, so he's facing the same things but with a little less steam.. What you both need is to go out, even if it's just for one night, and do something different. And fun."
Her mom's words, though few at times like this, were still usually woven through with, well…wisdom.
"I don't know what different things there are to do. I mean, go to the mall…?"
"Honey, we live between two big cities, and it's spring. There's lots to do."
"But I don't know how to find it," Lacey protested.
Darlene stood and reached over to the kitchen counter to grab the newspaper, setting it down in front of her before reclaiming her chair.
Lacey looked down to where, on the second page, an announcement was circled in the Recreation section.
"A variety of classic films to be shown through the spring and summer months at Burnes Park," she read aloud, then skimmed the article which told a little about the tradition (which she'd never even heard of before), reminded everyone the movies would be held on Saturday nights at seven o'clock, and that people were welcome to bring their blankets or sit in their cars in the parking lot for a drive-in experience.
"The event will kick off this week with a showing of Casablanca," Lacey finished reading, then looked up. "Casablanca? I can at least say I've heard of that one, but I have no idea what it's about."
Her mom looked on, dumbstruck. "You haven't seen Casablanca? After eighteen years? I've definitely failed you. It's a classic."
"Well, okay, I still haven't seen it," Lacey replied defensively, looking back down at the article. "You circled it?"
"Because I thought of you and Adam when I saw it."
Lacey looked up at her mom, surprised. "You thought of us…?"
"Of course I did. Why do you look like that? I remembered you saying he likes classic movies, and thought…" her mom trailed off, shrugging.
Lacey stood, coming around and giving her mom a big hug. Yet again, the woman's unexpected thoughtfulness and occasional warmth had made her day.
"You act like I never do anything for you!" Darlene exclaimed, patting Lacey's arm. "Now let Adam know you've got a surprise for him this weekend, and why don't you take Stuart's station wagon so you guys have room in the back to stretch out?"
At that thought, Lacey's smile faded.
/
Stuart's old sleeping bag, washed. Check.
Tons of blankets. Check.
Pillows. Check.
Popcorn, M&M's, a whole thermos of coffee. Oh and Stuart's disgusting Earl Grey concoction. Check.
"Don't get a bunch of popcorn kernels in the back of Stuart's car like you did when you were seven and we were driving to Mantorville. Stuart was sweeping them out for months."
Mom's mouth. Check.
"Mom," Lacey sighed. "I'm eighteen, not seven, and I know not to spit popcorn kernels out anymore. And we're also talking about Adam. Stuart's car will be pristine, I promise." She gathered all of her supplies and headed outside.
Her mom followed her out, jumping in the back as soon as Lacey tossed in the sleeping bag and unzipped it, spreading it neatly across the bed of the station wagon. "Good thinking on the sleeping bag. It'll give you guys some cushion. Adam'll definitely need that, what with his joints and all. Now. Hand me the pillows."
Lacey wordlessly obeyed, handing the two down pillows over to her mom.
"Nope, not enough. This won't prop you up. See how they're too soft?" Her mom placed them. "We need firmer ones. Go up and grab some out of the closet in my room."
Still a little surprised by her mom's helpfulness, Lacey went inside and jogged up the stairs to her parents' bedroom, opening the closet only for an avalanche of pillows and extra blankets to nearly bury her.
"Good grief." She sorted through the mess to identify the pillows, grabbing three before tucking all the rest of the bedding back in the closet and shutting the door quickly.
"Here," she came back outside holding the extra pillows.
"You need pillowcases."
"Oh…right."
It seemed her mom had completely hijacked the project of decking out the back of the station wagon with comfort items. Lacey let her do it, running back and forth to grab various things her mom felt were needed, feeling her spirits soar. This was going to be so cool..
"Okay." Darlene stepped back, surveying the job she'd done tucking in blankets, fluffing pillows, and even stealing Stuart's "remote boat" so Lacey and Adam would have cupholders and a handy place to set things up.
"You know what I wish I had?" Lacey mused as she stood surveying the job alongside her mom.
"What?"
"Christmas lights! Wouldn't that look so cool?"
Her mom looked over at her slowly. "Leave it to you to make things way more complicated than they need to be. And it isn't Christmas. That would look tacky. Plus, you don't have a plug-in in a car."
"Hey," Lacey shrugged. "Just a thought. Maybe somebody someday will invent battery-powered string lights."
"Okay. So are you all set then?"
"Yeah. Hey, Mom…thanks."
Her mom shrugged. "Just wanted to be sure you got it right. Okay, your coffee should be done now and you need to go."
"Right."
Lacey hurriedly finished the rest of the refreshments…having, at the last minute, whipped up Stuart's homemade rice Krispy treats and popped some pizza rolls in the oven. She had enough food for an army, but she wanted to be sure they had a variety. Especially as Adam could be funny about his diet.
She tin foiled it all separately, then placed it in a casserole dish covered by more tin foil. This would keep it warm.
"All right, see you tonight or in the morning if I come home late," she waved with one hand to her sisters, who stood by watching mournfully. Despite the two of them loving Adam and being generally happy Lacey was dating him, she could tell they were jealous of the amount of time Lacey was suddenly spending away from home.
"You're always going on adventures," Halen had whined one day. "Why don't we get to do stuff like that?"
She made a mental note to take the twins out somewhere interesting next week. But for now, she wanted to focus on Adam.
Driving the station wagon had always embarrassed Lacey, but it was the vehicle with the most room and best suited to a night at a drive-in movie. She supposed the thing she was most nervous about was pulling up in front of the house while Phil was home.
There was a quirk to cranking it up, too. You had to turn it over twice, and on the third time, the motor would finally rumble to life, sounding for all the world like it was on its dying gasp. But Stuart had had this car since nineteen-eighty-eight, and it had done this for as long as Lacey could remember. It probably wasn't going to die any time soon.
"Now, ne'er go o'er fifty-five," he had cautioned her once. "Lest th'motor be un'appy wi' ye an' start 'er shakin' an' rattlin'."
Heeding his advice, Lacey merged onto the freeway headed for Edina, remaining in the slow lane. She was very conscious the entire time of all the looks thrown in her direction as cars passed her. Oh well. At least Adam could say that for once, and probably the only time in his life, he'd ridden in a nineteen-seventy-three diesel Ford Junker.
She pulled up beside his house and was about to blow her horn when he came out, heading down the walkway toward her with a wide smile on his face.
"What?" She asked when he climbed in slowly. "You'll see why I drove this here in just a minute."
She hadn't disclosed to him on the phone where they were going or what they'd be doing, opting to surprise him.
"You actually drove Stuart's car into this neighborhood. You have more brass than I even thought," he broke out in a laugh.
Lacey slapped his arm. "Hey! I can't help it that I don't have enough money for my own private jet like you do."
"Oh, no no no." He put his arm around her. "I didn't mean it to sound like that, I'm sorry. It's just…well, it's pretty interesting, actually."
He looked all around at the console and the various features of the car, which were spartan and extremely dated. "I don't think I've ever been in a station wagon before."
"Yeah? Why does that not surprise me?"
The evening air was pleasant, and the two of them rode with the windows down all the way to Burnes Park. When they pulled in, the big screen was sitting tall and ready, and Adam's face lit up.
"Hey, is this like a drive-in?"
"It is," she smiled over as she pulled into a space, thankful she could find one with a good view of the screen as the park was already becoming quite crowded with other cars–largely trucks with tailgates out–and blankets spread across the lawn as kids chased one another throughout the setup. This was a happy, fresh environment, and hopefully Adam would thrive here.
"What movie are we seeing?"
"Just wait." She jumped out of the car and went around to the back of the station wagon, turning the latch and pulling open the heavy door.
Adam surveyed the scene. "Wow. You thought of everything, didn't you?"
"Well, mostly Mom," Lacey chuckled.
He turned his head quickly. "Your mom helped you do this?"
"Indeed she did. Go ahead, get in! It's going to start soon and I want to show you our snacks."
She and Adam bundled into the back of the station wagon, the air still nippy as the sun was beginning to set over the horizon, covering up with so many blankets they could barely turn over, yet snuggled close enough that they didn't have to. True to her prediction, Adam turned down the M&M's but indulged in one of her Rice Krispy treats, probably only because she mentioned making them herself. He was nothing if not rich-boy polite, even with her. And he definitely downed plenty of Stuart's iced Earl Grey.
Adam, too, was unable to believe Lacey had never seen Casablanca before, and once the film started, she saw exactly what she'd been missing.
It was a beautiful tale, woven together during the first part of World War II, having been filmed, Adam explained, before the U.S. had joined the conflict. The main character was likable if tough, and the bittersweet romance made Lacey's heart ache from the center outward.
In the end, Rick Blaine had made the ultimate decision, sacrificing future happiness with Ilsa in favor of doing what was best for her, and sending her away from Casablanca with her husband. She'd wanted to stay with him, but he had told her she would surely come to regret it. "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."
After it was all over, Lacey just lay there curled up, blinking at the screen. "He should have gone after her," she murmured.
"What?" Adam stretched.
"He should have gone after her at the last minute. I just knew he was going to," she complained, as though he could do anything about it. "I mean, he loved her. And I know her husband was back in the picture then, but who cares, if they were in love?"
"It was because he loved her that he walked away. That's what's made it this iconic story. You got that, right?" He peered over at her.
"Well, yeah, but…" she shook her head. "Wow though, that was great. We need to watch more of these. I don't think I've seen but maybe two classic films my whole life."
"Yeah, I got that," he nestled back into her, obviously as unready to leave as she was.
Suddenly, Lacey's mind still stuck on the film's ending, a question bubbled to the surface. "If…"
He looked back at her, his expression inquisitive. "If?"
But Lacey paused. This was supposed to be a fun night. No need bringing up anything serious. "If I send you home these cold pizza rolls, do you think your dad will be stoked?"
Adam dissolved into chuckles. "Sure thing. He'll enjoy them with his Pinot Noir."
Lacey had to laugh at the mere idea of Phil indulging in such a thing. "I know I didn't bring very healthy stuff, but who wants healthy when they're watching a movie?"
"My thoughts exactly." Adam sat up. "Okay, let's shut this thing." He tested the station wagon's back hatch. "Can it be closed from the inside? Oh, yeah, here."
He successfully pulled the door closed, then turned back to stretch out beside Lacey before rolling partially atop her.
"I mean, but who doesn't like pizza rolls?" Lacey continued, knowing it drove him crazy when she tried to pretend she was oblivious to his intentions. "The first time I ever had them was the summer before ninth…"
But Adam placed a finger gently over her lips. "Okay, I know you like pizza rolls."
"I think I want some more coffee right now," Lacey squirmed beneath him.
"No more coffee, you've drunk like an entire pot." He shifted to hold her down a little more as she giggled.
"Okay, okay."
She placed her hand on the back of his head, pulling him closer. "Now. Kiss me good."
The sounds of people outside leaving the park and the flashing of headlights as cars pulled out soon faded. The only thing Lacey could hear after a bit were the delectable sounds of Adam's sweet, sincere kisses.
He was definitely growing bolder with his kissing, but she appreciated his restraint. After they had been dating only a couple weeks, Max had grown the arms of an octopus and regularly tried putting them on her during makeout sessions. But the farthest Adam had ever gone was to place a hand on the small of her back. And despite the desire she felt to the tips of her toes every time he kissed her this way, Lacey appreciated his tenderness.
Adam kissed her until he practically fell asleep, his face buried in her neck as she rubbed over his back. Lacey lay there, absently stroking over his shoulders and through his hair as her thoughts drifted. She thought of how close graduation was, and the decisions yet to be made. She thought of her growing sisters and hoped beyond hope that they would make good choices–better choices than she did–in impending high school. She even thought of Max, and what jail was like for him right now. He'd been sentenced to fifteen months, but even though Lacey felt he deserved every hour of that, she couldn't help but hope he was learning and growing as a person and would come out a better man for it; but without a doubt, a man she never wanted to see again.
But mostly she thought of Adam and how, even though their relationship was only a few months old, she could not remember a day anymore when she didn't think of him. It was as though he'd always been there, as cliche as the notion was. If only these nights would last forever.
For the first time in so long, there was peace.
So with that, she stared up at the star-spotted Minnesota night sky as she rested with the feel and sound of Adam's warm, even breathing.