Chapter 4 - The Toast No One Gave
Aunt Sarah had taken me inside to the kitchen and wrapped a dish towel around my shoulders like it was a blanket. My shirt clung to my back and my sneakers made a wet squeak every time I shifted my feet on the tile. Through the sliding glass doors I could see the whole lawn lit up in that golden hour light, and I didn't want to look away.
Daniel had left me with her. He'd knelt down so we were eye level and said, "Stay right here with Sarah, okay? Don't come back out till I get you."
I nodded. He squeezed my shoulder once and went back outside, his charcoal shirt still dark with water from the lake. He had the box tucked somewhere on him. I hadn't seen him put it in his pocket, but his right hand had been closed tight when he stood up from the grass.
From the kitchen island, I could see Claire straighten her magenta dress and smooth her hands over her hair. She stepped out into the middle of the lawn where everyone could see her. Richard was right behind her in his navy blazer, not touching her, but close enough that it looked like they were a set.
Claire clapped her hands lightly, the way moms do when they want a classroom to settle. The murmur of guests near the house faded.
"Everyone, I'm so sorry for that little scare," she said. Her voice carried clear across the grass and through the glass. She smiled, big and even. "Ethan was playing too close to the edge and slipped right in. Boys, you know how they are. Thank goodness his brother was right there and quick as anything. He's fine, he's inside getting dried off. Please, let's not let it spoil the evening."
A few of the guests laughed a little, relieved. A woman in a white folding chair near the floral centerpiece put her hand to her chest and said, "Oh, thank goodness."
I felt my stomach drop. I hadn't been playing. Sarah's hand rested on the back of my chair and tightened just a little.
Outside, Daniel had stopped near the overturned chairs by the water. He wasn't smiling. I watched him watch Claire. Two caterers in black polos were moving fast, righting the white folding chairs that had been knocked over and picking up the champagne flutes from the grass. One of them brushed the string lights where they sagged low over the table, tucking the wire back into a hook on the house so they hung straight again. The lawn was being put back the way it was supposed to look.
Richard stepped forward then and lifted a glass someone handed him. He hadn't been holding one before. The light caught the stemware as he raised it.
"And if I can add to that," he said, his voice louder, smoother than Claire's. "We're here to celebrate an anniversary, and we should. To my future in-laws, forty years together, and many more. Claire and I are so grateful to share this lake house with all of you. It means the world."
He paused and looked out toward the water, then back at the guests.
"There was a little confusion with an heirloom box earlier, a family piece that got misplaced in the shuffle. Dark wood, small box. If anyone's seen it, it's mine. Just left it on the table and the wind caught it. I'll collect it later, no rush."
He smiled when he said mine. Like there was no question.
Daniel didn't move. I saw his jaw shift. He slipped his right hand into his gray trouser pocket and left it there. The box was in there, I was sure now. Richard's eyes flicked over Daniel for half a second and then away.
A man near the house called out, "To forty years," and everyone lifted their glasses. Even Claire lifted hers. The string lights buzzed faintly above them and the lake behind them was flat and pink with sunset.
Sarah leaned down near my ear and whispered, "You okay, honey?"
I nodded, but my hands were gripping the edge of the dish towel. Through the glass, Daniel was helping the caterer right the last chair. He didn't join the toast. He just stood with his hand in his pocket, looking at the flat place on the grass where I'd been pulled out, where the water had darkened the edge of the lawn.
Everyone drank. Someone laughed. A chair scraped back into place and the party started talking again like nothing had happened.
May you like
I realized then that they were all going to believe Claire and Richard, because it was easier. And that Daniel wasn't going to say anything yet, not with me inside and the box hidden against his leg.
The glass doors reflected my face back at me, pale and wet-haired, and behind me the kitchen was warm and quiet.
