Wilson Mooney Eighteen at Last (14 page)

“
Ah, well, I haven’t
really thought about it much,” I smiled.

Actually, it was a bit strange not
sitting around the table eating my traditional Birthday/Christmas
dinner and singing carols with my grandparents. That’s what was
missing—the two cogs that kept the gears of my Christmas in motion
were no more.

The lights dimmed in the room and my
heart leapt as Max came out with Nancy’s homemade, mixed berry pie
and a tall, white birthday candle glowing brightly in the
middle.

“
Well, I know we can’t
take the place of your grandparents; however; I hope we can make
perfect memories for your birthday this year,” Nancy spoke softly.
My heart pattered.

What she didn’t know was that every
moment I spent here with them was filling the hollow space that
inhabited my heart.

Camille carried in a stack of plates
with a bundle of forks clanking on top. Frank stood up to join the
rest of his family as they sang and wished me a happy birthday. My
eyes blurred with splashes of thanks.

“
Blow out your candle and
make a wish,” Max said as he set the pie in front of me. I stood
up, took a deep breath, and blew at the flame; it stretched and
broadened before it vanished in a swirl of white smoke.

“
What’d you wish for?” Max
asked as he came over close behind me.

“
Hey, no way, I’m not
telling. Then it won’t come true.” I elbowed him softly in the
ribs.

“
Oh, don’t tell me you
believe that ol’ superstition! Boyfriends are exempt from creating
spoilage of wishes, you know,” he breathed against my
ear.

“
Don’t you dare tell
him—that is not true, Max,” Camille roared as she pulled the candle
from the pie before Nancy cut the first piece.

“
Camille’s right. Here you
go, birthday girl.” Nancy handed me the first piece of her famous
mixed berry pie. My mouth watered as I remembered the piece I
shared with Max the last time we were in Aspen.

“
Hey, now—you’re not
sharing with me this time?” Max wrapped his hands around my waist
and leaned to the side, holding his mouth open and waiting to have
me feed him a bite.

“
Heck no, you gotta get
your own piece. This is mine.” I smiled and shoved a fork-full into
my mouth. An explosion of sweet with a twist of tart flooded my
taste buds. The flaky crust crumbled and dissolved into the warm,
mixed berry filling against the roof of my mouth.

“
Well, Max, it
is
her birthday,”
Camille told him.

He attempted the puppy dog look before
trying to convince me more seductively with a kiss to the neck and
a push of his body against my backside.

“
Oh, Maxi—here take your
own piece.” Nancy handed him a huge slice oozing with dark,
berry-red juice wrapped in lightly browned, doughy
crust.

It wasn’t long before all of us were
sitting at the table stuffing our faces with Nancy’s life-altering
mixed berry pie. Even if we wanted to talk, we couldn’t, because
that would’ve meant we’d have to stop shoveling it in, and that
just wasn’t going to happen.

If manners didn’t count tonight, I
would have licked my finger and pressed it against the remaining
pie crumbs that were too small to cling to my fork before picking
up my plate and licking the thin layer of berry filling that
taunted my taste buds.

“
Ma, you outdid yourself
this time. It was the best mixed berry pie you’ve ever made,” Max
said before he licked his own finger and dragged it diagonally
across the puddle of dark red filling on his plate. I stared at him
as if he was Moses parting the Red Sea, and longed to be one of his
followers.

“
Thanks, I added a little
extra sugar—for the birthday girl,” Nancy said as she winked at
me.

“
Yeah, Nancy, it was
delicious. If I wasn’t stuffed, I would thumb wrestle whoever
wanted the last piece,” I smiled back. It took every ounce of
willpower I had not to run the tip of my finger across my
plate.

“
Well you’d probably have
to beat Max. He keeps eyeballing it from across the table.” Nancy
slid her finger along the rim of her plate, catching the contoured
edge of the lingering berry juice, and licked the filling clinging
to her finger.

“
Who’s ready for some
football?” Frank stood up and clapped his hands, before rubbing
them together. “It’s Chicago at Green Bay—one of the oldest
rivalries in football.”

“
When does the game
start?” Max asked.

“
Kickoff’s at six twenty.
We have just enough time to grab a few beers and watch a little of
the pregame,” Frank worked to convince Max.

“
Well, hold on, boys.
Didn’t you say you were going to take Wilson downtown for her
birthday?” Nancy poked her dainty finger at Max as she broke into
the conversation between him and his dad.

“
That’s right, you did say
you would take me downtown,” I backed up Nancy.

“
Yeah, Wilson, you have to
experience the Twelve Days of Aspen. The whole downtown is
decorated. They have sleigh rides and ice skating; and the bands
they have performing aren’t half bad either,” Camille
said.

The Goldstein women seemed
pretty excited about the celebration downtown. I had to admit, it
did sound like a
must do
for people visiting Aspen over the holidays. It
must be beautiful if Nancy and Camille were talking about it, and
they don’t even celebrate Christmas. It made me really miss Joanie.
This sounded like something right up her alley. She loved finding
adventurous things to do. She was a mushy tradition-maker and would
always make me participate. I can’t say I didn’t love
it.

“
Okay, that’s right—I did
say I would take you downtown to go shopping,” Max
agreed.

“
Well, looks like I’m on
my own,” Frank pouted.

“
Not really, honey, help
us with the dishes and Camille and I will come watch the game with
you.” Nancy didn’t miss a beat.

“
Run, son—grab your girl
and get the hell out before you get sucked into KP duty,” teased
Frank.

“
Oh, Frank. Now Wilson,
did you pack a heavy jacket? It’s a bit nippy out there,” Nancy
said before continuing. “Just use mine, sweetheart; it’s hanging in
the hall closet—there are mittens in the pockets.”

Max opened the small
closet behind the door leading to the garage and reached in,
snatching a pearl white and neon green Patagonia Primo down
jacket.
Okay, hello, those jackets are
special order and go for a good six hundred bucks. There’s no way
in hell I’m going to wear that jacket—God forbid I dribble hot
chocolate down the front of it.
Max held
out the jacket, giving it a shake trying to get me to take it; I
just backed away.

“
Wilson, here—take it,” he
huffed as he battled with his own jacket still clinging to the
sturdy wooden hanger.

“
Why don’t I just go
unpack my coat? I don’t want to mess up your mom’s jacket. It’s so
nice and…expensive.” I turned to head to our luggage, still sitting
at the bottom of the stairs. Max’s jacket finally broke loose,
giving him the freedom to stop me from getting to my
suitcase.

“
Wilson—just put this on
so we can go,” Max demanded as he held out the six-hundred-dollar
jacket.

I don’t think I’ve ever
worn a six-hundred-dollar anything. Wait, I take that back, there
was the baby blue Shugga spacesuit Cindy let me wear…and Max
managed to get me out of that pretty well.

Max pinched the shoulders of his
mother’s Patagonia Primo jacket, holding it out to me, waiting for
me to slip into it. Nancy’s jacket was over-the-top comfortable. It
felt like I had swags of silk caressing my arms—cool to the skin at
first, but in seconds, the chill became a tepid exchange against my
skin.

Max turned me around and fed the
zipper into the catch and lock before he zipped it up under my
chin. “There you go. All warm and ready for the chill of Aspen on
your birthday.” His thumbs brushed across the curve of my chin as
his eyes held every breath I took. The smell of him so close to me
created a fluttering deep within my groin.

When I pushed my hands into the front
pockets, clumps of something as soft as the fur on a kitten’s tummy
greeted my fingers.

“
Thanks,” I whispered as I
pulled out snow-white mittens.

“
You’re welcome; and hey,
you’ll wanna wear those when we get downtown.” He scooped up his
jacket, slipped into it, and in one dance-turn, pulled the garage
door open.

“
After you, gorgeous,” Max
mused with a gleam in his eyes and his sexiest smile.

“
Maybe you should save
that move for when you take me out dancing,” I teased as I swept my
hand across his chest.

The arctic air from the garage swirled
across my face, capturing my nose and the edges of my ears; good
thing this jacket had a hood.

“
Oh, so you’ll dance with
me tonight? I have the perfect place.”

“
Please don’t tell me it’s
Polaris. Because anybody who’s anybody goes to Polaris,” I smiled,
but Max looked at me confused. Flashes of Cindy cut viciously
across my jugular. Without warning, I flashed back to the memories
of her that night.

The snotty look she’d
given me when I came downstairs dressed in my comfy jeans and
sweater; the words she’d spat about Max being my teacher in front
of Calvin; and the look on his face when he’d registered what that
meant. God, she could have ruined everything. Instead, Max and I
had found a way to rise above her snarkiness. She didn’t win,
couldn’t win, and would never win. Suddenly the thought of running
into her made me a little sick to my stomach.
Oh, please don’t let her be downtown tonight.

“
Wilson?” Max said
breaking the reel of Cindy’s film in my head. “You’re coming with
me, right?” Max held open the door of his Z4.

“
Yeah, just getting
tripped up in thought,” I muttered before I slipped into the car. I
didn’t say anything to him about the possibility of Cindy being
downtown, and I didn’t want anything to screw up our night. Max,
like always, made sure my seat belt was clicked and my door was
closed tight before he strode around the car and got in.

“
Polaris was the club
Cindy wanted you to go to the night you were with me,” Max
breathed.

“
Yeah, so glad I didn’t
go,” I murmured.

“
Me too. You’ve never been
to downtown Aspen, have you?” Max asked.

“
Nope, this will be my
first time. I seem to have a lot of first times with you,” I
teased.

A smile crept across his face before
he reached up, pressed the garage door opener, and backed out,
exposing us to the freezing nighttime air of Aspen.

It was pitch black outside
as we made our way down his driveway. The stars in the sky spun
ancient love stories and the soft glow from his headlights danced
against our white-painted future. Hopefully, we were going to be
able to create a memory that wasn’t filled with a fear of
being
discovered
together. He and I could be ourselves and live in a complete
moment of just boyfriend and girlfriend.
I
hope Cindy doesn’t show up.

The car swayed along the curves in the
road. My heart floated in my chest, tethered by his scent and
captured by his smile. I loved that he stole glances my way every
couple of turns when the glow of the street lamps lit the space
inside the car just enough.

I watched the snowflakes dance
together as they fell against the windshield. I wanted to save each
one; set them free so they could be as happy as I was. But as
quickly as they landed, they melted into water, only to be cleared
from my view by the wipers.

The road straightened out, giving Max
the opportunity to rest his hand on my thigh. His warm fingers
tickled across my jeans, sending messages to the butterflies
convening down real low. I pressed my hand against his; he smiled,
and his eyes followed suit.

“
This has been the most
amazing birthday—thank you,” I whispered.

“
You’re welcome. I wanted
to make sure I made it memorable for you.”

“
Believe me, you and your
family did. There is a part of me that feels strange not being home
and having my grandparents hovering over me.” I could feel the
sadness I’d supressed burst open as I admitted my feelings out
loud. Max had kept me so busy and entertained that, when the
moments of stagnancy seeped between my thoughts, they were filled
with missing my grandma and grandpa. The small traditions they
created for me when I was little up to the customs and beliefs they
instilled deep within me had all been forgotten today.

“
I can’t imagine how hard
it must be for you, not having them around for Christmas.” Max
rubbed his hand up my leg. “I don’t know what I would do if I lost
my parents. I wouldn’t be as strong as you are, that’s for sure,”
he continued. He increased the pressure in his hand as if to tell
me that he wished he could fix all my pain.