The Other Boy (16 page)

Crowded near the salad was a platter of cold salmon with dill, drizzled with a silky cream sauce. A gorgeous chocolate torte stood next to a white bowl of glowing raspberry sauce. David stood next to Fred, leaning his palms on the end of the table. Maddy’s eyes met his, and he grinned. “The torte is coffee-chocolate,” he said.

“Wow!” Maddy exclaimed. “This is so gorgeous!

Look at all of this!” Everyone was grinning. “Whose idea was this?” She looked questioningly at her mother. Mom was smiling and shaking her head.

“It wasn’t me, honey.”

Maddy looked around. “It wasn’t you?” David’s grin broadened as he saw the realization dawn on her face.

Maddy looked at him, amazed. “
You
? I can’t believe you’d—” She caught herself and quickly tore her eyes away from his.

He looked down and brushed an invisible crumb from the table. “It’s nothing—just some stuff I put together this afternoon.” His voice was low, but the pleasure in it was unmistakable.

“Arrmmhh.” Brian cleared his throat.

“Oh, I’m sorry. David, this is Brian, my …

boyfriend.” She wondered if the tiny pause had been apparent to anyone else. The two boys eyed each other—

one very tall and lean, clean-shaven, with curly light brown hair, the other dark-haired and blue-eyed, a three-day scruff on his chin.

David jerked his head once. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Brian stuck his hands in his pockets. David reached out and plucked a piece of yarn off Maddy’s shoulder. He held it out. “This fell off your crown,” he said solemnly.

“Oh! Thanks.” She took the yarn. “It sheds sometimes.”

“I noticed,” he replied with a funny look on his face.

“Well, okay!” Maddy’s father said heartily, looking from Brian’s furrowed brow to David’s bland expression with the air of a hockey referee trying to head off a brawl on the ice. “Let’s eat.”

The food was incredible. Maddy couldn’t stop eating. Her mom insisted David tell her the recipe for the cream sauce, and he laughed and shook his head, saying that Mondavi chefs would hunt him down if he let that gem get out. Maddy looked around the table at everyone’s faces, illuminated by the soft candlelight, the wind blowing up the rows and occasionally lifting one end of the tablecloth. This had to be one of her best birthdays yet.

“Well, honey, this is the first birthday here at the vineyard,” Maddy’s father said, glancing around the table and smiling.

“Stop, Dad, I can hear the violins starting,” Maddy teased.

Suddenly, there was a thud next to her. Maddy looked over to find Brian lying on the ground, flat on his back, lying on top of the wooden chair he had been sitting on.

A chair leg was lying in the dirt a few feet away.

“Oh my God, Brian. Are you okay?” She leaned down.

“What happened?” Maddy’s mother asked with concern. Everyone was craning to look over at Brian, who had picked himself up and was now brushing the clingy dust from his blue shirt, his face red.

“I was just sitting there and the chair bottom busted through.” He picked up the chair. The woven rush seat had a giant ragged hole in it. “And a leg snapped off.”

He sounded like he was mad but trying not to show it.

Maddy’s eyes widened, and involuntarily, she locked eyes with David across the table. She could tell he was thinking the same thing she was—the only difference was, he looked like he was about to start laughing hysterically. Brian caught the look and his eyes narrowed.

“What’s going on?” he asked slowly.

Maddy glared at David, whose face had started to turn purple from holding in his laughter. “Nothing, I’m sorry. It’s just, one of the chairs in the shed was a casualty of a minor paint fight we might have had. We put it aside to take it up to the repair shed, but—”

“Dad must have gotten it when we were getting chairs for dinner, not realizing it was broken,” David finished.

Fred nodded, looking a little sheepish.

“I grabbed one that was sitting right by the door,” he said.

“Oh, well, let’s just get that bucket over there,”

Maddy’s mom jumped in. “We can turn it upside down and—”

“I’ll sit on it,” David interrupted. “Brian, take my seat.” Brian looked suspicious for a minute and then moved toward the foot of the table. David vacated his seat and settled down on the upturned metal bucket across from the birthday girl.

“Thanks.”

David shrugged. “Sure.”

Fred leaned over to Maddy’s mother. “Debbie, I wanted to tell you that I did some pricing on a new mower—they’re really exorbitant.”

“I completely forgot, Fred, I talked to a guy from the seed place and he has a mower he might be selling,” her father said.

David rolled his eyes at Maddy. “Business again?”

She smiled. “Why are they so boring?”

Then, with an innocent air, David said, “I wonder if that’s how we sounded at the furniture store?”

“David,”
Maddy kicked him under the table. He widened his eyes and gave her a “Who, me?” look. Brian looked up from his fish.

“What happened at the furniture store?” he asked Maddy.

“Nothing,” she said.

“Something happened. Unless you’re into reminisc-ing about sofa-shopping now,” Brian insisted.

Maddy sighed and aimed another invisible kick at David’s shin. “It was just a funny misunderstanding, that’s all. We were picking out furniture for the tasting room, David and I, and the salesman called David my
husband
,” she explained, stifling a giggle. She looked over at Brian with an expectant smile, waiting for him to laugh at the absurdity of the situation, but his face was stony.

She hurried ahead. “So, we were just joking around and David said, ‘Oh, yeah, we hardly have any furniture,’

and the guy asked if we were newlyweds and I had to explain that I was keeping my maiden name and it was all just totally ridiculous.” David’s laughter erupted like he’d been holding his breath until now. His laugh was infectious and Maddy giggled also, remembering how earnest the salesman had been. She couldn’t help it. But Brian just sat there silently, his eyebrows knit together.

Suddenly, Maddy’s gaze locked onto David’s across the table. He smiled right into her eyes, his face open and engaging. Before Maddy could stop herself, she smiled right back at him, despite Brian sitting right next to her. Her heart started beating faster and her palms felt clammy. What was going on? Why was she having this kind of reaction?
You know why,
a little voice in her head piped up.
You’ve known for a while now. Be quiet!
she insisted.
Oh, just face it,
the voice went on.
You want
David
. Oh. My. God.
No!
She glanced at Brian as if he could read her mind. But she didn’t need to worry—he wasn’t even looking at her. He was staring off into space, gazing over the tops of the vines.

Maddy stared down at her lap, trying to calm her racing thoughts. Her
boyfriend
was sitting two feet away.

This is David,
she reminded herself.
David. Remember?

Work buddy?
Platonic
friend? Don’t panic,
she told herself.

Stay calm. Brian is your boyfriend. Just focus on him and
everything will be fine
.

On Sunday night, Maddy wandered out to the orchard after Brian was ensconced safely in his car, probably doing ninety down the highway on his way back to San Francisco. Her parents had gone into town for groceries and ice cream, but Maddy had begged off, saying she needed to decompress a little. And she did. Her nerves had been rubbed raw by the tension of the weekend. Between Brian, David, and her confusion, she had felt like she was being pulled tight enough to pluck like a guitar string. She needed some time just to think and sort out her mass of tangled emotions.

Maddy took a deep breath, gazing at the hills colored red, gold, and pink. She could feel some of the stress slipping away with the setting sun. The vineyard looked beautiful with the flowers in full bloom and light on the trees. But despite all of it, she knew the weekend hadn’t gone right at all—not like she’d expected.

Brian had been so distant. And then there’d been the craziness of her birthday dinner … and David. There was definitely a connection between them, but she
had
to make sure it didn’t go further. She had to figure out Brian’s deal before she could even think about David.

“Hey,” David’s familiar voice said softly. Maddy spun around; she hadn’t heard him approach. “I was going to get my iPod out of the shed… .”

His curly hair was still wet from a shower. His skin glowed from the water and the fading sunlight. Maddy nodded. Without saying anything else, he fell in beside her. They strolled silently around the edges of the orchard, David occasionally reaching out to slap a tree trunk under the deep, spreading branches. The setting sun pierced the leaves, painting their faces as they passed beneath. It could have been sort of awkward, walking like this, but Maddy felt comforted by David’s presence.

“So, are you okay?” David finally asked. Maddy was quiet for a long moment. David shook his head. “Sorry.

It’s none of my business.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m just so confused. This weekend didn’t turn out anything like I thought.”

He looked at her. “How come?”

They had almost reached the end of the orchard. In front of them, the grapevines stretched in curving rows. She hesitated. “Brian.” She felt a little weird saying this, but she really just needed to talk to someone.

“It just seemed so different with us this time than it usually is.”

“Usually? You mean like down in the city?”

“Yeah. He just seemed awkward out here. We were kind of having trouble finding things to talk about.”

David nodded. “That’s hard.”

“I know,” Maddy went on. “I don’t even know if we’re still meant to be together.” She stole a glance sideways at David. He had stopped walking and was gazing out over the hills, his hands in his pockets. His face was serious.

“That must be rough. But, you know, I don’t think he’s good enough for someone like you.” He turned toward her and put his hands on her shoulders. Maddy inhaled sharply. He was looking into her eyes, his gaze direct and clear. Gently, he slid one hand under her hair at the back of her neck and drew her a little closer.

Maddy’s heart was pounding. “I wasn’t impressed by him,” he said softly. His face was so near that his breath tickled her cheek. “He just seems like a rich jerk.” He leaned down. Maddy pulled back abruptly. For an instant, they stared at each other, eyes wide.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I …” He looked totally taken aback.

“Are you coming on to me? Because in case you hadn’t noticed, I have a boyfriend.” At the back of her mind, she knew she was being unfair. They both felt a connection, but she couldn’t stop herself. All of her confused, frustrated feelings poured out of her. “I’m not just up for grabs.”

“But you just said it wasn’t working out,” he reminded her.

“All I said was that I was
thinking
about things! I didn’t say we were breaking up or anything.”

“Well, you could’ve fooled me.” David took a step backward and narrowed his eyes. “You really want to be with that guy?” His voice was scornful.

“You don’t even know him!” Maddy shot back. “And the last thing I need right now is you jumping all over me! Thanks a lot—I guess that’s what I get for confiding in you.”

“Fine. Then I guess I was wrong about Brian being too good for you. I take it back—it looks like you two are perfect for each other.”

“Maybe we are!” Maddy shouted at him. “He should be perfect for a
spoiled suburban brat
like me!” She empha-sized the last words and watched his face harden.

“That was a long time ago. And I already apologized,” David said through clenched teeth.

“Yeah, well, maybe you should say it again.” She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly.

“Why? I was right all along—any girl who likes that narcissistic asshole can’t be anything but a spoiled brat.”

Maddy stared at him, her hands clenching into fists, nails digging painfully into her palms. She turned and ran back toward the house, her heart pounding in her ears. As she fled, she shot a quick glance over her shoulder. David stood alone among the trees, watching her, with the setting sun at his back.

✦ ✦ ✦

Maddy was sitting on her bed, runny-nosed and

blotchy-faced, thinking dully that she should get up and find a tissue, when someone knocked on the door.

“C-come in,” she sniffled, giving up on the tissue and wiping her nose on her arm.

Maddy’s mom opened the door and took one look at her daughter’s swollen eyelids and matted hair. “I saw you running up to the house,” she said, sitting next to Maddy on the bed and putting her arms around her.

“You looked pretty upset.” Maddy gave up all semblance of control and started sobbing again, resting her face against her mother’s shoulder.

After a few minutes, her sobs began to taper off. Her mom handed her a tissue. “What is it, sweetie? I know this has been a hard week for you.”

“It has. I don’t know what to do!” Maddy wailed all of a sudden. Her mother looked concerned.

“About what?”

Maddy paused and took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure how to articulate what she was feeling. “It’s just that I feel so confused. I don’t know what I want. It was so weird when Brian was here—he didn’t even seem like the same person I remembered. Like, he wasn’t even listening when I was talking. He was never like that at home.”

Her mom’s eyebrows knitted. “I noticed that things seemed a little awkward between the two of you.”

“So awkward! He’s changed and I don’t know why.”

Maddy’s mother considered this for a moment.

“Here’s a thought,” she said. “Did you ever think that maybe it’s not Brian who’s changed, but
you
?”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t think that’s it—I mean, it’s only been a couple of months.”

“But think about it, Maddy. Brian’s been in the city this whole time, just like before. You’ve been the one in the new environment.”