The Reunion (15 page)

He put his arms over the shoulders of Ethan and Ron. “If I told them once, I told them a thousand times. Would they listen, though? Not on your life. But I knew we’d win the race. Yes, sir, I bet they’ll listen to the old coach now.”

Rebecca literally jumped into Ron’s arms.

Jenny kissed her brother. “You two were wonderful. I can’t believe you won.” She hugged and kissed Bill. “That was some race, William. You did very well.”

“Thank you,” he said good-naturedly, hugging her. “I really wanted to dance with you.”

“Oh, well, we’ll just have to wait until the second dance.” She gazed at her handsome, stocky boyfriend, whom everyone was congratulating. “I’m shocked you did so well without practice.”

He winked. “We were practicing a lot,” he said, “but McKenzie didn’t want anyone to know. We were only able to get out in the last ten days, but I had a friend of mine in Sambro coaching us, and we were rowing out there.”

“You trickster,” she said, kissing him again.

“Nice going,” Ebony said, walking up to Ethan.

“Thank you,” he returned. Ethan leaned over and whispered into her ear, “I could feel you at the end.” He nodded meaningfully. “I mean I could literally feel your presence.”

She smiled at him, then turned away, wondering exactly what he meant.

“Let’s go home and get some rest,” Doc suggested, taking a few steps up the hill. He shook his foot. “I want to be in top form tonight at the dance.”

Bern Baxter suddenly appeared from nowhere and stood right in front of Ethan. “You was lucky, Harrington,” he said in a cold, hateful tone.

Ethan’s expression turned ice cold.

“Go home, Bern,” Bill said. “We don’t want any trouble here.”

Bern tried to ignore Bill. “Why did you come back, Harrington? I thought you run away for good.”

A palpable viciousness grew in Ethan’s eyes. Ebony, seeing the old Ethan coming to the fore, clutched his arm and tried to lead him away. He didn’t budge. He didn’t even seem to realize that Ebony was tugging at him. Ethan just stood there, staring into Bern’s eyes. It seemed to Ebony that he might explode at any moment, so she pleaded with him to walk away with her. Ethan’s breathing became short and quick. Ebony knew he could not stand being taunted.

Jenny, who had watched the scene in silence, impetuously walked up to Baxter and stood in front of Ethan. “Leave us alone.”

The huge man looked into her eyes. “No.”

“Back off,” Ethan said.

Bern glared at Ethan, but some people who obviously knew him suddenly intervened and convinced him to leave with them for a “free drink.”

“I’ll get you,” Baxter promised, pointing his finger at Ethan. “You ain’t gettin’ away from me this time, pretty boy.”

Ethan gritted his teeth, and Ebony could see fire in his eyes. She shook her head and sighed as she began walking.

“Can I drive you home?” Ethan asked, catching up to her.

“No.”

“You’re mad at me? Why?”

She stopped and sighed like a schoolteacher almost ready to give up on a student who repeatedly fails to grasp a simple lesson. “When will you learn?”

“Learn what?” he cried in exasperation.

She shook her head. “You are still full of nasty pride. It’s ugly.”

He shrugged and shook his head. “Is it wrong to protect yourself or the ones you love? What do you want me to do, roll over and play dead?”

“Protecting people is one thing,” she said, “but allowing your heart to be filled with anger and hatred because of your injured pride is something else.”

“Five years ago I would have drilled him.”

“Five years ago you were a Neanderthal.”

Ethan suddenly burst out laughing. Ebony laughed, too, and the others approached them with cheerful smiles. They discussed their plans regarding the trophy presentation and dance, then left, Jenny and Bill going together and Ron, Rebecca, and Doc walking to their car. More people walked up to Ethan and congratulated him, and Ebony, much to her delight, saw a warmth and ease in him she had never noticed before. They moved to his car, and he drove right to her front door.

“If you want,” she said, “you can pick me up around six thirty.”

“I’ll be here,” he said.

* * * *

Ebony glanced at her watch after hearing a car pull into the yard, straightened her hair a final time, then opened the door to Ethan. He was dressed in a stylish suit and cut a dashing, handsome figure.

“I’m sorry,” he said with a confused expression, “but it seems I’ve come to the wrong house.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, it is you,” Ethan exclaimed, feigning surprise. “Ebony, I never thought even you could look so beautiful.”

She blushed, though she was greatly pleased with the compliment and the sincerity with which it was given. “So, you like my dress?”

“Who wouldn’t? You look ravishing.” He held out his arm. “Shall we go, Ms. Evans?”

Ebony wrapped her hand around his thick, muscular biceps. “By all means, Mr. Harrington.”

When they got into the car, Ethan put the key into the ignition, but did not turn it. He seemed deeply troubled.

“What’s wrong?” Ebony asked. “I could tell when you left earlier that something was bothering you.”

Ethan turned to her in the dim evening light. “Do you love me?”

“Excuse me?”

“Do you love me?”

“Should I?”

“Yes, you should. You said you would love me once I humbled myself. Remember? You said that when we walked back from the beach today. I thought about it, and I decided you were right, so I humbled myself.”

“You did? When?”

“You saw me. I shook hands with that McKenzie guy, even though he thinks of me as an inferior.”

“You call that humility?” Ebony questioned with a laugh. “It doesn’t take much to shake someone’s hand, especially after you’ve beaten him. What if you had lost or been embarrassed? How would you have reacted then?”

“The same.”

“Come on, Ethan,” Ebony returned skeptically. “Tell the truth.”

“I almost wish we would have lost,” he mumbled. “Then I could have shown you how much I’ve changed. Really, Ebony, something came over me today.”

“Oh? What caused this amazing epiphany?”

“I wanted to compete and win, but the negative energy was gone.” He sighed and looked out the windshield toward the bay that lay below. “Like I told you, all my life I was the rich kid everyone resented. I used to drink and fight to show them I wasn’t a weak little rich boy who hid behind his money. I’m proud to say I met them on their own terms and never took a backward step.”

“You talk about ‘them’ as if they’re aliens from another planet.”

“It felt that way sometimes. You might not believe this, but wealth can be as much of a curse as poverty. You never know if people like you because of who you are or because of what they think you can do for them. That’s why Jenny has a hard time committing to Bill, no matter how much she likes him.”

“I think he loves her.”

“Me too, but when you have money, there’s a built-in paranoia that comes along with it. As a little boy, the other kids always asked me if I wanted to play ball, not because I was their friend, but because I owned bats and balls and bases. I played, yet I knew they resented me. So I resented them. I was determined to be the best player, to beat them at their own game. Maybe that way, I thought, they would like me.”

“And?”

“They resented me even more,” he said.

“And it was the same with fighting,” she continued as if she knew the innermost workings of Ethan’s mind. “You thought that people would admire you for drinking and fighting. They would see you as one of them.”

“Yes.”

“But it didn’t work that way, did it?”

He shook his head. “A lot of people feared me, some hated me, and I think I can honestly say that few actually liked me. I was always on the outside looking in, trying to be a part of something that wouldn’t accept me.”

“Will it ever change?”

“It has changed,” Ethan assured her, “because I’ve changed.”

“How?”

“For Ron it’s just a matter of meeting people, but for me I had to change inside. That’s been happening by degrees over the last five years, and today, when you and I talked, I felt something deep inside. I still wanted to win the race, but I wasn’t consumed by the need to be better than the next guy. I wanted to win for Ron, and I wanted to dance with you. Outside that, I wasn’t driven by my old pride.”

“You weren’t?”

“No.”

“What about that episode with Bern Baxter?”

“That’s different.”

“How?”

“He insulted Jenny.”

“And he insulted you. He challenged
you
.”

“Yeah,” Ethan admitted.

“You couldn’t let him embarrass you,” Ebony said gravely. “If that happened, you would feel ashamed. You’d feel as if someone was humiliating you. All those people looking at Mr. Ethan Harrington. They might laugh at you or whisper under their breaths. That would be asking too much, wouldn’t it?”

“Right,” he agreed.

She gazed deeply into his eyes. “That’s exactly how I’m going to feel tonight when I dance with you. Do you understand? Do you understand what this will mean to me?”

He looked at her, and they shared a quiet moment.

“This dance will be intense for me. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I do. Your pride is every bit as strong as mine. To dance with me in front of all those people will require an incredible amount of humility. They might whisper that you’re a fool for dancing with me. But you’re willing to bear it. Why?”

“I think you know why.”

“Do you love me that much?”

“I wish we could somehow change places,” Ebony said, deflecting the question, “not because I want you to feel the same humility I’m experiencing, but because I would like to dance with you when you are as vulnerable as I will be tonight. You see, Ethan, I fear your pride. Because of it, you made bad decisions all those years ago, and you left me. Your pride is a wall between us. It’s my enemy. I would like to see you stripped of your pride for one moment in time. I know it will never happen, you would never allow it, but I can’t help believing it would be a divine moment between us. Do you understand that?”

“I understand it,” he said, “but I don’t feel it.”

“When you truly love me, you will feel it. And when you feel it, I will truly love you.”

Ethan started the car, and they both took a deep breath. When they approached the White’s Lake Legion, Ethan appeared to be deeply engrossed by the words Ebony had spoken. Something important had passed between them, but though Ebony knew he could grasp it with his intellect, she realized he might not comprehend it in his soul. Maybe she had asked too much, and maybe it would always be impossible for him.

Close to one hundred people milled about in the hall, and they all, as if on cue, turned to Ethan and Ebony when the couple entered the building. Women touched each other and pointed. Many men walked up to shake Ethan’s hand and to get a closer look at the beautiful woman in the lovely dress. The men, most of whom seemed to have been forced into their suits and ties at gunpoint, spoke pleasantly for awhile, then formed small groups and argued about the races, citing the weather and countless other factors for their mistaken predictions. The women, dressed in their finest clothes, made a point of complimenting Ebony on her appearance. After a multitude of warm smiles and hugs, with a few nods to Ethan thrown in for good measure, they returned to arranging the food and organizing behind the scenes. Officials made friendly comments to the ladies and arranged the trophies on a large table at the center of the hall in front of the stage.

“Over here!” called Doc, sitting at a table reserved for the champions and their friends. “Sit down,” he urged, pushing out two vacant seats that stood side by side.

“Thank you,” Ethan said, graciously holding out a chair for Ebony.

After the meal, everyone hushed at the request of the master of ceremonies. He told a few jokes, made a speech, then awarded the trophies for second, third, and fourth places.

“Now,” he exclaimed, “the moment we’ve all been waiting for. This year’s winners of the Rowing Cup, our friends from Shad Bay, Ethan Harrington and Ron Thompson.”

The spectators filled the hall with loud, sustained clapping as Ethan and Ron strode to the table and accepted their trophy. They held it aloft, laughed, and looked at each other. The audience cheered. A microphone found its way into Ron’s hand, but he stared at it with a blank expression and handed it to Ethan. The hall went quiet.

“We thank you for this trophy,” Ethan said in a clear, measured voice. “I’ll tell you one thing, though. Ron and I had to work our butts off to win it.”

A good-natured laugh rippled through the crowd.

“The teams in this year’s races were excellent, and we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the Morton brothers and their amazing run. When I think about what it took to win once, I am awed by their accomplishment.”

The audience cheered and clapped, looking at each other and complimenting Ethan on his speech and smooth delivery.

“And I’d just like to say one more thing,” Ethan added. “I’m happy to be here among such fine people, and”—he looked directly at Ebony—“tonight I feel like the luckiest man in the world.”

The women sighed and whispered to each other. Ebony smiled warmly at Ethan. Under the table, Jenny squeezed her hand.

The crowd chanted, “Winners’ waltz…winners’ waltz…winners’ waltz…”

The band, a collection of amateur local musicians, struck up the notes of a slow dance. Ron returned to the table, while Ethan chatted a moment with the master of ceremonies. An excitement filled the hall, and all eyes watched with special keenness. The women especially had awaited the moment when Ethan would offer his hand to Ebony. How would she react? Would they hold each other with formality, or as lovers? Some might have felt that Ebony should have rejected Ethan’s advances from the very first, but even they, after seeing the handsome and dashing figure he cut, and realizing by his speech that he had greatly matured over the years, admitted to themselves that they might also have had their hearts swayed.