The Perfect Family (5 page)

*

“Sorry,” Jamie said when he bumped into Luke Crane in the hallway. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.” Because he was thinking of how he hadn’t told Brian about his meeting with Ms. Carson.

Luke gave a half-smile, revealing a dimple Jamie never noticed before. “Me, either. I was thinking about something else.”

The guy looked totally cool. He’d obviously just showered and his dark blond hair, short and spiked, was damp. The blue of his sweatshirt accented his eyes. He was bigger than Jamie with broader shoulders and a hell of a lot more muscle.

Jamie shifted his backpack from one arm to the other. “Have a good practice?”

“Yeah.” Luke stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall of lockers. “I hurt my shoulder last year, but it’s back in shape.”

“Bri told me. Glad it’s better.” Duh, he sounded like a dunce. Why couldn’t he think of something interesting to say? “I don’t know how you do it, star pitcher and valedictorian of the class. You make it seem easy.”

“That’s all a performance.”

Interesting choice of words. “What do you mean, Luke?”

The guy’s face blanked. “Nothing. It was a dumb thing to say. Speaking of performances, I hear you’re the lead again in this year’s play. Brian brags about you all the time.”

“Thanks. I love acting. I think I might do it out in the world, you know, someday.”

“That’s great, Jamie. That you do what you want to.”

“Don’t you?”

Luke’s blue eyes filled with sadness and he shrugged as if to say, “I wish.”

“There you are.”

Jamie startled at the intrusion. He saw Kiki Jones, Julianne’s best friend, come up behind Luke. Her reddish hair fell in soft waves around her face and she had delicate features. She greeted Jamie, then said to Luke, “I’ve been waiting at my locker for you.” She sidled in front of him and gave him a kiss on the mouth. A long one.

Luke pulled away, his face red as he darted a glance at Jamie.

Jamie cleared his throat. “I’ll leave you two love birds alone.”

“Nice talking to you, Jamie,” Luke said as Kiki slid her arm through his. “Really.”

“See you later.”

Jamie hurried down the hall, his stomach in knots. Kiki Jones was pretty and popular. She’d been voted queen for last year’s Junior Prom and everybody thought she was hot. Why should Luke be an exception?

Sighing, Jamie went out the side door and was glad for the cool winter air. He’d walk around the building to the auditorium so he could get his head on straight. By the time he got to practice, he’d fall right into the role of Tom. He thought of what Luke said about performances and realized how little people knew about each other.

And he wondered what was going on in Luke Crane’s head.

Wearing a jet-black tux with a blue cummerbund to match Heather’s dress, Brian stood in the doorway to Jamie’s room and leaned against the jamb. His brother’s space smelled like incense. Brian noted the framed pictures on the bookcase, in front of tons of books on the shelves. One whole row was of Greek mythology, which his mother used to read to them when they were little and Jamie still dug. On the bed was a spread their dad had brought back from Mexico. Now their dog Buck slept on it, snoring like hell. The stuff in Jamie’s room wasn’t to Brian’s taste. His own was full of trophies and sports posters—with the slugger Willie Mays in the place of honor—but hey, Brian had always accepted Jamie for who he was.

Yet he had to be big brother sometimes so, as Jamie yanked on the tie he was trying to fix, Brian said, “You can be such a dweeb.”

Jamie dropped his hands. “Who the hell invented these? I just got the hang of a bow tie, now guys are wearing ascots. It’s nuts. This whole prom thing is.”

Brian crossed to Jamie and stood before him. “Here, let me do it.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “Heather says I got magic fingers.”

Brian wrestled with the soft green material of Jamie’s tie. Tonight was the Valentine’s Ball and everybody went to it, including his prom-phobic brother. “What are you doin’ afterward?” he asked Jamie.

“Coming back here with the kids from the play. We rented all three installments of
The Lord of the Rings.
”

“Jamie, Jamie, Jamie. Have I taught you nothing? After the prom is
not
a time for movies.”

Jamie rolled his eyes.

“There you go.”

“Thanks.” Jamie faced the mirror. “Where you going after?”

Following suit, Brian stood next to him in the glass. Even in appearance they were different: one dark, one light; one muscular, one slender but solid. “
We’re
going to the lake.”

“No surprise there.” Jamie snorted. “Don’t have to ask what you’ll be doing.”

Brian waited a second. “Can I ask you a question?”

Jamie shrugged.

“Why aren’t you taking somebody you like to the dance?”

“I like Julianne.”

“No, I mean a girl you’d make out with.”

“Nobody’s on the radar screen yet.”

“Never has been, Jame.”

Jamie went to his desk, got his wallet and checked inside. “Whatever.” He slanted his brother a glance. “We’re not all sex-crazed maniacs like you.”

“I love Heather. I’m not in it for the sex.”

“Yeah, I know.” Jamie’s tone turned serious.

“Though it’s a perk.”

Brian shared a lot with Jamie. They’d had their first cigarettes together. He’d told Jamie when he and Heather finally got horizontal. And they both hated the same French teacher. But some stuff he didn’t tell his brother, like the pot he had stashed under his bed. He wondered what Jamie wasn’t telling him.

“Did you know Grandma Lorenzo wanted to come tonight so she could see us all dressed up?” Jamie asked. “Aunt Sara was going to go to Cornwall to get her, but Grandma got sick.”

“Which is good luck for us.”

One of their similarities was their dislike of their maternal grandmother. Because she’d had such a tough time growing up, his own mom drilled into them the importance of family. Brian believed nothing would ever come between him and his brother.

“I’m glad Grandma Lucy and Grandpa BJ are here tonight, though,” Jamie said. “They enjoy these things.”

“Yeah, and they’ll slip us a twenty before we leave.”

“Definitely a bonus.” Jamie stuffed his wallet in his back pocket. “I guess I’m all set.”

“Lookin’ good, bro.”

“Back at ya.”

“Come on, Buck,” Jamie called to the dog, who roused and leapt off the bed.

As they started out, Brian grabbed Jamie’s arm. “Jame, what I said before about having a girlfriend. I didn’t mean, you know, to hurt your feelings.”

For a minute, his brother’s jaw tightened. “I know, Bri. But I’m down with it. For now, anyway.”

“Whatever works for you.”

“Let’s go before everybody gets here.”

Eight couples and their parents were coming to the Davidsons’ house to take pictures before the dance. Their pre-prom party wasn’t as big and fancy as the ones the Lewises had before the spring balls, but it would be fun. “Mom can get her crying and her ‘oh I can’t believe you’re my babies’ over before everybody gets here.”

“Poor Mom. She’s so sensitive.”

“Yeah, I know.”

One behind the other, they left Jamie’s bedroom, bathed in a feeling of brotherhood and acceptance.

*

“It’s lovely, dear. The spread you put out.”

“Thanks, Mom.” A sturdily built woman with Mike’s smile and a mass of gray curls, Lucy Davidson was the perfect mother-in-law. Though Lucy and BJ had moved to a small lake house two years ago, it was only a half hour away. They got to share in all the boys’ events and were an integral part of Mike and Maggie’s lives.

“You seem a bit distracted.”

“Do I?” She’d been thinking about her talk with Jamie yesterday when he picked up his tux.

You don’t seem happy about the Valentine’s Ball, honey.

I think proms are lame.

Then why are you going?

Julianne needed a date. Her ex was supposed to take her, so I’m the understudy.

Honey, do you want to talk about anything?

Nope, let’s go watch
Lost
instead
.

The doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” Lucy told her. “You finish with the hors d’oeuvres.”

Gretta, who came to every pre-prom event for the boys, as Maggie had done with Amber, brought in more ice from the garage. “I have the punch all ready.”

“Thanks. You’ve been a big help.”

She joined Maggie at the counter, setting the bag down with a thud. “Hard to believe, isn’t it, the boys are so grown-up.”

“In some ways I hate it.”

Gretta laughed. “I did, too. With Amber. But we gotta let them go, Mags.”

“Easier said than done. You sobbed when Amber left for college.”

“So did you. We’re a pair.” She pointed to the last of the cheese appetizers Maggie was preparing. “Those look great.”

Since the ball included dinner at six, this four o’clock repast consisted of light finger food and chocolate-covered strawberries, which smelled decadent. Vowing to not feel nostalgic about the boys growing up, going away, and instead enjoy the night, Maggie smiled at her friend. “I’ve got to get these out.”

“Go ahead, I’ll put this ice on the soda in the cooler.”

Maggie took the last of the trays to the dining room, where she found Judy Johnson, Craig’s wife, rearranging the dishes.

“Tyler’s handsome tonight, Judy. And that date of his? Absolutely beautiful.”

“I can’t believe…” Judy averted her gaze and swiped at her eyes.

Setting down the food tray, Maggie circled the table and slid her arm around her friend. “You okay?”

“It was five years ago. But it seems like yesterday we thought we were going to lose him.” She waved her hand in front of her face. “I’m sorry, I’m a mess.”

“I don’t know if you ever get over a life-threatening illness in your child.”

Shakily, Judy drew in a breath. “He had a checkup a few weeks ago. No signs of the leukemia. He doesn’t have to go back for a year.”

“That’s wonderful.”

“I thank God every day for it.” She shook her head. “And apologize for not having faith that Tyler would be well again.”

“I think God would understand.”

Judy shrugged off the mood. “Let’s change the subject. Your boys are as gorgeous as ever.”

Maggie’s gaze traveled through the kitchen to the family room. Jamie and Julianne stood in front of the fireplace talking with some school friends. Brian was over in a corner, his arm around Heather.

“What other parents are coming?”

“The Simonettis and the Cranes.”

“None of Jamie’s friends?”

“No, a group of them are going stag but they didn’t want to come for pictures.”

Fussing with the centerpiece, an arrangement of blue and white carnations she’d brought, Judy was thoughtful. “We don’t know the Cranes well.”

“Luke’s on Brian’s baseball team, though they hang out in different crowds. But his date, Kiki Jones, is Julianne’s best friend. I think that’s why they’re here.”

Another peal of the bell. This time, Maggie headed to the foyer to answer it. On the porch were Dr. and Mrs. Lucas Crane. “Hi. Come on in.”

Both tall and slender, Lucas wore a meticulous suit and Erin a fur-trimmed coat. She handed Maggie some roses.

“Nice to see you again.” The couples ran into each other on occasion at baseball games.

“Thanks for the flowers.”

They made small talk while Maggie hung up coats, then she led them to the back of the house, noticing Mike was in the den off the foyer where he’d gone with his father. She called out, “We’ve got guests, honey.”

“Be right there.”

*

Mike occupied the big padded desk chair while his father lounged in a recliner and scratched Buck’s head. Mike hadn’t seen his dad in a while because BJ had been in Florida with one of Mike’s brothers for a month, so they’d come into the den for a few private words after his parents arrived for the prom pictures.

Mike was tall like his dad, but more muscular. Brian had inherited his looks, too. BJ said, “Can’t believe the boys are at this point in their lives.”

His father spent a lot of time with both his grandsons but was closest to Brian, who was named after him. Once, when Mike’s dad broke his arm, Brian went out to their house several times a week, even when he had practice, to help with the chores. His parents never missed one of Brian’s games unless they were out of town.

Lucy, on the other hand, doted on Jamie, and he returned her affection. Last year when she’d had surgery, Jamie went to visit her while she was laid up at home. She bemoaned the sorry state of her finger and toe nails because she’d missed her biweekly pedicure and manicure. Jamie excused himself, drove to the drugstore, came back with nail polish, and painted her nails. He said it was one of the few times he’d seen his grandma cry. God bless him, he couldn’t figure out why.