Running Away With You (Running #3) (8 page)

W
e park our car in the restricted lot and Evan escorts us to the main entrance.  We find ourselves in the Theodore Franklin Rotunda, standing beneath the skeleton of a barosaurus, its long neck stretching nearly the length of the room.  Little Regan holds tightly to Evan’s leg, unwilling to venture too close to the colossal display. 

I’ve seen four security guards since our arrival.  I have no doubt they are here because of our visit.  Evan convinced me to see things from a different perspective.  The need for additional security has given these employees an opportunity to earn some overtime pay.  Since Christmas season will officially begin with Black Friday in just a few days, they may be grateful for our visit rather than inconvenienced by it.

I urge Evan to move on to another display – the longer we stay in one place, the more likely it is that someone will recognize him – but he tells me he’s waiting for something.  Fortunately, it’s a Monday during the school year, so the museum is not very crowded today. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a young man in his mid-thirties heading straight toward us.  My initial reaction is to brace for an enthusiastic greeting from a football fan.  But as his image becomes clearer, I notice his suit jacket, bow tie, and the museum credentials pinned to his lapel.  His nametag identifies him as Hugh, and he is all smiles as he approaches our small group.  He holds out his hand to Evan first, “Mr. McGuire,” then to me, “Miss Fletcher,” and even offers a hand to Regan, “Miss Warren”.  Not surprisingly, Regan disappears behind Evan’s hulking body.  Hugh just gives her a friendly pat on the head, looks up at Evan and me and asks, “Ready to start your tour?”

I look quizzically at Evan.  “When I called for additional security, they insisted on a private tour.  I thought it might be nice,” Evan explains.  I should have known.  Nothing with Evan is ever uncomplicated.

Hugh takes us through a set of doors and right into the Hall of African Mammals.  In the center of the room is a freestanding group of elephants.  Regan is beyond excited.  She races toward the benches that surround the display and tries to climb up, getting up-close and personal with the majestic creatures.  Evan is quick to react, and he reaches little Regan before she gets too far.  He holds her up close to the elephants as Hugh tells us about the exhibit.

Regan finally notices the other twenty-eight dioramas surrounding us.  She joyfully bops around, hopping from display to display, calling out the names of the animals as she sees them – lions, gorillas, ostriches (which she calls “big birds”).  She stops dead in her tracks when she gets to the water hole diorama.  “Auntie Jette, come see the zee-ba wif me!” she chirps, dragging me by the hand toward the glass case.  Evan and Hugh have no choice but to follow dutifully and listen as Regan points out the giraffe, “funny monkeys” (baboons), and more elephants.  Seeing these animals through the eyes of a child is an experience like no other.  No wonder my mother was willing to come here so often.

This scene is recreated over and over as we make our way through the Halls of Asian Mammals, North American Mammals, Primates and Small Mammals.  Aside from the occasional flash of a camera, Evan and I aren’t interrupted during our tour.  When we arrive at my favorite display, the Hall of Ocean Life, Regan is beginning to show signs of exhaustion.  She is expressionless as we sit on one of the many benches, gazing up at the giant blue whale hanging from the ceiling, her eyes looking suspiciously heavy. 

I pull out a juice pouch for her, along with her favorite snack of carrot sticks.  We take a break and sit for as long as it takes Regan to finish her afternoon snack. 

The short break is exactly what Regan needed.  She catches her second wind and heads straight toward the walrus display.  Evan follows quickly, never allowing her to be more than a few feet away from him at any time.

Hugh is babbling on about the coral reef display, but I don’t hear a word he says.  My mind is completely occupied watching Evan dote on his niece.  He is sweet and patient with her; he adores her.  It’s clear the feeling is more than mutual. 

As the room begins to get more crowded, I notice three young women, not much older than me, walking purposefully toward Evan.  They are chatting excitedly, and I know what’s about to happen.  Evan is so focused on his niece, he doesn’t even notice until it’s too late.  I scan the room, but there are no security guards near us at the moment.

I reach Evan’s side just as the small brood approaches, giggling.  “Excuse me, but are you Evan McGuire?” one of the girls asks as she beams up at him, all starry-eyed and flirty.

Evan does his best to keep the situation under control.  Regan has found a hiding spot behind his legs, shielded from the prying eyes of these strangers.  “I’ll tell you, but you have to promise to keep it a secret,” he whispers, flashing his killer smile and perfectly white teeth.  I know what he’s trying to do, and it usually works.  He can get them to go away by sweet-talking his way out of it.  I do my best to stay out of the way and let him work his magic.

“I told you!” She turns to her friends, obviously feeling smug about her accomplishment.  Her friends start chattering, and I swear they’re giving me dirty looks. Starry-Eyed Girl hands me her camera phone and asks, “Do you mind?  Just one quick picture?”  With Hugh standing beside me, I must look like a museum docent.  She quickly places herself snugly at Evan’s side.

Hoping to appease them and end this situation quickly and painlessly, I begin to raise the camera and point it at them.  When she slips an arm around his waist, he’s pushed to his limit.  He gently but forcefully removes her arm from his waist, takes the camera phone from my hand, and gives it back to her.  “This is my fiancée, and she will
not
be taking our picture.  Please find someone else to take it so we can finish our tour.”  Regan is now holding on to my leg for dear life.

Flirty Girl hands the phone to one of her friends, who snaps a picture, and off they go.  Evan picks up Regan and carries her as we walk to our next exhibit.  “I’m sorry about that, Princess.  Sometimes people like to say hi to me.  You did a great job staying away from strangers.  Auntie Jette and I will always keep you safe.”

“Mommy says you’re a stud muffin and I should stay by Auntie Jette when ladies come to say hi.  She says ladies like stud muffins.  Are you a stud muffin, Uncle Evan?”  Hugh and I have to chuckle at that little exchange.

“Well, missy, your mommy is usually right about most things.  I don’t know.  Maybe I am,” Evan teases as he puts her back on the ground. 

Now Regan is bouncing up and down chanting, “Stud muffin, stud muffin,” over and over again as we make our way through the museum.

Hugh checks his watch and informs us that we have a scheduled stop at the Rose Center for Earth and Space.  Evan takes Regan right over to see the Moon rock while Hugh chats with one of the employees.  After a few minutes, he motions for us to join him.  The employee unhooks the rope and Hugh leads us through a maze until we find ourselves entering the doors to the planetarium.  The room is completely empty.  We are the only ones here.

“Dr. Tyson has arranged for a private viewing for your group.  Make yourselves comfortable.  I’ll be in the control room.  Let me know if you need anything at all, Mr. McGuire.”  Hugh excuses himself, leaving us to select our seats.  We choose seats in the center of the theater, with Regan sitting between us.  Evan drapes his long arm over the back of her seat and rests it on my shoulder, giving me a comforting squeeze.

Regan is babbling excitedly with Evan about this big room.  She wants to know where the movie will be shown.  When Evan points up at the ceiling, she’s awed.  While he explains to her what she can expect to see, my mind travels back to Evan’s phone conversation earlier this morning.  The words “restricted”, “private”, and “discharged” reverberate through my mind.  When we arrived, we parked in a restricted lot.  Now we’re sitting here for our private show.  What could he have meant by “discharged”?  I’m not quite able to sort that out.  Throwing caution to the wind, I decide to simply ask him.  “Evan, I have to admit something.  I think I overheard you arranging all this on the phone today.  You really thought of absolutely everything.”

“I wanted to have a perfect day out with my favorite girls.”  He leans down and kisses Regan on top of her little head as she beams with pride.

“Maybe you can clear something up for me.  I heard you talking about restricted parking and a private viewing, but what were you talking about when you mentioned ‘discharged’?”

“Discharged?”  Evan has a confused look on his face.  Then I see it hit him. “Admission charge – I was asking what the admission charge would be for the three of us.”

I smile at him, hiding the fact that for a fraction of a millisecond I doubted him.  I’m incredibly grateful that Adam called when he did, stopping me from invading Evan’s privacy.  I should have known better.

I have just enough time to ask one more question before the show begins. “How did you pull this off – a private viewing in the Hayden Planetarium?”

“One of the producers of Cosmos is an old friend of mine from UMD.  I promised him tickets to a playoff game if he could pull some strings with his boss, Neil deGrasse Tyson.  The two of them might be joining you in our suite if we make it to the playoffs this year.”

Right on cue, the room darkens and Dr. Tyson’s unmistakable voice echoes throughout the room, starting the show.  I feel Evan’s strong hand on my shoulder, tracing soft, lazy circles as he stares up at the sky.  This man is my hope, my dream, and my fantasy.  No one will ever be able to take his place in my heart.  He really has ruined me.

A
s soon as the car starts moving, Regan is sound asleep.  She did a lot of walking today.  She must be exhausted.  She’s certainly going to sleep well for Callie tonight. 

We arrive at Evan’s sister’s house just in time for dinner.  Evan carries Regan up to her room while I help Callie set the table.  Her husband Dean emerges from the basement, carrying a bottle of red wine. 

Callie knows her brother’s dietary demands during football season, and has prepared one of his favorites, shepherd’s pie.  She makes it the traditional way, with ground lamb.  The potatoes are whipped, not mashed, and it looks like she used a pastry bag to add them to the top of the casserole.  Callie really is a wonderful home cook.

As she serves, Dean pours everyone a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.  We share the highlights of our museum visit, and Evan can’t help but say something to his sister.  “Oh, and Callie – I should thank you for the promotion to stud-muffin.  It’s much better than my old nickname.  Jerk wad.”  Dean and Callie share a smirk.

“Well, little brother, when we were growing up, you were a jerk wad.  I thought it was time for me to find a more appropriate name that I could say in front of my little girl.  She’s like a tiny voice recorder, repeating everything I say.”  Callie turns and asks me, “If she pulled the stud muffin card, I guess that means he was hounded by some female fans again today.”

I tell her about our only encounter and how well Regan followed her mother’s directions to stay close to me.  Callie is thrilled to hear that her daughter actually did what she was told.  She’s doing a wonderful job raising such a sweet little girl.

“So, who are you expecting for Thanksgiving dinner?” I ask out of curiosity.  “I’m sorry we won’t be with you guys this year.”  Evan gives me an affirming squeeze on my knee.

This year, Evan and I are hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our home with our friends.  Derek has no immediate family nearby, and Reese doesn’t want to fly out to Wisconsin to see hers.  She bought tickets to fly home for Christmas, so she’ll be spending Thanksgiving here in New Jersey.  When Emmy and Adam found out what we were doing, they changed their plans and agreed to join us, along with Auggie and Lucas.  I’m really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year.

“Actually, when we found out that you guys had your own plans, we made plans ourselves.  We’re flying out to see my cousins in Maine.  My father hasn’t seen his brother in over a year and we thought it was time for a visit.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met those cousins.”  I know Evan’s father comes from a fairly large family, but I’ve never met any of them.

Evan takes a break from inhaling his dinner to join in our conversation.  “Hey, will Cole be there?  How’s he doing?”

Callie nods.  “Yeah, he’s up from Charlotte for a while.  I hear he might get traded again.”

I turn to Evan. “Traded?  Does he play football too?”

Evan laughs. “No way!  Cole is too much of a pussy to play football.  He plays baseball.  He couldn’t handle playing a real sport.”

Dean interrupts. “Don’t start that shit again, Evan.  Baseball is just as hardcore as football.  Only they don’t get a week between games.  Professional baseball players squeeze a hundred and sixty-two games into their season.”

Evan and Dean continue their intellectual debate about the rigors of professional sports.  I ask Callie for more information about this cousin I’ve never met.