The Milestone Tapes (29 page)

“Sorry, were you calling long?” Mia asked a few paces from the door, ignoring the speculative looks of her friends sprawled all over the patios, distracted from their various conversations and games.

“Come on inside for a minute.” Ginny held the door for Mia, who slipped under her arm into the overly warm kitchen.

“What’s up? Am I in trouble?” Mia asked, concerned.

“Just got off the phone with your dad. He’s not going to home for make dinner.” Ginny’s eyes pinched, awaiting the disappointment to crush Mia.

“Oh! Is that all?” Mia asked, relief washed over her.

“I figured you’d be upset,” Ginny tilted her head, confused.

“It’s okay ... I kind of overheard your conversation this morning ... ” Mia admitted.

“This newfound understanding doesn’t have anything to do with that handsome young man out there waiting for you?” Ginny smiled suggestively.

“A little bit,” Mia answered honestly. “But mostly, it’s okay, he’s got to do what he’s got to do.” Mia shrugged, her eyes drifting back to the cliff edge. The night was blackening but she could still see Bryan waiting.

Ginny wrapped Mia in a strong hug, the kind she usually reserved for moments like this; it reminded Mia of being a little girl.

“You’ll stay the night?” Mia asked hopefully into Ginny’s neck, where she nestled her head.

“Sure, sugar.” Ginny released her, and hustled her back towards the door. “You enjoy your night. And don’t worry, I’ll fix some pizza and put out more soda for your friends.”

Mia announced that dinner would be served soon as she passed quickly through the small gathering back to Bryan.

“Ginny’s making pizza for dinner, can you stay? I think everyone else is,” she asked as she approached him.

“Sure, that sounds good. Thanks.” He laced his arm over her shoulder lightly.

“So you really want to hear about my mom?” Mia asked, raising her face to his.

She was unsure if she could go there with him, but she wanted to. She liked him, a lot. It wasn’t just his handsome face or his good hearted nature; she wanted to trust to him, to reveal herself to him, to open herself up in a new way.

“I’ll listen if you want to talk, but I don’t want to, you know, pressure you.” Bryan tightened his arm around her, it felt good, strong and reassuring.

“She had breast cancer. I was only seven when she died, and she was sick for most of my life,” Mia began, trying to figure out the right words that would tell the story and keep her safe from an emotional breakdown.

“Wow,” Bryan answered softly.

“I remember a lot of things about her, she was amazing. A really great mom, I was lucky. She was an author, a really good one, too ... popular,” Mia smiled, it wasn’t painful to talk about the great things her mom was.

“I’ll look up her books, what did she write?” Bryan asked, genuinely interested.

Mia laughed. “Books for women, probably nothing you’d read, even on a dare!”

“Don’t be so sure, I’d like to read one—you know--get a feel for who she was.”

“They’re good. I’ve read them all. But, then again, I’m a woman. I could give you one if you want,” Mia mused.

“That would be great, thanks.”

“So, yeah, today my Dad gave me this box—a hope chest—do you know what that is?” Mia asked.

“Kind of.”

“Yeah, well, my Mom recorded these tapes for me. She called them “‘milestone tapes.’”

“Really? That’s very, very cool.”

“I think so. There’s a bunch of them, and I get to listen to them on important days or times,” Mia explained.

“Wow.” Bryan nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I miss her, all the time,” Mia admitted quietly. “And it’s weird, you know, the things you miss. Like I wish she was around to ground me ... Isn’t that so crazy? But it’s only because I know behind that punishment is love.”

“That is crazy ... ” Bryan laughed loudly., “But, you’ve got your Dad.”

“Yeah, I do. He’s cool, very laid back. He works all the time, which sucks, but I understand it.”

“Well, it looks like you live pretty large,” Bryan justified.

Mia thought about her life, her comfortable, tended to home, the shiny new Jeep in the driveway—her birthday present, her closet full of expensive clothes, her summer trips to various islands and her padded bank account thanks to her generous allowance. Her father provided a very plush life for her with the hours he dutifully put into his work.

“Yeah, all of this is nice, but I wish he was around more.”

“He’s a single parent, that can’t be easy.”

“He’s a great dad. But when my mom died he changed. He used to build homes here in town, you know. He wanted to be with my mom and me all the time. But when she died, he was unhappy here, doing that here. I think he felt ... I guess he felt trapped. He went back to this other life, back in Seattle, a few years ago. Now, he shuttles into the city every day ... and like tonight ... he’s not even coming home.”

“And you’ve got Ginny.”

“And my Aunt Soph,” Mia added. “But if I had my mom, things would be different. So knowing that makes accepting all of this, for what it is, harder.”

Mia didn’t expect Bryan to understand, she wanted him to, but the understanding was something bigger than an eighteen year old could grasp without real life experience. His life was perfectly normal after all. A mom who was involved and around, a dad who worked fifteen minutes away, a handful of brothers and sisters to love. Mia’s life was different.

“So, that’s basically it,” Mia shrugged away from Bryan and walked closer to the cliff edge, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Mia,” Bryan whispered, walking softly towards her. She turned slowly to face him. His eyes blazed warm with something she had never seen before. He lowered his face to hers and brushed his lips lightly against hers. They felt firm and somehow soft as they moved against hers in tandem. He slipped his arms around her lower back, pulling her in closer, the heat of his skin scorching her back through her thin sweater. His breath tasted sweet, he smelt clean and fresh, he felt warm and solid under her light touch.

He pulled back slowly, searching her face for something. Mia’s heart fluttered hard in her chest, her eyes closed and a small smile tugged on the corners of her lips.

“Wow,” Bryan whispered.

“Wow.” Mia’s eyes exploded with small dancing, flashes of lights. Fireworks.

“Mia, I really like you, a lot ... you’re interesting, and different and special,” Bryan began, “and I would love to take you out sometime, just the two of us, not a group thing.”

“I’d like that, a lot.”

“Good, because I’m really, really into you. You’re not like the other girls.” Bryan lowered his face again, kissing Mia deeply, weaving his finger up under her pony tail, pulling her face against his, taking her breath away.

~ * * * ~

“He asked me out!” Mia gushed as she helped Ginny gather the discarded plates and cups littered across the patio. The steady hum of nocturnal life droned beside them, the fire pit smoldering itself out.

“He did?” Ginny asked excitedly, plunking an empty cup in the waiting trash can.

“Yes!” Mia all but screamed into the quiet night.

“That’s wonderful, sweetness.” Ginny grazed Mia’s arm lightly.

“Tomorrow night! Can you believe it?”

“Oh, I can believe it, all right. You’re a beautiful girl, no reason for boys not to be banging down this door to get a date with you,” Ginny laughed lightly, as if it were a given that Mia would be desirable.

“Doubtful, but thanks,” Mia laughed.

“You never see yourself the way others do. Told my girls that all the time. You see your flaws, others see your perfections,” Ginny reasoned.

“We’re going to Cafe Garden.”

“Oh, very nice.”

“What do I wear? Should I get something new?” Mia considered the possibilities in her closet, the little black wrap dress and kitten heals, or the wool sweat dress with black tights and Mary Janes, or slacks with the pumpkin silk blouse and sweater wrap she saw hanging at the boutique the other day. She wanted to look beautiful, mature and grown up.

“You’ll be beautiful in whatever you choose, sweetness,” Ginny decided, cinching the bag closed and lifting its weight into her arms.

“I’m nervous,” Mia admitted bashfully. She’d been on dates before, that much was true. But the boys she’d humored never held her interest the way Bryan did. They were sweet and kind and cute, but Bryan stirred her.

“First love is always that way,” Ginny dismissed, carrying the bag to the can and surveying the tidy yard.

“Love?” Mia asked, surprised to hear the word pass Ginny’s lips.

“Of course.”

“I don’t … love him.”

“Have you ever been in love before?” Ginny settled into a wrought iron chair looking into the dying embers of the fire pit.

“No!”

“Well, I can just tell you what I know. I’ve seen you with this boy, Bryan is a good young man, and you’re different with him. Maybe it’s not love, not yet, but it’s different with him ... you’re different with him.”

“You can’t possibly know that! I hardly know him, we’ve hung out sure, but I don’t think I love him—doesn’t that take, like I don’t know ... time?” Mia countered, sitting down beside Ginny, resting her head on Ginny’s shoulder.

“I’ve raised you since you were a little girl, Mia. I know you, everything about you, I love you like you were my own, and I’m very attuned to you, sweetness. So, yes, I can see changes in you—even the small ones—I see them all.” Ginny wrapped her arm around Mia, holding her close.

“So what do I wear?”

“Oh Mia,” Ginny laughed loudly, squeezing Mia tightly.

~ * * * ~

Mia heard the tires of the car pull up the drive and she chewed nervously on the pink inside of her cheek. The sweater dress itched her back and she wanted to change again, but time was up.

Bryan knocked carefully of the glass door and waited, his back to the window as he looked out across the yard.

Gabe pulled the door away and appraised the young man bouncing nervously on the step.

“Hi, um, Mr. Chamberland. I’m here to pick up Mia.” Bryan thrust his hand out formally.

“Call me Gabe. Come in for a minute, she’s almost ready ... I think.” Gabe smiled taking the boy’s hand in his own, giving it a solid pump before he pulled the door aside, allowing Bryan to pass.

Mia had spent the better part of the early evening disassembling her closet. Clothes lay scattered like dead bodies across the floor of her room. She smudged another coat of berry lipstick on her full lips and closed her eyes hard. She was nervous. Sarah had come over earlier to help her pick the right outfit, but quickly gave up when Mia hemmed over the finer points of black versus grey.

“So, Bryan.” Gabe offered Bryan a seat in front of the television. “Tell me about yourself.” He muted the volume.

“Well, Sir, I’m a senior. I go to school with Mia. I work at the YMCA.”

“Any plans for graduation?” Gabe leaned over, taking his beer from the coaster, and tossing his leg casually over the other.