The Reunion (13 page)

“You should cut a record, Dad,” Rebecca teased, rolling her eyes at the sound of the old bell.

“That good, eh?” he said, shaking it again. “I do believe I hear a Top Forty in there somewhere.”

As Rebecca and Doc bantered, Jenny reached over and held Ebony’s hand. Neither woman looked at each other, but Ebony was pleased by her friend’s warm gesture. She realized that Jenny was just as nervous as she was, and there was comfort in that.

When they arrived at the Prospect Bay Marina, about two miles from Shad Bay, hundreds of cars already lined the narrow road. Rebecca parked a long distance from the marina, and by the time they reached a good vantage point, Ethan and Ron were already rowing toward the starting line. Bill and his friend McKenzie walked up to them. They made small talk as they waited for the rowers to line up seventy-five yards out in the channel. Bill hugged Jenny, then took his leave with McKenzie behind him.

“McKenzie looked at me funny,” Ebony whispered to Jenny as they stepped away from their friends.

“McKenzie really, really wants to beat Ethan in this race,” Jenny said. “Sort of a guy thing, you know. I think he’s trying to prove something to you.” She winked. “Like he’s the alpha male, you know.”

“Men can be so odd,” Ebony said, smirking.

“Line up!” boomed the loudspeaker fixed on top of the judges’ van.

The teams nudged forward and backward in an attempt to form a straight line in the calm water. The loudspeaker called out, “Wait for the start gun, and round the buoy. First bow to reach the finish line wins.”

Rebecca clapped her hands and squealed, “This is so exciting. Oh, I hope they win.” She raised her voice to a holler. “Come on, Ron! You can do it!”

Neither Ron nor Ethan heard Rebecca’s voice or the sound of Doc’s bell. They were totally focused on the race. Ebony’s heart pounded, and she watched intently as Ethan and Ron quietly encouraged each other.

“They’ll never do it,” Doc proclaimed in a solemn voice. “They’re determined lads, but they’ll never do it.”

“Yes, they will,” Ebony said quietly, but confidently.

Bang!
cracked the starting gun.

A cheer erupted from the shore as the four teams started pumping their oars. Ethan and Ron got an excellent jump. Starting and turning were techniques they had practiced countless times over the last five weeks, and it showed. When they turned the buoy at the halfway mark, they were so far ahead that they slowed their stroke, conserving energy for the two tough races upcoming. They crossed the finish line well ahead of their nearest competitors.

“They won!” Rebecca shrieked deliriously, hugging Ebony and Jenny. “I knew they’d win! I knew it!”

“Ain’t won nothin’ yet,” a man behind them remarked with a growl.

Ebony’s group turned to a huge man with a heavyset jaw. He was well over six feet tall and weighed over two hundred and fifty pounds. His shoulders were extremely wide, and the plaid hunting shirt he wore hung freely at the waist and was partially opened to his hairy barrel chest. A scar, long and dark, ran across his chin.

“They will win,” Jenny said intently. “You wait and see.”

The man glared at her. “Can’t no boy like Harrington win no man’s race.”

“My brother’s no boy,” Jenny challenged, fire in her eyes.

“He ain’t a rower either. He’s a runner.”

Doc puffed out his chest. “They’re in the second round.”

The man ignored him and turned to Ebony. “Tell yer milkmaid lover boy Bern Baxter’s got something fer him.” He raised his knotted fist and his huge, brawny forearm. “Tell him that, you.”

“Tell him yourself,” Jenny taunted, “if you’ve got the guts.”

An expression of intense hatred descended over his features. He was so big and so powerful that even Jenny, usually not afraid to speak her mind and stick up for her rights, shuffled backward a couple steps. The man turned and walked off, people moving out of his way when he approached.

Doc quickly took heart. “Good thing he left when he did. I was getting ready to take my coat off.”

“So that’s Bern Baxter,” Rebecca said, nodding. “He’s the guy who got into the fight with Ethan that night?”

“That’s him,” Jenny confirmed. “He’s hated me and Ethan ever since he got fired from Harrington Construction for drinking on the job. Notice the scar on his face? Ethan gave him that outside the tavern one night.”

“He’s actually cleaned up his life,” Ebony said, for some reason defending the man. “Bern’s married now, with two children, and they have another one on the way. He has his own business, and he’s stayed out of trouble for a long time.”

“Seems to me that he wants some more now,” Jenny argued.

Ebony smiled and waved at Ethan as he rowed to the wharf. “Let’s talk about something more pleasant,” she said. “And don’t mention Bern to Ethan. It would be a distraction.”

When the two men came up to their group, they were greeted like conquering heroes. Rebecca kissed Ron, and Ethan hugged Jenny, making eye contact with Ebony as he held his sister. Spectators came over and congratulated them with compliments on their outstanding rowing technique and teamwork.

“That was only the first and probably the easiest race,” Ethan cautioned when left alone with his intimate group of friends. “Long way to go yet.”

Doc patted them both on the back. “Good move by slowing down, boys. The next race will be tougher, and you’ll need all the energy you can muster.”

Ron clapped his hands. “We race again at eleven, so that gives us time to go home and grab something to eat.”

Rebecca affectionately pinched his stomach. “Always thinking about food, aren’t you, dear?”

“I haven’t eaten anything except that bowl of oatmeal you gave me this morning.”

“All right, but it better be something light. The last thing you need is a cramp that ruins all your training. There’s a canteen set up at the White’s Lake Legion. You can have a piece of toast there.”

Ron twirled his right finger in the air. “A whole slice? I’ll be so full they’ll have to carry me here on a stretcher.” He continued grumbling as he walked through the crowd, then turned around. “Coming, Ethan?”

“No, I packed some food,” he said, taking a bag out of his coat pocket. “I’ll stay here and scout the competition.”

Rebecca, moving away with the others, looked back over her shoulder. “Are you coming, Ebony?”

“I don’t think so. I’ll just watch the races and keep this spot for us.”

Ebony and Ethan were now alone in the crowd. Many people looked at them and spoke quietly about the handsome couple. Though their friends were gone, they hardly spoke to one another, yet both were seemingly anxious to talk, as if they had something important to tell the other, but were holding back. When they did speak, it was only a comment concerning the weather or one of the dory teams. Ethan was particularly impressed with Bill and McKenzie, a team that won their heat with relative ease.

“I knew Bill would be a good rower,” he said to Ebony, “because he was born in Sambro, but this friend of his can handle the oars, too. You know anything about him besides the fact that he doesn’t like me?”

“I don’t know anything,” she said, not mentioning the fact that he was one of several men who had unsuccessfully asked her out when Ethan was gone.

Ethan nodded, watching them. “Good team.”

“You look angry,” she said.

“Do I?”

“Uh-huh.” She raised her eyebrow. “Well, are you?”

“All my life I’ve been looked down on because my family had money,” Ethan said, “as if everything was just given to me. That attitude really gets on my nerves. He called me a ‘silver spoon’ at the store. You were there.” Ethan looked meaningfully at her. “I have absolutely no intention of losing to that guy.”

“I can understand that,” she said, nodding.

Ethan shuffled closer, and Ebony intensely felt his presence beside her. She wanted to say something, but could think of nothing in particular. Yet, as awkward as she felt, it was obvious they both enjoyed being in one another’s presence. That was enough. But, in time, the next race was announced. Soon Ethan and Ron were rowing to the start line.

Doc wiped the perspiration from his forehead. “They’ll never do it. Every team they’re racing against has already come first in a heat. Some good teams there. Our boys have done splendidly, but they’ve gone to the well once too often.”

“They’ll win,” Ebony said confidently.

“Of course they’ll win,” Rebecca confirmed, though her voice wavered.

Doc was ready to air another gloomy prophecy, but it was nipped in the bud by the crack of the starting gun. For a second time, Ethan and Ron got an excellent start, quickly advancing down the course. Halfway to the buoy, they led by a substantial margin, so they slackened their pace to conserve energy for the final. That was a mistake. The other teams started to gain, and by the time Ethan and Ron reached the buoy, they led by only the length of the boat. Ethan called to Ron, and they added speed and power to their strokes. They made a textbook cut around the buoy, and by the time they emerged on the other side, they were clearly in front. Though the race was not over, the other teams lost heart and didn’t challenge again. Ethan and Ron pulled hard to the finish, but with just enough exertion to maintain a comfortable buffer zone between themselves and their nearest rivals.

“They won!” Rebecca yelled triumphantly, jumping up and down and hugging her father. “They’ve done it! They’re in the final! They’re in the championship race!”

Again the men were greeted like champions, even though they still had the most important race remaining. But with the final race almost two hours away, Rebecca thought it was a good idea for everyone to go home and relax. Ethan and Ebony agreed that it was a good plan, but they wanted to stay. No one tried to dissuade them, and Jenny went to stand with Bill, McKenzie, and their friends.

“Want to go for a walk?” Ethan asked Ebony after their friends left.

“Is that what you want?”

“I want to be alone with you. There’s a nice little beach down the shore. Would you like to see it?”

“All right.”

She stood up, brushed some dirt off her slacks, and followed Ethan. Numerous spectators, knowing their history, mumbled and pointed as they walked off alone, but the couple paid no attention. Soon they were out of sight and strolling along a path paralleling the shoreline. During the walk, neither of them said a word. Nor was there any eye contact, even when Ethan helped Ebony climb over huge boulders covered in brown seaweed, or around jutting trees that had fallen across the trail. Though silent, Ethan continually glanced at Ebony, almost as if to confirm that she was actually there with him. At the beach, they sat side by side on a huge piece of driftwood, but seldom spoke, choosing instead to enjoy the quiet of the place, the seagulls and kingfishers overhead, and the occasional roar of spectators watching more heats being contested.

“Bleak kind of day, isn’t it?” he finally said.

“Yes, but I’m really enjoying it, especially the races. You did so well.”

“Thank you.”

They sat quietly side by side on a big rock, talking in a relaxed way, laughing together. Ethan skipped rocks in the water, and Ebony watched him, just as she had done many years ago.

“Time is a funny thing,” Ethan said. “It’s steady and consistent, like math. One minute is always the same as the next. But time can crawl so slowly when you’re not enjoying yourself, or it can whiz past quickly. When I’m with you, time always flies by so fast.”

They sat quietly together for a long time and then, after glancing at her watch, Ebony told him it was time for them to go back.

“Good enough.”

She turned to him with a solemn look. His face was covered with a softening mist, and his eyes glowed like a lighthouse on a foggy night.

“There’s something I want to ask you,” he said.

“Go ahead.”

“Next Saturday is my birthday. I was wondering if we could do something special.”

“What’s that?”

“I’d like to go for a picnic.”

“Where?”

“I’d like to walk back to the Stillwater.”

She thought about it for several seconds. “I’d like that. I’d like that very much.”

“I haven’t seen it for a long time,” he told her. “I’ve wanted to go back ever since I came home, but I only wanted to go with you.”

She nodded and started walking back to the marina.

Just before rounding the final corner, Ethan touched Ebony’s arm. “How about a good-luck kiss?”

“You can win without one.”

“One kiss?”

“I’ll kiss you when you learn humility.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” he asked, flustered.

“Maybe it will happen at the dance. When we walk onto that floor together, I will have to push away every shred of my pride and embrace a humility I have never even imagined. When you understand what I’m sacrificing, and when you honestly know in your heart that you could do the same for me, then you will learn humility.”

“Teach me,” he said. “I want to understand.”

“You will understand everything when we dance. It will become clear.”

“I’m ready, Ebony. I’m ready to go all the way.”

Ebony did not know exactly what he was thinking, but she was sure, absolutely sure, that at this precise moment he came to understand something deep and profound. She had experienced the same kind of clarity when Father Thomas read that psalm: “Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive my sins.”

* * * *

The marina was jammed with hundreds of people. Red, white, and green banners hung from loosely strewn ropes, flapping slightly in the damp breeze. In the middle of the grounds was a small white truck with black loudspeakers affixed on top of it and two men inside checking names on sheets. Men collected in small groups and debated strategy for the big race, while the women checked on their youngsters and discussed the upcoming dance. Even though it was a wet day and the wind had come up, an air of excitement and festivity buzzed through the crowd. It was a special time. People smiled and nodded to acquaintances or talked over old times with friends they had not seen for years.

With a little time remaining before the race, Ethan and Ebony sat on a rock behind some bushes near the shore. Nearby, a number of men and women formed a haphazard group. Though they could not see Ebony and Ethan, the quiet couple could see them through the foliage and hear every word they spoke.