Page 87 of An Overdue Match
I try and slow my stampeding thoughts long enough to consider what he’s saying. It’s ... possible.
He pulls the car along the curve and puts the car into park.
Either way, we’re here. There’s no turning back now. Both Tai and I exit the car and round toward the trunk where the party supplies are. The slap of a storm door echoes in the background.
“Good. You’re here.” Penelope scurries across the street in four-inch heels. She stops beside me, her gaze running over me from head to toe with the speed of a flip-book. I’m sure she’s reading me just as quickly and easily as well.
“First off, love this.” She sweeps her hands through the air in front of me. “You look amazing, that tat is epic, and I am one hundred percent here for it.” She reaches into the trunk and lifts out the ancient typewriter I bought at an estate sale last year. “But gushing is going to have to wait because Granny and Grampie will be here soon and we still need to finish setting up.”
I grab the custom-made backdrop that’s rolled protectively in a cardboard tube, then hurry after Penelope. She’s almost to the front door by the time I catch her. “How’d you get them out of the house?” I ask, a little out of breath.
Her hand pauses for the briefest of moments as she’s reaching for the door handle. So briefly, in fact, that I wonder if I imagine the momentary delay.
“They’re with Brett and his family.”
Nope, not my imagination. She’d flinched on my account.
“Brett and his fiancée got a puppy. His grandparents had offered to be the diversion to get Granny and Grampie out of the house, and I guess they figured a new puppy was a good lure.”
I take in the information and wait for the familiar feelings of loss and worthlessness to grip me, but nothing happens.There’s no anchor tied to my emotions at the news, nothing pulling me down and threatening to drown me. Instead, I feel relief. I know I’m not going to be able to avoid Brett entirely, but I feel like some cosmic judge has granted me a reprieve.
Tai has caught up to us by this point, his arms full of the stationery, quills, and letterbox for guests to write notes for our grandparents. My sister directs him to the small desk and chair she’s set in the corner of the backyard near the house while I find the area we’d agreed the backdrop of their love letters would go.
People have already started to arrive. Some help with last-minute details while others mill around, waiting for my grandparents to arrive and the party to officially begin. Most of the faces are familiar. I notice the pastor and his wife from my grandparents’ church. Then there’s Grampie’s old coworker at the advertising agency he worked at for over thirty years.
“I love your new artwork, Evangeline,” a familiar voice says from my right.
I finish securing the corner of the backdrop to the tall privacy fence, then turn to Nanette, Granny’s scrapbooking buddy. The three of us used to pour over pictures, stickers, and fun background paper to make our memory books. Nanette moved to Memphis about five years ago when her husband’s job transferred him.
I move to give her a hug, her scent of honeysuckles bringing back waves of memories. “It’s good to see you again.”
She squeezes me in return. “You too. And this—” She leans back to look at me. “Girl, you’re on fire.”
I open my mouth to demure but am interrupted by a voice behind me.
“She’s right. You’re making a statement, and I love what I’m hearing.” A woman who looks familiar but whom I can’tplace steps beside Nanette. “It must have hurt a lot though, huh?”
“They’re here!” Penelope whisper-shouts from the French doors leading into the house. “Everyone quiet!” She steps into the house and shuts the doors behind her, pulling the curtains closed.
Nanette and the other woman drift away. There aren’t really places to hide, and Penelope and I agreed having people jump out and yell “Surprise!” at our aging grandparents may not be the best idea. We want their hearts to be touched by emotions, not a defibrillator.
An arm wraps around my waist, and Tai pulls me to his side. The yard is quiet except for the hum of a lawn mower in the far background and the faint sounds of a passing car. There’s the unmistakable click of the front door shutting. A few moments later, the curtains move, then the French doors open. Granny steps out with her eyes wide, both hands raised to cover her mouth. Grampie is a step behind her. He’s grinning, but there’s a telltale sheen to his eyes.
“I can’t believe you did this.” Granny pulls Penelope into a hug.
“You should be up there too,” Tai whispers into my ear.
I wipe away a tear with the pad of my thumb. “I will be,” I assure him. Right now, I’m enjoying the front-row seat to their joy.
Granny looks over the backyard slowly, taking everything and everyone in. “Nanette, dear, I haven’t seen you in ages. And Phyllis. Ron, can you believe this?”
Grampie wraps his arms around Granny. “We’re talking about our girls, here, Carol. Of course I can believe it.”
Granny leans her head on Grampie’s shoulder. “Speaking of our girls, where’s Evangeline?”
Every head turns my direction. I’m faintly aware of the four other people who’ve joined Granny and Grampie on the smallpatio, but my focus is trained on the two who have loved me so well my entire life. I know the moment they spot me. Their reaction to the surprise party was what Penelope and I had hoped for, but I never could have pictured the looks on their faces when they see me. Whatever trepidation I felt about how they’d react to my tattoo quickly blows away. They’re looking at me exactly how Tai said they would—like I’m the best gift they could’ve been given.
They move in tandem down the two plank steps and rush toward me. Tai steps aside so Granny can wrap her arms around me on the left, Grampie on the right. I faintly hear Penelope issuing instructions and see movement of activity from the corner of my eye.
