Page 26 of Grown-Up Second Chance

“There was someone … in college,” she said with her back still to us. “But it didn’t work out.” Even with a T-shirt, I could see how rigid her back muscles became.

Secrets.

“Well, I’m done with men. I declare this a male-free RV!” I said, raising my glass.

My sisters raised their glasses with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Kathleen’s glass was high, Liz’s didn’t make the height of her shoulder. She quickly drank and then declared, “Music! We need music!”

Picking up her phone from a nearby counter, she dashed to the back bedroom.

As we continued to slice and dice, the sound of cabinet doors opening and closing echoed through our space. Suddenly Captain and Tennille singing “Love Will Keep Us Together” blared from the back room.

Liz sashayed down the corridor, electronics high over her head. Kathleen and I put down our knives and held our arms in the air, dancing in circles and bumping hips just like Mama used to do with us in the kitchen. It didn’t take long before the trailer was rocking with our beat as we sang out the lyrics along with Tennille.

Joy surged inside me, and the years fell away. We weren’t slightly misshapen, mostly invisible aging women anymore. We were young, energetic teens with our lives ahead of us, bursting with hope at the brave new world we were determined to create. Our parents were old-fashioned, and we hadn’t been awash with cash, but damn we’d been happy.

Kathleen’s grin was one I hadn’t seen in years. The end with Michael must have been harder than she’d let on. It was as if she was finally free of a burden no one knew she was carrying. Liz was still guarded, and I had the feeling she was faking some of the craziness she was portraying.

And me?

For the moment, I was determined to forget the past and shelve worry about the future. Now. It was simply now. I was dancing and singing with my sisters next to one of the grandest national parks in the world, and it didn’t get much better than that.

The song ended, transitioning to Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy.” We slowly stopped moving and took up our tasks. But as the playlist continued, I was amazed at how many times one of us would join our voices to the recorded song, playing with harmonies as we’d done as kids when Dad dragged out his old six-string guitar.

We were on our second glass of wine when Liz returned to the topic of men. Well, not men in general.

Joe.

“I kind of remember Joe in high school,” she said. “He was a cross country runner, wasn’t he?”

“Yes,” I said.

“He was a funny guy,” Kathleen said. “I mean, not like a class clown or anything, but he could say things that struck me as funny. Usually a pun of some kind.”

“He liked words,” I said.

“And limericks,” Kathleen remembered. “They were soooo bad.”

“Still are. He told me one the other day.”

“Old habits die hard,” Kathleen said.

“I remember something else about him,” Liz said. “He was really good at making bad situations better.”

“Yeah,” Kathleen said.

They were right. I’d seen Joe in action a few times. Sometimes I thought a fight that was brewing ended before it began because Joe talked so much they were tired of hearing him. Other times, he used his gift with words to lighten a mood that was threatening to go black.

I remembered a girl I didn’t know very well, staring at her locker. Not moving. Not opening it. Just staring.

Joe was coming down the hallway. I’d always noticed him whenever he was near, but had never thought much about it. He spotted the girl and veered to stand next to her. I couldn’t hear what he said, but soon he got her to bump fists. He stood there while she opened her locker and walked her to her next class. I’d asked him later what was going on, but he’d shaken his head and said it was private.

A few days later, I saw her again, hesitating as she looked for a place to sit. A few of the sports guys started snickering and looking at her.

She reddened and looked ready to bolt.

I’d walked over to her. “Hey,” I said. “Why don’t you come sit with me and my friends? We’ve got room.”

“Really?” Her eyes widened.

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