Two
Bailee’s phone chirped. She grabbed it from the seat next to her and answered it, trapping it between her ear and shoulder. “Hey, Ava. What’s up?”
“Hey. I’m going to visit Dad for a few minutes. Do you want to come along?”
Bailee stiffened at the mere mention of the name. Why would Ava even ask her? She should know the answer by now.
Bailee shoved her foot down on the brake, barely preventing Janie, her jeep, from rear-ending a truck in front of her. She needed to pay more attention.
“Well? Do you?”
Bailee realized she had not answered Ava. “No, Ava. I don’t. I don’t know why you keep asking me.”
There was a long pause. “I just thought… well, never mind. Enjoy your evening, Bailee.”
Bailee hung up the phone. Why did Ava even bother asking her? In fact, why did Ava bother visiting him at all? Kylie, Sydney, and she liked to stay as far away from the prison as they could, but not Ava. It wasn’t like she visited all the time; she had only gone about five times. Once each year. But still!
To Bailee, Dad didn’t need any visiting. He deserved to rot in there for the rest of his life, with no one to see him, no one to assure him they still loved him. Bailee had never gone to see him. Well, she had one time, she supposed, but she’d sat in the car the whole time. She had happened to be along the second time Ava went to see him, and she Ava had tried to convince her to come in, but Bailee had been adamant. Besides there being something depressing about prisons, he didn’t deserve to see her, and she’d wanted to throw up at the thought of seeing him. But of course, Ava was sixteen by the time Jake even started being stuck on alcohol, so she had loved him. To some extent anyway. And he had never done to her—or any of the girls, for that matter—what he had done to Bailee. Not that Bailee would’ve remembered him loving them. She had just been a little thing, though she supposed deep down somewhere she loved him. At least a little. She had heard stories from Ava, even Sydney, about how Dad used to be kind, even smile. He never had been like other dads, hugging them, playing with them, reading to them, but he hadn’t been unkind. Bailee didn’t remember that time, though; all she could remember was him storming in the house late at night, yelling at them and being angry all the time. If he was asleep on the couch you better stay in your room or you got beat for being too loud. Bailee remembered those awful days much too clearly. Thankfully, he was now gone. But unfortunately, so was their mother.
Bailee refused to think about these thoughts anymore. They only made her angry and sad about what was, and now what would never be.
Bailee was dozing on the sofa when her phone rang again. She sat up groggily and reached for it. “Hey, Sydney.” She said sleepily.
“Hey, Bailee. You almost done with work?”
“Yup. I was actually sleeping.” Bailee brushed her fingers through her short, tousled hair, rearranging it into some semblance of order.
“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Bailee smiled. “That’s okay. What did you need?”
“Well, I’m with Kylie; her phone’s dead, so she wanted me to call you. There’s a party-”
“A grill-out!” Bailee heard Kylie correct her from the other side of the line.
“- Yeah, whatever. A grill-out. So anyway, we’re having a grill-out at the Burg’s house. Kylie wants you to come. She says there’s someone she wants you to meet.”
Bailee rolled her eyes. “Does this somebody include super cute and rich?”
Sydney paused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re pulling into the Burgs driveway now with Amy, so I haven’t met him. Anyway, you’ll come?”
Bailee chuckled softly as she pulled herself up from the couch and went to her bedroom, looking for something comfy to change into. It was just like Sydney to assume she’d come, not wait for an answer.
Sydney had referred to the person as a him. It must’ve been the man Kylie was talking about last night. “What time is it?” She asked as she grabbed a shirt out of her closet.
“Um… hold on. Let me ask Kylie.” There were murmurings on the other side of the line for several moments. “Amy says come over as soon as you can.”
Bailee agreed and then said goodbye, setting the phone on her nightstand. Amy Burgs was Kylie’s friend that she had met at college. Her brother, Austin had dated Kylie for several months, but that ended pretty quickly with nothing to show. He wasn’t the type of guy to constantly be showing his feelings some way or another, and Kylie didn’t like that. She thought a boyfriend should get their girlfriend flowers, chocolates, cards, or some other gift at least once a week. Bailee had teased her that she wasn’t going to get any guy with that mindset, but Kylie had been fine with that, since she’d declared several times that she wasn’t getting married anyway. She and Bailee were planning on growing old together in their little apartment with a dog and seven little goldfish— or maybe six.
So now he just remained a “brother” to the sisters, teasing them when he pleased, protecting them as well as he did his own sister. He was like the beloved brother that the girls had never gotten to have.
After Bailee changed from her work clothes into something more casual, she collected her phone, noting she had a missed text message. She opened it. Hey, you. How you doing? Bailee smiled as she replied to Miles’ text. He was her best friend, one she’d known since kindergarten. Although he now lived in Ohio and she rarely ever saw him, they corresponded frequently by texts and phone calls. She could picture the teasing glint in his chocolate brown eyes, that flop of blond hair that was always in the way. Or at least it was still in the way three years ago, which was the last time she’d seen him.
She snapped the phone shut and slipped it in her pocket, then headed over to the Burg’s house, which was only a few minutes away. When she got there she saw Amy, Austin, Kylie, Sydney, Ben Winslow, and some other guy she didn’t recognize playing baseball in the very large backyard. Ben Winslow was another friend of Austin’s. When they were all younger, the boys used to hang around the girls a lot, but now Bailee rarely ever saw Ben. He was a stocky kind of guy; not fat, but definitely not skinny, either. He was the type of man that just stood around and stared at the girls he wished he could talk to. Bailee had never seen a guy more girl-shy than he.
“Hi, guys!” She said as she rounded the corner of the house. Amy waved distractedly to Bailee just as the stranger made a dash for a home run. He ran to third base and pushed on. Just as the man slid into home base, Bailee noticed Austin jogging back from a corner of the yard with a baseball in hand. Everyone started yelling and they patted the man on the back, then deserted the field, heading Bailee’s way. Apparently, she was too late for the baseball game. Oh well. She didn’t really care. It was too cold to be playing a game outside; there were still patches of snow on the ground.
Kylie wiped her forehead. “Hi, Bailee. Glad you came.”
Bailee smiled and nodded towards the grill. “There’s food. What do you expect?”
Kylie chuckled. “There’s also someone here that I want you to meet.”
Bailee shook her head and started backing away, her hands up. “Uh-uh, Kylie. It’s not happening. I don’t want you trying to hook me up with another guy again.”
Kylie glanced over her shoulder at the man who was gulping water out of a bottle. “I’m not saying go out with him, Bailee! I only want you to meet him.” Kylie looked at her with pleading eyes. “Please?”
Bailee gave her sister a searching look, and then laughed. “Fine.” She allowed Kylie to take her hand and drag her to the tall, lean man.
Amy looked amused as Bailee got towed past her, and stopped right in front of him. “Riley?”
Riley turned a tanned face to look at them, his gray eyes looking curiously at Bailee.
“Riley, this is my little sister, Bailee. The one I was telling you about.”
Kylie told him about her? Bailee shook her head slightly. Of course she would.
Riley held out his hand with a friendly smile, showing white, even teeth, and a dimple on each side. “Hi. I’m Riley Peterson. It’s nice to meet you.”
Bailee smiled and took the offered hand. “So, you’re Austin’s friend?”
“Yeah.” He looked about to say more, but Kylie interrupted, smiling meaningfully at Bailee. “I think I’ll leave you two to get better acquainted.” She said and left them, joining Amy and Sydney on their way to the kitchen.
Bailee looked after her sister. Why did she have to do that? Kylie knew how bad she was at making conversation with people she had never met, especially people she was thrown at.
An awkward silence ensued the next few moments before Bailee could find something to say.
“You said you were Austin’s friend. Funny I’ve never seen you before.”
“Well, I live in Kentucky, actually.” He looked almost as uncomfortable as she, and she wondered how much he was thinking about leaving her and joining Austin and Ben at the grill.
Bailee nodded. “Ah. So you’re just visiting…?”
“Well, kind of. I have grandparents that own a farm here. Unfortunately, my grandfather suffered a mild heart attack last year, so I decided to come and help him with it.”
Bailee smiled. “That was very… dutiful of you.”
Riley chuckled. “Try telling that to my independent grandpa. My grandma convinced me to come, but ole’ Grandpa Bill says he can manage just fine.” Riley’s eyes sparked mischievously. “Actually, he was pretty angry with me for coming and ‘taking over his territory.’ That’s why I’ve been spending so much time with Austin.”
Bailee’s eyes sparkled. “I guess he’s a good enough alternative.” She teased.
Austin leaned towards them with a spatula in his hand. “Why are you talking about me?” He asked with eyebrows raised.
Bailee turned with eyes wide. “Why are you eavesdropping?” She affected an innocent tone.
Ben and Riley laughed.
Austin acted offended. “You got me there. But when I hear my name in conversations, I’m immediately all ears.”
Bailee bit her lip. “Um…your hamburgers are burning.”
Austin twisted around and whipped off the lid of the grill. Smoke poured out everywhere.
Bailee coughed and headed towards the back door. “You know, I think I might just go inside and help the girls.” She waved at Riley. “It was nice meeting you.” She called and then disappeared through the door.
Half an hour later all the food was prepared- hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad, and fruit salad. They all sat around the fire pit, where Austin had started a large fire.
Bailee looked across the fire at Austin, amusement glinting in her dark eyes. “These are possibly the best burnt hamburgers I have ever had. Such a deep smoked flavor with a nice, dark color”- she pretended to examine her patty- “with…” she scowled at Austin… “Ashes on it? Austin, why are there ashes on my hamburger?”
Austin laughed hard. It was several moments before he could catch his breath. Bailee looked around at the others, who were sitting there staring at Austin just as befuddled as she.
“Are you all right?” She asked him. When he didn’t answer she looked at Ben. “Is he all right?” Puzzlement covered her face.
Ben just shrugged, looking amused.
“Did you put them here, Austin?”
Austin shook his head, still laughing too hard to answer. Finally he replied, “One fell on the ground. I think it’s pretty interesting that you got it.”
Bailee made a face. “You mean it fell on the dirty ground and you just put it back on the plate for someone to eat? That’s disgusting!”
Austin chuckled again and this time everyone else joined him. “I brushed it off, Bailee.”
Bailee looked at her hamburger again, picking off the largest pieces of ash. “I can’t tell.”
“I still think it’s pretty funny that you’re the one who got it.”
Bailee looked at him with annoyance. “Obviously.” Making one more attempt to brush of her burger, she shrugged, put it back together, and took a bite.
“That a’ girl, Bailee,” Ben encouraged with mock seriousness.
Bailee threw a balled up napkin at him. “Oh, shut up.”
Ben caught the napkin and held up his hands. “Sorry.”
“Watch out, Ben, you’ve unleashed the dragon.” Kylie whispered the last word with a mystical air.
Bailee looked at her. “Really?”
Amy cleared her throat. “Okay, girls, let’s not fight.”
Sydney laughed. “Oh, they’re good at that.” She took a big bite of potato salad.
Bailee turned to Riley, who had sat there during the whole exchange watching with quiet amusement. “So how long are you going to be here for, Riley?” No one missed Bailee’s attempt at a different course in the conversation.
“Just till the end of the summer, or until we fix my grandpa’s barn.”
At Bailee’s questioning look, he explained. “It got torn down in a storm recently and he needs to rebuild it. It’ll take at least till the end of the summer.”
Bailee glanced in Kylie’s direction and saw her watching her closely, a little grin on her face. Bailee shook her head in warning. She knew what her sister was up to.
The seven sat around the fire eating and talking until it got dark. Amy left and then appeared with a bag of marshmallows and some sticks. “Sorry we don’t have any chocolate or graham crackers for s’mores,” she said.
Bailee scooted the log she was sitting on closer to the fire. It was a chilly night, and she hadn’t thought to bring a jacket; she was only wearing a sweater. Sydney and Austin rose to get some marshmallows to roast, then sat back down on their logs.
The bantering and chatting continued, but Bailee had kind of retreated, sitting alone on “her” log in silence, staring at the flickering red and orange flames that were slowly dying down to mere embers.
Ben left, leaving the rest sitting in a comfortable silence.
Suddenly Bailee felt her log wiggle and glanced up, startled. Riley had joined her. She smiled. “Hi.”
Riley held a stick with a roasted marshmallow stuck on it out to her. Bailee pulled the marshmallow off and ate it. Perfect.
“Thanks,” she said around her mouthful of sticky sweetness.
“I wondered what you were doing over here by yourself.” Riley remarked. “Not still angry over your ashes, I hope.”
Bailee looked at him and smiled faintly. “No.” She licked her fingers one by one, as they had remains on them from the sticky marshmallow.
“Do you want another one?”
It took Bailee a moment to realize what he was talking about. “No, thanks. The other one tasted great, though.”
Sydney rose, brushing off her jeans. “I think I’m gonna go,” she said. She turned to Amy, who was lounging in a lawn chair. “Thanks for the food Amy; it was great. And Austin, the hamburgers were perfect, albeit a little bit burnt.” She grinned teasingly, then waved goodbye.
Bailee watched her sister go, then rested her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. It was so quiet, so peaceful. There was a thatch of woods directly behind the Burg’s property, and Bailee heard an owl hoot once. It was such a lonely, eerie sound.
Bailee shivered.
Riley stood. “Should we move the log closer to the fire?”
Bailee glanced up at him, wondering what he was talking about. Why did she keep letting her mind wander? “Huh? Oh, no, I’m not cold… uh, actually I should probably go. What time is it?” She wasn’t carrying her phone.
Austin glanced at the watch he was wearing. “Almost 10:30.”
Bailee got up and motioned for Kylie to join her. “Yeah, I need to go. You ready, Kylie?”
Kylie rose reluctantly, pulling her jacket tighter around her.
“Thanks for the food and fire, Austin and Amy.”
“Bye, guys, I’ll see you sometime soon.” Amy waved.
Bailee was halfway across the backyard before she turned around. “Thanks for the marshmallow, Riley.” She smiled.
Riley lifted a hand. “Anytime.”
Riley turned to look into his friend’s amused eyes; Austin knew it as well as he did. Riley was smitten.
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