“Great,” I said, knowing how voices could carry out there, if the wind was right. “Thrilled that you’re broadcasting my sex life to all of your neighbors.”
“Geez, Allie, stop being so dramatic. No one is listening.”
I felt relieved when I finally managed to get off the phone, assuring her that I would call if it turned out that I didn’t have any plans for the Fourth after all. That’s the thing she didn’t realize, though; even if I didn’t have someone to go do something with, I would go out anyway.
I didn’t need to worry about not having anyone to hang out with on the Fourth, though, because the next time I saw Cole, he asked if I was doing anything for the Fourth.
“I’m not sure,” I said. “I would like to go see some fireworks.”
“There’s a couple good places to watch them. Declan and I were wondering if you wanted to do something during the day. I think he was hoping we could go to Gardner, hang out, then watch the fireworks there. It probably wouldn’t make sense to take the bike trail there since we’d be staying pretty late, but we could put the bikes on my rack and bring them and ride around. They do a parade earlier in the day; that’s kind of fun to see. There’s some good restaurants and stuff, too.”
“Yeah, I went to one of them once,” I said. “That’s where Ben took me out.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Cole said. “I forgot you guys went on that date. Well, I’d invite him along also, but he’s working until 2. I think he’s got other plans afterward, anyway,” he added with a smile.
“Well, my mother was just harassing me about whether or not I had plans, so now I guess I can tell her that I do.”
It was hot and sunny for the Fourth, but not too humid, which was nice. We took the bikes with us, and Cole was able to find a spot to park in the lake parking lot. From there, it was just a short ride to downtown, where the parade was going to be held.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been to a parade. We managed to snag a bench outside the ice cream shop to sit at as we watched all the floats go by. Both sides of the street were packed, and the kids scrambled for the candy and little trinkets that some of the people tossed out from their floats as they passed us.
When the parade was over, they kept Main Street barricaded off, so we were able to lock our bikes up and walk around, ride in the middle of the road. We stopped at a barbeque place for lunch and sat outside with plates of chicken wings, short ribs, and potato salad.
“I think this is the best day ever,” Declan declared. “I am having so much fun! And I can’t wait to see the fireworks.”
We took a swim, lounged on the beach for a while, then went and got some ice cream. We walked around, Cole holding one of Declan’s hands while I held the other.
“Pull me up!” he’d say, and we’d both lift our arms at the same time so his feet were off the ground for a few seconds, before putting him back down. He shrieked with glee, and I couldn’t help but smiling at how happy he was. He was, in fact, acting as happy as I felt.
Finally, the sun started to set. “We should head down this way,” Cole said. “Toward the beach. We’ll see if we can get a good spot to watch the fireworks.”
“All right,” I said. “I’m just going to run into this store and use the bathroom quickly.”
When I came out, Cole and Declan were across the street, patting a Golden Retriever. I stood there for a moment on the store’s front porch and just watched them. I started to walk over, but a woman caught my eye and she smiled and said hello.
“Hi,” I said.
The woman’s smile widened. “Oh, please don’t mind me saying it, but you have such a beautiful son and husband!” she said. “You’re just such a perfect family.” She had a slight accent, maybe from somewhere down south.
“That’s very kind of you to say,” I said. I was about to tell her that Cole wasn’t actually my husband, that this wasn’t in fact my family, but for some reason, I didn’t. It was as if I could sense how disappointed she would be to know that we weren’t really together, how much she loved the idea of this perfect, happy family enjoying the day out together. I didn’t want to be the one to break it to her that it wasn’t so. Did it matter if I didn’t? It’s not like I would ever see her again.
Cole, Declan, and I continued to make our way toward the beach. There was a big crowd of people, and we moved slowly. At one point, I realized that Declan had woven his way through the crowd and was several feet in front of us.
“Declan!” Cole said sharply. “You can’t j
ust run off like that. You’ve got to stay with either me or Allie at all times, okay? There’s way too many people here for us to get separated. And, it’s dark out. Do you know how easy it would be for you to get lost in a crowd like this?”
Declan looked down at his shoes, then slowly nodded.
“I know you’re excited,” Cole said. “We’re excited, too. We’re having a good time. But I can tell you that we most certainly would not be having a good time if we lost track of you. So you’ve got to stick close, okay? If you don’t want to hold a hand the whole time, that’s all right, but you need to stay nearby. We need to be able to see you. Even if you see a friend, or someone that you know, you can’t just go running off without first telling an adult.”
“I’m sorry,” Declan said.
Cole nodded. “It’s okay,” he said. I could tell that he felt bad now, for raising his voice. “I didn’t mean to yell after you like that, but it scared me when I looked up and didn’t see where you had gone. But no harm done. Let’s just keep on having a good time.”
We continued walking down toward the lake. Cole took a deep breath and shot me a look. I reached over and patted his shoulder.
We were able to find a good spot not too far from the water. The air was heavy with anticipation as the sky continued to get darker and darker, and then there seemed to be a pause, like everyone was collectively holding their breath.