Track 45 Poker Face
Track 45
Poker Face
The Party According to Matt
“That doesn’t sound good!” Matt reacted to the loud “ Oh my God! ” coming from the bow of the boat.
He had been fielding a lengthy inquisition from Dylan that had begun on the dance floor and ended up at the bar. He was happy for a subject change. The subject had been Maggie.
“What’s wrong?” Dylan had prodded.
“Nothing’s wrong. I’m good,” he’d told her with a smile.
“A good liar,” Dylan rebutted.
“Stop. Let’s just get through the night, send Maggie and Jason off on the ten a.m. ferry, and be done with this whole charade.”
“About that. She’s going to leave a letter for Beatrix and take off?”
“Yes. We thought it would be better that way. Let Bea digest it all and then they could meet up another time in Ohio, if Bea’s even still interested.”
“If she’s even still interested? She’s been dreaming of this day for thirty years, and now Maggie is leaving you to hold the bag.”
“Wow. That big sister pill you swallowed was fast-acting!” Not that Dylan had ever needed a pill to be protective of Matt, or him of her.
“I’m serious, Matty.”
“It’s OK. I’ll handle it. Let’s please drop it tonight and enjoy our parents’ wedding.” He laughed as he said it, before adding, “This is all so much bigger than me and my crush.”
“I knew it. Did you—you know?”
“Of course not. She’s engaged. You know how I feel about cheating.”
He didn’t count their dramatic kiss at the bakery. That was for the children.
“Yeah, it’s just—I don’t see it with those two.”
“It’s not for us to see. Clearly, we are looking for different things than they are.”
It was all so complicated.
“Let’s get drunk,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her along.
The bar was empty when they reached it. No takers and no servers. Dylan went to help herself, and that’s when they heard someone scream, “ Oh my God! ” in a high-pitched tone.
Dylan left the glass and grabbed the bottle.
They followed the sound of the ruckus to the back of the boat, where they found Chase handing a cell phone to Veronica. Maggie and Jason were standing with their backs pressed up against the rails. Maggie was looking over her shoulder, as if she were considering jumping. Even without knowing what had happened, you could feel the tension in the air.
“You left this at the bar,” Chase snarked at Veronica, handing her back her phone.
“Thank you,” she barely managed.
He looked like he had more to say, but turned, practically slamming into Matt and Dylan.
“Matt!” Veronica stepped up. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but Jason is not Maggie’s brother. At least I hope not.”
She looked back at Jason and Maggie, who both shook their heads in vigorous confirmation.
“I just saw them kissing,” V added, in a softer tone.
Dylan piped in, “I’m sure it was just brotherly love. Look!” she said, before planting a big smooch on Matt’s lips, trying her best to defuse the bomb.
“He’s not my son, is he?” Chase steadied himself while Jason and Maggie shook their heads even more vigorously.
“We’re the couple,” Maggie said, motioning to Jason, before adding, “Not me and Matt.”
“Why would you think he’s your son?” Veronica asked Chase.
“Well, she’s my daughter, and you said they were siblings.” Chase got right in Veronica’s face, primed to give her a piece of his mind. “You know what, Veronica, I may not be well educated and live at a fancy address, but I’m a good person. I take care of my mom, and I rescued a dog last year. An old dog that they were gonna put down ’cause no one wanted him. You and Bea could have told me my daughter was in town. I would have liked to let her decide about me for herself, regardless of whatever you two poisoned her with.”
“Wait, what?” Veronica was gobsmacked. She turned slowly and approached Maggie, taking her face into her hands, and staring into her eyes until her own threatened tears.
“Oh my God. I knew you felt familiar to me. I just couldn’t…” And then she snapped, “Wait, what the hell is going on here? Is this some kind of fleece job?”
Maggie froze. Matt stepped forward.
“Not at all. Just tell her, Maggie.”
Again, Maggie looked over her shoulder like she was going to jump, before turning to face the music.
“It’s complicated, but I don’t want anything from anyone, if that’s what you’re thinking. I just wanted to meet my birth mother. And things got very out of hand.”
She smiled and reached out her hand to her aunt.
“It’s nice to meet you, Aunt Veronica.”
“Aunt Veronica,” V repeated in awe, before her tears escaped.
Chase handed V a cocktail napkin from his pocket and stepped between them, putting his hands on Maggie’s shoulders—just short of a hug.
“I want you to know that I didn’t know you existed until recently, and only figured out who you were on your second visit to the bar.”
Maggie nodded, while Chase continued, “I hope your parents were good to you, and you had a happy childhood,” as if he had rehearsed it. He probably had.
“They were, they were the best, and I did, very happy,” she assured him.
“If you want to talk more, or if you ever need anything, my bike, or even a kidney, you know where to find me,” he added, choking back tears of his own.
Both Matt and Jason watched carefully, ready to intervene at any moment—though it didn’t seem to be going in a bad direction, and clearly Maggie could take care of herself. Maybe Dylan was right about Chase. Maybe he wasn’t a bad guy.
As if reading Matt’s mind, Chase reached into his pocket, placed something in Maggie’s hand, and shut her fingers tight around it. He held her closed fist in his while he continued.
“Bea was right to be upset by what happened back then. Now that I’m older, I realize that she meant something to me. More than I knew when I was an idiot kid.” He squeezed her hand again before releasing it.
“I kept this the whole time and I want you to have it. Just so you know it wasn’t all bad.”
Maggie opened her fist to reveal the surfboard necklace with Chase and Bea’s initials inscribed on it that her biomother had thrown at her bio-father on that infamous night a lifetime ago. Her lifetime ago.
Now Maggie’s eyes began to prickle with tears. Chase handed her a cocktail napkin too, along with a smile and a quick, “I gotta go,” before heading back to his station.
At this point, Dylan was the only one thinking straight. She took control.
“If that teary scene didn’t prove that we should wait to tell your sister until after the party, I don’t know what does,” Dylan said to Veronica, urgency in her voice.
Matt was glad she did. Their parents deserved this night.
Veronica nodded in agreement.
“You promise?” Maggie asked, already quite aware of her aunt’s self-serving tendencies.
“I promise,” Veronica repeated.
Maggie warmly laid her hand on her aunt’s arm and continued, “I was going to tell her tomorrow in a letter, but I won’t put you in the position of lying to her. I know you just got over all of that. I’ll tell her tonight, after the party.”
Matt did his best stay on top of the situation—even with how much he cared for Maggie, his mother’s big night was still top of mind.
He recapped for the group, “OK. We’ll explain everything later. Let’s go enjoy the rest of the wedding and keep the fireworks in the sky, where they belong.”