Chapter 40 #2
Once our glasses are filled, his grandparents stand.
“Welcome, friends,” his grandfather begins, “and thank you for joining us at our annual garden party. We’ve had a splendid season so far, with many promising young people joining us this year.
My wife has chosen a lovely dinner menu for you all this evening that I’m sure you will enjoy.
Mix. Mingle. Dance. Have a wonderful night. ”
I follow E and clap as his grandparents retake their seats. A small plate is set in front of each of us to begin the meal. “If there’s anything you don’t like, just don’t eat it,” E whispers, and I nod.
“Our table has a special menu this evening,” E’s grandmother announces. “A full seafood feast. Every dish has the freshest fish or shellfish available, straight from the ocean this morning.”
E and I look at each other. I won’t be able to eat any of the food served. Glancing around, I see other appetizers being served that differ from ours. E takes a bite of his food. “Crab,” he tells me. “Grandmother, while the feast sounds wonderful, can we get a non-seafood option for Summer?”
“Nonsense, Elijah,” she says. “Summer will join us and eat what we give her.” The pompous woman waves him off.
“Well, I, for one, would like a reprieve from all the seafood I’ve been eating this summer,” the woman across from me says. “Server,” she calls.
“Yes, ma’am?” A young guy in a serving uniform says.
“What is on offer besides seafood this evening?”
“We have a steak option and a chicken dish,” he replies.
“I’ll have the steak, as will the young lady across from me, please,” she tells him. She raises a brow, and I nod at her selection.
“Right away, ma’am,” he says, taking her plate, then rounding the table to grab mine.
I smile my thanks to the woman who winks at me. “Do you go to school with Elijah?” She asks me.
“Yes, I do.”
“Summer, this is Annalee and Fredrick Banks,” E tells me.
“Nice to meet you both,” I smile.
“Where are you from, my dear?” Fredrick asks.
“Virginia. I moved here in March.”
“Oh, you poor thing. You must find the heat and humidity something else,” Annalee says.
“Yes, I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to it,” I reply with a full smile at the friendly couple.
“Sanderson,” E’s grandfather interrupts. “How is the shipping business these days?”
I sit quietly through the rest of the meal, enjoying the non-seafood dishes as business discussions surround me.
They include E in some conversations, but mostly they talk around both of us.
I notice a man and woman seated at the next table over from us, who I’m guessing are E’s parents.
The woman has the same golden coloring as E but with way too much makeup on and a low-cut dress, barely covering her nipples.
The man beside her has E’s eyes and a military haircut.
After dessert, E excuses us from the table as people start to mingle and dance on the wooden dance floor set up to the right of the tent. “Want to dance?” E asks.
“Sure,” I smile. E leads me onto the floor and into a waltz. “Forgive me if I step on your toes.”
“No worries, Summer.”
“So, Annalee seems nice.”
“She is. Her parents were good friends of my grandparents. Now that they’ve passed, she and her husband attend the functions, but they’re very down to earth. My grandparents have to invite them, since they are one of the oldest families in the area, but Annalee is the opposite of her parents.”
“Seems the South could use more people like her,” I comment as the song ends.
“May I?” Alex asks, stepping up beside us.
“Sure, man,” E says, twirling me towards Alex as he takes Reesa’s hand.
“Hi Alex,” I smile. “How are you?”
“Good. You look beautiful tonight, Summer.”
“Thank you. E picked the dress, but it’s very comfortable. I like it.”
“I heard Annalee come to your rescue at dinner.”
“Yeah, preventing an awkward situation. She seems great.”
“She is genuinely nice. You two would get along very well.”
“Feel like doing some coursework Sunday morning before the harvesting begins?” I ask.
“That would be fun. Thank you for the dance, Summer,” Alex replies as the song ends, as he offers my hand back to E.
“Let’s stroll,” E says, so I take his arm as we walk through the gardens. “Just so you know, I would’ve gotten you the other meal if Annalee hadn’t,” he says.
“Never doubted it, E. So what do we do now? Just mingle?”
“Pretty much,” he shrugs. “We’ll need to stay until sunset, then we can go.”
“Can you escort me to the washroom? Then we can wander some more?”
“Sure. It’s just inside. Come on,” he says, grabbing my hand.
We enter through the open patio doors and into the hallway.
E opens a door for me to a powder room. I quickly take care of business, then we go back outside.
We run into Pete from the beach and a few other young couples as we stroll around.
After circling the entire backyard, we take a seat on a bench by the water as the sky turns pink. Alex finds us soon after.
“Thought I would find you by the water,” Alex smiles.
“Hey Alex, come sit,” I say, sliding over to make room.
“Thank you, but there are too many eyes here,” he says, standing beside the bench.
I raise my eyebrow but don’t respond. E grabs my hand, and together we watch the fiery orange and pink sunset over Charleston’s skyline, the gentle sea breeze carrying the scent of salt.
It’s peaceful away from the crowd. As the last rays of sun vanish into a purplish hue, l hear a distant call of E’s name.
Turing my head, I see his father walking this way, and the sight makes E squeeze my hand; a surge of emotion in his grasp.
Alex steps between us, and I stand in front of E to face the man who hurt him.
“Elijah, what were you doing sitting at the head table tonight? Are you trying to embarrass me?” He blusters.
“Mr Seagrave. Nice to see you again,” Alex says, stepping forward and offering his hand.
“Alex,” he nods, shaking his hand. “Good to see you again. If you’ll excuse me and my son, we have a few things to discuss.”
“No,” I reply. “You are well aware that you are not to corner Elijah alone. Please don’t make a scene because we are not leaving you alone with him.”
“Who are you to tell me anything, girl?” He says, standing tall.
“No one important. Just his date for the evening, and his friend. Leave him alone and go back to the party, please, or we will leave you here.”
“Mr. Seagrave, it is best to walk away and not ruin a fine evening,” Alex says.
“Such disrespect will not be tolerated,” he replies, raising his voice.
“E, shall we head back to the party?” I ask, wrapping my hand around his elbow and leading him in a wide arc around his father as Alex tries to engage him in conversation.
Once we’re a ways away, I stop to check on Alex, but he’s already heading towards us with Mr. Seagrave remaining behind.
“I think it’s time to go. The sun has set, E. ”
“Okay,” he nods. His mood's noticeably subdued after the encounter.
“Do we need to say goodbye to your grandparents?”
“Yes.”
“Alright. Alex, are you good?” I ask as he catches up.
“Fine Summer. I’ll stay with you until you leave.”
“Thank you,” I say as we enter the gardens.
We find E’s grandparents near the back patio again, so we quickly say our goodbyes.
I thank them for a nice evening before we walk around front to wait for his truck.
Once E helps me into the passenger seat, Alex says goodbye and heads back to the party. “E, are you good to drive?”
He takes a deep breath, then nods. “I’m good. You’re making a habit of defending my honor, cutie,” he smiles.
“I seem to need to defend you guys, don’t I?” Changing the subject, we talk about what we want to do with the veggies we’ll harvest on Sunday.
Alex arrives at 8am on Sunday as we settle in to continue our herbal medicine studies. He’s all smiles as we watch the videos, and we have a lively discussion about natural compounds versus drugs over lunch. Zander chuckles at us as we debate.
The rest of the guys show up after lunch, and we begin harvesting. Once I have a basket full of veggies, Zander helps me clean them in the kitchen. The guys continue to harvest and bring bundles of veggies inside until the table is full.
After washing everything, E and I prepare the veggies for storage while the guys hang out. I purchased jars, a dehydrator, and plenty of freezer bags online last week.
We have a lot of food ready to freeze by dinner, and the island and dehydrator are completely full.
E is canning pickles as well. Zander orders pizza for us, and we eat outside on the deck before we continue to preserve.
I hang a makeshift rack to dry herbs along the dining room wall, and Nick easily hangs the bundles for me as I make them.
E takes several bags of produce home with him to make meals this week when the guys are ready to leave.