Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Kell
“Tell me about your dad,” she inquired as he pulled out of Kenny’s driveway. He wondered how he’d gone from being screamed at beside the hot springs yesterday to having her treat him like a human being worthy of spending time with today, even if it was in a town she openly despised.
“He’s my dad.” Kell shrugged. “His name is Dean. He runs a tree service. He tells bad dad jokes. You know. Normal dad.”
“Hah! He’s nothing like my dad, so don’t throw the word ‘normal’ around like that, dude.”
“Tell me about your dad, then. Stan, right?”
“Yes. Stan Hart, the rights shark. Dad owns more Savile Row bespoke suits than he is years old, drives a Ferrari everywhere, and has a thing for exotic animals.”
“Like, tigers? Joe Exotic?”
“More like koala bears.”
“You grew up with a koala bear as a pet?”
“Oh, no. Not a pet. We weren’t allowed to play with it. More like, Dad wanted his own personal exotic animal collection.”
“You had your own zoo?”
“See? ‘Normal,’” she said, using finger quotes. “My normal is nothing like yours.”
“No kidding. What else is weird about your family?”
“Weird? We’re not weird. Just… not normal.”
“Your mom is an ’80s cop show star, your dad collects marsupials, and your brother is–he’s still working towards being an astronaut?”
“Yes. At Thanksgiving, I got to hear a detailed description of how he can drink his own pee in space.”
“Drink his own pee?”
“It’s an astronaut thing. They recycle their urine and filter it. They claim it tastes like bottled water.”
“I don’t even want to know what else they recycle.”
“I’m sure Tim will tell me all about it at Easter dinner, over ham. Dad and Mom sit with looks of rapt admiration on their faces and when they ask me about work, all I can say is I helped a small, family-run dairy sell to an international chocolatier. Tim’s… extra.”
“Okay.” Kell held up one palm. “You win. Nothing normal about your family.” He made a face.
“But growing up here in Heartsick Hollow isn’t normal either, Kell.”
He groaned. “Where do you come up with these insults? Heartsick Hollow? Really?”
“Reddit.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. When Dani did a briefing for me on the town, she found some gems. Heartsick Hollow, Schlocky Springs, Cupid City. And those are the clean ones.”
“Clean ones?”
She cleared her throat and tried not to laugh. “The Meatmarket of Maine. Lube You, Maine… and the rest are waaaay too dirty to mention.”
“Reddit’s opinion of our town isn’t representative of what it’s really like.”
“No. But it’s entertaining.”
Laughing in spite of himself, he had to give her that.
“Dean Luview,” she said. “Is he nice like your mom?”
“Of course.”
“And they’ve been together since high school?”
“Yep.”
“Dean and Deanna? That’s hilarious.”
“It is.”
“Hah! And your parents have four kids?”
“Mmm hmm.”
“You’re not making it easy to learn anything, Kell.”
“I’m answering!”
“Are you guys the ones who really control Luview?”
“Huh?”
“Old families. Power dynamics in small towns. I’ve seen it in the course of my work. Obviously, Lucinda has power because her company provides jobs, but I suspect she and her husband didn’t have much local power before the business became successful.”
Surprised by her insightful analysis, Kell had to clear his throat twice before finding the right words.
“We’re not what I’d call powerful, but we’ve been here long enough to have influence.
Twenty-seven hundred people live here. Human beings are all about forming alliances, but also picking arguments.
We don’t dominate, because no one should.
Every voice deserves to be heard, even if everyone doesn’t always get what they want. ”
“You sound very consensus-based.”
“Not really. More like I think ideas that have an impact on people need to be heard, discussed, considered, and then in the end, the majority prevails.” He thought for a second. “Unless the majority will hurt the minority.”
“You described true, simple democracy.”
“Small towns are oozing with it.”
“I’m going to guess there are some longstanding rivalries here, though.”
Kell’s eyes rolled hard.
“Oh, yes.”
“Bilbee versus Luview?”
“Very good.”
“It’s pretty obvious. Two original families. Lots of marrying entwining them.”
“The Bilbees are, well... on the whole, they’re not fans of all the love stuff. Most of the younger cousins have embraced it now, but years ago, that wasn’t the case.”
“Are the Bilbees the ones who fight progress?”
She really was paying attention, her analysis making him admire her more than he wanted to. For all the negative comments she made about the town, she was absolutely paying attention to it.
“Mostly, yes. But over time, democracy generally wins out.”
“And your dad feels the same way?”
“My dad is happiest in a tree. Like me. He thinks of the woods as his family, second to us. Stewards of the land tend to look at human squabbling and take the long view. Spend enough time around two-hundred-year-old trees and you quickly feel small and unimportant.”
“You’re anything but small,” she said, giving him a fine little onceover he appreciated. “And people aren’t unimportant.”
“Our arguments are.”
So many thoughts rushed into his mind, but the word that prevailed was simple:
Hypocrite.
If squabbles and conflicts weren’t important, why had he let one between him and Rachel dominate so much of his life?
“Anything I need to know before I meet him?”
“He’ll probably hug you. Mom and Dad are huggers.” He thought for a minute. “Are your parents huggers?”
“Mom does air kisses. Dad will shake your hand off, and before you’re done he’s asking you what your poison is.”
“Poison?”
“Drinks. Dad likes a neat bourbon. Pappy’s is his brand.”
“Whoo! Power drink.”
“My father is all about power.”
As they approached the first stoplight on the edge of town, Kell turned to her. “Is that why success is so important to you? Trying to impress your dad?”
“I don’t have cool stories about drinking my own pee in space to enthrall him at family gatherings. I do my best, but…”
“Why does it have to be a competition?” Moving forward at the green light, Kell began searching for a parking spot.
This time of year, the town center was always jam packed.
He might have to park behind Bilbee’s, in his tenant spot.
But that would involve a longish walk to Love You Coffee, and Kell would prefer a quick stop.
Guys hanging in trees were kind of a priority. He knew his dad would need some time to get the equipment in place, but there was time to grab coffee. The poor schmuck in the tree probably could use a good jolt of hot drink, too.
And if he showed up with a half-caf latte for his father, he’d score some brownie points.
“It just is a competition,” Rachel said with a sigh. “It’s how my family operates. Everyone’s trying to be the big dog.”
“Lots of room in the world for dogs of all sizes.”
“I’m tired of being a chihuahua in a St. Bernard world.”
“I like chihuahuas. Plus, you remind me of one. Yippy little thing.”
She whacked his arm. He grinned at her.
And wondered what the hell he was doing.
She pointed to a sign. “What is Love You Forever?”
“That’s the wedding chapel.”
“Why does it have a giant garage door?”
“It’s a drive-thru wedding chapel.”
“What? Like in Vegas? Does Elvis marry you?”
“No. My cousin Brad does.”
“He’s a minister?”
“Yep. Unitarian Universalist.”
“Is that one of the Hare Krishna-type religions?”
“You don’t know what the Unitarian Universalists are?”
“No.”
“Funny how Ms. I-Know-Everything doesn’t know about one of the major New England religions.”
“Okay. Fine. We’ve established my ignorance there. What is the whole drive-thru wedding thing about?”
“It’s where you get wicked hitched.”
“Wicked hitched?”
“That’s their slogan. Get wicked hitched in Love You, Maine!”
“And in this context, wicked means…”
“Really. Or awesomely.”
“Wicked means bad, Kell. Or... naughty.”
“Not here.”
“And not something dirtier?”
“No.”
“So it’s just a wedding chapel with a gimmick.”
“You really are a funsucker sometimes, Rachel.”
“How am I a funsucker for pointing out the truth?”
“It’s a cool place to run off to when you’re madly in love and cannot wait one more second to be married.”
“That’s called being impulsively irrational.”
“See? Funsucker.”
“SPOT!” she called out, pointing as a car’s red tail lights lit up, backing out of a space right in front of Love You Coffee.
“I never have this kind of luck,” he muttered as Rachel preened.
“One thing I am known for in my family that beats my brother: Dad calls me his parking lot good luck charm. I get great spots.” She cleared her throat. “For a funsucker.”
Kell caught her frowning at the town lot across the street.
“Except for yesterday, when Randy attacked my car over there.”
“Right. Heard about that from my mom.” He turned off the car and got out, Rachel staying in the truck.
“You coming in?”
“I’m not fit to be seen in public.”
“Why? Do you stink?”
“Excuse me?”
“You look fine. Don’t worry so much about appearances. You showered today, right? And even that’s not a requirement for going into shops here in town. We have a writer’s colony nearby, and let me tell you, they have everyone beat in the not-showering department.”
Clearly debating internally, she seemed uncertain. Kell ended that by grabbing her door handle and opening it. As she exited the truck, half the people on the sidewalk turned to watch them.
The half who were full-time residents.
“Is that music from a PA system somewhere?” she asked, looking around for the source. The song “Love Will Keep Us Together” was playing.
“Yes. Nothing but love songs everywhere for the next week or so.”
Her groan was still going as they reached the shop door. He held the door for her as they entered the coffee shop because it was polite, but also because if his mother ever learned he’d barreled in first, she’d chew his ear off.