30. Jacinthe
Jacinthe
M arch has always been the worst month of the year at La Grange Rouge. The trail riding money we’ve made in the summer has all but dried up by then, and the thick piles of stale, late-winter snow are a constant reminder that springtime bookings are still many weeks away.
This year is different, though. This year we’ve got enough boarders to cover all our operation costs and pay out salaries for me and Tess. I’ve even been able to afford a few nagging repair projects I’ve been putting on the back burner for years.
“You coming to the party tonight, Madame Lacroix?” I ask the grey-haired woman leading a chestnut Thoroughbred into the barn while I wrap up the evening feed.
Madame Lacroix was one of our very first boarders to sign on after Tess started spreading the word to her farrier clients. She has two horses with us and comes by pretty much every day to go for a ride after work.
“Party?” she asks while she gets started hooking Poppy, her mare, up to some cross ties in the aisle.
“For Tess,” I remind her. “We’re celebrating six months since she moved to La Cloche. It’s a surprise.”
I drop my voice and glance at the barn door, but I’ve had Tess out running errands all day to keep her away from the preparations here and at Balsam Inn, where everyone will be gathering soon.
“Ah, ouais !” Madame Lacroix says, pausing in the middle of pulling Poppy’s saddle off. “Of course. I forgot that was this week, but I’ll be there. Tess is so sweet. I wouldn’t miss it. What time does it start?”
I pull my phone out of my pocket and only just manage to stop myself from swearing when I see the time.
“In forty minutes,” I answer. “I better get moving. I left Poppy’s dinner on that ledge there. You can dump it into her bucket whenever you’re done.”
“ Merci ,” she says. “You run along. I’ll make sure the barn is latched when I go. I have to stop at home to change, but I’ll see you soon.”
“Shit.”
The curse slips out before I can stop it. I cover my mouth with my hand and give Madame Lacroix an apologetic look.
“I forgot about changing,” I explain. “Now I really have to get moving.”
I race up to the house and start tearing my barn clothes off as soon as I reach my bedroom. Tonight isn’t meant to be fancy, but I still don’t want to show up smelling like horse.
I put on some clean jeans and an only slightly wrinkled button-down. I give my hair a patting down with some water in the bathroom and scrub my face before bolting back down the stairs.
Maman is already at the inn helping Brooke and Natalie finish setting up, but Shel is holed up in our kitchen plucking at her guitar. She’s wearing a long tie-dye skirt, a blouse, and a black silk tie. I can tell from just one glance that she’s nervous.
“Love the tie,” I tell her. “You look like a rock star.”
She fidgets with the material. “You don’t think it’s stupid?”
“It’s punk,” I say, walking over to take a seat in the chair next to hers. “Punk is cool. It goes with your hair.”
She’s got purple streaks joining the pink now, along with some wispy bangs.
“How are you feeling about tonight?” I ask her.
She chews on her lip and gives the guitar in her lap a dubious look.
“I don’t know if I’m good enough,” she says. “I don’t want to mess up.”
“Well, I’m definitely gonna mess up,” I tell her, “but I don’t think anyone will care. I think they’ll all just be happy my cousin Luc isn’t playing. Let me tell you, he is not good at guitar.”
I might be throwing my own flesh and blood under the bus, but it’s worth it to make Shel giggle.
Plus, Luc really is criminally bad at guitar.
I glance over at where my own guitar is stashed in the hallway, already zipped into its case and waiting to go for a ride.
“You ready to go?” I ask Shel.
She hesitates for a moment and then bobs her head.
“Atta girl,” I say, giving her a pat on the back. “You’re gonna smash it.”
We get our coats and boots on in the entryway and then head for my truck. We lay our guitars side by side in the backseat, and I start the drive to Balsam Inn.
The party was supposed to be a surprise for Tess and Shel, but Shel caught me talking about it on the phone to Natalie a few weeks ago. After swearing her to secrecy, it was actually her idea to play a song for Tess together in front of all our friends.
That does mean the whole town is about to find out I play guitar and I’ll never hear the end of it, but I wasn’t about to leave Shel hanging.
I would do anything for this kid.
And for her mom.
When we get to Balsam Inn, the driveway is packed with even more cars than I expected. Inside, dozens of people are all milling around and scoping out hiding spots to duck behind when Tess gets here.
Currently, she is driving back from Saint-Jovite after making a pit stop at Wal-Mart on her way home from a farrier call. I told her there was a huge toilet paper emergency at the inn and that the guests would be shitting their pants if she didn’t come save the day soon.
She texted me back to say I’m a ridiculous drama queen, but she did agree to go find a bulk pack of toilet paper.
“Wow, you look awesome!”
Natalie emerges from the crowd in the lounge and comes over to beam at Shel.
“That tie is so cool,” she tells her.
“Told you so,” I say out of the corner of my mouth.
Shel blushes, and Natalie tells her there are some chairs waiting by the fireplace if she wants to go get her guitar set up.
Once Shel scoots off towards the warm glow coming from the river rock fireplace that takes up the whole back wall of the lounge, Natalie turns back to me.
“Quite the turnout,” she says, looking around the room.
A bunch of my uncles, aunts, and cousins are here.
I spot Natalie’s parents too, wrapped up in a conversation with Brooke.
A whole group of our boarders from La Grange Rouge are sitting together around a coffee table.
A dozen or so shopkeepers and artisans from around town are scattered throughout the crowd, along with some of Tess’s farrier clients.
My chest gets tight at the sight of so many people showing up to celebrate her.
“What can I say? My girlfriend is a celebrity.”
My girlfriend.
I still get a little thrill every time those words roll off my tongue.
Natalie grins at me. “Speaking of the woman of the hour, where is she?”
I pull my phone out to check what time she sent her text saying she was leaving Wal-Mart.
“She should be getting into La Cloche any minute now.”
Natalie says she’ll get Maddie, and a few moments later, the two of them are flicking the light switches to get everyone’s attention. The crowd is ordered to hide, and then the lights go off for good.
I crouch behind a couch next to Shel. Everyone starts giggling and whispering when a pair of headlights shines through the window. Maddie orders us all to hush.
A minute later, I’m holding my breath while the front door creaks open.
“Uh, hello?” Tess’s voice calls.
I can practically feel the house shake with anticipation as she takes a few faltering steps into the lounge.
Someone throws the lights on, and we all join together for a deafening shout of, “SURPRISE!”
Tess blinks and then glances over her shoulder like we must be talking to somebody else.
“Happy six months in La Cloche!” one of my cousins shouts.
That doesn’t clear up Tess’s confusion. If anything, she just looks more dumbstruck.
“This is…for me?”
I cut through the crowd and rush forward to take her hands in mine. Then I lean in to whisper in her ear.
“ Oui, ma chère . It’s all for you.”
An hour later, after many tears and laughs and handshakes, the party has settled into a lull. Shel is off playing with the kids of one of the shopkeepers while Tess and I stand chatting with Natalie, Brooke, and Maddie.
“Here I am again,” Maddie says, raising her beer at us, “fifth-wheeling.”
Natalie chuckles and gives her shoulder a squeeze. “We’ll find someone for you, Mads. With Jass coupled up now, you’re going to have all our combined match-making energy focused on you .”
Maddie shudders. “Never mind. That sounds awful. I don’t trust any of you to set me up.”
I gasp. “What do you mean, ma cousine ? We are all excellent examples of wonderful relationships, non ?”
“Yeah, now ,” she argues, “but no offence, you all had some pretty messy starts. I’d rather avoid the drama.”
“You mean you don’t want to fall in love with your ex-fiancé’s sister?” Brooke jokes.
“Or your landlady?” Tess asks.
I tighten my grip on her waist.
“Hey!” I bark. “I was never your landlady. You signed the lease with my mom.”
She gives me a peck on the cheek to try and subdue me.
It works. I rest my head on her shoulder and quit arguing.
“You know, Maddie, something tells me no matter how hard you try, a little bit of drama is going to come find you,” Natalie warns.
“But I bet it will be worth it,” Brooke adds, snuggling into Natalie’s side.
Maddie pretends to gag, but I can see her hiding a grin.
She turns to give me a little nudge. “Is it time for the next surprise?”
“Oh, right.”
I step away from Tess, and she gives me a curious look.
“Another one?” she asks.
I wink at her. “Just you wait.”
A few minutes later, Shel and I are both seated in front of the fireplace, guitars balanced on our laps while the whole crowd faces us.
Someone starts chanting for a speech, even though I was hoping the gift of music could speak for itself.
“ Assez, assez !” I shout over the noise. “Fine. I will give you a speech.”
I make a show out of clearing my throat and banging my fist on my chest a couple times.
“As you all know, Tess and her daughter Shel joined us here in La Cloche six months ago today,” I begin. “As not many of you know, I was also almost killed by a donkey that day.”
A few people laugh while the rest of the crowd looks around for someone to explain the joke.
I leave them hanging. We do not need to spoil this evening with the evil of Joaquin.
“Tess did not meet me at my best,” I say, “but here is the thing about her. She doesn’t need to meet you at your best to see the best in you. She is kind, generous, and willing to put up with my sense of humor. Basically, she’s a saint.”
My eyes find hers in the crowd. She’s standing at the back between Maddie and Natalie. I give her another wink, and I hope she knows I’m thinking about just how un-saintly we’re going to be in bed tonight.
I clear my throat again.
“And this town wouldn’t be the same without her,” I tell everyone. “It’s only been six months, but I already know that’s true, and if you’re here tonight, I’m sure you do too.”
There’s a round of cheering and tapping on glasses. I keep my gaze locked on Tess. Her face is a mix of pride and nerves as the whole room whoops for her.
She deserves every second of it.
“ Je t’aime , Tess,” I say once the noise dies down.
It’s not the first time I’ve told her I love her. The first time happened immediately after our first official date, despite our plan to take things slow.
I just couldn’t wait. I needed her to know.
I need her to know I love her every damn day.
She mouths the words back to me as the room breaks out in yet more roaring applause.
“Okay, okay. Calmez-vous !” I shout, stamping my feet to call for quiet again.
“Shel has worked very hard on her guitar skills these past few months, and she’s picked out a song for us to play tonight.
It’s by a little old band called Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, which is a very weird name if you ask me, but that’s les anglophones for you. ”
The francophones in the room give me a laugh.
“This song is called Home,” I announce. “Shel says that’s how she feels here in La Cloche.”
I turn away from the crowd to look at her and lower my voice so only she can hear.
“And I hope you always do.”
She beams at me, and I don’t know how the hell anyone ever found this kid ‘inconvenient.’ I could spend my whole life trying to make her this happy.
If I’m lucky, I’ll get the chance to try.
We get our hands in position on our guitars, and Shel counts us in just like she’s been practicing.
I’m no singer, and Shel didn’t want to do vocals either, so for the first verse, we’re only playing an instrumental version, strumming in unison without a single hitch.
By the time we get to the chorus, a few people have started humming. Then one of my aunts pipes up with the words.
Or at least, some of the words. She gets most of the lyrics mixed up, but it doesn’t matter. More people join in, and soon, the whole room is filled with a mix of garbled English and improvised French rhymes all vaguely set to the same tune.
It’s chaotic and goofy and definitely off-key, but more than anything, it sounds like love.
I look up from the frets and find Tess watching me, her eyes shining and her face stretched into a radiant smile while our friends sling their arms around her and start swaying in time with our song.
I know then that there’s nothing to be afraid of.
Tess is right where she belongs.
Thank you so much for reading Touch the Sky ! I hope Tess and Jacinthe’s story made you laugh, cry, and swoon (preferably in that order).