Chapter 6
Once again, the month of August was my enemy.
For everyone else, the last day of school was what they looked forward to, but my summer didn’t really start until my parents dropped me off at Gran Grace’s house at the end of June. The sight of that big, white Victorian lit up my heart more than any amusement park. The first day was a flurry of activity because Gran always made a big dinner for my parents, but the next day, after the car pulled out of the drive, she’d look over at me with that twinkle in her eye and say, “Now we can have fun.”
Our brand of fun changed slightly every summer, but we always started with baking a cake. Sometimes it was her velvety pound cake with cream cheese icing or the red velvet cake I loved. One year, we experimented with turning her carrot cake recipe into huge cupcakes. The only thing Gran loved more than baking was people, so we’d then venture into town to deliver our goodies to friends.
Which meant I got to see my summer bestie.
It was a strange thing having a best friend that I only saw in the summer. A best friend is an important milestone in a girl’s life. Best friend forever necklaces were all the rage in my elementary school, and I’d wished to have someone to split one with.
They even made necklaces with three equal pieces in case you had two best friends.
I couldn’t imagine being lucky enough to have two best friends.But as I glanced over just as she effortlessly leaped over a fallen log, I had to admit that Santana Evers was worth more than two best friends put together.
“Where are we going?” I finally managed to gasp. It wasn’t easy keeping up with Tana’s long legs. She seemed to have sprouted a foot since last summer.
“To the barn,” she yelled over her shoulder.
The old barn on the edge of Mr. Donald’s property was our favorite place to play. It was about a million years old and still smelled like hay and manure, but no one ever bothered us here. Well, no one except …
“If you fall, I’m not carrying you back,” Hendrix yelled as Tana leaped over a rock.
I blinked as sweat stung my eyes. It was August and the heat was like a wet blanket. If Hendrix hadn’t been with us, I would have pulled up my shirt and wiped my face with it, but I wasn’t going to give him a chance to poke me or give me a wedgie.
The summer was almost over and all I wanted was to spend every last minute with Tana. Too bad she usually came attached to one of her brothers. Mrs. Evers didn’t like us “running wild” as she called it without one of the boys with us.
If someone had to babysit us why couldn’t she send Van Halen? At least he was cute although I couldn’t say that out loud because Tana got so mad the last time I did. Instead, we had to deal with Rix and his best friend, Carter. They were only a year older than we were but somehow managed to make us feel like babies.
“You don’t have to come with us,” I reminded him. I hoped he wouldn’t.
Tana turned around. “You can leave. Carter can stay. We still need a groom.”
I ran a hand over the lace veil I’d borrowed from Gran’s room. It was so pretty, and I loved to put it on and imagine how I’d look when I got married someday. Everyone said I looked just like Gran Grace so I imagined I would look exactly like she did in her wedding photo.
Happy.
“Why do we have to play stupid wedding?” Rix whined. “Let’s go to the creek.”
Tana ignored him. “Okay, Carter, you go here. Charlie, you stand here.”
We all moved around as Tana put us in position and pulled props out of the plastic bag she carried. I was always the bride, Carter was always the groom, and Tana had the loudest voice so she was always the preacher.
Rix was the person who objected before being kicked out. When I let him play, anyway.
“Who giveth this woman to be married to this man?” Tana yelled.
She’d turned her black bath robe backwards. It looked pretty impressive, almost like a judge’s robe. The effect was only ruined by the sight of her ankles sticking out of the bottom since it was too short.
“I do!” Carter said in the deepest voice he could manage.
Since we were low on numbers, he had to play multiple roles. He was wearing an old top hat that Tana claimed belonged to a Halloween costume and she’d drawn a fake mustache on his face before we left home with some eyeliner she’d “borrowed” from her mom.
“If anyone has reason this woman should not be married to this man—” Tana paused to peer down at the paper crumpled in her palm —“speak now or forever hold your peace.”
It was quiet. Then Carter sneezed.
“Sorry.” He wiped his nose on the sleeve of his shirt.
Tana exhaled loudly. “Speak now or forever hold your peace!”
At the last part, she leaned down and picked up a stick before chucking it at her brother.
Rix startled. “What?”
“It’s your turn,” Tana whisper-yelled.
He groaned. “This is taking forever. Why do I have to be the guy who objects? Why can’t I be the preacher?”
Annoyed that Rix was ruining things, again, I pulled Tana back in position.
Maybe if I was here all year, I wouldn’t feel so desperate to take in every possible moment with my best friend. But the date when my parents would arrive to pick me up next week loomed larger than ever. That was the way of life for military families or at least that was what Mom said. You had to be ready to move on to a new place.
A new adventure.
All I really wanted was to have Tana all to myself. Instead, I was forced to spend time with Rix while the days flew by like they had wings and all I could do was watch them escape.
“You can’t be the preacher. Gran Grace says you have the devil in you,” I said.
Rix kicked the dirt with the tip of his sneaker. “Whatever. I don’t want to go to your stupid wedding anyway.”
When I turned back to face the front, something yanked at my hair. Hard.
“OUCH!”
When I turned, all I saw was my veil in the mud and the backs of Rix and Carter as they ran away laughing.
“Ugh. I hate you Hendrix Evers! You ruin everything!”
I didn’t have many friends. There was no point making them when I’d just have to move again in a year or two. But my summers in Violet Ridge were forever. No matter where we were living, I always got to spend the summers in Virginia with my grandmother. Even though I technically had lived all over the world, this was my real home.
Now my last days with Tana were being ruined.
Tears welled as I picked up the veil carefully, biting my lip when I noticed the side was ripped.
“This was Gran Grace’s veil when she married Pop. I’m going to get in so much trouble.”
Tana slung her arm around my shoulders. “It’s okay. Maybe we can fix it.”
We both looked down at the muddy veil.
She covered it with her hand. “We’ll tell her Rix did it. Let’s keep playing on our own.”
“We don’t have a groom anymore.”
Tana leaned down and grabbed the old top hat Carter had abandoned. “So what? We don’t need boys. We’re going to be best friends forever and that’s better than a husband anyway.”