Celebration's Bride

As various friends and relatives drifted in and out, hugging him, asking for the quick catch-up, Miles had a chance to take in his surroundings, marveling at how it all looked the same as when he was growing up, only now he saw it through a different lens.

The lower level of the house was an open floor plan with the kitchen, family room and a casual dining table contained in one area. The space that had once seemed so large looked a little smaller than he remembered it. The tile-covered countertops that he could vividly recall his mother being so excited about years ago looked a little worn and dingy now.

The same chalkboard from his childhood hung on the wall next to the refrigerator. The same linoleum that used to be a shade of off-white and was now leaning towards light gray, still covered the floor up to the point where the carpet in the family room began. It delineated the space where the kitchen ended and the family room started.

The same large, overstuffed sectional sofa sat atop the same Berber carpet that still looked brand new thanks to his mom’s TLC and obsessive vacuuming.

He watched her as she stirred pots on the stove and checked something in the oven—it looked like meat loaf—and worried over something else in the refrigerator.

“Hey, Ma,” he called. “Let me help you. What can I do?”

“Not a thing. You just talk to everyone and relax,” she said. “Lucy can help me here in the kitchen. Lucy, I’m talking to you. Lucy!”

The girl looked up from her place on the corner of the couch where she’d been texting and pulled one ear bud out of her ear.

“What?” she snapped.

Miles saw his mother give her a look and the girl immediately straightened up. Miles was all too familiar with that look. It was a silent warning. If she didn’t comply, the punishment would be worse than a court marshal. Deena Mercer’s husband might have retired a sergeant first class, but she was the long-standing general of the Mercer army. She commanded respect and her family gave it to her.

“I think you know that the correct response is yes, ma’am,” Deena said.

“Yes, ma’am,” Lucy answered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you.” Miles could see the way the girl’s hands were fisted in her lap, but her tone of voice was much softer now.

“Please put that cell phone down and come here. I need you to set the table in the dining room and the one here in the family room, and then set the picnic table out on the back porch for the kids. We need twenty place settings in all, please.”

Lucy didn’t smile, but she nodded and set about her duties, tucking the phone into the pocket of her jeans rather than setting it down as her mother had told her to do. Miles sensed something was up. His little sister had an edge that went beyond typical teenage angst and moodiness.

When the girl was out of the room, he asked his mom, “Is Lucy okay?”

His mother’s face tightened and her mouth flattened into a grim line. She hefted the pot of boiling potatoes off the stove and dumped them into a large colander in the sink.

“It’s been an interesting year,” she said as she set the pot back on the stove and turned back to the sink to shake the remaining water out of the potatoes.

“Grab yourself a beer out of the fridge and I’ll tell you about it,” she said. “While you’re over there would you hand me the cream, please?”

Miles handed the quart-size container to her and then opened his beer.

His brothers were occupied by a game of Mario Kart with the nieces. His older sister, Patricia, was following her toddler around making sure she didn’t get into anything she wasn’t supposed to. The others were out in the backyard, or grouped in various sets talking about one thing or another like big families did.

Miles pushed back the question of when his father might grace them with his presence. He hadn’t materialized since Miles had seen him in the office, and after mulling over the expression his dad wore, he decided he’d be damned before he asked about him. Especially since he had these few moments alone with his mother, and he could tell she wanted to catch him up on what had been happening with Lucy.

“Thank you, hon,” she said as she took the carton from him and brushed a lock of graying hair off her forehead. “Your little sister has been a bit of a handful this past year. She’s had a hard time, but she’s settling down now.” Deena heaved a sigh and looked around, as if making sure no one was listening in on their conversation. Miles guessed she might’ve been looking for Lucy, who wasn’t within earshot. He could see her through the sliding glass doors, standing next to the picnic table she was supposed to be setting, on her phone texting.

Pushing the envelope.

“About six months ago, your little sister snuck out in the middle of the night and went joyriding with that Phillips boy. She had no business being out with him at a decent hour much less in the middle of the night. He’s seventeen years old.”

Deena gestured with the wooden spoon she’d been using to stir the butter and cream she was heating up on the stove. “The boy’s parents woke up at about 2:30 in the morning, realized the car was missing and reported it stolen, before they realized their son had taken it. When the police found them, the boy was drunk. The police hauled both him and Lucy down to the station and made them call their parents, which was fine with your daddy and me because after that stunt, we’d reached our wits’ end with that little girl.”

Miles grimaced, thinking about what a nightmare that must have been for all involved. He’d pulled some pretty dumb stunts when he’d lived at home. Nothing as brazen as what Lucy had done—or at least he’d never been caught doing anything that stupid. Although his father would have an opinion or two when it came to the subject of Miles and stupidity. “So what happened?” Miles asked. “Was she okay?”

“Well, yes. She swore she hadn’t been drinking. The police made her take a Breathalyzer, so I knew she was telling the truth. And of course the parents didn’t press charges against their own son…although he did get into a heap of trouble over the underage drinking and driving. Lost his license, I think, and he’ll probably be on restriction until he’s thirty. I know we grounded Lucy for a very long time, even though the sheriff did a good job of scaring them both.”

His mom looked tired. Under the kitchen’s fluorescent lights he could see the creases etched into her face. There was a weariness about her that he’d never noticed before.

“After everything settled down and we had a chance to talk about it calmly, Lucy admitted she had been in way over her head with that boy that night. Apparently, he got a little handsy.” Deena shook her head. “I think it scared her. Like it scared me to death.” Deena was wringing her hands. “Just think of all the things that could’ve happened. I told her nice girls have no business out after midnight. That’s why she has a curfew. Nothing good happens past midnight.”

Miles winced at the irony of his mom’s words. He half expected her to chuckle and say, “Sorry for the pun. I loved your movie, honey. Even if it was a little too scary for my taste.”

Obviously, she hadn’t realized what she’d said because she shuddered and gave her head a quick shake as if clearing it of the what if cobwebs.

“How are things now?” Miles asked instead of agreeing that nothing good had happened since Past Midnight. “Lucy seemed to hop-to when you asked her to set the table.”

Deena’s mouth flattened into a thin line. “Yeah, if you don’t count the preamble of sassiness. Well, she’s not allowed to date or wear makeup until she turns sixteen. Unless we make a special dispensation like we’re doing this weekend. She’s going to a dance—with an age-appropriate boy, who does not drive. His parents are taking them. And really, she’s been working hard at school and helping me around the house, basically keeping her nose clean and out of trouble. She’s invited her daddy to speak at career day next month. That made him so happy. He’s been working on his speech since the moment she asked him.” His mother sighed again. “She made a mistake. I really want to believe she learned from it. You know what we’ve always said. Only new mistakes.” Miles felt his father’s presence before he heard him enter the room. Because when he turned around, Miles Mercer III was standing in the threshold between the family room and the office where he’d been holed up since Miles had arrived. He was regarding his son with a look that fell somewhere between neutral nonchalance and general irritation.

That’s why Miles Mercer IV was shocked as hell when his father walked over, extended a hand and said, “It’s been a long time.”

Chapter Four

Deena Mercer had always maintained that Miles and his father were too much alike and that’s why they clashed in such an explosive way. However, Miles couldn’t stand the thought of being as stubborn and jaded as his old man. So, most of his life he had taken great pains to go the opposite direction.

That’s why they clashed. Because he wanted to be nothing like his father. Then again, “clashing” hinted that two people were close enough to careen off each other. Their problem resembled something closer to being drawn and quartered.

While last night’s dinner had started out amicably enough with the handshake, his father had seized every opportunity to land a passive-aggressive verbal punch in Miles’s direction.

For his mother’s sake, Miles didn’t take the bait. He ignored his dad’s caustic remarks about Hollywood’s fruits and nuts. When his father asked him when he was he going to settle down and get a real job, Miles had laughed it off. He’d also let it roll right off his back when his dad threw the barb about Miles’s last two movies being flops.

“Can’t win ’em all.” Miles had shrugged it off, refusing to be goaded into a verbal altercation. He also decided there was no way in hell that he would admit to his father that he wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of making horror films for the rest of his life. He was restless and discontent and looking for his next project­—preferably something in another genre. That’s why he was happy to have this breather working on Catering to Dallas.