“Breakfast and showers first though.”
“And each done together?” he suggests.
“Each done together,” I agree.
After both very satisfying activities, he drives into town with Shallots because he still wants to be there early, and I leave in my own car an hour later. The ride in is so fun. Unused fields are now occupied by tents and booths, stages for performers, and great fenced-in areas to show off animals. Local food and treats are being snatched up, and after I park and I walk, I see Jackson facing a crowd at his booth and even more people at Nicole’s pop-up crêperie stand. The masses are wandering around and appreciating this town.
When I reach Mary Ann’s table, I am fired up. “What can I do?”
She is lugging a tray of perfectly ripe tomatoes from the delivery truck, and I’m already dying to slice into them. “Help unload all of this produce, wool, yarn, and goat cheese from the truck and listen to me fawn all over Slowski and our hot date.”
“Done.”
“And Danny’s been at your place every night, I gather? Can’t wait to hear more about that!”
Alex moves a few feet away. “I do not want to hear about fawning. Or condoms.”
“Sorry, Alex! We’ll keep it down,” my friend shouts. “But we will stop talking about condoms. To be safe, maybe you want to see if Danny needs help? He’s going to be slammed today.”
“Yes. I will do that.” He strides off to another part of the festival, clearly relieved.
“So, your date went well?” I ask as I arrange wrapped chèvre on a platter.
She’s been so busy over the last few days, and we haven’t been able to talk or even text, so I’ve had no details about her double date. And Danny and I managed to refrain from spying on the two couples during their picnic on his property.
“It was perfect. And your incredible food didn’t hurt. Jackson and I kind of hand-fed Matteo and Slowski respectively. We all drank wine, and there was non-stop chatting and flirting and laughing. My God, it couldn’t have been easier.” She fluffs the basket of llama and sheep wool. “And at the end, Slowski took me on a walk and then totally dropped me back into the grass for a full-on kiss that went on for days. And…there was maybe a little groping.”
“What?” I set a hand on her shoulder. “What? Well, how did that feel?”
“Totally hot.” She about twirls.
“I mean, emotionally! You were comfortable?”
“I was. I was ready for it. For the first time in so long.” She shrugs. “You know, he’s so gentle and sweet. I wanted it, welcomed it. Asked for it really.”
This makes me so thoroughly happy.
“What about Jackson and Matteo?”
“Oh, those two couldn’t stop talking and touching each other. I’m sure it went well. But at a certain point, their incessant chatting became too much, and that’s when Slowski and I moved away a bit and found a new spot. That greenhouse at Danny’s is so romantic. Kissing there while the sun sets? Like nothing I could have dreamed of.”
“I’ve seen it. It’s incredible. That’s full of his mom’s glasswork, right?”
“Yeah. It’s all so beautiful and all sort of heartbreaking.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure what Danny has told you about his mom, but I don’t love what I’ve heard.” She fiddles with arranging produce. “And also what I haven’t heard.”
Mary Ann’s posture changes, and she tenses as she oversees her table. “Andie left him when he was a kid. Left him to be cared for by this town. She barely even checks in. Did you know that when he turned eighteen—literally on his birthday—she signed the house over to him and took off? That’s fucked up. Sick, if you ask me. Andie is not the mother he talks about or the mother he wants her to be.”
Now, I understand why he finds rowboats. Why he can’t sleep. Why my own mother thinks so little of Andie.
“Since you’ve been here?” she continues. “Danny’s been different.”
It’s hard to control how much I’m shaking, and I ask, “How?”
“Oh God, where do I start? He used to get himself into stupid bar fights, and he drank way too much. Fuck, we used to carry him home more times than I could count. He was darker, sometimes moody as fuck. I mean, always good to his friends, but not always light. The day you came back? Something changed. He’s calmer, happier. Somehow grounded.”
