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No one spoke. They were all waiting for me.
“I already had Ethan’s invitation made out and ready to give him tonight,” I said.
“Oh, I’m sorry, honey,” Lucille said. “I upstaged you. Forgive me, please.”
“Semantha is not that kind of a girl,” Daddy said. He glanced back at me and flashed a smile.
Suddenly, Cassie was there beside me. I felt her put her hand into mine. She leaned over to whisper in my ear.
“Being first isn’t as important as being right,” she prompted.
Like some ventriloquist’s dummy, I repeated it. Silence can somehow sound like thunder.
Lucille turned and smiled at me. “You’re absolutely right, Semantha. That’s very true. I am sorry I spoiled your surprise.”
“It’s not spoiled for me,” Ethan said, putting his arm around me to draw me closer to him. When he did that, Cassie disappeared. “If you want me here,” he whispered, “I’ll come back.”
“Of course I want you here.”
He kissed me softly, and I leaned against him. No one spoke for the remainder of the trip. Lucille phrased another sort of apology when we entered the house. At this point, mostly for Daddy’s sake, I made it sound as if it was all about nothing much and she shouldn’t worry. The four of us parted at the top of the stairway. Daddy kissed me good night and said, “Thanks for being understanding.”
I watched them go to their bedroom and then caught up with Ethan.
“You can be tough when you want to,” he said, and quickly added, “I like that.”
“Come in,” I said, opening my bedroom door this time. He followed me in, and I handed him the wedding invitation I had waiting for him on my vanity table. “I was going to give it to you as soon as you told me you were leaving.”
“Thanks. I spoke with my mother today after we had come in from our picnic and decided I should get back there for a while. I hate leaving you, so I delayed saying anything.”
“I am happy they wanted to invite you, Ethan. I suppose I would have felt uncomfortable about it if I had given you this and then told them and not felt they were pleased about it.”
“I’m glad they like me, but how you feel is far more important, Semantha.”
He kissed me and then began to move toward making love to me.
I hesitated. “I’m really tired, and you’ve got a journey tomorrow,” I said.
“Sure,” he said, and smiled. “It’s not like I’ll be gone too lo
ng.” He gave me a quick good-night kiss and then paused at the door. “I’ll wake you if you’re not up for breakfast.”
“I’ll be up.”
“Sweet dreams,” he said.
I was still staring at the door after he closed it. I knew it would only be moments, and I was right.
Cassie was there.
“Nothing is as simple as it seems,” she said. “Especially when it comes to men and Lucille. You can’t shut me out, Semantha.”
I didn’t argue, but I didn’t agree. I went to bed and tried to think only about Ethan and our wonderful time together. I guess I was a lot more tired than I thought. I was asleep only moments after I lowered my head to the pillow, and I slept much later into the morning than I had anticipated. When I woke and saw the time, I shot out of bed, afraid that Ethan had already left. I was nearly dressed and out when he came to my room, laughing.
“How long have you been up?”
“Hours,” he said. “I came in to wake you, but you were sleeping so soundly I couldn’t do it. I had time anyway, so I joined your father and Lucille for breakfast. I checked on you twice, finished packing, and now I’ve returned.”
“I’m sorry, Ethan.”
