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“A toast, of sorts,” he said, wryly.
She took a large mouthful. The bite made her choke a little at first, and she coughed to clear it. The fiery liquid of the whiskey felt good as it burned its way down.
“Oh, come on now, you can’t choke on whiskey. Missy would never have approved.”
Kate laughed at his statement, not only because the sudden hit of alcohol made her giddy, but because it was true.
“She would have somehow made it into an idea for a song,” said Kate.
Mark snorted, taking back the flask and having another little sip. “You’re right about that. You’d have been the one to come up with lyrics, though. You wrote killer lyrics.”
“Oh, but she could put some mean twists on the tunes.”
“Tunes you wrote,” said Mark.
Kate shrugged. “We were a team. She had a great voice.”
“She did. Even when she was yelling, there was something melodic about it.”
The truth of the statement struck Kate as funny. She laughed.
“She was melodic a lot,” said Mark. “When you think about it.”
“Some would say she was passionate.”
“Hmm. Yes, I can testify to that.”
Kate snickered, and Mark shoved her, his face a study of seriousness, but the glint in his eyes betrayed him. “I meant she cared deeply about things.”
Kate grinned. “You mean she felt things deeply.”
Mark laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah, well.”
“You two. Making out up here. I remember that.”
Mark raised his brows. “What? When?”
“You thought I’d left. It was senior year. Summertime. Just before graduation. We came to have a swim. The moon was out, it was great. After we came up here, I decided I was tired and started back to my car, but I dropped my keys somewhere along the way. I retraced my steps back here to ask you both to help me look, but…” She grinned widely. “You two were playing a game of find-the-wiener. I seem to remember that I hadn’t expected two moons out that night.”
Mark gave her a look of horror, and Kate burst out laughing. “Don’t worry, I didn’t see much. Just enough to know that I didn’t need your help that badly.”
Mark joined her laughter after the moment. “We were such kids.”
“And you were smitten. No other word for it. She had you wrapped around her finger.”
Mark nodded. “Until she didn’t.”
“Until she didn’t.” Kate paused. “So much melodic voicing,” she added.
“Some of that constant melodic voicing was misplaced.”
Kate considered his words. Had Missy provoked the anger and tension with Bunny? She tried to recall exactly what had begun the animosity between the two. Zig’s words about Missy stating that Mark was Kate’s boyfriend threaded through her mind.
“She feared being alone,” said Kate. “The way her parents ignored her. She did everything she could to ensure we wouldn’t leave.”
“True. And in the end all she did was drive us away.”
Kate shook her head and Mark leaned into her, draping his arm around her shoulders. He lifted the flask in the direction of the lake. “To Missy. A talent lost. We miss you.” He took a small sip and handed it to her. She put it to her mouth and took a small swallow.
