Package Deal (28 page)

“No way, José! If I’d known you were going to wear that, I would have
brought my shirt from Illinois.” He chuckled
and
handed
back
her jacket.

Marcus climbed into his sleeping bag, and
Cecelia
settled
in the middle, her mother
on the other side. When
Marcus
started telling the ghost story,
Cece
insisted the three of them hold hands.

“So we’
re all together—like a family,” she said. “And if we h
old hands, it will keep us safe,
so the ghosts
and monsters
won’t get us.”

Marcus
eyed
her mother
over
the top of
her
head
, a funny look on his face
.
She
grinned
and her face got red
.
Marcus was
so much
fun
. She decided
she would
ask him what he thought about those things she’d talked about with her mother
.
Tomorrow.Before they
went
home.

The next morning,
as
Amanda headed toward the river to rinse the dishes before repacking them for the car ride home
, Marcus
took
down the tent
.

“
Will
you show me how to skip rocks before we go home?”
Cecelia asked
, as he was putting the tent into the car
.

Marcus
nodded
and called to Amanda
.
“Cecelia and I are going to walk to the lake.
We’ll be back in a little while
.
”

“Have fun, you two.”

When they had walked into the woods on the way to
the
lake, Cecelia said, “Can I ask yousomething?”

He
placed his hand on the top of Cecelia’s head. “
Sure. What do
you want to talk to me about, kid?”

“You like my mom, right?”
Her blue eyes sparkled at him.

“Yes
,
I do.”

“Do yo
u kiss her when you go
on dates?”

U
h oh.
Here it comes.
He looked down at the child’s earnest face. “Yes.
”
Is this the third degree?
“
Is that okay with you?”

“I guess. That
mea
ns you like her
a lot, you know, more than just—you know, a friend.”

“I like her lot
,
and
we are friends.”

“
You’re my friend, too, but
you don’t kiss
me
good
night.”

“That’s because we don’t go
on dates. And, I’m not sure your mom wants me giving you a kiss. That’s for your boyfriend to do.”

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“When you are older, I’m sure you will.”
He looked over at her. H
er face
was
serious.

“Sam says whe
n she gets married to her uncle, when she is older,
they will kiss. Do you think that’s right?”
Her blue eyes were lasers as she looked up at him.

“That she marries her uncle or that they kiss?”

“Both.” Cecelia kicked
at
a stone that lay in their path as they approached the lake.

“I think Sam likes her uncle a lot, but when the time comes, I have a feeling she’ll marry somebody else.And that person is who she will kiss.
”
What brought all this serious talk on?

“
Have you talked to your mom about this?”

Cecelia’s curls bounced as she nodded
. “But
I wanted to ask what you thought about it.”

“Well, now you know what I think. Come on, let’s skip some rocks. And if you have other questions, you can ask your mom.”

She stopped walking and scuffed the ground with her foot
, looking away from him
. She sighed
. T
hen,
her voice soft, wistful
, she
added,
“I would have asked my dad, but I don’t have one.”

He leaned down and
looked into her eyes
, his heart going out to her
.
Keeping his
voice quiet, he said
, “You do, too, have a dad. He just isn’t here for you to talk to.”

She looked back at him, her face
at first
serious before
the corners of her mouth began to turn up
.
“I know that. Well, anyway.
I guess that means
you
won’t marry me
, either,
when I get older.”

“Marry you?”
Oh Sh
eesh.
Is that what this was all about
?
His heart began to thud against his ribs.

“
Uh-
huh
. I told Sam I was going to marry you
,
like she’s going to marry her uncle. But
maybe
I’ll marry someone else,
like Sam won’t
marry her uncle.
”

He looked
down
at her as she walked by his side,
waiting for his answer
.
I’ve got to do this right.
He took a big breath before replying.
“I think when you’
re older,
maybe
when
you’
re in college or after, some nice boy is going to come along who
i
s your very best friend. Y
ou will love him and he will
love you and
you’ll want to
marry
each other
.” He skipped a stone along the surface of the lake before looking back at Cecelia.
Like I love your mother.

“You really think so?” Her eyes, large blue saucers,
held his gaze.

He nodded. “Yep.And do you know what else?”

“What?”

“
I’ll want to be
there,
at your wedding. I want you to promise you’ll invite me, so I can cheer and clap!” He
beam
ed
at her, relieved that she seemed more herself
.

“I promise.”

“Good. And
the next time you have questions about kissing and friends and stuff like that, will you ask your mom?”

“
I do
already.”

“Good
,” he said
.
“
It’s your turn to skip. Here.” He handed her some flat stones
and cheered at her success.

Then he said,
“
I
’ll race you back to the car!”
and
turned on his heel and ran back to the campground
. He felt
like a coward but
was
eager to get away so
Cecelia
couldn’t ask him any more questions
.

As he approached Amanda, he slowed enough to catch his breath. “Cecelia asked me all kinds of questions. We need to talk.”

Amanda looked up at him. “About what?”

“Kissing and marriage and things like that.”

“Oh.” She smiled.

“What made her ask me?” He opened the trunk and began helping her pack the car.

“Maybe because she trusts you,
because she likes you. We’ll talk later. Here she comes.”

Cecelia stopped in front of Amanda, breathing hard.
She frowned at Marcus as he
mov
ed the tent
to one side of the trunk
. “Marcus, that race wasn’t fair. Your legs are longer
than mine
and you had a head start.”

“I apologize. I needed to get the kinks out.I’ll give you a head start next time.”

Two days later, Marcus met Amanda outside her classroom. “Have you got a couple of minutes?”

She nodded.

“Let’s walk to the
water
fall
near the trees
.”

Amanda looked at him. “What’s on your mind?”

“Cecelia.” He scanned the ground as they
stroll
ed. “You
have
to tell me what prompted her questions—when we were camping.”

“What did she ask you?”

“She started by asking i
f I kissed you when we go out.
I told her I did. Then she asked me about getting married—that her friend, Sam, was going to marry her uncle and she thought she and I—well, that she was going to marry me. I told her I thought her friend, Sam, wasn’t going to marry her uncle and that she would probably marry somebody else, not me. I was really sweating that.”

“The fantasies of little girls can be interesting. Be glad she didn’t get more graphic.”

“What do you mean?”

“I calle
d Joan to find out exactly what’s been
going on.
”
She started to laugh.
“Sam’s
big sister showed
the girls
pictures in
The Joy of Sex
.
Talk about learning things from a big sister
.Sam’s
mother was furious that Brittany has that particular book.”

Amanda looked over at him. His head was down, a forelock of hair over one eye and he
was pushing a stone around with one foot
, reminding her of a small boy
uncertain what to say next
. “Marcus, I’ve always had a policy of honesty with Cecelia. When she has questions, I answer them.”

His head came up
and
he
blew out his breath. “Well, she about bowled me over.
I told her that she should be talking to you about all this.”

“We already have.”

He nodded. “She made that very clear, but insisted on getting the male point of view.”

Amanda smiled. “You should be honored. Obviously
,
she trusts you.”

“But I’m not used to questions like that.”

“I
f you’
re going to be her friend,
better get used to it.” Amanda picked up a paper that had slipped out of her notebook. “You must have done a good job. She has
n’t asked me any more questions. O
n that particular topic, anyway.”

“Oh?”

“She’s got
other things on her mind, like horseback riding
and more Scout trips, and will I let her fly to Minnesota this summer to see her grandmother
.
”

“Are you going to let her do that?”

“No. I’m not comfortable
lett
ing her fly
by herself
,
especially if she has to change planes
.”

“Somehow, I doubt she’ll be happy with that answer.”

“You’re probably right.” Amanda checked her watch.
As she walked back toward her classroom, she imagined what life might be like if Marcus helped her raise Cecelia, answer
ed
her
daughter’s
questions, guide
d
her through the teen years. It felt good thinking she wouldn’t be the only one with that responsibility.

When she began
her
lecture about eighteenth-
century poets, she wrote the words of George Crabbe on the board as an example of a couplet.

“How many of you wish for things?
What did George Crabbe mean when he wrote these words?”

In idle wishes fools supinely stay;

Be there
a will, and wisdom finds a way.

The students’ comments forced
Ama
n
da
to ask herself what
she
wanted
as she walked back to her office
.
Was she
wishing for
wisdom
, too,
and the will to make a decision—about herself
,
Marcus
,
and their relationship?