The Year I Almost Drowned (6 page)

off

of

him.

“You

look

beautiful,

Finn.”

He

stood

up,

his

grin

broad.

“Thanks.” I fidgeted and bit on a loose hang nail. This was the first real date I’d

ever had with Jesse. It’s how I imagined a girl feels on the night of her prom.

Jesse and I had gone to plenty of fast food restaurants, movies, and other places

on dates, but we never went anywhere that I had to dress up. It made me feel

grown

up.

“Y’all

have

fun,”

Nana

said.

“And be careful,” Grandpa added. “You’ve got a long drive.” Greenville was the

closest city to Graceville, but it was still forty-five minutes away.

We closed the door behind us and got into Jesse’s car. It smelled like fresh

lavender and was immaculate, the cleanest I’d ever seen it. He turned the ignition.

I could smell his cologne. It was sweet and musky. “Your car is so clean,” I said,

running my fingers across the armrest. Not a speck of dust was on it.

“I cleaned it. For our date.” He gave me a warm smile.

“Are

you

going

to

tell

me

where

we’re

going?”

“Nope,”

he

said

smugly.

“Fine.” I folded my arms against my chest and pouted. “I can’t wait to do this to

you on your birthday.” I glared at him and shook my head.

He arched his eyebrow. “Well, you’ll have to wait a couple of months.”

“Just

you

wait,”

I

threatened.

“I’m

shaking,”

he

said

sarcastically.

“You should be, old man,” I joked. Jesse was only a year older than me, but I still

liked

to

call

him

old.

***

The restaurant, Via Dell ‘amore, was situated next to the river that flowed through

Greenville’s downtown. It sat atop large, granite rocks with 180 degree views of

the flowing river and a gushing waterfall that gracefully ebbed its way into the

river. The area was surrounded by plants and trees, with oak benches and natural

stone seating. The park was full of people who had come to enjoy the naturally

beautiful scenery and take snap shots to capture memories of their visit. It was

dusk; the sun was setting on the horizon. The sweet smell of tea olive shrubs

filled the night air. Faint lights lit up the cobble stone sidewalks.

We entered the restaurant. The interior was rustically chic with large wooden

beams crisscrossing the high vaulted ceiling and accents of natural stone walls

and floors that were a dark cherry wood. A soothing jazz band played. A man

wearing

a

dark

blue

suit

greeted

us

at

the

front

entrance.

“May

I

help

you?”

he

asked.

“We

have

reservations

for

Quinn,”

Jesse

said.

The man looked through his reservation book and then nodded. “Yes, Mr. Quinn,

we have your table ready. May I take your coat, Miss?” he asked me.

I handed my navy blue pea coat to him. He carefully held onto it and took it to

another room. He came back empty handed and said, “Please follow me this

way.”

He escorted us to the far end of the restaurant. The mood was intimate; the

lighting was dim. There were other couples speaking in whispered tones. The

atmosphere was romantic. This was the type of restaurant couples went to for

proposals. “Will this suit you?” he asked us, pointing to the table that sat against

a

large

window

overlooking

the

waterfall.

Jesse looked at me for my approval. “Yes.” Of course it suited me; it was perfect.

The man pulled my chair out, indicating for me to sit down. I sat on the soft light

gray velvet chair and he pushed me toward the table. “Your waiter will be here

shortly,”

he

added

and

left

us

alone.

I looked around, taking in every detail of the restaurant. Wrought iron chandeliers

hung from the ceiling. Each table was adorned in white tablecloths. Our table had

a small vase with red roses. Several pieces of silver ware were laid out before

me: a small fork, medium-sized fork, a third, bigger fork, a spoon and knife. I didn’t

know

what

the

small

fork

was

for.

“This is really nice, Jesse,” I said, continuing to look around in every direction.

His lips curled upward in a smile. “I’m glad you like it.”

“Like

it.

I

love

it.”

He held my hand and rubbed it gently. “Happy birthday, Finn.”

A waiter dressed in a black pair of pants and white button up shirt approached

our table. He told us the specials and handed us our menus. The menu was

unique–two pieces of wood bound together by wire. Inside were two pieces of

antiqued paper. I perused the menu–the prices were insane. Everything was

twenty dollars or more. I wondered how Jesse was going to afford this. I knew

working one day a week did not pay him enough to afford this extravagance.

“Order anything you want,” he said, watching me as I read the menu.

I

frowned.

“Everything’s

expensive.”

“Finn, just get what you want. I want you to have a good time.” I stared back at

the menu, my lips twisted to the side, my forehead creased. “Really, Finn. I’ve got

it taken care of,” he said. His light blue eyes looked into mine.

“Okay,”

I

agreed.

“I

will.

Promise.”

“Good.” He breathed a sigh of relief and took a sip of water.

“When did you plan this?” I asked. It had to have taken some planning. This was

not the type of restaurant anyone could just walk into, that was obvious from the

required

reservations.

“A

few

weeks

ago.”

“It’s

very

romantic,”

I

whispered.

He laughed and the loud boisterous pleasing sound was heard throughout the

quiet restaurant. A few other couples sitting at nearby tables glanced at us and

then

looked

away,

going

back

to

their

quiet

conversations.

“I miss you,” he admitted. “I hate not seeing you all the time.”

“Me, too.” I held onto his hand, it was dry and callused. “Where’s this from?” I

rubbed

a

large,

lumpy

blister.

“School.” He let go of my hands. “Tying knots, the work outs, carrying a hose with

so much water pressure your arm wants to fall off by the end of the day, you

name

it.

Any

of

it

could’ve

given

it

to

me.”

“It

sounds

tough.”

I

frowned.

“It has to be. You know when we started school, there were forty people in the

class. We’re down to ten. Ten, Finn. They have to make things tough on us. It’ll

be a lot harder once I’m a firefighter.” He took a sip of water again and looked at

our

waiter

who

had

just

arrived.

“Are

you

ready

to

order?”

the

waiter

asked.

“Finn?” Jesse said, indicating for me to go first. He was such a gentleman. Jesse

and

I

both

ordered

the

filet

mignon.

“You’re such a gentleman. Who’d you learn all the chivalrous peculiarities from?”

I

asked.

He snickered. “Chivalrous peculiarities,” he mimicked. “You and your

vocabulary.” He took a deep breath. “My mom and Charlie–they taught me how

to

be

a

gentleman.”

“My

grandfather?”

“Yeah. When we were in boy scouts together, he’d give me some pointers. Then,

when I started working for him, he really let me have it with the advice. I’m glad,

though.”

“And your mom?” He didn’t talk about her a lot, but when he did I could tell how

much he missed her, how much she must have meant to him.

“She made me open her door when we’d go out. You know, things like that. It just

stuck.”

“I

bet

she

was

a

terrific

mom.”

He nodded and said, “She was. She was more than terrific, she was perfect. Mom

was the type that brought cupcakes to school for holiday parties and all the other

kids envied me because they wanted her to be their mom. I really miss her.” He

had a pensive expression and then he slightly smiled. “You remind me of her.”

“Me?”

I

pointed

to

myself.

“Yeah.

You

see

the

good

in everyone

just

like

she did.”

That was one of the sweetest compliments Jesse had ever given me. I didn’t

know how to respond to that, so I didn’t. He stared out the window and moved his

head in a circular motion and a cracking sound came out. “Ouch, that didn’t sound

very

good.”

“I’m just sore. We had to repeat workouts ten times the other day because Stench

messed up. Poor guy, he always gets yelled at by one of the instructors. I feel

sorry

for

him.”

“Me, too, and I don’t even know him. Why is his name Stench?” I asked curiously.

“We all have nicknames. I’m Blaze,” he said, and I rolled my eyes. He continued,

“Noah, he’s Flash, because he’s so quick. Steve Dombrowski is Stench because,

well,

he

stinks.”

“That’s

mean.”

He shook his head. “Nah, he doesn’t care. The guy reeks of garlic. It’s all he eats.

I think he eats more of it now that he’s inherited the name.”

“It

still

sounds

mean.”

“Did you register for classes?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Yeah.

I

did

it

yesterday.

I’ll

have

a

full

load.”

“I

bet

you’re

excited.”

“Yeah,” I said with a slight lilt in my voice, which was a dead giveaway that I was

lying. I wasn’t as excited as most people are when they’re about to start school.

I just worried that going away to school meant things between Jesse and me were

going to change. How could we date when I was going to be so far away? How

was that going to work? It was difficult enough not seeing each other that much

now, but once I moved, we wouldn’t see each other for months.

His

forehead

creased.

“Really?”

he

said

incredulously.

“Yes.”

“Well, you should be. That’s a good school and you’re getting it all paid for.”

“I

thought

you

never

heard

of

it,”

I

teased.

“I’ve

done

my

research.”

I folded my arms against my chest. “Is this what you do when I’m not around?”

“I wish,” he said. “Nope. Most of the time, I’m studying chapters and chapters of

stuff for school. We usually have a test on five chapters at a time.”

The waiter brought the food and placed my plate in front of me and then Jesse’s

dish in front of him. The steak looked juicy and tender. A serving of whipped

buttery mashed potatoes sat on the plate next to it. I grabbed the large fork and

knife and began to cut small pieces. I hoped I was using the right fork but it didn’t

make

sense

to

use

a

small

fork

for

a

big

slab

of

meat.

“What’s

the

small

fork

for

anyway?”

I

asked.

“It’s the dessert fork. The one in the middle is the salad fork. You’re eating with

the right fork.” He cut a piece of steak, put it on his fork and placed it in his mouth.

I looked at him with a stunned expression as he chewed his food. “How do you

know

this?”

Jesse

surprised

me

sometimes.

“My

mom,”

he

answered

and

took

another

bite.

“Oh,”

I

whispered.

“She

taught

you

a

lot.”

“She

knew

just

about

everything.”

I wished I had known her because a huge part of Jesse and all the beautiful things

I

loved