Unforgettable (11 page)

“Does this mean you’ll come to the party?” Susan asked hopefully.

“Yes, I suppose so. Just fill me in on what I need to know and I’ll be here a little before seven. Please don’t tell Brittany I’m coming or even that I’m in town. If I’m going to be dressed like an angel when I meet her face-to-face, I want it to be a complete surprise,” Patrick laughed, Brittany being the only reason he was contemplating making a fool of himself. If he’d been in New York right now he would never in a million years have accepted an invitation to a small town Halloween costume party, let alone volunteer to go dressed as an angel, of all things. The devil maybe, but an angel…definitely not!

They talked for a little while longer, mostly about Breezy, their college days and the new department store Patrick was building. Patrick caught himself about to yawn and realized it was getting late.

“Well, thank you both for a wonderful evening but I have to be going,” Patrick said as he was pulling on his overcoat. What surprised him most was that he actually meant it. He liked Susan. She was friendly, kind, funny and amusingly persistent.

Although he didn’t begrudge Tom anything, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy. Tom had everything he’d always wanted for himself…success at a career he’d always dreamed of, a lovely home and a beautiful, adoring wife. Patrick had eventually gained financial success in his own right. He even had a grand house, although he couldn’t say he liked it much since it felt empty even when he lived there. His career took all of his time, energy and attention anyway so it didn’t matter, or so he told himself.

“Don’t forget, you’ll have to be here early to change into your costume. I don’t expect Breezy until around seven thirty but it will take some time to get the costume on and adjust the wings,” Susan said.

“I won’t forget. It’s been a pleasure meeting you again, Susan. You’re as kind as you are beautiful,” Patrick replied warmly as he kissed her cheek.

“Thank you,” Susan said, blushing at the compliment.

“Hey, watch it, Patrick! You keep telling her stuff like that she’ll be impossible to live with,” Tom teased.

“Oh, you are a monster!” Susan said, punching him on the arm.

“I’ll wait for you in the car, Tom,” Patrick laughed as he stepped outside to give them a moment alone.

“Well, what do you think of Breezy’s guardian angel and my old school chum?” Tom asked, wrapping his arms lovingly around his wife.

“I think he’s just wonderful,” Susan replied, curling her arms around his neck.

“Wonderful for Breezy, you mean,” he snorted.

“What?” she smirked, innocently batting her eyes.

“Come on now, we both know you’re trying to play cupid with those two. Don’t even try to deny it.”

“Look at it this way, Tom. They each think the other is beautiful…there’s your physical attraction. They each think of the other as an angel…there’s your emotional attraction. They’re both single and I somehow have the feeling he’s lonely and needs someone in his life as much as Breezy does. They’re perfect for one another.”

“Maybe you’re right. However, I know several college professors who would definitely disagree with the idea of Patrick Day being an angel!”

“Oh, Christ! Angels!” Susan exclaimed, pulling away from Tom and running for the stairs as fast as she could go.

“What’s wrong, honey?”

“I completely forgot! There’s no way that costume is going to fit him. He’s huge! I have to remake the whole thing from scratch tonight!” she cried over her shoulder as she reached the landing and disappeared.

“Why, you sneaky, cunning, conniving little…,” Tom chuckled to himself as he left to drive Patrick back to his new apartment.

Chapter 7 “Lions and Tigers and Angels, Oh My”

“Get your butt in here, right now,” Susan squealed, dragging her through the front door by the sleeve of her right arm and pulling her into a tight, brief hug.

“Hey! Watch it with the rough stuff, you hopped up pixie!” Breezy protested. She’d arrived home a little after ten Friday morning and was still feeling the disappointment of not hearing from Sean during her trip.

“New York was a complete bust, Susan, so you’ll have to forgive me if I’m feeling just a little down right now. I can’t believe I put myself out there for no good reason. Just thinking about it is so humiliating to me right now. Distract me, please, so I can stop driving myself crazy for a while?” Breezy begged.

“That won’t be a problem, sweetie. There’s so much to do you won’t have time to think at all so shake a leg, Pilgrim, we’re burning daylight!” Susan replied, shoving her towards the living room where the mountain of Halloween decorations waited to be sorted and put on display.

True to her word, Susan didn’t give Breezy any time to mope and, after only a few minutes of decorating and chatting with Susan, she felt much better and actually looked forward to the party once again. By one o’clock all the decorations were finally up.

Cobwebs lurked in every corner complete with fat, hairy spiders, ceilings and doorways were festooned with black and orange crepe paper and several grinning jack-o-lanterns were scattered about Susan’s home inside and out. A multitude of black and orange helium filled balloons were tied to the furniture to prevent them drifting among the cobwebs or guests, cardboard cut-outs of ghosts, black cats, bats and other Halloween favorites decorated the doors and windows, including a full-length skeleton on the front door. Breezy cleverly rigged the doormat to scream whenever anyone stepped on it, but she was most proud of the “dead man” hanging from the oak tree in the front yard. It was so realistic she even got the shivers herself.

A table for games had been set up in the living room and a buffet table in the kitchen would display all the food, drinks and special treats she and Breezy were making. There was even a huge galvanized washtub outside, waiting to be brought inside and filled with water for apple bobbing later in the evening.

After lunch, Susan and Breezy began baking cookies, making caramel apples, and forming popcorn balls. Susan also prepared meat and cheese trays while Breezy worked on the vegetable trays.

“Oh, by the way, there’s going to be another guest at the party tonight,” Susan said.

“Who?” Breezy asked.

“An old friend of Tom’s. You know the guy he was always telling us wild stories about?”

“The one he went to college with?”

“Yes, that’s the one. He just moved to town and plans to advertise his new business on Tom’s station. Tom invited him to dinner last night and he was so nice, I just had to invite him to the party,” Susan explained innocently.

“I’ll bet Tom was glad to see him after such a long time. You know, if there’s any truth to those stories Tom’s always telling, this just might be one party we’ll never forget.”

“Oh, I’d be willing to bet on it! It’s a little strange though, he seems kind of familiar to me.”

“Do you think you might have seen him before?” Breezy asked.

“I think so. It’s bugging me that I can’t place him.”

“What’s his name? Maybe I’ll remember it from somewhere,” Breezy offered.

“His name is Patrick Day. Remember? Tom’s mentioned it several times before.”

“I remember Tom mentioning him in some of his tall tales but, other than that, it doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Are you sure? I know I’ve seen him somewhere before. Actually, I’m pretty sure we’ve both seen him before.”

“Positive. But maybe something will click when I meet him.”

“I hope so. We will just have to wait and see what happens, I guess,” Susan said, biting her bottom lip to keep from laughing.

By five o’clock, what couldn’t be set out on the tables was placed in the refrigerator until the party began. Everything else was in place when Breezy went home to get ready.

***

Susan had just laid out the angel costume on the bed in the guest room when the doorbell rang.

As she went downstairs to answer the door, she glanced at her watch to see it was six thirty. That would give her just enough time to put on her costume before the guests began to arrive. She thought back to the angel costume she’d just barely finished this morning. If all went as well as she hoped it would, the time it took to remake the entire costume would be time well spent. She only hoped she’d guessed Patrick’s size correctly. She would be seriously pissed off if the costume didn’t fit him properly.

“Hi, Patrick! Come on in,” she said, holding the front door open for him.

“Hello, Susan. Is everything ready for tonight? Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No, everything is taken care of, thank you. Your costume is in the guest bedroom and as soon as I get into mine, all I have to do is set the food and other goodies out and we’ll be ready to par-tay!” Susan exclaimed. “Have you seen Tom? He called a little while ago and said you were both leaving the station.”

“Yes. I passed him just now as he was pulling into a gas station in town so he should be here in a few minutes,” Patrick explained as he followed Susan upstairs. “Did Brittany get back from New York all right?”

“Yes, she was here just a little while ago. I did tell her Tom’s old college friend would be attending the party tonight but she has no idea it’s you. I can’t wait to see the look on her face when you two meet again.”

“Here you go, Patrick,” Susan said, motioning him through the door of the guest bedroom. “I laid out clean towels and toiletries if you’d like a quick shower and your costume is on the bed. You’ll probably need help putting the wings on so, when you’re ready, just holler down the stairs and I’ll come up and fix them.”

“Thanks, Susan. You’ve been more than kind.” Patrick closed the door behind her and put his back against it for a moment.
What the fuck am I doing here?
Unable to answer his own question, he shrugged upright and stripped off his clothes before stepping into the shower.

By seven o’clock, Susan had set the tables and donned her costume. As promised, she was dressed as a scarecrow, complete with raffia dangling from her pant legs, shirt sleeves, buttons and collar of her plaid flannel shirt. She’d pinned her hair up so it wouldn’t show and glued raffia onto the inside brim of her straw hat to make it look like hair. To make her face look like a scarecrow, she’d painted it completely white, drawn a triangle over her nose with red lipstick and outlined it using black eyeliner to give it a stitched-on appearance. Her lips and eyes were outlined in the same manner. A red bandana hung from her back pocket and a partially shucked ear of corn stuck up from the front breast pocket of her denim overalls to complete the look she had in mind.
Not bad for a last minute effort
, she thought, examining herself in the living room mirror.

Tom had arrived home shortly after Patrick and was in the process of putting on his costume. Susan had made it months before and was anxious about the fit. Hollering through the firmly closed bedroom door, Tom assured her it fit perfectly. She was still waiting for him to come downstairs when she heard the bedroom door open.

“Do I have to wear this tonight? Couldn’t I just be a pirate or something a little more masculine?” Tom called from upstairs. In fact, the whole theme had been his idea. He was just teasing her to prolong the reveal because she’d been dying for months to see him in the costume.

“Yes, you have to wear it! Now, get down here before the guests arrive,” Susan yelled back up to him.

“I feel completely and utterly ridiculous!” he mumbled.

“I heard that, Thomas Graham, and I don’t care! Just move it, mister!” she yelled. She was wise to his little game because he’d already told her he loved the costume and couldn’t wait to wear it.

“Does that mean hurry?”

“Yes, it does!”

“What the lady wants, the lady gets,” he said, sliding down the banister on one hip and landing with both feet planted firmly on the floor facing her. “RAAAWR!” he growled, coming to a complete and graceful halt. Susan laughed so hard she thought all her raffia would fall out and she’d have to re-stuff herself.

Tom’s costume was a lion…the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz, to be exact. The full-bodied jumpsuit made from plush fur material included a furry tail, feet and paws. The mane was brushed acrylic yarn a shade lighter than the suit, fuzzy little round ears poked out of the mane on either side of his head, and the tufted tail was held up off the floor by a couple of feet of fishing line sewn into the seat of his costume. Not only did it give the tail the appearance of waving when he walked, it also kept people from tripping over it.

Tom’s face was covered in Halloween make-up the same yellow-orange shade as the jumpsuit. He’d managed to outline his eyes the way Susan had taught him for a cat-like appearance. When Susan had bought the cat make-up kit, it had included a plastic “cat muzzle,” including whiskers, which gave Tom’s nose and mouth a signature feline look.

Susan had also made a crown from heavy poster board and painted it metallic gold. Acrylic jewels were added using a glue gun. The crown was firmly attached to Tom’s mane; however, his harrowing slide down the banister dislodged it to perch lopsidedly on the right side of his head. It looked absolutely ridiculous in that position, yet it couldn’t have been more perfect for the look she’d intended. A large round button proclaimed, “I’m King of This Jungle.”

Susan was laughing so hard her stomach and cheeks ached and she clutched the back of the recliner for support. Tom stood on the landing with his paws on his hips, tapping his foot and looking at her with a feigned scowl on his face.

“You laughing at me, kid?” he asked indignantly.

“Yes…I am,” Susan choked between giggles.

In retaliation, Tom pounced towards her from the landing, his feet spread as wide apart as possible. However, considering the low hanging crotch of the plush jumpsuit, it wasn’t much. His paws curled into fists as he held them high in the air, the tail swishing violently behind him.

“Come on…put ‘em up, put ‘em up! Nobody laughs at the King of the Jungle! I’ll fight ya, ya silly, straw-stuffed sourpuss! Put ‘em up, put ‘em up!”

“Oh, God! Don’t make me pee my pants!” Susan howled in hysterics. Bent over, clutching her arms across her stomach, she made her way to the sofa and collapsed in gales of uncontrollable laughter. Tom quickly joined her, sitting on the floor beside the sofa. They laughed and giggled until they could barely breathe.