Wednesday, July fourth, Willow awoke thanking the Lord for a free country.  The Finley women took holidays seriously and that meant no unnecessary work.  Before dawn broke over the countryside, Willow sat under her favorite tree fishing.  She’d have fish and toast for breakfast if she- No, the first fish swung through the air and she set it in her bucket.  Fish for breakfast.  Period.

An hour later, she filleted two fish and fried them in cornmeal.  The temptation to share with the puppy was great but having lost a puppy to a fish bone once before, she knew better.  “Sorry Dizzy Daisy.  I’m not risking you I’ve already found one bone I missed.”

“Pie,” she said to no one in particular.  “We need cherry pie.  We can go pick some cherries eh Thoreau?”

That afternoon, she carried their favorite old quilt out to the oak tree and set up a comfortable spot.  “Come along Tenacity, we’ll read to Mother and eat cherries in her honor.”

That name wouldn’t work either.  “What about Emma girl?  You look like you could be an Emma.”  The pup yapped as though affronted.

“Ok, no Emma.  Well, you’re no Beauty but you’re nice enough.”

Chad saw her there as he drove back from a transfer to Brunswick and pulled into the drive.  He parked a few hundred feet up the lane and then hopped the fence striding toward the great oak tree.  Willow waved but continued reading aloud.

“… for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

“That line gets me every time.”

Willow looked up at Chad grinning. “It was Mother’s favorite line.  She said that this is how we live, ‘with a reliance on the protection of Providence.’  Want a cherry?”  She held the bowl up for him.

Popping a cherry in his mouth, Chad sank to the blanket flipping through the stack of books lying there.  “The Federalist Papers, the Anti-Federalist papers- What are those?”

“Mother and I would have been Anti-Federalists.  Technically we still are but the country went federalist.”

“I didn’t know there was such a thing as anti-federalists.”

She pushed the book across the blanket at him.  “Take it.  You’ll love it.”

He didn’t have the heart to tell her it was probably the last book he’d ever choose to read.  “Thanks.”

A bound copy of the constitution, George Washington’s Rules of Civility, and a book of historical verse lay there obviously perused.  He picked up the book of verse.  “You read poetry too?”

“Doesn’t everyone?”  The amused look on Chad’s face was answer enough.  She pulled the book from his hand and flipped to Francis Miles Finch’s poem about Nathan Hale and read.

“To drum-beat and heart-beat,
A soldier marches by:
There is color in his cheek,
There is courage in his eye,
Yet to drum-beat and heart-beat
In a moment he must die…”

The words hung in the air as the last line sizzled on her tongue.  The words had sounded like the beat of drums as she half-read, half-quoted the poem.

“Wow.”

“Francis Miles Finch.  He made Nathan Hale come alive for me as a child,” she said simply.

“Are you going to read all of these?”  As he spoke, Chad started to spit his cherry stone across the field and stopped himself.  Willow probably wouldn’t appreciate that.

“Not the Federalist and Anti-federalists.  I was just planning on reading my favorite spots.”  She snatched a cherry from the bowl.  “Bet I can spit a stone farther than you.”

“Can not!”

“Prove it.”

Three stones and three losses later, Chad got a call.  “I have to go.  Another drunk and disorderly to go to Brunswick.  Have a good day.  Thanks for the book.”

Twenty yards away he turned, “Hey, what are you doing Saturday night?”

“Recuperating from cherry canning, what else?”

“Can you recuperate in a truck bed?”

Willow shook her head fervently.  “That was just a joke.  I’ll be fine.  No special beds needed.”

He jogged back laughing.  “Saturday night they’re shooting off fireworks over the lake.  Joe got permission for us all to go to Alexa’s to watch or I might take my truck down to the docks.  I thought maybe you’d like to come.”  Even as he said it, he knew it sounded like a date but Chad didn’t know how to avoid it.  Willow would love it and the more people she became acquainted with, the better for him.

“Where does she live?”

That question gave Chad hope.  She didn’t expect him to come get her so maybe she wouldn’t assume any other marked attention to her.  “I’ll pick you up at six-thirty.  You’re not walking that night.  Too many drunks.”

***

Twenty jars of cherries glistened in the early evening sun.  Willow stood at the sink scrubbing her hands with soap, salt, and lemon when Chad sauntered through the door to pick her up.  “Hey, you’ve been busy.”

Willow scrubbed harder and faster rubbing her reddish-brown stained hands.  Chad ran a tentative hand over the hot glass jars and watched a she poured more salt and scrubbed the tips of her fingers with a brush.  It made little difference.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to get rid of the stains or at least fade them a little faster.”

Chad didn’t understand.  “What do you usually do?”

“Wait.  It fades in a few days or a week.”

“So why put yourself through such rough treatment if it’ll fade?”

Another splash of lemon followed the salt and she rubbed a little harder.  “I- Well, I guess it was a bit of vanity on my part.”  She held out her fingers distastefully.  “I’ve always hated the way they get stained from berries and cherries.  I’m being silly and now I’ve made us late.  I’m sorry.”

“Is it the party?  You didn’t want-” Chad paused amazed at the first sign of insecurity he’d seen in Willow.  “You know, we don’t have to go to Alexa’s.  We can get a place along the shore by the boat docks or on the wading side of the lake.”

Willow wiped her arm across her forehead and sighed.  Chad turned off the water and pushed her toward the door.  “Go take a shower.  I’ll get the pup inside.”

“Josie has taken to playing by the chicken yard.”

“You named her Josie?”

Willow laughed as she climbed the steps to the back porch.  “Josie, Clementine, Shep, Darcy, Arwen, Domino… I’ve been trying them all.”

“And the forerunner is Josie?”

“There is no forerunner,” she laughed as she opened the door.  As it shut behind her Chad heard her continue, “Perhaps you can find something that’ll fit her.”

He heard the shower as he found the pup and teased her into the barn.  By the time he had her settled and had returned to the house, Willow stood in the kitchen, the electricity on, and an oscillating fan blowing her hair dry as she brushed it.  It took several minutes but eventually she unplugged the fan and stored it away in the pantry flicking off the electricity as she left.

“Ok, I’m ready.”

They talked of her trip to Rockland, of the produce she’d sold, and the trouble there’d been getting her social security application processed.  The miles passed swiftly and they pulled into the boat docks along Lake Danube and found one of the last parking places available.

Willow removed her shoes while Chad carefully arranged a comfortable seat in the back of the truck.  As he finished, he pulled a can of Coke from an ice chest and passed it to her.  She stared at the can and picked at the top until Chad opened it and handed it back.  “Haven’t you ever had a can of coke?”

“I’ve had a bottle of Dr. Pepper once.  Mother brought it home for me but I didn’t like it.  It was much too sweet.”

Her sip was tentative but a smile followed.  “This is sweet but not like the other one.  It makes a nice treat.”

Chad pulled a Frisbee from behind the seat and held it up.  “Want to play?”

Willow grinned.  “You’re on!”

For half an hour, the disk sailed through the air, back and forth, until the wind caught it and sent it over the heads of their beach neighbors and at the entrance to the nearby woods.  Willow dashed after it, her new dress swirling around her knees as she turned.  Chad watched her go shaking his head and taking a swig of a fresh Coke.

“Hey Chad, who’ve ya got with you?”  Tait Stedtmann slapped his back and grinned.

“Tait!  Why aren’t you over at Alexa’s?”

“I was.  I thought I saw your truck so I came over to talk you into joining us.  Joe’s working but Martinez is there until nine.  Gary and Bentley are there and so is-”

“I have Willow with me.  I don’t think she’d be comfortable-” Chad began.

Tait laughed.  “No one blames you from keeping a girl like that to yourself.”

Fire entered Chad’s eyes.  “What do you mean, ‘a girl like that’?”

“Woah!  Down boy.  I just meant that no one blames you for keeping a beauty like her to yourself.  I thought she was pleasant looking enough, but man, I saw her before she ran off.  Wow.”

Tait saw Willow returning, slapped Chad’s back encouragingly, and disappeared into the crowd.  Chad turned and caught sight of Willow running back to the truck her hair flying and her face shining.  A very familiar and yet still unfamiliar thought ran through his mind as she arrived smiling.

“Wow,” he didn’t realize he said it until Willow’s eyes met his in surprise.  “I didn’t tell you how nice you look.”

“It’s the dress.  I bought it in Rockland Saturday.  It came yesterday.”  She spun showing off the unique creation and in doing so, Chad saw the Willow that Bill had discovered in a little clothing boutique just days before and he was stunned.

“Hey, Tesdall.  Good to see you man.  Who’s the babe?”

Willow watched fascinated as Chad’s eyes widened in horror and turned slowly.  “Chuck Majors, what brings you here?”

Chad’s strained voice amused her.  Something about this young man irritated him.  This could get interesting.

“Tait said you were over here so I thought I’d come say hi.  Glad I did.”

Without another glance at Chad, Chuck moseyed over to Willow with a look that was just two stops short of a leer.  “I’m Chuck and am I glad to meet you!”

“Are you?”  The bored indifference in Willow’s tone caused Chad to choke on his Coke.  She was good.  Willow was very good.

“How could I avoid it?  Has Chad marked territory yet?”

Confusion flooded Willow’s face for a moment until she saw Chad hugging himself and swaying behind Chuck.  “Um well-” She glanced again.  Chad was now blowing kisses at her.  Her brow wrinkled.  “I really don’t think-” Chad flung one hand to his forehead and the other to his heart making exaggerated pounding motions.

Understanding dawned.  Her eyes narrowed.  “I really don’t think that’s any of your business.”

“Well I wouldn’t want to muscle in on Chad…”

“That’s just because he’d flatten you.  If you could get away with it, you’d do it in a heartbeat.”

Both men howled.  Chad because Willow had pegged the lout from Brunswick perfectly, Chuck because he thought it was a great joke- and nothing more.  Willow shook her head and slipped past Chuck to Chad’s side.  “I’m glad I am so amusing.”

Without an invitation, Chuck opened Chad’s ice chest and pulled out a Coke.  “No D.P.?  Man, you gotta get with the program.”

“No manners?  I’d say you do,” Willow muttered under her breath for Chad’s ears alone.

Chad choked on his Coke once again.  Willow pulled out her pie plate, her butter knife, plates, and forks, and cut her cherry pie.  She’d waited for today instead of enjoying a pie on the fourth and now she had to share it with this uncouth man.  Sighing, she passed her plate to Chuck and the other plate to Chad.

Chuck accepted the plate as if the pie was baked especially for him.  Though he thanked her for the food, exclaimed over how delicious it was the focus remained on him.  Willow was disgusted.  Chad, on the other hand, quietly returned the plate to her uneaten.  At her surprised glance, he smiled and whispered, “I’ll eat a piece when you’re done.”

To their dismay, Chuck stayed.  The Frisbee game became a game of keep away.  Willow threw low and Chuck nabbed it sending Willow to the center.  The game doubled in intensity.  Willow discovered a competitive side she’d never known as she slammed into Chad’s chest in her attempt to snag the disk.

Chad snatched it easily and sent it back across the sand to Chuck.  After a swig of water from a fresh bottle, Willow rejoined the game in earnest.  Her fingers repeatedly missed the Frisbee by centimeters.

She backed slowly toward Chuck instinctively sensing him as the weaker player until Chad knew if he didn’t let her have the next throw, she’d find herself too close to Chuck for comfort.  It was too late.  The disk whirled toward her too swiftly to catch without a few steps back.  Just as her hand closed around it, she flattened herself unintentionally against Chuck’s chest.

“Oh, excuse me.  I’m sorry.”

Chuck seemed befuddled.  “No problem.  You ok?”

It was the first thing anyone had ever heard Chuck say in concern for another.  Willow, unaware of this little fact, nodded and stepped away.  “I’m fine.  How about you?”

This was another first for Chuck.  People, other than his family of course, rarely showed concern for Chuck.  A slight tingling of awareness of this fact grew around Chuck’s self-absorbed heart but Chad’s reply snuffed it.

“Oh Chuck’s a big boy.  He’s fine.  It’s getting dark.”  He slapped Chuck on the back.  “Good game.  We’ve got to get settled for the show but thanks for playing with us.”

Chad helped Willow up into the back of the truck and settled her comfortably against the cab.  Remembering the ice chest, he hopped down to retrieve it and as he turned to set it in the truck bed, saw Chuck lowering himself into Chad’s well padded beanbag chair.  Willow’s eyes flipped back and forth with dismay.

“Um, Chuck?  You’ve got my spot there. I don’t have anything to sit on.”

Clueless, Chuck pulled the wadded up blankets from around the beanbag and tossed them on the tailgate.  “Ya should have bought a full size truck Tesdall.  This thing doesn’t leave enough room back here.”  He nudged Willow with his elbow.  “But it’s cozy for us anyway, isn’t it?”

“Are you truly this dense or are you just rude?”

“What?” Chuck exclaimed with a hint of confusion and a lot of bluster.

Suddenly, Willow saw what no one in Chuck’s life had ever seen.  Insecurity, loneliness, and a deep desire to feel accepted for himself drove most of his actions.  He was the little boy from elementary school who tried too hard and no one liked.  He’d never grown out of it.

Most people tolerated him with as much Christian charity as they could muster.  His social skills simply didn’t exist.   People had tried to explain it away for years.  He’d had every test in the book for everything from mild brain damage to every angle of the Autism spectrum.  He filled no boxes.  If someone, usually his brother Nathan, slugged him, he got the message that his behavior was out of control but other than that, he lived in his own needy world waiting for someone to accept him where he stood.

“Would you like a Dr. Pepper?”

Both men’s eyes widened, surprised and Chuck responded.  “Naw, Chad just brought Coke.  It’ll be fine.”

It was the first time Chad had ever heard Chuck settle for less than he truly wanted if someone could do something about it.  Willow ignored him.  “I’ll be right back.”

With a handful of change and a spare can of Coke, she wandered through the groups of spectators who all waited for the first burst of lights.  Chuck stammered, “I didn’t expect- I can’t believe she-”

“She wanted to Chuck.  Willow wouldn’t have done it if she didn’t want to.”

“Wow.”

“I hear you there.

A hundred yards or so away, a large group from St. Michael’s swapped a can of Coke for a can of Dr. Pepper and allowed her to purchase a second can.  She hurried back, tucked the spare in the ice chest, and handed Chuck the other.  “Would you like some more pie?”

The sounds of instruments tuning drifted over the crowds and the school marching band burst into a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and the first burst of fireworks erupted on the line, “the bombs bursting in air.”  Most of the crowd stood and sang as a floating flag of fireworks waved over them.