can vote and do most of the other things restricted to supposedly responsible adults.’
‘Well, they’re pretty young, any way you look at it.’ Gloria laughed again, and her husband looked irritated. ‘I’m being funny, huh?’ Gloria only nodded as she sought to stem her amusement. Finally Phil smiled at her. ‘You think it’s getting serious?’
From below, Sean said, ‘Well, they sure kiss a lot.’
Both parents looked down and Gloria said, ‘Have you been spying on your sister?’
Patrick sounded impatient as he looked up at his mother. ‘Cripes, they say good night under our window.’ He puckered up and pantomimed kissing Sean, who laughed and pushed him away. ‘Kissy, kissy.’
‘Hey!’ commanded Phil, trying to sound stern. ‘Lay off Gabbie.’ But he saw his wife’s amusement, a reflection of his own.
At last Gloria said, ‘Cut her some slack, guys. It’s not too many years down the road before you’ll be doing plenty of the same thing. And if God’s got a sense of humour, your girlfriends will have little brothers.’
Both boys made faces, as if the suggestion was worthy of a place alongside eating liver and visits to the dentist. ‘Ugh!’ was Sean’s comment, while Patrick shook his head.
The parade continued, and when the last of the homemade floats was past, Phil said, ‘Let’s get over to the park.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘We’ve got an hour before all the ceremonies are over, so we can set up the picnic and have the fire going when Gabbie and Jack find us. Then we can take it easy until the fireworks.’
A boy appeared as if by magic next to the Hastings family. He looked down at the twins, who returned his appraising look. ‘You guys play?’ he said, pounding his small fist into a beat-up outfielder’s mitt. Both boys, as one, raised mitts from where they had lain on the kerb. ‘There’s a game at the park. You want to play?’
The boys sprang up, their movement the only agreement necessary. They darted ahead of their parents, only slightly restrained by Gloria’s shout to stay close.
Gabbie came towards the family picnic site, holding her skirts defiantly above her ankles as she led My Dandelion. Gloria caught sight of her advancing stepdaughter and said, ‘Oh shit, they’ve had a fight.’
Phil looked up from the charcoal he was poking and nodded. ‘Yup. She looks just like her mother did when she was going to rip off my head about something. Batten down the hatches.’
Gabbie managed somehow to land atop the large blanket with a swirl of silks and linen petticoats about her while still maintaining her angry aspect. ‘Hello, Gabbie,’ Gloria said softly.
‘Hi, honey,’ added her father while he arranged coals.
Her answer was something close to a grunt. She looked round and noticed the twins were off playing a ragged game of sandlot baseball with the town kids and everyone else was busy fixing dinners. After several minutes of silence, Gabbie asked, ‘All right, why don’t you say something?’
Gloria took the long barbecue fork from Phil’s hand and indicated with a tilt of her head he should go and talk to his daughter. Phil hunkered down beside Gabbie and said, ‘Okay, what’s the problem?’
‘Oh! A cheerleader. A freckle-faced high school airhead with big tits.’
‘Jack?’ asked Phil, suddenly wishing he’d restricted himself to sons.
‘Yes,’ she snapped. ‘We were resting the horses before taking them back and this little bitch comes over to talk to him about “something personal”’ – she mimicked a breathy voice – ‘and he tells me to go on ahead, he’ll only be a few minutes. Well, if his taste runs to children, that’s fine with me.’
Phil glanced at Gloria, his expression begging help. Gloria dropped the pretence of tending the fire and came to her stepdaughter’s side. ‘Maybe you’re being a little tough on him, Gabbie.’
Gabbie’s eyes flashed and she stood up. ‘I’ve got to get My Dandelion back to Mr Laudermilch’s stable.’
Phil said, ‘If you’re hacking over to Laudermilch’s how will you get back here?’
Her anger barely contained, she said, ‘There’s a ride for us.’
Gloria shook her head as Gabbie hiked her skirts and, in most unladylike fashion, mounted the horse. She kept her skirts pulled up around her waist, revealing her cut-off blue jeans and bare legs, one of which she hooked between the two saddle horns, ‘God damn, I hate riding sidesaddle!’ She reined the mare round and used her riding crop to get her trotting off.
Gloria turned to Phil. ‘Yes, I’d say things are getting serious.’
‘At least on one side,’ he agreed as he rose. ‘I sort of understood when she got so crazy after her breakup with Danny last year … they’d been going together awhile. But she’s known Jack a month. I’ve never seen her like this with a boy before.’
Gloria said, ‘That’s because she’s fallen in love with a man, boyo. A young one, but a man. The first one’s always the toughest.’
Phil said nothing, glancing to where his sons played. ‘Maybe it’ll get better,’ he said.
Gloria laughed and kissed his cheek. ‘We can only hope.’
A short time later, Jack came up leading John Adams. ‘Hi,’ he said cheerily. Phil and Gloria exchanged glances as Jack looked around. ‘Where’s Gabbie?’
‘She said she had to get the horse back to the stable,’ answered Gloria.
Jack said, ‘That’s right. But I didn’t pass her.’
Gloria said, ‘She rode off that way.’
‘Oh, damn,’ said Jack, then he quickly added, ‘Sorry.’
Phil said, ‘There a problem between you two?’
‘Not that I know of. It’s just that way you hook along Williams Avenue. She’s taking the shortcut through the woods behind your place. She’s only ridden those trails a couple of times and could get herself lost. I’d better get after her.’
Gloria considered staying silent, but said, ‘Gabbie seemed pretty upset about something.’
Jack mounted. ‘She was?’
‘Something about a cheerleader.’
Jack’s expression turned incredulous. ‘She said that?’
‘In pretty certain terms,’ said Phil.
Jack shook his head in wonder. ‘That’s Sheila Riley. She’s decided to apply to Cornell and wants Aggie to write a letter of recommendation. She asked me to ask Aggie. She’s just a little shy about Aggie, is all. Besides, she’s dating a guy down at Penn.’
