Behind the Smile

38

The party continued into the night. From his position beneath the trees, Gage observed the tidal ebb and flow of revelers. Couples came and left, only to return again. With surprising ease, they seemed to slip away unnoticed.

He had checked on Kate and Graylon an hour before. Kate, drinking since early morning, had been so smashed by dinner that she could only manage to pick absently at the food Gage had placed upon her plate. Gage sat on one side of her, while Graylon, ever her mother's guardian angel, had positioned herself on the other.

"Understan' you lived in New York yer whole life. How you like it down heah?"

The question was directed at Kate. She was unresponsive, absorbed with the rearrangement of the food on her plate. A forkful of peas slid to the left, a lump of potato salad moved to the right.

Eating nothing but acting like she was.

"You know, I've always thought this place was great," Gage piped up and said a little too enthusiastically. "We used to spend a lot of time here when school was out. You know summer vacations, and all."

"Uh-huh."

"But that was quite a few years ago," Gage said.

"Uh-huh."

It was obvious that once the farmer initiated the conversation, he expected Gage to keep it going.

"Back then, the old gristmill was running. I remember going down there to watch the waterwheel. I'd come back all wet and muddy, and Mom would give me a tongue lashing."

"Yeah, know 'xactly whut you mean. My maw wuz the same way. Only she didn' stop at no tongue lashin'. Tear into my tater patch sumpin awful, she would."

The old farmer laughed with Gage.

"Is it still operational?'

"Naw. Thang been runnin' forever, but hit finally closed 'bout twenny year ago. Place wuz a wreck. Fallin' in. Finally burnt down, I reckon close ta two year, now. Time gits away from me so."

"You want me ta' git my wife ta' reheat yer plate, ma'am?"

"No thanks," Graylon said.

"Kate has very little appetite," Gage explained.

"I'd say," the farmer's wife said, seeming to find her voice. "Eats like a bird."

They turned their attention to the food. There were a few more questions, but between them, father and daughter volleyed the few attempts at polite conversation, leaving Kate undisturbed in her alcohol-induced paradise. Thankfully, his wife had retreated into the cabin quite early. At last check, she was snoring softly.

Graylon, used to the noise of her parent's frequent parties, had climbed into bed beside Kate. Draping her arm protectively across her mother, she slept soundly as well.

There would always be regrets, Gage thought, guilt and regrets, as he quietly shut the door on the bittersweet scene, but thoughts of that beautiful wild girl he'd seen dancing with that Stoner boy made him hungry for a taste of her.

He took his place beneath the trees where Ridge could easily find him.