Chapter 19

The sound of running feet greeted me when I knocked on the screen door outside the house where Sarah and Matt lived with their two boys. I stepped backward because the dance was usually the same.

The door flew open and a five-year-old bundle of energy raced through.

“Uncle Travis!” Lucas said with a wide grin. I held out my hands and he grabbed them as I bent at the knees. He put one foot on my thigh and started to climb until he could wrap his arms around my neck in a hug.

He had greeted me this way for the past two years. He was still small enough I could hold him with my right arm when his older brother came out. Brandon had grown a little more sedate when he hit second grade. He no longer raced at top speed everywhere he went and he no longer liked to climb up my frame. Instead, I bent down to scoop him up.

I was thankful that he hadn’t outgrown hugs just yet. Sarah knew the drill so she came to push the door open so I could carry her boys into the house. She completed the ritual by smiling and shaking her head as we passed. She would usually pat me softly on the back as I went by. This time, however, she had to hold the door open for her other guest. I put the boys on the floor when I got inside and ruffled their hair. Most times, you could never tell that I’d messed it up. I usually just added to its normally unkempt status. This time, however, their hair was combed so I went easy on them.

“He spoils those kids,” Sarah told Liz. I glanced back and Liz was beaming at me.

“That’s my job,” I said. “It’s what I do!”

The boys usually latched onto my hands to drag me off to join in with whatever havoc they were wreaking. I usually went willingly. Wreaking havoc was one of my favorite pastimes.

This time, the boys stood placidly in front of me, looking past me to the stranger in their home.

Liz came forward and held out a hand to Lucas, who was closest.

“I’m Liz,” she said.

“You’re famous,” he replied. “Mom says we can’t be hooligans tonight.”

“What’s a hooligan?” Brandon wondered.

I saw Sarah cover her face in horror but Liz laughed and bent down until she was almost at his level.

“Your Uncle Travis is a hooligan,” she said.

“Oh,” Lucas said, glancing up at me. He nodded as though the explanation made perfect sense to him.

“Boys!” Sarah said through clenched teeth.

“Tonight, I’m not famous,” Liz told them. “I’m just a friend of your uncle and your mom and dad.”

“Mom said you’re Uncle Travis’s girlfriend,” Lucas declared. “Can we call you Aunt Liz?”

“Boys!” Sarah exploded.

I know my laughter didn’t help things but I didn’t expect to get smacked on the arm for it.

“I’m not really his girlfriend,” she said. “But you can call me Aunt Liz if you want.”

“Cool,” Lucas said.

Liz was still grinning broadly – not just at the honesty of children but at the fact Sarah was trying to tame the two small wildcats in front of her.

“Jesus Christ,” Sarah muttered.

“I know Matt went in early this morning,” I said. “We came a little early in case you needed help with something or need us to find some mischief for the boys.”

“Mischief is a grandmother’s job,” Marcie declared from the doorway.

“And one you’ve mastered,” I said with a laugh. Matt’s mother shook hands with Liz – something she never did with the last female that accompanied me to the house. Then she gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“I’m Marcie Costello,” she said, turning back to Liz.

“Liz Larimer,” Liz replied.

“I actually knew that,” Marcie said, her eyes twinkling. “As my grandson mentioned, you’re famous.”

Liz gave a helpless shrug.

“Not tonight,” she said. “Travis has told me a lot about you. The boys can act like hooligans and you don’t have to be on your best behavior either.”

“To be honest, her best behavior is still pretty bad,” I chimed in.

“Hello, Kettle, I’m the Pot,” Marcie rejoined. “You’re black.”

Liz laughed along with Sarah.

“Well, come on in and sit down,” Sarah said, gesturing to the living room – which was a lot cleaner than the last time I had been there. It wasn’t that Matt or Sarah lived in squalor. It was just that they had two little boys and little boys make messes.

“We could have done this at my house,” I whispered to Sarah.

“It gave me an excuse to whip the boys into shape,” Sarah whispered back. Her voice changed to its normal level. “We’re just doing steaks on the grill and potatoes. I hope that’s OK.”

“If someone doesn’t like it they can eat at home,” I said. “I know the rules.”

I turned to Liz to explain.

“Eat what’s put on your plate,” I recited. “If you wanted something different, you should have brought it with you.”

“Travis!” Sarah said.

“She does that a lot,” Liz noted with a gesture toward Sarah and a wink at Sarah’s mother-in-law.

“Honestly, it’s like having three little boys,” Marcie said. “When Rick gets here, it will be like four. A couple of weeks ago, I found them sitting under a tree playing with Matchbox cars.”

“I can see him doing that with the boys,” Liz said, giving me a warm look. I cringed.

“The boys were in the house,” Marcie announced with a laugh. “It was just him and Rick. They had built a small city, complete with roads and buildings. I took a picture before they knew I was there.”

She shook her head sadly but Liz laughed loudly.

“We never get to play with the cool cars when Lucas and Brandon are out there,” I said with embarrassment. “We get to be the ambulance or the grader.”

“That’s beautiful,” Liz said, still smiling at me.

“I used to wait until Carrie went to school to play with her Barbie dolls,” Marcie said.

“I didn’t have anything like that until I was 17,” Liz said. “Travis bought himself a real car with his first paycheck. I bought the pink Corvette to go with my Barbie playhouse.”

“Now you have the real thing,” Sarah noted.

“You have a pink Corvette?” I asked.

Liz gave a grimace but nodded.

“We’ll have to go out and race sometime,” I said.

“No way!” Liz said. “Mine was custom made. It tops out at 170. I’d smoke you and you’d cry. Your car is made of steel. Mine is made of fiberglass. You’d wipe me out.”

“One-seventy!” Marcie said. “Really?”

“I thought that would catch your attention,” Liz said. “I keep it in Nashville. I rarely drive it. But if you want to visit sometime, we’ll go out to the speedway and give it he-...”

She glanced guiltily toward the boys.

“A try,” she corrected. “That’s the only place I’ve really opened it up. I got scared at a hundred and backed it down. I almost crashed it because of the banking on the turns.”

“I’ve never driven on a speedway,” Marcie said. I had sat down on the couch and the boys had climbed up next to me. Lucas was on my lap and Brandon pressed to my side. My phone had some games on it so we got down to business while Marcie and Liz discussed the excitement of driving fast. Despite the fact I had a car that could go really fast, I had rarely tried it. I learned early on that my car was a speeding-ticket magnet.

“Sarah said you drove a Formula 1 car,” Liz said. “I don’t really know what that is.”

“They’re Grand Prix cars,” Marcie clarified. “We have an event nearby and I wanted to try it. It was fun.”

“I’ll bet,” Liz said. “Nashville has a NASCAR track. I did the anthem there a few years ago and I had the chance to take a ride with one of the drivers. She got that sucker up to 200 miles an hour on the straights and I about wet my pants.”

Marcie mentioned the name of a prominent female driver and Liz nodded.

“I am going to convince Annabelle to do Indy with me someday,” Marcie declared.

I shook my head. My mother rarely drove the speed limit. I couldn’t see her racing around a track at four times that speed.

“Why don’t you boys go play?” Marcie asked.

“We’re fine right here,” I said, narrowing my eyes at her. I wasn’t going to let anyone gang up on Liz. I hadn’t let it happen when she was 10. I wasn’t going to let it happen when she was 30.

Marcie tried the glare that usually sent people scrambling out of her path but I shook my head.

“Told you,” Sarah said.

“He’s always been like that,” Liz said. “I’ll be fine, Travis. I know you’re dying to try the new race car game they got.”

“Hey, yeah!” Lucas said brightly. “Uncle Travis hasn’t played that one yet.”

He started to tug at my arm but I remained still until Liz gave a small nod.

I stood and the boys scampered off the bedroom they shared.

“You two behave yourselves,” I said warningly. “I told Sarah today that parts of my life are off limits. I’m giving you the same advice.”

Marcie looked up at me for a long moment before she nodded. I squeezed Liz’s shoulder as I passed behind her and headed off to let the kids school me on their new video game.

The conversation (or interrogation) in the next room took far less time than I thought it might.

The kids and I had plopped ourselves down in our customary seats near the video console. The room held a set of bunks (identical to the ones at my house), a TV on the wall at their eye level and several chairs scattered about.

The boys had a pair of small chairs that were comfortable and ergonomically safe. The chair I sat in was identical to theirs but large enough for an adult. Its mate was pushed along the wall and out of the way. The chairs had been my Christmas present to the boys two years earlier. The adult chairs got almost as much use as the smaller models.

Matt and Sarah did not believe in non-involved parenting. They spent time with the boys every evening. One of the parents was nearby if the boys were playing video games or on the computer. The neighborhood was safe enough that the boys could play in the backyard without intense supervision but an adult always rode with the boys if they took their bicycles off the block.

Lucas and Brandon got along really well for brothers, I thought. They had their fair share of squabbles but I suspected the number was far smaller than the average. They didn’t do everything together but they did enough to develop a friendship as well as their normal brotherly bond.

We were laughing as we raced around a track in go-karts that we had built before we started when Liz came in and grinned at the sight.

I took my eyes off the screen to give her a questioning look but she just winked. Then she laughed when my kart crashed into the wall and imploded. The character went down the track on his bottom until it caught fire. He jumped up and frantically slapped his butt to put out the flames. The boys hooted with laughter and I hoped the designer of this particular game was well paid for his or her efforts.

“Do you want to try, Aunt Liz?” Lucas asked. He gallantly stood up to offer her his seat as well as his controller. The seat was way too small for someone of Liz’s height but the gesture was sweet.

“She can take my spot,” I said. “You guys need to teach her.”

I started to stand but Liz just plopped down on the floor in front of me.

“OK, I’m pretty good at this sort of game but I’ve never played this one,” Liz declared. The boys walked her through the setup and Liz seemed to understand the concept a lot better than I had. She certainly managed to put together a car that was lot faster than the one that I had designed. I put my hands on her shoulders and she leaned back against the soft cushion of the chair. She bent her head backward far enough that I could see her smile.

Unlike me, the boys took it easy on Liz. No one pushed her kart off into the mud or lobbed oil canisters at her. They let her get acclimated to the game before they got competitive. I saw a reflection on the screen and turned to see Sarah watching with interest.