Summary: MC (Charlotte) and Kaitlyn spend the day at Hull’s 4th of July festival with Chris and AJ.
By the time Charlotte and Kaitlyn arrived, Hull’s 4th of July celebration was in full swing. The main street downtown had been cordoned off and was lined with various stalls. The sun was warm and as they approached, Charlotte could already smell the fried food. Her stomach grumbled.
“Let’s grab some food first,” Charlotte said. Kaitlyn grinned and poked her in the stomach.
“Yeah, I bet you worked up an appetite this morning …”
Charlotte rolled her eyes and grabbed her sister by the arm, dragging her towards a hot dog stand.
They stuffed themselves with greasy food and sat at one of the picnic tables that had been set up in the street, lounging in the sun as they sipped large sodas.
“Can I ask you something?” Kaitlyn asked.
“You just did, but sure,” Charlotte said. Kaitlyn reached over and flicked her on the arm.
“Do either Chris or Zig know about James?”
Charlotte hesitated. “They do in the broadest sense that he exists and that I’m staying at his cabin … James called ahead to the forest service to let them know I was coming.”
“That’s not what I mean and you know it,” Kaitlyn said impatiently. Have you told either of them about your married ex-boyfriend … boyfriend … whatever he is?”
Charlotte sighed.
“No, they don’t,” she said.
“Why?”
“I don’t … I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.”
“That’s not exactly a great opener, is it?” Charlotte said. “Hi, my name is Charlotte. My boyfriend stashed me in his cabin under the pretense of giving me space to write so he could marry someone else, but he won’t stop texting me. Want to go out?”
“Wait, James is still texting you?” Kaitlyn asked. “You didn’t tell me that.”
“He hasn’t texted me since the wedding, but he did send me a postcard from Paris,” Charlotte admitted.
“A postcard? What did it say?” Kaitlyn demanded.
“Thinking of you.”
Kaitlyn sighed and digested this for a moment.
“Charlotte, I love you,” Kaitlyn said.
“But …”
“No but. There is, however, an and,” Kaitlyn said. “I love you and you deserve so much more than this. I know you love James–I get that, I do–but this is bullshit. You’ve spent so long making him a priority and he has not done the same for you. He sets you aside for when he has time or needs some kind of validation.”
“It’s not–”
“I’m not done,” Kaitlyn interrupted. “Is this how you really want to live your life? As a mistress waiting for whatever scraps of himself James deigns to throw to you? Even if he did ever leave Vanessa–and he won’t–who is to say he would stay faithful to you? You’d still be alone in a big house waiting for him to call.” Kaitlyn paused and took a deep breath. “You, my smart, beautiful, talented sister, deserve better than to be anyone’s second choice or their free time.”
Charlotte felt her eyes burn behind her sunglasses, not because what Kaitlyn said was hurtful, but because she was right. She sniffed and Kaitlyn took her hand, squeezing it tightly.
“What exactly does this have to do with telling anyone about James?” Charlotte asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking.
“Because I don’t think you can really move on until you stop keeping his secrets,” Kaitlyn said.
Just then, a series of pops went off. Charlotte looked over towards the center of the crowd where a handful of children had sent sent streamers popping into the air, laughing gleefully. That momentary distraction was enough for Charlotte to pull herself together, carefully using the edge of her finger to clean up any smeared eye makeup beneath her sunglasses.
“Hey!”
Charlotte and Kaitlyn looked over in the direction of the voice to see Chris and AJ approaching their table. In spite of the conversation with her sister, Charlotte couldn’t help but smile at Chris’s easy, all-American grin.
“Hey, yourself,” Charlotte said as she scooted down on the bench to make room. Chris slid in beside her and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into him for a hug. “What are you guys up to?”
“Chris is trying to convince me to run the three-legged race with him,” AJ said with a roll of her eyes.
“Come on, it’ll be fun!” Chris protested.
“No way,” AJ said. “Last year I tripped and sprained my ankle.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” Chris said, the confidence of his convictions wavering a little.
“Yeah?” AJ asked. “Do you not remember having to drive me around for two weeks while it healed?”
“Okay, maybe that was kind of bad,” Chris admitted. “What about one of you?” he asked Charlotte and Kaitlyn hopefully. “Any interest in running the race with me?”
“Oh, well, if there’s the promise of a sprained ankle at the end, how can I resist?” Kaitlyn asked. AJ laughed.
“See, she gets it,” AJ said, hiking her thumb towards Kaitlyn.
“Charlotte?” Chris asked hopefully.
“I don’t know … I’m not very athletic,” Charlotte said.
“Yeah, this one was asked to leave peewee soccer when we were kids,” Kaitlyn said, nudging Charlotte with her foot.
“How do you get asked to leave peewee soccer?” AJ asked. “Don’t they have to take everyone?”
“I may have sat on the bench with a book and refused to play,” Charlotte said.
“Oh, come on, that’s not so bad,” Chris said.
“And she deflated all the soccer balls and stole the pump,” Kaitlyn added.
“Hey, if I remember correctly, someone helped me do that part,” Charlotte said. Kaitlyn grinned.
“Well, I did hate soccer,” Kaitlyn said with a shrug.
“So, I promise there are no soccer balls involved in the three-legged race,” Chris said as he reached over and affectionately squeezed her knee. “Please?”
“Okay, fine, but I make no promises about how well we’ll do,” Charlotte said. She took his hand under the table and laced her fingers between his. Chris grinned and tightened his grip on her hand.
“Tell you what, I’ll buy you a shaved ice either way,” Chris said, pointing to a nearby stand offering red, white, and blue ices.
“Deal.”
When it was time for the three-legged race, Charlotte and Chris lined up together at the starting line. As AJ helped to tie their feet together, Charlotte glanced over at the sidelines where Kaitlyn was holding up her phone to take pictures. Charlotte flipped her off.
“That one’s going on the Christmas card!” Kaitlyn called out in a singsong voice.
Chris slipped his arm around Charlotte’s shoulders and she automatically put hers around his waist. As she nestled under his arm, it occurred to her yet again just how well they fit together. She felt so safe, smelling the increasingly familiar scent of him.
“Ready?” Chris asked.
“I guess,” Charlotte said uncertainly.
“Start with your outer foot, okay?” Chris said. Charlotte nodded.
“Alright, everyone!” the referee shouted. “Ready … set … GO!”
Charlotte stepped with her outer foot first, then her inside foot with Chris. They quickly fell into rhythm with one another, gaining speed as they ran. The two of them pulled ahead of the pack, heading swiftly towards the finish line, when suddenly Charlotte felt her sneaker slip in the dirt. She crashed, hard, Chris’s arms wrapped instinctively around her to soften her fall.
“I’m so sorry!” Charlotte exclaimed, feeling the sting in her knee. “I told you I wasn’t athletic!”
“It’s not you!” Chris protested. “My bad knee gave out, I’m the one who’s sorry.”
“So … it wasn’t me?” Charlotte asked as she pushed herself up into a sitting position and started to untie their feet. The crowd cheered the winners of the race, but Charlotte was more concerned about Chris and his knee.
“Nope,” Chris said, wincing a little as he stretched out his leg.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, it’s no big deal, this happens sometimes,” he said. “I’ll wear a knee brace for a couple days and be fine.”
Charlotte stood up and offered him her hands, helping him to his feet. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
“Sorry about the race,” Chris apologized, sounding dejected. “I really wanted to get you a blue ribbon.”
“How about you just buy me a blue shaved ice instead?” Charlotte asked, tilting her face up to his. He smiled and leaned in, kissing her gently.
“Now that one is definitely going on the Christmas card,” Kaitlyn said as she snapped another photo with her phone. Charlotte startled at the sound of her voice; she hadn’t realized her sister had joined them. “Now come on, let’s go. I’ve got a burning desire to throw baseballs at milk bottles.”
Over the next few hours, Charlotte, Kaitlyn, Chris, and AJ played as many of the midway games as they could until the sun started to fade from the sky. Each set of siblings grew increasingly competitive with one another, but, just before things got ugly, Chris suggested a challenge: Charlotte and Kaitlyn versus him and AJ.
“Best combined score at Ring the Bell wins,” Chris said.
“Oh, come on, that’s not fair!” Kaitlyn protested. “You clearly work out.”
“Don’t you haul around sound equipment like amps all the time?” Chris asked. “Plus, it’s not like I’m in football shape anymore AND my knee already went out once today.”
“Alright, alright,” Charlotte said. “Gimme the hammer.”
The game operator handed over the mallet and Charlotte squared off in front of the 10 foot rig. She hefted the hammer over her shoulder, readjusting her grip on the handle. After a steadying breath, she swung the hammer up and over, smacking the target as hard as she could. The puck shot up to the 6 foot mark before it fell back down.
“Respectable,” Chris said as Charlotte handed AJ the mallet. Charlotte stepped back to give AJ room and Chris stood behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist as he rested his head on her shoulder. Charlotte reached a hand up to touch his face and he kissed her cheek. AJ heaved the mallet but before it hit, Charlotte could already see it didn’t have as much force as hers. The puck only rose to 4 feet before it dropped down again.
“Shit,” AJ muttered as she handed the mallet to Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn positioned her feet wide in a power stance, putting on a show.
“Christ, twin, just hit it already!” Charlotte exclaimed after a full minute of this.
“Hey! I’m doing this for us! For the team!” Kaitlyn insisted. She took another moment, sized up the game, and then swung the mallet. The puck rose to 7 feet. Kaitlyn turned around, victorious, and dropped the mallet in the dirt before raising her fists above her head.
“Yes!” Charlotte cried, high fiving her sister.
“Hey, it’s not over yet,” Chris said, letting go of Charlotte so he could go pick up the mallet. He hefted it effortlessly on his shoulder, gripped the handle, and swung the handle. The puck shot up to the top and rang the bell with a loud clang.
“Yes!” AJ cheered. The Powell siblings high fived as Kaitlyn and Charlotte groaned.
“Oh, come on!” Kaitlyn protested. “I knew we were being scammed!”
“Hey, we barely beat you by a foot,” Chris said as the bored-looking game operator handed Chris a small stuffed cow. “It was a close competition.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kaitlyn said, rolling her eyes goodnaturedly.
Chris walked over to Charlotte and wrapped an arm around her waist as he held out the stuffed cow to her. “Consolation prize?”
“I can think of a better one,” Charlotte said. She tugged the front of his shirt and pulled Chris closer so that her lips found his. She could feel his smile as they kissed and she felt a flutter in her stomach as the sounds of the festival chattered around them.
“That’s a blue ribbon, not a consolation prize,” Chris murmured.
“Chris.”
Charlotte and Chris glanced over to AJ who was holding up her phone.
“Dad just texted, he needs us at the bar,” AJ said.
“Now?”
“I guess so,” AJ said, sounding disappointed. Chris turned back to Charlotte, looking apologetic.
“Don’t worry about it,” Charlotte said. “We’ll meet up later.”
Chris smiled gratefully and kissed her cheek. “Sounds good.”
Chris and AJ made their way through the crowd back towards the bar as Charlotte and Kaitlyn watched them go.
“Superman is off to save the day, huh?” Kaitlyn asked.
“It’s what he does,” Charlotte said with a small smile as he faded into the crowd.
By the time darkness settled over the town and the fireworks display was about to start, Chris and AJ still hadn’t reappeared. Kaitlyn and Charlotte found a spot on the grassy field amidst families and couples gathered on blankets, all of them anxiously awaiting the light show.
When the first burst of light spidered across the dark sky, the crowd around them oohed and aahed. It occurred to Charlotte that in a movie, this could be a classic romcom moment beneath the fireworks if she was sitting with a Chris or Zig. Or even James. Instead, she was glad to be sitting with her sister. Her pain in the ass, painfully honest sister who knew her better than anyone else.
“Hey,” Charlotte said, nudging her twin. “I’m glad you’re here.”
Kaitlyn smiled. “Me, too.”
