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 Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 9:26 pm
. I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
⒈ Solo ▪ Lunch
⒉ PRP ▪ Page's Books Beneath the Poet Tree
⒊ Solo ▪ Cake For Breakfast
⒋ PRP ▪ Rolling With Momentum
⒌ PRP ▪ Joyeux Anniversaire, Garçon!
⒍ PRP ▪ Lighthouse Vignettes, Pt. 1
⒎ PRP ▪ The Mysterious Appearance of Iris Grover
⒏ PRP ▪ La Villa Tuscana
⒐ PRP ▪ Lighthouse Vignettes, Pt. 2
⒑ PRP ▪ Piecemeal
⒒ PRP ▪ You Choose, You Chose
⒓ PRP ▪ On the Fourth of July
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2014 1:50 pm
. Duncan ended up meeting Johan long before he met Mordekai. For a while, he rarely recalled his name. In fact, Johan Kantor was a mysterious transfer student from inner Aekea who stuck to the back corners of classrooms. He read what he had to and kept to himself; he never did his homework but studied endlessly for his tests and wrote essays at twice their required length. He never slept during class, and rarely had anything constructive to say other than to quip with other students: it frustrated Duncan endlessly to see a student do so well and so poorly at the same time. He supposed, though, that every teacher came across an oddball at least once in their career.
Duncan was the type of teacher to care deeply for his students, so his concern for Johan was obvious. But Duncan was also unobtrusive-- he never pulled Johan aside after class to talk about his conduct or if there was any reason why he never did any homework. Not in full, anyway-- Johan seemed to understand that Duncan was concerned well enough by the glances they exchanged, and the short conversations they had. "I'm not sure you can pass this class without doing homework," he'd note; "I know," he'd reply. It was courteous. Duncan was never sure if it was the same thing as respect.
The way they got to know each other was frustrating but memorable. After a semester of relatively temperate behavior, Johan frequently got into fights with other students. It was often about petty things other students and teachers would sooner ignore; he stole cigarette packs and threw them in the trash, he dumped lunches into students' backpacks; most amusingly of all, though, was that he rarely targeted anyone but other demeaning students.
This often meant suspensions. Those were fine; those became routine. These happenstances always seemed to happen in other classrooms-- Duncan rarely was able to catch him in the act. The one time that was memorable, though, was when Johan attacked someone in the middle of class for talking, ever the sordid vigilante, for the first time in his classroom. What was memorable was having to pry him off-- what was memorable was Duncan having his glasses broken. What wasn't memorable was when they issued another parent-teacher conference, which Johan often went to by himself and barely cared about.
Indeed, the most memorable thing of all was what came after. For the following decades to come, Duncan always recalled Johan in 1997, 17 years old with his back against a plastered white wall, well over 6-feet already with limbs bent to accommodate sitting on a too-short bench. He was staring off into the clock of the clerk's office while limply hugging his backpack against his chest; the only thing animated about him were the soles of his shoes tapping anxiously against the floor. That's what Duncan saw when he came into the office to check up on him. Johan didn't pay him any mind at first.
"Johan?" Duncan closed the office door slowly behind him, so afraid that he would startle Johan, who still ignored him. "You're allowed to go back to class now. No need to wait in the office."
Johan finally glared up at him, cheeks wrought with crimson. "Why would I go back to class?" he paused. "...I'm not going back to class."
"I would greatly appreciate it if you came back to class."
Johan stared. Duncan frowned, then walked closer to the bench, which caused the teenager to visibly flinch.
"Are you waiting for someone to pick you up, then?"
"No."
"No?"
"No."
"Ah." Duncan looked at the clock-- it was forty minutes until the end of lunchtime. He glanced back at Johan before cautiously taking a seat at the very edge of the bench, then lifted his head slightly. "I see. I'm sure the office could call someone for you."
Silence.
The two sat stone-still throughout lunch until the bell rang. The only reaction Duncan managed to get out of Johan the entire time was a small scoff when his stomach growled. Despite his continued silence, when they both stood up, Johan ended up following Duncan back to class.
"I'm pretty hungry, too," Johan admit. "I owe you a lunch."
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Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 12:00 am
. Johan takes a break and visits a bookstore close to work.
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Spring break just let out in the Barton district for high schools and universities. Ultimately, this meant that restaurants were starting to get more business again as the students were returning to town, and the area was beginning to feel a little less empty. There was a downtown strip in particular that saw a new light after every break, one full of quintessential little antique stores and delis and magical little corner shops where people could waste time and money in.
Johan had never been to this part of town. Not really, at least-- he'd flitted by occasionally when he was heading toward the university campus, but never enough to notice its shops or its people, but enough to know that this place was socially important. He decided to give the area the time of day once he managed to get to Barton an hour earlier than usual-- the traffic over the bridge from Aekea fared better than normal today-- and found that it wasn't spectacular.
But there was daylight and there was time to spare. He parked near a niche cafe (evidence that this place was a student trap indeed) and walked around the block. The area was shaded by verdant trees, and near an intersection that marked the end of the strip was a book store. Past its windows he could see an arrangement of novels and other gift items-- calendars and children's toys and the like-- then stepped back to look at the signage on the building. In old type it read Page's Books Beneath the Poet Tree, which struck him as a cumbersome title for any store to have.
Yet, in part due to his curiosity and another in part due to his weary eyes-- he'd failed to get any sleep and the day before was jarring-- he walked into the quaint little bookstore. The bell rang from above the threshold, but all of the employees were too occupied to greet him. So he ducked out of sight and mind to go about his own business, and he looked up and around the bookstore's tall shelves at what genres it had to offer. The typical-- but there was one aisle in particular, Children's Literature, that was peculiarly expansive for a small bookstore like this.
Johan: -so he wandered to it, one hand thumbing through the shelves at titles, unaware of anyone else present.-
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Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 12:21 am
. “Hey, Sunshine. You doing okay enough for breakfast?” Annie asked, setting two platters and a cup of water down at the counter. Next to the counter was a bed, where Sunshine was lying down. He didn’t budge. He was still wearing his work clothes from the night previous, dress shirt and slacks now crinkled with the bedsheets. Annie, with a sigh, sat at her brother-in-law’s side. Johan was now 29 years old, but it was the first time Annie had ever seen him sleep like a baby through the night.
“Fair enough. How are you feeling?” Annie reiterated, reaching forward to brush Johan’s mess of frizzy, dark hair. Johan tensed for a moment - he rarely liked anyone touching him without his permission, but he recognized who it was and relaxed again.
“Mm. Peachy.” He turned, his back now to Annie and his face half-buried against a pillow. One whiff of it reminded Johan that this bedroom wasn’t his. Everything was heavily perfumed with the scent of old garden roses.
“Well, Mr. Peachy. If you’re hungry, I made some hollandaise.” Annie took a fork from one of the platters, helping herself to a small mouthful of English muffin. She hummed. “Damn, that’s some good stuff. If you’re not eating it, I am.”
“Go ahead.” One more turn and Johan faced down against the pillow. He breathed in, exhaled, and slowly rose to sit. Crossing his legs, Johan blearily studied the cluster of items at the counter - he couldn’t tell if it was deskwork or the headache lingering at his temples that was making his vision more blurry. He scooted closer to the edge of the bed, rifling aimlessly around it for a helping of painkillers. He nearly tipped over the glass of water when he finally took notice of the platter of hollandaise, then the plate of yellow cake with blue frosting. He couldn’t find any painkillers.
He sat back against the bedframe, staring at the cake. “What’s the cake for?”
“You don’t remember, Sleepyhead?” Annie took another bite of hollandaise, watching Johan carefully. Then, setting her fork down, she pulled open the counter drawer.
“I don’t know. Do you remember my name?” he asked, a set of dead eyes staring languidly back at Annie. She held out a bottle of ibuprofen, sneering.
After Johan snatched the bottle from her, Annie took up the fork again and helped herself to a bite of cake. “Haha. As I see it, I get to call you a few nicknames once in a while, especially after you crash someone’s birthday party. Buttface.” Johan leaned forward to grab the cup of water, then paused mid-sip.
“Oh.” He helped himself to three pills, drank more water, and kept the bottle of ibuprofen on his lap. He squeezed his eyes shut as the medicine went down. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
“I was teasing, don’t apologize. You were having a rough night,” Annie softened, taking the cup of water from Johan’s hand. Gingerly, he rubbed his eyes. “I was thinking, though… I do have a question for you. You showed up at the perfect time.”
“What is it?”
Annie set the glass of water on the table, then timidly traced her fingers over the rim of one of the plates. “Wanna go on a double date? With your brother and I.”
Johan glared out from past his hands, his eyes meeting Annie’s while she shrugged and smiled as innocently as ever.
“Sure. When I’m dead.”
“Okay, fine, I knew that wouldn’t work. What about a triple date?” she asked - immediately, she raised her hand up toward Johan before he could interrupt. “Wait, bad wording. I mean it’d be me, you, and Leigh.”
“A triple date with Leigh.” It was a name he’d heard before. Leigh, as he came to understand Annie's vast number social circles, was one of her best friends.
“Uhuh. Leigh. Birthday Girl.” Annie leaned back, using her arms as support. Johan slid back into the bed when he realized how big he’d messed up.
“I didn’t know it was her birthday.” He slid his hands away from his face, taking up the bottle of ibuprofen and resting it on his chest. He crossed his arms. “Sorry, I’d rather not.”
“Come on, please? Annie leaned forward, resting her elbows against the bed, folding her hands together. “Date in the loosest form of the term. It’s just a travesty to me that you guys haven’t even talked yet. You’re the two biggest nerds I know.”
“Thanks.” He closed his eyes before Annie had a chance to pout. He also desperately wanted to go back to sleep. “Like I said, I’d rather not. I already spoiled her birthday.”
“Johan! Come on, you’ve been wanting to meet her forever.” Annie wiggled closer to Johan and laid down next to him, one palm propping her head up. “And now she wants to meet you. Here’s the plan: we meet sometime at noon. We eat lunch. We have coffee somewhere fancy, just like both of you like it, and you can spend the rest of the time with your nose in a book and ignoring me. And you didn’t spoil her birthday at all. You can’t really do that while taking a nap in a bedroom alone. You bookworms worry me all the time... you need to talk to other people every now and then.”
The more Annie spoke, the clearer it was to him that she wasn’t going to let him go back to sleep. He squinted up at her, crossed arms tensing, though he did offer her a tacit smile. “Or I could read and ignore you, like you just suggested. But at home.”
“Look, reading and ignoring me mutually in the company of another human being bears the slightest of differences to that, but it’s an important difference. The most socializing you do is with your coworkers and bosses, and they’re obviously driving you nuts.” She frowned as Johan sat back up and helped himself to two more pills of ibuprofen. “Hey, you already took three.”
Johan swallowed them down dry anyway, then stared back at her with a nonchalant grin. “Gimme that,” Annie snapped, taking the bottle from him easily. “Troublemaker.”
He shrugged. “Work’s all the socializing I need.”
“Okay. Driving you nuts is an understatement. They’re killing you. I need you alive, kid,” Annie dropped the bottle back into its drawer and shut it closed. She laid back down on the bed, pouting for added effect, and tugged at his sleeves; it was all a play, and with a soft scoff Johan looked away. “Some friends could help you do that a little more. You know, the living thing?”
“Having a life?” he asked, glancing back down at his wardrobe. He didn't necessarily feel like giving Annie's whining the time of day, and he was a mess. He began unbuttoning his crinkly dress shirt to start tidying up.
“Living at all. Come on.” Annie nudged her head against Johan's waist. She could tell he was ignoring him, but she wasn't having any of it.
“I have friends.” Johan wondered where all of his things were. When his dress shirt was half undone, he glanced to one side of the floor. His things certainly weren't there.
“You made a Facebook, congratulations. You accept friend invites sometimes.”
“When would it be?” Figuring it'd help get Annie off of his back, he changed tact. He then glanced to the other side. Again, no luck.
“Next week! I was thinking Sunday?” Annie smiled knowingly, folding her hands over her stomach while Johan continued paying not much attention.
“I’ll think about it.” He glanced in front of him. There it was - his poorly fitting suit and briefcase. Once his dress shirt was unbuttoned, he hopped off of the side of the bed to retrieve his jacket, kneeling down to rifle through its pockets.
“You know, that’s all I can ask for! Just think about it for a little bit. If you don’t want to, there’s no pressure. I know I’m goading you, but--” Annie sat up, crawling closer to the front of the bed while Johan flipped open his cellphone. “I’m not going to guilt you into this.”
“Oh, you’re not goading me in the slightest. You just told me I have no friends.” Johan sat on the floor. It was just after 12PM - he’d slept in plenty. There were a few messages left for him, both voicemails and texts. He started going through them by reading the text first.
“I’m sorry for being a jerk, okay? I already know dates aren't your thing, so why would I ask you to go on one if I thought you would hate it?“ Annie sat up - with a defeated sigh, she grabbed the two breakfast platters and rose to her feet, holding them out for Johan to see. “You’re really not eating this?”
Johan glanced up. “No thanks.”
“I’ll make more for you later.” Annie walked toward the entrance of the bedroom, then looked over her shoulder, brows raised. “Try to relax a little bit. Hey, do you have work today?”
“Called in sick.” It was something Johan usually avoided, but no one needed to see him have another mental breakdown at the office. That, and he would’ve already been four hours late by now, and Aekea was also three hours away by train.
That said, less than a day's worth of notice for a shift off wasn't usually deemed acceptable at Williamson and Bai. The texts he'd received were innocent enough, but Johan grimaced at the promise of voicemails just ahead.
“Thank god. I’m off today, so you get to hang out with me. I’ll come bug you when you’re alive again.” Pushing the door open with her hip, Annie sauntered out, blowing Johan a small kiss. “Love you!”
“Appreciate it. Love you too.”
With a contented hum, Annie walked away in a bright mood despite Johan's lukewarm response, leaving the door only partially closed. The apartment was small, and Johan could hear her set the dishes down at the kitchen.
“If you’re not going on the date, you’re taking me to go see He’s Just Not That Into You instead. I know you have Sundays off!”
“Sure. I hear Drag Me to Hell’s coming out soon, too.”
“Shut up. I’ll make you some coffee, Sunshine.”
***
Annie wasn't bluffing when she said Johan had wanted to meet Leigh back then. He did, and he had for years.
The first time Johan heard of Leigh, it was back when they were both 25. He was still living with Annie and Mordekai at the time, and though Leigh was supposedly one of Annie’s closest friends, he never saw her at their apartment. She was a myth only to be heard of - the woman Annie always doted on and loved so dearly, the girl that Mordekai held so dear that he called her sister. Back then, never seeing her made some sense; Johan was busy with school and work, and he only ever had enough time to sleep and eat at home. But Leigh’s presence lingered, and sometimes he would find her in the books she left on their dining table, the glass of drinks half-finished near the television, and her manuscripts left by the couch. The little snippets of Leigh Brighton’s life always left him idly curious about what she was like, but he never had the opportunity to piece the parts together.
It was only with Annie’s help that he was ever able to start. He agreed to that date in 2009. They did two of the three things Annie planned on them doing that day; they had a nice lunch, and they had some nice coffee. The one thing they didn’t do, though, was read. What they did instead was talk, and that was rare for them both.
They didn’t talk a lot. But they did talk just enough to have one another wonder what the next meeting would be like, and the next, and the next, because there were always questions left unanswered and they were curious for answers. They saw each other and talked just so and begun dating, and for half a year, the young owner of a tchotchke store and the law graduate with no determinable future were comfortable with each other. To both of them, being comfortable around someone else felt strange and funny, and they’d never admit it to anyone else.
It was a secret they kept together, and it was nice. Then, one day, Johan left Leigh’s flat in the middle of the night, and the two agreed it was best not to continue as they were. They left the idea of pursuing a friendship out in the open, but without intending to, the two never saw each other again for a while after that departure: Leigh was making a home for herself in Barton, and Johan never left Aekea for very long.
The next time they saw each other was at Annie’s funeral, two years after that. Johan remembered seeing Leigh some distance away, talking to friends he remembered seeing in Barton when his sister was still alive and well. He couldn’t think of anything worth saying, and left her alone. After that, Johan didn’t leave Aekea much at all for another two years.
Sometimes, though, his commutes to Durem sent him on hours-long drives across Gaia’s highways. When he crossed over the Aekean Bridge into Barton, the heavy rush hour traffic often had him at a stop in the heart of Barton, the edge of the highway framed around the Barton Metro Station. He'd remember his commutes to Barton when he'd still been with Leigh - he'd arrive at the same exit on Harrison Avenue on that familiar route to his alma mater, but one left turn toward downtown and The Shy Violet was only a few blocks away. He'd idly wonder if Leigh’s small store was still there after all these years, or if Leigh had whisked herself away to another corner of the world.
Then, today, he'd seen her. For all the talk they’d had about travel, Leigh and Johan were both surprisingly stationary.
At the corner of a cafe in downtown Barton, close to campus, Johan took a moment to stare at his phone. Before long, he dialed a familiar number and pressed the screen to his ear, waiting.
“What a surprise! Hello, Johan.”
“Hi, Duncan. How have you been?”
“I've been well. Yourself?”
“The same. I’m in Barton, by the way. I just...” Johan glanced back beyond the windows, one finger tapping idly at the table. “Saw Leigh at a bookstore.”
“Leigh? Wonderful! Your brother and I saw her just the other day. What brings you into Barton?”
“Oh. You did?” Johan leaned back in his chair. He really did have no clue what the hell was going on. “I’m at Blair.”
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Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 12:27 am
. Leigh calls Mordekai in regards to some troubles.
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Leigh: -she sat on her couch, staring down at her phone screen for a good few minutes. She would open her contacts, and scroll idly through them before switching to twitter to glance at various, uninteresting, updates before returning to her contacts again. She hovered her thumb above a particular number, considering wither it was appropriate to make a call, for little reason, at 10 pm on a Tuesday night--- but decided that with so much on her mind, and with a recipient as willing as this, to press the call button and lift the phone to her ear.
Ring… Ring... Ring…
Mordekai: -picks up the phone after a bit; he sounds cheerful enough, but a bit out of breath- “Leigh! 'Ey!”
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Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 12:31 am
. Johan celebrates his birthday a day early with Duncan, Mordekai, and Leigh.
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Surprisingly, Johan agreed to meeting up for his birthday, but only if it was a day before, as May 5th fell on a Monday and a birthday didn't seem so urgent (or at all important) enough to miss work for. It was mentioned-- as promised-- that Leigh was going to attend the little get-together, and no one else, and with a surprising lack of hesitation Johan agreed to it. Mordekai arranged for Leigh to show up a bit earlier so they could prepare the premise-- arrange some food and get things sorted cleaning-wise-- before evening fell. And, as appointed, Johan showed up when asked to, around 6 in the afternoon, at front of Duncan's house. He checked the time and knocked on the door.
Mordekai: -while busy with last-minute food prep, he turns back around to face Leigh- “'Ey, I think that's him-- could y'get that, please?”
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 8:57 pm
. Johan and Leigh start making a habit of visiting each other at Lighthouse Coffee.
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
As promised, Johan showed up to the Lighthouse Cafe at approximately 5:30PM, after his last class let out and a slew of his students had questions to ask. He ordered an espresso and unpacked his laptop to check his e-mails. After responding to a few, he resorted to working on reading Feast for Crows-- he wondered what type of drink Leigh enjoyed, but failed to remember.
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 8:57 pm
. As usual, Leigh and Johan meet at Lighthouse Coffee, but they happen to see one of Johan's co-workers.
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Johan: -as told to Leigh, he shows up just before 7PM. The cafe is crowded, but a little less so than Wednesday, making the noise levels a bit more bearable. He sets his backpack down on top of an empty chair at the table where Leigh is sitting- “Hey. You're here early.”
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 10:05 pm
. Despite Iris planning most of the dinner, she has to opt out last minute, leaving Leigh and Johan to an awkward supper together.
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Monday at 8PM. That was the plan since Friday. Iris was quick to add Leigh over Facebook and give her a few updates via text about what exactly was going on. She made sure both of them had directions to the Villa Tuscana, she sent them information about surrounding traffic; she made the reservations and promptly reminded the two to dress sharply. This was no laughing matter! The first dinner out with a new friend meant everything to her.
Which was why, really, it was odd that she sent a text shortly before 8PM about needing to cancel.
It was highly likely that Leigh and Johan were both driving and on the way there when that occurred. She apologized and promised another dinner date if they could spare her the embarrassment of this mess-up, but the only explanation given was family emergency.
Iris Grover was a very prompt and organized woman. For that reason, when Johan finally managed to get to the Villa Tuscana and saw the message, he didn't feel the need to pry for further explanation nor blame her. But he was there, as promised for the past three days, in front of a restaurant farther into the creek and valley of Barton than he'd ever been in. Surrounding the area were the sounds of crickets and fireflies and an oaken breeze from the neighboring forest. The restaurant itself was barely discernible against the dark, with only a dim light emanating from inside. Iris, in fact, had chosen to ignore Leigh's suggestion that they didn't need to go anywhere fancy at all.
Johan leaned against the side of the car and pocketed his phone inside of his coat. To add to the atmosphere of the restaurant, the parking area was across the street on a plot of gravel. It gave him plenty of space to stare at the locale for a bit: the only residents nearby were cabins on isolated hills and in the woods, and the only other buildings around were dedicated to food and travel. It was an easy enough place to get lost in, if one didn't care about where they were going. Given that he'd arrived nearly on the nose at 8PM, and Iris had sent the text only 10 minutes before, he was certain that Leigh was either in the restaurant already or was close by.
He pulled out his phone again to begin texting Leigh. 'Where are you?'
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 10:05 pm
. Meetings between Leigh and Johan start becoming more frequent.
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Johan arrived at The Shy Violet at 11AM, practically on the dot, with books in hand. Unlike before, where he'd worn suits or sweatervests or other things of a more formal attire, he wore a simple long sleeved shirt and jeans to accommodate for what he had to do that day.
He looked up at the store name-- everything seemed to be practically the same. Without hesitation, he entered the door and walked to the cash register. It indeed wasn't Leigh, but someone unfamiliar.
Johan: “Hello. Is Leigh in today?”
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 10:05 pm
. Leigh visits Johan at his office to pick up Annie's old cookbook.
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Picking up Annie's cookbook was a good enough excuse as any for Leigh to visit Aekea. For one reason or another, they agreed to meet that Friday at Johan's office, after hours, which meant sometime around a quarter past six. He gave her an exact address of the office, which was on the fourth floor of a sizable building, which was old and warmly lit and still much smaller in comparison to the other ones around the district.
The city was bustling and crowded while the office halls were empty and near-silent. A handful of other practitioners of various specialties still had their offices open at six, but a few others had already closed, their offices unlit and locked for the night.
Summer meant a long day, and sunset peaked through the halls of the glass-walled building and painted it with amber and warmth. Johan's office sat at the foot of the hall. Inside, a secretary sat at the front desk, typing and staring intently at a computer screen.
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 10:12 pm
. Leigh and Johan decide to talk through some old baggage.
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
They didn't care about where they ate. A few more empty-minded steps down the street landed them at Crossing the Deliware, an average American diner, unoccupied save for the owner, its employees, and a couple of other people tending to their food at the corner of the establishment. A waitress or two glanced over at Leigh and Johan in half-attention. Before either of them could choose where to sit, one of them waved once toward them and walked over to greet them in full.
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 10:14 pm
. Leigh and Johan begin their first date at an Independence Day celebration at Blair University.
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
The last of Lighthouse Coffee's customers herded into the cafe during the precious minutes before closing. It was still light out, but streetlights began flickering on as it neared evening and an orange dusk curtained shadows over downtown Barton; Johan sat at one of Lighthouse's outdoor tables and clicked his phone on to check the time.
It was just past six, early for the usual celebrations on July 4th, for the ones he could recall. Mordekai had always preferred to start when it was pitch dark – at 10, 11, to drag themselves out to the Barton borders to light the fireworks.
Then again, Duncan – the barely-American, who had begun celebrating the Fourth for his sons-in-laws, had begun earlier in the day. He hadn't celebrated with him in some years. He wondered if Leigh had in his absence – and if it was worth asking her if she had.
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