Part 20 (1/2)

”Don't worry about that.” Billy laughed, and Carrie knew he was thinking of the night the summer before when she had tried to impress him with her drinking, and ended up being sick as a dog. She laughed, too, and they made their way to the kitchen.

Emma was holding court near the counter where the wine was set out. With Kurt on one side and Kevin on the other, she was feeling charming and uninhibited. Both guys were ex- tremely attractive, but Emma knew it was Kurt who had claim to her heart. They were even getting along better than they had all week. In honor of the party, she supposed, he wasn't giving her any trouble about drinking, and had even refilled her gla.s.s for her.

Kevin was telling a funny story, and suddenly Emma wished she had a picture of the three of them laughing and talking together. With her all-girls private-schooling education, she had never had the chance to know boys as friends. Now she realized that the attraction she felt for Kevin had to do with his being such a likeable person.

”The guy actually expected me to talk to this turtle,” said Kevih, finis.h.i.+ng the story about his first interview a.s.signment.

Emma watched Kurt laughing and thought, I'm happy just being near him! The winegla.s.s she was turning in her hand drew her momen- tarily into thoughts of their quarrel. He's right, she thought, / need to think about this-but not tonight.

Sam, too, was having a grand time. Slightly buzzed from the beer she'd been drinking, she had taken over the job of DJ. Since everyone else seemed even less sober, no one minded giving her the job, and she played one dance tune after another: funkyi blues, hard rock, Motown, and even a Broadway number or two, just to keep the crowd on their toes.

Danny watched with amus.e.m.e.nt as she tried to get the crowd to follow a Disney dance routine.

He was the only one in the room who could appreciate her exact impersonation of Mr. Chris- topher, and she felt a strong, warm connection flowing between them. She ran back to the stereo and chose a slow dance, so she could enjoy the rhythm of their bodies moving together in time to the music. Funny, the change in then* relation- s.h.i.+p didn't feel strange to her at all. She could tell he didn't even mind when she roped Pres into being her partner for the twist a couple of numbers later.

By midnight, everyone was dancing, and an hour later, Carrie noticed that there were begin- ning to be casualties. She rallied her fellow hostesses to start winding things down before they ended up with an all-night party on their hands. Sam was resistant at first, but reluctantly put on an alb.u.m of ballads, and helped a.s.sess the damages.

A few guests were lolling in armchairs, and had to be helped to their feet and walked to the door.

Someone had broken a beer bottle in one of the bathrooms, and someone else had thrown up in the shower stall of another. Upstairs, Kurt and Danny found a couple in the guest room who had undressed and gone to bed as if they were home.

Emma found an unidentified bra.s.siere flying like a flag from the edge of the deck.

”I'd say we had some fun,” Sam announced as she cleaned a salsa spill from the hardwood floor in the dining room. ”But how did we end up drunking so mich?”

Her remark drew a laugh from the last few stragglers who were still on their feet; most had congregated at the buffet for a final munch. Now they wandered off to find shoes, purses, and jackets for the trek home.

Carrie had marshaled Kevin and Billy into a crew to sweep through the outlying areas of the house for used cups and empty bottles. They returned as she was running a sinkful of soapy water to start was.h.i.+ng a few of the serving dishes.

”What's this, the party's over?” Kevin ribbed her. ”Hey, don't clean up now. We can come back and help with this tomorrow.”

”I think you mean later today,” yawned Carrie.

”It must be four in the morning or something.

Anyway, I'd like to get started on it tonight, but I'm not sure I can stay awake.”

”What you need is some fresh air,” Kevin claimed, grabbing her by the waist and waltzing her toward the door. ”I hereby, forthwith-and also right now-proclaim a beach walk!” he went on to announce in a booming, comical voice.

”Yes!” cried Emma as the idea grabbed her imagination. ”Throw caution to the wind! It's almost our last night on the island! Let's do it. We can watch the sunrise!”

”I'm in!” Sam decided.

”Sounds like fun to me,” said Danny.

”Only one problem,” Kurt pointed out. ”No beach.”

For some reason, that struck everyone as being hilarious. No beach! Maybe they were just a little drunk . . .

”What do you mean? We're surrounded by beaches!” Billy exclaimed. ”It's just a question of getting to one.”

”We can use my car,” offered Emma, ”but I'm not sure we can all fit. Unless ...”

Like a chorus being directed by a single hand, the cry went up in unison: ”Unless we put the top down!”

It took only a minute to decide it was a great idea.

Grabbing up whatever they could find in the way of warm clothing, they tumbled out the door and into the driveway. Emma was weaving as she tried to fit the key in the lock.

”One requirement,” said Kevin, coming up behind Emma. He placed a hand over hers and gently extracted her keys. ”I drive. Friends don't let friends, and all that.”

”Man, are you sure you're okay?” asked Billy.

”I'd offer myself, but I'm honestly a little pol- luted.”

”No problem,” said Kevin, opening the door and sliding in behind the wheel.

It seemed pointless to argue, and in fact, though Kevin had been drinking with them all night, he seemed able to hold his liquor without much effect. In a minute, the top was whirring smoothly into its bed. Kurt grabbed Emma around the waist and pulled her onto his lap in the pa.s.senger seat. Laughing and stumbling against each other, the rest of the group scrambled for s.p.a.ce in the back seat of the open car. A rock station blared out ”Twist and Shout,” and every- one sang along at the top of their lungs.

”This is living!” Sam hollered over the noise, throwing her arms up to the night sky.

The Beatles song ended and an old Johnny Mathis ballad came on.

”Boring!” Kevin called out as he took the first turn onto the narrow road that led to the beach.

”Find some rap!” Sam yelled from the back seat.

”Rap? Yuck!” Danny put in from next to her.

”Find some good rock!”

”He likes the Grateful Dead!” Sam teased.

”Wow! Huggie-Veggie!” Billy teased him.

”You like the Grateful Dead, too!” Carrie laughed, hitting Billy in the arm.

Sam leaned into Danny impulsively and gave him a kiss on the lips.

”Driver's choice!” Emma called into the wind.

”You pick, Kevin!”

A number of things happened very fast just then. ”Let me see,” yelled Sam, lunging forward to reach for the tape Kurt had pulled out of the glove compartment. Kevin swatted playfully at Sam's hand, and a pair of headlights appeared directly in front of them, seemingly out of no- where.

”Hang on!” yelled Kevin.

Danny and Billy both reached forward in a vain attempt to take control as Kevin lost his grip on the wheel.

Brakes squealed from every direction. The car seemed to whirl off into s.p.a.ce, and the sky exploded.