Nearby, a car alarm blared. That spooked Pippi and she wiggled out of Harper’s arms and jumped down, barking loudly at the offending noise.
“Pippi!” Dot bent down to scoop her up. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the shadows of Harper and Mary in the dark. “You guys! Were you there the entire time?”
“Sorry! We were trying to be discreet,” Harper said.
“We didn’t want to spoil the moment,” Mary said, then she called to Danny, “Don’t leave on our account!”
“Ha, thanks—maybe next time. I gotta work early in the morning.” He waved to the girls on the porch. The car alarm went silent.
“Okay. We’ll hold you to it,” Mary said.
Dot turned back to the street, still holding Pippi, as Danny opened his truck door.
“Good night,” Dot said as he waved and took off.
She turned back to the house. “I can’t believe you eavesdropped on that entire goodbye,” she said.
“We didn’t want to interrupt,” Harper said, taking a bag of frozen peas and placing it on the back of her neck.
“Scoot over,” Dot said, working her way in between Harper and Mary and resting her head back. Pippi wriggled out of Dot’s arms and onto Harper’s lap.
“Here, take one of these.” Harper reached down and got another bag of frozen peas from a cooler. “Cool yourself down.”
“I’m notthathot and bothered,” Dot said, closing her eyes and reliving her kiss with Danny.
“Could have fooled us!” Mary sat up and tucked her legs under her on the love seat slider. “That looked... like more than a ‘thank you for helping me remodel the bookstore’ dinner.”
“And he’s already asked you out again,” Harper said.
“I’m not sure exactly what it was,” Dot said. “But falling for Danny Dawson of Cedar Falls wasnotpart of my plan.”
“Tell us about it. We came for an adventure, to keep you company on your election gap year, and now we’ve fallen for guys we never would have met in the city,” Mary said, thinking of Jake and the night on the swing. “Andthey’re Republicans!”
“This wasn’t on our bingo card,” Dot said. “I was supposed to focus on my career not a guy. Let alone one that won’t vote for a Democrat.”
“Tell me about it. Once, I was giving Jake a hard time about supporting the other side, and he asked me if it really mattered to me how he voted. My initial thought was that yes, it did, but instead I said, ‘Just kiss me,’ and that was the end of that.”
“So that’s the trick—your sexual attraction has to be bigger than someone’s politics?” Dot asked.
“Well, it’s working so far,” Mary said.
“So, what are we going to do now?” Harper asked.
“To be honest, Harp. I don’t know,” Dot said. “And maybe, it’s okay not to know. At least not right now?”
“Maybe.”
“Yeah. Maybe.”
In turn, The Crew laid back on the love seat, frozen vegetables pressed to their foreheads. Dot used one foot to push the glider for them, rocking them gently while they each thought of the Wisconsin boys who’d rocked their worlds.
Chapter 48
Mary paced the baggage claim area waiting for her parents, Tony and Christine, to arrive at Milwaukee’s airport. She was excited for their visit, though as she forewarned, and Dot and Harper knew full well from their college days, “They’re a lot.”
It was Mary’s birthday weekend, and her mother hadn’t missed one of her birthdays in twenty-five years, and she wasn’t going to let distance keep her from celebrating her daughter’s twenty-sixth. So, once they were sure that Nonna was okay and would be looked after by one of Mary’s brothers and his wife, they bought plane tickets and planned a three-night visit.
She was eager to see them and show them around historic Cedar Falls. She knew her mom would love all of the boutiques, and her dad would be interested in the old mill that helped establish the town in the mid-1800s. He loved his dad history.