Fish boils are big business in Door County. Normally it’s a big gathering when one is done. Think in terms of a lobster boil in Maine, crab boil in the Carolinas, or a crawfish boil in Louisiana. You get your family and neighbors together, have a few beers and have fun. In Door County, they have them for the tourists.
When we got to Granny’s, it was confirmed they had walleye. Freshwater fish is regional. In the Midwest, we lean towards catfish. To be honest, I prefer walleye. Cassidy was hesitant to order a full meal so I had Granny, which is what I had always called her, make us an order of walleye fingers as an appetizer. It came with a spicy remoulade sauce.
Jim and Suzanne ordered the traditional fish boil. Cassidy and I ordered what Granny called her shore lunch. Instead of boiled, everything was cooked in a cast iron skillet. Granny made a killer fried potato.
I was proud of Jim. He waited until we were almost done with dinner before he had to ask what the plans were.
“What have you girls cooked up for us?” Jim asked nonchalantly.
“I hope we go parking, so Jim can see me make out with his sister,” I goaded him.
To his credit, he ignored me. If I hadn’t seen his eye twitch, I would have really been impressed. The girls looked at each other and smiled. Then they looked at me hopefully.
“We were hoping to go back to David’s place.”
My first response was ‘heck, no.’ My worst nightmare was people wanting to use my place to meet or have a party. That was why I put up with parking. Making out in a car really isn’t ideal. I also was not big on having another guy see me doing my bit. Alright, I can see where someone might call bullshit on that; I do tend to be a little bit of an exhibitionist. Angie teased me: if you have it, flaunt it. But she and Greg were family. Jim and Cassidy were friends. There seemed to be a difference there somewhere.
I figured the best approach was to come clean.
“My first reaction is to say ‘no,’ and before you get mad, let me explain. My mom and dad allow me to do stuff that most parents would never even consider. I don’t sneak around on them. They know I have girls over. What I don’t do is have parties or allow others to use my place. My parents haven’t given me permission to do that. Let me take that back. I haven’t asked them to, out of respect for them trusting me.”
“So, could we drop you off and then come back later?” Cassidy asked, as a compromise.
“I know this is going to sound stupid, but your dad has us going out on double dates for a reason. He figures that we can’t get into too much trouble if we’re all together. He even knows me,” I said, and then added, “Plus, we live in a small town. It wouldn’t take much for word to get back to your dad.”
That got a laugh out of them because they knew it was true. Trouble always beat you home.
“I guess your dad realizes that I’m not against sex. But he also knows that I’d do almost anything to make sure you’re safe,” I said to Cassidy. “If I’m not around, I can’t do that. I’d be more than happy to get a suite so we each have a bedroom, but I don’t want to make a habit of that. I don’t mind buying dinner, but hotels get expensive.”
“Wow, I feel like a juvenile delinquent,” Jim complained. “I guess you have to look at consequences more than I realized. I see that with the added responsibility, you also have more freedom. I wish my parents trusted me enough to have Cassidy over.”
“Will you get a hotel for tonight?” Suzanne asked me.
I was a horny guy; of course I would.
“Under one condition: Cassidy has to be a virgin when she leaves the room. I don’t need your dad blaming me.”
Cassidy and Jim smiled and nodded to me. I insisted that we have the cherry pie before we left. If you were trying to mimic a true Door County fish boil, that was a must.
SUZANNE AND I SPENT our time relieving each other’s tensions ... repeatedly. We had become comfortable with each other and didn’t have to do sexual gymnastics to have a good time. When we came out of the bedroom, Jim and Cassidy were cuddling on the couch. Cassidy winked at me, letting me know they had heard us. At least there were no off-color comments.
This had actually been one of my best date nights.
Sunday March 16
I FINALLY CAUGHT UP with Tami and we got on video chat.
“Thank you for helping me see the light with Eve. This is what’s been missing in my life. You’re the best friend I could possibly have.”
To my horror, Tami broke down in tears and wouldn’t look me in the eye.
“What’s wrong?”
“I knew better. Please forgive me,” she begged.
“Forgive you for what?”
“Eve,” she said. When she saw me looking confused, she asked me, “How do I explain this without sounding like a crazy jealous bitch?”
“Tami, just tell me. You’ve proven time and again that you only have my best interests at heart. You might piss me off, but you know I’ll forgive you. So just tell me.”
“Eve and I have been talking quite a bit since she came back. The biggest problem with her writing has been that she’s never experienced life. She’s never fallen in love. She’s never had sex. She’s never wanted someone so much it aches. Her writing reflects that. That’s why everyone’s been turning her down as an artist. They all took the polite route, saying ‘go write so we know who you are,’ with the hope that she’d get some life experience.
“Think about it David: has she ever dated? Do you ever remember her talking about a guy she had a crush on? I can’t. Angel finally got the reason out of her old record company. She asked Kendal for ideas and Kendal pointed her in my direction.”
“Why would Kendal know to call you?” I asked.
“Because she’s involved in your life. I reached out to her and we’ve gotten to know each other.”
Crud, another spy in Tami’s network.
“We talked about who’d be a good candidate for her to gain some experience. To be honest, you were not her first choice.”
“Who’s ‘we’?” I asked.
“At first it was Angel and I. Then I pointed out that Eve would never let Angel set her up. So I talked to Eve about it.”
“Okay, let me guess who her first choice was: Mike.”
“Yep, then he started dating that freshman. She had to change her focus to you. Don’t get me wrong, she likes you a lot. You two have been friends for a long time, and she knows you’d never hurt her. She also knows you’re a little slut.”
“Hey, be nice to me.”
She waved her hand at me.
“You’ve been called worse. That’s why we had that talk Monday. I wanted to make sure you weren’t planning on dating someone seriously. I had to be sure that Eve would just be a friend. If I’d known you were going to go all white-knight and fall head-over-heels in love, I would’ve stopped this. You’re such an idiot. Stupid, ‘stupid boy’!
“She called me after she shared her song with you. I listened to it on Friday. That was when I knew you were a lost cause. I understand that song hit your buttons. I bet you instantly knew you were in love with her, am I right?”
She glared at me, forcing me to realize she was right.
“I’m going to tell you two things that I hope will get your head right. The first is, think of Kara. If you had met her right before she went full time, would you have fallen for her?”
“Yes, without a doubt.”
“If you had been told that she was leaving, and would be around once every few months, would you still have gone out with her?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now for the hard question. Would you have fallen deeply, madly in love with her?”
That rocked me. It would only be natural to protect yourself. I sighed. Tami could be such a downer sometimes.