Page 11 of One Weekend On Mackinac Island
Owen
Owen
Needless to say, therewas no going back now. I’d had my first taste of heaven and I was addicted. Had thatwoman not interrupted, I wasn’t sure if I would have been able to stop on my own.
Kat’s cheeks were still bright red as we made our way out of the shop and down Main Street. I wanted to ease her embarrassment but was unsure how until a sign caught my attention. “Come on,” I said, pulling open the door to Murdick’s Fudge shop, the OG of the seventeen different fudge shops on Main Street.
Upon entering, the chocolate aroma intensified. With seventeen candy stores crammed into a half-mile stretch on Main Street, the air was a swirling mix of chocolate, popcorn, nuts, and, unfortunately, horse manure. One couldn’t ever forget the latter, even with the town’s exemplary cleanup efforts. I’d seen many works with shovels and carts working their way up and down the streets. Which meant the overpowering sweetness of the candy and the blooming lilacs was enough to drown out any other smells, even the unpleasant ones.
“Oh my God,” Kat exclaimed as she made her way to the counter. “I want to try every flavor.”
“You can get a free sample from each of the shops on the island,” the girl behind the counter said. “But that equates to eating two pounds of fudge.”
“I think I’d die of fudge overload.”
“But what a way to go,” I teased.
We bought several pounds of fudge, hoping that it would be enough to last us for a good while. But of course, a bag full of fudge wasn’t enough for my girl with the enormous sweet tooth. As soon as we got back to the hotel, she pulled me inside of Sadie’s Ice Cream Parlor. We each walked out of there with a cone. Kat’s cone overflowed with Mackinac Island Fudge while I went with a Michigan cherry chocolate fudge. Since it was the Grand Hotel, we decided to take our treats to the long porch,which overlooked the grounds and the Straits of Mackinac just beyond.
One hundred white rocking chairs lined the six hundred sixty-foot porch, which evidently was the world's longest. Finding two empty ones next to each other, we sat. We savored our ice cream, captivated by the sight of the groundskeepers bringing life back to the garden beds, their drab winter hues giving way to the dazzling red blooms of geraniums. Almost a hundred and fifty planters lined the porch, creating a stunning visual impact. The brash red of the petals stood in stark relief against the white planters, chairs, and tables.
“I heard there’s a reason the ceiling out here is blue.” Kat’s words made me look up at the bright turquoise ceiling, its vibrant hue almost shocking against the white walls and other accents.
“And why is that?”
“It supposedly keeps the birds from nesting there.”
“Hmm. Interesting. Guess it resembles the sky to them.”
“That would be my guess.”
I finished my cone and looked out at the dazzling water. The lake was putting on a show in the brilliant sun. In stark contrast to the muted hues of yesterday, today's color was a vibrant, eye-catching spectacle. A marvel of modern engineering, the Mackinac Island Bridge, stood like a sentinel in the Straits, guarding the passage between the two bodies of water, Lakes Huron and Michigan.
Kat's attention must have been drawn to the same spot where I was looking. “I don’t think I could ever drive across that bridge.”
“Oh, come on, Kit. You have to do it at least once. It’s like one of those bucket list things.”
“Dude, it’s like five miles long. Five miles hanging over all that water. No thanks.”
“I’ll hold your hand the whole way,” I promised, my voice light and teasing as I reached out for her hand, a gentle reminder that our relationship had changed even though neither one of us was talking about it.
“Kat,” a voice from below the porch called out, causing her to rip her hand out of mine. The loss I felt was immediate, but I let her have that play since I wasn't sure how to explain to my best friend my feelings for his sister.
“Todd, look out!” A wave of alarm swept over the group at Kat’s urgent shout. “It’s Duke!”
Todd’s head whipped from side to side as he desperately searched for the beast, and I couldn't help but burst out laughing at the sight of his frantic movements. “What! Where?”
Now Kat was laughing as well, too hard to answer his question. The party climbed the stairs to the porch and joined us in a grouping of chairs. A wave of confusion washed over some faces, but others, like our parents, who knew the story, were smiling broadly, their eyes twinkling with amusement.
Todd seemed to catch on quickly to the fact he’d been played and quickly blamed me. “Dude. Not cool. I thought we promised to take that story to the grave with us.”
“There were extenuating circumstances.”
“Sure there was,” he muttered, his voice laced with skepticism.
“Seriously. It was a matter of life and death.” Preventing his sister from having a panic attack was reason enough.
“But you weren’t the one who wet his pants.”
