* * *
The birthday party was in full swing. The adults mingled in the living room while the kids were squealing and gorging on cupcakes in the backyard.
Raven had been introduced to more townspeople today than in the last weeks. Many of them responded with an “Oh,you’reRaven” after meeting her.
Then she’d get some version of “How’re you liking Cedar?”
“I’m loving it,” she’d say. “Still haven’t gone down to the lake, but I see it every time I drive to work.”
Raven managed to slip away from a conversation with a small group of parents discussing a new school policy in order to search the catering table for more fried plantain. But as she feared, they’d been completely devoured.
Hope was renewed, however, when Bodie appeared beside her and revealed a plate of them that he’d covered with a napkin and whispered, “There’s more in the kitchen.”
“You are amazing,” she told him before making a beeline to the kitchen. When she found Isaiah at the sink doing the dishes, she felt uncomfortable demanding the location of the plantain.
Isaiah noticed her and nodded toward the scene on the other side of the window. “I can’t tell who’s having more fun, Miss Olivia Justice, Silas, or the kids.”
Raven joined him to look out into the backyard. Isaiah’s partner and Silas led the kids in a series of basic carnival games.
“It just might be a tie,” Raven finally said.
She had never seen Silas so animated and goofy. He contorted his features to the amusement of the kids, putting in the effort needed to stand toe-to-toe with Miss Olivia Justice, who was naturally enthralling with her giant pink afro and flouncy skirt.
Raven laughed watching Silas fall and stumble during a demo of a game that required he spin in a circle several times.
When she found Isaiah studying her, she muted her expression, concerned with what he might find otherwise. “How did you and Victor meet?” she asked to avoid further scrutiny.
Isaiah’s face softened. “He was some burnt-out lawyer who’d escaped to the mountains to relax and maybe write a novel. I was in a rush and bumped into him as I was leaving the clinic. It felt like Cupid struck me right then and there.”
“Sounds serendipitous,” Raven said as a sudden yearning surfaced, pressing against her sternum.
She was no stranger to the kind of instantaneous connection Isaiah described, but her relationships had never had the staying power that Isaiah and Victor’s clearly had.
As the afternoon progressed, more games were played, more cake was consumed, and an energetic rendition of “Happy Birthday” was sung/shouted. And when the party officially ended, parents and kids with grass-stained clothes left the house with smiles on their faces.
Raven hung back with the rest of the Mountaintop group to help clean, but Isaiah chased them out too, saying, “Please, go! You’ve done more than enough for us today!”
In the driveway, Silas thanked them. “I appreciate you guys.”
“Of course,” Halo said as she hugged him. “See you Monday.”
They all splintered off toward their vehicles they’d parked in different areas in the neighborhood. Raven and Silas realized they were headed in the same direction and fell into step with one another.
“I didn’t realize you were such a dork,” Raven said to him after a moment, and his hearty laugh traveled through the quiet street.
“I had to embrace it when I became an uncle,” he said.
“I’m sure they appreciate it,” Raven said. “Also, it was a great party.”
“Yeah,” Silas agreed. “If I hadn’t been in the thick of things, I wouldn’t have known it was a near-disaster.”
“As long as there’s enthusiasm and some music, it’s hard to make a party a complete disaster,” Raven said.
“Ah, you weren’t there for my eleventh birthday party at the bowling alley,” Silas said. “I broke my big toe two days before and couldn’t wear the bowling shoes. It was too late to cancel, so I spent my own party watching my friends bowl.”
“No,” Raven said sympathetically as she struggled not to laugh at the visual he painted.
“Oh, you think it’s funny?” he asked, turning to her in feigned annoyance. They had stopped at the midpoint between their vehicles.
