Thou Shalt Not(102)

“I can’t wait to meet him,” Holly said.

Mark turned around, lowering his tone significantly. “He actually seems like a really neat guy. I think you guys will love him.”

“I bet!” Holly replied.

“Look, who I found?” Mark said loudly to April and Marco.

Marco had his back turned, but April flashed a smile as Marco turned to see us.

“Luke!” he said loudly. “Good to see you again!”

He extended his hand and we shook.

“And who is this lovely lady?” he asked, eyes checking out Holly.

“This is my girlfriend, Holly.”

Shock briefly registered on April’s face. On Holly’s too.

“Girlfriend? Have you been keeping a secret from us?” April said. Her tone was teasing, but the look in her eyes wasn’t.

“Nope. No secret here,” Holly said, putting extra emphasis on the word here. “We’ve really only been official since Tuesday night.”

April was rewinding back to Tuesday night, and then it sunk in for her.

I felt a little bad about the way she found out, but I had planned on doing it before the party. April had simply beat me to the punch by telling me she was having major second thoughts.

“How great is that?” Marco said. “We should toast to new love!”

He grabbed four of the cups Mark had just put out on the table and filled them quickly with Coke. The man had hosted parties and served drinks before, you could tell. Even Holly was impressed.

“I might have a job for you during the offseason, if you’re looking,” she said.

Marco laughed again. He did that a lot.

“To love,” he said, holding up his cup. The three of us followed his lead. “To love just starting,” he said, gesturing toward Holly and me. “And to love still going strong.”

“Cheers” was offered up and everyone drank.

April sat her cup down and excused herself to the bathroom. Her eyes seemed to indicate that she wanted me to follow, but I pretended I hadn’t seen.

Mark grabbed Marco to introduce him to someone else, so Holly and I walked around the pool.

“So we are in a relationship?” Holly asked. “You could have told me.”

“I just did,” I said.

“April didn’t seem to like that.”

“You noticed that too, huh?”

“It was impossible not to.”

I spotted Stephanie and her husband Rick, who I had never actually met. He looked positively thrilled to be there.

Stephanie introduced him to us, and I introduced Holly to them.

I tried to make conversation with him while Holly complimented Stephanie’s outfit, but he was clearly a two-word answer kind of guy. I half-expected him to start grunting his answers. And I immediately felt sorry for the life Stephanie must live away from the school.

Mark loudly called for everyone to gather near the food table so that he could pray over the meal. April was back from the bathroom and was standing next to Marco.

Holly grabbed my hand and hurried me over to the table, and she found a spot to the right of April. Mark asked everyone to take the hand of the person next to them, and I knew it was with absolute glee that Holly grabbed April’s. It wasn’t like April could refuse, and Holly knew it. The look in April’s eyes hadn’t changed. She was not a happy woman. No one else in the circle would have been able to feel the tension, but I sure did.

When the prayer was over, April tried to pull her hand away from Holly’s, but Holly didn’t let go immediately.

“Your hands are so soft, April,” she said, pulling April’s hand up closer to her face. “What lotion do you use?”

April forced a smile.

“I forget the name of it.”

“Well, when you remember it, tell Luke. I’d love to have it.”

And with that, Holly let go of April’s right hand. April grabbed it with her left hand, as if she were trying to shelter it from Holly.

Holly turned back to me.

“Ready to eat, Baby?” she said, winking. Holly would never normally use a word like baby. This was all part of her fun little show.

“Lead the way, Baby...” I replied.

It took a while to make it through the food line, but once we finally did, we made our way over to one of the tables set up by the pool. April and Marco were at a different table.

Music played in the background, and everyone was talking and laughing loudly while we ate.

Mark stood up from the table he was sitting at with April and Marco and called for everyone’s attention.

“Quiet down, all of you. Before I give you an in-school-suspension,” He said, laughing too loudly at such a cheesy school joke. A few courtesy laughs were heard around the tables.

“Seriously, though. I know we have said this over and over, but I just want to say to you, April,” he said, turning toward her, “how glad we are to have you on staff with us. It’s been a pretty trying year so far, but we are all blessed to have you as part of the Lakefront Family. I know it hasn’t been easy, but you’ve already done a tremendous job. And, as long as Marco lets you stick around the area,” he said laughing, “we look forward to many years with you.”