Page 13 of Before the Storm

“Sure, let’s trade,” Josie joked.

Tara was sweating profusely, and her eyes scanned the crowd. “I have about twelve thousand more things to do before the race,” she said, speaking of the Round the Island Race to be held later that afternoon. “Have you seen Donnie?”

Josie shook her head. “Not since this morning.”

“He’s supposed to pick up Greg’s float and drive it in,” Tara explained.

Josie wanted to say,You know how Donnie is. But she bit her tongue. “I’m sure he’s on his way,” she said.

“You’re right,” Tara said. “I’m going to help Mike with the hot dog stand. Do you mind helping out with the parade? The marching band is in the wrong place, and I’m too tired to yell at the director. He’s scary.”

Josie laughed. “You think he’ll come after you with his baton?”

“I don’t want to take any chances.”

Josie sped off to chat with the marching band director, who was just as surly as Tara suggested. But in five minutes, Josie led the marching band to the correct location. Again, she had to bite her tongue to keep from saying,That wasn’t so hard, was it?That kind of behavior didn’t fly in event planning. Tara had taught her that you had to be smiley and chipper, be a team player, and create an environment of optimism so that everyone else wanted to be a team player, too.

But as Josie sped away from the marching band, something out of the corner of her eye gave her pause.

It was Donnie.

He was leaning against his truck, the same truck he’d used to pull the parade float into town. He was talking to a woman Josie half recognized as a tourist who spent every summer on the island. The red-headed woman was pretty, and she twirled her hair around and around her finger as she laughed at whatever Donnie said. Josie flared her nostrils. She had half a mind to storm up to Donnie and punch him in the face.

Of course, that wasn’t a valid response. She knew that. All Donnie was doing was talking. But ever since Donnie had moved to Nantucket full-time in April, Josie hadn’t trusted him. Something was off about his whole scheme.

One of Josie’s biggest problems with Donnie was that he never did what he said he was going to do, or at least he never did it exactly when he said he would. First, he’d said he was going to drop out of his band and move to Nantucket as early as January. But January turned to February, which turned to March. When he finally moved to Nantucket in April, he didn’t have enough money to get his place at first, so he moved in with Josie and Tara. By then, Josie and Tara had a great rhythm. They were perfect roommates and best friends dealing with the grief of their parents’ spontaneous departure while preparing for Tara’s new baby.

Donnie threw a wrench into things. And he kept throwing a wrench, even three months later.

“Donnie!” Josie couldn’t resist breaking up his little party. She strode up to him and raised her eyebrows.

Donnie flinched and smiled. He looked guilty. “Yo! Josie. You good?”

“You brought the parade float? Tara was worried.”

Donnie pointed. “It’s attached to my truck right now.” His tone was likeare you blind?

“But didn’t Tara tell you to park back there?” Josie pointed far in the distance.

“I can’t remember what she said.”

“And I’m telling you what she said,” Josie shot.

Donnie rolled his eyes and turned back to the redhead. “Duty calls.”

“Maybe I’ll see you later?” the redhead asked.

“Maybe your fiancée will go into labor later,” Josie said to Donnie. “Perhaps you’ll be holding your baby daughter later.”

Donnie’s face turned crimson. “Fine, Josie. I’ll move the dang float.”

“Thanks, Donnie!” Josie didn’t wait to hear another word. She sped off to find Tara, hoping and praying they got through the rest of the festival without any incidents. Everything felt precarious. Tara’s due date was a week away, and nothing seemed to be going right.

For a little while, Josie couldn’t find Tara at all. But the festival was still churning forward. It was a great beast that couldn’t be stopped.

“Have you seen my sister?” Josie asked several employees. “She got away from me.”

Nearly a half hour later, Josie tracked down Tara in the ice cream parlor nearest the harbor. Tara had ice cubes on the back of her neck, and her legs shook.

---