Chapter Twenty-Five: State Park Rendezvous

“No one followed us, did they?” Maddie twisted around in the seat of the enormous Chevy Impala station wagon that she and Carlton had used to escape from Sweetgum. They had arrived at Sweetgum State Park and were parked behind a grove of cedar trees, waiting to make sure no one else was around before they headed to their final destination.

“You don’t trust my stealth driving skills?” Carlton asked. “Not to mention the high-class getaway car I found? No, I don’t believe anyone is going to guess that you and I are sneaking off to a secret rendezvous inside an old Mario’s Pizza delivery car! Courtesy of Vinny by the way. He used to work for Mario’s. They let him have this car when they got rid of it. Actually, they might’ve paid him to take it.”

“That was sweet of Vinny. They don’t make cars like this anymore. It sure doesn’t look very romantic.” She scooted over on the seat beside Carlton and looped her arms around him. “And yet, it’s breathtakingly romantic! Should we be having this much fun being clandestine? It’s been three weeks now, and I think we’ve finally gotten the hang of it. Once we got past that scare in the clubhouse. Thank God Cooper is so dense.”

“Did he really try to blackmail Esme? And he never figured out it was us? What a maroon!”

“Ooo, quoting Bugs Bunny! So sexy!” She nibbled his ear and ran her finger down the back of his neck. Do you feel guilty about any of this?”

He cupped her chin and raised her face up to kiss him. “No, I do not feel guilty! Monty’s demands are ludicrous. I love our civil disobedience. Besides, I’d do anything to be with you.”

“Is that so? Would you become an international jewel thief? That would be fantastic! You could be Carlton the Cat. We could go to the French Riviera and scope out the casinos at Monte Carlo. And we should drive this car.” She leaned back in his arms and tried to kiss him like Grace Kelly kissing Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief.

“How was that?” she asked. “Did that feel sophisticated, world-weary, subtly sultry and oh-so-glamorous? That’s what I was going for, in case you were wondering.”

“Nailed it!” he said, laughing.

“Great! So, if everything blows up for us in the baseball world, we have a backup plan. Is your passport up to date?”

“We just need a signature item to leave at the scene of our crimes. I’ll work on some prototypes. But for now…” He kissed Maddie quickly and took hold of the steering wheel again. “We should get to our cabin.”

Maddie let go of him and scooted back to her seat. “Excellent! I’ll bet you look dishy in a vintage black tux.” She fanned herself. “I’m imagining that right now and—oh boy! You’re right. We need to find that cabin. Is it close, I hope?”

Carlton started the car engine up again and turned on the headlights. “Not too far. It’s a few miles up into the mountains.”

The Chevy sputtered and grumbled as Carlton turned onto a steep, winding gravel road. Maddie felt a little nauseous from the twists and turns and the lurching, bouncing motion of the clunky car. Outside, she couldn’t see anything but darkness.

“I’m glad you know where we’re going,” she said. “Looks like it would be easy to get lost.”

“I know this park like the back of my hand. It’s a special place. Outside the ordinary world. The whole park is. Like Shadow River. I feel like my real self here, not just what I let the rest of the world see most of the time. Does that make sense?”

“It does, but it sounds kind of serious.”

At last, they stopped on a patch of grassy land, not a paved driveway or parking space. Maddie could hear water rushing nearby.

“This is it,” Carlton said. “Just a short walk from here. Careful, it’s a bit rustic. Not a smooth path.”

They got out of the car, and the night air in the mountains was surprisingly cool for the middle of August. The sky was spectacular again, a clear, brilliant starfield. Tall fragrant pine trees surrounded the area, and the ground was littered with pinecones.

“What about your luggage?” Maddie asked. She retrieved her overnight bag from the expansive but empty back seat. “I didn't notice before, but we don't seem to have any supplies. Are we going to forage for food and toiletries?”

“Our trusty team of conspirators brought everything in advance.” Carlton grabbed a flashlight out of the glove compartment and locked the car. Maddie heard a rustling noise and what sounded like branches cracking.

“What’s that? Did you hear something in the woods?”

“Probably just a bear or a Monty Ortzelbean spy,” Carlton joked.

Maddie bumped him with her bag. “Not funny.” They walked up the trail and climbed a few wooden stairs toward the sound of the water. Carlton led the way but stopped suddenly.

“Uh oh. All that rain last night flooded the creek. This might be tricky.”

Maddie stepped beside him at the edge of the racing water. She couldn’t tell how deep it was, but it looked like a soggy proposition to get across.

“Isn’t there a footbridge somewhere?” she asked.

“I’ve never seen the creek this high before. Usually there’s a stepping stone path you can use, but it’s completely covered.”

“So do we wade in or swim?”

Carlton moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “This is a lovers’ rendezvous, darling. There’s only one proper way to cross.”

“I don’t think so. I’m not the damsel in distress type.”

“I know that, but I’m doing this.” He stuffed the flashlight in his shirt pocket, took her bag and slung it over one shoulder, then picked her up and strode forward. The creek was up to his knees, but he held her body easily above the water.

“Oh no!” Maddie protested, but she was also giggling. “I can wade all by myself, you know. I’ve been doing it for years.”

“You could, no question. But this is more fun! I like how you feel in my arms. It’s dead sexy. Aren’t you enjoying yourself?”

Maddie let her clenched-up body relax and laid her head against his shoulder. “Yes, I am. It’s like being on a Carlton cloud and just… Floating.” She sighed and pulled herself closer to him, her mouth just grazing his. “And this is the perfect angle to kiss you in the most luxurious fashion!” she added and then did just that. “OK, I could get used to this.”

Carlton forged ahead while Maddie tried to store every sensory detail in her memory. She had a feeling that she’d want to remember this night for a long time.

“I’m slightly afraid, though,” she whispered.

“I doubt that. You’re not afraid of anything.”

“Just that I’m giving you a powerful weapon. In my current position, I couldn’t refuse you anything. I’m literally putty in your hands.”

“Unlikely, but it’s an intriguing thought.”

They had reached the other side of the stream, but Carlton kept carrying Maddie to the front porch of a small cabin with a single light shining in one window. He pushed the door open with one foot.

“They don’t lock the doors?” Maddie asked.

“Not usually. It’s that safe here. But I know where the key is inside if we want to use it.”

Maddie couldn’t help thinking about wedding traditions as Carlton took her through the door and inside the cabin. He appeared to be thinking the same thing.

“It’s lucky, you know,” he said. “The ‘over the threshold’ ritual protects against evil spirits. It signifies protection and marks a transition. A change from the known to the unknown. It started in ancient Rome and was influenced by certain Medieval—”

“Oh please, give me all the Medieval references with University of Chicago-style academic citations. In bed. While I peel those wet pants off you!”

Carlton laid her on the bed, but she didn’t let go of his neck and dragged him on top of her. She kissed him deeply and started to unbutton his jeans. His hand on hers stopped her. “I need to take care of a few things first. But don’t go anywhere.”

“Noooooooo!” Maddie groaned and tried to gain the advantage by climbing on his stomach and sitting there. “Don’t go. Please. I will actually die if you leave me here for more than 30 seconds.”

“I promise this won’t take long. I’m just going to make a quick fire and check that the vents are open and the thermostat’s working. Come on, anticipation makes pleasure sweeter.”

“I’ve had way too much anticipation lately. I want gratification!”

“And you’ll get it. Early and often as they say in Chicago. But while you wait, rumor has it that our friends have left a few surprises. Starting with…” He reached over to pick up a remote from the bedside table and clicked it. More of the cabin’s old lamps flickered to life. Their shades had been covered in colored scarves and fringed shawls creating pools of warm, soft colors on the floor and walls.

“Esme, obviously.” Maddie stated. “It’s magical!”

Carlton slid out from under Maddie. He went to the fireplace and started working on the fire. “You can always depend on Esme for magic. Herb sent me links to a bunch of playlists. For a variety of imaginative purposes. It’s quite extensive.”

“Well, he does have eclectic musical taste. What a cool thing to do! OK, now I’m curious. I’m going to explore while you’re being all handy with fire. Which is a major turn-on by the way.”

Maddie rolled off the bed. “Hang on! I just noticed the bedding. Definitely not your standard state park material. These sheets must have an astronomically high thread count and— Tillie, of course!”

“Yep. Check the bathroom.” Carlton placed carefully selected twigs and some wadded up newspaper under three cross-stacked logs and lit the kindling. A cozy blaze that smelled like apples sprang up as Maddie passed by the fireplace.

“Oh my God ! It’s like a ritzy spa in here!” She yelled from the bathroom. “I’ve never seen so many tiny bottles of expensive hair and bath products in my life! And the robes! That has to be Esme again.” She tore off her shorts and T-shirt and slipped into a hand-painted, silk kimono covered in cherry blossoms. She used the pale pink belt to cinch the robe around her waist before venturing into the kitchen and turning on the light.

“Carlton? Why is the kitchen table shaped like a… Is it a turtle?” Maddie laughed. “And wait! Why are there turtle-shaped things everywhere?”

“This is the coveted Bog Turtle Cabin,” Carlton called from the other room. “It’s a Sweetgum classic!”

Maddie found Ed’s gift on the kitchen counter, a wicker basket filled with several wine bottles and a volume of Shakespeare’s sonnets. He had paired each wine with a sonnet which they were supposed to read aloud as they drank the wine. “Ed’s present is great, too!” she yelled.

“I think Esme told him about our Cubs and Sox balcony scene. It’s sort of a follow up.”

“Very thoughtful.” Maddie padded over to the fridge and opened it. “Yikes! There’s enough food for a week here,” she announced. “What’s in this big box from Vinny?”

“All the fixin’s to make gourmet s’mores. Vinny’s a connoisseur. He left special instructions.”

Maddie’s sinuses felt fizzy. “We have the best friends, don’t we? I love the Bog Turtle Cabin! I even love the doorstop in the bathroom that I think is supposed to be a bog turtle. But it looks more like a cat. Or a beaver. Or a cat-beaver. In fact, I think we should name him Mr. Cat-Beaver.” She headed back to the main room where Carlton sat poking at the fire.

“Is there a window rattling in here?” Maddie asked. “I keep thinking there’s someone or something outside.”

“I haven’t noticed it. You’re probably just a little anxious. This is the first time we’ve taken a longer trip like this. But I’m sure we’re alone up here.”

“I’m sure you’re right. Mmm, this is nice!” Maddie said and sat down on the floor beside him and warmed her hands by the fire. “Is that all the surprises? It’s more than enough, but now I’m greedy.”

“Well, I have one more, but it won’t be available for a few hours.”

“How mysterious!" She leaned back and allowed her robe to open invitingly. “I’m so happy right now. Promise me, if we’re ever stressed out or having problems… No matter where we are, we’ll always come back here and stay a few days. To get ourselves centered again.”

He stretched out beside her and leaned on one elbow. “Good idea. That’s a promise. And I always keep my promises. Didn’t I say something about gratification a few minutes ago?”

“Early and often.”

“Apologies for the delay.”

Maddie made a second attempt to release him from his wet jeans, and this time he didn't stop her.

***

“What on earth are you doing?” Maddie asked. “And what the hell is that thing? Looks like something you’d take punting on the River Thames.”

“Time for a different kind of gratification.” Carlton pointed a long, metal pole toward the ceiling above the bed and hooked it to something Maddie couldn’t see. There was a clattering sound, and a large skylight that had been closed was now open and revealed a wide section of the night sky.

“Wow!” Maddie sat up in bed and let her eyes adjust to see the stars. “Now I understand why the Bog Turtle cabin is so coveted.”

“Especially tonight!”

“How come?”

“This is my surprise,” Carlton explained. “Not really mine. It’s from the cosmos. The Perseid meteor shower is tonight. It’s supposed to peak starting about now. We should have a pretty good view from the comfort of Tillie’s five-star hotel linens.”

“You’re kidding! I’ve always wanted to see it. But I’m never far enough from the city.”

Carlton climbed back in bed with Maddie. They fluffed their pillows and straightened the disheveled blankets. Carlton put his arm around her, and they snuggled close together, staring up at the sky. As if on cue, a quick streak of gold-orange light appeared and disappeared above them.

“That’s a good sign,” Carlton said. “It’s going to be an active night.”

“So beautiful! I’m not very outdoorsy. But I understand this is a special place. I see what you mean about things falling away here. Just being yourself. Part of the universe. Not a job title or a list of goals or even a name.” She thought about Monty being her biological father and wondered how that fit into being herself. She didn’t know. That was too disturbing for such a glorious night.

Carlton squeezed her shoulders. “Yeah, here we are. Just the two of us.”

Another pair of meteors sped by, and Maddie ooo’ed like she was watching fireworks.

“Are you a nature boy, Carlton? I never thought to ask. Do you like to go camping and fishing and stuff? What’s the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen?”

“I wouldn’t say I’m a huge outdoor guy. Sometimes. But the most beautiful place? Maybe the Grand Canyon. I was about twelve. My mom had this idea that we’d go ‘rim sitting.’ We got up at three in the morning and drove out to a spot far from the hotel. No fences or anything. We just went out on the edge of the canyon and stood there watching the sunrise. At first, it was intensely dark. Just totally pitch black. Then there was this slow, subtle light. Until finally the whole canyon and sky was glowing—-infinite shades of blue, pink, gold, lavender, peach. Like… watching the birth of color. I’ve never forgotten it.”

“Mmm, I’d love to see that. Maybe we can go back one day. OK, now here’s a really important question for you. What was your favorite Halloween costume as a kid?”

“How did we get from sublime nature to Halloween costumes?”

“It’s just a theory I have that your favorite Halloween costume as a child says something profound about you. It’s part of the ‘real self’ quest that we’re on tonight.”

“Interesting. Huh. I have to think about that. What’s yours?”

“Bat Girl. Fourth grade. Homemade costume, not store-bought. I had the cape, tights, mask, and boots. All shiny purple and midnight blue. I wanted to keep wearing it to school all week. I never wanted to take it off.”

“Yeah, that fits. A female superhero, breaking boundaries and helping others.”

Maddie stroked his cheek and smiled. “You make me sound noble. Really, it was about the revolving vanity and the hidden motorcycle.”

“And that sounds like you, too! I think mine was an astronaut.”

“Wow, classic! Really?”

“Oh yeah. I was very serious about it. Even went to space camp one summer. I’ve always been fascinated by the Apollo missions. I’ve read all about them.”

“I’ll bet you could have been an astronaut. Or a rocket scientist. You crushed the Hot Dog Cannon design. Who knows what you could’ve done for NASA?”

Carlton laughed and another burst of meteors stopped conversation for a while.

“Is there some part of you that you’d like to fall away?” Carlton asked. “Not that I want to lose any of you. But I was thinking about that night after the drive-in. You accused me of layering women. Did someone do that to you?”

“Ugh! The bad ex-boyfriend conversation? Is that what we’re doing now? OK, I’ll make it mercifully short. There was a man I wanted to marry. I thought he was going to change how he was. How he had been with every other woman in his past. I could not have been more wrong.”

“So… Are you going to tell me who this asshole was?”

“Oh, all right. Crap. It was Gabriel Bella.”

Carlton looked genuinely shocked. “Shit! The Archangel?! That guy is a legendary—”

“Fuckface? Uh huh. I was legendary, too. In the worst way.”

“Were you the one who—?”

“Yes. I did everything you heard and more.”

“No!”

“Oh yes! And that’s why I swore off ballplayers and decided I sucked at romance. But I might’ve been wrong about that.”

Another meteor streaked through the sky. Then two. Then three. And a dozen more followed for the next few minutes. Maddie and Carlton watched without speaking.

“You know what? I think he might be gone,” said Maddie.

“Who?”

“The Archangel in my psyche. Whoosh! Just like that. He’s a cold hunk of rock in a crater somewhere.”

“That calls for some wine!” Carlton opened one of Ed’s bottles, a mellow Cotes du Rhone, and read the sonnet. It was Sonnet 116. Let me not to the marriage of true minds/admit impediments…

Maddie felt swoony at the sound of his voice. The way he caressed the words of the poem and made her feel it was just for her.

They settled back and kept talking, musing, and telling family stories. She talked about Jackson Fields. He was her real dad in spirit and actions, if not in biology. She talked about how much he loved his job as a photography archivist at the Harold Washington Library. And how he used to claim that he invented the things she liked when she was little—things like spaghetti and roller skating—and she believed him.

“Why baseball?” Carlton asked. “What makes you so driven in this sport?”

Maddie blew out a slow breath and tried to figure out what to say. “I’m not sure that I have an answer. It’s not like I have some tragic backstory that connects perfectly to baseball. Mom and Dad were fans, of course, but I don’t have a memory of deciding to do this. Or to be this way. I just am. Ever since I can remember. I feel it every time I walk into a ballpark. I wish I could tell you more.”

“No, I get that. For me, it was very much a nurture kind of thing from my family. But I think you really are ‘The Natural’ and I love that. OK, one last deep question. Where would you like to live? What kind of house? Where’s your home in the future? Or is that too much of a loaded question?” Carlton reached over to grab the wine bottle. He poured himself another glass and refilled Maddie’s as well.

“No, I love this question, and I don’t even have to think about it. When I was in grad school at Northwestern, I used to walk dogs to make extra money. Wrigleyville and Lakeview mostly. There was a yellow house on Grace Street. Not too far from Wrigley Field. A big old house. Porch with wicker furniture. Bay windows. Wedged in tight with the other houses and apartment buildings. You know how dense that neighborhood is. I used to walk by every day, and I’d imagine living there and putting a swing in the maple tree in the front yard. I always think that’s so sweet.” She stopped, suddenly embarrassed. “Sorry! Is this the hokiest thing you’ve ever heard? Stop me before I start swapping Christmas cookie recipes! I’m done. Tell me where you’d like to live. In the future. Ideally.”

He took a sip of wine and bent over to kiss her lightly. “You want my real answer? The real me? No pretending or holding back.”

“I… Uh, I think so? Yes.”

“In a yellow house on Grace Street. Not too far from Wrigley Field. There. I think I just outdid you. No, wait! There’s more. My favorite Christmas cookies are peanut butter with Hershey’s kisses melted on top.”

She set her wine glass aside and took his, too, so that she could roll over and kiss him long and hard. Over and over again. While the meteors kept falling.

RELATED ART

Grace Kelly and Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief (1955). The film won an Oscar for best cinematography and featured some killer costumes designed by Edith Head.

LOCAL INSPIRATION: MARIO’S PIZZA

Mario’s was a favorite pizza place in Louisville during the same era as Thornbury’s Toys. We came across one of their old menus, and we LOVE that Mario’s offered “candlelight and music!”

S’MORES VARIATIONS BY VINNY

Here are Vinny’s top five recommendations for making gourmet s’mores:

Add Nutella spread to your graham crackers.
Stuff Rolos chocolate-caramels or Hershey’s kisses or M & M candies inside the marshmallows before toasting them.
Use Ghirardelli chocolate squares instead of Hershey bars. Especially the orange chocolate, mint, strawberry, white, or dark chocolate pieces.
Substitute Reese’s peanut butter cups for Hershey bars.
Use chocolate graham crackers plus peanut butter and marshmallows.