This late summer morning finds you cleaning your house. You have vacuumed and mopped your floors, washed your linens, and scrubbed your bathroom. You are working steadily, appreciating your space as it stands up straighter around you. You pause for a moment, watching your living room curtains ripple in the path of the air conditioning vents, and you breathe deeply.
There is a knock on your front door, so soft that you wonder if your mind is playing tricks on you. You set down your cleaning rag and open the inside door. A wall of heat hits you immediately.
Matthew, Grace’s partner, is standing outside on the porch, visibly sweating.
“Hello, You,” he says.
You say, “Hello, Matthew. Would you like to come inside?”
He answers, “I reckon.” You push the screen door open, and he steps through it.
Matthew sizes up your living room, and then returns his gaze to the floor. He says, “I hope I’m not bothering you.”
You say, “Not at all. Can I help you with something?”
Matthew stands there, rocking on his feet, for several seconds. Then he says, “You see, I’m here to ask you something, but I suddenly find myself rather worried you might say no.”
You say, “I understand. Why don’t you try me?”
He clears his throat, and says, “Would you like to go river tubing today? Emily and I are taking a small group to the Summer House.”
You say, “Yes, that sounds like fun. What’s the Summer House?”
Matthew smiles and tells you, “Oh, it’s an old estate that was donated to the town many years ago. It sits on a bluff over the river, a few miles upstream of here. Fritz will drive us, and then we’ll have dinner at the pavilion out that way.”
You say, “I’m in. What should I bring?”
He answers, “Just a towel and some sunscreen. Maybe a change of clothes. Fritz and Anna like to lay out a spread, so the food is all covered. They’ll pick us up at two o’clock.” Matthew turns toward the door. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m glad you will join us.”
You say, “You didn’t bother me at all. Thank you for thinking of me.”
Matthew says over his shoulder, “You bet,” as he lets himself out your door. You smile to yourself, appreciating Matthew’s bravery, as you return to your cleaning. You smell sweet alyssum in the hot air from outside, and you take another cleansing breath.
When the appointed time comes, you walk out of your house with your beach bag slung over your shoulder. Matthew, Emily, Larry, and Mason are standing outside Fritz’s cargo van, which has been completely covered on its roof and sides with giant inner tubes.
“Gruss dich, You!” Fritz calls out when he sees you. “I still need to bring over your pizza oven.”
You say, “Guten tag, Fritz! Thanks for remembering. I’m definitely still interested.”
Anna, sitting inside the van, leans out the driver’s window and says, “I will bring it to you myself, maybe even tomorrow. I cannot even walk through the garage.”
Mayor Ashley’s wife, Lauren, appears from the other side of the van. “Oh, hey, You! I’m so happy you’re coming along. Do you wanna sit in the back row, with the bad kids?”
You laugh and say, “Yes, I’ll take a walk on the wild side.”
The ride to the Summer House takes about 20 minutes. Fritz drops off Anna, along with multiple coolers and crates, at a large screened-in pavilion. They kiss sweetly as they part, and Fritz murmurs something to her in German [“Du bist für immer mein Tierchen”] that causes her to slap him on his backside, winking as she does. Anna climbs up on the running board next to the open sliding door and says, “Have fun, and work up a good appetite!” Everyone nods and smiles in agreement, waving goodbye.
Another 15 minutes later, you have arrived at the dropoff point for tubing. The river is much wider and slower here than it is when it cuts through town. You take a tube from Fritz, and head down to the riverbank, leaving your beach bag in the van. Fritz gives a big wave to the group as he turns his van around and heads back to the Summer House.
As you set your tube in the water and splash down into it, Larry and Mason come up to you and start to do the same. You notice that Mason is wearing his friendship bracelet from PorchLuck. Larry asks, “Have you met my son?”
Before you can answer, Mason holds up his arm and says, “We made this bracelet together!”
Larry says, “Oh, cool. I’m glad you two are acquainted, and in such a great way.”
You say, “Yes, so am I.”
Your group is on the river for just about three hours. When you arrive at the Summer House, you marvel at how tired you can be from basically sitting still all that time. Fritz and Anna have grilled shish kebabs of veggies and halloumi cheese in the pavilion kitchen. You ladle some rice onto a plate, stealing a first bite of the salty, perfectly charred kebab, and you take a slow and relaxed breath.
Matthew comes up to you and says, “I’m so glad you’re here. And not just today. We are really lucky to have you living in town with all of us.”
You say, “Thank you. That’s very kind of you to say.”
Matthew stares out across the river waters down below. He says, “Coming out here always makes me think of Norman Maclean: ‘The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.’”
You say, “That’s lovely. But I have to ask… was there a parade in that movie?”
Matthew shakes his head and says, “Didn’t need one. The river was enough.”
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