Chapter 48: The Hangover
Gretchen's Estate
Adam stepped outside onto the terrace, face warm from the drinks, and let the night air hit him.
Inside, the party was operating at full capacity. Gretchen's family property had the square footage to absorb a graduating senior class without anyone feeling cramped, and the crowd had made full use of it. The music was loud, the night was warm, and the particular energy of a group of eighteen-year-olds standing at the edge of the rest of their lives was charging everything with a slightly manic quality.
He'd spent an hour inside — found Gretchen, thanked her again for the recommendation letter, got pulled into several conversations, accepted several drinks. Standard operating procedure.
Now he needed air.
When he came back in and scanned the main room, Juno and Lauren were gone.
He wasn't immediately alarmed. He was, however, thoughtful.
He wandered toward the back of the house and found the stone steps that led down to the garden. A figure was sitting alone on them, bottle in hand, staring at the lawn with the specific posture of someone processing something privately.
George Cooper Jr.
Adam considered leaving him to it, then sat down a step above him.
"Where's Veronica?"
George didn't look up. "Inside somewhere. Go away."
"Okay," Adam said, and stayed.
A short silence.
"She's going to college," George said, to the garden.
Adam waited.
"I was watching her talk to her friends about it. Dorms, classes, all of it. And I just—" George took a drink "—I had this feeling. Like I was already losing her."
Adam understood the math. Veronica was leaving for school in another city. George was staying. Long distance between two eighteen-year-olds who'd just gotten together was a specific kind of optimism that the statistics didn't support. George was smart enough to know that, even if he didn't want to.
George was also, Adam knew, more than the slightly resentful older brother he'd appeared to be in childhood. When things got hard for the Cooper family later — really hard — George would be the one who quietly carried what needed carrying. He'd build something real. He'd take care of people who didn't always appreciate it.
He was a good person. Just not having a good night.
"How do you do it?" George said suddenly.
"Do what?"
"Not care." George finally looked at him. "You've dated half the interesting girls in this county. All of them were something. And you just — moved on every time, no drama. How?"
"I actually didn't care," Adam said simply. "Not the way you mean. Each time, I just — wasn't ready to let it become something that mattered that much."
George shook his head slowly. "That's exactly what I used to think I was. Then Veronica happened and I realized I'd never actually cared about anyone before."
Adam looked at him.
He thought about what he knew — that George's early marriage wouldn't last, that the relationship he was mourning preemptively tonight was already on a clock. He thought about whether knowing that made the feeling George was having right now less real.
It didn't.
"She might surprise you," Adam said, which was honest. "And if she doesn't — she still mattered. That counts for something."
George grunted, which was apparently as close to gratitude as the situation called for.
"Take us home!"
Adam turned. Juno and Lauren had materialized from somewhere inside the house, listing slightly, leaning on each other with the carefree ease of people who had made an informed decision about their evening and committed to it.
"How much did you drink?" Adam said.
"Enough," Juno said pleasantly.
Adam stood, patted George on the shoulder once, and helped navigate both of them toward the truck. He wasn't entirely sober himself, which he was aware of, but the town was small, the roads were empty, and the distances were short.
He delivered Lauren home first, helped her inside, then drove Juno back to her place, got her through the door, said goodnight to her mildly alarmed stepmother, walked back to the truck.
He sat in the driver's seat for a moment.
The graduation party was behind him. Columbia was ahead. The summer was just beginning.
He drove the short distance home, parked the truck carefully, went inside, and fell asleep on his bed fully dressed.
End of Chapter 48
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