Page 70 of Before Forever
“Hey, little brother. Merry Christmas,” I told him, even though I could tell he was in no mood.
“Would you take a look at this!?” he barked, tossing a letter and envelope into my hands.
As he took off his heavy coat and hung it by the door, I unfolded the paper and started scanning the printed words. My eyes caught on ‘Mullins Cove Marina’ and ‘Notice of Violation’ and ‘Condemned.’
“What’s this?” I was puzzled, stopping to try and focus enough to read word for word.
“Someone filed to have Granddad’s marina condemned!” he fumed, pacing the room. “I can’t believe this. When I find out who did it, I’m going to….”
“Keith, you’re here,” Melody appeared in the doorway again, cutting him off, so he didn’t misspeak in front of Em. She walked over and gave him a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. “What’s all the fuss about?”
Her warmth seemed to diffuse him at least a little. “I’m just stressed out,” he waved dismissively, turning his attention to Em. “But you don’t have to worry about me. I’m not here to ramble on about my troubles, I guess. It’s Christmas Eve. I’m here to see my favorite niece.”
Em giggled and shrieked as he ran over to scoop her up in his arms and fly her around the room, making airplane sounds. The two of them disappeared down the hall like that as Melody turned to me with a questioning look.
“What’s gotten into him?”
“It’s our grandfather’s marina,” I replied as I continued reading over the letter. “Apparently, someone filed for an inspection, and now it’s being condemned.”
“Keith still owns the marina?” she asked in surprise. “I’ve gone by it a few times, and I can’t say I’m surprised they condemned it. That old place is falling apart. It looks dangerous.”
“Yeah, he always said he was going to try and fix it up, at least to keep it standing in granddad’s honor.” I folded the letter back up with a sigh. “But I guess he’s been too busy with all of his sexual exploits around town. I’ve got to talk to him about this.”
“Oh, come on. Go easy on him. I’m sure he’s upset enough about this as it is. Besides, like he said, it’s Christmas Eve. We can worry about this letter and the marina the day after tomorrow. That’s the beautiful thing about Christmas. Everything else gets to go on the backburner for a couple of days.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” I nodded.
She kissed me on the cheek and went off down the hall again, yelling out towards Em and Keith. “Hey, you two! Be careful!”
I closed the flap of the envelope with my thumb but stared at it a long time, feeling a sinking worry, both for the marina and for Keith. Our grandfather’s Will left the house and the marina to both of us. But since I was the first to get married and have a kid, we both decided the house should go to me, and he could take the marina. Even then, he joked about how he would never settle down anyway. What did he need the marina for?
It’s not like Keith was completely irresponsible. He helped me run the contracting business and did a few shifts here and there at the fire station. That was more than some single men around town did for themselves. But I still got the sense that Keith was always just flying by the seat of his pants, never planning for anything and never thinking about the consequences.
That’s how the whole thing with the marina came to happen in the first place. He was always putting it off, telling himself he’d start working on it next week or next month. Until the whole place fell into shambles, and now it was too late.
I couldn’t help but be a little angry with him for it. That marina was our grandfather’s legacy in town, second only to the whole road that wrapped around the lake being named after him. And he let it go into ruin because he was so busy chasing around women, treating every single one of them like they weren’t human beings with real feelings.
I tapped the envelope in my hand and considered talking to him about it all, Christmas Eve or not. This had to stop sooner or later. It seemed like a good time to have a few drinks with him and broach the topic. Then again, maybe Melody was right. It could wait another day or two.
As I decided to put it out of my mind, for now, I had the same lingering question that Keith had. They wouldn’t have inspected the place unless someone reported it. And who would have done that? Everybody in town knew us, the story of our granddad, and what that place meant to us. They would have come and talked to us first before reporting it to town officials.
I shook it off, deciding that could wait another day or two as well. It would have to. We had a Christmas ham to eat.
Melody helped me get the ham out of the oven a while later and set the table with all the sides. It was a big feast with rolls, green beans, mashed potatoes, and pecan pie. Keith seemed like he was starving as he dug into his plate. I tried not to take that as another reason to worry. If one of his girlfriends wasn’t cooking for him, or he wasn’t joining us for dinner, he was dining on beer and fried food. He didn’t get enough home cooking. Then again, maybe I was just so happy to have a partner around to help me in the kitchen again that I wanted him to have the same thing. But he’d have to find that in his own time, just like I did.
Melody looked over to me with a smile and squeezed my hand before we started eating. It was our first Christmas together.
“Are you glad you’re not in New York?” I asked her.
She considered it for a moment. “There are a few things I miss, I have to admit.” Her eyes glanced over to Em, then back to me. “But still, there’s nowhere I’d rather be.”
“I called it,” Keith said with his mouth full of food.
“Called what?” I scoffed.
“You and her,” he shot back, washing his food down with a big drink of water. “I knew from the moment we showed up on her porch that you two would end up together.”
“No, you didn’t,” I groaned, rolling my eyes with a smile.