Fools Rush in(82)

“Joe, have you been drinking?” I whispered in horror.

“Well, I did have a little nip out there in the parking lot.” He smiled down at me.

“A nip of what? And why?”

“Jeez, Millie, calm down. Just a little blackberry schnapps, that’s all. For old time’s sake.”

As if I had psychic powers, I glanced to a corner of the room where three boys stood huddled together. One of them pointed at Joe, and then they disappeared out the door.

“Joe.” I stopped dancing. “Did you give your schnapps to anybody?” Though my heart had begun to pound in my throat, I forced my voice to stay low.

“What? Oh, yeah, I gave it to a couple of kids who were hanging around. What’s the matter, Millie? It’s not a big deal.”

“Joe, you idiot,” I whispered harshly. “It’s against the goddamn law to give alcohol to minors! What if one of them is driving tonight? What if they hit somebody? Christ, Sam would throw you in jail for this!”

People were beginning to look at us, standing still and arguing as we were. I stalked off the dance floor and out the same door the boys had left. Joe followed.

“Where are they?” I demanded outside.

“Who?”

“The boys you gave the alcohol to, Joe! Where are they?” I had to stop my hand from slapping his face.

“There.” He pointed, and I stomped over to a big maple at the edge of the parking lot. The boys looked startled. One of them, Kyle, I thought, was in Danny’s class.

“Give it to me.” I held out my hand.

“Uh, what are you talking about?” one of them attempted.

“Now!” I barked.

Kyle pulled the flat schnapps bottle from his waistband. “Sorry, Dr. Barnes.”

I unscrewed the metal cap and dumped the ridiculous drink on the ground. “Do you know that Danny Nickerson’s father is inside there? Do you know what he would do to you if he found you drinking? Were any of you planning on driving tonight?”

“Um, well, we were gonna go home together.”

“My God!” I surveyed the three of them for a minute, their eyes wide, nervously shifting. “Do you boys happen to know how Danny’s grandparents died?”

They shifted uncomfortably. “Uh, no, Dr. Barnes.”

“They were killed by a drunk driver. A teenage drunk driver. Those are Officer Nickerson’s parents I’m talking about.”

To their credit, they looked ashamed.

“I’m calling you boys a cab,” I said flatly. “You’re going home. Who are your dates? I’ll tell them.”

“Dr. Barnes, are you going to tell Danny’s dad?” Kyle asked worriedly.

I looked them over. “No. Not this time. This time you get a ‘Thank God a grown-up caught me and I’m not dead’ card. And on Monday, you’re coming to the Cape Cod Clinic, and we’ll all have a nice long look at drunk-driving crashes on the Internet. And you’ll be volunteering at the senior center twice a week for the entire school year. And if you f**k up again, I’m telling your parents, your principal and Officer Nickerson. And I will personally kick your asses into the middle of next week. Got it?”

They nodded miserably.

“Wonderful.” I took a deep breath. “Now. Does anyone have a cell phone?”

Ten minutes later, the boys were on their way home in a cab.

My anger at them faded as they drove off. After all, they were just teenagers, and most teenagers are stupid at one point or another. Unfortunately, that particular brand of stupidity often resulted in death. If I had scared them, good. I took a few deep breaths.

Now for the stupid adult I had to deal with.

Joe was sitting on the hood of my car, hands clasped between his knees, looking very contrite.

“I’m sorry, Millie,” he said quietly.

Fresh fury raced through my veins. “Joe…I just don’t know how you could do such a stupid, awful thing,” I said, my voice breaking. He hopped off the car and put his arm around me.

“Millie, I’m sorry,” he said earnestly. “I just wanted the boys to have a good time. It was like being back in high school, this whole Lighthouse Dance thing. I mean, I did a little drinking in high school, and it didn’t hurt me.”

“Joe, shut up,” I said harshly, shrugging off his arm. “You can’t justify giving those children alcohol. Please just shut up.” Hot, angry tears slipped down my face.

“Oh, Millie, don’t cry. Come on, let’s go back in and have fun.”

Dumbfounded, I looked up at him, the street lamp haloing him like an angel. A stupid angel.

And then I knew. I didn’t love Joe. He wasn’t the person I’d thought. He was a very handsome, charming dope. Not malicious. Just…oblivious. All the qualities I thought I’d seen over the years…they weren’t there. The Joe Carpenter I loved existed in my imagination only. The man standing in front of me was just some guy who happened to be too handsome for his own good.

I started to cry in earnest.

“Shit, Millie, come on. Don’t cry. I’m sorry. Nothing bad happened. You scared the hell out of those boys. It will be years before they take another drink. Come on, sweetie.”

“Joe…” I hiccupped. “Are you drunk?”