Coming Home to the Mountain: Complete Edition

14. Abby

CHAPTER 14

Abby

O ne week later…

Since Plum didn't get her circus trip last week, she asked if everyone would come with a circus act before Sunday dinner. We all agreed because telling Plum no is out of the question. Not because we're wrapped around her a little finger, but well, okay, scratch that. Every single member of the Rough family is wrapped around this five-year-old's finger with good reason.

Not only is she adorable and sweet as can be, but she is also full of curiosity and there is something special in that. Something nobody wants her to lose anytime soon. Especially me.

My life has not been charmed like Plum's is. And I know she has had her fair share of loss, but there's a magic to her right now. Her eyes sparkle as she takes in her whole family here, setting up her circus. I am not sure what acts everyone is going to be performing, but everyone has been willing to play their part. Even her Grandpa Red is the circus master. He found a top hat and he's using Hijinx as his tiger.

I smile as I watch everyone gather around the front yard. Dinner's at 6:00, but we arrived at 3:00 so we could set up the circus for Plum. Even her great grandparents, Rosie and Reynold, have come out to see the show, which I think is pretty sweet. And her Great Uncle Filson and Great Aunt Ruby are here as well. The legendary Rowdy boys haven't come, but that's because they weren't invited.

When I asked Bartlett why they weren't allowed to come, he said, "No way. This is a kid's show. Those boys are way too wild for a circus set for a five-year-old."

Not understanding what that meant, I dropped it and focused instead on making sure my act wasn't going to be a mess. I haven't walked a tightrope in quite a while, and I've never performed for an audience that meant so much to me.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Redford Rough calls, gathering his family around to the front porch. Everyone is sitting on blankets or Adirondack chairs or on the steps of the big, wide, porch. "I would like to welcome you to the first ever Rough Family Circus, not to be confused with our traditional Thanksgiving Rough Family Talent Show."

I look over at Lemon. "You guys have a family talent show?"

She nods. "Oh yes. Thanksgiving tradition, and you cannot skip a performance."

"Good to know," I say, smiling, laughing really, and wondering if I’ll be lucky enough to share Thanksgiving with this family one day. I'm not one who makes risky bets, but God, I would go all in with these people because they are the only family I want.

I smile as Red welcomes the first act of the evening. "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce the magical, the alluring, the sensational, The Real Mac-aroni."

Mac walks up from where he was sitting on an old stump. He has an ax slung over his shoulder and a log under his arm. "I am going to dazzle with acts of bravery, acts of strength, acts of–"

Plum starts giggling loudly, and Mac can't help but grin, breaking his acting bravado. "I'm the strongest man in the world," he says, showing us his muscles, which there are a lot of. Then he sets the log down on his stump and he swings that ax, slicing through the log as everyone in the family cheers, laughing hard, hollering and hooting as he lifts the ax overhead in a victory dance.

Red calls the next act forward. "Now, it's time to see our performer who travels far and wide. You may know her as the elusive, as the marvelous, as the magical Lemonada."

Lemon stands, and somehow, she has found a turban and a tasseled shawl, wrapped around her as she sashays before us all. "Hello, my darlings," she says with a dramatic accent. "I would like to read someone's palm to find their fortune." She walks over to Rye. "May I have the privilege of taking your hand and reading your love line?"

Everyone laughs riotously because the idea of Rye falling in love is ridiculous. He plays along though, knowing Plum is watching every move. He gives her a smile and Plum skips over, climbing into her grumpy uncle's lap.

"How do you read palms, Auntie Lemon?" she asks.

"You must look ever so carefully at this line here. But there's a tragedy in your future, Rye. Look," she says, pointing dramatically to the center of Rye's hand as Plum's eyes widen in shock and glee. "His line cuts into two, which means–"

Plum shrieks. "What does it mean? What does it mean?"

"It means he must make a choice or he will never love at all."

Rye rolls his eyes and Plum laughs, jumping out of her uncle's lap as Red takes the center of the yard once again. "Okay, now that we have that figured out, let's see what the next act is. Who do we have? We have Graham Cracker," Red says, and he points to the right, where we see Graham riding a unicycle very, very poorly through the grass toward us until he falls off very, very dramatically.

"Okay, so that act needs work," Red says as Graham clutches his belly in laughter. Next up, Fig knots a cherry stem with her tongue, which has her father grumbling and her brothers shouting at her – you better not be doing anything like that with any boys from town .

And then Annie brings out some apples and shows us her juggling skills. Plum does a hula hoop routine. And Rueben shows us a magic trick in which he disappears, goes into the house, and returns with a can of beer.

"That's not a magic trick," Bartlett jokes. "That's you going into the house and getting some Rainier. And you didn't even bring me one."

Reuben laughs. "Well, I guess you need to work on your act. Speaking of, what's your act?"

"Hey, hey, hey," I say, standing. "Me first."

Redford nods. "Exactly. The lady goes first."

I already have my slackline ready between the two trees behind Red. He helped me put it up earlier today. "Okay, I'm a little nervous," I say, walking to the tree to the left. The line is about twelve feet in the air, and Red helps me with a ladder.

I climb it and Bartlett immediately begins to shake his head. "You can't go up there."

"I can," I say. "In fact, I could do this about 30 feet in the air. The show must go on, Bart! This is Plum’s circus."

Plum smiles. "Can you really tightrope walk?"

"Sure thing, kiddo," I say.

I begin to walk across the slackline between the two tall trees. Red is beneath me. I know he's doing it in a fatherly way, thinking he'll catch me if I fall. And Bartlett is suddenly underneath me too, though his shoulder is still bandaged from the bullet he took for me.

And honestly, I'm not going to tell them that if I fall from here, it's going to be so fast that they won't have time to catch me. Right now, Bartlett just wants to believe he would, and that is enough.

The thing is, I'm not going to fall. I can do this.

I walk the slackline once and then twice, and then I jump off of it, landing in a headstand. Then I do four cartwheels toward Plum, landing in a perfect split. Then I do a backhanded jump. I land in a handspring, place a few more cartwheels, and then I do a pirouette right in front of her.

"Happy Circus Day," I tell her, and everyone stands, giving me an ovation I do not deserve. "Stop it," I say, blushing.

Fig is gobsmacked. "Abby, you said you were a gymnast. You are freaking amazing."

Annie nods in agreement. "You really are incredible. Have you ever thought of opening a gymnastics studio? The kids in Home would love something like that. You know, there's an open building right next to the toy store."

"I've been there," I say. "Bartlett took me to Home Grown for dinner."

"Ooh, fancy," Annie says. “I’m impressed, Bart.”

"But yeah, that would be pretty incredible to have a little studio," I say, remembering the leotards hanging in the sports store that day when I met Harold and I got my phone charger. I smile, an idea coming to me. "Actually, I could call it Rough and Tumble. What do you think?"

The family all laughs, smiling in agreement. "That would be perfect," Bartlett says. "I mean, if you were a Rough."

There's an awkward silence, and I realize I may have just put my foot in my mouth, claiming the Rough name when I'm not a Rough at all.

But then Bartlett gives me a grin. "Hey Dad, is it time for my act?"

"Of course, son. I think it's the perfect time."

"Well, you mentioned Rough and Tumble, right? And then I said that awkward thing there about you not being a Rough," Bart says, grinning sheepishly.

"Right," I say, cringing. "I'm kind of mortified actually."

"Well, the thing is, I was hoping you would be. Not mortified. A Rough."

"What do you mean?" I ask, looking around at his whole family. They're all watching. Plum is right by my side. Her eyes, they still sparkle. Fig and Lemon, there's tears in theirs that they're blinking back. Annie’s too. "What's going on?" I ask.

And then Bartlett is on one knee and I see that everyone is in on this.

This whole moment? It was made for me.

"I love you, Abracadabra. And I want to be your husband. I know you came to this town when you were a little girl and it meant something to you then. And you came back here because you were looking for that feeling. You were looking for that memory. And the thing is, I'm so happy you did because you coming Home means I found my home . I may have grown up here with this perfect family and this perfect life, but what if I had grown old without you?

“Marry me. Be my family. Be my forever. And have that studio called Rough and Tumble. And I'm guessing we'll have some rough and tumble times. But Abby, I think we can get through them, any of them, together.What do you say?" he asks, pulling out a diamond ring and offering it to me. "Will you be my wife?"

Tears fall down my cheeks; my heart bursts with devotion. My whole body hums with hope. "I love you, Bartlett. I didn't think a girl like me could ever be paired with a man like you, but somehow you proved me wrong. You won me over, and you made me yours."

"Is that a yes?" Annie asks on behalf of her whole family.

"That's a yes," I say as Bartlett slides the ring on my finger and stands, wrapping me up in his arms and kissing me hard on the lips.

His eyes find mine and his hands are on my cheeks. "I love you, Abby. I'm sorry I just told everyone your real name."

"I don't care," I say, laughing. "The only thing I care about is you and me, us."

Plum is clapping. "That was the best circus finale in the whole wide world," she says, and I laugh. She's right, this was the best show on earth.