“Yep, see you this weekend,” he laughed.
“Go to bed,” I said, pretending to be stern.
After we said goodnight, I poured myself a Scotch, turned on some mindless reality TV, and fell asleep on the couch.
The rest of the week was pretty monotonous and Saturday seemed to take forever to come. When it finally arrived, I woke up early, excited to see Caitlyn again.
I pulled up to her house to see a small elderly woman sitting in a chair on the front porch, Caitlyn next to her. As soon as the driver stopped, the woman I assumed was Caitlyn’s grandmother pulled out a huge pair of binoculars and seemed to be looking right into my soul. Caitlyn laughed and took them from her, saying something I couldn’t hear. From their body language and smiles, it was clear they loved each other and got along well.
I tried to not let that make me feel uncomfortable, but it did. A woman joined them on the porch with a wheelchair and Caitlyn grabbed her bag before kissing her grandma goodbye. The woman raised an ancient-looking hand and waved. I waved back as I was exiting the car to open the door for Caitlyn.
She looked as beautiful as ever, but this time wearing a sundress and a happy expression. I didn’t remember ever seeing a carefree look on her face before, it really brightened up everything around us.
“That was your grandma, right?” I asked as we slid into the back seat of the car.
“Yeah, she was feeling well enough to get a little sunshine today.”
I laughed. “And well enough to do a little espionage too.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Sorry for the surveillance gear, but it’s official, you’re “hotter than a chuckwalla in the sun.”
I had no idea if that was good or not. “A chuckawhat?”
If it was possible, Caitlyn brightened even more. “It’s a Southwestern desert lizard. Gran likes horror movies and the odd Western.”
“She sounds like quite a character.”
“Oh, you have no idea.”
“Is she feeling better?” I asked, genuinely concerned.
She sighed, the brightness fading a little. “She is today.”
“That’s good.” After seeing her grandmother and the fragile condition she seemed to be in, I understood what Caitlyn must have been up against.
Death, life, illness, it was all-consuming. I knew how much the threat of death colored one’s life. Good days were a miracle.
“Do you want to stay with her? Wenton would understand. We can reschedule if you’d like.” I didn’t want her to say yes, but I need to ask.
“It’s fine. She actually booted me out. We ate a whole cheesecake yesterday and watched seven and a half hours of eighties horror flicks. I wiped her out. She just wants to chill on the porch today.”
“If you’re sure, then Wenton says he has something planned for us when we get there, so consider yourself warned.” I gave her a foreboding look that was genuine because Wenton could really pull out the stops if he wanted.
Since love was on his agenda, any amount of awkwardness was possible.
“I’m cool with whatever Wenton brings on. I can take the heat.” She eyed the radio. “Also… since I’m a millionaire-ish now,” she gave me a sassy look, “I have a new iPhone. It’s my turn to crank up the tunes, but I don’t know how to work it.”
I took it. “Nice, but it’s a six, didn’t you want the latest?” I didn’t really mean to question her choice in phones, but if you had the money, get the best.
“No, six is good for me. It was on sale, but I’m pathetic, I can barely turn it on.” She bobbed her eyebrows. “I have tunes though.”
Her eyes were wide and beautiful, like a child with a new bike.
“Alright Miss I-got-tunes, let’s see what you’ve got.” I was glad I wasn’t driving this time, so I could kick back and enjoy just being with her.
After connecting her phone to my system, we listened to her playlist, which was quite eclectic. There were some old favorites, some new stuff, and a lot of alternative rock. It was fun exploring the music she’d collected. It was like listening to the soundtrack of her brain. I learned about some new artists, heard some incredible covers of classic songs, and elevated my cool quotient by at least six notches.
I was exposed to music through our productions as we’re often trying to secure rights to songs for our movies, but she was able to find a few gems that were new. When we arrived at Wenton’s, we were both feeling rather musically inclined. That was good because as soon as we met him we discovered what his surprise for us was.
He had set up a very elaborate Karaoke stage in the multipurpose room of the main building. The stage had a big screen, Karaoke music machine, and three microphones. There was beer, snacks, juice, fruit, drums, maracas, and costumes with all the accessories you’d want to dress up as just about anything you chose with authenticity, including hair in every color of the rainbow. I hadn’t purchased these items for Wenton, so I looked at him curiously.
“You discovered Amazon, I see.”
Wenton beamed. “It’s amazing.”
He wasn’t usually interested in online shopping because either I gave him what he needed or he swapped with friends. While shopping was a great fascination for him, he usually just web-surfed shopping sites but never bought anything. He had a credit card in his name for emergencies, but he had to get the staff’s approval to use it.
“How did you convince the nurses to let you buy this stuff?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “It’s an emergency.”
“Karaoke is an emergency?” I was completely bewildered.
He batted his eyes. “I thought it would help you with your task.”
Then I got it. He wanted Caitlyn and me to fall in love, so he was helping. I loved this insane guy with all my heart. People with Williams Syndrome loved music, and Wenton was no exception. Today would be interesting. When Wenton got near a microphone, there was no stopping him, not for hours. We were in for a long day.
I clapped my hands together, actually feeling a little excited. “Okay, fire this thing up.”
“This is so amazing,” Caitlyn breathed.
“I put in the first few, so I get to start,” Wenton said, almost hopping out of his skin.
I smirked and hooked an arm around his neck. “Of course you did.”
Wenton proceeded to sing quite beautifully to some great ballads. He loved sappy songs, but this was overboard. It was like he was serenading us. Even Caitlyn finally caught on and started to laugh. Everything he sang was some goofy love song about two people getting together. It was madness. When he crooned Elvis’s “Can’t Stop Falling In Love,” Caitlyn and I had endured as much as we could bear. I needed to stop Wenton’s little concert before it made her too uncomfortable and scared her away.