Read Online Wish Upon a Star by Jim Cangany - Free Book Online

City had shifted the ceremony where it dyed the canal
green from the morning to the evening, but my buddies had agreed
to keep our tradition going. This little bit of normalcy was a soothing
balm to my wounded soul.
    In high spirits when I got back from the ride, I slipped into
the bedroom to get Annie up. It took a combination of gentle
prodding from me and Chieftains on the stereo to roust her out of
bed. She was having trouble maintaining her appetite these days and
some smells upset her stomach, so I passed on my traditional St.
Patrick's breakfast feast. These days she was a fan of cinnamon
raisin bagels with apple butter, so that's what we ate.
    She was almost finished with her bagel when she leaned
forward and put her chin in her hand. "E.J., I'm so sorry. It just
occurred to me you're missing out on your big, fancy Irish
smorgasbord. Why didn't you say anything?"
    "Between the bacon and the potato pancakes, I was afraid of
upsetting your stomach, so I figured we'd simplify. We can go back to
overindulging next year. You sure you're up to marching?"
    I was just kidding, but Annie's steely return gaze let me
know she was totally serious. She took my hand and held it with
more force than I expected.
    "I've had this event on the calendar in my head for the last
month and a half. I've told myself countless times to just focus on
making it to the parade in good enough health to walk. Now I'm
there. There's no way I'm missing it." She broke into a grin.
    "So shall we?"
    We made quick work of clean up and headed out the door.
Annie was covered up in her hat and scarf while I was weighed down
with a supply of candy that would have made the Easter Bunny
proud.
    My keys were on the table. To my surprise, Annie snatched
them up. "Now that the ice is gone, I'm taking the wheel."
    I rode shotgun and played navigator. While Annie
complained about the lack of pickup and the wide turning radius, I
bit my tongue and kept my grumbling about it being my car to
myself. We made it downtown without incident, though. If you didn't
count the stop sign Annie missed, or ignored.
    "What year is that car anyway?" Annie said as we walked
along Pennsylvania Street to our rendezvous point with the Hurling
Club.
    "It's a ninety-eight. Dad bought it for Mom after I wrecked
her old car."
    Annie whirled on me. "You wrecked your mom's car so bad
it had to be replaced? Good Lord, what'd you do?"
    The memory still sent a chill down my spine. "It was winter.
I was driving home after going to a movie with some friends. Coming
up to an intersection, I hit some ice, panicked, and spun out into a
ditch."
    If Annie had still had eyebrows, I was pretty sure they'd be
raised as high as possible. "Were you hurt?"
    "Nah." I shook my head. "The car was beat up enough that
the insurance company totaled it, though. Took a long time to work
my way out of Dad's doghouse after that one."
    Before Annie could ask me anything more, a group from the
Hurling Club waved us over. While we waited for the parade to start,
we visited with Club members, most of whom we hadn't seen in
months. Between her glasses, stocking cap pulled down low, and her
scarf, she looked nothing like the glamorous Cassandra Lawrence of
a few years ago.
    It was hard to fathom how much Annie's appearance had
changed in the year and a half we'd known each other. Only days
before our paths had crossed, she'd still been sporting her trademark
blonde locks that flowed halfway down her back. That had changed
by the time we'd met on that fateful day in Chicago's Union Station.
She'd been on the run from the colossal failure of her Broadway
stage production and had cut her hair to mid-neck length and
colored it almost black. A short time later, I learned the nearly raven
shade was actually her natural hair color. And now it was gone.
Every stand.
    With or without hair, Annie looked absolutely
adorable.
    I'm still not certain who had more fun while we marched.
Annie, who smiled, laughed and danced her way while