Canary Island Song

by Robin Jones Gunn

  After Tikki’s tears in the chapel, the focus of Carolyn’s time and energy was redirected to her daughter. She didn’t mind being present for Tikki; it just took a lot of time to listen as Tikki tore apart her life and asked her mother to help her construct a new blueprint for the future. Carolyn was amazed at the way her strong, independent daughter now doubted herself on every level. She wondered if she had done the right thing taking the position at Starlight Bank. She wished she would have talked to Matthew in greater depth before she left so that she wouldn’t feel odd about being far away from him. She regretted draining her savings account to make the trip.

  The only way Carolyn could describe it to Bryan, when he left her mother’s apartment after the splendid dinner of “old clothes,” was that Tikki toppled.

  “I understand,” he said. “Let me give you my number. I’m going to be around. Why don’t you call me when you have time to talk?”

  Carolyn hated being the one to initiate the slowing down in their times together, but she loved that Bryan understood and that he calmly gave her the space she needed. The affection that had warmed inside her for him after all these years only warmed more.

  The frustration was that her vacation days were limited. If there really was going to be something more with Bryan than just a few chaperoned dates, Carolyn had less than a week to see it sprout. She didn’t want to think about the possibility of boarding a plane, leaving the Canary Islands for the second time in her life, and not knowing, also for the second time in her life, if she would ever see Bryan Spencer again.

  Carolyn’s mother had curled into a more withdrawn version of herself than Carolyn had experienced her first few days there. It made her realize what a gift it was for her to have her mother all to herself for the time that she did. Their day at the beach would always be just as her mother had said: the best gift for her birthday that year.

  Carolyn appreciated that her mother was being as understanding as Bryan about the shuffling of Carolyn’s time and attention. But she didn’t like it. She treasured her first days there when she had experienced her mother’s full attention, which had always been a rare thing while growing up with an extroverted twin.

  So, on the morning after the museum tour, the dinner of ropa vieja, and a long talk into the deep night, Carolyn tried to convince Tikki to go swimming with her. That flopped. She brought Tikki tea and toast, but it remained untouched as Tikki stayed under the comforter on the sofa and watched Carolyn’s mother go about her morning steps with the candle, the bird, and the window.

  Close to noon Carolyn invited Tikki to go with her to Curvas Peligrosas. She showed Tikki the limited options in apparel that she had packed, and Tikki agreed that Carolyn needed something new to wear. Something that would make her look younger and more “hip.”

  “Then come with me, Tikki. I need your opinion. Besides, your Spanish is better than mine.”

  “My Spanish is terrible. But I’ll come.”

  The exercise seemed to do them both good. They were a block from the clothing shop when, in the middle of a nearly one-sided conversation of self-evaluation, Tikki stopped. “Thank you, Mom.”

  “Sure. What for?”

  “You’ve been listening to me for almost twenty-four hours straight.”

  “That’s okay, honey. You have a lot to process.”

  “I want to be done with all the processing. I just want to be here.”

  “Okay, we can do that.”

  “Do you remember at the Columbus Museum yesterday the phrase in the display that had the hourglass?”

  Carolyn remembered. She repeated the line for Tikki. “ ‘The time spent has been good. The time to come will be better.’ ” It was the saying Columbus repeated to his crew every night at sunset, when the ship’s hourglass was turned. Carolyn took it to heart because she wanted to start saying it to herself and believe that it was true of her life.

  “I like that.” Tikki stopped in front of the beauty salon and looked at one of the pictures in the window. Turning her head right and then left, she seemed to be studying her own reflection.

  “Do you want to go in?” Carolyn told Tikki about her manicure and pedicure, and how she was congratulated when she left.

  “Yes, I do want to go in. Do you?”

  “I think I’ll go on to the clothing shop and check it out. It’s just a few doors up this same street.” Carolyn didn’t see a reason to have her nails redone so soon. Besides, she liked the idea of Tikki having her own experience of feeling like a Woman of the Canaries who was showing herself a kindness.

  The two of them went their separate ways. Carolyn spent nearly an hour in the shop named “Dangerous Curves” and tried on at least thirty different tops before deciding on two that she liked. She tried on one dress, and it fit perfectly. Carolyn couldn’t figure out how to ask if the saleswoman could keep her items on hold, so she bought the dress along with the tops and returned to the salon, eager to report her findings.

  When Carolyn stepped into the salon, she didn’t see Tikki. An older woman was in the barber’s chair, and a slim young woman with short dark hair sat by the window reading a magazine. Carolyn wondered if Tikki had gone into the restroom in the back. She was trying to figure out how to ask that question when she heard Tikki’s voice.

  “Mom!”

  Carolyn stopped dead still. The young woman by the window put down the magazine and stood.

  “Tikki?”

  “What do you think?” The extremely short-haired version of Carolyn’s daughter gave a spin. “It was my own Roman Holiday moment. You know, when Audrey Hepburn ducks into the salon and has all her long hair cut off shorter and shorter? That’s what happened. What do you think? I love it. I can’t remember the last time I had my hair this short.”

  The style was darling on Tikki, and she looked like a different person, which was apparently her objective in light of all the soul-searching she had been doing. Carolyn said all the right affirming words, and Tikki beamed.

  But inwardly Carolyn felt as if something primal and familiar had been severed forever. They didn’t look as much alike anymore. Tikki was becoming her own person.

  Bolstered by her haircut, Tikki took a dip into the clothing store, where she found a skirt, a blouse, and a belt. An entire outfit, ready to be worn, as she tried out the new Tikki.

  Carolyn’s mother raved about Tikki’s hair. It was beautiful watching the way Tikki blossomed under her abuela’s praise. Fully rested after her stint with the indigestion, Carolyn’s mother was picking up steam, as she said they should go down to the beach and walk the boardwalk in their new outfits and watch the salty air play with Tikki’s new hair.

  “Will you come with us, Grandma?”

  “I don’t see why not. We can eat at Al Macaroni or La Marinera. Either one. You haven’t been to either, and they are both my favorites.”

  “I know. I haven’t even seen the beach yet.” Tikki fingered the ends of her hair in the back.

  “We should go,” Carolyn’s mother said. “This is the best time of day to be on the beach.”

  “I’ll get my stuff ready.” Tikki scooted off to the bathroom.

  “Carolyn, are you going to change?”

  “I think I’ll stay here, if you don’t mind. It will give you and Tikki a chance to have some time, just the two of you.”

  “Did you and Bryan have plans?”

  “No. I said I’d call him sometime. But I just need a little pocket of quiet. I might go swimming or take a nap.”

  “You always did the best job of refueling your spirit by being alone.” Her mother leaned over to where Carolyn sat on the sofa. She gave Carolyn a kiss on the top of her head. “Rest, my daughter. Be at peace.”

  “Thanks, Mom. Thanks for being so understanding.”

  “You are the understanding one, Carolyn. You’re a wonderful mother.”

  “I learned from the best.”

  Tikki had been hanging back in the dining room, as Carolyn and her mom exchang
ed their kind words. “Are you two done with your mama-moment yet?”

  “Yes,” Carolyn said, grinning at her mom.

  “I’m ready to go when you two are.”

  “I decided to stay here,” Carolyn said.

  “Are you sure you’re not going to sneak out and meet a certain young man while we’re out?” Tikki teased.

  Before Carolyn could find a quick answer, her mother said, “I almost forgot to tell you both. Lydia called. She rescheduled my flamenco dance lesson for tomorrow morning at ten. I would like it very much if both of you would go with me.”

  “Flamenco?” Tikki looked intrigued. “I’ll go with you for sure. Is it too late to sign Mom and me up for lessons too?”

  “You’re both welcome to join in my lesson.”

  “How fun! Mom, you’re taking the lesson with us, and don’t try to get out of it.”

  Carolyn had stretched out on the sofa. Her eyes were closed, as she pretended to be asleep.

  “You don’t fool us,” Tikki said. “Did she pull this stunt as a child?”

  “Every so often, yes,” Carolyn’s mother said. “Usually when she wanted to get out of something.”

  “You want to take these lessons, Mom. You do. And you want to take them with us. This is a Women of the Canaries activity like Aunt Frieda always talks about. You can’t pass this up.”

  “Okay, okay. Go to the beach and let me take a nap, and I promise I’ll go to dance lessons with you two.”

  Alma, the little yellow bird, broke into a trilling cantata, and Tikki laughed. “See? Even Grandma’s bird is happy that you’re going to finally dance with your daughter after all these years of promising me you would.”

  “It’s a conspiracy,” Carolyn muttered, still keeping her eyes shut. “All of you are in on it. Even the bird. You’re determined for me to reveal how uncoordinated and clumsy I am.”

  “Hush,” Carolyn’s mother said. “You’re supposed to be taking a nap.”

  Carolyn wasn’t sure if her mother was directing her comment toward her or the bird. It didn’t matter. She was already onboard the sleep train.

  She hadn’t traveled very far down the track when the phone rang. She fumbled to reach it before it stopped ringing. As she had hoped, it was Bryan. He told her he had just met with the new assessor her uncle had referred him to, and the meeting had gone well.

  “After yesterday’s debacle, anything would be an improvement. How’s your day been?”

  Carolyn told him about the long conversation she had had with Tikki late last night and how the intended shopping trip turned into Tikki’s own personal Roman Holiday, and now she and her grandmother were out celebrating at the waterfront.

  “Are you interested in meeting up for an early dinner?” he asked.

  Even though she knew she would be teased endlessly by both her mother and daughter if she went out, Carolyn said, “Yes, I am. As long as we don’t go to anyplace at the beach where we would be under the watchful eye of not one but two chaperones.”

  “I know just the place. It’s in Old Town. I heard about it today. And since this sounds like it’s going to turn into our first official date, I’ll even change my shirt since it’s streaked with dirt. I was out at the house with the assessor going through some of the stuff that needs to be repaired. This is a bigger project than I thought it would be. Anyway, how about if I meet you at your mom’s apartment in an hour and a half?”

  “I’ll be ready.”

  Carolyn loved that Bryan was marking this evening as their first real date, and she even had a new dress to wear. The soft pink, V-neck jersey dress from Curvas Peligrosas had a wide waistband and a flowing skirt. It fit just right, and the rosy hue even matched her nail polish. She borrowed one of her mother’s lace shawls and left a note for her mom and Tikki affixed to the refrigerator, just like she and Marilyn did growing up and as Tikki had done when she was younger.

  When Bryan arrived, he pulled his hand from behind his back and produced another bouquet of mixed-colored roses.

  Carolyn laughed. “The guy in front of the hotel is on to you.”

  “Yes, he is. He asked if these were for mi novia.”

  Carolyn knew that word. Girlfriend.

  “And what did you tell him?”

  Bryan grinned. “I told him to give me the correct change this time.”

  Carolyn found a glass pitcher, placed the roses in water, and left them on the kitchen table. As they walked out the door, Bryan said, “You look really nice, by the way.”

  “Thank you. So do you.”

  “So this is it, huh? Our first real date.”

  “We did meet unchaperoned at Al Macaroni the other afternoon before going to the airport.”

  “That didn’t count. You met me there. I think this counts as our first date.” Bryan reached for her hand the way a childhood playmate would grab hold of a friend’s hand to run down a hill. Bryan didn’t run, but he led her to the elevator and with a teasing look said, “It took you, what, only twenty-five years to agree to go out with me? A less determined man might have given up before now.”

  “You should get your facts straight, Mr. Determined Man. As I see it, it took you twenty-five years to work up the courage to ask me to go on a proper date.”

  “Oh, so that’s how you see it, huh?”

  “Yup, that’s how I see it.”

  “What about our day at Maspalomas? I asked you out then. I came over to your grandmother’s, and I stood in her kitchen, and I asked if you wanted to ride camels with me. That would have counted as our first date except you had to invite your uncle to come with us.”

  “Did you forget, Bryan? My uncle was necessary. He was the only one we could find with a car.”

  “That’s a pretty flimsy excuse, if you ask me. That was a fun day.” Bryan gave her hand a squeeze. “Do you remember that day?”

  “Yes, I do. It was a very fun day.”

  “Let’s go again and take Tikki, like I suggested at the airport. You tell me what day works for the two of you, and this time I’ll be the one with the car. Unless you want your uncle to come with us again.”

  Carolyn laughed. She couldn’t picture her seventy-four-year-old uncle clambering into the saddle on the camel the way he did on their last trip. He loved to clown around and enjoyed acting as if he were going to fall out of the saddle.

  They chatted easily, as Bryan drove back into the Old Town section and parked the car in a covered parking structure. He came around and opened Carolyn’s door for her and then took her hand once again as they strolled across the cobblestone plaza. They passed the fountain again. This time, in the glow of dusk, the fountain had a completely different look—old, gray, and weary. She liked the view in the morning light much better.

  Bryan led the way past the chapel where Columbus prayed, and a short distance away he stopped in front of an old wooden door that appeared to have been refurbished recently.

  “This is the place. What do you think?”

  “What is it?”

  “The restaurant.”

  Carolyn looked around for a sign indicating it was a restaurant. All she saw was the house number and a glass-covered box built into the wall. She realized that the paper posted inside the glass box was the menu and restaurant hours.

  “You really have to know what you’re looking for around here, don’t you?”

  “That’s why I asked for recommendations.” Bryan released her hand and pressed down on the latch, opening the left side of the thick wooden door. They stepped together into a darkened alcove.

  As their eyes adjusted, Carolyn whispered, “Are you sure this is a restaurant?” Directly ahead of them was a wrought iron gate that opened to an inner courtyard.

  Bryan pushed on the ornate gate, and it opened. He stood back and invited Carolyn to enter first. She felt as if she were stepping into another world. A half-dozen tables filled the quiet inner courtyard. The tables were shaded by taut, white garden umbrellas set at the same angle, like sa
ils against a west wind. Shade plants in deep green hues thrived in huge pots positioned across the courtyard. Carolyn’s line of sight rose to the second-story inner balcony that ran the length and width of the rectangular enclave. Vibrant purple bougainvillea anchored in planters on the second story spilled their thick strands of paper-thin blossoms over the edge of the balcony. Some of the plants reached their delicate fingers all the way down to the patio.

  Straight ahead of them, Carolyn spotted a larger-than-life-sized statue of a man in garb from centuries ago, standing with his right hand raised to shield his eyes, as if he were gazing out to sea. There was no mistaking the artist’s intent to capture the expression of a restless explorer on the face of this Christopher Columbus statue.

  “I think we seat ourselves.” Bryan pointed to the closest open table.

  Carolyn noticed another couple at one of the tables on the right side of the restaurant. That helped her feel a little better about being in such an exclusive, clandestine place. Bryan pulled out the chair for her, and she sat as daintily as she knew how, tucking her hands beneath the edge of the white linen tablecloth.

  “This is quite a place. How did you find out about it?”

  “I asked the appraiser today while we were out at the house. We were talking about renovations, and he told me about the renovations done on this building. He knows the guy who bought it more than a decade ago. It had been vacant for years. When he started the renovation, the builders found hidden tunnels.”

  “Tunnels?”

  “They led to the chapel.” Bryan looked as if he were revealing to her secrets about pirate coves and smugglers’ dens. “Whoever lived here and dug the tunnels had a way of getting desperadoes to a place of sanctuary, refuge. Can you imagine?”

  “Do you mean the chapel where Columbus prayed?”