Eve scoffed playfully. “No, I was. How can you even say you were first?”
“Well, duh, I was stationed there before you even met Dot,” Em stuck her tongue out at Em.
“Oh no, that’s different—that doesn’t even count,” Eve retorted in a mock childish voice.
Dot was still laughing, “C’mon, c’mon, I love you both too much to choose and I won’t. Crazy nuts. Golly! You gals kill me, you know it, don’t you?” Dot was howling, shortly joined by Em and Eve.
“You know what? Y’all sound like the Smothers Brothers,” Dot said, still giggling. “Mom loved you best!” she said, doing a poor imitation of Tommy Smothers.
Eve laughed with Dot, but Em, who watched little television as a child, didn’t generally understand television culture or references.
She waited patiently for the two to calm down.
“Alright, alright, you two…” Em said, suddenly turning serious. “Seriously, Dottie, last night we were talking about how you saved my life. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be together today. Right, babe?” Em asked Eve.
“Now, now…” Dot began to protest, but was cut off by Eve.
“No, really, Dottie, if it wasn’t for you…” Eve looked at Em for her approval. Em nodded with a smile and a look that made Eve melt inside. “We wouldn’t be together today, and… we wouldn’t be trying to…”
“Have a baby,” Em interjected in a sing-song voice, finishing Eve’s sentence.
“What?” Dot’s eyes got big and suddenly wet as she reacted to the surprising news. It wasn’t that they had reached an agreement to have a baby that prompted her emotion, it was that they had resolved what was becoming a difficulty in their relationship. She was so proud of them, and her immense love for them grew more so in that moment.
“Oh, my goodness, you girls… now look what you’ve gone and done. You’ve got me all weepy again,” Dot stood up, setting Sweet Pea on her chair as she rose, and walked toward Eve and Em who got up to receive Dot. She wiped her eyes on the bottom of her t-shirt, and then gathered Em and Eve into her arms. “I’m so happy for y’all. Goll… I love you both to Pluto and back, you know that.”
“Yeah.”
“We do.”
The three women laughed, hugged and cried for several minutes until Dot exclaimed, “Well, hot damn! This calls for a celebration! Let’s have some breakfast! I’m starvin’!”
As if on cue, returning from his guest cottage via a quick dip in the pool on the way to the main house, Waverly appeared at the edge of the veranda, wearing only his glistening swimming trunks. He jerked his head, sending water flying from his hair. “Hey, what’s all this?” he asked, puzzled by the hugging, laughing and crying.
“We’re gonna have a baby, my boy!” Dot announced proudly.
FIVE
Sit Down Dinner
5.1—Tea Time
Dot, Em and Eve, fresh iced teas in hand, headed to the veranda as Waverly continued to prepare Dot’s birthday dinner in the kitchen. The late spring desert temperature hovered at just one hundred and ten degrees. The misters that hung from above, around the periphery of the veranda, were on high, their fine mist significantly cooling down the outdoor space, and even part of the connected indoor area.
Dot stopped and turned back to the kitchen. “Wave, honey, are you sure you’re alright while us old gals take a breather?”
“I got it, Ma,” Waverly said with a broad smile. “Take your time, enjoy your tea. I’ll call you if I need you,” he added, knowing he wouldn’t need them.
“Alrighty,” Dot replied as she plopped down onto her chair. Sweet Pea immediately hopped into her lap and snuggled in for a nap. Em and Eve sat together on the sofa.
“You girls are the best,” Dot said as she breathed a sigh of relief at the opportunity to rest. Up since dawn, preparing for her dinner party, she was none too pleased that her body was behaving as if it was much older than her actual age.
Em shook her head, “We didn’t do anything, Dot.”
“The hell you didn’t! Why, look at this veranda, neat as a pin. Floors washed and waxed, table cloth ironed, table set, silver polished… shall I go on?” Dot smiled knowingly. “This party’s ready to roll!”
“Bah… It’s nothing. The least we can do. It’s your birthday,” Eve replied, then turned to Em, “Right, babe?”
“Exactly,” Em agreed. “But you’re welcome, Dottie. You know we’d do anything for you—even clean toilets.” She wrinkled her nose. “Though I’m thinking I might order a housekeeper for you for your next birthday,” Em added, laughing.
“Awww… now that’s an idea I wouldn’t mind skippin’ ahead for.” Dot winked at Em and Eve. She took a sip of her ice tea. “Mmmm. That hit the spot.” Dot sighed dramatically. “We’ll take a little breather and then we should go get ourselves gussied up. Dinner’ll be up in about ninety minutes from now. Can’t be late to my own party, now can I?”
“Bad form,” Em agreed, grinning.
Dot put her feet up on a footstool. “Ahhh… I needed that.” She took a sip from her tea. “Say, Evie, I’ve been meanin’ to ask, how’s your mama doin’?” Dot inquired. “I tried to call Ev a few times in the last couple months, but there’s never an answer. I keep gettin’ that dadgummed machine of hers.”
Eve smiled. “She’s hardly ever home anymore. Not since she started her tour business with her partner Jake. What’s it been, eighteen months now?”
“I remember when they started it was just one tour a week,” Dot said. “They must have added more days?”
“Oh, yeah. They’ve got at least one tour everyday, and I think two days a week they do two shorter ones. Ev is totally in her element,” Eve rolled her eyes and laughed.
“Stop,” Em chided Eve, poking her good-naturedly with her elbow. “Your mom is great at her tours and she loves it. Don’t be such a brat.”
“No, you’re right, I’m a brat,” Eve admitted. “It’s just… her obsession with all things Hollywood has been an on-going thing since forever, and now it’s twenty-four-seven. But she really is good at it.”
“Dottie,” Em rubbed Eve on the leg to let her know she understood. “You should take one of Ev’s tours some day. She’s so great, and incredibly entertaining. And she really knows her Hollywood history. We’ve been on all of them, haven’t we, babe. You can tell she loves her job.”
“You won’t believe it,” Eve interjected with subdued pride, “but she actually has tourists who take a tour with her every single day of their vacations.”
“Well now, that’s sayin’ somethin’ isn’t it?” Dot said, impressed. “Y’know, next time I visit y’all, I’ll do it. Maybe I’ll take all of ‘em, too. Hmmm…?”
“Oooh, we should go together. That would be so fun,” Em suggested, then looked at her wristwatch. “Oh dear, I need to give Camille a call. She’s negotiating a deal for me, so… Let’s see… it’s five-thirty here, which would make it…” Em began calculating in her head, trying to figure out the time in Japan.
“Eleven-thirty tomorrow morning,” Dot quipped, smiling. “Tokyo time.”
Eve and Em looked at Dot, astonished. “How did you…” Eve began.
“I got a knack is all,” Dot answered smugly, then gave them a wink.
“Wow, Dottie. That was impressive,” Em gushed. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be back in a little bit.” She got up off the sofa, squeezed Eve’s hand and went in search of her mobile phone.
Dot and Eve watched Em leave the veranda and enter the house, noticing the uneven gait she made every attempt to hide as she headed for the stairs.
“I’m so impressed by her,” Dot said, almost to herself. “She could just spend the rest of her life lounging around, taking trips, well, hell’s bells, doing anything she damn well pleases, and yet…”
“She still works,” Eve said, finishing Dot’s thought. “I know. She is a great example for me, I’ll tell you what.”
“Well, y’all look so happy. Makes me happy just watchin
’ it.” Dot sighed softly.
Eve thought she caught a little bit of sadness in Dot’s sigh. She studied Dot for a few moments, then asked gently, “Do you… do you ever get lonely, Dottie? It’s been a long time since you lost Ivey.”
Dot smiled a little, took a deep breath in and let it out. “I do.” She nodded her head. “It has been a long time. A long, long time. So long, sometimes… sometimes, why, I just don’t remember what it’s like—bein’ with someone.”
Eve nodded. She understood. Before Em, tired of the emptiness of one-night stands and meaningless, dead-end relationships, Eve had maintained a mostly celibate life for many, many years. She was quite familiar with the concept of not remembering.
Dot spoke softly, appreciative that Eve had asked, because no one ever did. “Ivey, well, she was a once in a lifetime experience, in my opinion. The love of my life. I’m afraid that anyone that comes after, y’know, if there ever happens to be an anyone, is gonna have some ginormous shoes to fill. I reckon it won’t be easy for her or me, either way. I think it’s why I keep myself occupied with… well, y’know, other things, to avoid the possibility of…
“Ivey and I, we had eight years together, and y’know, even though in the scheme of things it was a short amount of time, I think of it as eight years of heaven I never expected. Not in a million years. I always thought I’d live my life as a lonely old spinster, which I made peace with fairly early in my life. Then that gal went and showed up on my radar. ‘Course, if Ivey were here today, she’d tell you I showed up on her radar…” Dot chuckled to herself thinking of how they’d go around and around about who seduced whom.
Eve smiled as Dot retreated into her memories with Ivey, almost regretting she’d said anything about Dot’s longtime status as a widow. “Dottie, I think you’re wonderful, and someday you’re going to find a woman—or, she’ll find you,” Eve added quickly as they both laughed. “And it will be so good. Em and I, we want you to be happy. You deserve it. You know, if I weren’t taken…” Eve offered, wiggling her eyebrows at Dot. They both giggled.
“Well, you know I like ‘em young, gal, but you’d be pushin’ that envelope pretty dadgum hard,” Dot cackled, quickly joined by Eve.
“What on earth is going on out here?” Em asked as she entered the veranda from inside.
Dot and Eve looked at each other, pretending to look guilty, “Oh, nothing!” they both exclaimed before bursting into laughter, leaving Em perplexed and amused at once.
“You do not wanna know,” Dot doubled over laughing.
Em scrunched up her face playfully. “Gosh, I go away for ten minutes and you girls go insane on me,” she said, hands on her hips and shaking her head with mock disdain as Eve and Dot’s laughter became hysterical. “Yeah, okay… I think I’ll go give Wave a hand in the kitchen or something. You girls continue your… conversation.” Em smiled as she turned and headed to the kitchen, leaving Dot and Eve behind as they continued their giggle attack.
5.2—Pretty As A Picture
Hand in hand, Eve and Em descended slowly down the staircase from the second floor. Em clung to the railing for additional support as she took each step down. The hike the day before, combined with getting the house ready for dinner, had proven to be more than her hip and leg could take. As the day wore on, Em only got more stiff, with accompanying pain severe enough to seriously compromise her walking.
A massage from Eve and some anti-inflammatory pills helped a little, but if she were completely honest with herself, she needed to take her Vicodin. Em hated taking them, and resisted mightily because, at the very least, they dulled her faculties. They also scared her a little.
During the rehabilitation phase after her accident, while trying to control the near constant pain she experienced, Em was worried about becoming dependent upon the drug. She’d had too many close calls. She also had friends and colleagues over the years who had become horribly addicted to them, and it frightened her. It wasn’t who she was, and she would rather suffer greatly than risk becoming dependent upon a narcotic. She would endure the pain the best she could, in silence, just to get through the evening. It wouldn’t be the first time, nor the last.
As they slowly made their way down the stairs, Dot missed any sign of Em’s pain because her eyes were riveted on the couple as a unit, who looked perfectly elegant together. Em wore a sea foam green, silk sleeveless top, cream-colored loose-fitting raw silk pants, with matching flats. The fabric of her ensemble literally flowed as she took each step. Her dark, curly hair was piled atop her head in a haphazard fashion. A long sterling rope chain with a large, beautiful green stone, multiple silver bracelets on each wrist, and small hoop diamond earrings completed the ensemble.
Eve wore similar light-weight fabrics appropriate for the desert, though her slacks were of a more tailored style. She wore a spaghetti strap white silk shell, with Chestnut colored linen slacks and brown Joan and David leather loafers, nearly the same shade as her slacks. A simple gold chain and locket, given to her years before by her sister Alice, which held photos of them when they were young, hung down to just above her ample cleavage.
“My, oh, my,” Dot cooed from the living room as she observed the women descending the stairs. “Don’t you gals look pretty as a picture? Ahhh… What a sight to behold,” she exclaimed.
Both Em and Eve blushed as Dot stood with her hands on her hips, beaming with pride.
“Wait now… what do we have here?” Dot asked, noticing Em limping down the final stair. “What’s the matter, darlin’? Looks like you got a little hitch in yer gitalong,” Dot expressed with concern in her voice.
“Oh, it’s nothing—just a little stiff from yesterday,” Em replied, downplaying her pain, hating that Dot noticed. “It happens. I’ll be good as new by tomorrow,” she added with confidence.
“She’s good,” Eve confirmed, seeing by Dot’s raised eyebrow she was not buying Em’s explanation. “She’ll be fine. Really.”
Dot scowled with skepticism. “Okay, but… I just hate seein’ you in pain. You takin’ somethin’ for that?”
“Yeah, yeah—I’m okay, Dottie, really.” Em went to Dot and gave her a hug and kissed her on the cheek.
“Alrighty, then,” Dot conceded, shaking her head as she hugged Em back. “You don’t look fine, but if you say so, well… Come on, then, and let’s get you gals something to drink. Em, is Perriér okay for you?” Dot asked. “Maybe a slice of lime with it?”
“That sounds perfect, Dot,” Em replied.
“Wave’s finishing up dinner, and Jill should be here any minute now,” Dot said, giving Eve a hug. “C’mon,” she said, holding Eve’s hand and leading them both to the family room and kitchen.
“It smells amazing,” Eve said as she and Em followed Dot. “What’s on the menu?”
“Mmmm… It smells Italian,” Em added.
“Righty-o, it’s Italian,” Dot confirmed, stressing the “I” in Italian. “We’ve got Gazpacho and salad for the appetizers, a Waverly designed pasta chicken casserole, garlic bread, and Italian cheesecake for dessert. And of course, after dinner coffee.”
“Don’t forget the Sambuca,” Waverly hollered from the kitchen.
“My, that boy has big ears! I told you, he’s a bat.” Dot joked. “Yes, we also have Sambuca,” Dot said to Em and Eve. “Happy now?” Dot asked Waverly as they rounded the corner into the kitchen and dining area.
The couple just shook their heads and smiled. As Dot and Eve chattered between themselves about Waverly’s super human hearing abilities, Em quietly observed them and noticed how nice Dot looked.
Wearing a long-sleeved white linen blouse, tailored, black linen pants with black pumps; her long, straight, mostly grey hair pulled back with a silver and turquoise clip at her neck, Dot was more dressed up than Em had seen her since their Air Force days together. The only exception was for Em’s twenty-second birthday, but Dot was still in the Air Force. Em was a civilian then, living in Highland Park, and still recuperating from
her accident when Dot and Ivey came to visit. Since Dot retired and moved to the desert, Em had never seen her wear anything but shorts, polo shirts and sandals.
“Hey, Wave,” Eve said as she entered the kitchen. “Dottie, you good on your drink?”
“I am,” Dot replied. She picked up her own Perriér from the edge of the kitchen island and lifted it to show Eve.
Em and Dot stood and watched Eve enter the kitchen. She gave Waverly a rub on his arm as he prepared dinner. Em noted how handsome Waverly was, dressed for the occasion as well. Dark dress slacks, a pale yellow dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, with a light blue tie—protected by his favorite chef’s apron. His hair was slicked back, making it look a little darker than his usual sandy color. He was beautiful—the epitome of GQ handsome, Em thought.
As they stood on the periphery of the kitchen, Em touched Dot’s arm lightly. “Dottie,” Em said quietly, “Wave is so handsome all dressed up, but you… you look really beautiful tonight.”
“Oh…” Dot was caught off guard by Em’s compliment and was left nearly speechless. “Why… thank you, darlin’,” she responded softly with a loving smile, and gave Em an impromptu hug.
“The dining table looks beautiful, too,” Em added.
A timid knock from the front door turned the heads of Dot, Em and Eve. Waverly looked up with a big smile, and said, “That’ll be Jilli.”
“Come on in!” Dot said excitedly, smiling as she quickly headed toward the front door.
5.3—The Toast
The dining table was located in a large room that included the open kitchen, casual seating, and french doors leading to the veranda that ran the length of the room. The entire area was lit with candles and task lighting, creating a soothing ambiance. Soft music, what Em jokingly referred to as elevator music, played in the background. Sitting at the head of the table with Em and Eve seated to her left, and Waverly and his girlfriend, Jillian Hitchens, seated to her right, Dot surveyed the table, smiled with a look of approval at each person and lifted her glass of sparkling water. She tapped on her glass with her fork, prompting everyone to turn their attention to her.
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