The Lilac Bouquet

by Carolyn Brown

  “Lillian comforted Mary’s fiancé, as you might guess. They got married and it was the biggest, prettiest wedding Hickory has ever seen. Seven bridesmaids. My mama was one of them, and she talked about it until the day that she died. Then the flu epidemic hit, and Lillian was taken with it. Her death devastated Alfred. He never was quite right after that.”

  “Did Lillian ever make up with Mary?” Emmy Jo asked.

  “Oh, no, honey! Mary cooked her own goose when she up and threw away Luke to marry Sam”—Edith lowered her voice to a whisper—“and then when Mary had Seth before they was even married eight months, well, you see, there was no way Lillian could be a party to that kind of thing. Poor old Luke. Mama talked about it right up until she died. It was quite the rumor in those days when a girl did something like that. Nowadays, it happens all the time, but eighty years ago . . .oh, my goodness.”

  “Lillian and Luke never had children?”

  Edith shook her head slowly. “Poor Alfred only had that one child and not even a grandbaby. Then his wife died the next year. Mama said it was from a broken heart when she remembered those days. I remember that she was real glad I was too young to get involved with Seth and too old for his younger brother. She used to feel sorry for the women in town who had girls their age.”

  “What happened to Alfred?”

  “He became a recluse. Didn’t get out much. He died”—she tapped her check with a forefinger—“I can’t remember when exactly, but it was after I was grown and married. On the other hand, I was in junior high school when Mary died. Seth left town, for the army, I think, or maybe it was that he went with his sister and their younger brother. Anyway, the sister did well with her life, but I don’t know about the brother. Never did hear what happened to him. Seth came back about the time I was ready to graduate. Mama sure gave me a lecture about him.” Edith laughed. “But I didn’t need to be told. I was already in love with my late husband by then.”

  “Well, thank you so much. I was just wonderin’ about them. So did you ever meet Mary?”

  “Oh, yes. She was a tall lady with beautiful eyes and very polite. You’d never guess by lookin’ at her that she . . .well, you know.”

  Emmy Jo nodded, thoughts of Seth’s revelation on her mind.

  The library door opened, and half a dozen kids filed in ahead of two ladies.

  “Well, it looks like it’s about time for my story hour, so I’ll leave you to your research. We’ll talk again.” Edith hurried off to greet the children.

  Wednesday went by in a blur. The routine was the same as always. Seth was ready to argue with everything she said, and she was more than ready to give him tit for tat. She spent Thursday morning in the library again but kept stopping her research to stare off into space. Edith was busy all morning with patrons, so she didn’t come back to talk to her and the clock seemed like it stood still.

  A few minutes before noon, she got a text from Logan saying that he was on his way to the trailer with a pan of pasta and a pepperoni pizza from the local pizza shop.

  I’m not interested in food so much, she texted back as she waited at a stoplight. She’d parked right beside his truck when her phone pinged again. The message said: Be cool.

  He wasn’t waiting on the porch, so she rang the doorbell and waited. He threw open the door and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling as he stood far to one side and invited her inside. Had something catastrophic happened? He always hugged her and gave her a kiss even in the Dairy Queen or at Libby’s—right out in public. So what was the deal today?

  The aroma of pizza, pasta, and warm chocolate greeted her when she entered the trailer. Leaving the bright sunlight, her eyes took a while to adjust to the light, but when they did, she could hardly believe what she was seeing. “Granny, what are you doing here?”

  Surely, she was seeing things. She blinked half a dozen times, but her grandmother did not disappear like a vapor into the thin air.

  “I came to visit. When someone new moves in, I bring brownies. I admit I’ve been slow in getting them down here, since Jack has lived here all this time, but now that Logan has moved in, well, I thought it would be a good time to kill two birds with one pan of brownies.” Tandy grinned.

  Kill two birds. The memory of Tandy standing on the porch with a shotgun flashed through Emmy Jo’s mind; a quick glance over at Logan told her that he was thinking the same thing.

  “So are you going to invite me to have pizza with y’all or not?” Tandy asked.

  “Of course, Mrs. Massey,” Logan said. “I hope you like pepperoni, but in case you don’t, I do have a pan of pasta.”

  “Love anything Italian. You can say the grace, Logan, and then I expect we can help ourselves. After we eat, we’ll have brownies, and I’ve got a Monopoly game out in my car. We can play that all afternoon,” Tandy said.

  Emmy Jo’s heart fell to her toenails, but Logan was smiling like he’d just won the lottery. He must think that Tandy was finally accepting him, when the real issue was that she had control now that Logan lived in “her” trailer park. There would be no more Thursday afternoons in the bedroom. If Emmy Jo’s car and Logan’s truck both showed up at Jack’s place, Tandy would be there, brownies in one hand and a board game in the other.

  Of all the games, Emmy Jo hated Monopoly the most. She’d far rather be sitting in the library going over old articles and taking notes. She studied her grandmother from the corner of her eye. From her lucky bingo pants to her T-shirt blinged out with rhinestones around a four-leaf clover, the old girl didn’t look like the devil Emmy Jo knew she was trying to be. She’d even applied makeup and . . . was that hairspray in her hair?

  “So this is the end of your second week at the Thomas house,” Tandy said immediately after Logan said grace. “How are you settling in?”

  “Just fine,” Emmy Jo said.

  But I’m going to be cranky all week, since I have to share my precious Logan afternoon time with you.

  Tandy helped herself to a slice of pizza and some pasta and started toward the small table for four. Logan went over to pull out her chair and see to it that she had a glass of sweet tea before he turned back to getting his own food.

  How could her granny not love a man that thoughtful?

  “I heard you’re on a winning streak at bingo,” he said.

  “Humph.” She almost snorted. “Woman can’t burp in this town without the whole dang town knowin’ that she ate hot dogs for dinner. I had a little luck at bingo and I’m hoping it stays with me.”

  Tandy and her superstitions. Maybe she was being nice because she’d gotten it in her head that she’d win at bingo the next night. Lord, Emmy Jo almost whined out loud, why couldn’t she be nice to someone else today?

  Logan seated Emmy Jo and gently squeezed her shoulder as if to say that everything was good. “We enjoyed being in your church last Sunday,” he said with a glance toward Tandy.

  “It ain’t my church. It belongs to God,” she said in a sharp tone and then softened her voice. “The bunch of you should come around on Wednesday night for choir practice.”

  “We might just do that. We’ve all been part of the choir at my dad’s church since we were in junior high school,” Logan said.

  “I hear your mama and daddy are lookin’ at a church over in Graham,” Tandy said. “Is that right?”

  “They are praying about it,” Logan answered. “It would still be close to Gramps so they could help with him. He doesn’t drive anymore since his cataract surgery.”

  “That’s nice.” Tandy smiled.

  You aren’t happy that they’ll be near, but because Jesse can’t drive. Emmy Jo bit her tongue to keep from saying the words out loud.

  “Think Jesse will step in and preach until they find someone?” Tandy asked.

  Now Tandy was just being nosy, trying to get the scoop first in order to spill it at bingo tomorrow night.

  Tandy poked her on the shoulder. “You sure are being quiet today.”

  “Just thinki
ng about the past,” Emmy Jo said.

  Tandy went slightly pale. “What about it?”

  “I went down to the library and looked up a picture of my father in the old yearbooks. I was surprised to see that they ran senior pictures all the way back to when you were a graduate, Granny. You reminded me of the pictures of Rose. Did you know some of the yearbooks were destroyed when there was a leak in the library?”

  Tandy lost a little more color. “Yes, I did know that, and Rose was prettier than I ever was.”

  “Why’d you name her that?” Emmy Jo asked.

  Pink flushed Tandy’s face. “It’s a pretty name.”

  “Did you know someone named Rose?” Logan asked.

  “No, but a boy I knew back then brought me roses that he picked from his mama’s bushes. I thought the name fit her right well with her little rosebud mouth.”

  “What was her middle name?” Emmy Jo wondered if that boy could have been Seth.

  “Her full name was Ann Rose.”

  “Hmm.” Emmy Jo finished her pizza and went to the bar to get the pan of brownies. “Why Ann?”

  “I liked the name,” Tandy answered. “And she named her daughter Crystal Ann.”

  “Where’d she get the name Crystal?”

  From the aggravated expression on Tandy’s face, Emmy Jo knew she was tired of all the questions, but she hoped to make her mad enough to leave.

  “Hell if I know. I hated the name. It sounds like something you drink out of, not something you name a little baby girl, but it was Rose’s baby, so I didn’t say a word,” Tandy said.

  Logan lifted the first brownie from the pan and made appreciative noises when he tasted it. “This is great, Mrs. Massey. Does Emmy Jo have this recipe?”

  “Yes, she does. It’s in my mama’s cookbook, but we’ve made them so often that we don’t even have to look at the recipe anymore. Y’all hurry up so we can play Monopoly. You can get the game from my car, Logan.”

  “Yes, ma’am, but first I’m having a second brownie. My sweet tooth is never filled,” he said.

  “Just like your—” Tandy stopped and took a long drink of tea.

  “Your what?” Emmy Jo pressed.

  If you can ruin my afternoon, you can finish the sentence.

  “Just like your grandpa, Logan. He always had candy in his pocket when we were in school. Mostly hard candy, like peppermints, because it wouldn’t melt like chocolate. But I do remember him loving chocolate cake when it was served in the cafeteria for lunch. In those days they didn’t have all these laws and such about what is good for a kid and what ain’t. They put food on the tray and we ate it. Jesse would trade anything on his plate for chocolate cake. Sometimes he’d eat five pieces.” She glared at Emmy Jo.

  I bet that hurt to talk about him.

  “Seth has a sweet tooth, too,” Emmy Jo said.

  “Wouldn’t know about that. Let’s clear off this table so we can play. I do love a good game of Monopoly,” Tandy said.

  Logan popped the last bite into his mouth and headed out to the car. “Be right back.”

  Tandy wrapped her long, bony fingers around Emmy Jo’s upper arm. “Don’t you think for one minute you are going to spend every Thursday afternoon shacked up with him in this trailer. I intend to be here every single time you park out there, and believe me, I will know. I’ve got eyes everywhere in this town.”

  So she’d been right. “It’s okay if I go down to Hickory Creek and roll around in the sand with him, but I can’t spend time in this trailer?” Emmy Jo asked without an ounce of warmth in her tone.

  “Hell, no!”

  “He’s a good man.”

  “He’s got a good mama; I’ll give him that much. But I’m going to fight you to my death over marrying that boy. I refuse to be shirttail kin with Jesse Grady.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he can deck himself out in the robes of righteousness, but underneath it all he’ll always be a jackass,” she hissed. “You want to play Monopoly all afternoon or make an excuse to leave this trailer?”

  “What do you want to do?” Emmy Jo shot back.

  “I want to get out of here,” Tandy said. “I’ve had enough Logan Grady to last me a lifetime.”

  “And here it is! I should warn you ladies, I’m really good at this game,” Logan said cheerfully as he carried the game into the living room.

  “Yay!” Emmy Jo clapped her hands. “Let’s set it up on the coffee table. Granny, you can sit on the sofa and me and Logan will take the floor.”

  Tandy groaned under her breath and carried her half-empty glass to the living room, where she eased down on the sofa, all the while shooting the meanest side-eye imaginable at Emmy Jo.

  Emmy Jo kicked off her sandals and plopped down on the floor. You sowed the seeds for today. Now you can reap the harvest.

  Two and a half hours later Emmy Jo was bankrupt and Logan had two dollars in the bank. Tandy had wiped them both out when she put hotels on both Boardwalk and Park Place.

  “It’s been fun, but I’ve got to go to work now.” Emmy Jo reached for her shoes. “Walk me out, Logan?”

  “Sure thing. You want to play another game with just the two of us, Mrs. Massey?”

  “I’ve got to get home. One of my favorite shows comes on in fifteen minutes,” she said with another look at Emmy Jo. “I’ll walk out with you. Maybe I’ll see you again next Thursday.”

  “And we’ll play canasta,” Logan said. “I hear you love that game.”

  “I sure do.” Tandy smiled. “Thanks for the pizza. You keep the rest of the brownies. Jack might like some when he comes home.”

  “Thank you.” Logan gathered up the game and carried it in one arm. The other one was draped around Emmy Jo’s shoulders. When they reached her car, he kissed her chastely on the forehead and whispered, “Call me as soon as you can.”

  Her head bobbed gently. “Will do. ’Bye, Granny. See you next Tuesday morning for breakfast? You want me to drive you down to your place?”

  “No, I need the exercise,” Tandy called back.

  “I really have to go or I’ll be late.” Emmy Jo wrapped her arms around Logan’s neck and pulled his face down for a long kiss. “We’ll talk after supper.”

  “I can’t wait.” He grinned.

  To Seth, Thursday lasted a week. From the time breakfast was over until snack at midmorning, Seth kept a watch on the clock. Dammit! She’d be gone at the end of May, and he’d be there all alone again. That’s why he didn’t have a dog or a cat or even a blasted pet fish. They all went away at some point and left him, so why even start?

  When he heard the car engine in the garage, he smiled, but when she breezed through the dining room, he hid it behind his book. She went straight to the kitchen to help Oma Lynn bring in the supper and then sat down in her chair. He could tell by her expression that she was ready to chew nails and spit out staples, so he didn’t ask about her day.

  “So I hear that you spent the day at Jack and Logan’s trailer playing Monopoly with Tandy,” Oma Lynn said.

  “Damn telephone!” Seth muttered under his breath.

  “That’s right.” Emmy Jo dipped into the green beans and passed them on to Seth.

  “I hate Monopoly,” Seth said. “But then, I hate all board games except Scrabble.”

  “So do I,” Emmy Jo said after she’d swallowed. “And so does Granny.”

  “Then why’d she bring the game to Logan’s?” Oma Lynn asked.

  “She didn’t want everyone to think we were shackin’ up in the bedroom,” Emmy Jo answered.

  Oma Lynn sputtered and came close to spewing sweet tea across the table. “The way you young people talk these days!”

  Seth grinned at her directness.

  “So I asked her if we should go to Hickory Creek and roll around in the sand,” Emmy Jo said.

  Seth chuckled. Oma Lynn slapped a hand over her mouth.

  “And then she asked me if I wanted to make an excuse and leave or stay and play Monopol
y all afternoon,” Emmy Jo said.

  “And?” Oma Lynn asked.

  “I asked her what she wanted to do, and she said that she wanted to get the hell away from Logan as fast as she could. So I decided to play Monopoly.”

  Seth laughed so hard that he spewed tea all over the table. He and Tandy did agree on a couple of things. One being that Emmy Jo had no business marrying Logan Grady, and the other was that Seth would want to get the hell away from any offspring of Jesse’s as fast as he could, too.

  Oma Lynn fussed the whole time she cleaned the tea up with a dish towel. “What’s so damned funny about that?”

  Emmy Jo got so tickled at the way Seth was guffawing that she snorted and then got the hiccups, just like Nora still did when she laughed. The crazy break-glass giggles were infectious. He couldn’t remember the last time he had to wipe his eyes because he’d gotten so tickled. It had to have been when he was slapstick drunk once in the army. The hangover the next morning made him swear off liquor other than the occasional shot of Jack Daniel’s when he had a sore throat.

  He would never admit it to his sister, but he did like the girl’s sense of humor.

  As soon as supper was over and Seth had gone to the balcony to listen to his radio, Emmy Jo raced up the stairs and called Logan.

  “So what was that today?” he asked.

  “What was what?”

  “The tension reminded me of that last morning at Mama’s. And just so you know, I also hate board games except for Scrabble. I only like that one because of all the fun we have when we play with Jack and Diana.”

  She told him exactly what had been said between her and Tandy, leaving out none of the details. “I can’t understand this big thing that’s between my granny, your grandpa, and maybe even Seth. Whatever it is has enough anger in it to survive more than sixty years. But on a more positive note, I made Seth laugh. One goal accomplished, and it took less than two weeks.”

  “He’s a tough old goat to hold out that long,” Logan said.

  “Yep.” She padded across the floor to the balcony, unable to hide a laugh of her own. “But I did it.”