Hard Cider
Page 22
The back door of the house slammed and Julia strode toward me with the phone in her hand. “It’s Steven. He wants to talk to you.”
“Hey there,” I said, jiggling Lily onto my shoulder so I could hold the phone with my other hand. Some skills stay with us. “How’re you doing?”
“I’m good,” Steven said. “I’m actually on my way up there.”
“You’re kidding! I thought you weren’t coming up until Saturday.”
“Well you’ve got the kids up there, and I hear there’s an apple pressing going on. Don’t want to miss all the fun. I worked really hard and got anything I couldn’t bring with me done.”
I caught Julia’s eye and mouthed, “He’s on his way.” To Steven I said, “Fantastic! You should be up by dinner then. Drive carefully.”
I hung up and Julia grinned.
“Can you stay for dinner?” I asked. “It would be so nice to have us all together tonight.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I said. She still doesn’t quite get it. She’s family.
“Okay, I’d really like to,” she said. With that, she returned to the cider house, and the sounds of the press resuming soon filled the air.
I walked with Lily down the path to the lake. The kayaks and beach chairs were put away for the season, and the beach arced wildly up the peninsula to the point. I smiled. Steven was on his way to join me for at least a week. Andrew and Carrie’s impromptu decision to spend a week’s vacation in Northport had drawn him for sure, and he always wanted to see Julia.
Perhaps her interest in my cider business had changed something for Steven; whatever the reason, he had also begun to show an interest that seemed genuine, and at times even helpful. My investment still held risk, but he no longer pressured me to give it up.
Steven and Julia had granted each other an easy, affectionate, demand-free connection. Without formal definition, they’d become close. Making cider together had brought Julia and me even closer. I found myself talking through decisions with her, sharing my hopes and insecurities alike. When it came to her decisions about graduate school and the essays she had to write, I could be there for her in an unencumbered but helpful manner. The irony that Julia and I had the boots-onthe-ground relationship in the family hadn’t escaped me, but added to my gratitude. Steven not only seemed not to mind, he seemed to appreciate our bond and even feed from it.
Alex and Seth were both coming for a quick weekend. Alex wanted to take advantage of the last days before Haley went into labor. The two of them had come to an understanding that they weren’t going to be together, but that they would cooperate in order to parent the child they had made. Alex had weathered this major adjustment to his life with a new maturity and moral compass that signaled his becoming an adult I could truly admire. He would make a serious effort to be a good parent.
Lily had fallen asleep again in my arms. She would soon have a cousin. Perhaps sometime after that, she would have a new aunt, as Seth and Sophie seemed to be moving toward a commitment. And Andrew and Carrie had already decided that Lily had another aunt as well—Aunt Julia.
Lily stirred and began to make the small kicking and gurgling sounds that presaged hunger, and before I turned back toward the house I looked out over the water, the sun sparkling on its ruffled surface in a broad avenue to the horizon. The tapestry of color and texture brought a contented peace to my center. I hummed to my granddaughter as I headed up toward home.
Acknowledgments
With gratitude, I acknowledge the extraordinary people who helped me bring this book to life.
First and foremost, I thank my husband, and sons and their families for anchoring me in the real world of loving and living.
For years of reading and refining the many drafts of Hard Cider, my eternal thanks to Patricia Hoffman and Kathy York, my critique partners, and for her early input, Claudia Whitsitt.
To beta readers whose personal and expert advice made this such a better book, I thank Nathan Nemon, Barry Nemon, Joan Mandel Eisenberg, David O. Moses, Kathe Langberg, and Pamela Grath. A special thanks to my She Writes sisters, who took time from their own work to closely read and comment—Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, Connie Hertzberg Mayo; you are the best!
To those who shared their expertise in hard apple cider, DNA testing, Tarot reading, fiber arts, and legal issues, I deeply thank Nikki Rothwell and Dan Young of Tandem Ciders, Joe Psenka, Steve Redding, Sally Coohon of Dolls & More, Karen Cross, Marie Elena Gaspari, Rick Leadbeater, Ben Watson, Stephen Wood of Poverty Lane Orchards, Margaret Potter of Goodnature, Norman Fell, Barbara Richardson of the Dayton Knitting Guild, John Wiegand of Mbiz.com, and Michael Pollan, author The Botany of Desire.
I also wish to thank the hundreds of readers of Even in Darkness, my first novel, for all the kind words and support. And to all the mothers out there who have shared their courage, heartbreak and wisdom from experiences with infertility and raising challenging children—you know who you are—you have my deepest gratitude.
Finally, to the amazing women at She Writes Press whose work on Hard Cider has been invaluable, I thank Brooke Warner, Cait Levin, Julie Metz, Tabitha Lahr and editors Annie Tucker and Krissa Lagos.
Author Bio
Barbara Stark-Nemon, author of the award-winning novel Even in Darkness, lives, writes, cycles, swims, and gardens in Ann Arbor and Northport, Michigan. Degrees in English Literature, Art History, and Speech-language Pathology from the University of Michigan led to a career as a teacher and speech therapist working with deaf children. Barbara now writes novels, short stories, essays, and articles.
Learn more about Barbara at www.barbarastarknemon.com
Author photo © Chris Loomis Photography
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