“I’ve only heard mention of this Windsled thingie,” Ruby mentions. “Such a shame we can’t simply hammer some metal onto the duck’s hull and be ice-worthy—my—they’re packing us in here like sardines!”
“If we don’t make it across alive,” I add, “I’ve heard that drowning in ice-cold water can be rather pleasant.”
“Oh how lovely,” Ruby says with a great deal of oomph. “At least this way, when we get to Maggie’s restaurant, we can have a drink and jolly well not be concerned about driving home a bit dodgy!”
A little boy comments to his friend how the pretty lady sure speaks funny and Ruby gives him one of her “looks.” He melts into submission and mutters an apology.
“Children,” Ruby stage-whispers. “Even the handsome ones can be such a frustration.” She elbows me and we giggle.
The canvas is then pulled over us all, the motor revs to life, and even yelling at each other is of no use. This thing is loud. It’s hard to describe. Basically it’s a boat; its bottom is all steel to handle the ice and it’s powered by an enormous propeller in the back that literally blows us along. I’m excited and really relieved that at least there’s this sled-thing available for emergency lunches. One must lunch, you know. Besides, Helen wanted to get out of Duluth and we needed to get off the island.
The ride is rough, as we have to break through some of the ice, then other times we zoom along on the surface on top of the ice. Ice is a major obsession on the island during the time the ferry can’t get over.
Way quicker than I ever could have imagined, we’re pulling up to Bayfield. A woman with a really long black ponytail that swings to and fro pulls back the canvas and helps us disembark.
“My legs are feeling plucky,” Ruby comments. “Give me your arm, darling, would you?” We loop arms and hobble up the shoveled sidewalk.
“That was fun!” I comment and Ruby snorts.
“It was lovely,” Ruby says, a bit out of breath, “of the crew to give us the day off, don’t you think?”
“Is it me, or is everyone—including the boys—looking at us like we’ve got loogies hanging from our noses? I walked in on Sam and Lilly whispering about something and they never do that, I mean, without us joining in.”
“I’ve never had loogies hanging from my nose and perhaps they all are simply as stunned as we are. It’s still got my head spinning, to think your mum and Ed—it’s simply astounding, don’t you think?”
“I think that this bookstore”—I reach up and clear away snow and ice to peek in a window—“should not be closed so damn much. Maybe when the ice road goes in, we could take a spin down to Washburn and check out the one down there. What was it called…something Indian, I think.”
“Oh, yes.” Ruby roots around in her purse, then reads a business card, “Chequamegon Book Company. What a difficult name, for heaven’s sake.” She lights a cigarette and we wander by the store next door, which is also closed.
“Thank goodness Stone’s Throw sells CDs,” I mention, taking a puff from her cigarette. “I’d like to get Connie Evingson’s new one and it seems to me that the woman in there had a bunch.”
“I honestly don’t recall. I do recall that dog of hers. I’ve never been licked to death like that. I hate to imagine where that tongue’s been—disgusting.”
We continue on up Manypenny Avenue toward Maggie’s restaurant.
“Thank God this place stays open through the winter.” I pull open the door and we walk into pink flamingo land. The food smells are divine and my mouth immediately waters. “Hey—there’s Helen over in our favorite booth. C’mon, girl.”
Helen’s beauty still takes me by surprise. Her blond hair is in a French twist, with light makeup, and she’s wearing the blue sweater Rocky gave her for Christmas. We hug all around and then settle in.
“You two look so mother-daughter,” Helen comments and then thinks again. “Oh, wait a minute, Eve’s the—”
“Result of my husband’s oversexual, lecherous advances upon Eve’s weak, lonely mum,” Ruby dryly comments, enjoying Helen’s reaction. “It’s a true study in the secret swingers world of academia.”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” I sigh. “I need a glass of wine.”
“Me, too,” Ruby and Helen say together and we all laugh.
A plump woman with major mall bangs swings by and offers us the wine list and rattles off the lunch specials. Her smile is a dazzler, and when she asks us if we’re all related, Ruby explains.
“Actually, in one way or another, we are related, but trust me, darling, it would take the better part of the week to explain all the ins and outs and—”
“We’d like three glasses of this pinot grigio,” I add and the waitress disappears. “You are in a mood today, missy! Must have been the ride over.” I explain the Windsled to Helen and she wants to ride in it sometime.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Helen offers. “I told Ryan about the picture and—everything. Did you bring it, by any chance?”
“I think I’m going to wear it out.” I pull it from my purse and hand it over.
“Your mother is so young. I certainly see who’s to blame for our curly hair, and look at the way she’s got one hand on her hip, just like you do.”
“Actually,” Ruby comments dryly, “she normally has both hands on both hips, especially when she’s ordering me about.”
I grin, shake my head and sigh—again. This little ribbing thing Ruby’s into is her way of letting me know she’s also having a time with this. But the initial shock is over—I hope.
“And Larry,” Helen continues with her observations. “God, he was one of my professors—I digress, sorry, it’s just that we’re all so connected. Now Ed here, notice how he towers over your mother, the way he’s got his arm around her.” Helen looks toward Ruby; she waves her hesitation away. “Sorry, it just looks so, proprietary. I love the way they’re both dressed, very fifties. God, this is so weird.”
The waitress plunks down our glasses and we don’t even clink, just slurp.
“Much better.” Ruby sets her empty wineglass down and signals for another round. “I think we may drink our appetizers, ladies, and why shouldn’t we? Now turn the photo over and let’s get to the real dirt here.” She looks at me and winks.
Helen reads the note out loud; I know it by heart so I mouth the words along with her. “‘My dear Maxine…I love your mother’s name—sorry.” Helen starts again.”
“My dear Maxine, ’Tis a rare thing, this forbidden love we share. Yet being with you has breathed new life into my ordinary days and colored them beyond my wildest dreams. Our time together has been more precious to me than my own existence—and I mean that with all my heart. Whatever you decide to do with our child, I’ll support completely, but asking me to never see or speak to you again will surely break my heart. It was you who made me feel so alive again, and for that alone, I am yours, forever.
Edward.
P.S. I promise to honor your wishes though I am missing you already.”
“What a louse,” Ruby offers. “Though I couldn’t be more thrilled, I mean, I wouldn’t have my best friend and, oh dear, this is such a strange world—isn’t it?” She sheds a tear; I put my arm around her and give her a quick squeeze.
“Would you have divorced him?” Helen asks. “I mean, if you’d known he had—did you know he was having an affair?”
“Of course I did.” Ruby finishes her second glass and I’m not far behind. “Every woman knows if their husband’s having an affair, but I had an entire life with him already and, well, I honestly knew he’d outgrow it. I’d hoped so—the double louse.”
“They’re not all louses,” Helen says with such a dear look on her face. “Are they? I mean…I don’t think that Ryan is, and—he better not cheat on me because—ta-da!” She extends her hand out to us to show off her sparkly diamond ring.
We do the only natural thing one does in this kind of a situation—we clap and scream like HELL!!!
�
�I have been bursting,” Sam admits with a big grin, “to tell you all that this good news was coming. I have been talkin’ Lilly’s ear right off on account of not wanting to spoil the surprise and all. Nothing like a spring wedding for that Helen, no sir.” Lilly hands her a fistful of half-finished aprons and they both smile.
“I’ve needed a diversion,” I stage-whisper as Ruby’s in the potty. “Finding out about Ed and my mom has made us both feel a little strange.”
“Good thing you’re such good friends,” Lilly lisps. “Nothing can ruin a friendship more than a—”
“Double louse for a husband,” Ruby tosses out on her way into the workroom. “I should think we—namely I—need to clear the air, so to speak.” She comes over behind my cutting table, adjusts her lace collar, gives her hair a dramatic pat and then “a-hems” her throat. “I’ve thought a great deal about this and seeing as all of you are family and…I honestly can now say that I’m very very grateful my Ed and Eve’s mum found one another and gave me—Eve.” Ruby snivels a bit and so do I. She looks into my eyes. “I know this is terribly dodgy of me, but I have not an ounce of hard feelings, only gratitude for my dear Eve.”
We hug. Sam does her loud whistle, Lilly cheers, and Johnny and Howard give each other a major hug. Can you believe this woman?
After this little love fest, we simmer down a bit and dig back into our routine. I mean, we do have apron orders to fill and there’s nothing better for the soul than zipping an electric shears through this polka-dot fabric. Ruby turns up the music, Dionne Warwick is singing “Theme from Valley of the Dolls,” and it reminds me of something.
“Since there’s all this love,” I comment over Sam’s humming, “I’ve been thinking that I’d like you all to consider something.”
“Girl,” Sam drawls out, taking a stack of apron parts from me, “I’ll tell you right out—we ain’t related.”
I shake my head. “Be grateful for that…no, I want to create a place for teenage mothers to be while they decide what they want to do with their babies…a home is what I’m seeing—not a convent!”
“Shame that little cabin out back isn’t modernized a bit more,” Ruby comments.
“Actually, it’d have to be on the mainland,” Johnny offers. “I mean, in case you needed a hospital or something and aren’t there a million regulations?”
I shrug my shoulders and zoom through some fabric, thinking. “I want to give back something and I also would really like to—to make it such that if an underage pregnant girl really wanted to keep her baby, she’d get the help. I’d like it to be more of an equal playing field, for lack of better words.”
“Do you think”—Lilly adjusts her bifocals—“there’s much demand for such a place?”
“When I used to work over at that Wal-Mart in Ashland…” Sam revs her machine. “I can’t tell you how many young things I saw with bellies sticking three feet out. Babies havin’ babies—there’s a need—I sure can tell you that.” On she sews.
“God forbid we teach birth control,” Howard adds on his way from the back.
“I don’t want to run it,” I add. “Just make sure it’s out there, that there’s this place.”
“Can’t imagine the government would want anything to do with it,” Ruby says, “so it would have to be funded. One must have money to have a proper home and wouldn’t you need midwife people about as well?”
“Marsha’s daughter!” Lilly yells. Rocky leaps off my table and then the room falls silent. “She’s a nurse and is looking for a job up here.”
“Hmmm.” I put down my shears and head to the phone.
Several weeks have snuck by, and boy, are things moving! I will never get over the fact that when you point your mind in a new direction, you better get ready—’cause, girl (as only Sam can say), ain’t no moss under that Eve’s feet, no sir. None.
“Do you honestly think”—Ruby passes me a steaming platter of roasted vegetables—“that Alice Anne is capable of putting this together? She seems a child herself.”
“Hey”—I raise my eyebrows high—“she was in downtown Detroit working in an inner-city emergency room. She can handle pregnant teenagers.”
“I hadn’t realized. Marsha must be simply thrilled to have her daughter back.”
“They’re living together in that tiny place Marsha rents in LaPointe. I can tell it’s getting old so Alice Anne is really jumping into this idea.”
“Eve Moss.” Ruby lifts her goblet. “To our new adventure.”
We clink and sip. “Now all we have to do is come up with a house, some staff, and of course—money.”
“You are looking at a professional fund-raiser, darling.” Ruby holds her head a bit higher. “Truth-be-told, Howard and I have been exploring that Internet and are compiling a list to go over with you. I also have engaged the services of a realtor friend of Lilly’s and Sam’s ringing everyone she can think of to get some starter cash.”
My mouth drops—it really is open wide. “I don’t know what…” I stammer.
“Eve, darling.” Ruby’s voice is full of emotion—strength, too. “Sometimes all you have to do is ask for help. These people—our people—this lot we’ve surrounded ourselves with—we need this.”
“You will never stop surprising me.”
“I most certainly hope not. Now let’s finish with supper and crack open that fresh box of B.T. McElrath chocolates.”
“Where’d you get them from?”
“You think you’re the only one ordering things from the Internet? You’ve so much to learn, dear.”
“No kidding.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
My God, time is just flying off the wall—literally. Seems only days ago Sam yanked Mr. February off the calendar, and let me tell you, we were all sorry to see him go. But now that March is here, the ice has almost melted and so the duck will be put back to use. Boy, am I grateful. The Windsled is a necessary way to get over and back when the ice is iffy, but it’s expensive as hell and I can’t hear for a good hour after riding in the thing.
We four ladies are up in the loft. We’ve just finished our belly dancing and Lilly is having us do a couple of yoga moves to round things off. We regroup over by the huge picture-window-with-a-view. Normally we’d light up, but we’re all trying our darndest to at least smoke less. Lilly has quit completely and so she’s become the smoking Nazi.
Lilly unwinds her silvery silk scarf and then fidgets with her long sarong skirt. “I have something that’s been”—Lilly hesitates, looks toward the floor—“I…”
“Spit it out, darling.” Ruby taps Lilly’s elbow. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, it’s just that,” Lilly straightens, puts her glasses way up into her towering hairdo and looks at us all, “I was in my basement…looking for the bolts of fabrics for Helen’s wedding dress, I knew I had some beautiful material to show her down there somewhere and,” Lilly starts to cry.
We all gather closer. She’s always so strong, and honestly, I don’t know all that much about her. Only that she lives alone in a rambling old house over in Bayfield and that she can sew together anything. She’s the main reason we agreed to make Helen’s wedding dress in the first place.
Lilly gathers herself up.
“I need your help. You see…since my husband, Lud, passed on all those years ago, well, I’ve been collecting things. Lots and lots and LOTS of things and…”
“We all collect things, darling,” Ruby the dish-junkie quickly says. “Nothing in the world wrong with that.” She shoots me a “don’t you dare” look.
Lilly holds up her hand. “No—I don’t get rid of anything, nothing.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that, girl,” Sam adds. “Hmm, I been picking you up since we all started working here, and you know, you are always ready to run out that back door of yours. Have found that a bit curious.”
“I don’t know what to do,” Lilly whispers. “It’s terribly mortifying, the way I live. I’ve tried and tried to s
top bringing things home—my weakness is garage sales and they’re about to start up over in Bayfield. I can’t resist them.” She snivels.
“Just how full is your house?” I ask, thinking this can’t be that bad. Can it?
“I haven’t seen my living room in years, or the dining room or…” Lilly’s strong shoulders slouch and suddenly she looks so defeated. “It’s so pathetic, Lordie.” Her lisp seems so limp today.
“Well, shit!” I say with a nice helping of gusto, tossing my pink scarf onto the coffee table. “It’s early spring and that means time to clear things out for summer! I for one am willing to dig in. We’ll clear your place out in no time flat. What do you say?” Sam and Ruby agree.
Lilly’s face lights up. “I don’t know what to say, I’m so darn embarrassed.”
“You just get out of town when them sales start up, girl,” Sam adds. “Come over to my place in Ashland instead, and I’ll show you how to work a blow torch. That should take your mind off things just fine.” Lilly sighs.
“Oh boy,” I comment, dry as paper. “That does sound fun.”
With spring slowly waking up the woods around the cottage, I begin to notice small bits of green peeking out from the melting snow, and boy, is that a welcome sight. I’m down at the boathouse early the next morning after Lilly’s confession. I’ve searched the Web for this type of thing and apparently it’s not that unusual, but since none of us have ever been inside her home, we have no idea what to expect.
Taking a sip of coffee, I sit back and ponder. Since I’m sitting out on the balcony overlooking the lake, I can see on and on and it’s so calming. The sun is warming up things, birds have begun to return; I’m happy simply to be alive. What a winter, not horrible, just long. But keeping busy with the apron business and now that we’ve been working out three times a week, I’ve lost and kept off a nice amount of weight. (Nice here means I’ve more to drop.) I’ll never be slim, but this feels just right.
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