Beholden

by Lesley Crewe

  I took them back. “I’ll remember that.”

  Gran and I looked at each other in the car as I pulled out of the driveway.

  “Well, you were told,” Gran said.

  “Wasn’t I just?”

  We were almost home when we saw Danny Flynn, wearing pajamas, an overcoat, and unbuckled boots at his garbage can. I stopped the car and rolled down the window. “Merry Christmas, Danny!”

  He rushed over to the car window. “And a very Merry Christmas to you fine ladies.”

  “What are you doing out on this cold morning?” Gran asked him.

  “Oh, it’s a complete disaster. I came home last night to find some kind soul had left me a mince pie. I wonder who?” He smiled at me.

  “I have no idea,” I smiled back. “But why is it a disaster?”

  “I had to wrestle three raccoons for it, and didn’t the little buggers win. I’m disposing of the tinfoil pie plate, but not before licking it with my fingers.”

  “Well, do I have a treat for you.” I picked up the two mince pies that were between Gran and me and passed them out the window. “Enjoy.”

  “Oh! Blessings upon you! May you escape the gallows, avoid distress, and be as healthy as a trout!”

  20

  Working as a teller was a great occupation if you wanted everyone to notice your engagement ring. Barbara’s and Linda’s mothers were in the bank in the same week, and both commented on how pretty it was and how they’d tell the girls when they spoke to them next.

  How quickly you go from being best friends to acquaintances when you head in different directions after high school. I’d no more think of calling them than they’d call me now. It might be different if we saw each other on the street, but we’d never call each other long distance. Still, I planned on inviting them to the wedding, if they wanted to come. They were the only girlfriends I had.

  It was the end of January when Nell came into the bank. She was her usual self until she saw the engagement ring on my finger.

  “Is that what I think it is?”

  I held out my fingers to look at my ring. “Yes, isn’t it lovely?”

  “What’s your grandmother thinking, allowing you to marry at such a young age?”

  It was the last thing I expected her to say. “Pardon me?”

  “You’re much too young to embark on such a journey. You need to grow up and see the world. You need to get an education and not waste your life in this suffocating small town.”

  That made me mad. “Like you, you mean?”

  She slammed her hand down on the counter and withdrew her bank book. “Exactly. That’s exactly what I mean.”

  She strode out of the bank. Mrs. Beliveau came running over.

  “What did you say to her?”

  “She asked me about my engagement ring and I showed it to her.”

  Mrs. Beliveau grunted. “It’s jealousy. The spinster on the hill can’t stand to see anyone else happy.”

  It was my habit now to stop at Burke’s on my way home from work. I always bought something, even if it was just a package of Juicy Fruit. Danny was my sounding board—when he wasn’t busy charming every old woman in Richmond County.

  “Can you believe the gall of that one?!” he cried. “She’s always got a face like a mackerel. Someone told me her parents owned this store a long time ago, and she hates the sight of it. Well, the feeling’s mutual, I’m sure. Don’t pay her no never mind. You’re free to do what you want but I do confess, my heart is broken now that you’ve been spoken for.”

  “If I didn’t know Jack you’d definitely be my next choice.”

  “I’m going to spend my long lonely winter nights thinking about ways to knock him off.”

  The very next night, I was invited over to Jack’s parents’ house for supper. It was a bit nerve-racking; I hadn’t seen them since the engagement. Jack told me his mother was dying to see the ring, since he hadn’t shown it to her before he gave it to me.

  A big no-no, apparently.

  You could definitely tell this was a house full of boys. Everything smelled like a barn. His mother obviously made an effort to keep things relatively neat but with five boys, Jack being the eldest, she had her hands full.

  There wasn’t a lot of conversation at supper. His dad scooped up his stew and then excused himself. “No time for girl talk, I’m afraid. I have a council meeting tonight. Boys, muck out the stalls. I’ll say good night, Bridie.”

  “Good night, Mr. Morris.”

  The boys followed, one by one, as soon as they scraped their plates until it was just Jack, his mother, and me.

  “I wanted to see you, to ask if it would be all right if I hosted an engagement party for you and Jack on Valentine’s Day. We’re related to half the town, and this place isn’t fancy enough, so I thought we could rent the legion and have a dance.”

  “That’s too much work, Mrs. Morris.”

  “Please, call me Diane. Or Mom. What I wouldn’t give for a girl to call me that!”

  Jack grinned at his mother. “I was supposed to be her girl.”

  “And so were your brothers. Oh well, at least I have one in the family now, so I want to celebrate it.”

  “What can I do to help? I could bake.”

  She put her hands out to ward off that idea. “I have seven sisters and they’re all ready to do battle. I want this to be fun for you and Jack. All you have to do is arrive looking pretty, which is obviously a very easy thing for you to do.”

  “Thank you. That’s so sweet. What do you think, Jack?”

  “I think I’m going to enjoy it just fine, with my two best girls.”

  On the drive home, I brought up something that was on my mind. “Now that everyone is going to know about this, what are we going to tell them about when we’re to be married? And where we’ll live? We’ve never talked about it.”

  “I have to save some money first, so as much as I want to marry you tomorrow, I think it will be another year at least before we can think about it. Dad said he’d pay me a higher wage, but I still might need another part-time job to make ends meet. There’s a small house on the edge of our property that needs to be fixed up. We could look at it and see what we think.”

  “Or we could always ask Gran if we could live with her. She’s already told me that the house will be mine someday. She’s giving me the house and leaving money to Patty.”

  “Do you really want to live with your grandmother? As sweet as she is, we’ll want our privacy, won’t we?”

  Laughing, I said, “Now what on earth would we be doing that we couldn’t do in front of her?”

  He pulled the car over to the side of the road. “I’m going to show you ten things right now. Come here.”

  For some reason, Aunt Betty got all twittery about the mayor’s wife hosting a party for us.

  “And she’s renting the legion? God, Aunt Jean, we’ll be counted among the higher-ups now! Marrying into the mayor’s family is like marrying into royalty around here. There’s no higher official in these parts.”

  “They’re just Jack’s parents. I really don’t think they see themselves as royalty. Diane is so down-to-earth.”

  “Diane! Did you hear that, Aunt Jean? Diane! Oh, lordy, I’m going to have to get a new dress for the occasion. You will too, Bridie. Ask Nell to do it for you.”

  “No. She told me I had no business being married.”

  Gran looked at me. “She said that to you?”

  “She wanted to know what you were thinking, letting me get married so young.”

  “I see. Well, she’s entitled to her opinion.”

  But it did leave me in the lurch. I did want a new dress for the occasion, and I only had two weekends to find it. Hopefully the weather would cooperate and I could drive to Sydney and look for something there with Patty.

 
; The weather held, and I drove down to Sydney on Saturday morning. As I was leaving the driveway, a car was coming up. I didn’t recognize it. I pulled over to the side and the car stopped and the window rolled down. I nearly died. It was Nell.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I need to speak with you.”

  “Sorry, you’ve already said everything you need to say to me.”

  “Please, Bridie. It’s important.”

  “I’m late for an appointment. Excuse me.”

  “Bridie, I need to tell you—”

  I drove off, more than annoyed. I didn’t need a big lecture on how I was a silly girl for marrying so young. Who did Nell think she was?

  Patty had arranged for her mother-in-law to take Pup for the day. We got in the car and she put her hand on my arm. “I know you’re going to kill me, but I asked Mom to come along.”

  “Patty!”

  “Look, suddenly she’s all gaga that you’re marrying a politician’s son and she insists that she’s going to the party with Ray and me. When she found out you were coming to look for a dress, she wanted to go with us. When you do something right, you’re her daughter. When you do something wrong, you’re a leech. It will be ever thus.”

  “She’s going to be disappointed. Jack’s dad looks and smells like a farmer.”

  Mavis was waiting in the lobby of her high-rise apartment building, for which I was grateful. I’d never been inside her apartment, and I wanted it to stay that way. She was still a traitor in my eyes for selling our house.

  We walked down Charlotte Street, looking in the shops that sold dresses. All three of us had vastly different opinions on what I should look for. Despite being annoyed with Nell, I still believed her that a short dress was young and fresh. I was eighteen, not thirty. Mavis wanted me to look like a bridesmaid, and even Patty thought I should be more dressed up.

  “It’s just a family dance. It’s not a ball.”

  Now I was stuck in a dressing room, with Patty throwing dresses over the top of the door. “There’s young and fresh, but you don’t want people thinking you should be sucking on a lollipop either. You need to be a little more sophisticated.”

  “I need to have Jack recognize me.”

  Mavis kept dragging over dresses shrouded with lace. “Look at the detail.”

  “Mavis, I’m hitting the legion, not a Paris runway.”

  In the end, I stuck to my guns and bought what I liked: an A-line minidress. It had a flowered print in yellow and orange, an inverted pleat down the front, and cap sleeves. I planned on wearing a headband in my hair and large, white, circular earrings. I saw Twiggy wearing a pair in a magazine, and I knew they would look great with my short hair. To top it off, I’d wear white vinyl boots. I didn’t care if it was winter. I’d look like a bright flower and I knew that Jack would love it.

  Mavis mumbled about why she’d even bothered coming before I gladly dropped her off. Patty and I went to pick up Pup, and I played with him for a couple of hours before I left for home.

  At work, I started to get worried. Everyone who dropped into the bank said they were going to the party. How was it possible the Morrises knew so many people? Maybe my outfit would be too casual. This was supposed to be a fun night, but I started to break out in a cold sweat at the thought of it.

  Jack told me to forget about it, so he was basically no help. “What are you stressing for? It’s just a bunch of people dancing and eating. Then they go home.”

  Oh, to have a man’s mind.

  Even Danny didn’t know what the fuss was about. “Wind yer neck in and take a wee dram.”

  “I have no idea what you just said.”

  It was Nell’s regular deposit day at the bank and I dreaded seeing her again. She headed straight for my wicket. Why couldn’t she leave me alone?

  “I must speak with you,” she said.

  “Look, I already know you don’t want me to get married, but it’s none of your business.”

  She pounded her fist on the desk. “Yes, it is. It’s very much my business.”

  My eyes filled with tears, and I saw the other customers looking at us. Mrs. Beliveau saw the situation and hurried over. “What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing is the matter,” Nell said. “I need to speak with Bridie privately.”

  “Well, you’ve come to the wrong place for that,” Mrs. Beliveau snapped. “This is a place of business, and you have no right coming in here and upsetting my staff. Please leave.”

  Nell looked at me. “I’ll wait outside.”

  “You’ll do no such thing,” my boss said. “If I see you loitering out there, I’ll call the police.”

  Nell looked pained as she left the building. Mrs. Beliveau put her hand on my shoulder. “Don’t let her upset you. She’s a crackpot. Don’t give it another thought.”

  That was impossible. What on earth did Nell want? I called Jack and told him about it.

  “She’s off her rocker,” he said. “Forget about her. No one is going to ruin our night.”

  I tried to forget about it, but it can’t be a good thing when you want something to be over with before it’s even begun. Aunt Betty drove to the house that night so she could come with us.

  Uncle Fraser had begged off.

  “Oh, who wants him there anyway? Yawnin’ to beat the band before the clock strikes nine. I’ll have a better time without him. What do you think of my new dress? I picked it up at Nell’s today.”

  In spite of my annoyance with Nell, I had to admit it was a very pretty suit. She certainly knew how to hide a woman’s pounds. Gran wore a silk dress with a navy-blue jacket, and of course her lovely mink coat and hat. Now she did look like royalty.

  Patty, Ray, and Mavis arrived, and the three of us crawled in on top of them to drive down the road. When we got to the Legion, it looked like every car in town was parked beside it.

  “I’ll never find a parking spot here. Why don’t I let you girls off, and I’ll find something down the road?” said Ray.

  We agreed and the five of us scrambled out and hurried up to the door. Already the music was blaring and the roar of conversation was loud. The place was very warm, thanks to all the bodies milling about. Jack and his parents were by the inner door and I introduced my family one by one. Jack took off my coat and whistled when he saw my outfit. I could relax. He was the only one I wanted to please. He took my hand and whispered in my ear. “You’re the most beautiful girl here.”

  There was no reason for me to be worried. We had a fantastic time. Diane and her sisters decorated the hall with balloons and streamers, and they had a corsage for me and a boutonniere for Jack, who thought it was silly. He managed to accidently lose it quite quickly.

  I didn’t realize how much fun it was to go to a dance with so many different ages. A bunch of Jack’s uncles took to the floor every time the twist came on. I saw one of them nab Mavis and take her for a twirl around the dance floor. Even Aunt Betty was whisked away, much to her delight.

  Diane made sure that Gran had the best seat, and she knelt down by her chair, the two of them in deep conversation, no doubt talking about Jack and me.

  Jack and I made our way around the room, everyone congratulating us. It almost felt like a wedding. We danced together for most of the night and then, when we’d worked up an appetite, we ate ourselves silly on sliced ham and turkey, meatballs, rice, potato and macaroni salads, rolls, cheese, cold cuts, and a whole table of desserts.

  Towards the end of the evening, Jack’s father signalled for the local band to stop the music and he whistled for quiet.

  Everyone turned and gave him their full attention.

  “I’d like to thank everyone for coming tonight. Diane and I are very happy that our son Jack has found the girl he wants to spend his life with. Bridie seems to be an exceptional young lady, and we look forward
to welcoming her into our family. As Diane keeps harping on, we finally have a girl!”

  Everyone clapped and hooted. Jack and I stood beside his parents with our arms around each other, and Jack gave me a big squeeze. Our families crowded around us.

  Jack’s dad pointed at the band and the music resumed.

  As I basked in the glow of this wonderful moment, I suddenly saw Nell approaching us. Her eyes were red and puffy like she’d been crying, but from the set of her jaw, I knew she was going to lay into me yet again and my heart sank. She was going to ruin this for me. Why?

  I stepped forward and held out my hand. “Don’t. Whatever you’re going to say, don’t do it.”

  “I’m very sorry, Bridie. I’m so very, very sorry. But you can’t marry Jack. He’s your half brother.” She pointed at Mr. Morris. “This man is your father.”

  There was a roaring in my ears. I looked up at Jack, who was looking at his dad.

  “I don’t want to hurt you, but it’s time you knew the truth about who you really are.”

  One of Yardley’s brothers started towards her, but Jack stopped him. “Let her talk.”

  Most of the party continued around us as Nell wrung her hands.

  “Gervais and Maggie Landry lived in the cottage at the end of my road. The one the kids say is haunted today. Well, it was haunted, with the misery of alcoholism.” She pointed to the man on her left. “You know that, Angus! I told you Gervais pushed his wife down the stairs and killed her, but you said there was no proof and made their daughter, Jane, live with a man who couldn’t take care of a dog, let alone a child. I did my best to watch over her, but one day I saw her walk across the field with a young man who had blond hair. I knew he was up to no good. I ran as fast as I could, but I didn’t get to Jane in time. By the time I arrived, he was already running away.”

  I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt Nell, couldn’t tear myself away from her. There was something compelling in her voice; she spoke with so much force and precision, as though she’d been holding something terrible inside.