A Thread So Thin

by Marie Bostwick

  “Where is he?” she asked.

  “In the pastor’s study. Sitting with his head between his knees.”

  Margot sighed heavily. “I’ll go talk to him, see if I can calm him down. And I know exactly how to do it too! I’ll tell him I don’t want to marry him, not now or ever! Why would I?” she cried. “Who would want to be married to someone who gets woozy over even the mention of matrimony?”

  Margot lifted her chin and put her hands on her hips, blue eyes sparking with anger.

  “When I marry—if I marry—it’ll be because someone loves and wants me more than anything and because I feel exactly the same about him. It’s not like I’m some charity case, you know! It’s not like I need a man. I’m fine as I am. I’ve got a great life and wonderful friends, and I can take care of myself! I don’t need Arnie Kinsella to be happy. I don’t need any man to make me happy—not now, not ever! And I’m going to march over there and tell him so!”

  And with her head held high, a transformed and newly defiant Margot swept past Byron and out the door to give Arnie Kinsella a piece of her mind.

  Margot’s exit was so sudden and so surprising that, for a moment, I was stunned into silence, but before Margot was even out the door, Mom started clapping her hands and said what we all were thinking: “Bravo, Margot! Good for you!”

  “Yeah!” Ivy cried, joining in the applause with the rest of us. “You go, girl!”

  “Woot! Woot!” Liza yelled, swinging her fist in a circle.

  “Well done!” Abigail cried.

  “That’s right, Margot! You tell him!” I called out the door as Margot marched away, the sound of her high heels echoing an intrepid drumbeat as she marched across the lobby and took a left into the corridor that led to the pastor’s study.

  I turned around to face the others. “Did you see that? I’m so proud of her!”

  “Well, it’s about time,” Abigail declared. “I was beginning to think she’d never see the light. A woman shouldn’t need a man to feel complete. Especially a woman as lovely and accomplished as Margot!”

  “But,” Liza said, “don’t you think it would be nice if she did find someone someday?”

  “Only if he’s the right someone,” I said. “Someone who’ll love her as much as she loves him.”

  “And definitely someone who doesn’t get the vapors at the thought of marriage,” Abigail muttered as she smoothed the sleeve of her gown.

  “Marriage to a good man can enhance life,” Mom said, “but it mustn’t be a substitute for life. You’ve got to be happy with yourself before you can be happy with someone else.”

  “Hear! Hear!” Byron said. “Virginia, you’re a very wise woman.”

  “Well.” Mom laughed. “I’m a very old woman. If you live long enough, you’re bound to pick up a few things.”

  Byron smiled and looked at his watch. “Ladies, I think I’d better go tell the musicians to play a couple more numbers. Hopefully, Arnie will be feeling better by then.”

  “Or not,” said Ivy with a smirk. “By the time Margot’s done with him, he may faint for real.”

  “Let’s hope not. I won’t be long.” Byron left, closing the door behind him.

  Abigail turned, trying to see the back of her gown in the mirror. “Liza, since we have a little extra time, maybe we should steam it again. I see a few wrinkles.”

  “All right. Ivy, could you plug the steamer in? I’ll be right in. I just want to talk to Evelyn for a second.”

  Abigail went into the bathroom with Ivy and Mom trailing behind. Liza reached into the pocket of her skirt.

  “I’ve been meaning to give this back to you,” she said and pressed my grandmother’s silver brooch into my hand.

  I shook my head. “No. You keep it. I want you to have it.”

  “But I can’t do that,” she argued. “It’s supposed to go from mother to daughter.”

  “I know. And it will. So you’re not going to be my daughter-in-law. So what? Maybe you will be someday. Or maybe you won’t. We’ll see.” I shrugged. “But no matter what happens, you’ll always be like a daughter to me. You’re my daughter in love. Nothing is ever going to change that.”

  “Oh, Evelyn!”

  She put her arms around me, hugged me tight, and I hugged her right back.

  Mom came back in the room and started rifling through her purse. “Liza, do you have any bobby pins? I seem to be all out. Abigail is worried that Emiliano didn’t put enough spray in her hair.”

  Liza pulled away from my embrace. “For ten grand, you’d think the guy could afford some extra hair spray. Don’t worry, Virginia. I brought some extra bobby pins, just in case. I’ll take care of it.” She smiled her thanks to me before heading to the bathroom.

  “Liza’s a wonderful maid of honor,” Mom said approvingly. “Prepared for every emergency. Good thing for you to keep in mind.”

  “Mom,” I said, the warning clear in my tone. “Don’t start in.”

  “On what?” she said innocently. “I’m just saying. One of these days you might want to remarry. If you ever do, Liza would be a wonderful maid of honor.”

  “I see. Well, maybe I will. One of these days. Or maybe I won’t. You said it yourself not ten minutes ago. A woman doesn’t have to have a man.”

  “That’s true,” Mom agreed. “You’ve got to be happy with yourself before you can be happy with someone else, but I also said that the right man can enhance a woman’s life, and she his. And from what I can see, Charlie is exactly that sort of man.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Funny. I thought that about Rob Dixon too. As it turned out, I was wrong.”

  “Evelyn!” Mom clucked. “Is that what this is about? After all this time? For the last three years, Charlie has done nothing but try to show you that he’s not like Rob. Are you punishing Charlie because of what Rob did almost five years ago?”

  She moved her head slowly from side to side. “I’d never have thought it of you, Evelyn. You’re being unfair. Worse than that, you’re acting like a coward.”

  “Hey! That’s not fair. I’m not cowardly. Just prudent. I don’t want to rush into anything and I don’t need to. Not until the time is right.”

  “I see,” Mom said slowly. “So this is all an issue of timing? Then explain it to me, what’s wrong with your timing? Charlie loves you, right?”

  I nodded. He did and I knew it.

  “And you love Charlie?”

  “Of course I do. Very much. But it’s not as easy as you make it sound. We’ve got businesses to run. We’ve barely got time to brush our teeth, let alone nurture our relationship. A good marriage takes more than love and good intentions, it takes time! Who would know better than me? All those years that Rob spent at the office and on the road? Maybe, if we’d spent more time together, things might have worked out. But after a while, we barely knew each other. Well, I’m not going to make the same mistake twice, Mother. I’m just not!”

  “Well, good!” Mom retorted. “Glad to hear it. I’d hate to think I’d raised a stupid daughter. And you know what the definition of stupidity is, don’t you? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. So do it differently this time, Evelyn. Make time for each other!”

  I wished Byron would show up, say it was time to go, and rescue me from this conversation. No such luck. The door remained firmly closed.

  “Easy to say, Mom, but harder to do. Charlie said he’d sell the restaurant—”

  Mom gasped. “He did! He actually said he’d sell the Grill? Oh, Evie. He does love you.”

  “I know,” I said quietly. “But I can’t let him sell. The Grill means as much to Charlie as the quilt shop does to me. He’s put his heart and soul into building his business. It wouldn’t be fair to ask him to give it up any more than it would be to ask me to give up the shop.”

  Mom looked at me, squinting, as if she were trying hard to put all this in proper focus. “But, Evelyn, surely there’s another way. Almost every couple has to work.
There’s no reason you and Charlie shouldn’t be able to. Why can’t you just work a little less? Hire people to help you manage your businesses?”

  “You think I haven’t thought of that? I can’t afford it. Even if I could, who would I hire? I’d need somebody with very special skills.” I started ticking the list off on my fingers. “It would have to be someone with great people skills, who can answer customer questions, a good salesperson, who knows all about fabric and notions and how things are trending in quilting, and who can sew samples as well as teach all levels of quilters. That’s a pretty tall order to fill. Especially if you’re paying minimum wage.”

  “True,” Mom said. “It’s a big job. You’d definitely have to throw in some perks.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Well then, here’s the deal. Minimum wage, plus room and board, at least until I can find a place of my own, plus free fabric and notions, four weeks of vacation, and Sundays and Mondays off. I don’t want to work on the Sabbath. You won’t have to pay for my insurance because I’ve already got Medicare, plus my supplemental insurance with your dad’s pension.”

  “What? Mom. What are you saying?”

  She rolled her eyes as if wanting to take back what she’d said before, the part about me not being stupid. “I’m saying, if I’m going to take the job, I’d need minimum wage, plus room and board, fabric—”

  I put up my hands to stop her. “No, no, I got that the first time.” I laughed. “But…you’re saying you’d be willing to stay in New Bern, permanently, and work as assistant manager for Cobbled Court Quilts?”

  “I’m not particular about the title, but yes,” she said. “That’s what I’m saying.”

  “But before,” I said incredulously, “you were dead set against staying in New Bern. What’s different now?” Suddenly I was suspicious. “This doesn’t have anything to do with Gibb Rainey, does it?”

  “Gibb? Oh, heavens, no!” Mom exclaimed, coloring a little. “We’re just friends. Not that it’s any of your business, Evelyn, but there’s nothing between Gibb and me and there never will be. He’s a nice man, but compared to your father? I don’t think so.

  “The truth is, New Bern has grown on me. It’s good to have friends again. More importantly, it’s good to have a purpose again. Helping out at the quilt shop, teaching the next generation of quilters, all those young mothers-to-be and the little ones at New Beginnings? It’s given me a reason to get up in the morning. I like feeling needed again. And when the one who needs you is your own daughter, the person you love most in the whole world? Well, that’s just icing on the cake.” Mom’s eyes twinkled. She laid her hand on my arm and patted me affectionately.

  “Now, don’t you go marrying Charlie just to get me to stay in New Bern. I’ve pretty much made up my mind to stay anyway. I like it here. It just took me a while to realize it. But at least think about it, all right? No marriage is easy, Evelyn. But if you love Charlie and he loves you, then I think you’re smart enough to figure out a way to make it work. Don’t you? And if I can help you…Well, so much the better for all of us.”

  “Oh, Mom.” I wrapped my arms around her and clung tight to her, just as Liza had to me.

  Daughter-in-love can be an honorary title or a hereditary one, but either way, come age and arguments, fights and forgiveness, it’s a lifetime appointment.

  39

  Evelyn Dixon

  Mom and I were still laughing and wiping tears from our eyes when Byron tapped on the door.

  “Margot is pacing in the vestibule, walking off a little steam while she waits for the rest of you. Arnie is standing up front with Franklin and the other groomsmen, looking pale and very repentant. I think we’d better have this wedding while he’s still upright.”

  Three minutes later, I was lined up in the vestibule along with the others, nervously waiting for Byron’s signal to go.

  “Ready?” he asked in a quiet but steady voice. “Big breath, everybody. Evelyn, don’t look so serious. You’ll be fine. Smile, everyone! Here we go!”

  He pushed open the double doors. A swell of violin music greeted us, filling the sanctuary and urging us forward.

  In spite of Byron’s reassurance, I was nervous. I stepped off on the right foot instead of the left and had to do a little hop step to get back on the correct foot. I hoped no one noticed.

  I followed Liza down the aisle, past the pews filled with friends, toward Franklin, who waited at the altar with eyes only for Abigail. As I drew closer, I could not help but look past him to that stubborn, gruff-mannered, ill-tempered, giving, caring, darling man standing on his left: Charlie, who had eyes only for me.

  Suddenly, my nervousness fled, leaving behind nothing but the wish that Charlie and Franklin might trade places, that when I reached the end of the aisle Charlie might be standing there, waiting for me.

  And so later, after the vows were restated before God and the world and the dinners served, and the cake cut, and the champagne uncorked, and the speeches made, and toasts drunk, and when I was finally where I had wanted to be all along, dancing in the arms of my beloved, I wasted no time before looking up into that face I love above all others, and saying, “Charlie? I do.”

  “You do what?” His brow furrowed, confused, then unfurrowed with sudden understanding. His blue eyes lit up from the inside out.

  “You do? You will?”

  I nodded. “I do, Charlie. And I will. Forever and always.”

  40

  Liza Burgess

  My cell phone emitted an ominous beeping sound, the one that signals I’m about two minutes away from a dead battery. Fortunately, my call was about to wrap up.

  “Great! Thank you so, so much, Professor! I won’t let you down!”

  “I know you won’t, Liza. That’s why I’m hiring you. Have a wonderful trip. I’ll see you in August.”

  “Right, Professor. And thanks again. And don’t worry, I’m going to make sure—”

  She laughed, interrupting me. “You don’t need to say it again, Liza. I believe you. I’m glad you’re so excited. You should be. It’s a great opportunity, for both of us. Now go on. Catch your plane.”

  “Okay. Good-bye, Professor.”

  “Liza? Just one more thing. Well, two. First, quit calling me Professor. I’m not your teacher anymore. Selena will be fine. Second, please tell Garrett I’m sorry about accosting him on the street that day. Now that you’ve told me the whole story, I can see what an enlightened, supportive man he is. I hope you know how lucky you are. Men like that don’t come along every day of the week, believe me,” she said. “Anyway, give Garrett my apologies and my best. Someday, I hope I get to meet him again. Under more cordial circumstances.”

  “Oh, you will, Prof—I mean, Selena. We’ve worked out a plan. He’s going to visit me in Chicago every third weekend.”

  “Wonderful! Then we can all go out for dinner. My treat, all right? Now run and catch your plane, dear. Have a wonderful time. Give my regards to the Louvre! And Versailles! And the Bois de Boulogne! Ah, to be young and in love and going to Paris for the first time…. Enjoy it, Liza. Life is short. Enjoy every moment!”

  “I will, Selena. I am. Thank you. Good-bye.”

  I reached out to press the End button just as the screen went blank, the battery spent. Good timing.

  Garrett was sitting in the waiting area for our flight to Paris, his feet crossed and propped up on his backpack and his own phone still at his ear, just where he’d been half an hour before. I slipped my phone into my purse and walked back to our seats, thinking how cute Garrett was.

  “Yeah. Okay, I’ll tell her. Love you too. Bye. Don’t worry, I will. Yes,” he said with studied patience, “I promise. Grandma, I’ve got to go. It’s almost time for us to board.”

  Actually, our flight wouldn’t board for another half hour, but I couldn’t blame Garret for stretching the truth a little. The way it sounded, it might take him that long to get Virginia off the line. I sat down next to him, pulled a plastic zipper bag ou
t of my carry-on, and started stitching one of the quilt blocks I’d brought with me. After a couple more attempts and a couple more good-byes, he was finally able to sign off.

  Yawning, he turned the power off on his phone, then laid his arm across my shoulders. “Sorry,” he said. “It’s not you. I couldn’t sleep last night. Too excited, I guess.”

  “Me too.”

  “That’s probably a good thing. We can sleep on the plane and when we wake up, it’ll be morning in Paris. A whole new day.”

  “I never sleep on planes,” I said. “While you’re sleeping, I’ll be quilting. I’d like to get the piecing done by the time we get back to New Bern. Virginia said she’d help me with the quilting later. The whole thing will be hand stitched,” I said, smoothing the block down on my leg, trying to finger press the seam I’d just finished.

  Garrett leaned over and peered at the block. “That’s nice. Mom will love it. But you should at least try to sleep. You’ll be jet-lagged if you don’t. How was your call to Professor Williams? From the smile on your face, I’d say everything is still on track.”

  “The board met last night and approved all Selena’s proposed hires—including me.” I grinned. “You are looking at the Pinkham Museum’s new assistant curator for the decorative arts. Should look pretty impressive on a business card, don’t you think? By the way, Professor Williams, who I am now supposed to call Selena, sends her apologies and her greetings. She wants to take us out to dinner when you come to Chicago.”

  “Really? Well, that’s certainly a turnaround from being attacked on the street and called a misogynist. Speaking of messages, you’ve got stacks of them. When people couldn’t get through on your number, they called mine instead.”

  He closed his eyes and screwed up his face. “Let’s see if I can remember them all. Grandma says to say hello, to watch out for pick-pockets, not to drink the water, and to remind you to remind me to send her a postcard from the Eiffel Tower.”