The Virtuous Woman

by Gilbert, Morris

  “I made some fresh cinnamon rolls,” Betty said. “You want one?”

  “Yes, I think I will.” She took two of them, wrapped them in napkins, and started out the back door to find Kevin and apologize. Not finding him in the garage, she went out to look for him on the grounds.

  She located him at the pond, staring down at the goldfish. He looked up when he heard her, and her heart broke when she saw the look on his face. She held out one of the cinnamon rolls. “A peace offering, brother.”

  Kevin smiled crookedly. “That’s the first hangover I’ve ever had. It felt like a blacksmith was pounding my head to pieces.”

  “I’m sorry, Kev. I shouldn’t have let you drink all that wine.”

  “For some reason I didn’t think wine made you drunk. I thought you could drink a whole bottle of it.”

  “Well, you know better now.” She gazed down at a large fish that appeared to be watching them. “Look at that,” she said. “He’s making O’s with his mouth. I bet he can’t do Z’s.”

  Kevin laughed and took a bite of the cinnamon roll. “This is good,” he said. “First thing I’ve had to eat today.”

  “Did you throw up?”

  “Like crazy! Why do people drink? Do you always feel that crummy the next day?”

  “Every single time.”

  “Then I guess I won’t ever do it again.”

  Grace watched him nibble on his cinnamon roll. “You didn’t do nothin’ wrong, Kev. I was the one who did wrong.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I didn’t die, but this morning I thought I was going to.”

  “I feel bad about Cara and Phil.”

  “Do me a favor, will you, sis?”

  “Sure I will. What is it?”

  He grinned at her. “You mean you’re promising without knowing what it is?”

  “You wouldn’t ask me to do nothin’ wrong. You’re not like me.”

  “Don’t be silly. I do plenty of wrong things.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “I wish you’d call them Mom and Dad.”

  Grace dropped her head and looked at the lush grass beneath her feet. When she looked up, she was smiling. “That’s easy enough to do. Might shock them a bit.”

  “They’ll like it.”

  “Anything else I can do for you?”

  “No. Not that I know of.”

  “I’m sorry I got you drunk, but it was probably the most exciting evening of your life, wasn’t it?”

  “I guess so.” Kevin grinned ruefully. “Who was Doris? I kept thinking about her last night.”

  “She was a tart who tried to pick you up!”

  “She was?” He looked shocked. “She seemed like such a nice girl.”

  “Well, she wasn’t.”

  Grace felt better now that she’d apologized. She’d been afraid that Kevin would be angry with her, but there was a sweetness in him she could not resist. They walked around the grounds while he showed her some of the improvements he was making, and they stopped beside a fragrant bush with white flowers. “That smells good. What is it?”

  “It’s just honeysuckle. You mean you’ve never smelled it?”

  “I may have, but I don’t remember.” She looked at him and suddenly asked, “Kev, what do you really want out of life?”

  He looked at her in surprise. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, you don’t want to spend the next fifty years cooped up here. It’s like a jail. Oh, it ain’t a bad jail, but it’s kind of a prison for you.”

  “It’s not so bad,” he said defensively.

  “But you must want something more than this.” Grace saw his expression change, and she reached out and put her hand on his arm. “What is it?”

  “Nothing,” he said quickly.

  She knew he was not telling the truth, and she wondered what sort of ambition or dream he might have that he could not speak of. Kevin turned the tables and said, “What do you want, sis?”

  She was surprised that he would ask, but she was a quick thinker. There were things she wanted, but like Kevin, she could not speak of them. “What do I want? Just a brand-new Italian motorcycle—top of the line! Ain’t that what every girl wants?”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “No, I love bikes. That’s what I was doing when Francis found me. Ridin’ motorcycles for a living.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “I love to ride ’em. They’re not like cars at all. You can open them up and go tearin’ down the road. That’s what I want, all right. A new Italian bike—but they cost like everything. I’ll never get one.”

  Kevin smiled and the smooth side of his face showed warmth, while the other side remained frozen. “Maybe you’ll get it under the tree for Christmas.”

  “Maybe. You know what else I’d like? I’d like to learn somethin’ about flowers. Will you teach me?”

  “Sure,” he said. “Come on. I’ll get you a shovel, but you’ll have to change clothes....”

  ****

  After digging in the earth with Kevin for almost two hours, Grace looked at her hands and laughed ruefully. “I’m gonna have blisters.” She smiled at Kevin. “But it was fun.”

  “More fun than getting drunk. I bet I couldn’t have gotten Doris to dig in the ground like this.”

  “I don’t think you could. I’m gonna go clean up.”

  Grace went back to her room to bathe and change her clothes, then went out back to the patio. She was surprised to find Cara painting a picture of a potted flower. Approaching quietly and looking at the canvas, Grace remembered Kevin’s request and decided to try it out. “That’s real good, Mom,” she said. A warm light came into her mother’s eyes, and Grace knew she was pleased with the name. “I didn’t know you could paint like that.”

  “Oh, I’m just a dabbler compared to your father.”

  “Go on paintin’. I wanna watch.”

  “All right,” Cara said. “You know, your father rescued me from becoming an invalid. Did I ever tell you that?”

  “No, what was wrong with you?”

  “I had a childhood sickness, and it took me a long time to get over it. My father was a good man, but he was overly protective. He was hard on his other children without knowing it, but he tended to spoil me because I was ill.”

  “Whadd’ya mean he was hard on them?”

  “He loved them and wanted good things for them, but he was a strict disciplinarian. I was his favorite, and he was afraid something would happen to me. Without meaning to, he made an invalid out of me. I see that now. He kept me in the house and had a doctor there almost every day.” She looked into the distance and smiled. “I remember the first day your father came to our house. My brother had been hurt at school, and Phil brought him home. I hadn’t had any suitors yet, and he fascinated me. I found out very soon that he was quite interested in me, but my father didn’t want me to have anything to do with him.”

  “Tell me all about it. I want to hear everything.”

  The two sat at the patio table and Grace listened while her mother told of their eventual courtship and how against great odds Phil won her heart and begged her to leave her father’s house and marry him.

  “Did your father ever learn to accept him?”

  “Yes, to our surprise he showed up at our wedding and gave me away. And after that he was fine. Actually he was very proud of Phil. They became good friends before Dad died.”

  “You must have been lonely cooped up in a house like that.”

  “I was dying inside and didn’t even know it. I didn’t know how to get away, Grace, and then Phil came and rescued me.”

  “Dad’s pretty special to you, isn’t he?”

  “Oh yes.” She had a faraway look in her eyes for a moment. “You’ve got to learn about the Winslow family. They’re wonderful people. They can trace their family all the way back to the Mayflower, when Gilbert Winslow came to the New World. His blood is in you, Grace. God isn’t going to waste it.”


  A faint hope stirred in Grace as she saw the love in her mother’s eyes. “I hope so, Mom,” she said. “I’m a pretty tough cookie, though. I’m not sure God has too much use for me.”

  “You are very special to God. You never know what He will do with your life.” Cara stood up and hugged Grace and then kissed her cheek. “I’m glad you’re home, daughter,” she said gently.

  ****

  After her escapade with Kevin, Grace deliberately tried to please the family. She let Paige take her shopping, and her sister bought her some more suitable clothes. Grace did not like them as much as Paige did, but she did not let on. She had apologized to Brian for her outburst, and he in turn tried to be more pleasant with her.

  She spent most of her time with her parents, sometimes watching her father paint and getting to know him better and sometimes letting her mother teach her how to cook. She also loved being with Kevin. They worked on cars together and went out on test drives; at other times, she worked in the garden with him.

  One morning after breakfast, Kevin said, “Come on, sis.”

  “Come where?”

  “Outside. I’ve got a surprise for you.”

  “You just want me to dig more holes, that’s all.”

  “Not this time. Come along.”

  Mystified, Grace followed him, and he led her to the garage. Taking her arm, he said, “Now close your eyes.”

  “It’s not my birthday yet, you know.”

  “Well, it will be soon. Come on and close them.”

  Obediently Grace closed her eyes and smiled, wondering what in the world he had planned. He guided her in, and when he pulled her to a stop, he said, “All right, you can open them.”

  When she opened her eyes, Grace gasped, “It’s an Italian bike!”

  Kevin was watching her expression. He saw her eyes light up and her lips part with pleasure. “Happy birthday, sis.”

  Grace ran her hand over the sleek machine. It was a top-of-the-line Italian bike. “I can’t believe it,” she said, turning to Kevin. “You can’t spend this much money on me.”

  “Why not? You’re my sister, aren’t you? And this is what you want more than anything else in the world.”

  “Oh, Kev, you’re so sweet!” She put her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. She hugged him tightly, and for some absurd reason she wanted to cry. Fighting back the tears and stepping away, she shook her head. “You shouldn’t have done it.”

  “You got anything you can wear to go for a ride on this thing?”

  “Have I! You just wait. I’ll be right back.”

  Dashing away to her room, she quickly changed into the black leather biker’s outfit she had worn in the Ring of Death. She zipped the front of it modestly up to her neckline, then pulled on her boots, grabbed her goggles and helmet, and ran downstairs. She passed Cara in the hall, who stared at her in shock.

  “Don’t worry, Mom. Kevin got me a new motorcycle. This is my ridin’ outfit. Come on and see it.”

  She ran out to the garage at full speed, and when she reached Kevin, he said, “What kind of a getup is that?”

  “It’s what lady motorcycle riders wear,” she said. “Let’s start it up. Have you ridden it yet?”

  “No. I wanted you to be the first, but I’ve started the engine. It runs like a top.”

  Cara came running up, followed by Phil. He had evidently been watching out his window and came down immediately. Paige appeared too, her eyes wide with the shock of seeing Grace in her tight-fitting outfit. “This is what my brother gave me for my birthday,” Grace said gaily. “I’m going to take you all for a ride. Go get some ridin’ clothes on, Mom.”

  “Not for a moment would I think of getting on that thing!”

  “Neither would I!” Paige exclaimed.

  “I may take a ride,” Phil said with a grin. “I used to ride a cycle once in a while, but you go ahead and give it a run first.”

  “Go for it, sis,” Kevin encouraged as she pulled her goggles and helmet on.

  Grace got onto the seat and kicked the starter, and the engine broke into a riotous roar. “Watch this,” she yelled. She drove the cycle out of the garage and opened it up full speed. She flung gravel behind her and felt the wind in her face, once again experiencing the thrill she always felt when she rode a cycle. She had never been on one as fine as this. Her heart swelled at Kevin’s kindness, and she thought, He’s the sweetest brother in all the world.

  ****

  Francis heard the roar of an engine outside his window and got up to look out. He laughed when he saw the shiny new cycle pull up. “Well, it’s Ruby back again.” He waited for the bang of the outside door, then heard her take the steps two at a time. He opened his apartment door and she burst in from the hallway.

  “Come on, Francis. I want you to see my new Italian bike.”

  “I saw it. It makes more noise than a twin locomotive.”

  “You’ve gotta come with me.”

  “I’m busy right now.” He stepped aside, and for the first time Grace saw a pretty young woman who had risen to her feet. “This is Karen Bell,” Francis said. “She’s doing some research for me. Karen, this is Ruby ... I mean Grace Winslow.”

  “Hi,” Grace said, her curiosity stirred. “You been workin’ for this guy long?”

  “No, I just started.” Karen was staring at her outfit and said, “I saw your motorcycle. Do you ride it everywhere?”

  “I just got it.” She turned to Key. “Kev got it for me. Wasn’t that sweet of him?”

  “I’m not sure. I think those things are dangerous.”

  “Come on. You’ve gotta go for a ride.”

  “Not me,” Francis said. “I’d like to keep all my arms and legs.”

  Grace was happier than she had ever been in her life. She grabbed his arm and squeezed it.

  Miriam squawked, “My Francis!”

  “Be quiet, Miriam!” Grace laughed. “I won’t take no for an answer. You won’t even need a helmet. Just sit on the back and hang on.”

  Key gave in and shrugged. “I knew you’d get me killed before this was over.” He put down the paper he was holding. “Karen, you can go ahead and keep working. I won’t be gone too long.”

  “All right, Francis.”

  Grace led the way outside and flung her leg over the motorcycle. She kicked the starter, and when the engine revved, she said, “Come on and get on. I’m gonna show you what a real ride is like.”

  Nervously Key got on and put his arms around her waist. “No tricks, now. Just take it easy.”

  “Sure.”

  Key felt himself pitched backward as she gunned the machine. He gasped and held on tightly. He was very aware of the fullness of her figure and knew that she was delighted at having succeeded at getting him on the bike. He clung to her as she turned a corner, leaning over precariously. “Not so fast!” he shouted.

  “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, Francis!”

  It was the ride of Key’s life, and thirty minutes later she pulled up in front of his apartment building. “How’d you like it?” she asked.

  Releasing his grip, he stepped off and grinned at her. “It’s as fun a way of committing suicide as any I ever saw. Come on in. You can tell me all about this fancy new bike.”

  When they got inside, Karen was gone.

  “Where’s she off to?” Grace asked curiously.

  “Probably to the library.” Key dropped a cover over Miriam’s cage, ignoring her protests.

  “She’s a pretty girl.”

  “I suppose so.”

  Pulling off her helmet, Grace said, “You suppose so. Didn’t you notice?”

  Key shrugged. “I guess I did. She’s good at research—that’s why I hired her. Would you like something to eat?”

  “Sure. I’m starved.”

  “How about tuna fish sandwiches? I made up some tuna salad last night.”

  “Yeah.”

  The two worked together to move the stacks of papers and books fro
m the table to the floor to squeeze in enough room for two plates. Soon they were sitting at the table, finishing up their sandwiches and washing them down with soda pop.

  “How’s the book goin’?” Grace asked.

  “All right, I guess. Do you read many novels?”

  “Just romances. Does yours have any romance in it?”

  “Sure it does.”

  “I thought writers had to know about things in order to write about them.”

  Key gave her an indignant look. “I know about romance.”

  “How? You read about it in books?”

  “Sure.”

  Grace could not sit still. She got up and paced the floor, then came over to stand behind him. “I tried to teach you something about romance, but you didn’t want any lessons.”

  “I told you I’m sorry—”

  “Oh, forget it, Francis. You’re just the way you are. Tell me about the book.” She curled up on the cot, her feet beneath her, and listened as he told her a little about it. He was reluctant to give her too many details, though. Finally she said, “Give me some of it to read.”

  “Not until it’s finished, but you can read this.” He picked up a book and handed it to her.

  She looked at the title. “Old Pioneers. What’s it about?”

  “Read it, and then we’ll talk.”

  “All right.” She got up and said, “I’ll let you get back to work now.” As she started out the door, she turned and asked, “What about Karen? Are you two havin’ a thing?”

  “No, of course not. It’s just business.”

  “Didn’t you ever have a woman, a real girlfriend, I mean, Francis?”

  “That’s none of your business.”

  This only egged her on. “Ever plan to have one?”

  “Yes.” Francis Key did not like this conversation, and he began to push her out the door. “Thanks for the motorcycle ride.”

  “When?”

  “When what?”

  “When are you going to get a real woman, a girlfriend?”

  “When I find one I want to spend my whole life with. Somebody I can grow old with.”

  Grace found this amusing. “So the two of you will lose all your teeth and get gray hair and go creakin’ around together?”