“That’s true. I’m surprised people aren’t asking you questions. Anyway, we missed you at practice.”
“Do you really think I’d rather be slicing and dicing vegetables in the kitchen while my mom talks about leaving St. Anastasia’s?”
“No, I don’t think so.” She laughed. “The game wasn’t the same without you cheering me on.”
“Tell me everything about the game.” Suzy did such a good job telling me about the game that I felt like I was there. She told me I don’t have to worry about losing my job at third base. Suzy was becoming a good friend. Someday maybe I’d tell her the whole story.
I wasn’t working on Saturday so I slept as late as I could. It was almost noon when I got up. Gramps was reading in the sunroom when I came downstairs. He put down the book. “Sit down,” he said. “I was waiting for you for lunch.”
“That’s nice, Gramps. I like our Saturday lunches.”
“What would you like today? Grilled cheese or peanut butter and jelly with soup?”
“I’ll take grilled cheese.”
“Me too. Why don’t we go into the kitchen?”
Gramps stood up. He waited until I went out of the door first. Gramps would never walk through a door before a girl. He thought men should open doors for women. If all the seats on a bus were taken, the men should stand up and let the women sit, Gramps would say. He called himself old-fashioned. Old-fashioned or not, he was the perfect gentleman.
Gramps got the grilled cheese ready. I picked out vegetable beef soup and put it in a pan. Gramps and I stood together fixing lunch; it seemed like the perfectly natural thing to do. After lunch, Gramps asked me if I wanted to look at the old photo albums.
We sat together on the living room couch. Gramps took out all the photo albums. “Should we start at the beginning?” We looked at Gramp’s wedding picture. There was my Grandma Rose and Gramps looking so young and happy. “I knew she was the one the first time I saw her,” he said.
I nodded. Gramps always said that when we talked about Grandma Rose. Wel ooked at pictures of my mom and Aunt Florence down by the river. There was a picture of Uncle Daniel pointing at a paddle wheeler. Another picture showed Grandma Rose and the three children on the front steps of the house.
Gramps took out the picture of Uncle Daniel in his army uniform. Gramps stared at it for a minute before he handed it to me. “I can’t believe it’s been twenty two years.”
“I feel like I know him from our talks, Gramps.”
He patted my arm. “You’re a great listener.”
“Remember when you told me I should be a psychiatrist?”
“I remember. Who knows, maybe you will. You helped all of us.”
I thought about all the things that happened three years ago. “I learned a lot about the family.”
“Secrets can be a burden for people,” he said.
“What?”
“I said secrets can be a burden for people. I’m so grateful you got us talking.”
“It wasn’t just me, Gramps.”
“You’re right. Everyone in the family wanted the secrets out. But you got it going.”
“I guess I did because you’re my family and I wanted to know what had happened to you in the past.”
“I feel that way too. I want to know what’s going on with my family.” Gramps hadn’t taken his eyes off me since he started describing secrets as a burden.
I looked down at the picture of my Uncle Daniel on my lap. I felt my face getting warm and shifted in the seat. “Actually, I forgot, I’ve got homework to do. You know how the end of the year is.” I put the picture back in the open album. “We can look at the rest of these later,” I said as I stood up.
“Okay, Bella. Give me a hug.” His arms were open like they always were for little Rosie. “Remember, your cousin Daniel is coming tonight for dinner.”
“That’s right, I forgot.”
“Florence, Mike, and Rosie are coming tonight too.”
Great. I’d be subjected to Uncle Mike’s stares all night.
“Gotta go.”
I could not look Gramps in the eye. He knew I was lying about the whole whiskey deal and I knew he wanted me to tell him what happened. I didn’t know how to do that without having lots more questions coming my way. So, contrary to my personality, I cut Gramps off and went upstairs.
Chapter Twenty One
Daniel’s Visit
My mom came home at five o’clock. “Colette, I need help,” she said.
She was in the kitchen getting hamburgers and french fries ready; our usual Saturday meal. “Could you peel the potatoes and slice them for french fries?”
“I will.” I had no trouble peeling potatoes; I felt like I could do it in my sleep. And I loved my mom’s home-made french fries so I didn’t mind that either. I wondered if Gramps had told her about our afternoon conversation.
“Did you remember that Daniel is coming and Florence, Mike, and Rosie?”
“Gramps told me. When are they coming here?”
“About six. Daniel stopped by the store for a few minutes before going to Florence’s.” My mom made the hamburger patties and put them on a plate with wax paper between them. “I figure two hamburgers each for the men and one for you, Florence, and me. That’s eleven. I’ll make twelve and that should take care of it.”
“We’ll need a lot of french fries. What else are we having?”
“I got some cans of baked beans. I didn’t have time to make anything else.”
“What’s for dessert?”
“Florence made two strawberry rhubarb pies.”
“Yum.”
Daniel came a little before six. We hadn’t seen him since Christmas vacation. Gramps gave him a big hug and told him how good he looked. He had finished his third year at Madison.
“What are you doing this summer, Colette?” Daniel asked.
“I don’t know. I really don’t have anything planned.” “How about camp? I used to do that in high school.”
“Camp sounds wonderful. It would get me out of the house.”
Daniel laughed. “You need to get out of the house, do you?”
“Yeah, I do. Especially since I’m grounded.”
Daniel looked back and forth from Gramps to my mom. The doorbell rang and opened. Rosie came running in and Gramps swept her up. Aunt Florence and Uncle Mike followed. My dad pulled the car into the garage. My mom said, “Good, John’s home.”
My dad lit the coals in the grill. Aunt Florence went right into the kitchen and put on an apron. That meant I didn’t have to be in the kitchen. Hallelujah.
In a half hour we were sitting at the table with the hamburgers, buns, french fries, and baked beans in front of us. We waited for Gramps to say “Grace.” “Bless us oh Lord...,” he began. All of us including Daniel joined in. Gramps added his usual, “Thank you, Lord, for our food and for each other.”
The food was passed around and the conversation centered on Daniel and his plans for the summer and for his last year at Madison. I just sat back and listened. No one asked me about softball or my plans for the summer.
The more I thought about Daniel’s idea of camp, the more I liked it. “I’m thinking about going to camp this summer,” I said. I had just interrupted the conversation about what classes Daniel had left. He didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he had a half-smile on his face.
“That’s a good idea. I really liked camp in the summer,” Daniel said.
“I’d like that experience too. In fact, I’ve always wanted to go to Lake Itasca.”
“Oh, you should,” Aunt Florence said. “I loved it. It’s the beginning of the Mississippi River. You can walk across it.”
My mom and dad looked more than a little surprised since I had never said a word about Lake Itasca or camping for that matter.
“Do you think everybody in Minnesota should see Lake Itasca?” I asked.
Both Daniel and Aunt Florence nodded. “I do,” Daniel said. “And the Boundary Waters to
o. Everybody should see that.”
“And the North Shore. Don’t forget about Lake Superior,” Aunt Florence said.
“I wonder why we’ve never gone camping or taken advantage of all the great places in Minnesota. Mom and Dad, why haven’t we?” I asked.
“Well, because...” my mom said. “I don’t know why.”
“We have a business,” my dad said. “I can’t leave it for a week.”
Gramps hadn’t said a word but now he chimed in. “I felt that way too, John. I wish I had taken more time off.”
My dad had taken two weeks off when we went to Italy. Last summer, when Aunt Sofia visited, my dad closed the store both Saturdays that they were here.
My mom had started clearing the table. “Florence, will you help me?” She asked.
“Mike, I could use some help too,” my dad said. My dad cleaned the grill right after dinner. He went to the back porch with Uncle Mike.
Aunt Florence and my mom finished clearing the table and then disappeared into the kitchen. They had to make whipped cream for the pies. Gramps was busy making sure that Rosie didn’t climb the stairs or anything else that she could fall from. That left Daniel and I alone.
“I’m glad you like school,” I said.
“I do like school. It’s so different from high school.” He combed his fingers through his thick, black hair. “I have to ask you something.”
“Go ahead.” The two of us were standing in the living room. He was tall and thin but not skinny. He had dark, where are the pupil, eyes like Gramps and me.
“What did you do?”
“Didn’t they tell you?”
“No.”
“Well. I’m not going to tell you either because I didn’t do anything. They just think I did and that bugs me.” I sat down on the couch.
Daniel sat in a chair. He leaned forward. “Why don’t you tell them the truth then?”
“I can’t. It involves other people.”
“I understand. You don’t want to be a tattletale.”
“I’m not a tattletale.”
“I want to ask you another question.”
“Okay.”
“What do you think of Jake? I met him at the store today.”
“I don’t know.” I rubbed my hands together. “Do you like him?”
“He’s okay. What do you think of him?”
“There’s something I don’t like about him.”
“Lots of kids think he’s cool.”
“Oh, that explains it.”
“Explains what?” Aunt Florence asked. She stopped in front of Daniel and me.
“Nothing. Colette and I were just talking about the end of the school year.”
“Okay. Let’s have dessert.” Aunt Florence carried one of her strawberry rhubarb pies to the table. My mom followed with the other one.
“Delicious, Florence. Your pie is wonderful,” Gramps said. “One of my favorites.”
“Thanks.” She gave a little bow.
Daniel left at nine o’clock, shortly after Aunt Florence, Mike, and Rosie. Gramps hugged Daniel and kissed him on both cheeks. “Godspeed, Daniel,” Gramps said.
“Come back soon,” my mom said. She gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“Before the end of the summer,” he said. “Bye, Colette. Have a good summer.”
“I will. Bye.”
“Come help me in the kitchen,” my mom said.
All the dessert plates were in a pile waiting to be washed. There were plates in the drying rack that my mom was putting away. Soapy water was in the dishpan. I didn’t think this would be the time to ask my mom why we didn’t have a dishwasher.
“Do you really want to go to Lake Itasca?” My mom asked.
“Well, Aunt Florence told me how great it was. So did Daniel. I guess I do want to go there.”
“Maybe I can talk your dad into taking three or four days off and we can go this summer. Gramps has never been there and neither have I.”
“That would really be fun.” I couldn’t believe it. Maybe she wasn’t all that mad at me.
“How about camping? Do you want to go camping?”
“No, I’m not the camping type. I like a bed.”
“Good. So do I.”
Chapter Twenty Two
God’s Country
The next day at the Diner all the talk was about Daniel. “I liked talking to him about all the wonderful places he’s been to in Minnesota,” I said.
“That was interesting,” my mom agreed.
“Especially the camping part,” my dad said. “I didn’t know you loved camping, Colette.”
“I thought I did for a minute when he was talking about going up to the Boundary Waters this summer and canoeing.” I took a bite of bacon. It was so good. “He called it ‘God’s Country.’ Even though I’d like to see it, it seems like a lot of work.”
“It is. You have to bring in all the food, make a fire every night, and pitch a tent,” my mom said.
“He said it’s wonderful sitting by the fire at night and looking at the stars.”
“Yes, it is wonderful,” my dad said. “I went there in college with friends. You also have to carry the canoe from lake to lake. That’s called portaging.”
“How do you know where to go?” I asked.
“There are maps. But it’s a huge area with many, many lakes. You can get lost if you’re not careful.”
“What was your favorite part?”
“The quiet while we were canoeing. The air and water are so clean. It’s exhilarating to take in a deep breath.”
Gramps said, “I think I’m too old to portage and camp but I would like to go to Lake Itasca.”
“Me too, Gramps,” I said.
When we got home, my mom and dad took me into the sunroom and closed the door.
“Sit down, Colette,” my dad said. “Your mother and I have decided something.”
“We’re talking about the grounding,” my mom said.
I sat up straighter. Had they found out something?
“I asked parents at school how much time is appropriate for grounding. They all agreed three weeks is really severe. And you didn’t lie about where you were going, sneak out of the house, do something dangerous, or anything like that.”
“No, I didn’t do anything like that. I wouldn’t do any of those things.”
“I know. And we’ve never grounded you before so we kind of went overboard.”
“Not completely overboard. Something happened at Florence and Mike’s. We’re not getting the whole story,” my dad said.
I thought about saying maybe Mike just thought water was put in his whiskey and then I thought better of it. If I had to guess, my mom was more on my side than my dad. So it was Mom, Aunt Florence, and probably Gramps in my corner. Uncle Mike and Dad in the other corner. I waited to see what would come next.
My mom looked at my dad. “John, I thought we agreed.”
Oh, this was interesting. I bet Gramps or Aunt Florence said something to my mom and then she asked people at school if it was unfair.
“We did agree, Gemma. I’m just saying we weren’t totally out of line.”
“Okay, I hear you. But that’s not why we brought Colette in here. I might as well just say it. Your grounding was much too much.” She looked at my dad for a minute before continuing. “You’ve been very helpful to me in the kitchen and done it without complaining. I appreciate that.”
I really didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t go to softball practice and I didn’t want to sit up in my room. I crossed my fingers.
“Your dad and I have compromised here. He wanted you to finish the three weeks. I thought two weeks was plenty of time.” My mom stood next to my dad in their usual united front. “Anyway, we decided that your grounding will be over on Saturday. You’re working that day but you can go out Saturday night if you want to. There, that’s it.”
I was stunned. I didn’t know what brought this all about but I wasn’t arguing, believe me. “Thank
you,” I said.
“No more lying,” my dad said.
“I won’t.”
“I’ll still need help in the kitchen this week,” my mom said.
“Sure, I can do that.” I was not going to mind chopping vegetables or peeling potatoes one bit. I could practice next week and then the championship game was on Saturday, the day after our last day of school.
Monday was Memorial Day so we had the day off of school. The store was closed too. We went for a drive to the cemetery where Grandma Rose and Uncle Daniel were buried. This was something we did every year. A lot of people were visiting graves and putting flowers and flags there.
The two graves were next to each other. Gramps went once a week all year, rain or shine. He knelt down between the graves. He wiped his eyes and so did my mom. She had made two bouquets of iris and peonies from our backyard. She placed a bouquet on each grave. We said the “Our Father” together. I thought the “Our Father” was a versatile prayer because we always said it at Mass, before every game, and even at the cemetery.
On the way home we talked about Grandma Rose and Uncle Daniel. The more my family talked, the more I wished I had known them both. It was hard to believe that I didn’t since Grandma Rose and Uncle Daniel were so much a part of my family’s lives.
Chapter Twenty Three
An Invitation
At school on Tuesday, I told Suzy about the change in my grounding.
“Maybe my idea really did work,” she said. “I think your mom got sick of you being every place she went.”
“Maybe.” I didn’t think that was the reason, but since she thought her plan was such a great plan, I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Anyway, we had talked about my grounding every day without her even knowing the reason.
“How about coming over on Saturday?”
“That would be great.”
The rest of the week flew by with our teachers finishing up lessons, me preparing vegetables every afternoon in the kitchen, and doing homework every evening after dinner. I couldn’t wait for summer vacation.
It Starts With a Lie Page 9