by Patricia Fry
“Incredible,” Brianna added.
“Well, thank you.” Max bowed in their direction, a big smile on his face. “We do enjoy the work.”
“Well, most of it,” Margaret agreed. “It is heartening to see a cat transformed from a street urchin with no place to go and no one to love him into a lap cat in a safe home.”
“Ah yes,” Max agreed. “That’s what it’s all about for us.”
Margaret addressed the couple with a new subject. “What would you two like to drink? We have red and white wine, herbal sun tea, beer…” she suggested.
Brianna looked around at what the others were drinking. “No wine for you tonight, Vannie?” she asked.
“No,” she responded. “The sun tea is really refreshing.”
“I’ll have a beer,” Bud said.
Brianna pointed to a bottle of chardonnay sitting on the counter. “White wine for me.”
After everyone was served, Savannah looked over at Margaret. “Auntie, I want to know more about the curse and the gypsies. Bud tells us the letter talks about a curse to render everything and everyone on the old Forster property infertile.”
“What? I didn’t know Bud could read German.”
“Yeah, two years in college. My ancestry is German, so I wanted the experience,” he explained, sneaking a quick glance in Brianna’s direction.
“Hmmm,” Margaret said as if genuinely impressed. She then addressed Savannah. “Infertility, huh? Let me think about it. As I recall, when Jed’s mother and father built the place, Jed was five and his older brother, Clem, was seven. As the story goes, Jed’s mother Abigail yearned for a girl. But despite their plans, including building that home for a large family, she didn’t get pregnant again. I never thought about it being for any other reason than…” she hesitated “…they just never had another child.”
Michael noticed Savannah’s mood shift. She was obviously troubled by this information. But just as obvious was the fact that she wasn’t going to let it go. “Who else lived in the house?” she asked.
Margaret thought for a moment and then continued, “Well, after their parents passed, Clem lived in the house because Jed travelled with his job. Jed met his wife in Colorado and they had Tom’s dad, Tom senior, and James. When Clem’s wife died, he didn’t want to live there anymore.” She looked down at her glass of wine, took a sip and then said, “Come to think of it, Clem and his wife never had any children. Jed and Ella May moved in with their two boys.”
“So did they have any more children?” Savannah asked, her voice shaking a little.
“What?” Margaret said, while reaching out to pet a cat that had strolled up to her.
“Did they have any more children?” Savannah insisted.
“Actually, no.” She lifted Layla onto her lap and began smoothing the fur around her pretty Persian face. She looked up at Savannah, a serious look on her face, and said, “You know, there has never been a child born to anyone living in that house.”
Savannah’s eyes welled up. Michael looked over in time to see her face contort into a mask of terror just before she burst into tears and rushed out of the room. Michael followed her, reaching her just as she stepped out onto the deck outside the back door. He held her for what seemed like hours, and she sobbed into his chest.
***
“I’m sorry about my blubbering last night, Michael,” Savannah said as she walked with him out to his truck the next morning.
“No need to apologize, honey. I know how much it means to you to have our baby. That crazy witchcraft thing was a kick in the stomach for me, too. But I don’t think it’s real, do you? How could it be? It’s just a bunch of hocus-pocus that someone made up over a hundred years ago, for heaven sakes. It has nothing to do with us.”
“I suppose so. That’s what I want to believe. I guess I’ve just been under a lot of stress and I’ve been so disappointed month after month.”
Michael took Savannah’s chin and raised her face so he could look into her eyes. He spoke softly. “We will have a baby. You can count on it. It’s just that the right one hasn’t chosen us, yet.”
She smiled at the thought.
“Now you go have a great time playing with your sister and forget all about that old curse. Will you?”
She nodded.
“Okay, now,” he said, kissing the end of her nose, “go have fun.”
Savannah waved goodbye to Michael, Lexie at her side. Once in the living room, Savannah noticed that Brianna was walking slowly down the stairs. She watched her younger sister stretch and yawn. Lexie spotted their guest, too. She ran over to Brianna and danced around her legs as she continued her descent.
“Do you guys get up this early every morning?” she asked, rubbing her fingers deeply into her eye sockets and then blinking at her sister. She bent down and greeted the dog. “Hi Lexie. Nice to see you, too. You are such a pretty girl.” She looked up briefly at her sister. “You know, Lexie makes me want a dog. They’re so full of unconditional love. Not like a cat.” She looked over and saw Rags, who was sitting in the middle of the coffee table. “Not like cats…” she said in a rather accusatory manner. “They’re too aloof for me. I want a constant show of affection.”
“Oh baloney,” Savannah said as she headed toward the kitchen. “Coffee?” she called over her shoulder.
“YES, please,” she yawned again. As she followed Savannah into the kitchen, she couldn’t help but ask, “What do you mean baloney?”
Savannah poured a fresh cup of coffee and added hot water to her herbal tea. “I mean, you are about as aloof as…Rags.”
“How do you figure?”
“Well, do you remember JugHead and how he mooned after you? You’d ditch him every chance you got?”
“JugHead?” Brianna questioned, running her fingers through the top of her thick dark hair to discourage stray strands from tickling her forehead. “Do you mean Jeremy? Oh my gosh, Vannie, he was a stalker!” she exclaimed.
“Stalker? He thought he was your boyfriend. You dumped him without letting him know, remember?”
“Couldn’t he tell I was over him? Anyway, that was in seventh grade.”
“What about Georgie Peyton? When he wanted to make out, you were off chatting it up with the neighbor kids.”
“They were building a science project!”
“I remember you telling me that one of your boyfriends quit dating you because you were more interested in the movie he took you to see than in him.”
“Well, I guess maybe I am careful who I smooch with.” She pondered the concept for a minute and then wrinkled up her nose. “I really don’t like smooching all that much.”
“Well, I’d say you haven’t found the right smoocher, yet,” Savannah teased.
“Come here, Lexie,” Brianna said. “I’ll smooch with you—you are such a cutie.” She leaned over and ruffled the long fur on top of the dog’s head. She stood up and stared at Lexie for a moment. “She reminds me of a girl I know. Her hair is the same color—only out of a bottle—and she parts it down the middle just like Lexie’s.” She laughed. “She has a nose like Lexie, too—long.” She motioned, running her fingers alongside her own nose and out about a foot in front of her face.
Savannah laughed. She walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a bowl of fresh fruit. “What do you want to do today, Sis?”
“I don’t know. What is there to do here?”
“Whatever it is, I think Auntie wants to join us. We can take you on a tour of town and maybe do a little shopping and have lunch out. There’s a nice Italian bistro with patio dining.”
“Sounds good to me.” Brianna stared out the kitchen window for a moment before saying, “Oh, I think your horse is hungry. I can see her looking over here.”
“Thanks for the reminder. I’d better go take care of her. Wanna come?”
“Sure.”
“Here are some clogs you can wear—gets kinda muddy out there this time of year.” Savannah looked over at her
sister, who was staring down at the shoes. “Yeah, they’ll be a bit sloppy on you. Just wear your slippers with them.”
“She reminds me of a horse I used to ride at camp,” Brianna said as they approached the corral. “She always tried to run home at the end of a trail ride. I hated that horse.”
Peaches raised her head up and down and whinnied softly.
“You’ve hurt her feelings,” Savannah said, patting the horse on the neck and murmuring to her.
“Sorry, Peaches. But that mare was nasty.” Brianna stepped out of Savannah’s way while she tossed hay into the feed bin. “She once stepped on my foot…on purpose! Do you remember that?” she asked.
Savannah walked over, turned on the faucet, and watched as the water trough began to fill with clean water. “Yeah, I do remember something about a broken little toe. You had to wear my shoes for a while to give your toes more room.”
“Yes. Now, if that wasn’t embarrassing.”
“Embarrassing, huh?”
“Well, not only were your shoes too big for me, they were ugly.”
“Ugly?”
“Yes, you wore boy shoes. I was into girly shoes, patent leather with bows.”
“My shoes weren’t ugly, they were…serviceable.”
Brianna laughed. “Yeah, serviceable if you were a combat soldier or marathon runner.” She changed her demeanor and said, “But I have to say, I like your grown-up style.”
“My grown-up style?” Savannah asked.
“Yes, you have some cute shoes in that closet of yours. I loved those you wore to Auntie’s last night.”
“Well, thank you. Feel free to borrow some if you break your toe while you’re here. Otherwise, I guess you still wear a petite size seven, right?”
“Yes, seven wide, I’m afraid. And what size are yours?” she asked as she looked down at Savannah’s rubber boots and the clogs she wore over her house shoes.
“Still a ten…narrow.” She reached over and gave her sister a little playful punch, you still five-feet-five?”
“And a half,” she straightened her posture. “You still seven feet?” she laughed.
“Five-nine-and-a-half in my stocking feet. I have a gal friend who’s taller. Well, you met her at the wedding.”
“Oh yes, Iris. How is she?”
“Very good. Happily in a relationship,” Savannah said while turning off the water spigot.
“She was cool. I liked her,” Brianna said as they headed back toward the house—Lexie racing out in front of them and reaching the porch first. They stepped into the kitchen and began to put breakfast together, when Brianna asked, “How tall is Bud—about five-eight?”
“Yeah, about that, I’d say.”
“So if I wear my stilettos, I’ll be taller than him.”
Savannah stared over her sister. “Do you have a date with Bud?”
“Well, could be,” she said coyly.
“Really?” she asked, a questioning grin stretching across her lips.
“I like him. We have things in common.”
“What, besides your interest in gypsy curses?” Savannah wanted to know.
“We both went to medical school.”
“He went to veterinary school.”
“He finished? Why isn’t he practicing—I mean in his own practice?”
“Oh, lots of reasons, I guess. He’s comfortable just working as a vet tech right now.”
“He’s cute. Does he date much?” Brianna asked.
Savannah set a bowl of fresh fruit and a plate with home-baked apple muffins on the table. She sat down and looked over at her sister. “I wouldn’t know. I don’t recall him ever talking about a steady girlfriend.”
Brianna dropped down into a chair and leaned forward with both arms on the table, frown lines evident in her face. “He’s not gay, is he?”
Savannah laughed. Don’t panic, I don’t think so. It seems like he was interested in a young gal who used to bring her horse to us sometimes. Don’t know why it didn’t work out. Or maybe it did. He doesn’t bring his personal life to work.”
“Okay then,” Brianna said, settling back in her chair, “I’ll just have to do my own detective work.”
Savannah stared at her sister while taking a sip of tea. “You really are interested, aren’t you?”
Brianna looked up. “Is it okay with you?”
“Sure. We think Bud’s a great guy. Solid, reliable, stable. Uh-oh.”
Brianna stopped in mid-bite. “What?”
“Doesn’t sound like your kind of guy. Don’t you usually date the bad boy?”
“Maybe I’m ready to change all that. Too much drama with those guys. Maybe I’m ready to settle down like you and Michael.”
“We’d better get some breakfast in you. I think you’re losing it, girl. I’ve never heard you talk like that before. Here, let me feel your forehead.”
“Stop it and eat your breakfast,” Brianna snapped. And then she looked over at the clock on the stove. “When’s Auntie coming over?”
“She’ll be here around ten. You have plenty of time to get ready.”
“Hi Rags, watcha got there, boy?” Brianna bent down to see what Rags had brought her—and then she began shouting. “Oh, no you don’t! Give me that, you naughty boy!”
“What? What’s he got?” Savannah asked, leaning over to get a look at her cat who, by then, had raced past the pantry through an open door to one of the downstairs bathrooms. Brianna was hot on his trail. “Give me that. Raaaaaggggs, bring that back here now.”
Savannah began to laugh as Brianna attempted to grab the cat, who had done a three-sixty and was heading for the staircase, still carrying the object in his mouth.
“Darn it,” Brianna said. “Savannah do something. Tell your cat to drop it, will you?”
Still laughing so hard she could barely speak, Savannah finally managed to ask again, “What is it?”
“My birth control,” Brianna said indignantly. “He took it right out of my overnight bag. The thief.”
“I told you to keep things like that locked up,” Savannah said, still trying to control her laughter. “Come on, I’ll help you corner him.”
By the time the two had returned to their breakfast, both of them were laughing. “I guess I learned my lesson. I will use those drawers up there and keep my purses and luggage zipped. I don’t want to lose my birth control—that’s for sure.” She looked over at her sister. “Does he ever get yours?”
Savannah became more serious. “Well, I haven’t been using birth control since June. And still we’re not pregnant.”
“Oh that’s right,” Brianna said. Suddenly, she laughed out loud.
“What’s so funny?” Savannah sat back in her chair and stared over at her sister.
Brianna shook her head with a big grin on her face. She said, “I’m sorry, Sis. But I wouldn’t be so depressed about all of the fun you and that dreamy husband of yours are having trying to make a baby.” She giggled.
“Oh stop it.” Savannah slapped at her sister, a half smile on her face. She said, “Yes, it has been great. I have to tell ya.” Then her mood darkened. “But we really want a baby. And now that curse has me freaked out.”
“Don’t worry, Bud and I have a plan.”
“A plan?” Savannah perked up and then looked over at her sister suspiciously.
“Yes. He knows someone we can talk to who might be able to help.”
Savannah explained, “We’ve already been to doctors. Is that the kind of help you mean? The doctors say we’re both just fine.”
“No,” Brianna said. “I mean help breaking the curse.”
Savannah leaned forward, her elbow on the table and her chin crutched in her hand. “You really believe in that, don’t you?”
“Don’t you? If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be so upset. You must have some level of belief.”
Savannah looked off into space. “I’m trying really hard not to acknowledge it. But I guess a part of me is scared stiff that
it’s true.” She looked intently at her sister. “How much faith do you put in these things?”
“I believe in being careful and thorough. Bud and I want to find out more about this particular curse and we are meeting with someone to talk about it this evening.”
Chapter Eleven
That evening, Savannah picked up the phone. “Hi Mom, good to hear from you. How are you…and Bob?”
“We’re good,” Gladys said. “Are you girls having fun?”
“We sure are. I love having Brianna here. We went shopping with Auntie today and had a leisurely lunch at a bistro. Great fun. Tomorrow, we’re going riding!”
“Horseback riding? Does Brianna know about this?”
“Yes, I promised her a nice gentle horse. Belongs to a friend of ours. We’re taking a picnic lunch. I tried to get Auntie to go, but she claims she has too much work to do.”
“Now there’s something I can’t even begin to picture—my sister on a horse.”
“Yeah, I don’t think we’re going to see that picture anytime soon.”
“Is Brianna there?” Gladys asked.
“No, she’s out on a date.”
“A date? My, that girl works fast. Who’s she dating?”
Savannah thought for a moment and then said, “Well, maybe ‘date’ isn’t the right word. She just went someplace with our vet tech, Bud to…do some research.” She wasn’t ready to tell her mother about the curse or the fact that she was trying to get pregnant—not yet. She hoped she wouldn’t be sorry that she had told Brianna. This was something she felt was personal between herself and Michael, and it didn’t seem right letting others in on her private life. Even though she asked Brianna to keep their secret for now, she wasn’t sure her sometimes scatterbrained sister could do it. She tended to speak out of turn when it was least expected.
“Is he a nice boy—this Bud?” Gladys asked.
“He’s a nice young man, Mom—he’s twenty-eight or so. Same age as Brianna. She’s not dating boys anymore, is she?” Savannah laughed.
“No, I guess not. It’s hard to believe you girls are so…grown up.”