Now or Never

by Ruth Hay

  No don’t say anything! I know how you try to connect with our daughter and I see how prickly she is with you. You create sparks together in seconds and things deteriorate quickly after that.

  I also know how much this bothers you, in spite of your denials.” Maria’s head was shaking from side to side in both acknowledgement and despair at what she knew to be a true assessment of the situation.

  She wanted to flee from these uncomfortable facts but Paul’s grip strengthened, and after a moment or two she ceased to resist. Without another word the potential battle was over and she slumped into his comforting embrace pushing aside the cameras that dangled around his chest.

  “I won’t cry! I won’t cry!” she asserted, but tears were in her voice. “I am so afraid for Lucy. I see the teenage girls roaming the mall in predatory groups looking for ways to vent their energy. It only takes one bad decision to ruin a life and if Lucy has no mother figure she can depend on, she might well be one of those who makes a fatal mistake. You know how impulsive she is.”

  “Now, calm down! She’s a smart kid with ideas and ambition, much like her mother, I may say! I am sure she’ll be fine but I am not so sure you will survive the years until she realizes her parents are the most permanent support in her life.”

  “But what can I do, Paul? I wake up in the middle of the night with the worries that girl gives me.”

  “I know, I know.” Silence ensued while Paul patted his wife’s back and waited till her breathing calmed down.

  “Now look! I brought you here to suggest a solution not to add to your problems. I want you to take a trip home to Italy.”

  “What?” Maria’s shock was evident in her tone of voice and raised eyebrows.

  “Before you say another word, just listen for a minute. We haven’t been back to Italy for years now and it’s time for you and Lucy to go there together; a mother and daughter trip. Away from the conflicts of daily life, you two can start afresh and spend time getting to know and like each other on a whole new basis. I’ve thought a lot about this,” Paul rushed on while his wife was temporarily stunned and speechless, “….. and I think it could be a combined holiday and work opportunity for both of you. You can visit family and check out the fashion scene in Milan and Lucy can do a design project for school. You wouldn’t need to be away for more than two weeks and it could make all the difference to be in a new environment.”

  Maria disentangled herself from her husband’s embrace and looked at him in amazement.

  This was the Paul who had captured her affections years ago when they first met. Outsiders always thought she was the dominant partner in their marriage but Maria knew the silent power of this man who cared so much that he was content to stay in the background observing and helping in many ways and able to surprise her totally as he was doing right now.

  “But, but ………. Paul, we said we would go to Italy together whenever we could get the time.

  You would miss out. That’s not fair on you.”

  “Well, there’s something else you don’t know. I have to leave next week. I have a commission from Canadian Geographic to shoot pictures for an article on changes to the Arctic environment. I’ll be gone for three weeks then returning north a month or so later. It’s an important job that could mean further assignments in the future so the house will be closed up until you and Lucy get back.”

  Maria’s mind was racing as she tried to grasp all the implications of Paul’s announcement. Her thoughts flew, as they always seemed to do, toward her business situation. How could she leave the store for two weeks?

  Superimposed over this problem a mental picture of a scene from her grandparents’ village in Italy suddenly presented itself. A warm afternoon in a sleepy garden sitting under the shade of a vine-covered pergola with a glass of wine in hand and absolutely no appointments or schedules to interrupt the peace.

  Deep in her gut, Maria felt a longing for escape. The trap Paul had set was closing and she was beginning to understand how prescient her husband was. This could be the answer to so many problems; a last chance to mend fences with her daughter; a change of scene away from all the distractions of Lucy’s peer group; a way to reconnect, with fashion as a common interest. Lucy would love Italy. She had not been there since childhood. I could make this work. I must make this work.

  Paul stood silently watching emotions race across his wife’s beautiful face. He could almost read the turmoil of her thoughts but the end result was not yet clear.

  After a few tense moments Maria turned to her husband and called out his name. She threw her arms around him, drawing him into a fervent kiss. As the ducks rose quacking in protest into the air, Paul and Maria laughed aloud.

  This would be a Thanksgiving weekend to remember.

  Chapter Four

  Anna Mason cradled a large mug of coffee laced with Bailey’s chocolate liqueur. She and Alina had agreed to forego the pumpkin pie this year in an attempt to counteract the extravagance of Anna’s most recent stay in Scotland. The drink’s sweetness soothed the need for dessert after the turkey dinner, and Anna felt encouraged by the small sacrifice. She really needed to control her weight. When she spent that first spring in the Oban farm house she had much more than food to concern her and a more active life had kept off excess weight, but old habits die hard when returning to a familiar environment.

  The need to adjust to two different lives was a problem Anna had not foreseen when she decided to split her time between her two homes. The situation was prompted by choice at first. After the farm house was renovated, she could not bear to leave it completely and so the idea of renting it out as a self-catering facility for families was born. Soon it became a necessity to return to Ontario and deal with her sub-let apartment and see her devoted Samba group again. But when Anna had settled her affairs there, she found herself involved in the new business venture which became A Plus.

  From a small start online featuring, primarily, Alina’s hand-crafted knitwear items, the business quickly grew into an international venture.

  Anna had discovered the remnants of a cottage industry in Scotland and employed expert knitters to make the forgotten intricate patterns and designs that were once common knowledge in Scotland. Amazingly this development coincided with a renewed interest in knitwear in the fashion industry and whenever a new style was thought up by the partners it seemed to fly from the catalogue to parts of the globe Anna and Alina had to employ an atlas to identify.

  Anna chuckled to herself as she remembered the sharp learning curve all this had entailed.

  They would have been lost without Bev’s James. Anna had only just acquired a cell phone when the need for advanced technology reared its head. She was much more adept now although the speed of change in the world of the web was constantly leaving her in its wake.

  Perhaps she would get used to the trans-Atlantic lifestyle in time. Many business travellers had adjusted to it. She was reluctant to consider the choice of one home over the other. They were both so different and both much loved, but the settling-in period was disorienting as she coped with jet lag, weather changes and the gaps in her knowledge of local events and people.

  I think I need to read more newspapers and watch British TV when I am in Canada, she decided, but that is more difficult in Scotland unless I am connected to the internet.

  “My mother would have said these were millionaires’ worries!” Anna smiled as she imagined her mother’s amazement if she could have known the way her daughter’s life had turned out.

  “What’s got you so thoughtful, Anna? You must have been miles away. The phone’s been ringing in the kitchen. It’s Maria. You’d better hurry. She never has much time to talk.”

  Anna responded to Alina’s urgency by heading to the kitchen where she saw that the remains of the Thanksgiving feast had been cleared away by her friend while Anna herself had been dreaming by the windows. Typical Alina, she thought; always stepping in to help.

  Anna had meant to contact Ma
ria before now, but the situation with Susan had taken up most of her time lately.

  * * *

  “Maria, how are you? Happy Thanksgiving!

  My apologies for not calling you before this, Maria. It’s the usual scramble to get back into things when I come home.”

  “Don’t apologize, my dear. We are all so glad to have you here again for a while.

  Listen, I can’t reach Susan and there’s a strange message on her answer phone.

  Do you have any idea where she is?”

  “Well, that’s a long story but she did appoint me to fill you in. The bottom line is that she has gone to that clinic in Italy to find out if Jake is a candidate for the experimental treatment for MS.”

  * * *

  There was a long pause after Anna made this announcement.

  * * *

  “Are you still there, Maria?”

  “Um, yes I’m here, but I am confused. I had no idea Susan and Jake were even thinking along these lines. When did all this happen?”

  “Around the beginning of October, just after I got home. Don’t be upset, Maria.

  I know Susan meant to call you but she was very conflicted about the whole idea and she was reluctant to talk to anyone until things were settled.”

  “I’m not upset, Anna, but I am surprised. This is just too weird a coincidence.

  Earlier today Paul and I had a long talk and we decided that I would take Lucy with me to visit my grandparents in Italy for a couple of weeks.”

  “Now, wait one minute! I get home to see my friends and everyone promptly takes off for foreign lands! What have I started here?”

  * * *

  Maria joined Anna in laughter at this thought, but it wasn’t so far from the truth.

  * * *

  “It does seem like that, I guess, but I’m sure you and Alina will be glad of time to catch up with your Canadian lives. Do you have Susan’s Italian information?

  I will try to contact her in case they need any help while I’m there.”

  “Oh, that’s good of you, Maria. I am a bit worried about them. This could be the most important decision of their lives and they are by no means together about it.”

  No problem! “I’ll have to go, Anna. Lots of arrangements to make. Thanks for the info. I’ll keep in touch. We do miss you, you know.

  Bye!”

  * * *

  Anna turned from the phone to find Alina sitting on a stool at the kitchen island with her cup of coffee in her hands and an expression of anticipation in her eyes.

  “What was all that about? You looked like it might not be good news.”

  “No, it’s not bad news, just unexpected. Maria is going to Italy with Lucy.”

  “What? You mean Maria is leaving the store. In October? Travelling with Lucy? In term time?”

  “Yes, it does sound unlikely now that you say it out loud. There must be something important at stake. What’s happening to everyone, Alina? Is there some sense of panic in the air?

  Perhaps it’s the thought of winter on the horizon. Birds and friends are flying south.”

  Maria was back in the store early on Monday morning. If this trip to Italy was to become a reality she had preparations to make. Thank goodness she had not had to host Thanksgiving dinner this year. She would, for sure, have burned something, so distracted was she by Paul’s proposal. By mutual decision she and Paul had agreed to delay telling the girls until arrangements were finalized but now the plan had to be put in place.

  This was not going to be easy, however. There was Lucy to tackle. Maria could already guess how annoyed her daughter would be at this interference in her life.

  Then there was Theresa. Things would have to be smoothed over in that department also, she suspected.

  As ever, Maria was seriously concerned about her business. Who could be left in charge while she was away? Short buying trips to the states were not a problem but this trip, at this time, was another story altogether.

  Taking a deep breath, she decided to take the plunge and do something she had been considering for several months. The store’s assistant manager was an experienced sales person who had proved her competence more than once in the last year. Nova was a bright woman who hailed from Nova Scotia and grew up watching the big ships arrive and depart from Halifax and Dartmouth. Her mother, the originator of her unusual name, said the sights and smells of the sea were in her daughter’s blood from a very early age. Nova, herself, claimed she was never content until she discovered there were jobs on cruise ships and she could be paid for sailing away on holidays with pleasant people.

  After several years doing a variety of jobs on board, the observant Nova realized the importance of women’s cruise clothing and became an expert in cruise wear, eventually moving to Toronto and settling in London when she met her husband.

  Maria felt Nova was ready for the responsibility. She could helm a feature week of cruise fashions which fit in nicely with the winter sailing trips to the Caribbean and South America much loved by wealthy Canadian ‘snowbirds’. Maria would talk to Nova right away and set things in motion. There would have to be ads in the newspaper and flyers sent out to likely customers and posters for the store windows.

  Maria inserted a check mark against the first item listed on her BlackBerry and immediately felt more confident about the next in line.

  Who to talk to first was an issue. Lucy would fire up at the very suggestion of spending time exclusively with her mother and she would call on Theresa’s support within an hour of the announcement. Better to forewarn Theresa and prepare her for the onslaught. It occurred to Maria at this juncture that something more was required for her older daughter. After all, Lucy was getting all the treats, even if she didn’t approve of them, and Theresa would be at home with the usual busy life and all her immediate family off having fun.

  Would a new winter outfit compensate for this unintended oversight? Maria conjured up a vision of Theresa’s brunette hair and olive complexion flattered by a stylish and practical sky blue parka with soft white fur around the face. A pair of slender navy pants and gorgeous leather, knee-high boots would complete the picture.

  Maria stopped herself from speculating further. Theresa was a grown woman with her own taste in clothes. She could choose for herself and any hint of a bribe must be avoided at all costs.

  “I know!” she exclaimed to the pile of fabric samples on her desktop. “I’ll take Theresa flowers later tonight to thank her for dinner yesterday and I’ll tell her about the trip when the children are in bed and she has a chance to relax. We could plan something special together when Theresa has a break from work.”

  Said out loud, this idea sounded more optimistic than Maria actually believed it to be. She was not unaware that her older daughter harboured some degree of resentment against her sister.

  “It’s always all about Lucy, Mom!” was a frequent refrain when Theresa’s frustration boiled over.

  Maria had to admit she was right. Maria was guilty of unloading onto Theresa her annoyance with Lucy’s more outrageous ideas, especially when Lucy paraded one of her latest creations right into her mother’s store while customers were browsing the racks of fashionable clothing.

  Theresa’s response was, “You know she only does it to annoy you Mom. You shouldn’t give her the satisfaction!”

  Easy to say, but much more difficult to do, thought Maria, not for the first time. Still, I have to start somewhere with this plan or it will never happen. There’s a limited amount of time available before the Christmas season.

  “Pops! You have to do something! She has finally gone over the edge of sanity into the abyss of pure lunacy. I will not leave my friends and my school work to go trailing after my mother, the control freak, to some village where I know no one and can’t even talk the language. I will not go. Tell her!”

  “Hold on, Lucy! That’s a bit strong even for you. You are jumping to conclusions. This is not your mother’s idea. It’s mine.”

 
“No way! You don’t mean that. You can’t mean it! You are making excuses for her, as usual.”

  “All right! That’s quite enough Lucy! You need to calm down and listen to me.”

  Her father’s quiet, steady voice forced Lucy to take a step back and collapse onto the bottom step of the staircase. She had been waiting by the front door for her father to arrive home and worked herself into a red-faced fit of anger long before she heard his key in the door.

  Paul took his time hanging his coat in the hall closet and stowing his cameras and papers in the box on the top shelf where they would be safe. He knew Lucy needed some space to pull herself together. She would be embarrassed to remember her outburst once she understood the solid reasons for the trip, from her father’s point of view.

  “Hop into the kitchen and put one of those frozen entrees into the microwave, Lucy. I’ve been in meetings since noon and you know I can’t function on an empty stomach. Have you eaten?”

  Lucy shook her head. Her face was losing the high colour of only moments before and she was becoming uncomfortably aware that she might have crossed the line with her father.

  She hurried into the kitchen and scrabbled in the freezer for the least-objectionable of the Lean Cuisine offerings. Organizing the meal for her father and herself distracted her from her furious emotions and by the time she had put out cutlery and drinks, she was ready to sit down and hear what her father had to say.

  “Lucy, you know I have to go north next week on an important assignment. What you don’t know, is how much I worry about your attitude to your mother. I need a clear mind to do my job well, and lately, thoughts and concerns about you have been monopolizing my concentration.”

  Lucy put down the fork in her hand and lowered her head. Her beloved father was talking to her as one adult to another adult and she could not ignore his words or his worries.