Now or Never

by Ruth Hay

  Susan accepted the inevitable and listened as Maria warned Lucy not to prance about on the uneven paving stones in those boots. “I want you fit to carry our cases when we fly to Scotland, Lucy. We will be far too elegant for such tasks. Just wait and see.”

  “Nova, it’s Maria. I’m still in Italy.”

  “Oh now, it’s great to hear your voice, Maria. When are you coming home?”

  “That’s the problem, Nova. I won’t be home for a few more days yet. We have been invited to a friend’s wedding in Scotland this week and I just have to go.”

  “Surely! That’s the thing to do! You have no worries here, at all. Business is booming at the store. I’ve unpacked all the reserve boxes in the back and the cruise wear has been a big hit. The weather people are saying it’s to be a bad winter and I think everyone is planning on escaping it as soon as they can.”

  “That’s wonderful news, Nova. I am really proud of the way you have coped with everything. I gave you very little notice, you know.”

  “Not at all, Maria! You work too hard and I am delighted to be able to give you a break. What were the styles like in Italy? Did you buy anything special for spring and summer?”

  “Well. It’s all the pale tones we saw last year with a few splashes of colour like orange, and some blue and white nautical lines for spring, as usual. There’s a new rosy-magenta appearing in some of the couture lines and lighter versions of the popular animal prints.”

  “Those should work well with our clients’ needs. I’ll start thinking about new displays for you to approve, Maria.”

  “You are a treasure, Nova. I can’t thank you enough. I haven’t had one minute of worry about the store, knowing you were in charge.”

  “Indeed, that’s kind of you to say. I have enjoyed the responsibility but you should know that you are not forgotten. Several of your regulars have been in here asking about dress designs for Christmas events. I assured them you were working on their behalf in Italy, but they insist on seeing the Boss Lady herself.”

  “Keep them happy with the photos I will send on to you, Nova. I found some beautiful dresses In Milan which are being sent to you by air. I’ll send notes about who would suit each item and you can contact them directly.”

  “And that is why you are the Boss, Maria! That kind of thinking makes all the difference in this business.”

  “Thank you again, Nova. I’ll be in touch soon.”

  “You take your time and enjoy that wedding. Don’t they say ‘carpe diem’ in Italy?”

  “You are right, Nova! I’ll try to seize the day and slow down once I get home. I’ve been enjoying the slower pace here for sure.”

  “Take care of yourself, now. Bye for now, and have a drink of wine for me.”

  * * *

  Maria had to smile at Nova’s advice. She really should be thinking about starting packing but perhaps Nova was right about enjoying the moments of life. She turned to the bedroom window and decided to pick up a jacket so she could take that glass of wine out to the terrace and sip it while she watched the sun set. She promised herself she would think of nothing serious, other than the incredible view from the hilltop. She considered that a few minutes counting her blessings would not qualify as serious thinking.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Theresa! What the hell is wrong with you? You look shattered. Are the kids alright?”

  Joe quickly shrugged out of his work clothes and heavy boots leaving the dusty pile just inside the front door. He knew something was seriously wrong when his wife ignored the mess he had left. She walked slowly into the family room ahead of him and dropped down on the sofa as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders.

  Now Joe was even more concerned. He cast his mind around to see if Theresa had a doctor’s appointment scheduled for herself, or the children, but he couldn’t recall any changes to the regular calendar. Probably not trouble with the children’s health, then.

  What if something had happened to Maria or Paul? Paul was so far away and Maria was out of touch for part of the day due to the time difference in Europe. Bad news about either one of her parents could easily create the kind of depression he was witnessing in Theresa right now.

  Joe could wait no longer. “Theresa, Honey, you have to tell me! I’m going crazy here, imagining the worst.”

  Theresa’s tears flooded down her cheeks at this statement and she threw herself into Joe’s arms and sobbed her heart out. “I’ve been fired!” she said into Joe’s sweater.

  “What did you say? I can’t make it out between sobs. What’s happened?”

  Theresa managed to lift her head a fraction and repeated in a rush, “I’ve been fired, Joe. I haven’t enough seniority at the office since I took time off for the babies and they are cutting staff because of the economy and they can’t promise me I’ll get my job back any time soon.”

  The sobs started again as soon as she had unloaded this news.

  Joe could only pat her back as soothingly as he could while his mind raced.

  This would mean financial difficulties for the family. Luckily he had a secure job for the winter months, working on construction at a mall in the city, so, if they were careful they could survive until Theresa found more part-time work. Still, it would mean changes to their lifestyle in the short term.

  The idea that Theresa might not find more work was not to be considered. They could just manage the mortgage and the babysitter when one and a half salaries were coming in every month but his pay would not support all four of them without digging into the minimum savings they had in the bank. He decided to downplay the worst-case scenario and provide some comfort to his stricken wife.

  “Look, Love, it’s not your fault! Don’t cry! We’ll work something out. As long as we are all well, nothing else matters. You know that’s what your father always tells you.”

  Fresh sobs met this reassuring statement, to Joe’s surprise.

  “That’s another thing; I miss my Dad! He’s been gone for nearly three weeks and I want to talk to him about this.”

  “Can’t you call him?” Joe knew better than to feel rejected by his wife’s attachment to her father. There was a bond between them that had been obvious from the first time Joe had entered their home when Theresa was just a teenager.

  “I can’t reach him! He’s so far north it takes a satellite exactly in place over their heads to get a signal and he has called while we’ve been out. Mom is far too busy with Lucy to call very often and that’s another thing ……………. Lucy has called again and she is just rubbing my nose in the fact that Mom and she are having a grand old time with Aunt Susan and the family in Italy and now she tells me they are not coming home right away! They’re going on to Scotland for a wedding, would you believe!”

  Joe had taken in only one quarter of this latest rant but he did notice indignation had taken over from despair in Theresa’s voice. He was not sure this was an improvement, however.

  “Now, now, Honey, you promised you wouldn’t let jealousy spoil your relationship with your family.”

  Theresa reacted violently to this perceived accusation by pushing her husband away and swiping the tears off her cheeks while exclaiming, “That’s just not fair, Joe! Why am I always being left out? Lucy gets all the attention and I’m the one who works hard for my family.”

  Joe recognized that a new tactic was required at this juncture if calmer waters were to be found.

  “You’re right! You’re right, Honey! I didn’t mean to suggest you don’t deserve the best of everything. I only wish I could give you all the things you deserve right now but times are hard and it will be a while until I can get a site manager’s job then we’ll do all the travel and family visiting you want. Just be patient with me.”

  Theresa recognized at once that she was being grossly unfair to complain to her husband. Joe worked all the hours he could get, to provide for their family and she was displaying the very selfishness she accused Lucy of when she let her baser feelings
run wild like this. She made a quick mental shift and pulled herself together, back to the mature Theresa, Joe had every right to expect in his wife.

  “Joe, I am so sorry! It’s been a rotten day and I felt overwhelmed for a minute. None of this is your fault. We’ll manage somehow and I know Mom has been a great support for me. This time with Lucy is something she needed and if it works out, we will all benefit.”

  Theresa gave Joe a watery smile and sat up straight. She was a married woman with responsibilities and children to care for and she needed to act like it.

  “I had better go upstairs and warn the babysitter that she is out of a job too. It will be good for me to spend more time with our kids, Joe. There’s always a silver lining in every cloud, or so they say.

  Get washed up for supper. There’s a casserole in the oven and the kids will be ready to eat.

  I’ve been down in the dumps for long enough. Don’t you worry! Normal service will resume immediately!”

  Joe watched his wife skip up the stairs and relaxed. When Theresa could make a joke he knew everything was fine again. The stormy weather had passed.

  Anna watched the wind strip leaves from the trees in her backyard. The season was turning from mild autumn to brisk November. Fall was a sad time for many. The end of the year loomed and winter was fast approaching.

  It had been a good year for the A Plus business she shared with Alina, but changes were inevitable on that front now. Alina’s deteriorating eyesight would mean the work she did designing knitwear would be much more difficult for her.

  Anna thought of the dress Alina was working on for Bev’s wedding. It was the most beautiful garment Anna had ever seen and suited Bev’s simple style perfectly. The top layer was a lacy overdress, like a cobweb, crocheted by hand. It was designed to float over a simple, long-sleeved, blue satin gown that brushed the floor but had no train or extra decoration. The drama was in the delicate lacy structure with wide sleeves that would drape perfectly when Bev held her bouquet. Anna had insisted that the drop crystals scattered around the top of the overdress could not be sewn on by Alina herself. This task had been taken on by a trusted worker, against Alina’s protests, of course, but Anna had seen the eye fatigue and headache that resulted when her friend worked too long or too closely.

  The gown was almost finished, and Anna would take the box on the plane with her to Scotland.

  She sighed. The rising wind outdoors absorbed the small sound. It would be sad to go back to their Scottish home without her partner. Alina hated to miss such a special occasion but her doctors had advised against travel at this point in her treatment.

  Anna had not intended to return to Scotland so soon. She and Alina were planning to celebrate Christmas in Canada this year with their Samba friends and their families, but with everyone travelling around the world, it seemed, the prospects of that happening were not so great at the moment. Even Philip, Anna’s newly-discovered half-brother, was not able to attend the wedding on such short notice. He had visited Simon and his family in Alberta in the summer, when Anna and Alina were in Scotland, and was now in Egypt supervising a building project for which his firm supplied the lead architects.

  We are all scattered to the winds, Anna thought.

  She shook herself out of this morose attitude and decided to make a pot of tea and re-focus her thoughts. There was a lot to do before she crossed the Atlantic again. She wanted to invite the specialists from The Canadian National Institute for the Blind to check over the house before she left. Simple changes would make it easier for Alina to cope around the house, should she need them in the future. It was best to be proactive in these situations. They would hope for the best with Alina’s macular degeneration treatment but it was always better to be prepared for the worst, as her mother used to say.

  Thinking of her mother brought another of her old sayings to mind. When she got older, her mother would say, in a Scottish accent that Anna rarely heard; “Auld age never comes its lane.”

  Anna puzzled over this until she finally asked her mother to translate.

  Many years later, Anna understood the meaning. The illnesses of old age are inevitable.

  As she thought of Alina and Jake and the sad demise of Philip’s mother from dementia, she also acknowledged the good health of Maria, Susan, Bev and herself.

  “I won’t take my health or anything else for granted,” she informed the kettle as she poured the boiling water over teabags in the heated pot. “I have so much to be thankful for and plenty to look forward to.”

  She heard Alina’s key in the front door and went to meet her with a smile.

  “Just in time for a hot cup of tea, my dear. How was your day?”

  Paul had finally got a satellite connection to his wife’s cell phone in Italy. They had a long chat and Maria filled in the events both of the past two weeks and the coming weekend in Scotland.

  Paul was pleased to hear the time with Lucy was productive. Maria seemed very hopeful that fences had been mended and the future looked brighter as far as her relationship with their younger daughter was concerned.

  Paul was also relieved to hear the more relaxed tone in his wife’s voice. It was easier for an observer to see how stressed she had become of late and the change was very welcome to him. It did not appear that Maria was overly anxious to return to work. This fact alone, reassured Paul that some significant changes had occurred in his wife as well as in his daughter.

  He replied to Maria’s questions about his expedition in vague terms, suggesting that the photographs would describe the Arctic environment far better than mere words could.

  The team had been alarmed by the conditions they found. Those experts who travelled with them noted the deterioration in the permafrost that signified rapid temperature increases.

  The news was not good, but Canadian Geographic would be pleased with the series of articles the photographs would illustrate. Paul was confident he would return in a month or so to document further changes. The connection with the prestigious magazine was exactly what he had hoped for.

  Meantime, he needed to make the slow trip back to South-western Ontario, weather systems permitting, of course. He would check in at home and change into lighter clothing, then see Theresa and Joe and the children.

  Maria’s plan had included a couple of days in Toronto on the way home with time to see her parents. Paul thought it would be a good opportunity to surprise Maria and Lucy. If Theresa could get away from work, they could travel together to the airport and meet the pair from the plane.

  He thought longingly of seeing his wife again. Although they were used to such work-related separations, the reunions were worth the loneliness. They both found it was like meeting for the first time without the uncertainty of wondering whether or not the affair would last.

  His mind wandered back to one of their first dates. They had gone to see the movie, ‘West Side Story’, and had been captivated by the music, the dance, and the modern retelling of the old Romeo and Juliet story. It had been one of their favourites ever since.

  Paul smiled as he realized how that iconic story still affected him. His iPod, a constant companion in leisure hours in the north, held the tune ‘Maria’. Whenever he heard the song’s plaintive repetition of the name, he couldn’t help a surge of longing for his Maria. In some ways, they were still that young couple, without the sad ending Paul hastened to add. It was about time he introduced the movie to Lucy. She was just the right age to appreciate the teenage angst.

  Paul determined to take his family to one of the fancy airport hotels for a couple of nights. He would book two rooms, re-establish their family connections, and they would visit Maria’s parents without the stress for the older couple of coping with a family invasion.

  Paul’s plans were interrupted by a report from the weather monitors. A storm system was bearing down on them from the west and north. If they wanted to vacate the research station they would have to pack up the equipment, summon a land vehicle to transport
them to the nearest airstrip and start the long journey home.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Packing seemed to be taking a long time. Maria had extra items of clothing to find room for, but so did everyone else in the group. Only Angela was ready to leave with just one suitcase.

  Maria knew that suitcase would contain a fine merino wool outfit for the wedding. She had not needed to ask Angela if she required some new clothes. Any Italian woman of Angela’s age had fabulous dressy clothes. She might spend working hours in a washable and practical uniform, but Maria knew for certain that Angela would be dressed like an Italian princess for the wedding.

  Susan and Jake were also ready to go. Susan’s new clothes were wrapped in tissue and enclosed in a plastic zipped bag, supplied by Maria. The dress and jacket, chosen in Bologna, were a perfect complement to Susan’s new hairstyle. It had been a delicate contrivance to manoeuvre Susan into a hairstylist’s salon in Bologna, on the pretext that both Maria and Lucy needed a trim anyway. While Lucy’s locks were receiving the trim and a conditioning treatment to eliminate split ends, Maria had a word with the stylist and suggested a more youthful cut for Susan’s fine, iron-grey hair. A few expert snips and the transformation was complete.

  Each woman left the salon with the spring in her step that only a refreshed hair style can achieve.

  The dress Maria chose for Susan was a fitted, silver-grey jersey with a deep V neckline and an almost Empire waist that emphasized Susan’s curves beautifully. The skirt flared over the hips and ended just below Susan’s knees. The matching jacket was black, piped in silver, and with unique silver buttons.

  New shoes were a necessity, Maria had stated, and by this point Susan was too bemused to object further. A search among the stores found, with Lucy’s help, a pair of grey and black suede court shoes with a block heel that Maria assured Susan would be comfortable under any circumstances, for a few hours at least.