by Ruth Hay
Lucy said this with such fervor that Susan suspected there had been a strict routine to be followed while Lucy stayed with Fiona.
She switched on the kettle and decided to prepare trays for the others when she noticed that Angela or Anna must have had the same impulse. Two trays were set with linen cloths and matching blue delft plates, cups and saucers. How nice to be taken care of by good friends, she thought, not for the first time.
She could see where Maria got her ambition and helpful nature. Angela, although a younger cousin, was clearly a member of the same family.
When tea was made, Lucy accepted a cup and soon shared a plate of toast with Susan. As they munched and spread butter and thick marmalade liberally, their conversation turned to the topic of their shared time in Italy. It was a new bond between them and Susan could see the change in Lucy’s attitude to everything that had happened there, including matters between her and her mother.
“I’ve been thinking about something, Aunt Susan, and I want to ask your advice.”
“Ask away, Lucy.” Susan sipped tea and tried to hide her curiosity. There was no way to guess what topic Lucy was about to introduce and she hoped she could respond appropriately.
“Do you remember what happened when we were leaving the villa and the three old aunties of my Mom’s gathered at the door?”
“Yes, they were all very sad to see us go. You especially, Bella Lucia!”
“Well, as it happens, that is exactly what I am wondering about. They gave me the medal of Saint Lucy. I’ve been wearing it ever since.” Lucy drew the silver medallion out from under her sweater and it gleamed in the light from the huge glass windows.
“It’s really beautiful, Lucy! Something very special from Verona for you to treasure.”
“I know.” Lucy pursed her lips as she considered what to say next. “I was thinking I would like to give the medal to Aunt Alina.”
Susan gasped when she heard this. She had not expected the next sentence to go in this direction at all.
“Lucy, that’s a generous thought! It’s a very personal gift. Would you want to part with it?” Susan did not know if Lucy had been told about Alina’s eye condition and she was reluctant to divulge the information in case the girl was not meant to know about it.
“I heard Mom talking about Aunt Alina and I felt so sad. The wedding dress was made by her, wasn’t it? It was so delicate and perfect. I could cry to think she might not be able to do such amazing work in the future and I thought the medal would help in some small way just to tell her we all think about her.”
Lucy stopped and looked at Susan to try to gauge her reaction. She unconsciously twisted the chain of the medal as she waited for the result.
“I see what you are thinking, Lucy. The medal is meant to protect a person’s sight. Am I correct?”
Lucy nodded and waited again.
“I am sure Alina would be most touched to have your medal, Lucy, and even more touched that you would think of her so highly. Ask your mother, to be sure it’s OK with her, and thank you, my dear, for confiding in me.”
“No problem, Aunt Susan. I’ve learned a lot about friendships on this holiday and I hope that one day I can have friends as close as you and Mom and Anna are.”
“What’s that about me, you two?” Anna descended the stairs into the kitchen, dressed for outdoors. “Ah, there’s tea and toast! I could smell it from upstairs. I am going to sit here and eat while you get ready to go out, Susan. Jake and Angela have a scheduled session here today. I have called Fiona and she is at our disposal for anything you want to do or see. You can let me know your preference when you are ready to go. Meanwhile I will be grilling Lucy, here, about all the things she has been saying about me.”
Lucy looked up in alarm to see if Anna was annoyed with her but the grin on her face belied the serious words. “It’s time we had a little chat, Lucy. We have some catching up to do.”
The tour of the area turned out to be a huge success. Fiona knew every back road to all the quaint villages and spectacular viewpoints. They drove down valleys, crossed bridges and followed rivers, then climbed up through mountain passes where the heather was still in bloom. The clear, crisp weather persisted and they could see for miles.
They saw a stag silhouetted against the sky on a craggy cliff and everyone stopped breathing for a minute, the sight was so magnificent. Lucy recovered first and in a swift move that her father would have approved, she took several photographs of the stag before he turned and vanished.
“That looked just like one of those old oil paintings in the hotel lobby!” she exclaimed, and the spell was broken. Everyone begged for copies of the photos and Lucy privately thought she might try a painting of her own, based on the images she had caught with the camera.
Later, Susan, sitting beside the driver, was the one who spotted an even more rare sight.
Soaring high above them was a huge bird with a vast wingspan. Fiona stopped the van and checked in the direction Susan indicated. She grabbed her binoculars and confirmed it was a sea eagle. Lucy was at the wrong side of the van but she quickly passed her camera forward to Fiona who swiftly zoomed in to capture the osprey in the lens.
Susan and Lucy exclaimed their delight that Fiona had arranged all these encounters with native life for them specially, but Anna knew that luck had played a large part in their good fortune. Nonetheless, she was pleased that her friends could now understand the appeal this beautiful land had for her. She was more certain every time she came to Oban that Helen had chosen well when she decided to settle in this area.
The tour ended at George and Jeanette’s house where Maria was waiting to hear all about their adventures. She had spent the day with Jeanette and Liam, talking and laughing and enjoying the little boy’s antics. Jeanette had a unique perspective on the local people which she shared with Maria when George was busy catching up with paperwork for a client.
“They can be mighty stubborn at times,” she confessed, “but their hearts are as big as the ocean out there. They will help out anyone at all and they know when you sincerely like their country and the people in it. I often say it’s a radar sense they have for phonies and cheats.”
“But you like it here, Jeanette, don’t you? You seem to have settled down very well.”
“Oh, of course! It’s not Canada but it does have its own charms, and now this wee lad is here, I can’t imagine anywhere else I would rather be.”
Maria could not help thinking about Theresa and her two little ones. Children made all the difference in life. A lot of work, but a blessing beyond compare.
A table was set in the dining room with a Scottish high tea for everyone. Salad and cold meats with potatoes smothered in parsley butter were accompanied by fresh-baked scones and a selection of cakes, pies and biscuits. Tea and coffee flowed freely from large pots and there was still plenty left when Catriona joined them on a break from the hotel to update them on the newly-married couple.
“They had breakfast in bed in their room this morn,” she proclaimed, “and they went away to Skye for a few days honeymoon and to see Kirsty well settled. I was asked to extend their grateful thanks to all of you for making it an unforgettable night.”
“I’ll never forget it, that’s for sure!” added Lucy. I think I want one of those energetic, high-stepping Scotsmen for myself, one of these days. “
Everyone in the room laughed in surprise but Maria wondered if her headstrong daughter really meant what she said. Now that they had established a closer relationship, the last thing she wanted was to lose her daughter to the general move eastward to Europe that Anna had started.
Chapter Twenty
Maria and Lucy, faced a long, boring day of travel back to Canada.
They had bid fond farewells to Anna, Angela, Susan and Jake at a very early hour when Fiona arrived to take them to the train in Oban, on the first stage of their journey.
Susan and Jake would be joining them in a few days when Bev and Alan returned
from their honeymoon to settle in their cottage home. Angela would depart for Italy on the same day, after completing Jake’s treatment.
Anna wanted to stay in the farmhouse to keep an eye on Eric and James as they were alone in the cottage for the time being. She was determined to make sure the stockman, who was standing in for Alan, looked after the cows and sheep according to the standards of care set by their owners.
Prince, the sheepdog, was happy to stay with Eric or Anna but not sure yet of James when Eric was at school. Anna would happily walk Prince when Eric was not available.
She planned to feed the boys at her house and make certain both men and animals were well catered for. She also wanted to ensure that Susan and Jake were in the best possible shape for the journey home. It was good that she would be with them to lend a hand on the trip.
Philip could stay in Oban for only a day or two more. He and James would reverse their journey and drive back to Manchester where James would continue on to London by plane and Philip would fly back to join the team supervising his project in Egypt.
Anna had been delighted and surprised to see Philip arrive for the wedding but she regretted that their time together always seemed to be very brief. She determined to spend a few hours with Philip while she could, and discuss with him a much longer period when they could really get to know each other better. She had no intention of losing touch with this latest member of her family but where and when the reunion would take place was an unknown at the moment.
Plane travel west across the Atlantic had meant a long day flying in daylight. Few people slept, and the large airplane was full of chatter and movement. After a few hours Lucy grew tired of her iPod. The movies and TV programs were on such tiny screens, so far away from her, that she soon gave up on them also.
As they got closer to Canada, Lucy’s thoughts moved to the future. It was an exciting prospect.
Her experiences in Italy had shown her new ways to blend her ideas with European style and flare. Now she had to put that knowledge into practice.
She turned to her mother with a concern she had wanted to discuss. “Mom, I really think you need to change the name of your store.”
Maria had been lost in planning displays of the new clothes she had bought for the store and could not believe Lucy had tapped into her thoughts after several hours when they had not really spoken to each other.
“What’s wrong with ‘Maria’s Modes’?” she asked. “It says who and what to expect inside. It is a very expensive thing to change letterhead and signage for a store when you have established a name, you know.”
“I’m sure it is expensive, but, Mom, it’s a really old-fashioned name and makes you sound as if you are a hundred years old, not the hip lady of today with far-out style.”
Maria was both annoyed and pleased with this summary so she asked Lucy what store names she could suggest as a replacement, thinking this would stump her daughter and bring a close to the discussion.
“Well, I’ve been thinking about this, Mom. You know that motto you had painted on the back wall?”
“You mean; Fashion fades: Style remains?”
“Yes, that’s the one! I think the store name should be something about style.”
She paused and then continued while Maria waited to see what her daughter would come up with. “Something that references Style would fit better much better. What about Style Salon or Maria’s Style Studio?”
“Hmm, sounds a bit like a hairstylist, Lucy. People might march in and insist on getting a haircut instead of buying new clothes.”
“Well, choose something yourself, Mom, but Maria’s Modes has to go, believe me.”
Maria looked at her daughter. This concern with the store name was a new development.
What was behind her unexpected interest?
“Why do you care about this all of a sudden?” she challenged Lucy.
“Actually, I do have a good reason. I want to use a tiny corner of your store to start up a business of my own soon.” Lucy saw her mother’s jaw drop at this news and continued in a rush before she could refuse to discuss it any further. “I just want to set up a mannequin directed at teens who want to be fashionable without paying the kind of prices their mothers pay. When your clients come to the store they could bring their daughters and they would have something neat to look at while the parent is busy with you. You never know, it could help your sales and I could get a toe in the door, so to speak.” Lucy ran out of breath at this point and waited apprehensively for her mother’s reaction.
Maria’s first instinct was to say no, emphatically, but she stopped herself just in time and remembered that this was a new beginning with Lucy and shooting down her ideas was not going to work any longer.
“What sort of space would you need and what would the mannequin be wearing?”
Lucy was astonished at this response and lost no time in capitalizing on what could only be a moment of weakness on her mother’s part.
“I could do most of the preparation from home so I don’t need much space in a stockroom. The clothes would be sharp-looking and up-to-date but with a vintage, recycling, repurposing approach, similar to what I do with my own clothes.”
“Would you have the time to keep current with this once you are back at school and involved with your busy social calendar, Lucy? I don’t want to encourage you now and find out in two months that you have lost interest altogether.”
Lucy’s heart was pounding at the thought her mother was close to accepting this idea. She began to promise the world but her practical mother intervened.
“If this is going to work, we need to put it on a business level with conditions on each side, a time frame, and a review after a specific period so either of us can withdraw if things don’t work out.”
“Oh, anything you want, Mom! You can trust my ideas now that I’ve seen what European fashion is really like. I won’t let you down.”
“What I want is a business plan answering some basic questions about what you intend to do, when you will do it and what your plans are if this idea takes off and you are faced with orders you can’t fill.”
This practical approach brought Lucy’s flight of fancy to a crashing halt, but only for a moment. She had learned to appreciate her mother’s business thinking in a way she never had before, but she wanted this opportunity badly and she would agree to anything that made it possible.
“I’m not finished, Lucy!” cautioned her mother. “You will, of course, have to keep up with your school work and help around the house more than you have done lately, and I don’t want you to neglect other things in your life like your interest in painting for example.”
“Don’t worry! I have already discussed that with Aunt Anna and she says I can do it all if I get organized. She says the A Plus seamstresses might be able to do some work for me if I get requests for clothes.”
“Aha! So that’s where this is coming from! Anna has been encouraging you.”
Lucy was unsure how her mother was reacting to Anna’s role in this project so she jumped in again to smooth the waters. “Really, it’s fine! Aunt Anna asked me about school and that led to a talk about the future and I do want to get going on this, Mom. I’m not getting any younger and some famous fashion designers started well before my age, you know.”
Lucy’s fervent plea made Maria want to laugh out loud. Privately she thought Lucy was more likely to be snapped up as a runway model than succeed in the very competitive game of fashion design. There was, however, the passion in Lucy’s voice to consider and Maria could now see past the disadvantages of having a teenager and her friends interfering in her domain, to the chance to spend more time with her younger daughter and help her along the way to independence in whatever field she finally chose.
“Very well, I’ll consider it,” she responded, after a few more moments. “But you have to get started on your business plan right away, young lady!”
“Yes, Ma’am!” said Lucy with a mock salute. “An
d will you also consider a new name for the store?”
Maria smiled a Mona Lisa smile and leaned back in her seat. “I will do that if you get some details down on paper before this plane lands in Toronto.”
At least, she said to herself, I’ll have peace and quiet for the next hour or so. And with this, Maria closed her eyes and slept. Her last conscious thought was, “Soon we will be home.”
Paul marched restlessly up and down the Arrivals hall at Pearson Airport.
Theresa watched him and thought he had not adjusted yet to the time difference in south-western Ontario. He had been fidgeting the whole way here in the car and had hustled her out of the downtown hotel almost as soon as they had found their rooms and put down their luggage.
Personally, she was relishing this break from home and kids; especially now that she was out of a job. She felt guilty every day when Joe trudged off to work. She knew he was worried about money and nothing she had tried so far had given her any reason to hope there would be work for her on the horizon. London’s college and university students had already nabbed all the part-time Christmas seasonal jobs.
There was always plenty to do at home, of course, but that kind of work was repetitive and endless. When she had worked part-time, those few hours away had brought a new perspective to her daily tasks and the thought of being paid at the end of two weeks was a great incentive. It meant she could buy the odd little luxury for the kids without having to explain the expense to Joe when the bills came in.
Theresa shuffled around in her hard plastic seat. She could see the lines of weary travellers emerging from the exit and pushing carts full of their luggage along the barriers to the open area where family and friends waited eagerly to enfold them in welcoming arms.
Theresa was not sure how welcoming she felt towards her mother and Lucy. Because she had missed her mother’s comforting reassurances about being fired, a tiny part of her still blamed Lucy for taking their mother away just when she was most needed. She could already feel the resentment building toward Lucy. I had better watch my tongue, she warned herself. With both Mom and Pops here, I need to be on my best behaviour. I promised to put the jealousy aside for everyone’s benefit, and that includes mine, too. I know it, but making it work is hard.
