When the car disappeared around the corner, she turned to him and said, “I have a feeling he won’t be quite as enthusiastic about taking the bus after tonight.”
The movie was wonderful, one of Mary Dell’s favorites. Having a live orchestra play the score only enhanced the experience. But Mary Dell was uncharacteristically quiet when she and Hub-Jay walked back to the hotel. The night was cool but temperate. The sound of their footsteps made soft echoes as they traversed Dallas’s darkened streets.
“Is something wrong?” Hub-Jay asked. “You haven’t said a word for three blocks.”
“That’s probably a record,” Mary Dell replied with a laugh that softened into a reflective sort of smile. “I’m fine. I was just thinking.”
“About Howard?” Hub-Jay guessed.
“He was so talkative tonight,” she observed, sounding excited. “So full of plans and hopes for the future. He’s never been shy, but whenever we’re together, I do most of the talking. I thought it was because he was just naturally a little quiet, but I just realized that maybe it was because he didn’t think he had anything much to add. His whole life has always been wrapped up with mine, you know? I always used to say that we were two sides of the same coin—which was true.
“After Lydia Dale died, Howard stepped into her shoes and started picking out the fabrics for my quilts and helping me decide what to stock in the shop.” She laughed out loud. “Heck, I can still barely dress myself without Howard’s help.”
Hub-Jay slowed his pace and turned his head toward Mary Dell, making a show of looking her over.
“He didn’t dress you tonight, did he?” Mary Dell shook her head. “There you go. I think you look lovely. You know, leopard print is really starting to grow on me.”
Mary Dell gave him a good-natured elbow in the ribs. Hub-Jay put his arm more closely around her shoulders as they continued walking.
“My point,” she continued, “is that Howard has something to say for himself now. He has his own plans and life. He’s not just another side of me anymore. He’s his own person, an adult.”
Mary Dell stopped abruptly in the middle of the sidewalk. “I did the right thing, letting him go.”
It was a declaration, not a question.
Hub-Jay turned to face her directly, tilting his chin lower so he could look her in the eye, and taking hold of her two hands. “You did a lot of things right where Howard is concerned.”
“I did,” she said, her voice choked with emotion. “And I’m so, so proud of him. But it’s hard to think that he doesn’t need me anymore.”
“Howard is always going to need you. Maybe not in quite the same way he did before, but nothing and no one will ever change what you are to each other.”
Hub-Jay stood there and just looked at her, smiling, for such a long and silent moment that Mary Dell couldn’t help but smile back, and then laugh.
“What? You look like the cat that ate the canary,” she said.
“Well . . . yeah. I was going to wait until the party to do this . . . I had a whole plan and a speech. But this thing has been burning a hole in my pocket for more than a week. I just can’t wait anymore.”
Hub-Jay reached into the pocket of his jacket and took out a small box of black velvet. He placed it in her hand and, in the still street of the silent city with tall sentinel skyscrapers standing witness, sank down on one knee.
“Howard isn’t the only one who needs you, Mary Dell. I do, very much. And if you’ll just give me the chance, I know I can be the man that you need too.”
CHAPTER 35
Back in Too Much, on the night before he was to drive to Dallas for his thirtieth birthday party, Rob Lee dreamed about Nick and the bombing.
It was the first such dream he had had in three weeks, almost the same dream he’d had before—on patrol with Nick and the others, spotting someone walking down the road, the hesitation at recognizing the enemy, the blast, heat, and fire, the screams that went unheard. But on this occasion when the figure walking down the road turned quickly toward him, the face that made him hesitate a breath too long and confused his loyalties belonged, not to the enemy, but to Holly.
And in an exquisitely appointed hotel suite in Dallas, Mary Dell went to bed quite alone and dreamed she was already at the birthday party, wearing her red taffeta dress, gliding around the dance floor in Hub-Jay’s arms while the Dallas Symphony played “Tonight,” her favorite song from West Side Story. But when she lifted her head from Hub-Jay’s shoulder to tell him how happy she was and how much she loved him, she found herself looking into Donny’s face.
A hundred miles distant one from the other, aunt and nephew each woke with a start, sat straight up in their beds, and took in long, ragged breaths, trying to separate themselves from their dreams and understand what they meant.
CHAPTER 36
Hub-Jay had gone off in search of a bottle of sparkling cider to serve to Linne, so Mary Dell stood alone to greet her guests in the foyer of the Jacaranda Suite, one of the Hollander Grand’s largest and the only one that boasted a rooftop garden.
Nearly one hundred people attended the celebration, family and old friends from Too Much and Dallas, a couple of Howard’s new friends from college, and quite a number of the old friends he’d made through the Down Syndrome Association programs and events. Most of Howard’s friends were accompanied by parents, but one or two who, like Howard, were capable of living independently arrived on their own. All of them were dressed in their best.
Howard’s oldest friend in Dallas, Sawyer Hill, came in white tie. He beamed when Mary Dell said, “Sawyer, you look about as handsome as a handful of spades! Promise you’ll save me a dance later, will you?” But if anybody had been taking a vote, the award for Best Dressed Party Guest would have gone to Luke Hayden, a Marine and friend of Rob Lee’s who was home on leave and came to the party wearing his dress blues.
Mary Dell was so happy to see Luke. In comparison to Howard, Rob Lee had so few friends in attendance. Since his return to Too Much, Rob Lee hadn’t reconnected with his old high school classmates, and most of his Marine Corps friends were either still deployed or, sadly, had never returned from combat.
Observing his serious expression and the tentative way he entered the room, Mary Dell correctly sensed that Luke was a shy young man and possibly struggling with some of the same kinds of adjustment issues that Rob Lee had experienced upon returning stateside. With that in mind, she purposely reined in her natural effusiveness and greeted him warmly but in a quiet voice, saying how handsome he looked and how glad Rob Lee would be to see him. Craning her neck in the direction of the dance floor, Mary Dell caught her nephew’s eye and waved him over. Rob Lee lifted his hand so his friend could see it and began wending his way through the other dancers with Holly in tow.
Seeing how lovely Holly looked in a simple ivory shift with a bit of beading at the neckline and the way Rob Lee clung to her hand, Mary Dell couldn’t help but smile. Rob Lee was a different young man than he’d been when Mary Dell confronted him that day in the tack room. He’d stopped drinking and he worked hard—in fact, the ranch was running more smoothly than ever. Most important of all, he was happy.
Mary Dell was under no illusions that the talking-to she’d given him had been the catalyst for such change. The credit belonged to Holly and Holly alone. And to think she had once resented this girl. Holly Silva might not be the best quilter Mary Dell had ever seen, but she had turned out to be just what they needed at the moment they needed it most.
It was like Mary Dell always said: God was in the business of just-in-time inventory.
Rob Lee grinned when approaching Luke, and the two friends embraced in one of those deeply felt but understated macho boy-hugs, a single two-handed pound on the back followed by a tight embrace that extended to a beat of one, two, three, before the men took a step back and looked at each other.
“Wow,” Rob Lee said in an appraising tone of voice, his eyes moving up and down over Luke’s impecca
bly pressed uniform. “You look terrible.”
Luke’s smile made the corners of his eyes crinkle. Rob Lee released his hold on Luke’s shoulders, spreading his hands.
“Seriously, dude. You look like a recruiting poster.”
“Thanks. Hey, happy birthday, buddy. Thirty, huh?” Luke shook his head sorrowfully from side to side. “Man, that’s old. But you haven’t changed a bit. You look just like you did. Like a complete pile of sh—”
Luke stopped himself midsentence, looked at Mary Dell, and turned a little pink.
“Pardon me, ma’am.”
“Don’t worry, Luke. I’ve heard worse.”
“Hey,” Rob Lee said, tugging on Holly’s hand to pull her forward, “I’d like to introduce you to my girl.”
Taking note, Mary Dell, without Rob Lee seeing her, tossed a quick, “Oh, yes?” sort of look in Holly’s direction. Holly said nothing, but her smile said it all. Something had definitely happened with these two in the last few days, and Mary Dell couldn’t have been happier.
“C’mon, buddy,” Rob Lee said after Luke and Holly exchanged greetings, putting his arm over his friend’s shoulder and reclaiming Holly’s hand. “Let’s get you a beer.”
Most everyone had arrived by that time, but Mary Dell was still waiting to greet one more guest. She remained at her post but turned around so she could watch the goings-on.
The party was definitely in full swing. The dance floor was packed with young people jumping, twisting, and bouncing to the music. Most were paired up, but Mary Dell noticed that a cluster of women, including Cady and four of Howard’s girlfriends, were dancing as a group, forming a little sisterhood of singles. They looked like they were having more fun than anyone. Judging from the size and enthusiasm of the crowd, the DJ must have been a good one, but the music was mostly unfamiliar to her and a little loud for Mary Dell’s taste.
Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Peering through an open pair of French doors, Mary Dell saw that most of the people over forty had migrated to the roof deck, where potted trees and shrubs decorated with strings of tiny white lights created a magical if somewhat more sedate setting.
Taffy and Linne were sitting at a candlelit table in the corner with Reverend Crews and his wife, talking and sipping glasses of something golden and bubbly—somebody must have located the sparkling cider after all. Howard and Rob Lee were the first babies Reverend Crews had baptized upon taking his pulpit in Too Much. It meant worlds to Mary Dell that he and Mrs. Crews had come all this way for the party, even though they would have to drive back home the same night in order to be home in time for Sunday services.
Mary Dell was also touched that Pearl, Pauline, and their cousin Sweetums, the first three women she had ever taught to quilt, were there, too, along with their husbands.
It was wonderful to look around the room and see so many familiar faces, people who had loved and supported her and her family through triumph, tragedy, and everything that came between. She was so happy to see that everyone was having fun. They stood in little clumps and clusters, holding conversations among themselves and flutes of champagne in their hands as waiters in white coats circulated among them, offering appetizers of shrimp, beef tenderloin, chicken skewers, and a special pimento cheese spread on toasted slices of brioche. So sweet of Hub-Jay to include that. He knew pimento cheese was her favorite. It was a wonderful party, thanks to him.
One thing was bothering her, though. She couldn’t see Howard anywhere. He wasn’t on the dance floor or the roof deck. Where could he have gone?
She was just about to go in search of him when she noticed him sitting in a corner with Jenna at his side, holding his hand. He must have needed a break. He’d been dancing all night. Mary Dell frowned; she didn’t like his color. Maybe he was overheated.
She was about to go over and suggest he go out on the deck to cool off when Hub-Jay arrived, looking triumphant and clutching a bottled of sparkling cider in his hand.
“Found it! Finally!”
Mary Dell gave him an apologetic look. “One of the waiters beat you to it.”
“You’re kidding,” he said. “Where were they hiding the bottles?”
Before Mary Dell had a chance to answer, the door opened and the person she was more anxious to see than all the others entered the room.
“Evelyn!”
Mary Dell threw her arms wide, tottered across the marble foyer in her stiletto heels, and hugged her beloved friend as tight as she could.
“I am so, so, so happy you’re here!”
“Me too! I’m sorry we’re late. There was some kind of air traffic control issue in Chicago and . . . Never mind.” She dismissed the subject with a wave of her hand. “We’re here. That’s what matters.”
“Charlie,” Mary Dell said warmly, embracing Evelyn’s husband. “Thank you for coming. I know how hard it is for you to leave the restaurant on the weekend.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it for anything,” Charlie replied, his Irish burr just as prominent as it had been when he immigrated to America four decades before.
“Besides, I consider it something of a business trip—research.” He grinned and extended his hand to Hub-Jay. “Evelyn says you started out in the restaurant business.”
“True,” Hub-Jay said. “I started busing tables at seventeen, worked my way through the ranks before opening my first hotel. Aside from dealing with temperamental executive chefs, the restaurant is still my favorite part of the business.”
“Bunch of prima donnas,” Charlie said, nodding deeply. “My chef just had a three-day pout because I wouldn’t buy him a six-thousand-dollar espresso machine. No appreciation of what it takes to run a business.”
“I can tell you two are going to have a lot to talk about,” Mary Dell said. “Hub-Jay, do you want to get Charlie a drink and some food? Watch out for him, though, or he’ll steal your recipes.”
“I don’t mind. Professional courtesy. Charlie, want to go talk some shop?”
“We’ll be right there.” Mary Dell grabbed Evelyn’s arm. “We’ve got to run to the powder room.”
Dragging Evelyn off in the opposite direction, Mary Dell called out over her shoulder, “Charlie, be sure to try the pimento cheese appetizers. Heaven!”
Mary Dell pulled Evelyn into the powder room and locked the door behind them.
“This looks serious,” Evelyn said. “What’s up?”
Eyes sparkling, with her lips pressed tight together, as if trying to keep back a possible explosion of words, Mary Dell spread out her right hand and twisted a platinum band on her ring finger one hundred and eighty degrees, revealing a stunning and very large cushion-cut diamond, surrounded on four sides by a row of smaller but no less brilliant diamonds.
Evelyn gasped and her hand covered her mouth.
“Mary Dell! Oh, it’s beautiful! But”—she frowned a little and looked at the ring more closely—“it’s an engagement ring. Shouldn’t you be wearing it on your left hand?”
“I can’t. Not yet.” Mary Dell bit her lower lip. “I’m still married. I never divorced Donny.”
Evelyn’s mouth dropped open as she tried to process this information. “What! Never? Even after all these years? I always assumed that after he left . . .”
Mary Dell shrugged, looking almost apologetic. “I know. For a long time, years and years, I kept thinking he’d come back. By the time I finally accepted the fact that he wasn’t, there didn’t seem to be any point to it. For one thing, I didn’t know where he was. Besides, I had no pressing reason to divorce Donny. I wasn’t interested in marrying again. I had Howard, my family, my career—I couldn’t imagine ever needing or wanting anything more.”
“But Hub-Jay changed your mind?”
“He did. And it’s just so . . . it’s a wonderful feeling. I’m in love! Really and truly in love!” Mary Dell laughed, displaying both delight and shock that she had uttered those words aloud. “I never imagined feeling like that again. Maybe that’s
why it took me so long to figure it out. Hub-Jay too. We’d both given up on love.”
“Oh, Mary Dell. I am so happy for you.” Evelyn hugged her friend in a tight and sincere embrace. “But if you feel that way, why are you hiding your ring? This is such wonderful news. I’d think you’d want to shout it from the rooftops.”
“Oh, believe me,” Mary Dell said, nodding and taking a step back, “I do. I’ve just about bit a hole in my tongue to keep it to myself. But today is Howard and Rob Lee’s big day. I don’t want to steal their thunder. But I also don’t think it would be right to make our engagement official yet. Not until I can get a divorce.”
Evelyn frowned. “But how are you supposed to divorce someone you can’t even find?”
“I’ve talked to a lawyer. First, I have to make a real effort to locate Donny and convince a judge of that. You know, he actually did call a few weeks ago. He saw the promotional spot and was worried that Howard wasn’t in it. First time I’ve heard his voice in thirty years,” she said. “So strange. He sounded just the same; I knew it was Donny the minute he said hello. But he hung up before I had a chance to ask where he was. I wish I’d known then that I would need to find him now. Anyway, if he can’t be found, I have to fill out paperwork and put an ad in the paper saying I’m filing for divorce. It’s doable but complicated and will take at least a few months. Until then . . .”
She fingered her diamond, gazing wistfully at the shimmering stone, before finally twisting it back toward her palm. “I’m so happy I just about dropped my harp through the clouds. It’s been so hard keeping quiet,” she said. “But I had to tell you. I couldn’t keep it from my best friend, now, could I?”
“I should hope not!” Evelyn grinned. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me. But I really can’t wait to tell Abigail and Margot and all the rest of the gang. They’ll want to throw you the biggest bridal shower ever. You know that, right?”
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