Mandy swallowed and fiddled with the can before popping the top and taking a long drink. “You were always cheerful and popular,” Mandy admitted. “And you seemed to have everything. Summers on the farm or down the shore. You had Brick and Amy around you all the time.”
Violet nodded. It was nice growing up on the farm and having a family home in Ocean Grove.
“What are you talking about?” Violet asked. “You had your friends, too.”
Mandy shook her head. “I was alone, really. The kids I hung out with didn’t like me. Didn’t really want to hang out with me. They did it because my father was a judge. Because he wanted to be mayor. Because being friends with the mayor’s daughter might help them somehow. You, Amy and Brick? You were solid. Real.”
Violet digested her words for a moment. “I never thought of it that way. You must have been lonely.”
“I was,” Mandy finally admitted after a long moment of silence.
“I wish I had known. Realized. I would have invited you to join us.”
Mandy looked up at her, really looked at her and her blue eyes were intense. “I went out of my way to hurt you. I’m sorry.”
“That magnifying glass hurt!”
Mandy blushed. “Yeah, I know. That was mean. And so were the rumors I started about you. Jealousy, I swear.”
“You were always so popular with boys. Talked to them all so easily,” Violet said, finding it easier to confess now that the dam between them had been shattered. High school was over and this was the new reality of growing up. Cauterizing old wounds. “I wanted that kind of ease around people.”
“I flirted with them, sure. But talked to them? No. Could I ever tell them I hated the stale scent of cigarette smoke and that I thought football was the stupidest game alive? Of course not. Most of them were football players,” she said. “Who ever heard of a cheerleader who hated football? How could I be honest with them? I always had to be on stage, like a performer. If you were the perfect 1950s era teenager straight out of a TV show, I had to be the plastic party girl who never disagreed.” She took a long swallow, savoring the icy sweetness of the soda before swallowing. “Can I tell you a secret? Something else I hate?”
Violet shrugged. “Why not?”
“I hate puppies,” Mandy confided.
“No one hates puppies.”
“I do.”
Violet looked startled. “Oh. Well, it’s not a secret, exactly. But I like math.”
“How can you like math?”
Violet shrugged. “How can you hate puppies?”
They eyed each other up and smiled.
“Puppy breath, puppy pee, puppy odor,” Mandy said.
“Real numbers, imaginary numbers, square roots,” Violet said, closing her eyes with exaggerated bliss. “I see them all and they all make sense.”
“You’re weird.”
“Probably,” Violet agreed.
“Puppies are cute,” Mandy admitted. “If you can get past the smell. Which I don’t want to.”
“I like reading biographies of mathematicians,” Violet admitted with a grin. “For fun.”
The steady rhythm of the Falls pounded in the background and kicked up enough breeze to cool the heat of the afternoon.
“Where do you want to go?” Violet asked after a minute of more companionable silence.
“Well, I have to go back and get some orange juice and syrup. Cook wants to make pancakes for me before I leave for school.” She took a sip. “They’re my favorite,” she said quietly.
“No, I meant after school. You said you never wanted to come back.”
“Oh, that.” Mandy was quiet for a moment. “We’re being honest, here, right?”
“Absolutely,” Violet said.
“I don’t even want to go to college. Well. I do, but my father wants me to be a lawyer, like him. And then become a judge. I can’t imagine anything duller in the world.”
“What do you want to do?”
The moment stretched between them. “Be a hairdresser,” Mandy finally said. “For years, especially in middle school, I saw everyone as so much prettier than I was.”
“What? But you’re beautiful,” Violet interrupted.
Mandy waved her hand. “Good bone structure, make-up and hair tricks,” she said. “I saw jaw lines and good hair. I saw the beauty of people who weren’t even trying. But I almost lost it. I used that vision to also see what people were self-conscious about. What I could tease them about and ruin their self-confidence over.”
“Wow. I didn’t realize you had that kind of vision,” Violet said, shaking her head.
“I think my mom had it,” Mandy said. “Not that she was one of the Old Families, but maybe she had a different kind of enchantment. You know? Before she married my dad, she was a hairdresser in the City. People waited in line to see what kind of magic she could produce with scissors, comb and a little bit of product. But, somehow, some way, she lost her spark. Lost her ability to see the beauty in others. I don’t want to become my mom. I want to use my skills and reveal other people’s beauty to themselves.”
“That sounds amazing,” Violet said with genuine enthusiasm. “You absolutely must become a hairdresser.”
“It’s not that easy,” Mandy said.
“You should talk to your folks. Tell them. That sounds like an amazing dream.”
Mandy nodded. “I should stand up for myself, you’re right.”
Silence descended and surrounded them, but it was softer this time. More like an old friend visiting instead of the vibrant anger of before.
“So, are we friends now?”
Mandy laughed. “One step at a time. Jeeze. Can we start with not being enemies?”
“Deal,” Violet said as they tapped soda cans in a toast to a new friendship.
Epilogue
Fifteen months later
Amidst the apple trees of the Old Orchard with the brilliant fall foliage in full bloom, Brick and Violet shared their vows with friends and family. The bride wore her grandmother’s exquisite 1950s tea length ivory dress, its scooped neckline and cap sleeves outlining her delicate youth. The taffeta skirt shimmered in the late afternoon sun and the crinoline underskirt let it poof out with vintage flare. With her blue shoes and a rich purple crystal encrusted belt, she was a fey vision for her friends and family.
As vows were exchanged, Amy brought forth two freshly picked silver dandelions. Violet smiled up at her tuxedo clad husband and wrinkled her nose in delight.
“So all our dreams come true,” he said, his voice lightly shaking with emotion. Together, they turned into the wind and blew; sending tiny silver seeds holding their dreams and wishes and let them scatter into the world.
The minister presented them to the crowd and they held hands as they were shooed into the barn where the solstice had been celebrated
A crisp fall wind blew and Violet tightened her white shawl around her shoulders as they made their way to the barn. A band was set up in the far corner near a cleared off dancing area. Fairy lights glowed, giving the old structure new life. A pair of fire pits near the doors provided a warming barrier.
“You look beautiful,” Mandy said as she approached the couple.
Violet patted her hair nervously. “Thanks to you and a million bobby pins,” she said, hugging Mandy in greeting.
“Hey, don’t touch,” Mandy said, gently slapping her hands. “It was more like two million, which you’ll see when you take your hair down after the reception,” she teased.
Violet laughed. “Thank you. For everything. My hair. For coming home for the wedding. You added to our special day.”
Mandy wrinkled her nose and gave Brick a kiss on the cheek. “How could I refuse when I had so much to do with you two getting together?”
Brick laughed and hugged Mandy. “Whatever it took, I’m glad you’re here, too,” he said before Mandy moved to allow the next person to greet the newlyweds.
“I can’t believe my baby niece got married bef
ore me,” Eden said as she approached Violet and Brick
“Hush. We’re almost the same age, remember?” Violet said with a laugh. She accepted her aunt’s kiss and smiled up at her. “We couldn’t wait,” she said with a giggle, looking up at Brick.
“You’re in love,” Eden said, her smile a trifle sad. “Why wait?”
“Exactly,” Brick said, accepting Eden’s hug and kiss.
“Where did you get dandelions?” she asked. “It’s fall!”
Eden laughed. “Brick asked, I delivered,” she said mysteriously before moving down the line.
“My baby is all grown up,” Gloria Hamilton gushed as she approached.
“Mom, I’m almost 22. I’ve been a grown up for a few years,” Brick said, enfolding his petite mom in his arms.
“Oh, hush,” she said. “You’ll always be my little boy and don’t you forget it.”
“Never, Mom,” Violet said, wrapping her arms around the two of them. “Thank you for raising the man I love,” she whispered before brushing a kiss against her mother in law’s smooth cheek.
“Oh, I always hoped you two would get married,” she said before being bustled off by the next person in line.
~~~~
“Where is Nuge?” Amy asked, approaching her sister at the end of the receiving line.
“We broke up,” Emma said, looking down at her manicure.
“Why?” Amy asked, her china blue eyes concerned. “You’re meant to be together.”
“Are we?” Emma asked. “Because I’m not as sure as you are.” Her gaze turned to the imposing figure of First Daughter overlooking the entire procession.
A crimson bright apple with opalescent swirls strayed from its fellow brothers and sisters and rolled towards Emma’s pump clad foot. It pushed against her shoe, demanding attention.
The end
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Other books by Summer Donnelly
Harper’s Mill books
Hummingbird Dreams, Harper’s Mill 1 by Summer Donnelly
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Fae and Frost, a Christmas Romance by Summer Donnelly
Harper’s Mill 2
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GW60QUA
Dandelion Dreams, Harper’s Mill 3 by Summer Donnelly
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Stand-alone titles: Midnight Honey by Summer Donnelly
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Dandelion Wishes (Harper's Mill Book 3) Page 10
