The Lilac Bush Is Blooming

by Jan Surasky

  The kitchen was large and well-appointed, with the latest in appliances and the most modern décor. But, in the corner stood a glassed in cabinet which held a number of antiques, a nod to the ancient brownstone we were standing in.

  Martha pulled two aprons from a cabinet, both with modern art stamped all over them, and handed one to me. “These are left over from the museum’s charity auction. But, the antiques in the corner were handed down to me from my mother. She ran an antiques store in the Village and I grew up there. These are all I have left to remember her by. These, and the beautiful memories of how much she valued and loved antiques.”

  “They are beautiful, Martha.”

  “Thank you, Annie May. May I ask you a question?”

  “Of course.”

  “Are you and Jeb dating?”

  “We’re friends. We’ve been friends since freshman year. Jeb’s enthusiasm has brought fun to the doldrums of college life, especially before exams and finals. But, he’s a serious student.”

  “Well, I sometimes think his enthusiasm might get him into trouble. He’s pretty forthright. I just think the right girl might settle him down.”

  “Jeb’s very popular. He’s dated a lot, but he just hasn’t found the right girl.”

  “I hope he finds one like you, Annie May. You seem to be very responsible.”

  “I think Jeb will settle down when he’s ready. Jeb is brash but he’s very reliable. I think he just wants to make the right decision.”

  “Thanks for talking to me. I know it’s difficult, but Jeb’s not very forthcoming on his personal life. And, I don’t want to pry.

  “Now, I think we better tackle these dishes. Jeb and Peter could stay up all night talking engineering.”

  As I headed back home at the end of the week, the glow and excitement of Manhattan still swirling about me, the warmth of Brooklyn, despite the variety of cultures and architecture, still clinging, I thought of the year ahead. Jeb was closer to his goal but I was a question mark in my own mind. Carrie and Will were both certain of their future.

  I decided to count the small towns I passed to keep myself awake and keep my fingers crossed that I would beat the rainstorm threatening in the sky above. Thunder claps echoed in the distance and as they neared I prepared myself for the decibels of thunder, the crackling of lightning bolts, and the eventual downpour that would be sure to follow.

  I tossed my ideas for my history paper about in my head. It was due the first day of classes after the spring break and I knew I would be staying up all night to write it. I fished in my bag that sat on the seat next to me for the miniature farm I had found for Georgie in a quirky gift shop in the Village. I made up a story for the entire farm family the artist had depicted and for all the animals in the barn. Before I knew it, I had passed through town, the shops all closed, Hank Peterson’s dry goods lit up but empty save for Golden Boy, his loyal calico cat, and I was rounding the corner toward home.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The buttercups were already sprouting in the meadows and spring was turning into an early summer as Josie and I headed for home to spend the weekend studying for final exams. Josie had morphed from a shy Iowa farm girl into an easterner look-alike, thanks to the highlights her Manhattan roommates pulled through her light brown hair and the contacts she exchanged for the horn-rimmed glasses she had arrived with.

  But, Josie hadn’t strayed far from her roots. She was a favorite of Mama’s and Georgie’s, who trusted her with decisions on new crops to plant, and Uncle John had bent his rules on girls and farming and had included her in planting time. Josie couldn’t wait to feel the sun on her back and the tractor beneath her as she sowed the new seeds and nurtured them as they grew.

  As we pulled into the driveway we were greeted with the aroma of a baked ham studded with cloves and a pan full of fried potatoes. An apple pie sat cooling on the window sill. Mama was bustling about, her apron full of the remains of the squash she was preparing to mash, and Georgie was setting the table. Josie raced in to hug them both, promising Georgie she would race him in the meadows after the supper dishes were dried and put away.

  Supper was set and we all sat down, Josie and I weary from study and anxious to dig in to the bounty of farm life after days and days of campus burgers and all-nighters. “How are your parents, Josie?”

  “Fine, Mrs. Parker. I know Mother is anxious to try the recipes you sent.”

  “Well, I had extra copies and I thought I could share our New York know-how with Iowa. Your mother was kind enough to share her recipe for a wonderful rhubarb pie I thought had gone out of style. The men on this farm couldn’t get enough of it.”

  “I know Mother is glad for your letters and letting her know how I’m doing here. I know I don’t write as often as I should and I know she gets anxious even though she doesn’t let on.”

  “How is your father doing with the farm?”

  “Mother and Father took Granny in last month so there’s another mouth to feed. But, Granny has won prizes for her canning so they’re adding jams and jellies to their roadside stand come summer.

  “Father has perked up with a friend of Kenny’s from town who’s shown an interest in farming. Father’s been giving him lessons on tractor mechanics and hopes to start him spreading seed come planting time.

  “He hopes that Simon’s interest will lure Kenny back to the farm. But, Kenny is firm. He has a big job in marketing for a company in Des Moines and won’t give that up. But, he has agreed to bring his newly found know-how to the farm come harvest time.

  “There will be a clash between the old and the new. Father doesn’t change easily, but I think Kenny can handle it. Kenny is certain that Father is stuck in another century and Father thinks what he calls ‘these new-fangled ways’ are nothing but trouble.”

  Josie paused, then turned to Georgie. “How’s the math coming now that I showed you those shortcuts?”

  “Well, Mrs. Hazelton thinks I’m smart and I can finish my homework in half the time and spend the rest of the time looking over the new seed catalogues.”

  “School is hard. But, you’ll like knowing the math when you figure out how much seed you need and how much profit you can make and counting the cash from your sales at the market. How about if I show you how to set up a roadside stand?”

  “Would you, Josie? I’d really like that. I’ve always wanted one. Then, I can sell right here. Papa was always going to show me but he never got around to it.”

  Mama answered. “Papa was always going to do a lot of things and he had big dreams. But, he never got the time to do them all.

  “Georgie, how about finishing up and Josie can fill in for you as the dish dryer while you go up and do your homework.”

  A groan from Georgie was not enough to change Mama’s mind. Georgie went upstairs while we three did the dishes and Mama caught up on our college struggles.

  “Are you girls eating right?”

  “Yes, but not as well as here, Mama. No eatery on campus can take the place of your cooking,”

  “Annie May, you stop flattering me. If there’s something you want, you just come out with it.”

  “I think I might want to take back some of your cherry pie. I’ve been telling almost everyone on campus how you’ve won the prize at the state fair since I can remember. They’ve been begging for a taste ever since.”

  “Well, I thought I’d send some back with you. And, maybe a pan of Josie’s favorite butterscotch brownies with chocolate chips.”

  “Thanks, Mama. I know that will make me the most popular student on campus.”

  “What are you girls learning in school?”

  “We’re both learning a lot of American history. Josie’s learning all kinds of science and I’m studying books in English and struggling with a course in statistics which I don’t understand or I guess care to.”

  “I had classes I didn’t understand at Baldwinsville High but I tried my best. Learning’s a hard thing, but it pays in the end.
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  “Papa was better at it than I was. He had a thirst for learning. He didn’t mind spending time poring over those old books on farming he found in his folks’ attic. Many nights he spent by the fire sighing and dreaming, puffing on one of his old pipes and laying out a design in his head for a farm he was going to call High Point Acres.

  “He even had a plan to feed all the hungry people who were starving in the world. Papa was a dreamer alright.”

  “He sounds like a wonderful person, Mrs. Parker.”

  “He was, Josie. And, I know he would have been proud of you girls. He used to say to me, ‘Marylee, we better treat those little tads right, because they’re going to take over the world one day. And, they better know what they’re doing because that’s all they’ll have’.

  “Now, that should be the last of the cleanup and I’ll put the dishes away while you girls get down to your studies. There’s a new program on the radio that plays all the old music from the twenties so I can listen while I finish up the hem on Carrie’s new skirt I’ve been working on for spring. Carrie’s travelling in some high circles with Jamie so she needs to look right.”

  “Okay, Mama, we’ll get out of your way and get down to the books. Supper was scrumptious.”

  “It was, Mrs. Parker. It always makes me think of home.”

  “You say ‘hello’ to your folks when you write them next.”

  “I will.”

  Josie raced Georgie in the meadow as promised and then traded silly stories before his bedtime. As we sat down to study, Josie paused. “Do you think Jeb’s roommate Jackson will ever ask me out?”

  “Jackson’s shy and he’s bent on getting to medical school. He doesn’t date much.”

  “What does a girl have to do to get his attention?”

  “He likes music. Why don’t you get him a Tommy Dorsey record? He got up at dawn to get the best seats for the Dorsey concert when the band came to campus last fall.”

  “Okay. Maybe that would work. I know a great record shop near campus. Will you help me pick it out?”

  “Of course. But, I think you better be careful setting your sights on Jackson. His family is part of the Long Island horsey set and they’re very careful who they let in.”

  “But, he’s so dreamy. He’s all I think about all day. Tall, perfectly groomed blond hair, with the most impeccable gentlemanly manner. I can’t get him off of my mind.”

  “Okay, but he does come with a word of warning. He’s not very sensitive when it comes to his friendships going sour. Jeb’s had to bail him out a number of times.”

  “I’ll take note. I just can’t wait to get back to campus and see if the Dorsey record works.”

  “I’ll keep my fingers crossed. Jackson’s a good catch. He’s serious but he’s fun when he lets down. He and Jeb have closed up most of the student hangouts on campus and off. But, we better get down to the books. Professor Hayes is known for his hard finals.”

  As the moonlight pored through the open windows, we tried to make sense of wars and presidents and people who had the courage and the foresight to found a country out of a vast and sometimes confounding wilderness, building it into the great power it was destined to become.

  Weary at midnight, we packed up the books and slid under the clean sheets Mama had ironed especially for our arrival. Josie was asleep in Carrie’s bed before we could say goodnight. I turned off the lights and left the shade up, counting the stars and admiring the bright full moon. The sun would be up soon enough and we would be heading back to campus for a final round of tests and the end of another semester. Hank Peterson had given me a standing invitation for a job in his dry goods store every summer for as long as I wanted. I began to count piles of sweaters and tee shirts in my head as I promptly fell asleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Exams were over and summer was in full swing when Carrie arrived home with a bundle of fashion projects she had completed and plans for a June wedding the following year. Jamie had presented her with a diamond the size of which we had never seen before. If diamonds were shown at the state fair, this one would have won the grand prize. But it was tasteful as well, because Carrie would have accepted none other.

  She and Jamie had decided on a wedding the following year immediately after their graduations. Carrie was walking on air and was full of wedding plans in her head. Mama was so happy for her and would do anything to please Jamie and his family and Carrie as well. But, she had ideas of her own she had harbored for years,

  As for me, I stewed silently, torn between good wishes for Carrie and the thought that, despite the fact that I liked Jamie, I was about to lose my only sister to him. I mostly puttered about, trying to stay out of the way for fear my thoughts would be discovered.

  Carrie, back at Sandler’s Drugs for the summer, was enjoying the attention her engagement ring was getting as she served sodas and sundaes at the lunch counter. Every teenaged girl swooned over the size of her diamond and made bets with her friends as to who would net the biggest catch in the future.

  The elders of the town were less taken by Carrie’s good fortune. Mrs. Addison, in for her weekly medications, clucked when she saw the size of Carrie’s diamond. “Don’t get too uppity, Carolyn Parker. And, don’t forget where you came from.”

  Carrie took it all in stride, writing Jamie every day and counting the days until his family opened their summer place at the edge of town.

  Will was home as well, working the farm with Uncle John, romping with Jester, and jumping in the usual swimming holes with Georgie when they got a chance. But, this year was different. Will was more serious than usual, and much more distant. I tossed it off to his maturing and the toll it took to become a serious college student.

  I decided to test out my theory on a very hot June day. As Will rounded the corner on the tractor Uncle John had spent most of the spring tuning up, I drenched him with a pitcher of ice cold water I had prepared specifically for that purpose. “Okay, Annie May, I’ll get you as soon as I finish fertilizing the fields. You’ll regret taking advantage of a poor farm hand.”

  “You’re far from a poor farm hand, Will Vanderwort. I heard you got into vet school.”

  “News travels fast. I got in on early admission.

  “And, what about you? You’re going to be a junior. You should be getting a start on becoming famous already. I hear you’re in some pretty heavy literary circles there. I’ve got a buddy who dates a Syracuse girl. He’s on your campus just about every weekend.

  “If we call a truce, I’ll catch up with you later. How about Strawberry Hill at four o’clock? “

  Four o’ clock was the perfect time to head for Strawberry Hill. I had finished my hours at Hank Peterson’s and I had in mind to help Mama with supper by mixing some biscuits to go with the ham she was preparing to make. The sun was lowering in the sky and the hues of the meadow flowers were still brilliant despite the shadows.

  Will was there already when I arrived, sitting near the top surveying the fields, the meadows, and part of the Taylor farm, the haze of the horizon a far distance beneath the clear blue sky. I joined him at his chosen spot.

  “Well, I see you haven’t lost your hiking skills getting soft on that Syracuse campus.”

  “I could still beat you back to the house if I had a mind to.”

  “I thought you would lose that by now. From what I can see the college boys like the clingy, swoony type.”

  “I haven’t had too much time to date. With being a day student and a job on campus and Saturdays in town, and what with hitting the books I haven’t had too much time left over. What about you? I’m surprised some clingy college girl hasn’t nabbed you already.”

  “I have a job in one of the dorms doing maintenance to pay for my room and board and it has been nearly a full-time job doubling up on my courses to gain early admission and save a year’s tuition.”

  “I knew you could do it. And, you’ll be that much closer to being a vet.”

  “I can’t w
ait. There’s so much I want to do. There’s so much new research and there’s so much I want to contribute. They’re on the edge of finding a cure for so many diseases that level the herds and wipe out the horse populations.”

  “I know you’ll be sought after, Will. The animals look up to you already. You’ve saved so many cats and dogs and I know the Taylor horses are grateful for tracking down the disease that plagued them last summer.

  “And, I see the way Jester looks at you. You won’t have any problem with people bringing their pets to you.”

  “I’m not sure what I want to do. Research looks good. But, it’s a few years away so I have time to think about it.

  “It looks like you have kept safe the likeness of Gullinbursti I carved and trusted you with when I first went away. The farm is doing great. Your Uncle John has added a number of modern methods to the fertilizing and the planting. And, he’s teaching Georgie a lot of them and giving him more responsibility.”

  “I have kept your carving of Gullinbursti in a very safe place and he has watched over the farm these past few years like you said. I think his magical powers have worked.”

  “And, what about your plans, Annie May? Are you going to become a famous writer?”

  “I would rather help create writers and readers. I so much want to teach. But, before I do I want to soak up everything I can. Syracuse has a great department for that and I’m lucky I have a job with Richard Anders. I’ve learned so much from Richard and his friends.”

  “Your students will be lucky. You’ll be steeped in knowledge by then.

  “Now, enough of this serious talk. I’ll race you back to the barn. And, then I’ll show you some robin’s eggs in a nest I discovered attached to the hayloft. It’s late for roosting, but I think we can get a look before they hatch.”

  Will plucked a daisy and put it in my hair. “You can save it for when you find a fella to love.”

  “That’s going to be a while. It looks like I’m in for getting a masters.”