Virginia had done an amazing job getting people in the neighborhood to rally ’round the rabbits, but the dream of getting them all to set aside their differences didn’t exactly pan out. When word spread that there was going to be free tea and scones and a lesson on making rabbit hair into yarn, which was right up the collective Beach Walk alley, both literally and figuratively, the neighbors turned up ready to eat and learn. But they kept to their philosophical corners. Mr. Clancy was at one table against the fence, apparently trying to catch her mother’s eye, while Bernard sat at the other, also vying for Virginia’s attention.
Suzanna tried not to watch the door for Rio. It was a long shot that he’d show up, but you never knew about these things.
Erinn was setting up her camera and tripod at the back of the lawn when Christopher came through the side gate. Suzanna’s antennae were up as she watched Erinn pretend she hadn’t seen him. Suzanna smiled to herself. While her mother really wasn’t conscious that two men were watching her every move, Erinn was pretending she wasn’t aware that Christopher was nearby.
Two very opposite approaches!
Christopher went over to Erinn, draping a hand casually over the tripod as they chatted. Suzanna couldn’t hear what they were saying. She grabbed a basket of Angora fur so she could walk past without looking like a snoop.
“Isn’t Alice coming?” Erinn asked. “I would think this would be right up her alley.”
“She says she already knows how to turn rabbit fur into yarn.” Christopher shrugged.
“Of course she does,” Erinn said.
Christopher waved to his uncle. When he saw Erinn wasn’t about to engage further, he went to sit with Bernard. Suzanna thought it was amazing that Erinn could sound like a snob even in a bout of jealousy.
A storekeeper named Mavis, who was sitting on what Suzanna now thought of as “Mr. Clancy’s side,” signaled Suzanna, which unfortunately meant she would be forced to move away from Erinn and Christopher. She’d have to catch up with their story later by gathering her own intel; God knows Erinn would never pour her heart out to her own sister!
“What can I do for you, Mavis?” Suzanna asked.
Mavis pointed to the pile of fluffy white Angora fur nestled in its basket in the center of the table.
“I don’t really like this color,” she said. “Can you bring another?”
“Well, we really only have beige, brown, and white.”
“I want to make a red sweater.”
“That’s a little bit down the line,” Suzanna said, although she realized she didn’t actually know exactly how far down the line it was. It was as if her mother sensed she was at a loss because Virginia was suddenly at her side.
“I’m sure there would be many, many people who would trade their brown fur for this beautiful white,” Virginia said. “As a matter of fact, I’d be happy to trade with you myself. I have a nice drab brown.”
“No, that’s fine,” Mavis said, pulling the basket toward her. “I like white.”
As Virginia and Suzanna walked away, Virginia said, “You just have to subscribe to the theory that every tactic you use as a mother, you can use on the world.”
“Sort of like, ‘Everything I know I learned in kindergarten,’ ” Suzanna said. “But from the mother’s perspective.”
“Exactly!”
A few of the Cause Courtyard ladies, including Zelda and Babette, as well as complete strangers dotted the backyard. The oddest of odd couples, Dymphna and Blu, stood at the entrance of the tea shop, which was serving as the stage. Eric had rigged up a spotlight of sorts, and now that dusk was finally here, he turned it on, signaling to the crowd that the lecture on all things Angora was about to begin.
Dymphna was wearing one of her voluminous dresses, which looked like something out of the Renaissance, and Blu wore a skirt that looked like it could have been made from the material left over from a pocket. Blu clapped her hands and everyone quieted.
“Thanks, everybody,” Blu said. “When I found out that Dymphna and Virginia had sheared all the rabbits, I was like . . . what?! But then Dymphna said she was going to turn the fur into yarn and make sweaters and things, and I was like . . . oh!”
Suzanna and Virginia went to stand near the back fence where Erinn was shooting.
“Is this for Blu’s reality show?” Suzanna whispered to her mother.
“I don’t know,” Virginia whispered back.
“The rabbits were up at my house and we were desperate to get the paparazzi away,” Blu said.
“I guess that answers your question,” Virginia whispered to Suzanna.
“Now, my good friend Dymphna is going to show us how to make yarn!” Blu said, gracefully extending her hands toward Dymphna like a poor man’s Vanna White.
Suzanna saw Erinn pop her head up from behind the lens and signal to her. Blu stood beaming and Dymphna stood still, obviously wondering what to do now that Blu was not exiting the spotlight. Virginia started applauding, loudly. Everyone else followed her lead. Blu had no choice but to leave the stage to Dymphna.
“OK, everybody,” Dymphna said. “Thank you all for coming.”
She clearly did not crave the spotlight like Blu did. She stood looking around the patio. Virginia came back to stand next to her and spoke to the crowd.
“In front of you, you’ll see two paddles with little bristles that look like dog brushes and beautiful piles of Angora fur. The first step in making yarn is to clean the fur.”
Mom knows how to make yarn?
Suzanna watched Mavis check out everyone else’s basket of fur and almost burst out laughing. Her smile dimmed as she watched Blu sidle up to Eric. Suzanna tried to read their body language: Eric was relaxed, one foot propped up against the side fence, and Blu’s body language practically screamed, “Let’s have sex right now.”
Suzanna could see her mother drawing Dymphna out of her shell.
“What do we do next?” Virginia asked.
“Everybody pick up your paddles,” Dymphna instructed. “We’re going to do something called carding. We’ll use the paddles to brush the wool between them until the fibers are more or less aligned in the same direction and are sparkling clean!”
Suzanna watched Blu pick up her paddles.
“She could turn carding Angora into a porn film,” Erinn whispered to Suzanna.
“I know!” Suzanna whispered back as she started brushing a small handful of fur with the paddles, transferring the fur from paddle to paddle as instructed. “Do you think I should be worried?”
“I don’t think you should be worried,” Virginia said, also concentrating on the carding. “But I don’t think you should be blind, either.”
“Oh, what do you know?” Suzanna retorted.
“I know my microphone is picking up this conversation and it’s going to be hell to edit,” Erinn said.
Suzanna tried to keep her eyes off Blu and Eric while at the same time watching their every move. It was a technique Suzanna had been working on ever since Lizzy started to walk. Suzanna would let Lizzy think she was exploring the world on her own, but she knew what was going on every second. She was very grateful to have perfected the skill before tonight’s event.
Suzanna noticed a few raindrops had fallen on the tarp overhead. She watched Erinn scoot the camera and herself under it. Suddenly, an enormous thundercloud rolled in. Rain poured down as if a cloud had opened up a mile-long zipper. People started grabbing the baskets of fur, the carded fiber, and anything else they could get their hands on and running into the Rollicking Bun and Book Nook. Suzanna and Virginia grabbed the tea service, and Suzanna caught a glimpse of Blu trying to snuggle inside Eric’s jacket. Eric shot her a surprised “I have nothing to do with this” look and led the way into the shop.
Erinn was the last in, her coat thrown protectively over her camera.
Everyone was laughing as they shook off the rain. It continued to pelt the building, the drama accentuated by thunder of Biblical proportions. Ligh
tning lit up the sky for a few theatrical seconds at a time. The electricity flickered but appeared to be just goofing around. The lights held.
While Blu and Erinn consoled Dymphna that everyone would reassemble outside as soon as it stopped raining, Virginia and Suzanna opened up the tearoom and ushered the crowd inside. Most of the food was rescued in time, and while the pro-tree people and the anti-tree people kept their distance from one another, the mood was upbeat. The rain stopped but nobody seemed in a hurry to leave, so they headed back outside to finish what they had started.
The lighthearted mood of the crowd changed as a loud crack rocked the building.
“What was that?” someone asked.
“Sounds like something got struck by lightning,” Eric said, a protective arm around Suzanna.
Suzanna kept her eyes forward, but she could barely keep from turning to Blu and saying, “So there!”
The door to the foyer swung open. Everyone turned to see a drenched Rio breathing heavily. Something was terribly wrong, but Suzanna couldn’t help noticing how great he looked in his rain-soaked shirt and trousers.
“El patio está en llamas!” Rio said.
Half the people in the foyer gasped in comprehension, the other half murmuring, “What? What did he say?”
Virginia and Mr. Clancy were the first to reach Rio. The three of them raced out the door.
“Let’s go,” Eric said to everyone. “The courtyard is on fire!”
CHAPTER 23
ERINN
“How can the courtyard be on fire?” Dymphna asked as she and Erinn ran toward the blaze. “It’s been raining.”
“And the courtyard is brick,” Erinn added. “Not the most flammable substance that comes to mind.”
They could see flames shooting skyward. Erinn realized that the tree, the poor tree that had withstood so many battles, had lost out to an act of God.
Virginia, Eric, and Suzanna raced past. Erinn was surprised to see the entire family sprinting toward the courtyard; usually someone was left behind watching her niece, but then she remembered that Lizzy was staying with Eric’s parents at Disneyland. Erinn was grateful that Lizzy wouldn’t be involved in such a traumatic experience as a neighborhood fire. She thought of the poet Edward Young’s words, “How blessings brighten as they take their flight.”
She hoped more blessings were on their way. If that dance instructor had been at the courtyard he must have been teaching. Were his students all right? The stores were all closed and almost everyone was at the Bun, but who else might be there? Then it hit her.
Alice. Alice was at the courtyard.
She looked around for Christopher. He caught her eye and grabbed her arms.
“Alice is in there,” he said. “I’ve got to get her out.”
“I know, I know!” Erinn yelled over the crowd that had gathered. The fire department was already at work by the time the band of people from the Bun showed up. There were barricades already in place. Rio was standing with a group of stunned-looking students.
Everyone watched as the fireman sprayed the tree with a torrent of water.
Christopher was looking wildly around and ran at the barricade when Alice ran toward him through the smoke.
Erinn stood looking helplessly as they embraced. Erinn slowed her footsteps, realizing she had no part in this. As she turned away, she heard Alice’s voice.
“Mandy is in there,” Alice said to Christopher. “You have to save her!”
“OK,” Christopher said, looking at the courtyard. “Wait here.”
Erinn took a step toward him; he couldn’t go in there. But she was too late.
She watched in horror as Christopher ducked under the barricade at the far edge of the building nearest the studio. No one else saw him. Everyone was focused on the tree, still lighting the night sky with its branches going up in angry flames.
Erinn tried not to panic. Should she go in after him? The building itself didn’t seem to be on fire but the smoke would be terrible. The smoke was getting thicker and she could barely see Christopher’s door.
Suddenly, she heard a fireman yell, “Hey! What are you doing? Get out here!”
She saw Christopher, covered in ash, coming out his door. He was choking on the smoke, but signaled the fireman that he was OK. He crossed the barrier, carrying the moose head.
Mandy.
Was this man so in love with his ex-wife that he would risk his life for her artwork?
She thought wistfully of David Grayson’s “Looking back, I have this to regret, that too often when I loved, I did not say so.” She stood, watching, and realized that this love affair, which she so very tentatively had dreamed about, was over before it had begun.
Erinn felt rooted to the ground. She knew she should join her family and friends as they watched the firefighters put the tree out of its misery. But she could only stare at Christopher and Alice. Alice had stepped back from him and was surveying the damage to the moose head. One antler broke off in her hand. Christopher caught Erinn’s eye. He handed Alice the entire art piece, patted the top of his ex-wife’s head, and walked toward Erinn. She tried to will herself to walk away, but she remained where she was.
“That was . . . brave of you,” Erinn said, as the firefighters finished spraying down the tree and started the cleanup.
“Really? I would have thought you would have found it . . . unwise.”
“Well, it was unwise. But brave.”
“Yeah. But it had to be done. For us.”
“I can see that.” Erinn looked up at the sky and hoped she wouldn’t cry. “I mean, what woman could resist a man who saved her moose head?”
“Wait, no,” Christopher said, taking Erinn’s face in his hands, tilting it so he was looking into her eyes. “Not Alice-us, us-us. You-and-me-us.”
“You had to risk your life for us-us?” Erinn asked. “I don’t understand.”
“First of all, I wasn’t really risking my life. The studio wasn’t on fire. I’m not an idiot.”
“So it was just a dramatic gesture?”
“Don’t tell Alice, but yes. I rescued her damn moose. She and I are even now. No more guilt. I’m free.”
Erinn tried to think of an appropriate quote to sum up her feelings, but the only thing she could think to say was, “Free to be us-us.”
They wrapped themselves around each other and watched the cedar smolder, a few dying embers drifting into space. Erinn felt sorry for the tree and for the Cause Courtyard people, of which Christopher was one. She studied him as he watched the tree lose the battle.
“All that hard work literally up in smoke,” Erinn said.
Christopher looked at her.
“I don’t know,” he said. “We wanted to let that tree live out its life in the courtyard. But in a way, it has done just that.”
Looking at Christopher, Erinn thought that life was inexplicable. Here she was, standing near the rubble of a fire in her sister’s neighborhood and yet she was totally happy. Nothing made any sense. She felt a tap on her shoulder and spun around to see Blu and Dymphna looking at her.
“The tree is toast,” Blu said. “Can we go home now?”
“I really need to make sure the heat lamp is on for the rabbits,” Dymphna said.
Yes, Erinn thought, nothing made any sense.
CHAPTER 24
SUZANNA
One thing about Venice Beach: It was a resilient little town. A month after the fire, and fences were literally and metaphorically mended. Dymphna’s wool got spun into yarn, thanks to the Cause Courtyard ladies. Mr. Clancy’s insurance covered some of the repairs to his establishment, but not all. Volunteers from both sides of the tree issue labored toward restoring Mr. Clancy’s Courtyard to its former glory. Mr. Clancy and Bernard worked side by side cleaning up the courtyard. Virginia seemed to be playing the field, first favoring one and then the other. Eric and Suzanna brought food to the volunteers, who scrubbed the charred bricks and painted windowsills. Bernard moved his Little
Free Library to the courtyard. Christopher built the book box a gorgeous stand, which would have a place of honor at the front of the courtyard, surrounded by wrought-iron chairs.
“You better be careful with that library, Christopher,” Eric said. “You’ll put me out of business.”
When the city came to take away the remains of the cedar, it seemed the entire neighborhood came out to bid it farewell.
“It’s amazing how one ugly tree could tear the community apart and also bring it back together,” Virginia said to Erinn and Christopher.
They had been accepted as a couple almost immediately.
“I just don’t understand why Alice is still around,” Erinn said to Suzanna as they hauled broken concrete to the sidewalk in front of the courtyard.
Suzanna looked at her sister. Suzanna, as well as everyone else, including Erinn, knew why Alice was still around. She was creating a metal tree sculpture to replace the cedar.
“It’s the least I can do,” Alice had said grandly. “After you’ve all been so kind.” She flashed her white teeth at everyone.
“Why?” Erinn asked Suzanna. “Why is it the least she can do? Nobody asked her to build a tree! I mean, no one was overly kind, except Christopher.”
Suzanna continued to tug at a sack of concrete chunks. She really did not want to hear, yet again, the story of how Christopher had saved the moose head in order to free himself from the guilt of his divorce. But Suzanna always wished that she and her sister would find more common ground. She was happy to give Erinn a turn as the obsessed sister in love. Suzanna had to admit that it was more fun than listening to her discuss gerunds.
“Alice says she’ll leave for Santa Fe as soon as the tree is dedicated,” Erinn said. “I’m sure she is expecting some sort of madness to break out over her artistic genius. The woman has delusions of grandeur!”
Suzanna tried to change the subject.
“How is the show with Blu coming along?” she asked.
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