Gladys was so happy to have an excuse to make a big pot roast dinner. She seldom made big dinners anymore with only her to eat them. She quickly wrote a shopping list, making sure she had all the ingredients to make Scott’s favorite pie, lemon meringue. She remembered Carol Anne always liked the butterscotch candies she kept in her candy dish, so she made sure they were on the list. As she finished her shopping and headed for home, she felt like it was a holiday. She had almost forgotten how much she liked to fix a big family meal.
As soon as she had the pot roast browned and in the oven, she started on the pie. She enjoyed making pies, but these days almost all her friends were on restricted diets, so it had been a long time since she’d baked her last pie. Gladys was well known for her light-as-air crusts. When her son, Billy, was a little boy, she would make a double recipe so she could roll out a large sheet of crust, poke it all over with a fork, sprinkle it with sugar and cinnamon, and bake it for him. He loved it and she loved doing it for him.
When dinner and dessert were well in hand, Gladys went into the dining room and opened her hope chest. She still kept all her cherished linens and crocheted tablecloths in it for safekeeping. She seldom used them anymore, but they represented such good memories she couldn’t think of parting with them. She selected the linen cloth with the pretty pale-blue embroidery at its four corners. She had done the embroidery herself some forty-five years earlier. She had matching napkins, and as she spread the linen on the table, a wonderfully sweet homesickness came over her. Memories of special dinners floated into her mind. This had been her husband’s favorite set because she had embroidered it during their first year of marriage. The first time she set the table with it was the night she told him he was going to be a father. From then on, when there was a special occasion, she would use this cloth.
After setting the table, she went into her back yard to pick some flowers for the centerpiece. Everything was finally ready, so she jumped into the shower and was dressed and ready well before her guests were due to arrive.
Gladys was sitting in her porch swing when they drove up. She walked down to greet them as they climbed out of the car. She first gave her brother a big hug and kiss and then made her way to Caroline. They had been friends for almost thirty years, ever since Bill had married her.
Caroline’s family was what is affectionately called “old Atlanta.” This meant her family went back several generations and held prominent positions in the community. Her great-grandfather was a well-respected judge, and at one time her father held the position of state’s attorney. In spite of all the prestige she grew up with, Caroline was the kindest, sweetest, most unassuming woman Gladys had ever met.
Gladys and Bill, on the other hand, were from hard-working, middle-class people and proud of it. Their family had lived in Atlanta for almost three generations also but never moved in the circles with Caroline’s family. When Bill first started dating Caroline, Gladys remembered their mother worrying about the differences between them. She remembered her mother warning Bill to go slowly and make sure her family was approving of this match. The joke of the family turned out to be that Caroline’s father actually pushed Bill to ask him to marry his daughter. He got tired of waiting for Bill to make a move and since he liked the boy, he brought it up first. The family never let Bill live that down, but they were also very proud of him.
Bill was never going to be classed as “established wealth of Atlanta,” but he was an honest, hard-working businessman who had done very well and was enjoying a comfortable life. He was highly thought of throughout the city, and Caroline never acted like she had married beneath her station. For this, she had earned Gladys’s love and respect.
Carol Anne came around the car and gave her aunt a hug. Gladys didn’t think to question why Carol Anne was home from school. She was simply glad to see her.
Scott was out of the car and helping Susan out as Gladys stepped up. “Aunt Gladys, I’d like you to meet Miss Susan Miller, my fiancée. Susan, I’d like you to meet my Aunt Gladys.”
“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Susan. I was wondering how long it was going to be before someone captured our Scott’s heart. Our Scott is quite a catch, if I do say so myself. But then I’ve been told I’m more than a little biased. Now, since you’re joining the family, I expect you to call me Aunt Gladys.” Then turning to Scott, she added, “So, when is the big date. I want to be sure to mark my calendar. This is a wedding I do not want to miss.”
“We are planning a spring wedding, Aunt Gladys. That way Carol Anne will be home for her spring break. We can’t have a wedding without the Maid of Honor.”
With that, Gladys gave Susan a big smile. “So you and Carol Anne are friends?”
“Yes, Mrs. Carter. Carol Anne introduced me to Scott.”
“Oh, sweetie, call me Aunt Gladys.”
“Well, Aunt Gladys,” Susan responded without hesitation, “Scott and Carol Anne have told me so much about you. I’m very pleased to finally meet you.”
After the greetings, Gladys invited them into the house for some iced tea. Susan offered to help and Gladys took her up on the offer. Walking through the dining room on their way to the kitchen, they passed the table and Susan, noticing the tablecloth, stopped to admire the embroidery. “Aunt Gladys, this is simply lovely. Did you do this?”
Gladys blushed with pride. She had been setting these linens out for her daughter-in-law for years and never got so much as a comment. “Yes, I did that forty years ago, and thank you for noticing.”
As they walked into the kitchen, Susan spotted the pie. “Scott bet me you would have a lemon meringue for him. That’s all he talked about for the last five miles. Is it a family secret, or would you share the recipe with me?”
With every word, Susan was winning Gladys over. She liked it when young people took the time to notice things and give gracious compliments. She was so disgusted with the way so many young people today didn’t seem to have time for manners. When they did bother to give a compliment, they usually sounded either forced or patronizing. Susan’s comments were neither, and Gladys liked this girl.
Caroline helped Gladys bring in the food, and everyone took their seats. As compliments began flying around the table about the delicious food, Gladys, with total innocence, asked Susan about her family. This was such a common question, especially in communities where families have been established for generations.
Scott was about to change the subject when Susan said, “I’m sorry to say my family’s history is not very noble. We’ve had some serious problems, and some things are downright shameful. But as they say, we don’t get to choose our family.”
Being a gracious, well-mannered woman, Gladys quickly picked up on Susan’s discomfort, and not wanting her guest to remain uncomfortable, she smiled and said, “No, that’s true. We don’t have the opportunity to choose our families, so they shouldn’t be held against us. We do, however, get to choose the family we marry into, and you have chosen well. I hope I haven’t offended you by speaking out of turn. It certainly was not intentional.”
The complete lack of reproach in Gladys’s voice put Susan at ease. “You certainly have nothing to apologize for, Aunt Gladys. One day soon you and I will sit down and I’ll tell you all about my family. Just not today.”
The rest of the afternoon and evening, the family spent sharing the wedding plans, looking at Gladys’s family albums, and enjoying her lemon meringue pie. Then around eight o’clock they said their goodbyes and headed for home. It had been a wonderful weekend, and everyone was exhausted.
***
Monday was a relaxing, stay-at-home day. They slept in, enjoyed a casual breakfast, and played board games while Caroline kept herself busy preparing the last family meal they would share for several months. Around six o’clock Scott and Susan drove Carol Anne to the airport and saw her off.
As they drove home from the airport, Susan laid her head on Scott’s shoulder and groaned, “This engagement business is hard work.
I don’t know if there will be anything left of us after seven months of this.”
“We could always elope,” Scott suggested, only half-joking.
“No way. You had your chance last week. Now that you’ve gotten all of us excited about a wedding at the old plantation, there’s no way you’re getting out of it. We’ll simply have to be patient. Besides, I’m too tired to elope tonight.”
Chapter 12
They both kept busy, and the next several months actually flew by quickly. Between work and wedding planning, the holidays arrived before they knew it. Susan and Mrs. Randal had gone out several times looking for bridesmaid’s dresses. It wasn’t until late November that they finally found the right ones. Susan knew she needed to make a final decision before Carol Anne came home for Christmas break because there wouldn’t be any time later for her to get fitted. Besides, she and Carol Anne would need most of their time to look for Susan’s bridal gown.
Mrs. Randal had proven to be a wonderful assistant for Mrs. Thomas. Between the two of them they knew every store in the city and both were experienced shoppers. By the holidays, the invitations were ordered, the cake chosen, the menu settled on, and the photographer and music selected. Everything was shaping up nicely, so they all could temporarily set the wedding planning aside and focus on Christmas.
It was mid-December and Carol Anne would be home in six days. Susan had been going out Christmas shopping almost every lunch hour for the past two weeks. She wanted to shop alone because she was looking for presents for the whole family and wanted these presents to be only from her.
She found Carol Anne’s gift first. Walking by an old doll shop downtown, she saw two dolls on display. Carol Anne had dozens of dolls in her collection but nothing like these, so Susan went in to ask about them. The dolls had china heads and hands, hand painted with delicate features. They were dressed alike except one, which had dark-black hair, while the other was a redhead. The shop owner said, “This is an old set called ‘Snow White and Rose Red.’ A doll company in South Carolina specialized in fairytale dolls in the early forties. They were very popular with little girls, so not many have survived.”
This was a perfect gift for Carol Anne.
Buying for Mr. and Mrs. Thomas was proving to be difficult. She couldn’t think of anything. She spent three lunch hours trying to get ideas. She knew they weren’t expecting something big and expensive from her, but she still wanted it to be special. On the third day, she needed to go to the hardware store for some shelf liner. She hadn’t been home much these past few months and thought it would be a nice gesture if she changed the kitchen shelf liner for her mother.
As she was leaving the hardware store, she saw a display of brass doorknockers. She immediately thought of the Thomases big beautiful red front door without a knocker. One in particular had a smooth space for engraving. She got the counter man to figure out if she could engrave the words she had in mind. He assured her it would look fine, and she ordered it. It was to say, “The Thomas Home, est. July 19, 1943,” their wedding day.
She now had gifts for Carol Anne and her future in-laws. She still had Scott, Aunt Gladys, and her own mother and sister to buy for. She also wanted to look for something for Mrs. Randal as a thank-you for all her help.
Her mother and sister would be quick. Every year she had bought a pretty sweater for each of them. Neither had given her a present in years, but she couldn’t imagine going through Christmas and not giving them something. She didn’t expect kindness or gratitude in return. She knew better. She was determined not to allow their behavior to keep her from doing what she knew was right.
Gladys loved old southern gospel music, so she got her a lovely book that told about famous old hymns. It told something about the songwriters and how their songs came about. She was certain Aunt Gladys would enjoy it. As for Mrs. Randal, a pretty pendant was perfect.
Scott’s gift was going to be more difficult. She struggled over what to get him. It was almost Christmas before she found his gift. She was browsing in a bookstore downtown when she saw a large display of books marked Coffee Table Editions. As she began going through this stack of books, she found the perfect one for Scott. It was titled The History of the New York Subway. The book had pictures dating all the way back to the beginning of the construction of the subway system. It featured pictures of how the city looked at the turn of the century. It included stories about the men who had worked on the system as well as the political and financial battles over its construction. The center contained aerial-view maps of the five boroughs, including clear overlays of the subway systems in different colors for each route. This gave the reader a perfect picture of all the different subway routes and where they were in the city. She knew Scott would absolutely love this book. Now her shopping was done!
On Friday evening, Scott and Susan met Carol Anne at the airport. Her arrival signaled that Christmas was finally here. As promised, the girls spent the next few days shopping. They hit all the bridal shops in the city, and Susan tried on dozens of different dresses. She wanted a traditional style, the fuller the better, but the prices were making her a little nervous. She had never been in a wedding and hadn’t thought much about wedding gowns. She didn’t realize these dresses were so expensive. They had found one or two that were very nice, but she had no intention of spending so much money on a dress that she was going to wear only once, even if it was on her wedding day.
They discussed these dresses while taking a shopping break and having lunch. The waitress couldn’t help but overhear their conversation and apologized for interrupting, offering a suggestion. “I got married last month, and I found a great little shop out at the edge of town. This woman has three ladies who sew for her, and her prices are very reasonable. They have lots of stunning dresses to choose from, and they are made very well. If you’d like, I could jot down the address for you.”
Thanking the waitress for the tip, they decided they would go there right after lunch. It turned out to be a small shop in a not-so-great area. You could tell it had been there for years and that the area, at one time, must have been nice.
As they walked in, Susan spotted the dress she had been dreaming of displayed on a mannequin.
The bodice had hand-stitched sequins and tiny pearls dotting it. The sleeves were lace and came clear down to a point at the center knuckle of the hand. It had a drop waist, and the skirt was made of layers of the most delicate lace with sequins randomly placed. She knew, even before she tried it on, that this was her dress.
Carol Anne was sitting on a lounge chair by the three-panel mirrors when Susan came out of the dressing room. The look on Carol Anne’s face confirmed Susan’s opinion of the dress. This was it.
She walked in front of the mirrors and gently turned to see it from the back. The bodice was tapered and fit her perfectly. There were tiny covered buttons all down the center of the back that disappeared at the waist beneath the long, detachable train.
“Scott’s going to go crazy when he sees you in that dress. You look like you belong on the cover of a bridal magazine. I vote for this one no matter what the price.”
“I love it too, but price is a factor, no matter how much we love it. It bothers me that there is no price tag on this dress. I’m almost afraid to ask how much.”
The elderly lady assisting them overheard the conversation and stepped over. “Excuse me, girls. My name is Helen Browden, and I own this shop. I think you might be surprised at its price. I need to tell you that this particular dress was previously owned. Now, it was never used, but it was purchased by a young girl three months ago and taken home. Over the Thanksgiving holiday the couple broke off their wedding, and she asked us if we would buy it back from her. That is why there is no price tag on the dress. We needed to explain the dress’s history before we discuss the price. Now, if you are not superstitious and don’t mind having a previously owned dress, I can make you a very good offer.”
Susan was so excited she could hardly stand still
. “I’m not superstitious, and yes, let’s discuss the price.”
“Well, I have one other consideration for you before we talk price. As your friend here mentioned, you do look like you belong on the cover of a bridal magazine. You are a beautiful young lady, and that dress fits like it was made for you. You see, my son, who does all my business advertising and finances, has been pestering me to update my display window and brochures. We have decided it is better to have a life-size photo of a real bride in the window than the lifeless mannequin with a dress that doesn’t really fit it. If you would agree to pose for our photographer, I will not only give you that dress, I will pay for the photographer to do a bride’s sitting for you. Does that offer appeal to you?”
Susan was reeling from the offer when Carol Anne quickly interrupted. “When and where would these photos be displayed? She isn’t getting married until April 12, and we wouldn’t want anyone to see her in the dress before that. Would you, Susan?”
With disappointment written all over her face, Susan answered, “I didn’t think about that. No, I wouldn’t.” She stood there thinking she had just lost the dress of a lifetime.
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. We wouldn’t even do the shooting until the end of February, and the print ads wouldn’t be ready before the first of April. I wouldn’t have any problem holding off changing the window until after your wedding. Do we have a deal?”
“Absolutely we have a deal. Thank you so much.” Susan took the dress off and watched as it was placed in a clear garment bag and tagged with her name on it. Across the bottom of the tag Helen wrote “Sold.”
Helen Browden then made out a bill of sale with exactly what Susan was expected to do in exchange for the dress. She handed the receipt to Susan and asked her to fill out her name, address, and phone number for her records. Susan decided she should use her company address and phone number; she didn’t want this woman calling her home and accidentally getting her mother.
Wall of Silence Page 13
