by Ruth Hay
“When you think of it, the only other marriage we had any experience of here in the house, was the dreadful example of Eve’s situation with that awful man who tried to kill her.”
“Oh, my goodness! I trust Hilary and Mavis were happier in their marriages than in all our examples. Perhaps the early marriages have the best chance of long-term success. What do you think?”
“I used to believe that fantasy, but from what we read and see today, many more long-term marrieds are divorcing. They even have a word for it, ‘grey divorce’. Also, young couples don’t seem to last for very long despite the fancy wedding ceremonies and the extravagant honeymoons and all the gifts.”
“None of that really matters if there is not a strong foundation of love and understanding and commitment.”
“You said it, Jannice! Isn’t that what we all want? I guess it becomes scarier to commit when we are older and understand just how wrong it can go.”
* * *
The discussions went round in a circle for weeks as the fierce weather stormed around the house.
They were inside, in an enclave of women again, safe and warm. Grant and Stuart came and went occasionally like ghosts. The young men slept and ate prodigiously, and did not take part in the discussions, preferring to use their limited time off to recover their energies rather than engage with the women.
Hilary observed that the women were much like a group of scientists at the North Pole, confined to quarters and relying on their own resources.
The only relief from the choices and issues everyone seemed to be dealing with, was the pleasure of watching Sparkle grow up into a beautiful cat. Vilma introduced the dogs to her very cautiously at first but Oscar, in particular, just loved to cuddle up with Sparkle before the gas fire in the extended kitchen lounge. Her grey fur blended with his coat so well, that sometimes Mavis had to look very closely to be sure the kitten was there at all.
Sparkle’s antics brought much-needed laughter. It was one of those winters that went on and on beyond the normal bounds. When the snow stopped, scouring winds took its place and going outside was painful on exposed skin.
Vilma called on Andy more than once to bring his truck and rescue the dogs from their indoor existence, taking them for a play date with Prince in the barn arena. After one such occasion, he met Jamison who was spending the night with Vilma. The two men sized each other up and Andy gave his approval when he saw how happy Vilma was in the older man’s presence. The final convincing sign for Andy was that Oscar and Astrid were delighted to see Jamison. Once the men had a congenial conversation about the relative merits of different dog breeds, the air was cleared for good, and Andy was satisfied that Vilma was in safe hands.
Chapter 34
In some ways, Hilary did not mind being confined to Harmony House in the winter months.
There was a certain cozy feel about it. The outdoor world was far away behind a wall of snow and everything inside became more vivid to her. It was like the early days when six women were working out their roles and beginning to find their places within this new co-housing structure.
Hilary was doing something similar. She was emerging from a state she described to herself, as ‘lost’.
She was coming out of a coma-like condition in which she had lingered much too long.
She gave all credit for this recovery to her dear friend. Mavis kept her brain functioning on days when she really would have preferred to sleep. Mavis drove her around in the summer months and made her observe, and compare, remember and talk.
Oh, the talking they did for hours on end!
Everything from the time each of them first met their spouses, then met each other and found so much in common as young wives, all the way to the years of childrearing, for Hilary, and child tragedy for Mavis, to widowhood and finding how to manage without their men.
It was a lifetime of reminiscences and they brought Hilary back to life again. The past was so clear, including her long years of teaching, and the responsibilities of being a Principal Teacher. Why, she could still recall the names of so many children she encouraged, and scolded, and struggled with at times. She had made a valuable contribution to society and Mavis reminded her of all of it, in the long winter nights.
There were medical interventions also. The two young doctors convinced Hilary their test data showed she was improving in blood pressure and blood sugar results. Mavis made sure she attended the hospital appointments set up for her, and she was able to ask questions about symptoms that concerned her, as well as succeeding at a variety of the mental tests she was given.
All of that was reassuring, but it was another aspect of having the men in the house that really generated the biggest change in her and it came from a completely different direction.
Mavis had a collection of recordings that she enjoyed, but for Hilary’s taste, there was nothing like real live music and that came with the Harmony House concerts.
As Mavis said, “It was eminently suitable for harmonious singing and playing to be a feature of a house so perfectly named!”
Somehow, that had not occurred until Grant and Stuart arrived. With Mavis on the piano, Stuart’s singing, leading the rest of the audience, and Honor’s silver flute competing with Grant’s expertise on the chanter, songs old and new filled the house and enlivened Hilary’s spirits.
Even after the doctors pleaded they could not spare the time because of their hospital commitments, Mavis and Hilary continued to hold sessions with the piano. Often, they were joined in song by Vilma, or by whoever was nearby at the time.
During the week over Christmas when the two friends were virtually alone in the house, they held daily choral choir meetings, singing along to beloved carols from Mavis’s collection of recordings.
This was especially poignant on the evening after their lovely Christmas meal at the Ridleys with Shania and Ty and Betsy. Walking home again through the snow, arm in arm, they saw the lantern light shining out from the top of Faith’s tiny tower top room.
“That light has been out for years. How did this happen?”
Mavis thought back to a few days before when Andy came by to clear snow from their driveway and paths. She saw him going into the storage garage and thought then, that he was looking for a tool or checking on door locks.
“It must have been Andy! No one else ever went up there. He did this as a Christmas surprise for us.
Now, Hilary, which song shall we sing tonight? Something with a ‘light in the darkness’ theme, I’m thinking.”
They chuckled all the way inside to the warm dining room, the piano, and a nightcap.
* * *
It was a lovely time, one each of them would remember with great fondness.
On New Year’s Eve, Desmond arrived with flowers and gifts. He was full of apologies for missing Christmas, which he spent in Toronto with old friends. Hilary had to disguise her shock at how much older her son appeared to be. Mavis explained this afterwards by saying if he turned up more often to see his mother, she would not notice such a big change all at once.
The three of them had a pleasant evening by the fireside enjoying champagne toasts as the New Year arrived. Desmond spent the night in Vilma’s suite and was off again early next morning before the travellers reached home.
It was good that the house filled up again in January and a more normal routine began. Mavis cautioned Hilary that there were changes in the wind but they would always stick together no matter what adjustments were required of them. That was sufficient for Hilary’s comfort.
She was determined to make the best use of every new day and not to slip back into the miasma that claimed time from her that she could not afford to miss. In this frame of mind, she came up with an idea based on a conversation with Mavis from months ago.
She broached the topic one morning when a warming breeze was blowing through the woods and the snow was melting before it, as if magically. Winter was not over and spring could be a long and chilly wait, but the temp
orary thaw was so encouraging that she called Mavis from the kitchen and hustled her into the tower room.
“What do you think of this idea?”
“Can you wait until I sit down, Hilary? What’s so urgent all of a sudden?”
“I’ve been thinking. Did you not say that this year we will have lived in Harmony House for a decade?”
“You are absolutely right, Hilary. It is about to be ten years now. With all that’s been going on here I forgot all about it.”
“Well, then, why don’t we plan a party for our tenth? We could wait until the weather improves and that will give us time to invite everyone and arrange for food and everything.”
Mavis agreed at once, but she had to pretend her emotion was all about the excellent idea, and not about how absolutely wonderful it was for her to see Hilary so enthused and eager to plan something special.
In her own mind, she hoped there would be a list created at some point in the planning. If that should happen, she knew, for sure, it was a sign the old Hilary had returned.
No one could tell how long this spell might last. It was not important. A day, or a month, or a year, Mavis would treasure it.
“Good! Let’s get started with the guest list right away. Mavis, dear, have you seen my pad of paper and my pen?”
Mavis immediately collapsed in a heap on the couch beside Hilary in a sudden fit of mingled laughter and tears.
Sparkle jumped two feet in the air from her sleeping position on Hilary’s bed.
Hilary could not understand what caused this unusual reaction from Mavis, or from Sparkle.
Mavis pulled herself together, with some difficulty, and said she would explain later. She ended with a huge hug around her friend’s neck, which gave her a few more seconds to recover her equilibrium.
All she would say for the moment, was, “Hilary, my dear, dear woman, welcome back!”
On the day when the winter weather broke at last, Vilma put in an urgent call to Jamison Ingleby, in his new company offices just outside London City.
“I know, Jamison, I know this mild spell won’t last, but can I please come to see the house now, today, before the next storm front arrives?”
“My thoughts precisely. I am on my way to you now in a four-wheel drive.”
* * *
Vilma was like an excited schoolgirl. Jamison sent her regular photos of the progress of the building but it was slow going, and between the weather and the construction material heaped around the structure, she had found it impossible to get a true picture of what was to be her home.
He warned her again not to be disappointed.
“If you promise to be very careful we can walk from room to room inside. The floors are to be polished concrete but that cannot be poured until it is much warmer than today. You will need to use your imagination, I’m afraid.”
He looked concerned. Vilma realised this home was as important to Jamison as it was to her. She would not say one word of criticism no matter what she really thought. It wasn’t fair to judge a half-finished building on a building site. She just needed to get an idea of the general dimensions.
In the winter evenings in Harmony House she was already sketching out ideas for colour schemes and tiling options and the kitchen fitments and so much more. She was very proud that she had thought also of accommodations for four dogs. She based that part of the plan on what she had seen in Andy’s place.
* * *
They drove for miles over icy roads and past fields of snow intersected by stands of tall evergreen trees.
Jamison concentrated on driving and did not say much until they turned down a lane consisting of mud and snow, churned up from the passage of heavy vehicles. She could see on a knoll ahead, a structure of some kind.
“Is this it? Is that the pond under all that ice? Are those fine trees also on the property? How far does the land stretch? Jamison, answer me!”
“I will as soon as I find a clear spot to park the car.”
She could not wait a moment longer. She was out of the car and over the piles of debris and walking around the structure in awe of its size.
“Jamison Ingleby! You did not tell me the house was going to be so huge!”
He caught up to her and grabbed hold of her arm.
“Vilma, be careful! There’s God knows what, under this layer of snow. Remember this is basically a one-floor house. Everything must be contained in this space. What you can’t see yet, is the windows that will range around three sides giving us a perfect view of the surrounding countryside.”
“Is the lower level finished?”
“Not finished, but the space was dug out before the worst of the weather began. I am thinking of a gym and a movie theatre and a man cave down there.”
Typical, she thought, but she would not complain.
“What about light downstairs?”
“Good question, Vilma. There will be a long light well on the roof that lets light flow into the lower level directly.”
“Solar panels?”
“Of course!”
“Our own water source?”
“Naturally!”
“Fireplaces?”
“Log-burning ones.”
Now, stop asking questions and tell me what you think of it.”
She turned toward him and her face was glowing with excitement.
“Jamison Ingleby, I had given up all hope of having a house of my very own ever again.
Never, even in my wildest dreams, could I imagine a house like this, in such a magnificent setting. You are a genius and a wonderful man and I love you.”
Those last three, precious words, were not spoken casually by Vilma Smith, and Jamison knew it.
He picked her up and hugged her to him as closely as their winter coats would allow. He breathed into her hair where it escaped from the hat she wore and said, with all his heart.
“ViIma, I love you! We have gone a long way to find each other but I know this is real and good and this house will be our home for as long as we love it, and love in it. It’s love that makes a house a home, my darling. This home is for you, with all my love.”
Chapter 35
Discussions, and copious list making, went on in secret for many months.
Only Sparkle was privy to the plans and predicaments and she was not revealing anything at all to anyone else in the house.
Invite everyone?
“Nice idea but can we get everyone inside without crowding them too much?”
Invite only the originals from the first years?
“Possible, but what about temporary residents like Mandy, and her mother, and Braden? Not to mention Grant and Stuart? Shouldn’t they be included also?”
Move the celebration outside to give us more room?
“What if it rains and ruins everything?”
Women only?
“And leave out Andy Patterson? How could we? And what about all the partners, and almost partners we have coming and going now? Things have changed, Hilary.”
“You are so right, Mavis, and it is making this more difficult.”
“Well, certainly more complicated.”
Speeches?
“Maybe? One or two, but I think we should emphasize how far we have come in ten years.
We could ask for favourite memories around the table?
“That idea I really like!”
* * *
This kind of thing went on for weeks before they tackled the food and sundry other items that kept cropping up. Mavis was concerned once or twice, about Hilary getting lost in the muddle of decision-making, but the opposite was what was happening. Hilary grew more excited as the time drew nearer and they sent off the first invitations to those not living close by.
They decided to host a private dinner for the five women, plus Faith, in the winter dining room.
Immediately following this, the house would be opened up to everyone, including partners and the Ridleys and Andy. Mavis included Desmond on the list, and Mas
on Jeffries, with his wife, children and Melvin.
She also asked Grant and Stuart to make a special effort to attend. She spoke to them by phone at the hospital with an idea she had. An idea she was keeping secret from Hilary.
The date was set for late in May when the garden would be blooming with the first flush of summer.
The new balcony with the stairs down to the garden, was installed in April and supervised to Jamison’s satisfaction. The larger balcony provided a charming viewing point. It was also an exit from the top floor, which would allow visitors to move around the house more easily. Snacks, sandwiches, delicacies and drinks would be available for all in the kitchen, supplied by a catering firm.
Mavis and Hilary were pleased with their decisions and began, finally, to relax. Everything was falling into place beautifully. All they needed was good weather.
For several weeks, Vilma, Jannice and Honor knew something was going on in Harmony House.
“It can’t be anything major or we would definitely have been involved.”
“I don’t know about that, Honor. There have been a large number of closed-door sessions in Mavis’s tower room. I can hear the murmur of voices through the walls but, much as I have tried, I cannot make out their words.”
“Vilma! Are you spying on Mavis and Hilary?”
“No more than you are, Miss O’Connor! I have seen you knocking on Hilary’s door with a tray of fresh hot baking in your hands to tempt them to fess up.”
“Huh! My excuse is that I was making sure Mavis was not keeping trouble with Hilary from the rest of us.”
“Oh, I had not considered that. Hilary has seemed so bright lately. What did you conclude from your spy visits, Jannice?”
“Now, don’t get all worried you two! They hustled me out again pretty fast but it was long enough to know they are both in top form.”
