A Little Learning

by Margot Early

  “It’s very clean,” she said.

  “Maid service,” Seamus explained.

  Fiona had greeted Rory cordially, and now she trailed after Seamus and Rory as they explored the house. He led her up the stairway, over luxuriously springy carpeting, to the children’s rooms, each with a separate bath. Fiona’s room was downstairs, behind the kitchen, and Fiona showed Rory that herself. Books covered one wall, and there was also a small television, DVD player and VCR. Fiona’s interest in opera and ballet showed in her selection of tapes and DVDs. Above the stereo was an extensive CD collection.

  “This house is so…opulent,” Rory finally said to the older woman.

  “It’s not what I was used to,” Fiona answered. “But he does pretty well for a man alone—existing, I mean.”

  “The children need him,” Rory said simply.

  Fiona was quiet. Finally, she said, “Yes.”

  She was a cipher, this woman. Rory suspected she’d led an interesting life, yet the two of them had scarcely had a chance to talk. Seamus had told Fiona of the engagement over the phone. Now that she was alone with Fiona, Rory wanted to draw her out, to find out who she was. “Seamus says you’re invaluable to him and the children. He said you did all the right things for the kids—and with them—when Janine died.”

  “As much as anyone could.” Fiona shook her head and said, “She should never have bought a gun.”

  “You don’t say that to the children,” Rory guessed.

  “I have. Lauren doesn’t want to hear it. For her, her mother can do no wrong, and maybe that’s as it should be.” Fiona gazed out the nearest window. Her face was lined from many seasons in the mountains, in the high country under the sun. Against it, her hair was unusually thick, white and gray.

  “How did you meet the Lees?” Rory asked.

  “I knew Janine. We’d run into each other professionally.”

  Rory waited, eyeing Fiona curiously.

  “I’m a judge,” Fiona said. “Retired.”

  How had Seamus never once mentioned this?

  Abruptly, Rory felt her own lack of education. She said, “That must have been really difficult. I doubt there were many women attorneys when you…started.”

  “You’re right about that. But it’s all in how you look at things. Almost any disadvantage can be turned to an advantage.”

  This woman was a good role model, Rory thought. Seamus was lucky to have her as part of his household.

  “Well, when I retired, and Janine said she could use some help with the kids, I thought, ‘Why not?’ Neither of my children had children, then—they do now, which is why I want to spend more time with them.”

  “Seamus said something about their needing you.” Rory said this anxiously. Suddenly, she did not want this woman to leave the Lee household. Rory sensed she had done more than could be expressed to hold all the Lees together.

  “Well, yes. Some. But Telluride’s my home. And Seamus has made clear that I always have a place with this family. Which is nice. I do own a house, but in the past few years I’ve rented it out.”

  If she owned property in Telluride, she was a wealthy woman, Rory reflected.

  “It’s good for him,” Fiona said, “that he found you. Some men are better off alone, but he’s not one of them. He was made for marriage. I’m not sure Janine was, but it’s always more difficult for women.”

  “How so?” Rory asked.

  “Well, there are traditional expectations associated with being a wife. And I’m not saying that a woman should necessarily fulfill all those expectations. But now there is also an expectation that she have a career. And be a good mother. And mothering’s different from when I did it. Janine seemed to need all kinds of things that…” Fiona shrugged. “An intercom from the baby’s room. A separate room for a baby. Now, after a certain age I say, yes, why not? But my husband and I always tucked ours into bed between us.”

  “You weren’t afraid of rolling over on them?”

  “No.” Fiona laughed. “Not at all. And I’m not trying to give you a bad idea of Janine. She was a strong woman, but she put a lot of pressure on herself. She did far more than she needed to.”

  They heard footsteps in the hall, and both glanced up. Seamus stood in the doorway, his coat on. “Ready to find that ring?”

  “Yes,” Rory said. Impulsively, she touched Fiona’s arm. “Thank you for visiting with me.”

  Fiona smiled. “Belle thinks she should be allowed to go on the hunt for the ring.”

  “So she has told me,” Seamus said. “But she was really quite good when I told her that we prefer to go alone.”

  “Do we?” Rory asked. “As far as I’m concerned, they’re all welcome to join us. You, too, Fiona.”

  Seamus seemed to consider this. “Okay. I’ll tell them. I imagine Beau will turn us down in favor of a reunion with his computer. And Lauren’s already sending e-mails to all her friends. To whom, incidentally, she sent text messages from Sultan at five dollars a day. That’s fifty text messages a day.”

  “You might need to look into a different cell-phone plan,” Rory said, “if she’s going to keep doing that.”

  Seamus smiled. “Let me see what the kids say.”

  *

  IN THE END, only Lauren stayed at home, with Seuss. Seamus drove the rest of them, including Fiona, in the Toyota SUV hybrid. Beau and Caleb both brought their iPods and earphones and listened to music the whole way into town.

  Telluride was a metropolis, compared to Sultan. Beau and Caleb counted five galleries and three jewelry stores where Seamus and Rory might find a suitable engagement ring. Caleb was stopped on the sidewalk several times by school friends he hadn’t seen for months. Beau nodded to a few classmates, but none of his came over to speak.

  They all entered the first gallery, where Belle hurriedly pressed her nose to a glass case, trying to see rings.

  The rings were beautiful. “I guess,” Rory said, “that we need to find a set.”

  “I don’t see why,” Seamus told her. “We can get rings that match to a certain degree, but if you want just one ring for both engagement and marriage, that’s fine with me.”

  Rory liked large pieces. She preferred silver or white gold, rather than yellow gold. She tried on several rings, rings constructed of precious metals by artisans and set with precious stones. The boys suggested the largest and most unusual ones in the gallery for her to try, and she tried them, and then they all moved on to the next store.

  An hour later, Beau and Caleb were getting restless and Belle had begun asking for hot chocolate, when Seamus called Rory to a display case in the Oak Street Gallery of Fine Arts. “What do you think of this one?”

  It was made of both white and yellow gold, shaped into flames, surrounding a swirling cauldron of gems, a diamond, two emeralds, a citrine and a sapphire. The ring was unusually earthy, and its theme was fire. It was exquisite. “There are five stones,” she said.

  “It’s elemental,” Seamus remarked.

  “One for each of you,” Rory said, looking up into his face.

  His eyes nearly glowed as he gazed down at her. “Do you want to try it?”

  “Yes!”

  It was lovely on her hand—and it fit on her ring finger. Seamus paid, and Rory wore it from the store.

  Belle said, “You have it because you’re a fire princess.”

  “Thank you, Belle.”

  They stopped at a coffeehouse, then, so that Belle could have her hot chocolate and the rest of them could order drinks, as well.

  Seamus said, “Next stop is Ki-Rin Studio.”

  “Yes!” said Rory. Finally, she would get to see Seamus’s work. She had seen Ki-Rin before—movie posters, DVD covers. But she’d never watched one of the films. Also, she wanted to know what went into running an anime studio.

  “And Rory will get to meet Elizabeth,” said Beau.

  Seamus shot him a look.

  Rory lifted her eyebrows.

  Fiona laughed
silently.

  “Who is Elizabeth?” Rory asked.

  “The last girlfriend Dad didn’t marry,” Beau said.

  Seamus said, “Actually, she has been managing the studio in my absence. She’s one of my artists.”

  Rory smiled. “I look forward to meeting her.”

  “She doesn’t like pets, and she didn’t like to take us anywhere,” Caleb said. “She wasn’t very nice.”

  “She hasn’t met Seuss,” said Beau.

  “We should let him jump on her with muddy paws,” Caleb suggested.

  Seamus ignored the bantering and took Rory’s hand. He slid her ring off and then back on, and after that he kissed her.

  *

  ELIZABETH HAD RAVEN hair, angular features that would have suited a model, blue eyes and a tall, strong body. Her black hair hung just below her shoulders, and she had long, straight bangs. Seamus had already told her that he was engaged, before he returned to Telluride.

  Now, in the foyer of the glass-fronted Victorian building that housed Ki-Rin Studio, she held out her hand to Rory and smiled beautifully. She was a gorgeous woman. “Congratulations,” she said.

  Fiona told her, “You congratulate the man and give the bride your best wishes.”

  “Best wishes,” Elizabeth echoed with a shrug. “I’m pleased to meet you, Rory. Are you an artist, too?”

  “She’s a fire dancer,” Beau said. “We got a dog. His name’s Seuss. He’s a German shepherd. They shed a lot.”

  Rory wanted to burst out laughing.

  Elizabeth gave a small shudder. “I’m glad he’s yours,” she said politely.

  “So am I,” Beau said.

  “A fire dancer,” Elizabeth remarked. “Wow. Well, come in and see the studio.”

  She and Seamus led the group on a tour past the drawing tables, where they met Seamus’s other employees. Elizabeth showed them the computers and film equipment. One wall of the studio was painted with a mural of Ki-Rin, in the process of transforming from boy to dragon.

  “Dad made Ki-Rin for me,” Beau said. “I’m Ki-Rin.”

  “I’m Jiro,” Caleb announced. “He’s another dragon, but he’s all dragon. He teaches Ki-Rin.”

  “Do you have characters inspired by Lauren and Belle?” Rory asked Seamus, remembering him saying that all the children had characters in Ki-Rin’s world.

  “Koneko and Cho,” Caleb told her. “Koneko’s evil. She’s Lauren’s character. That’s what she wanted. She said, ‘I want to be someone bad.’ Koneko’s really bad. Cho’s Ki-Rin’s little sister, and she’s all girl, not part dragon or anything.”

  Rory was enchanted.

  Elizabeth handed her a small book, like a graphic novel, its pages in color. “That’s the first volume. Take it. It’s in English, but it reads from back to front.”

  “Wow.” Rory couldn’t stop smiling. I’m blessed.

  Fiona said, “They’re very earthy stories. The characters are connected to the land, to specific places. Magical springs, caves.”

  Elizabeth hunted out other volumes. “Not all of these are in color, but let’s get you a full set. Let me find a box.”

  Elizabeth, Rory thought, was nice. Rory followed her toward a closet in the back of the room.

  Glancing back at Rory, Elizabeth said, “You can have him. I mean, don’t take that the wrong way. I just wasn’t interested in being the kids’ caretaker. He’s a great boss. But it was always like he never had any time for his kids himself.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “They hardly ever came here, because if they did, he’d always take off.” Speaking normally again, she said, “No hard feelings, eh?”

  Rory shook her head, smiling. “None.”

  *

  RORY WANTED TO see Lauren before she drove back to Sultan. Seamus had said that Lauren had been less than enthusiastic about their engagement.

  When they returned to the house, Rory climbed the stairs, went alone to the door of Lauren’s bedroom and knocked.

  A moment. Another moment. Feet on the floor. Crossing the expensive carpet.

  The door opened.

  Lauren said, “Oh, hi.”

  She wore pink capri tights and a pale blue crop top. Her blond hair was in a ponytail on top of her head.

  “I just wanted to say goodbye before I head back to Sultan.”

  Lauren nodded and turned away from the door, an invitation to enter her room.

  Rory came inside and looked around, trying to know the girl by what she saw on her walls. The walls themselves were pale yellow, and Lauren had hung framed prints on them. All were of women athletes. A female baseball player at bat. Mia Hamm. A female boxer. A female hockey player. On a white desk sat a framed eight-by-ten. Rory stepped closer to see the subject, a blond woman in a Fair Isles sweater, sunglasses pushed back in her hair. She radiated tremendous vibrancy and strength in the photograph, as though she was ready to schuss down a mountain or descend a rocky trail on a mountain bike at breakneck speed. Unlike Rory’s mother, who’d been petite, Janine had been tall, broad-shouldered and obviously strong. Janine had been beautiful, without model-perfect beauty but with the sort of healthy good looks that come from taking excellent care of one’s self. Clearly, she was an athlete.

  And missing from her eyes was the vulnerability that showed in Rory’s photos of Kristen Gorenzi.

  “Your mother was beautiful,” Rory said.

  “She never put up with anything from anyone,” Lauren said. “She wouldn’t want me to just let Dad push me around.”

  “You think your dad’s pushing you around?”

  “Yes. And, like, he hasn’t even been there for any of us, not until we came to Sultan. But now he wants to make rules. He doesn’t realize he can’t just appear and expect us all to bow and worship.”

  Rory suppressed a smile. “He was worried in Sultan. I was kind of worried, too, Lauren.”

  Lauren frowned. She sank onto her bed. “It’s not going to work, you know.”

  A chill passed through Rory. “What?”

  “You marrying my dad and then we’re a happy family. You haven’t been here. You don’t know what it’s like, and you don’t know how it used to be.”

  Rory said carefully, “I’m sorry you believe that. You’re right that I don’t know what your family life was like before I met any of you.”

  “Or when Mom was here. She took care of me, and she taught me to take care of myself. I was only ten when she died, but she’d already taught me some aikido and how to load and shoot a gun. And it’s good she did, because once she was gone there was no one else.”

  “What about Fiona?”

  Lauren shrugged. “She isn’t my mom.”

  And her dad, Rory knew, had disappeared, distanced himself from his children’s lives. She said, “Lauren, I’m not trying to do anything like that.” To turn Seamus’s family into one big, happy family? Of course, she was. Of course, she had been trying to since she’d met him. Who was she kidding? “I guess that’s not true,” she admitted. “But Lauren, I didn’t just agree to marry your dad because I’m in love with him. I love all of you, too. You don’t have to love me back, but that’s the way it is.”

  “I used to think of you like a friend,” Lauren said. “But you were just after my dad.”

  “I just told you that’s not true,” Rory said, surprised by Lauren’s take on things. “I loved teaching you staff-twirling and belly dance. I loved snowboarding with you and hanging with you, in general.”

  “But we need him. We need him, and you don’t. You’ve got a dad.”

  Rory wished she could make Lauren appreciate the irony—ironies—of that remark. She also wished… “I wish you saw this as getting something extra, instead of losing something valuable. It’s absolutely not my intention to take your dad away from you. In fact, it’s rather the reverse.”

  “But you’re not my mom. And you’re only, like, fifteen years older than me. No way am I going to call you Mom.”

  “I wouldn’t ask that of y
ou. Your dad wouldn’t ask it of you, either.”

  “Why don’t you just back off, knowing I don’t want you to do this?” Lauren said.

  Rory considered this. Lauren didn’t want Rory to marry her father and she expected Rory to react to all that emotion and not marry him. And Rory knew perfectly well that if she made some sort of deal with Lauren—say, that she wouldn’t marry Seamus until Lauren was okay with the arrangement—she could wait a lifetime before Lauren yielded.

  Rory said, “I hear what you’re saying. I’m not saying it makes a difference, but I do hear you, Lauren. The last thing I want is for you to hate me or believe I’m trying to take your dad from you.”

  “I don’t think you’re trying to take him from us. I just think that with you in the picture he has less to give us, that’s all. And we already get little enough from him.”

  “I’m going to think about all these things,” Rory said, “but I hope you’ll still think of me as your friend. In any case, Lauren.”

  *

  BACK AT HER grandmother’s house in Sultan, Rory thought about Seamus and his family in Telluride, about Lauren’s attitude, about Elizabeth, the studio manager, and about Ki-Rin. She’d brought the manga books home and had read part of the first one after a brief belly dance practice with Samantha, who had moved into one of the rooms at the hot springs. They had practiced in Rory’s grandmother’s living room, which was really too crowded for the enterprise. Clearly, they needed to find a new place to practice with fire, and that was going to be far more difficult than finding somewhere simply to belly dance.

  Rory was getting ready for bed when Seamus called. “Mark your calendar for April third,” he said.

  “What is April third?”

  “Lauren’s birthday.”

  Rory’s own was on the tenth. Rory had exchanged this information with Seamus on the night they’d spent together in the ski hut. His was November tenth. “When are the other kids’ birthdays?”

  “Caleb’s is June fourth, Beau’s, September fourth, and Belle’s, July fifth.”

  “What are you getting Lauren?” Rory asked, groping for a pen on her bedside table, to make note of the children’s birthdays. “And what are you going to do for her that day?” For her Sultan souvenir, Lauren had chosen a Sultan Mountain School jacket made of pile.