by Lesley Crewe
When Annie walked down the stairs, she thought Henry looked rather handsome with his grey pinstriped suit on. He’d shaved and smelled delicious, but he didn’t even say hello, just waved her on so he could get her out the door in time. He barely acknowledged her parents in his haste. Annie saw them laughing as they shut the front door. It was all right for them. They got to stay home.
Annie knew where Henry lived, so the house wasn’t a surprise. It was nicely maintained in a boring kind of way. She knew his mother planted her flowers in rows, and God help the weed that strayed into the mix.
“Now, don’t be nervous.” Henry wiped away the sheen of sweat on his upper lip. She’d never seen him this rattled, not even while saving lives at the hospital. Who was this dragon lady?
Mrs. Pratt opened the door and clapped in delight before extending her hand to rush Annie through to the inner sanctum. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you, my dear!” She proceeded to kiss both of Annie’s cheeks and then hold onto her arms.
“Let me take a look at you! Aren’t you the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen! She’s so pretty, Henry! And oh my goodness, so tall! Look how tall you are! And so young!”
Henry’s mother talked like there were exclamation points at the end of all her sentences. She scarcely stopped for breath. Annie couldn’t get a word in, but she did manage to give the woman the box of chocolates she’d brought.
“Chocolates! I love chocolates! Don’t I, Henry! Please make yourself at home! Henry, take Annie into the parlour, because I’ve made appetizers! Would you like a glass of cranberry cocktail or a stronger beverage!”
Annie was about to tell her when Mrs. Pratt waved her hands in the air. “I’ll bring both!”
When she disappeared into the kitchen Annie looked at Henry, who was staring at his shoes.
“Six courses?”
After sampling the tangy cheese spread on crackers, chili sauce dip with celery and carrot sticks, hot chicken-bacon squares, a gourmet crab ring, and liverwurst pâté, Annie was full.
Then Mrs. Pratt, who asked Annie to call her by her given name, Joy, ushered them both into the formal dining room, which glowed with crystal and china. They dined on tomato consommé to start, and then a lettuce and tomato salad, after which the Swiss steak and garlic mashed potatoes smothered in gravy were produced, followed by the happy coincidence of Swiss chocolate cake with fudge icing, ending with a plate of various cheeses and fruit, if desired, with their tea or coffee.
Annie offered to help Joy with the dishes, which produced a hail of compliments.
“You can always tell a well-brought-up girl! Not that I would dream of letting you in the kitchen, but the thought is much appreciated! It’s so rare these days to find a young woman like yourself! You’ve done well, Henry! For goodness’ sake, don’t let this angel get away!”
After ten minutes of farewells and pledges of undying love, Joy finally closed her front door. Henry was still staring at his shoes as they walked to the car. He opened the door for her and shut it once she was in. Then he got in the driver’s side and closed the door behind him.
The silence was orgasmic.
Henry looked at her. “Will you marry me?”
“No.”
* * *
When David heard that Annie and Henry had eloped the day after her graduation, he was disappointed. Apparently his mother was too, but after meeting Joy, she quickly changed her mind. His father was thrilled. No bills, no worries, and no reception with Joy Pratt in the receiving line.
He hated to disappoint his dad, but he and Kay were having the biggest wedding Halifax had seen in a long time. Not that he had anything to do with the decision. It had taken on a life of its own the minute he proposed.
He survived the miserable summer of Lila’s rejection by working twelve hours a day, seven days a week. Without even knowing it he put on weight, muscles even, with all the physical activity of pounding asphalt and digging gravel. His mother’s ulcer diet brought him much-needed relief, and Annie’s nonsense made him laugh when he didn’t want to.
Some of his bitterness towards Lila dissipated over the summer, but not all of it. He kept it in check. If he dwelled on it, he’d feel his guts squirm, so he learned to put it on a shelf and ignore it.
School kept him busy. He had a very full course load; he wanted to shave a year off his undergraduate degree and go right into law school at King’s as soon as he could. There wasn’t much time for a social life, but at least he didn’t need a part-time job after making good money all summer with the road crew.
Scott invited him along to a frat-house party that November. The place was jumping, and the smoke in the air was thick. Everyone was swing dancing to the big band sounds of Dizzy Gillespie, Artie Shaw, and Count Basie. It was pretty difficult to stay glum when that music filled the air. Scott immediately left him to go dance with a buxom blonde, so David wandered into the kitchen and grabbed a soda. He stayed on the edges of the group, watching all the fun.
That’s when he saw Kay, sitting on a window seat and smoking a cigarette with a couple of fellows by her side. Her hair was combed away from her brow, with soft waves down to her shoulders. Her trademark red lipstick was the same colour as her sweater, and a string of pearls adorned her neck. David had no doubt they were real.
He stayed where he was and watched the guys do their damndest to get her up on the dance floor—or make her smile, laugh, or do anything—but she was content to ignore them. At one point she looked at him, but kept her eyes moving to scan the rest of the crowd. David wondered how long it would take her to realize it was him.
About three seconds.
She looked back at him and slowly smiled, but she didn’t move. She took another drag of her cigarette. David put down his bottle and made his way across the room, moving this way and that to get past the laughing girls and drunken guys.
Eventually he stood in front of her and held out his hand. She dropped her cigarette in the drink of the guy on the right and took it. He pulled her up and held her close. While everyone around them did the jitterbug and the lindy hop, he and Kay swayed to their own music.
David didn’t meet her parents until the next summer, a weekend getaway to their cottage near Lunenburg. David envisioned barbeques and maybe a bonfire if it was a nice night. Kay picked him up in her silver 1948 Cadillac convertible, honking the horn outside his apartment. Scott looked out the window and shook his head.
“You lucky bastard.”
Kay wore a scarf on her head to keep her hair from flying around and a pair of dark sunglasses. Her yellow, checkered shirt tied in the front and white Capris looked very summery, as did the espadrilles she wore on her feet. David threw his bag in the back and jumped into the passenger seat. Kay leaned over for her kiss.
“You look nice.”
“Thank you. Before we go, did you bring a suit?”
“A suit? I thought we were going to the cottage.”
“We are.”
“Then I don’t need a suit.”
Kay shrugged. “Okay.”
The hour’s drive along the coast was fun, especially in a convertible. With the wind rushing past, and trees and water flashing by, it felt like he was taxiing down a runway. Kay laughed at him when he put his arm out over the side of the car and pretended to fly. She did the same thing. They soared along the highway together.
“Do you have a cottage?” she shouted against the sound of the wind.
“We have a bungalow. I love it, outhouse and all. I’m sure yours will be a whole lot fancier, judging by your place in the city.”
David had seen the Hanover mansion from the outside, but had never gone in. Kay lived in a great apartment near campus and that’s where they spent most of their time.
Finally, Kay put on the car’s blinker and pulled into a paved driveway in the middle of nowhere. That was David’s first clue: It wasn’t a d
irt road. Then they passed the iron gates and continued on down the landscaped drive until the final clearing, where there was an enormous, rambling house with a circled drive at the front. There must have been twenty cars parked here and there and someone who looked like a bellhop organizing luggage for the guests.
Kay laughed and laughed when she saw the look on his face. “Don’t have a heart attack. It’s just a bigger cottage with indoor plumbing.”
David wished he had brought his suit.
He was given his own room to freshen up, and Kay said she’d meet him down by the pool. David went over to the window and peeked out. There were a lot of people there already, including Kay’s mother, lounging in a chair with a two-piece bathing suit on. He tried to imagine his own mother in a two-piece suit, but the thought was ludicrous. Mom would go down to the beach in a rubber bathing cap with flowers on it, and the same old one-piece suit she’d had since he could remember. There she’d splash the water around as she stood up to her knees and quickly run back to her towel five minutes later, declaring it a great swim.
David cupped water on his face and washed his hands. A quick brush through his hair and he was ready to face the mob. The only thing on his mind was what he’d wear for dinner.
He ran into several people on his way to the pool, but hadn’t a clue who they were. Everyone smiled and nodded, but they kept moving. Finding a way out to the pool proved a bit of a challenge, but in the end he found the French doors leading out to an enormous patio. Kay spotted him immediately and rushed over to put her arm through his. “Come meet Daddy.”
They went over to the bar area, where Mr. Hanover was swilling back a drink, his ever-present cigar in his hand.
“Daddy, this is David Macdonald. David, this is my father Louis Hanover.”
“A pleasure to meet you, sir.” David held out his hand.
Louis put the cigar in his mouth and shook David’s hand. “Well, well. So this is the young man my Kay thinks so highly of. You must be special. She’s never brought anyone home before.”
“Daddy, don’t go telling him that. He’ll be impossible now.” Kay squeezed him.
Louis was an impressive man, big through the chest and quite tall, but up close David could see the broken veins in his slightly red, bulbous nose and the deep lines around his mouth. He looked tired and much older than David’s own father.
“I’ll ask all the essential questions. Where are you from and what do you do?”
“I’m from Glace Bay…”
“Coal mining. Is your father a miner?”
“No, sir. He owns a machine shop.”
“A man who works with his hands. I admire men like that. What do you do?”
“I’m going to King’s for my law degree.”
“So you’re bright. I’m impressed, Kay. Play your cards right, young man, and I may be able to throw a few job opportunities your way.”
David was about to thank him, but Louis turned back towards the bar and signalled for the bartender to fill up his glass. Another man approached and Louis greeted him with great cheer. David’s interview was over.
“Now for the hard part.” Kay pulled him towards her mother, who was still holding court in her lounge chair.
“Mother, this is David Macdonald, the boy I told you about. David, this is my mother, Virginia.”
Her mother leaned forward, her cleavage dangling in front of him. “Welcome to our home.” She shook David’s hand but didn’t let go, pulling him towards her. She put her other hand up to shade her eyes from the glare of the sun.
“Do I know you?”
“No, you don’t,” Kay answered.
“I’m sure I’ve seen you somewhere before.” Virginia let go of his hand. “I’ll think of it. Why don’t you two have a swim? Dinner’s not for hours yet.”
“I hope it’s not fried food. David can’t eat fried food.”
“Talk to the cook about it, not me. I’m sure he’ll be happy to rustle up another masterpiece of culinary delight for your new boyfriend.”
Kay looked annoyed. “Let’s go for a swim.” She walked away.
“It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Hanover.”
“If you need anything, David, just let me know. I’ll arrange it for you, pronto. Anything at all.”
David nodded and went after Kay. She took off her robe and dove into the pool without waiting for him, which was too bad, since Kay in a bathing suit was something to see. As David pulled off his shirt, he was aware of Kay’s mom watching his every move.
He wasn’t in Kansas anymore.
In the end, Kay lent him her older brother’s suit. Louis Jr. lived in New York, running a couple of his father’s companies. His suit fit David pretty well. Kay dusted off his shoulders and gave him a last look.
“You are a handsome creature.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m warning you now: don’t play my mother’s games. She’ll turn herself inside out to try to get your attention.”
David put his arms around her. “Do you honestly think I could look at anyone else when you’re in the room?”
She had to reapply her lipstick before they went downstairs.
There was a cocktail party before dinner, and then the guests were ushered into the dining room. David had never seen a table that long before. Kay’s mother patted the chair next to her and asked David to sit down. Kay frowned and sat to the right of her dad.
There were an astonishing four wine glasses at each place setting. Kay need not have worried about David’s diet, as everyone was served grilled salmon drizzled with maple dressing. Dessert was a lemon sherbet with chocolate-dipped vanilla wafers on the side. David spent most of the meal nodding at whatever Virginia was bleating on about but keeping his eyes on Kay, who was determined to drive him crazy by licking her cutlery in inappropriate ways when no one was looking.
But while Kay was flirting with him, Virginia was groping him under the table. At first he couldn’t believe what she was doing, and assumed she’d reached for her napkin, but the second time it happened it was perfectly clear that her movements were intentional. He reached down with his own hand and took hers away from his crotch, but she just held on to his hand and rubbed it between her thighs.
David choked and pulled his hand away to grab his water glass. Kay asked him if he was all right and he nodded. Virginia patted his back.
“We don’t want anyone dying at the table,” she laughed.
Thankfully dinner was over then, and he and Kay escaped outside and walked down to the private wharf where the family’s boats were kept. Sitting on the dock with their legs hanging over the side and listening to the soft laps of the waves on shore, with the stars twinkling above, was finally something familiar for David. At that moment he missed home.
“Will you ever take me to your bungalow?” Kay asked.
“I’d have a hard time doing that now.”
“My father grew up in a company house, and my mother lived in a trailer in Hants County. My dad built his fortune from the ground up. Mom recognized a good thing when she saw it and has been unhappily married to his money ever since.” Kay sighed. “All my brother and I ever wanted was to have a happy family, but we have everything else instead. You’re underestimating me. I’d never turn my nose up at your bungalow and your fine outhouse.”
He put his arms around her and they stayed quiet, listening to the bullfrogs and the call of the loons in the distance. Eventually it got chilly and they headed back up to the house, where the lights shone from every window and the guests milled around, drinks in hand, laughing to kill themselves and talking too loud over the background music. Some of them danced and a few of them staggered. It was like a nightclub.
Kay looked tired, and David suggested they both hit the hay early.
“No midnight visit to my room?”
He laug
hed. “Your dad knows far too many people who could whack my kneecaps. I think we should wait until we get back to the city.”
They kissed each other goodnight. David went into his room and Kay continued to hers. He was taking off his clothes when the adjoining bathroom door opened and Kay’s mother walked into the room, twirling a glass full of wine.
“We meet again.”
“Uh…I think you have the wrong room, Mrs. Hanover.”
“You think I don’t know my own house? I have access to all these bedrooms.”
“Mrs. Hanover…”
“Stop calling me that. I came to tell you that I remember who you are. You’re that lovely sullen boy who was a bartender at the university. My friends and I used to have fantasies about you.”
She put the wineglass down on the nearest bureau, walked up to him, and encircled his neck with her arms. “Kiss me.”
He backed up, but she took his head and forced him to kiss her, and before he had a chance to get her off him, the door opened.
“I forgot to tell…Mom?”
Virginia turned around. “Oh, darling, David was kissing me goodnight. You really should knock first.”
Kay looked like she wanted to cry and her face went beet red. “Why do you embarrass me like this? Why would you embarrass David? It’s pathetic.”
“I don’t think that’s a very nice way to talk to your mother in front of a guest.”
David removed Virginia’s arms from around his neck.
“I’m so sorry, David.”
Virginia pointed her finger at her daughter. “Don’t you dare apologize for me in my own house. Who do you think you are?”
“I’m not sure yet, Mother, but I thank God every day that I’m not you.”
David walked over to Kay and deliberately held both her hands. “You are the most beautiful woman in my world. I’d be so happy if you married me.”
Kay burst into tears and then flung herself in his arms. “Yes, yes, I’ll marry you.” They kissed each other and forgot about her mom standing there until she started to clap.
“What a performance. If you think you’ve won, Kathleen, you’re sadly mistaken. Have a great life with a nobody and his hillbilly family from Cape Breton.”
