Stardust: A Novel

by Carla Stewart

  My own throat clogged. How would I know she’d been trying? I hadn’t exactly been there to give her any moral support. I put my arm out the window to indicate I was turning into the Stardust and looked at Mary Frances.

  “Thank you for telling me. I’m sorry about your house.” My jaw twitched. Whether Mary Frances believed it or not, I did have her best interests at heart.

  When Doc had given me the lowdown on Mary Frances, he’d told me, “The B12 shot and the vitamins will help in the short term, but getting her interested in life again will make the biggest difference. She and I go way back. Did you know she was one of the brightest kids ever went to Robert E. Lee school? She could do algebra in the fifth grade and memorized the entire Sermon on the Mount from Matthew. Pity to see her like this.” His face had a worn, sallow look, and he looked like he could’ve used a shot of B12 himself.

  But his reminder of Mary Frances’s former genius had given me an idea. She might be poor in spirit at the moment, but I was going to put her to work in the office. Not sure how that lined up with the beatitudes, but it was all I had at the moment.

  Avril ran up to the car the minute we arrived. “MeMaw. Come look. I have a surprise.”

  Mary Frances stepped into the sunlight, patted Avril on the cheek. “That’s nice, but what on earth is that infernal pounding noise?”

  I hurried to her side. “We’re getting the roofs replaced. It’s darn near a miracle the way Peter and Catfish have put new shingles on half the cottages already. Another couple of days and they’ll be done.”

  “I won’t get a speck of rest with that hammering. Where’s my room?”

  “Right this way.”

  Sebastian, now Avril’s shadow, followed behind, tail wagging. When we got to the cottage, Mary Frances stopped, put her hand to her chest. “O’Dell used to have a mutt almost like that. I’d forgotten until just this minute. You know, I’m not sure about staying here.” She nodded in the direction of Zion. “Reminders everywhere of O’Dell. I know you’ve gone to a lot of trouble, but maybe I should get a room at the hotel downtown.”

  I shook my head. “You know what Doc said. I’m to take good care of you. Three square meals a day and plenty of rest and sunshine. The reminders are here for me, too, but I’m trying to dwell on the present and not the past.”

  “Easy for you to say. You have the girls. I have nothing.”

  “You have us, Mary Frances. Now come in and see your room.”

  The room was as homey as I could make it. A few pictures of the girls I’d taken from my quarters. One of O’Dell in his business suit, a sober expression on his face. I’d found a small bookcase at the thrift store and stocked it with magazines and one of the sets of The Book of Knowledge I’d retrieved from O’Dell’s trunk.

  Avril tugged on Mary Frances’s arm. “Come on. I want you to see what I made.”

  I ushered us in while Avril went straight to the bed and picked up the picture she’d drawn of three stick figures. At first I thought it was her, Rosey, and me, but on a closer look I saw the larger figure had black springy hair. Merciful.

  Mary Frances studied it. “Gracious, you drew a picture of a colored girl. Where did you ever get such an idea?”

  “It’s Merciful. She’s my friend. Her mommy helped get your room fixed. Do you like the picture?”

  “It’s nice. Thank you, Avie.” Her eyes scanned the room. “I don’t see an ashtray. You surely don’t expect me to give up smoking, too.”

  Shrugging, I said, “I was hoping you might limit the smoking to the outside since the weather’s nice. I’ll see about getting you a lawn chair to keep in the shade. The fresh air will be good for you.”

  “The only thing good for me right now is some peace and quiet.”

  I put my arm around her sloped shoulders and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Welcome home.”

  Strangely enough, the Stardust felt more like home than I’d dared to hope. Steady progress on the cottages thanks to the hard work of Peter and Ludi, along with her children, made the vision of opening by Memorial Day more of a reality each day. Mary Frances joined us for meals, and except for the occasional complaint about the hammering, she seemed to be gaining ground.

  And every evening, after reading to the girls and tucking them in to bed, I’d take a glass of sweet tea out to my back steps. The night sounds of cicadas and the murmurs of songbirds settling onto their roosts were like a sweet benediction to the day. Working from dawn to dusk had its satisfactions in the progress on the cottages, but it had brought a few surprises, too. Namely Peter Reese.

  I hadn’t expected to find myself watching him as he joked with Catfish, hoping he’d cast a wink in my direction. And when I had a decision to make, his opinion was the one I sought. It wasn’t that I wanted the complication of a man in my life, and certainly not one who would be gone in another few weeks, but I trusted his judgment, and he was never pushy, demanding, or one to be disagreeable. Yet he maintained an air of mystery when it came to himself that, darn it all, I found compelling.

  Night after night, I retreated to my steps on the back porch, and in my gut I knew it wasn’t to drink in the scent and sounds of the bayou but to listen to the sweet strains of the guitar Peter played at his own front door. Haunting melodies like “Oh Shenandoah” or “Danny Boy.” And I would imagine the long slender fingers callused from driving nails by day as they moved effortlessly over the guitar frets.

  Often I would hum along and once stood and danced one-two-three as Peter played “The Tennessee Waltz.” Sally would say I had it bad, but then Sally had a respectable man who came home at night. One who hadn’t been born with the unfaithful gene.

  By day, I blushed at my evening thoughts and pushed to get the work done. But as dusk settled over the Stardust, an ache in my chest returned, and one evening I found myself hurrying the girls along with their evening baths, making them do the chin touch after we said their prayers, and hoping all the while I wouldn’t miss whatever tunes Peter chose to play for the night. Just as I headed out the door with my tea in hand, the phone rang. Expecting it was Aunt Cora with another reported case of polio in Musgrave County, I almost didn’t answer it. A pall had hung in the air ever since a three-year-old boy from the lumber camp not six miles up the road had been diagnosed. Now everyone walked in fear it might be their child next. Newspapers shouted new stories every day about the outbreak, now called an epidemic. People were warned to stay inside during the heat of the day, not to go near water, never to drink from public water fountains, and to have their children do the “chin touch” at every meal and when they said their prayers at night.

  It was a real threat, I knew, but I was determined not to let fear get the best of me. Personally, I believed the best way to bring disaster on yourself was by dwelling on it. And that night I was weary from dwelling on it, so I decided to ignore the phone. Then Rosey hollered from her bed, “Telephone, Momma!”

  It wasn’t Aunt Cora but a woman who asked to speak to Peter Reese, if he was available.

  “If this is long distance, you may want to call back; it’ll take a few minutes to get him.”

  “I’ll wait.” Sweet, high-pitched voice. Not the voice of a mother, but then I remembered Peter mentioning his mother had passed.

  Peter had a fresh-shower smell, his hair still damp and curling at the tops of his ears when I fetched him and we hurried back to the office. I turned the phone around for him to talk from the lobby side, then slipped into the quarters to give him privacy.

  He knocked softly on the door a few minutes later. “Thanks for coming to get me.”

  I joined him in the office. “Glad to. Hope it was good news.”

  He shook his head. “Actually, I need to leave sooner than I thought. I’ll ask Cecil tomorrow about my car. If he hasn’t got the parts, I may have to catch the bus to San Antonio.”

  My stomach pinched, the tiniest bit of alarm. “An emergency?”

  He chewed on his lower lip and nodded. “I know t
his might put you in a bind and all, and I know the roofing job is a couple of days away from being done.”

  “If something’s come up, then you need to go.”

  “I’m sorry.” He looked at the phone. “I probably shouldn’t have given your number for private business. This is something I have to do. Betty says it’s my last chance. Now or never.”

  Betty. The girl on the phone. Things made more sense now. Guys who are in love don’t look at other women. And to Peter, I wasn’t a woman… just a boss. It was a relief in a way. Good to find out before I let myself get carried away.

  [ CHAPTER 18 ]

  On Monday afternoon, Sally, just back from Houston, paid us a visit to check on the progress of the new landscaping. She looked stunning in a cream-colored sundress with cap sleeves and a gold lamé belt cinched at the waist.

  “I see you got some shopping in while you were gone. Beautiful dress.”

  “I had to do something to pass the time. I simply couldn’t hang around the respiratory ward with the kids. I wouldn’t dream of putting them in danger. And I made sure Hud took a shower the minute he came back to the hotel. And kiss him? Forget it. I was terrified he’d picked up the germs from breathing the same air.”

  “How’s his cousin?”

  “Not good. Apparently there are different types of infantile paralysis, which I didn’t know. Lolly has the worst kind, which attacked her throat and chest muscles. If not for the iron lung, she would’ve died within hours.” She shuddered. “It’s too gruesome to even think about. Nina Beth, her daughter, has the other type, which affects the muscles in the arms and legs. She’s improving slowly, but with a paralyzed right arm and leg, she’ll probably have permanent damage, maybe even a shrunken leg. Poor thing won’t ever get to play basketball or be in a beauty pageant.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “I needed therapy of some type, so I took Hud’s checkbook and left Houston in a better financial state than I found it. But I didn’t come to talk about that. I want to see what the Magnolias did while I was gone. And I must say, you’ve never looked better.”

  “I’m a fright, Sally. Look at me.” I held out my arms so she could get a good look at O’Dell’s shirt and the rolled-up Levi’s that had become my work attire.

  “No, it’s not your clothes. You have a glow about you. Is that a new shade of eye shadow you’re wearing? And your hair, pulled up on top of your head. It’s darling.”

  “Thanks, but no new makeup, and my hair is easier to manage with it up.”

  “Must be that cute fella you had working here when I left. Anything going on with him?”

  “Peter? Good heavens, no. He’s the handyman. Roofer, painter, plumber, whatever comes up. At least he was. He left a few days ago.”

  “So the cottages are all done?”

  “Nearly. Mr. Miller from the lumberyard is sending someone out tomorrow to finish up. And on Wednesday, I have an electrician and welders coming to fix the neon sign out front. Can you believe it? This place is almost done!” Until that moment I didn’t realize how much I’d missed Sally and having someone to talk to, to share my excitement with. I opened my arms, and like the best friends we were, we hugged until we both burst into a fit of the giggles.

  Sally got control first. “I’ve missed you. Now, c’mon and show me what the Magnolias did.”

  We strolled arm in arm even though the heat and humidity took our breath away. Here and there we stopped to admire the junipers and Indian hawthorne the Magnolias planted alongside the gravel parking spaces, yellow rosebushes at the corners of the cottages. The window boxes, freshly painted, were ready to be filled with flowers.

  Sally stood back and admired it all. “What do you think for the boxes? Geraniums? Petunias?”

  “Something easy. Maybe a few bachelor buttons and some asparagus fern.” As we circled back toward the office, we passed Mary Frances in her outdoor lounge chair, a cigarette in one hand and a magazine in the other. Beside her, Sebastian stretched out like a sentry.

  “Sally? My goodness gracious, aren’t you a vision on this hot day!”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Peyton. You’re looking well, too.” Sebastian rose and came to lick Sally’s hand. “I didn’t know you had a dog.”

  Mary Frances smiled. “Georgia’s handyman had to leave, so he left Sebastian with me. It reminds me of the mutt O’Dell had as a child.”

  Sally gave me a questioning look but patted Mary Frances on the knee. “I think it’s splendid you’ve taken the dog. He’ll be great company for you.”

  “Hmmph.” She went back to reading her magazine, and we ambled off.

  Later in the office, I plugged in the electric fan and propped open the front door to let the air circulate. Sally sipped a glass of sweet tea. “You’ve got more courage than I would, taking on Mary Frances. It’s nothing short of amazing how much difference a couple of weeks has made.”

  “Thanks, I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. So far, so good.”

  “What’s up with the dog? You said Peter left, but if I’m not mistaken, a man doesn’t up and leave his dog behind.”

  “I got the feeling he needed to get to San Antonio as soon as possible. It was a woman who called, and I’m nearly sure she was giving Peter an ultimatum.”

  “Girlfriend?”

  “Who knows? He could have a wife and six kids for all I know. He never discusses his personal life. Cecil’s having trouble getting the part for Peter’s car, so I took him to the bus station. Not to change the subject or anything, but how does next Monday sound for having the crawfish boil? That would give the Magnolias time to finish here and let me get the million and one last-minute things done before I open on the twenty-ninth. It depends on if you and Hud can come that night.”

  “Hud will be down in Houston. He always spends the last week of the month there. But I’ll be here, wouldn’t miss it for all the oil in Texas. Have you thought about what you’re wearing?”

  “Gracious, no. I’ll find something. Maybe the peasant outfit I wore in the talent show last summer.”

  Sally clucked her tongue and shook her head. “Sometimes I wonder about you. This is a big event in Mayhaw, and I assure you, the newspaper will be here taking pictures. Even if your handsome handyman’s not around, you need to get dolled up once in a while. You never know who might see your picture in the paper.”

  “I do want people to take me seriously as a businesswoman, but as far as impressing suitors—forget it. I’m still a grieving widow.”

  “Get out of here. You don’t need to pretend with me. We both know O’Dell cheated on you even before you were married…” She looked at me to see if she’d said too much.

  I lifted my chin, giving her a steady, tight-lipped glare as she continued.

  “Heaven knows, every time you turned around, there was some rumor. I hate to say it, sugar, but it’s time you gave up that hunt for the O’Dell you’ve created in your mind.”

  “Sally!” My chest tightened. A sprinkle of gasoline and a match and I would be set to go off like a bottle rocket, but I’d rather swallow glass than lose control of the moment.

  Hands up, palms out, I said, “Sally, we both know O’Dell had a rambling spirit. I’m trying to give him the benefit of the doubt since he has two little girls who love him. And he adored them. There is no point in bringing all this up. All it’s doing is getting me riled up for no good reason.”

  “Something needs to get you riled. You’re a beautiful woman, in the prime of your life.”

  “If that’s true, and I have serious doubts, then why on earth did O’Dell choose this time to up and leave me for another woman?” The words flew out scalding and bitter. My face flamed when I looked beyond Sally at the figure that stepped across the threshold.

  Mary Frances.

  Her eyes flashed, and I didn’t know whether it was confusion or anger or shock. Or the sudden realization her world had just been shattered.

  Her jaw dropped to her chest. Fish-mouthed, s
he tried to speak, but no words formed.

  Mustering a smile, I spoke with a feigned cheerfulness. “Hi, sweetie. What can I do for you?”

  Wary, her eyes darted from me to Sally. “The phone. I came to use the phone.” Her voice was rusty.

  “Of course. Do you want me to get the operator on the line? Do you have the number?”

  “No. I need to call the insurance man about the settlement on the fire.”

  “I thought he said a couple of weeks.”

  She spoke through tight lips. “A week or two, he said.”

  “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to check then.”

  “Some other time. I’m not feeling well.”

  Sally offered her arm. “Here. I’ll help you sit down.”

  Mary Frances flinched. “Stop. You both know I heard what you said.” Her icy stare was aimed at me. “How could you?”

  “How could I what?”

  “Say something so terrible about O’Dell.”

  Decision time. Deny it and keep on with the charade. Or tell her the truth.

  I should’ve lied.

  Instead, I went to her and put my arm around her shoulder. “I didn’t want to tell you. I knew it would be a shock, and I hoped he would tell you himself.”

  “Any problems in your marriage were no doubt from the tight leash you kept on O’Dell. It’s no wonder my sweet boy took to being a traveling salesman to get away from you.”