The Lake Season

by Hannah McKinnon

  “Well?” Millie breathed audibly on the other side of the curtain, and for once, it was Iris who eagerly swept it aside for the revelation. “Iris. Look at you!”

  Miss Patty and Millie launched forward for inspection.

  Leah, who was deep in conversation on her cell, peered around them to see what the fuss was about. Her eyes roamed up and down Iris. “Well.”

  “I know!” Iris beamed. She couldn’t help it. She’d not felt this good in a long time. Ever, perhaps. She turned to the mirror, admiring the low-cut drape in the back. It hugged her in all the right places, if she did say so herself.

  Patty grabbed a fistful of fabric at the waist. “This’ll have to be taken in. You’re clearly not a size six. Maybe a four. Maybe even a two?”

  “Two?” Iris shrieked.

  “The magic of farmwork,” Millie said, as if she’d been awaiting this transformation all along. But there was genuine pleasure in her voice. “Do you like it, dear?”

  I’m never taking it off, Iris wanted to cry out. But behind them all, something about Leah’s expression reined her in. “You chose great,” Iris told her sister. “I love it.”

  As Vera, the seamstress, was summoned once more, Iris inspected herself shamelessly. She’d known she’d slimmed down. But initially it had been a loss of more than just weight, leaving her pale and loose with sadness. Now, the sun and lake had worked within her. There was nothing shrunken or defeated about the woman in the mirror, and something inside her stirred with that bright realization.

  Returning them all to business, Leah was brusque in her directions. “The other bridesmaids will be arriving next week,” she told Patty, ticking through the list on her phone. “I’ll call to schedule fittings.” She turned to Iris, impatience furrowing her brow. “And don’t forget to schedule your makeup and hair consult. I asked you to do that last week.”

  But Iris was preoccupied. She didn’t even flinch when Vera’s needle poked right through the fabric and into her thigh. She had an electrifying urge to try on a pair of skinny jeans. But Leah interrupted it.

  “Please don’t dawdle,” she told them, throwing her purse over her shoulder and glancing briskly at her watch. “I’ll wait for you at the café.”

  “What’s the hurry?” Millie inquired. But Leah was already striding toward the door.

  “Grump,” Iris muttered loud enough for her mother to hear.

  Who surprisingly did not argue, for once.

  Back in the dressing room, Iris reluctantly shed her dress. Who knew self-confidence came in eggplant? And just in time for her trip to Vermont with Cooper. She couldn’t wipe the smile from her face.

  Outside, despite the early morning hour, the streets were already clogged with weekenders flocking into town. “Shall we hit a few shops?” Iris asked. Cooper had said they’d be leaving sometime after lunch. There was still time.

  Millie raised her eyebrows. It was an invitation neither had extended to the other all summer, until now. And shopping had always been her sport, not Iris’s. “Why, I’d love to!” She glanced around. “But we should probably find your sister first.”

  Leah was at a small outdoor table in front of Trish’s café, staring glumly into a coffee cup. She made a point of looking at her watch as they approached. “Finally. Let’s go home.”

  “But we just got here. Besides, I want to say hi to Trish.”

  “She’s not in today.”

  Iris narrowed her eyes. “She’s probably still recovering from last night.”

  “I’m going to grab a quick tea,” Millie said, oblivious to the glares exchanged between her daughters. “Iris, tell her about our shopping plans. This’ll be such fun!”

  The second the café door shut, Iris plunked herself in the chair across from Leah. Enough was enough. “What’s your problem?”

  “Nothing. I just want to get back to the farm.”

  “Like what?”

  Leah drummed her fingers noisily on the café table, her nails clicking as quickly as her words. “Like final head counts. And menu changes. Not that it applies to you,” she added curtly. “Since you’re so occupied with the barn these days.”

  Iris reached across the table, covering Leah’s nervous fingers with her own. “Why are you so mad?”

  “I’m not.” Leah lifted one shoulder. “I’m just edgy.

  “Is that what we’re going to call last night? Edgy?”

  “Look, I was just blowing off some steam. No big deal.”

  “Oh, really? Dancing with strange guys, starting drunken fights. Would Stephen call that ‘no big deal’?”

  Leah blanched. “Last night had nothing to do with Stephen.”

  “Good. Then tell me what it was about. Because I’m dying here, trying to figure all this out.”

  The door to the café opened, and Millie emerged with two cups of tea. “So are we ready to hit the shops?”

  When neither girl answered, she set the cups down, glancing from face to face. “Did I miss something?”

  “No!” they chirped in unison.

  “I need to get back home,” Leah said, standing quickly.

  “And I need to get back to the barn,” Iris added. She was too annoyed to shop now.

  Millie deflated like a balloon. “But I thought we were shopping.”

  Before Iris could think of an excuse, Leah’s phone rang.

  Her face fell as soon as she took the call. “Oh my God.”

  Millie placed a hand over her chest. “What is it, dear? Is everything okay?”

  Leah shook her head gravely. “When did this happen?” she cried into her phone. “Are you sure?”

  “What?” Millie pressed. “Is it Stephen?”

  Leah waved her away. “I can’t believe this.”

  Iris and Millie stood frozen. Finally Leah set down her phone, tears in her eyes. “That was Tika,” she informed them gravely. “The linen rentals are all messed up. And now there’s an issue with the flowers.”

  Millie exhaled with relief.

  But Iris was not having it; she slapped a hand on the table. “Seriously? All that was just about wedding arrangements?”

  Leah scowled. “Just? Do you realize the flower arrangements aren’t confirmed? And I just found out that the silk tablecloths don’t come in persimmon. Only in cranberry!” At that, she burst into tears.

  Which only made Millie look like she might do the same. “Oh, honey.”

  Iris coughed into her hand. Persimmon?

  But Leah was not letting up. “Everything’s ruined.” She was crying openly now. People at adjacent tables began to stare.

  “Calm down, darling, we’ll figure it out,” Millie promised.

  She did not object as Leah reached into her purse and produced a bottle of pills.

  Here we go, Iris thought. But as Leah popped one pill, then another, and threw them back with a sip of their mother’s tea, Iris realized Leah’s affected response was real. Over-the-top, but real nonetheless.

  “Look, let me help,” Iris offered. “I can make those calls for you. Find pomegranate tablecloths, whatever you need.”

  “Persimmon,” Leah corrected her.

  Millie beamed. “You’d do that?”

  Iris shrugged. “Why not?” How long could it take to locate a persimmon tablecloth?

  By the time Millie drove them home, Leah’s mood had transformed. She’d scrolled through copious wedding lists on her iPhone. Unfazed, she unloaded all of it on Iris, who’d given up, eventually handing over her own phone for Leah to sync.

  “But isn’t Tika taking care of these things?” Millie asked, echoing Iris’s silent SOS calls from the backseat.

  “Well, technically,” Leah allowed. “But I’m not trusting every detail to a stranger.” She said this last word as if Tika were a denizen of the streets, and not the Jimmy Ch
oo–wearing, manicured event planner she’d negotiated around a six-month waiting list to retain.

  Back at the house, Leah led Iris to her room, where she loaded her arms with folders, a few books, and several dog-eared magazines. “Is this required reading?” Iris joked.

  Leah did not smile. “The linen information is in the red folder.”

  “You mean persimmon,” Iris quipped.

  Leah ignored this. “Along with the favors, which are in the green folder.” She paused, thinking. “Oh, and if you could also confirm the wedding party bouquets with the florist, that’d be great.” She pointed a manicured finger at a purple folder.

  “Great,” Iris echoed, wondering suddenly why on earth she’d offered to help.

  Iris had just staggered out the door with her armload when Leah suddenly halted her. “Wait. This is your room. Why don’t you leave that stuff here, and I’ll move back across the hall to my old room?”

  “Really?” Iris brightened. She’d been pining for her own bedroom with its view of the lake, and her childhood cabbage-rose wallpaper. Her little haven.

  “Why not? Stephen’s back in Seattle. Besides, it’ll be just like when we were little.” Leah hugged Iris hard. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me. Having you here, doing all this.” And there it was again: the surge of light in Leah’s expression that filled the room, making Iris feel guilty for ever complaining.

  • • •

  But it didn’t last. By lunchtime, any trace of sisterly guilt was long eradicated. Iris lay her throbbing head on the cool marble surface of the kitchen island, surrounded by Leah’s stacks of binders and hand-scrawled notes. Where was Cooper?

  “Everything all right?” Millie asked. She’d been out with the dogs, whom she now closed off in the mudroom. Templeton, the only one allowed free range of the house, trotted in at her heels and made a beeline for Iris.

  Iris groaned. “Did you know that Tika has already confirmed all of these appointments? The hair salon, the nail parlor, the bridesmaid breakfast? All of it has already been done. Twice!” Tika, Leah’s wedding planner. The real wedding planner, whose flustered assistant had just called Iris to tell her with strained politeness that she was very nice to be making all of these calls. But to please stop.

  “Well, maybe Leah just wanted to be thorough. You know how she is.”

  Iris eyed Millie, who bent to scratch Templeton’s wiry tummy. The little dog closed his eyes in a contended stupor. “Are we talking about the same person?”

  “She’s nervous, Iris. It’s her big day.”

  “Uh-huh. Well, I’m done for today. And for the record, they’ve already filled her linen order in persimmon. So, what was all that about?”

  Millie shrugged. “Just an oversight, I guess.”

  Iris cleared her throat. “Among many. Perhaps I should check in with Her Highness, and give her the official update. Where is she, anyway?”

  Millie glanced out the window. “Oh, she won’t be back until later tonight.”

  “Where’d she go?”

  Millie hesitated. “Didn’t you know? She went to Vermont.”

  “Vermont?” A coppery taste rose up in Iris’s mouth, and she swallowed hard, trying to squelch it.

  “Yes. With Cooper.” Millie picked up Templeton. “You remember the lumber run he had to make? Your father’s out on the lake with Morris, from next door. And I couldn’t very well leave the farm stand unattended. So Leah volunteered to go along with Cooper.”

  “Oh, she volunteered, did she?” Iris slapped the wedding binder shut.

  Just then, the mudroom door flung open. Bill strolled in with a bucket of fish, which he set down abruptly upon seeing their faces.

  “What’s wrong?”

  But Millie had her own questions. “What are you so upset about, Iris?” Her voice was high, suspicious.

  “I was supposed to go to Vermont.”

  Millie studied her. “Well, I don’t see what the big deal is. We can drive up there any weekend.”

  “No, Mom. This is about Leah.”

  “What about Leah? Considering all she has on her plate, it was nice of her to offer to make the lumber run.”

  Iris was flabbergasted. “Mom, don’t you see what she’s doing? She loves the dress, then she hates the dress. She sulks for Stephen, then runs off with Cooper. The scales are always tipping in the wrong direction. Leah lives life according to these crazy whims. Nothing’s changed!” Iris could feel the heat in her cheeks.

  “Iris, your sister is doing the best she can. Besides, you were busy.”

  “Busy with her wedding. Which she dumped on me. And besides, she doesn’t even like long car rides; they make her throw up!”

  Millie stood very still, listening. But Iris could see the wheels turning. “I didn’t realize you felt so strongly about Vermont.”

  “What is all this about Vermont?” Bill asked.

  Iris stood quickly, her chair scraping across the hardwood. “Fine, let’s get this out. You and Leah don’t want me to go to Vermont, because I should be focused on Massachusetts. Isn’t that right?”

  Millie’s lips tightened.

  “Are you going somewhere?” Bill interjected.

  “For the record, I’ve given my life to Massachusetts. For nineteen years! But Massachusetts doesn’t want me anymore. Which brings me here. Where everyone’s so preoccupied with weeds and weddings, I don’t belong here, either.”

  Millie flinched. She’d taken a step back against Templeton, who let out a low growl.

  “I’m afraid you’ve lost me,” Bill said. But Iris was on a roll.

  “No time for a nervous breakdown; there’s farmwork to be done! But as it turns out, I’m no good at that either. Even the tomatoes aren’t safe in my presence.” Iris was shouting now. “And now that I’ve finally found something to do with myself, something I’m actually good at, you all think I’m moving to Vermont. Well, I’m not. Vermont is just a place to go. A nice place to visit. That’s all!”

  The kitchen fell silent. Like wayward civilians who’d innocently stumbled into a minefield, her parents remained frozen, wary of the next detonation.

  Iris gathered herself. “And besides, you can all rest easy. Because I’m sure Vermont has no interest in me!”

  Millie blinked several times.

  “Who’s going to Vermont?” Bill whispered.

  “No one!” Iris stormed out of the kitchen. “No one is going to Vermont.”

  Outside, Iris raked her hands through her hair. Leah had guilted her into helping out with wedding plans that were already planned. Burying her beneath files, all so she could get Iris out of the barn and slide into the seat next to Cooper in the truck. Iris’s seat.

  And yet, as murky as Leah’s motives appeared, there was a vivid truth to be extracted. The uncomfortable smile on Leah’s face whenever Stephen wrapped his arm around her and talked about their future little family together. The pained expression when she watched Cooper’s truck drive away that first evening when she’d found Iris working with him in the barn. The unhappiness over the bridal grown. Over Stephen’s departure. And Iris’s work in the barn.

  Millie had blamed it all on wedding jitters and the stress of family reunions. Iris could appreciate that. After all, here she was, the estranged big sister, all grown up with a family of her own, returning home empty-handed and on the brink of divorce. What new bride would welcome that? She was like a black cat crossing the path of Leah’s happily wedded future. But it was more than that.

  And what of Iris, anyway? Iris felt as if she’d just found her own footing. Sure, she wasn’t stupid enough to think this summer escape bore any resemblance to reality. That would still be waiting for her, in all its painful glory, when summer ended and she returned home. There were facts to face. The fact of Paul. And their ugly next steps. But here, if only for
a moment, she’d felt the familiar flutter beneath her skin. The old Iris. She was here: in the water, balanced on a ladder in the barn, in the waking moment before sleep surrendered to the truth each morning. She was not barren of her old self as she’d feared. She was just beginning to reunite with her, like a ghost, from a much-missed past.

  Sluggishly, Iris climbed the grassy hill, her cumbersome thoughts slowing her pace until she needed to sit. And so she did. Right in the middle of the hill, she sank down and allowed herself to unfold against the landscape, her head pillowed by the dense green blades around her. Iris closed her eyes. The smell of summer was strong in the sun-bleached grass. It felt good. She knew she should worry about ticks or bugs. But she didn’t move. Not when the peepers began their twilight chirrup around her. Not when Millie called her name from the back door, over and over, finally giving up. Not even when dusk fell like a gauzy blanket, suffusing the sky and her worries in twinkling darkness.

  • • •

  The next morning they were still not back. Millie watched Iris from across the kitchen as one watches a rabid animal: keeping her in her sights, but at a safe distance.

  “So, no sign of Leah?” Iris slammed the sugar bowl back down on the table.

  Millie paused, choosing her words carefully. As if they might be her last. “No. It seems they had to stay overnight.” Then she rushed to add, “Leah said they had some kind of car trouble.”

  “You mean truck.”

  “Excuse me?”

  The coffee sloshed onto the table as Iris stirred her cup roughly. “They were driving Cooper’s truck. Not car.”

  Millie gripped her own mug more tightly. “Fine, then. Truck.”

  Iris was acutely aware of the looks her parents exchanged. She was beyond caring.

  “Not to worry,” Bill chimed in. “They’ll be home sometime this morning.”

  “There, you see,” Millie said brightly, as though that wrapped everything up with a neat bow.

  “Perfect,” Iris muttered. The coffee rose up in her throat with a new bitterness. She had to get out of there. She felt like a certain measure of power, power she’d worked so hard to gather for herself, had been taken away. But most of all it was the image of the two side by side in the cab of Cooper’s truck that she couldn’t shake. She’d waited up, determined to confront Leah. But when they still hadn’t shown up by midnight, she’d decided to hell with both of them. Unable to sleep, she’d spent a long night flipping absently through magazines and, later, TV channels. Aside from the crow’s-feet around her eyes, she might as well have been in high school again, sitting home alone on the couch with a Seventeen magazine while Leah was out on date with a cute boy Iris secretly coveted.