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Phyllis Bastian, Gram’s eldest offspring, was carrying food from the house to the long picnic tables, while Hal, her husband, turned hamburgers and hot dogs on the gas grill. “Hi, Annie.” He was waving long-handled tongs high in the air, and she recalled that he was a mechanic at Zack’s dealership. “I hear Keith made an unfortunate decision about your car yesterday.”
Keith didn’t look at all apologetic. “Once in a while I do make a decision.”
“…And now that I see what a knock-out you are, Annie,” he declared, “I see why he didn’t come ask for advice.”
“What can I say?” Keith looked at her with a crooked smile as he was dragged off by Brock and Jake for some game involving a beach ball.
Phyllis, whom Andi knew to be a second-shift supervisor of nursing at the community hospital, introduced her daughter, Evelyn Pinchot, as mother of Brock and Melody. They had little chance to visit, however, as the children soon came running to ask about putting on swimwear.
“Is Uncle Keith going in with you?”
Her daughter was bouncing up and down on tiptoe. “Can we, Mama? Can we go in swimming? He’ll watch us.”
“Is he putting on a suit and going in with you?”
The little girl’s lower lip pushed out in a pout, and it was Brock who turned to beg Keith, who had followed them. He rumpled the six-year-old’s hair. “Not. now, kids. Look at that platter of hamburgers and hot dogs and the rest of the spread! There’s no way I’m about to miss that!”
“Well, how ‘bout later? Will you go then?”
“We’ll see.”
They ran to check the last of the meat, being piled on top of the others by their grandfather. Their mother stood there, shaking her head. “I never thought you’d get away with such an evasive answer, Keith.”
“I can’t believe it either.”
Karlyn steered all four of the little ones toward the “wash-up station,” beside the house, stocked with a supply of towels. Evelyn followed, murmuring, “It’s simpler to prevent squirting one another with liquid soap than to give comfort after it’s in their eyes.”
Watching his sister with the children, Keith commented, “Karlyn’s a very good mother, and also an excellent second-grade elementary school teacher.”
Andi nodded, then asked, “Is everyone here?” She knew that Gram’s son, Bradley, had not arrived with his wifenor had their daughter, who lived in Dalton.
“Aunt Paula doesn’t make it to many of our gatherings, but Vanessa usually does.” They were walking toward the laden table. “Will Uncle Brad be here, Gram?”
“I’mnot sure. Paula’s in the middle of that big defense case, you know. And Brad…is between jobs again.”
Keith’s lips tightened. “Oh.”
Oh?
“I called Vanessaleft a message on her answering machine. Unfortunately, I seldom get through to her.”
Andi wondered whether Gram’s disappointment about “getting through” to this granddaughter had to do only with the impersonality of equipment.
The long table, covered with red-and-white checked paper and with matching red tableware, was filled with meats, salads, rolls, vegetables, casseroles, relishes and beverages. Karlyn was the only one not seated when she announced, “Last chance, everyone. Look around. If things aren’t reported as missing, they won’t be forthcoming.”
Andi’s laughter joined that of Keith and the others. Then Karlyn was offering a prayer of thankfulness before everyone began talking at once and starting dishes of food around the table. Plates were loaded. “No, Melody, you can’t eat just pickles and chips,” Andi heard the child’s mother remind her.
A frankfurter fell off the platter as it got to Melody. “Yes, you may call the dog,” Karlyn said.
A second hot dog got dislocated at Karlyn son’s place. “Really? Another accident? Well, we’ll just put it up here on the table till the picnic’s over,” his mom said.
Andi, an only child, was enchanted by the teasing, the joking, the good-humored give-and-take, the sharing of memoriesand just plain love evident around this table. She answered when people spoke directly to her, but was content to listen and observe, her gaze moving from person to person and ears catching not only words but nuances as she stored memories.
The food was delicious, but this whole experience even more wonderful.
Everyone was so stuffed later that it was decided to postpone pie and homemade ice cream until later. The remaining food was carried back to the kitchen, where the big job was finding and filling smaller containers for leftovers.
But Andi wasn’t part of that for long, as Brock and Jake coerced her and Keith into playing a game of croquet. “I’ve only done this twice in my life,” she admitted, “so you must promise not to be too hard on me.”
Jake informed them, “Brock plays better than I do, so he should be her partner. And I’ll play with Uncle Keith.”
Keith put a stop to protests from Brock. “Hey, guys, you asked Miss Marker to play, and now act like this? How would you feel if no one wanted to be your partner?”
Jake tried to bluster his way out, but Brock came to her. “I’msorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”
She had an almost overwhelming desire to throw her arms around him, to hug him close. “It’s all right, Brock.”
The six-year-old looked suspiciously close to tears. “I hate being left out!”
Never having been around young children much, she glanced up at the tall man beside her, needing guidance. Keith gave the tiniest of nods, which encouraged her to say, “Nobody grows up enough to not get hurt feelings sometimes, but I’m okay now.”
She didn’t look at Jake until he took a step closer and offered. “I’ll be partners with you if you want me to.”
Leaning over, she spread her arms to hug both of them. Looking up over their heads, she said to Keith, “I can play golf. Could that help at croquet?”
“I sorta doubt it. And to the best of my knowledge, the government hasn’t got around to using their multimillion-dollar grants to check out this extremely important matter.”
He looked and sounded so serious that the boys didn’t recognize this as humor, and Andi felt unexpectedly warmed at this interplay between him and her.
They decided against playing as couples; each would be on his own. This was accomplished with such laughter and enthusiasm that other family members gravitated to the lower, level portion of the property to cheer them on.
She was still trying to maneuver back through the middle wicket when Brock’s ball hit the finish stake, followed shortly by Keith’s. And she was delighted when Jake’s then made it on his second turn. Picking hers up, she carried it back to them. “You guys are wonderful!”
She’d half expected to play another game, but they were eager to swim. Evelyn produced suits and towels for Brock and Melody, who ran inside with their cousins to change. Shelby was beside Andi as they walked back up the gentle slope. “I brought a dark blue tank suit and a multicolored maillot, so you take your pick.”
I’d like to graciously refuse, she thought, even though I used to love showing off how good I look in swimwear. However, I’m here to learn about my family, not to be rude.
Accepting them with thanks, she went with her hostess into the huge stone house that looked as though it had been there for centuries instead of… “How long have you lived here, Karlyn?” she asked, after complimenting her on how perfect everything was.
“Nearly nine years. My ex-husband is co-owner, along with his father, of a large building supply company on this side of Dalton. They were just beginning their expansion into the construction business, as wellso our dream house was one of their first projects. Planned as a showpiece.”
“I love the spaciousness, the openness you’ve achieved. And all these windows!” Andi’s home in Chicago, built of huge sandstone blocks for some cattle dealer in the late 1800s, was almost castle-like with its many high-ceilinged rooms, but was darker inside than this house.
“My attorney fought hard to save this. It’s a lot of house for just the kids and me, but I couldn’t give it up.”
Karlyn put on a blue princess-style suit, while Andi changed into the maillot, and they walked together out the side door onto a wooden deck and down the steps to the large in-ground pool. The four children were joyfully and loudly enjoying the water. And Keith, at the far end, looked fabulous in white swim trunks.
But Andi’s stomach tightened. She wasn’t only seeing his long, tanned legs and torso; there was a striking blonde sitting beside him on the wood-crafted settee!
“Ahhh,” Karlyn murmured. “Vanessa did come.”
Andi should have recognized from Gram’s pictures that the tall, slim, golden-skinned woman was Brad and Paula’s only child. Walking toward them, Andi was even more conscious than usual of those ugly still-red scars on her leg and thigh. Some day she’d check with a plastic surgeon, but wasn’t yet ready to face another operation.
Karlyn continued, “…I’m glad she’s here. We don’t see enough of her anymore.”
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