It was dark as all get-out in the room, enough to disorient me, and I reached out and held on to the couch to anchor myself while I stared at the door. I heard a key turning in the lock, and then the door swung open. The woman at the door hadn’t had enough time to reach for the light switch when my cousin Vasti leapt up and hollered, “Surprise!”
Aunt Ruby Lee jumped, of course, but she was giggling as the lights came on. The rest of us yelled “Surprise!” then but it wasn’t much of a surprise anymore. Vasti had made us promise to wait for the count of three, but she hadn’t been able to contain herself. Which is just like Vasti.
Aunt Ruby Lee was in the middle of hugging Aunt Daphine and Aunt Nora when she saw me. “Laurie Anne! I didn’t think you’d be here until next week. You come right over here and let me hug your neck.”
“Richard and I snuck into town early so I could come to the shower,” I explained as we hugged. In fact, our flight had landed in Hickory a few minutes late, and I had barely made it to Aunt Ruby Lee’s house in time to hide and surprise her.
“This is so nice of y’all,” Aunt Ruby Lee said. “I never expected it.” She turned to look at the big man standing out on the porch behind her. “Roger, did you know what they were planning?”
He grinned widely, which was answer enough.
“I was wondering why he was in such a rush to get back here after dinner,” Aunt Ruby Lee said to me. “And why Clifford and Earl wanted to go see Thaddeous tonight.”
Richard liked to call Roger my once-and-future uncle, because he had been Aunt Ruby Lee’s third husband and was going to become her fifth in a little over a week. The whole family was hoping that this time the marriage would take.
Roger peered over Aunt Ruby Lee’s head at the pastel crepe paper strung everywhere, the dainty sandwiches and punch on the table, and of course, the giggling women. “I can see this ain’t no place for me. Slim’s going to pick me up in a minute so we can rehearse over at Al’s place. I’ll be back later.” He gave Aunt Ruby Lee a quick kiss, and beat a hasty retreat.
Aunt Ruby Lee smiled after him in the sweetest way, and I wished Richard were there to quote something appropriate from Shakespeare. I know taste in feminine beauty has changed since Elizabethan times, but surely buxom blondes with dimples and sparkling eyes were appreciated even then. Especially one with a personality as lovable as Aunt Ruby Lee’s. After Roger drove out of sight, she came on into the living room and looked around. “Is Ilene not here?”
Vasti assumed the same expression she used to use when she was about to tell on somebody. “I don’t know where she is, Aunt Ruby Lee. I told her when we were going to be here and I thought she’d be here to let us in. As it was, I had to use the key hidden under the flowerpot.”
Neither Aunt Ruby Lee nor I asked how Vasti knew where the spare key was. Vasti just has a way of finding these things out.
Vasti went on, “When I spoke to Ilene about helping with the shower, she said she didn’t have time to help fix party favors or make cookies or anything.“
“She’s been awfully busy getting ready for the Jamboree,” Aunt Ruby Lee explained.
“I had forgotten the Jamboree is this weekend,” I said. The Rocky Shoals Memorial Country Music Jamboree included a serious competition for new musicians, and I hadn’t realized that Ilene had inherited her father’s musical interests. “Then no wonder she lost track of time. I’m sure she’ll be along shortly.” Actually, I couldn’t imagine how Ilene could be late for her own mother’s bridal shower, Jamboree or no Jamboree. I could tell that Aunt Ruby Lee’s feelings were hurt.
“I’m sure she will be,” Aunt Ruby Lee said, but then sighed so faintly that I think I was the only one to hear it. Then she seemed to gather herself together and went to hug Aunt Nellie, Aunt Edna, and anybody else who came within reach.
Even with Ilene missing, there was plenty of family for me to catch up with. All five of my late mother’s sisters and their daughters and daughters-in-law were there: Aunt Edna and her daughter-in-law Sue; Aunt Nora; Aunt Nellie and her three daughters Carlelle, Idelle, and Odelle; Aunt Daphine and Vasti; and of course Aunt Ruby Lee. There were even a few people who weren’t related to us Burnettes. Of course, one of those was well on her way. Liz Sanderson, a pretty nurse at the Byerly Nursing Home, had been dating my cousin Clifford for over a year, and everybody knew it was only a matter of time before we would be throwing a bridal shower for her.
Manners said that I should start with my great-aunt Maggie. She had rarely attended family gatherings when I was growing up, but since my grandfather Paw died, she had been doing her best to take his place as the head of the family, even when she’d rather be somewhere else. I could tell she wasn’t much interested in the shower from the I’m-going-to-do-the-right-thing-if-it-kills-me expression on her face. She had even dressed for the occasion. Not in a dress, of course, but she had worn a nice pair of black slacks and a fuchsia blouse. True, she was wearing sneakers with the outfit, but at least they were the same color as the blouse.
After the obligatory hug, I asked, “How’s the flea market business?”
“Doing pretty well. I paid fifteen dollars for a box of glassware at an auction the other week, and I’ve already made seventy dollars off of it. And I saved the best piece in the box for Ruby Lee and Roger’s wedding present.” She looked around to make sure that neither Aunt Ruby Lee nor Vasti was in earshot. “It’s a platter in her china pattern,” she whispered.
“Desert Rose?” I whispered back. Aunt Ruby Lee had inherited my grandmother’s china.
Aunt Maggie nodded.
“She’ll love that.”
“Do you know what that china goes for these days? I priced it, and I’d eat off of paper plates for the rest of my life before I’d pay any such price for dishes.”
“What are you two whispering about?” Vasti said, suddenly appearing right next to us.
“Nothing much,” Aunt Maggie said, but I could tell that Vasti wasn’t fooled.
“That’s a gorgeous necklace, Vasti,” I said, by way of distraction. I knew that if Vasti found out what Aunt Maggie had bought for Aunt Ruby Lee, the surprise would be ruined in a matter of hours. Maybe minutes.
“Don’t you love it,” Vasti said, holding the pendant out on its chain so I could admire it more thoroughly. “Those are diamonds all around the star sapphire.”
“Really?” I said.
Vasti nodded, and let it fall back onto her chest. “It weighs a ton. I told Arthur he shouldn’t have gotten me something so big, but you know how he is. He says I’ve got to have the best.”
Actually Arthur said that Vasti had to have what she wanted, which meant the same thing.
“Do you think it looks all right with this dress?” Vasti said with patently false anxiety.
“It looks wonderful,” I said politely. Actually, it did look pretty good. The dress was the same blue as the stone in the pendant, and though the ruffles along the hem were a bit much for my taste, they somehow went along with Vasti’s thick, brown curls and big brown eyes.
“How can you stand to wear those shoes?” Aunt Maggie said. “Don’t you know they’re bad for your feet?”
Vasti and I looked down at her patent leather pumps, which of course matched her dress. The heels were twice as high as anything I would wear, which meant that they were normal for Vasti. “They do hurt my feet sometimes,” Vasti admitted, “but with Arthur on the City Council, I’ve got to keep up appearances.”
That was baloney, of course. Having a husband on the Byerly City Council did not require Vasti to cripple herself. Besides which, I knew for a fact that she had been wearing high heels ever since she talked her mother into buying her the first pair when she was ten years old.
“You ought to try wearing heels, Laurie Anne,” Vasti said to me. “They’d make your calves look thinner.”
I couldn’t help looking down, but my calves looked all right to me.
“Laurie Anne’s legs are fine the way they are,” Aunt Maggie said.
“What about you, Aunt Maggie?” Vasti persisted. “High heels would make you look taller.”
“Vasti, I’ve lived in Byerly my whole life. People already know how tall I am.”
“But Aunt Maggie …” she began. Then she was caught by another concern. “Aunt Maggie, you are going to wear dress shoes to the wedding, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know what I’m wearing to the wedding yet,” Aunt Maggie said airily, but I could tell from the twinkle in her eyes that she was pulling Vasti’s leg. “I’ll make sure my shoes go with my outfit. These I’m wearing match my shirt, don’t they?”
Vasti looked at the sneakers and winced. “Yes, but—”
“Depending on what I wear, people might not even notice my shoes,” Aunt Maggie said. “I saw some real cute pantsuits the other day.”
Vasti gasped. “Aunt Maggie, you aren’t going to wear pants to the wedding, are you?”
“Why not? That way I won’t have to shave my legs.”
“But Aunt Maggie, Hank Parker from the Gazette is going to be there taking pictures. What if they put a picture of you in the paper and said that you were Arthur’s great-aunt by marriage?”
“Vasti, I’ve been living in this town a lot longer than Arthur has been city councilor. Maybe he should ask me what to wear.” Before Vasti could finish her gasp, Aunt Maggie said, “Excuse me, girls, I want to speak to Ruby Lee for a minute.”
Vasti shook her head after her. “Maybe if I bought her some shoes …”
“You know she’s going to wear what she wants to, no matter what anybody else thinks,” I said.
Vasti nodded sadly.
“And she dresses nicely when it’s called for, doesn’t she?”
“I suppose so. You’ve got something decent to wear, don’t you?”
I was tempted to say something like, ‘No, I’m going to wear a tank top and shorts,’ but what I said was, “Yes, Vasti.”
“Thank goodness for that. You know, Laurie Anne, I’m glad you came into town early.”
For a minute I was touched.
Then she added, “I’ve got so much to do to get ready for the wedding, and I can put you to work right away.”
Great. Running errands was just how I wanted to spend my vacation. “Richard and I do have some plans,” I said.
“That’s all right. I’ve got things for him to do, too. I was expecting to have Ilene’s help, but she’s been too busy.”
“I’m kind of surprised that she isn’t here,” I admitted. “Aunt Nora wrote me that she’s been hard to get along with lately.” Aunt Nora had been particularly upset when Ilene quit the Girl Scouts, after having been a member for so long, but I hadn’t taken that too seriously.
Vasti snorted. “Too big for her britches, is more like it. Never lets anybody know where she’s going or when she’ll be back, and never has a pleasant word for anybody. I hear from Clifford and Earl that she’s just impossible to live with.”
Clifford and Earl were Ilene’s older half-brothers. Clifford’s daddy was Fred Collins, Aunt Ruby Lee’s first husband, and Earl’s father was Alton Brown, her second. Ilene was Roger’s daughter.
Vasti was starting to say something else when I saw headlights in the driveway.
“Maybe that’s her now,” I said, and went to look out the window. A silver Camaro with half a dozen small dents and two great big ones had pulled into the driveway, and I thought I recognized Ilene in the front seat.
“Who’s that she’s with?” I asked Vasti, who had joined me at the window.
Vasti shook her head disgustedly. “That’s her new boyfriend. You know Tom Honeywell, don’t you?”
I knew him by sight and by reputation, and that was plenty enough for me. I did some fast mental calculations. “He’s at least seven years older than she is.”
“Eight, as a matter of fact,” Vasti said, “but if you ask me, his age is the least of his faults.”
That was true enough, if half of the tales I had heard about him were true. He had been a behavior problem since the day he was born: skipping school, smoking and drinking at an early age, vandalism, petty theft. Even Aunt Nora, known for liking just about everybody, had sadly described him as trouble looking for a place to happen. And that was before the big scandal over what he did to his father.
Though Sid Honeywell had never filed charges against his only child, everybody in Byerly knew how Tom had run off with every bit of money he could find at the family’s filling station. Sid had nearly gone bankrupt, and the strain took its toll on his health, too. Afterward, he was so nervous about trusting anybody that he had converted the station to self-service so he could run it by himself.
“Is Ilene coming inside or not?” Vasti said. “Maybe I should go out and get her.”
“I’ll go,” I said hurriedly. “You tend to the party.” If Vasti went barreling out there, she was likely to say something to get Ilene mad, and I didn’t want Aunt Ruby Lee’s shower spoiled.
“All right,” Vasti said. “I probably should make sure that the punch turned out all right.”
I took my time going out onto the front porch. From there, I could see that Ilene and Tom were kissing good-bye, so I just waited a few minutes. Then I started humming, and tapping my foot, and clearing my throat. I had about decided that they wouldn’t notice a marching band going past them when the car doors opened.
“Ilene?” I said. “Is that you?”
“Of course it’s me,” she said. “Who did you think you were spying on?”
Tom laughed at that, and I decided to hold off saying anything else until I finished counting to ten. In binary. Twice.
The two of them went to the trunk of the car and pulled out something on a hanger wrapped in plastic, and several big bags.
“Do you need any help?” I asked politely.
They didn’t answer, so I assumed that they didn’t and waited for them on the porch.
“Hi,” I said. “I’m Laura Fleming, Ilene’s cousin.”
“I know who you are,” Tom said. He was dark-haired, with that vaguely pouty look you see in male models. I might have considered him good-looking if I hadn’t known so much about him. He said, “I thought you went up to Yankee land.”
“I came back to town for Aunt Ruby Lee’s wedding.” As a reminder to Ilene, I added, “And for the shower, of course.”
Tom didn’t answer, just looked me up and down like he was considering how much money to offer for my services. “You sure don’t look much like Ilene.”
Ilene giggled, and I felt my face go red. Admittedly Ilene had her mother’s blond hair and blue eyes, which made my own brown hair and hazel eyes seem a bit drab by comparison. And Ilene’s figure had been spectacular since she was thirteen, while mine was no more than average. In all honesty, I had been jealous of Ilene’s looks for years, but I had never encountered anybody but Tom Honeywell rude enough to make the comparisons I occasionally made to myself.
There wasn’t anything I could politely say to him, so I turned to Ilene instead. “The shower’s already started. Aunt Ruby Lee’s been looking for you.”
“I told her I had to go shopping,” she said. Then, to Tom she said, “I better go in before Mama has a hissy fit.” She leaned toward him, and they kissed for what seemed like an awfully long time when somebody else was standing there.
Then Tom pushed the bags he was carrying at me. “Here you go, cousin.”
I wanted to tell him that I sure as shooting wasn’t his cousin, but politeness won out and I just took the bags and went inside.
“Ilene’s here,” I said as brightly as I could manage.
“There you are,” Aunt Ruby Lee said with evident relief. “I was afraid that nobody had told you about the shower.”
“Of course I told her about it,” Vasti said.
“Sorry I’m late,” Ilene said unconvincingly. “Tom and I had things to do to get ready for the Jamboree.”
“That’s all right, baby,” Aunt Ruby Lee said, and she did sound sincere. “Why don’t you put those things away and come join the party?”
“All right. I’ll be back in a minute,” Ilene said and headed for the stairs. I followed along with her bags.
The door to Ilene’s room was the only one on the hall that was shut, and there was a KEEP OUT sign on it. She opened it without turning on the light, and carefully hung whatever it was she was carrying in the closet.
“Is that your bridesmaid dress?” I asked, following along behind her.
“No,” she said and reached for her bags.
If this was the way Ilene had been acting, it looked like Vasti had avoided exaggeration for once in her life. But then again, I said to myself, maybe Ilene was feeling left out of all the wedding plans. “You did know about the shower, didn’t you?” Ignoring Ilene would have been pretty thoughtless, even for Vasti.
“Vasti told me she was going to throw one, but I didn’t know when it was going to be. I think it’s silly to have a shower anyway. It’s not like Mama hasn’t been married before.”
Ouch! True, this was Aunt Ruby Lee’s fifth marriage, but what harm would it do to throw her another shower. “It has been a long time since that first wedding,” I said. “And any excuse for a party is a good one.”
Ilene said, “Just what this family needs, another chance for them to stick their noses in everybody else’s business.”
I honestly wasn’t sure if she meant me, too, or not.
“You can go back downstairs now,” she said.
I guess I was halfway expecting a hug, despite the way she had been treating me, and I hesitated.
“Do you mind if I brush my hair by myself?” she snapped.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, and fled down the stairs to be with people who wanted me around.