Next they found Ray Anne at Al’s house with Al’s family of boys, where Ray Anne was helping Al construct a Sunday dinner for the whole crew. There was a loud celebration of congratulations with all the same questions so far impossible to answer.
“I don’t know why anyone wants to get married,” said thirteen-year-old Kevin.
“And that’s how we like it—you not understanding that urge,” Al said. “I have enough worry that Justin’s starting to get it.”
“What? Me?” he asked.
“We know there’s a girl,” Ray Anne said.
“Yeah, but that’s all there is. A girl. Not marriage. How would I ever manage that?”
“Good. We’re on the same page,” Al said.
Then they walked down the beach. They had already decided not to impose on Grace. It was good enough for Ginger to tell her on Monday when they worked together. But Troy was on the beach throwing a Frisbee with Charlie, the nurse’s son, and Austin, the kid next door.
“You’re not imposing,” Troy said. “She’s on the deck with her mother, I think. Everything okay at the shop?”
“As far as I know,” Ginger said. “I’m planning to open tomorrow morning. I just wanted to talk to her for a minute.”
“Go on up,” he said.
“Knock, knock,” Ginger said as they neared the top of the stairs.
“Come up!” Grace said. “Out for a little walk?”
“We have news,” Ginger said. “We wanted to tell you together. Now, don’t worry about anything...”
“We’re getting married,” Matt said, pulling the trigger on it.
Grace flew to her feet and hugged Ginger in a ferocious, excited embrace, shrieking happily. It took a while for her to calm down. Troy, Charlie and Austin came flying up the stairs from the beach to see what was happening. Grace threw herself at Matt, hugging him fiercely. And then, inevitably, there was crying.
“Oh, that makes me so happy!” Grace cried. “This is perfect! It couldn’t be more perfect!”
Ginger was a little stunned. “We were going to be careful to reassure you—I won’t leave you without making sure you have the help you need in the shop.”
Grace burst into laughter. “You mean Matt’s not giving up that huge farm to live off you and your florist’s salary in Thunder Point? I couldn’t be any more thrilled about this. Ginger, all I want in this world is to see you happy!”
“But we do have to find someone to take my place,” Ginger said. “Someone good. Someone you can trust. But don’t worry—we’re certainly not getting married while there’s a harvest going on.”
“We’ll get to work on help in the shop, but first let’s enjoy the excitement of this. This is wonderful! I knew this would happen! I knew last April when you knocked him out!”
“See?” Matt said, his arm around Ginger’s shoulders. “Good story.”
* * *
It took a while for the excitement to die down among Grace, her family and her friends. There was so much hugging and well-wishing it almost wore Grace out. But finally Troy and his playmates went back to the beach with their Frisbee, and Ginger and Matt walked back to town where they would have a couple of hours together before he had to head back to his farm in the north.
That left Winnie, Grace and Lin Su on the warm deck. Lin Su asked Winnie if she’d like a manicure. Winnie loved manicures and pedicures and Lin Su was more than happy to oblige. Lin Su knew that even if Winnie’s hands didn’t work as well as they once had, she wanted them to look good. “You should get a raise,” Winnie said.
“You should,” Grace agreed.
Lin Su laughed. “If you’re comfortable, I’m happy.” She brought a tray to the deck. Placing it between herself and Winnie, she began working on her nails.
“You’re worth a king’s ransom,” Winnie said. “I’d never have requested a nurse who could double as a manicurist. I don’t suppose you do hair and facials?”
“I’m afraid not,” she said. “I learned to do nails before I attended nursing college. I thought I’d be a beautician one day but then Charlie came along and I needed a more dependable income. Doing nails has come in really handy during those tough times when nursing jobs aren’t in good supply.”
“It can’t be easy,” Grace said. “Being a single mother with a demanding nursing career. And I know nursing is a good field, but it’s expensive raising a child.”
“There have been challenging times, but this particular job, bringing Charlie along to be entertained by all the people around here, this is like a paid vacation.” She massaged Winnie’s hands. “It’s true, there isn’t a lot left over at the end of the month but we do fine.”
“Do forgive the intrusion, but do you have a man in your life?” Winnie asked.
“Yes, ma’am. Mr. Charlie Simmons. All the man I can handle,” she added.
“May I ask...?”
“You may ask me anything at all, Winnie. I’m in your employ and I want you to be comfortable that I’m completely honest with you.”
“Charlie’s father?” she asked.
“Unfortunately, he was killed in an accident before Charlie was born. We hadn’t yet married. Charlie carries my name for that reason. I try not to make too much an issue of the fact that I hadn’t been married to his father...but of course, he knows.”
“And your family?”
“Well...” She stopped massaging for a moment. “We’re estranged. They didn’t approve of Charlie’s father. And they didn’t exactly approve of my decision to have and raise my son.”
“Damn fools,” Winnie said.
“Mama, don’t pass judgment,” Grace said. “We’ve had our issues, you can’t deny that.”
“I can’t deny it but I sure as hell lived to regret it!”
Grace grabbed her heart. “Holy shit, get the Bible. It’s got to be the end of the world!”
“Serpent’s tooth,” Winnie muttered.
Lin Su laughed at them. “Now, ladies,” she admonished, “no need to feel sorry for us, really. We’re a very good team. I’ve been so lucky—everywhere I go with Charlie people like him. Admire him. He had a lot of illnesses and look at him—smart as a whip, polite, handsome.”
“You said that a couple of times,” Grace said. “What kind of illnesses?”
“Luckily nothing we couldn’t survive. But it was terrifying at the time. Asthma, a lot of allergies, a weak immune system, winter colds that turned into bronchitis and pneumonia. When he was three he spent two weeks in the hospital, most of that on oxygen. I don’t think a camel could carry the weight of antibiotics he’s had in his lifetime. And that’s its own worry—too many antibiotics.”
Grace glanced at the boy running along the beach below the deck. “He seems awfully healthy now.”
“He’s much better, but he has to carry an inhaler and an EpiPen. He’s a little undersize—I know that frustrates him. He hates his glasses but he’s nearly blind without them. When he’s older, when contacts work or maybe even surgery... Well, I’m a nurse. I’ve seen young parents through far worse situations—cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, cancer...”
“How is the asthma?” Winnie asked.
“Well, it depends who you ask. If you ask Charlie it’s much better and he hardly ever uses his inhaler, but he still takes daily medication for it. Charlie is determined it’s going to go away and I’m determined he learns to manage it without telling himself fairy stories that it will disappear. If he eats peanuts or shrimp or gets stung by a bee—we could be rushing to the emergency room. That’s why he carries an EpiPen and so do I.”
“You’re a superwoman,” Grace said after a moment of silence. “I can’t imagine the stress of that.”
“You’re having a baby,” Lin Su said. “You’ll soon realize you have many difficult and stressful moments to deal with and deal with them you will. If there’s anything that can make a woman strong, it’s taking care of her child.”
“Amen,” Winnie said.
“Are you getting by all right now?” she asked Lin Su.
“We don’t have a surplus but where is the shame in that? We do fine. Better than ever since we’ve been taking so many meals with you!” She laughed a little, then grew more serious. “We’re doing very well, thank you for asking,” she said.
* * *
Ginger felt there was an almost magical quality to her life. She put Matt in his truck and sent him on his way home before calling her mother. Sue Dysart cried, she was that happy at the news. Or maybe she was relieved that her only daughter wasn’t going to rot on the vine, after all. Or choose another deadbeat like Mick.
It was true, Ginger had a new hope—a second chance. “I hope you never know the agony of watching your daughter suffer through such terrible heartache,” Sue said. “I don’t think there’s any pain worse than the pain of watching your own flesh and blood struggle. I was so afraid you’d be alone forever. Not because you’d never find the right man to build a life with but because you wouldn’t let yourself find him.”
“You’re going to love Matt,” Ginger said. “He’s the sweetest, most loving man I’ve ever known and he’s so unselfish. I honestly don’t know how I found him.”
“Tell me every detail,” Sue begged.
“I can only tell you the details of our courtship, which has been so romantic even if it hasn’t been very long—just three months. But three of the most lovely months I’ve ever had. From the time the lambs were born and the sheep sheared until now, the onset of the harvest, we’ve had almost every weekend together. Long weekends. And soon the chaos of the harvest begins with the gathering of extended families every moment they have to spare, helping each other bring in the crops.”
“My goodness, you sound like a farm wife already!” Sue laughed.
“I’m already starting to feel like one.”
She gave her mother all the details she knew of a big farming empire. It would be such a busy few weeks she and Matt weren’t sure there would be enough time to shop for and buy a proper ring, but he promised her she would have a beautiful one before they were wed.
Sue wanted to know what kind of wedding Ginger hoped for.
“Are you a little afraid I’m going to ask you to get me married a half dozen times?” Ginger asked.
“I expect you’re looking for entirely different things in a man this time around,” Sue said.
“I know I already apologized to you and Dad for the debacle of Mick,” she said. “I don’t know what to blame that failure of good sense on. I was young, but not that young. Not young enough to be that blind and foolish.”
“I guess love isn’t always brilliant even though it seems so at the time.”
“You have no idea how I wish I’d been smarter,” Ginger said. “I guess once you cast your lot with a partner you hang in there until it’s entirely hopeless.” And as she said that she couldn’t help but think about Matt and his brief marriage. It wasn’t dissimilar, only shorter. “Since we’ve both been married and divorced, we don’t really feel like a huge celebration. Just something meaningful and modest, something to match how we feel about moving forward, that’s all. It feels very safe and solid.”
“Just safe?” her mother asked.
“Oh, Mom, I’m not settling for Matt, please never think that. Matt is like a dream come true, a man and husband I was never wise enough to long for.”
“Just tell me you’re completely over Mick,” Sue begged in a tense whisper.
Poor Mom, Ginger thought. The whole family thought she’d lost her mind when she brought home this musician, this wannabe star. “I don’t blame you for having doubts about my ability to make a sane decision after what I put all of you through. I’d love to explain it—it was all the glitter that he promised me day after bloody day. The irony is—I don’t even like a lot of glitter! I wanted it for him. If he fulfilled all those dreams, it would mean I’d been right to believe in him. But I wasn’t,” she said. “He lived in such a crazy dream world. It took me too long to realize it was nothing but pipe dreams, nothing but smoke and mirrors. Am I over him? Mom, the shock of reality is not only permanent, it’s a little hard to live with. I wish I’d been wide-awake much sooner.”
She was not only over Mick, she was certain he was completely over her. By now he had certainly found someone to share his fantasies. “You’ll see, Matt is nothing like that. He comes from a large, hardworking family that values commitment and loyalty, fidelity and sound judgment. They’re steadfast. Genuine and completely sincere.” She laughed. “Also loud, a little crazy and noble.”
Ginger went down the list of Matt’s siblings, each one she had met and those she only knew about, all so different, from medical practitioner to public relations specialist to vintner to PhD candidate. “I think only his youngest sister married in the culture. Her husband is a Basque chef in San Francisco.”
“They’re not the easiest people to negotiate with,” Sue said. “But they’re good to their word. Maybe you’ll end up with some good Basque recipes.”
“Maybe so. But I bet not a day before we’re married,” Ginger said.
Her brother Richard had the largest home in the family and wanted to host the barbecue to officially introduce Matt to everyone. It almost rivaled a Lacoumette family gathering, it was that busy and loud. Ginger’s sisters-in-law, Beth and Melissa, provided almost all the food with Dick buying excellent meat for the grill and Sue providing dessert that she bought because she was not into cooking or baking at all. The men all knew Matt and had dealt with Matt, George and Paco when negotiating trucking contracts for their crops but they were meeting a social Lacoumette this time, not a shrewd businessman.
The conversation was reduced to jests about business associates socializing together as in-laws.
“I suppose the elder Lacoumette will begin to take into consideration that we’re now family when we write our next contract,” Dick Dysart said. “Or maybe he’ll hire an agent to do his negotiating.”
“I think you’ll be lucky if Paco doesn’t insist on driving the trucks,” Matt said. “He’s a very hands-on businessman. My advice? Look at his own truck before you even consider the idea. It’s a hundred years old.”
“We know he has plenty of money, Matt,” Richard said. “He’s getting it from us and our low prices!”
“Is that a fact? Paco said you robbed him blind!”
Ginger, who had never been a part of the trucking business, learned something. These men were happy to have come to terms that satisfied them and allowed them to call each other thieves. It was an old and time-honored system.
There were four kids, still enjoying the backyard pool, ranging in age from five to twelve. Her brothers each had a boy and a girl. The food was wonderful, the day passed with everyone in great spirits and the proposed union of Dysart and Lacoumette was heartily and genuinely approved.
It was late in the day when everyone was cleaning up and packing up to say their goodbyes that Sue took Ginger aside. She pulled her around the corner of the family room of Richard’s large house. They stood in a dimly lit hallway and Sue said, “I don’t want to do this but I won’t keep secrets from you. Mick got in touch with me. He doesn’t know where you are, which I believe is what you want. He says he’s in a crisis and needs to talk to you. It’s urgent, he says, and you’re the only person who will understand, who can help him, and he asked me to have you call him.”
“What kind of crisis?” she asked.
Sue shook her head. “I don’t know, he wouldn’t tell me another thing.”
“Is he sick?”
“He wouldn’t say. Your father is angry—he told me not to tell you anything about it. But I won’t lie. What if he just wants money?”
“Mom, I’m not going to give Mick money. I’m a slow learner but I’m not that slow.”
“Thank God,” Sue said. “Then you won’t call him?”
“Of course I’ll call him. Nothing is ever urgent with him—unless he wants to tell someone tha
t he just got a personal call from Bruce Springsteen. But you know Mick would’ve told you that. I’ll find out what he wants. I’m sure it’ll be a simple matter to tell him to go away, that I don’t care about his plans or his concerts, that I’m not giving him anything, that I’m no longer in any way attached to him.”
“Don’t call him, Ginger!” Sue said. “Don’t even tempt fate.”
“Mom, I’m not the simple idiot I was when I was with Mick. He can’t threaten me or manipulate me anymore. Maybe he wants to make amends. That would be positive. Closure would be good. But I’ll make sure he’s not dying.”
“What if he is dying?” Sue asked.
“Still,” Ginger said. “I would be sorry to hear that but we’re not together and we haven’t been for a long time.”
“Don’t, Ginger. Don’t talk to him.”
“I’m not afraid of him, Mom. I’ll call him. I’ll give him as much as ten minutes.”
Suddenly there was Matt, standing in the hallway. Looming in the hallway, bigger somehow. Broader. His face scowling. It was Mad Matt.
“No,” he said. “No.”
Sixteen
Ginger wouldn’t let Matt say any more while in her brother’s house. Once they were in his truck she turned in her seat to stare at him. He was still frowning.
“What was that about?” she asked.
“What?” he asked, but his expression was angry. He knew. Damn it, he knew!
“You tell me no? No, I can’t return a call if I choose to? Seriously?”
“To your ex-husband? The man who ripped your heart out without a second thought?” he asked. “Yes, I’m serious!”
She thought maybe he was driving a little faster, his hands gripping the wheel. “We’ll talk about this when we get back to your apartment,” she said.
It was a quick trip back to Matt’s home. It was a perfectly adequate one-bedroom apartment but there were obvious reasons why he wasn’t comfortable there. For one thing, once his wife had taken what she wanted, he hadn’t bothered to replace much. The bedroom set, a very masculine and heavy bed and dressers, he had purchased for himself after the apartment was nearly emptied of furniture. He had a TV and sectional but all the things that made a house a home were missing. There was one picture on one wall, the other walls blank but sporting the nails pictures had hung on. There was one bedroom lamp, one living room lamp, there were no accents or throws or plants or baskets of papers or magazines. There was a bookshelf filled with only the books he might care about—agriculture and science-related textbooks. They hadn’t spent much time there, hadn’t prepared any real meals there, but she’d been there long enough to notice dishes and glassware were not in great supply.