Chapter 19
“Thank you, Geraldine, for all your help.” Cassie smiled her thanks.
“I’ll have to get that vine leaf stuffing recipe from you. I’ll bet it would work well in a puff pastry shell with crumbled feta on top.”
“I’ll write it out and email it to you.”
Geraldine waved a hand at the trays of canapés. “These are very pretty.”
Cassie gushed. “Well, this is a very well equipped kitchen. I haven’t access to good tools since I left Toronto.”
Frank came into the kitchen and reached for a shrimp canapé. Geraldine looked his hand away from the tray and he sighed. “Mrs. Ellis, may I have a sample?”
Cassie pointed at a plate on the other end of the counter. “Those are the extras.” She untied her apron and hung it on a hook near the fridge. Smoothing her skirts nervously she asked, “Any word from our guests?”
“That’s why I’m here. Robert and Melissa are putting their bags in their room and I think I just saw Dale and Supriya pull up. Gray is playing soccer with George on the back lawn and Bonnie and the girls are playing Carcassonne in the sun porch with Aunt Paula. Mother phoned when they reached Truro. They should be here in about twenty minutes.”
Cassie took a deep breath for courage and said, “I’m almost ready. Geraldine, do you need anything more from me?”
“I don’t think so. It looks like everything will be ready to serve on time for seven.”
“It’s a cream soup…”
Geraldine interrupted with a gentle smile. “I know. I’ll make sure to heat it gently and stir it frequently.”
Cassie drew another deep breath and squared her shoulders. “Sorry. It’s just that I’m a bit nervous.”
Frank took her hand. “We can tell. It will be fine.”
Cassie looked at the clock. “It’s almost five. Can you please bring the appetizers to the parlour in half an hour?”
Geraldine came over to push Cassie towards Frank. “I can do that. Go play hostess.” She looked at Frank. “I’m so glad you found her, Frank. She’s a keeper.”
“That’s what I keep trying to tell her, Geraldine.” He took Cassie’s hand and dragged her away from the kitchen.
———
Supriya took the armchair next to Cassie and poured herself a cup of tea. “Thank you, Cassie. That was a lovely meal.”
Cassie gave a pleased smile and said, “You’re welcome.”
Frank volunteered. “She did all of the cooking, you know. Geraldine didn’t even hover after the first hour and she even let Cassie use the tools from her pantry.”
Robert said, in some surprise, “Geraldine let you into her pantry?”
Cassie elbowed Frank. “But she kicked Frank out of the kitchen after five minutes.”
Frank held up his right index finger. “Because my cooking skill is all about pushing the right buttons on the microwave. Or the telephone. Geraldine says there are too many sharp things in a kitchen. She’s afraid I’ll hurt myself.”
“It’s a wonderful kitchen. I’ve had a lot of fun this week.”
Gray said, “She made a beef and lamb meat loaf for supper yesterday that was to die for. And the roasted potatoes were magnificent.”
Cassie shrugged. “I’ve done a lot of cooking in the last few years. Granny’s friends all lived too far from their grand-kids and needed to teach somebody their favourite recipes.”
Dale said, “And you wanted to learn?”
Cassie smiled. “Absolutely. It started when Mrs. Bountoulous brought us a lamb and potato casserole as a thank you to Granny for driving her mother to a medical appointment and I asked her how to make it because it was so tasty. I think I was ten. She said that it was past time I learned how to cook and we started after school the next day. Then I started to do errands for the other widows in the building and they taught me their special recipes, like the shrimp mousse canapés that Dale polished off. Most of the widows were immigrants so they all thought I was old enough to be useful unlike some of my classmates’ parents.”
Supriya grinned. “I know what you mean. Grandmother Kumar was scandalized when I reached high school without the ability to make a proper curry for biryani or dosas from scratch. The year I turned seventeen, she insisted I spend the summer in her village near Hyderabad with her but was very upset that none of the young men she introduced me to wanted to marry me. I wasn’t accomplished enough, you see. She would have dozens of men interested in you, though.”
Cassie asked, “At seventeen?”
Supriya shrugged. “It is changing but more than half of my female cousins in rural India were married by eighteen. But the support system and expectations are different there and the matchmakers are pretty good about making sure that the couple is compatible.” She beamed at Dale. “My aunt the matchmaker thought that Dale was an excellent match for me. I was very grateful for her blessing and support because I was marrying outside my caste.”
Frank said, “If marriages like ours are considered normal over there maybe we should move to India.”
Cassie raised an eyebrow at Frank and asked, “Do you own a sunscreen factory?”
Bonnie laughed and said, “I wish I could raise one eyebrow like that.”
Gray said, “You already have enough ways to express your opinions, my dear.”
Dorothy came into the parlour and said, “Sophie insisted on a second story tonight.”
Bonnie said, “Thank you for putting her to bed, Mother.”
Dorothy beamed. “Thank you for letting me. I enjoy doing it.” She looked over at a surly Grant nursing a brandy on the other side of the large parlour. “Unfortunately, we have a breakfast commitment tomorrow morning, so we have to return home tonight.”
Frank rose and said, “Let me walk you to the door.” He made a high sign to Cassie as Grant phoned the carriage house to call for the car.
As they were walking to the front door, Dorothy said, “Thank you for an exquisite supper, Cassandra. You did very well. And it will get easier to manage as you get more experience.”
“Thank you for sending Geraldine up early.”
“Oh, I didn’t send her. She volunteered to come. But she has a soft spot for Francis and it is his birthday, after all.” Dorothy smiled.
Cassie felt a sense of pleasure at Geraldine’s unasked support. “I’ll have to thank her, then, before she leaves tomorrow.”
As Frank walked to the end of the sidewalk to hand his mother into the waiting car, Grant hung back then turned to Cassie and said, “Have you thought about my offer?”
Cassie felt a rush of outrage. “You mean the offer to use my husband’s money to sue him for more of it? Isn’t that like one of those hostile takeover scenarios you orchestrate all the time?”
Grant opened his mouth to reply and Cassie interrupted. “You are not a partner in my marriage, Grant Ellis, and I doubt there is anything you can say, or do, that would ever change that. Don’t expect any invitations from me in the future unless you change your attitude.”
Grant’s eyes narrowed and said, “You’re using my cottage right now. I’d like you gone in an hour.”
Cassie said, “It’s actually your wife’s property, if I recall correctly. Would you mind if I asked her to confirm I’m not welcome?” She gave him a falsely sweet smile.
Grant’s eyes narrowed and he said, in a very low menacing tone, “Bitch.” He started to say more but Frank reappeared. At the look of barely contained anger on Cassie’s face, he said, “Is everything all right?”
Cassie nodded and said, as calmly as she could, “I was just thanking your father for coming.”
Grant drew a deep breath to argue but regained control in time. “See you both at Thanksgiving. If you make it that far.”
Cassie was vibrating with adrenaline as Grant stalked around the car and climbed in. Frank took her hand and, sensing the tension in her arm, said, as much to himself as Cassie, “Just smile and wave, Cassie. He’s not worth losing your temper over.”
> They waved as the limousine drove away and turned back to the front door. As they ascended the porch steps, they heard someone whoop with laughter.
A laughing Robert and a beaming Bonnie emerged from the shadows and began to applaud. Robert was wiping tears from his eyes as he said, “Hostile takeover? That was priceless, Cassie, just priceless.” Then with a warm expression she hadn’t yet seen from him he came forward and gave her a fond peck on the cheek. “Welcome to the family.” Then he clapped Frank on the shoulder and said, “I was worried that you’d made a bad choice baby brother, but she just proved me wrong.”
Bonnie was grinning. “I hope Mother heard that.”
Frank gathered Cassie closer and said, “I’m not sure. We were busy talking at the car, but you know Mother, she always hears more than I do. But on the way to the door she did tell Cassie she’d done well as hostess and that the dinner was exquisite.”
Bonnie’s eyes widened. “Oh. That’s very high praise from her.”
Cassie said, “She also said it would get easier with practice.”
Robert said, “Then Mother’s decided she likes you. You’ll probably get an email asking for a recipe or two. And maybe a follow up invitation to one of her art shows or theatre company fundraisers.”
Bonnie nodded agreement as the group moved to rejoin everyone. Dale looked up and asked, “What was the applause for?”
Robert said, with a negligent wave of his hand, “Dad apparently tried to buy off Cassie with Frank’s money, like he tried with Melissa. Cassie told him that he wasn’t a partner in her marriage and that he wasn’t to expect any invitations from her until he changed his attitude. She compared his offer to a hostile takeover.” His tone turned professorial. “It would have been more accurate to call it a leveraged buyout but it made a wicked good line.” He chuckled and shook his head as he returned to his puzzled wife. “Hostile takeover.”
———
That evening, as they were getting ready for bed, Frank took Cassie’s hands and said, “Congratulations, dear heart. That was one of the best family gatherings ever.”
“Really?”
“Really. Father was merely surly, Mother got to spend some quality time with Sophie, Aunt Paula decided to join us for a change because she likes you and Jan, and Bonnie and Gray looked relaxed. Dale thought your investment questions showed that you knew enough to understand his answers. I haven’t heard Rob laugh like that in a few years and Supriya is the first person I’ve met since Gene who didn’t give me the ‘are you out of your cotton pickin’ mind?’ look.”
“Like Robert and Melissa did at first?”
“Exactly. This is Melissa’s first summer trip out here because she’s been doing field research downstream from the oil sands projects the last two years. Last time we had this much family here was two years after Grandfather died when Aunt Karen and her three all showed up for a weekend with their spouses. The first afternoon we went through, let me see…” Frank counted silently on his fingers. “…seven bottles of wine with the meal, two bottles of sherry before and almost a full bottle of Scotch after before I excused myself. I had one glass of wine and a cup of tea and decided to hang out with Jan and George and play Scrabble Junior with them instead of joining the family drinking and recrimination party. Mother put Sophie to bed for her nap and joined us for the second game. It wasn’t a lot of fun.”
“Your father spent most of the evening glaring at somebody. Mostly me, I think.”
“He cares too much for the Ellis legacy.” Frank sat on the bed watching Cassie brush out her hair, wishing he could do more than admire from a distance. “He has firm opinions about what sort of spouse is suitable. Family connections are more important to him than compatibility. He’s very lucky that Mother still loves him enough to put up with his nonsense.”
Cassie began to braid her hair while she waited for Frank to finish.
“At least Lita wasn’t here with her man of the week. So far I haven’t minded Father scaring them off, at least the ones who’ve looked like they wanted more than just a good time. But Lita’s pretty good at taking care of her own interests. And Mother mentioned tonight that she’s landed a full-time gig as a fashion reporter with one of the syndicated shows out of England. So she’ll be a bit more relaxed next time I see her, I hope.” Frank watched as Cassie stood and stretched before she let out a big yawn. He closed his eyes to remind his hormones that he’d promised to wait.
“They seemed to like my cooking.”
“Supriya was amused that Dale ate all of the rest of your shrimp mousse appetizers for dessert.”
“I promised to make another batch tomorrow so I could teach her how to make them. They aren’t that hard if you have the right equipment. Mind you they have a nicer texture with fresh shrimp than with canned.” Cassie sauntered to her side of the bed and climbed under the covers.
Frank lay down and faced Cassie with his head propped up on his hand. He reached over to move some stray hair off Cassie’s face. “Geraldine approves of you, by the way. And Mother’s compliments as they said goodbye were genuine. Except for Dad, you seem to have charmed everyone.”
Cassie sighed. “That wasn’t my plan, really. I was just trying to get through the day without either losing it or running and hiding. I’m not going along to get along anymore.”
Frank looked puzzled so Cassie continued. “I thought that putting my head down and ignoring Gord and his creepy friends would protect me. So I did what they told me to do without complaining, well, except when they touched me, which was far too often. They used to think it was funny when I fought back so I started to stand there and take it.” Her face got distant as if she was suppressing an unpleasant memory. “But that didn’t work either, so I promised myself that I would stand up for myself and not rely on other people.”
“Then why did you agree to marry me?”
Cassie rolled over to look into Frank’s concerned face. “Because I was desperate enough to take the chance that you were as honourable as you seemed.”
“And your verdict?”
Cassie looked away and said, “I’m still not convinced that I can trust anyone, Frank. But I am trying. It isn’t easy for me to trust people, especially men, after the year I just lived through. And the doctors and nurses thought I was too young to handle the truth about Granny, so I got a lot of comforting lies for a lot of years.” She looked into his eyes and said, “You’re different, though. And so are Kiera and Meghan and Henry and Anne. None of you treat me like a kid.” Then she yawned and said, “It’s been a busy day. I’ll have to think about all of this later.”
Frank smiled as he felt a sense of the growing trust that Cassie had for him. He said, “I’m going to kiss you good night, my dear.”
He saw her stiffen then consciously relax. “Okay,” she said in a tentative voice.
He leaned across and gave her a gentle kiss that he hoped conveyed love and affection and an appreciation for her beauty along with his banked desire. She broke off the kiss too soon for his liking but she moved closer to snuggle into his arms for a comforting hug. “Thank you.”
Frank murmured, “For what?”
“For waiting.” For loving me, she thought. “I’m sorry I can’t relax and really be your wife.”
“I won’t say it’s not a problem, sweetheart, but I think you are well worth waiting for, so I’ll wait.”
She relaxed then twisted around so her back was nestled against his front and pulled her pillow over so she could fall asleep in his arms.
Frank debated with himself about where his arm should go. Cassie sensed his confusion and ended the debate by pulling his arm around her waist and holding his hand there before giving a deep sigh of contentment. “By the way, Frank. You don’t need to book separate bedrooms for the honeymoon, but it will probably be only cuddles.”
“I can wait for more.” A bemused Frank nuzzled her hair then arranged his other arm as best he could and eventually fell asleep.
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