Art for Art's Sake: Meredith's Story (23 page)

“I’ve blossomed. How nice. Like a marigold. Just call me Marigold Lassiter from now on.”

“Now listen here, Marigold.” Meredith smacked her on the forearm again. “You have blossomed. If Mrs. Levine had gotten hold of you a few years earlier, who knows? We might have been in the same AP Art class together.”

Dani turned her head away. Meredith was sure she had just made Dani blush. Dani said, “Let’s talk about something else. Thanks for coming to the car wash last Saturday. We made way more than we needed for the prom.”

“Mikey and I had a great time.”

“He sure washed a lot of cars.”

“That’s because you were there.” Meredith grinned at Dani.

“Aw, cut it out. You’re going to make me blush again.”

“You’re an old softy. Just like Millie.” Meredith teased.

When Meredith mentioned Millie, they both looked at the house through the restaurant window. Most of the house was cast in shadow except for the third floor that was still bathed in the weakening sunlight of late evening. Meredith imagined the house full of life and new beginnings. She looked back at her friend and said, “I can’t wait to see the old lady with her face lift. Esther said they should get all the legal papers they need next week. They can probably start renovations right away.”

“Millie and I are going to fix the banister tomorrow. What are you and Esther going to do?”

“I think we’re going to give the place a deep clean. With no furniture we can get to all the walls and floors. We’ve only got two more weeks to get ready, but with so many people traipsing through for the open house, we’re just going to have to turn around and clean it all over again. Since Esther can’t move very well, I’ll probably be doing most of the work.”

“I hear you. Millie’s got all kinds of things planned for me, too. Seems I have an ‘aptitude for tools’ according to her.”

Meredith smiled, but then turned serious. “You know, I think it’s kind of sad that they don’t have any children. Or grandchildren, either. Like, who do they have, besides us, their adopted granddaughters, to help them?”

“Well, there’s grandnephew Gregory,” Dani said with a hint of disdain.

“Aha,” Meredith accused. “You’ve been talking to Millie. You don’t like him either, do you?”

Dani pushed her plate away. “No, I don’t. I think I have spent too much time with Millie. She doesn’t trust him big time. She told me she’s civil to him for Esther’s sake.”

“Well, he’s Esther’s family, I guess. That was weird when we thought we saw him in that real estate car. I could have sworn it was him.”

“Yeah, me, too, but Esther said he was back home.” Dani stacked Meredith’s discarded plate on top of her own and pushed both plates toward the edge of the table.

“We must have imagined—”

Meredith couldn’t finish her thought because the Fiesta Loca mariachi band strolled over to their booth. The four heavyset men were dressed in matching black suits with fancy trim, white shirts, and floppy sombreros. One of the men, the biggest, had a huge guitar that he held way up high against his large belly. Meredith wondered how he was able to reach his chubby arms around both his belly and the guitar. The smallest of the men stepped up to their table and asked, “Sweethearts?” in a teasing fashion.

Dani’s mouth dropped open, but Meredith just smiled back at him coquettishly. “Uh, no...” She placed her hand over Dani’s and said, “Just friends.”

“Ahh, jes friends,” the man said and winked at her.

The band launched into a seductive sounding song anyway. Meredith and Dani laughed even though neither of them understood the Spanish. As the band played, Meredith realized that her hand still covered Dani’s. Oddly, she didn’t let go. She didn’t want to. The intimacy of their shared meal and the familiarity of Dani’s company made Meredith want to be close to her friend. She continued to smile at the musicians as if nothing was happening on the table with their hands. She didn’t dare look at Dani, because she didn’t know what her own eyes might convey. Dani, Dani, Dani. What are you doing to me?

Chapter Fifteen

Fireworks

MEREDITH FLUNG HER book bag on the floor of her bedroom and then flopped on the bed. She couldn’t help the smile permanently etched on her face. The warm feeling that had taken over her lately had come back double fold that afternoon. She took her glasses off, put them on her bedside stand, and then laced her fingers together behind her head on the pillow. She stared at the ceiling without seeing it. Dani had announced that afternoon at their very last senior class meeting that there were nineteen days of high school left. With the end of the day-to-day routine of high school came an entire summer of vacation days she could spend with Dani. Mikey, too. During the summer, Mikey pretty much became her responsibility.

She grinned in spite of herself. This last month since she and Dani had become friends again had been amazing. Two weeks ago, the mariachi band had played that song for them. Two weeks ago Meredith’s hand covered Dani’s, and two weeks ago Meredith developed a permanent fluttery feeling in her stomach whenever Dani was around. She didn’t really understand what was happening to her, but the emotions were becoming so intense that she had trouble keeping them at bay, especially after what happened earlier in the day.

After history, Dani walked with her to art, which she had done every day since Meredith first asked her to. Meredith started to go into the art room, but turned back when she sensed Dani lingering at the door. She went back to see what Dani wanted, and she couldn’t help herself. With one short, quick motion, she reached up with the tips of her fingers and gently lifted the lock of hair out of Dani’s eyes. The movement had been so immediate that Meredith was surprised she had even done it. Meredith read the look in Dani’s eyes loud and clear. In that one moment, Meredith finally understood what she had been afraid to admit. She was in love with Dani Lassiter and had been for quite some time. Probably since Valentine’s Day when Dani gave her the candy. Valentine’s Day was the first time she had felt that all-encompassing warmth—that first hot chocolate feeling. Outside the art room, she barely remembered to breathe as her heart hammered in her chest. She wondered if the same look she saw in Dani’s eyes was reflected in her own. The shrillness of the school bell snapped them out of the moment.

Meredith leaned back deeper into her pillow. She sighed and looked at the framed portraits of Esther and Millie. Meredith and her mother had gone shopping earlier in the week for solid wooden frames. She would hang the portraits in the morning before people arrived for the Randall-Bradley open house. Dani and Millie had already installed the sturdy hooks. Mayor Taylor Brown, Whickett’s longstanding mayor, was going to unveil the portraits during his dedication speech. Mr. Dalton had been right. Serendipity had brought the four of them together, she was sure. Meredith laughed when she thought that not only did fate bring new granddaughters to the two older women, but fate had brought Dani to her, too.
I like you so much, Dani. I think I even kind of love you, but am I like you?

A soft knock on her bedroom door broke her out of her thoughts.

“Honey, may I come in?”

“Of course, Mom. I’m doing absolutely nothing for a change.”

Her mother opened the door and stepped into the room. She looked at the portraits on the desk and said, “You do such beautiful work, and those frames are perfect. I can’t wait to meet Esther and Millie tomorrow.”

“I’m so glad you guys are coming.” Meredith sat up on the bed.

“We wouldn’t miss it. After Dad and I take Mikey to his karate—”

“Taekwondo, Mom.”

Meredith’s mother laughed. “Okay. After we take Mikey to his taekwondo demonstration, we’ll stop by the house. We can’t wait to see what all the fuss has been about. I’m sure Esther and Millie are wonderful.”

“They are. They even gave me and Dani a key to the house. Millie didn’t want to leave a key under the flower pot anymore.”

“Because of the vandals?”

“Yeah, she said she didn’t want to scare Esther, but she told us she was glad they had moved out when they did.”

“You and Dani just be careful, okay?”

“We will.”

“So, can we bring anything tomorrow?”

“No, Esther and I went shopping and got lemonade and all kinds of cookies. They rented a couple of tables and lots of chairs for inside the house, so we’ll be okay. Mayor Brown is dedicating the house at one o’clock so just be there by then, okay?”

“We’ll be there. Oh, and next week I made an appointment for you to get those contacts you wanted.”

“You did?” Meredith jumped up and hugged her mother. “Thanks, Mom. I think I’m ready to lose those stupid things.” She gestured at the black-rimmed glasses on the bedside table.

Meredith sat back down on her bed, and her mother joined her. “So, once again I’m sitting here thinking that my baby is almost a high-school graduate.”

“Oh, Mom, don’t get all misty on me. And, besides, I’m not your baby. Mikey is.”

“I know. You’ve looked so happy lately, and I’ve been so happy for you. You and Dani patched things up, I presume?”

Meredith marveled at her mother’s sixth-sense. “Yeah, we had a falling out, and it was my fault. All of it. I was pig-headed and stupid.”

“You?” Her mother sounded as if she couldn’t believe her daughter could be pig-headed.

Meredith frowned. “Yeah, me. Well, I’m going to tell you this, Mom, but it’s in confidence, okay?”

“Oh? Okay.”

Meredith took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure why she was about to tell her mother what she was about to tell her, but her instincts told her that she should. “Dani’s gay. And, I reacted badly. I’m really ashamed of myself, actually. I didn’t talk to her for like eleven whole days.”

“Over spring break?”

Meredith nodded her head in shame.

“I thought something had happened. But Meredith, she’s still the same person she always was.”

“Believe me. I’ve been through all that in my head. snapped out of it finally. I don’t know why I wigged out. But we’re okay now. Except...”

“Except what?”

Meredith pulled the pillow out from behind her and hugged it. She looked down at the pillow because she couldn’t look her mother in the eye. Things were finally making sense in her head. She had sort of known for a while now, but as she talked to her mother everything kind of clicked into place. Although she had barely said the words to herself, she decided to take a chance and actually say them out loud. “I think I might be that way, too.”

Meredith didn’t look up. The sound of the ticking clock in the hallway just outside her room maddeningly filled the growing silence.

Meredith almost jumped when her mother finally spoke. “Oh, Meredith. Maybe you just have a crush. Girls get crushes on other girls. You admire her, we all do, but maybe it’s just because you’ve had such a hard time adjusting to life here in the city. It’ll pass.”

“Maybe.” She blinked back the tears welling in her eyes. “But, Mom?”

“Hmm?”

“What if...what if it doesn’t pass, and what if I’m that way, too?”

“Well...” Her mother was silent for a while, but finally said, “Well, it’s not what your father and I would have wanted for you, but we’ll love you no matter what. Dani is very charming. Your father just loves her. She’s the brother he always wanted for Mikey.” They both laughed. “Mikey just lights up when he sees her. She’s so good with him. I have to admit, I like her, too. More importantly, I like the way you light up when you’re around her. How can you fight that?”

Meredith covered a smile with her hand, but kept her head down.

“So, honey, if you are that way we’ll simply adjust. You know we love you, and we’ll accept you anyway you are. The Bedfords are good at adjusting.”

Meredith, overcome with emotion, threw her arms around her mother. The tears she had been trying to hold back let loose. After a minute, she let go of her mother and sat back against the headboard. The pillow had fallen to one side, but she didn’t reach for it again. Instead, she reached for a tissue from her bedside stand and chuckled when her mother reached for one, too.

“Mom, even if I’m not that way, I still kind of love her.”

Her mom smiled. “I understand, honey. I think your father and brother feel the same way.”

There was no possible way her father or her brother felt the same way she did about Dani. To be away from Dani hurt. Meredith smiled at her mother and said, “I hadn’t even planned on saying anything to you about all of this, but you just sensed it, I guess.”

Her mother stood up and turned to go. “It’s that motherly thing, I suppose. Well, when you get yourself together, come down and help me get supper, okay?”

Meredith couldn’t help but notice her mother’s worried brow. “Okay, I’ll be right down. I just need a minute.”
I think I’m going to need more than a minute because I think I just told my mother I was gay.

Meredith felt a little dizzy, so she put the pillow behind her head, closed her eyes, and wondered what she was going to do about Dani.

WHEN THE WHICKETT Days crowd finally dissipated, Esther, Millie, Dani, and Meredith had the old house to themselves again. Meredith and Dani moved two of the rented chairs out to the front porch of the old Victorian house.

Meredith patted one of the chairs and said, “Here, Esther, have a seat. I think the fireworks will go off any minute now. Which way’s Whickett Park?”

Millie sat in the other chair. She pointed across Center Street in a northerly direction and said, “I think it’s over that way. They’re shooting them from Whickett Park?”

“Yeah, that’s what my dad said.” Meredith leaned on the back of Esther’s chair. “I’m so tired. What a day.”

Esther turned in her chair. “Well, we couldn’t have done this whole open house thing without you girls. Right, Millie?”

“Nope.”

“You girls are the best granddaughters we could have adopted. Right, Millie?”

“Yup. Now, why don’t you kids go upstairs to the balcony and watch the fireworks from up there. Me and my girl need some alone time.”