Hollyhock Ridge (20 page)

Matt and Diedre’s daughter, Tina, was seated at the kitchen
table, cutting vegetables for a salad. She greeted Kay, albeit a bit frostily.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Kay said.

“My husband stayed home with the kids,” Tina said, as if Kay
had asked. “I don’t think children should go to funerals; they didn’t know my
mom very well and I was afraid it would freak them out.”

“Of course,” Kay said. “I understand.”

“It’s a part of life,” Antonia said with a shrug. “I always took
my children, even the babies; it’s a sign of respect.”

Tina closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. Kay could tell
she was fighting the urge to respond. When she opened her eyes, Kay smiled at
her kindly, but she looked away as if unwilling to accept anyone’s support.

Kay then turned to address a young woman whom she didn’t
know. She was standing at the sink, peeling potatoes with a paring knife, and
cutting off more potato than skin.

“Hello,” Kay said. “I’m Kay Templeton; I don’t believe we’ve
met.”

The girl wiped her hands on a dish towel and shook Kay’s;
she had a strong, firm handshake.

“I’m Kimberly,” she said.

“I’m so sorry,” Antonia said. “I should have introduced you
two. Kimberly is Anthony’s girlfriend.”

Kay hoped her shock didn’t show on her face.

Julie, standing behind Kimberly and Antonia, pretended to
stick her finger down her throat.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Kay said. “I’m sorry it’s in such
sad circumstances.”

“You’re the one running for mayor, right?” Kimberly said.

“Yes,” Kay said. “The election is this fall.”

“I’m sorry I can’t vote for you,” Kimberly said.

Her tone was sweetly regretful but the look in her eyes was
not. Kay thought she must be one of Marigold’s supporters.

“You’re free to vote for whomever you choose,” Kay said.
“That’s the beauty of our democratic system.”

“I’m not voting for Marigold, either,” Kimberly said. “I
don’t think a woman should take a job a man is supposed to do.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Julie said. “What year is
it again? 1955? ’56?”

“Miss Julie,” Antonia said. “Those are Kimberly’s beliefs
and you will respect them in my house.”

Kay was used to responding to any outrageous thing anyone
said with grace and equanimity. She just pushed her real feelings down and put
on a pleasant face.

“I admire the courage you have in your convictions,” Kay
said. “Julie, I think this one needs a diaper change; I’ll be glad to help
out.”

Julie led Kay into the front hallway and then upstairs to a
bedroom, where the diaper bag was stowed.

“Can you believe that Kimberly?” Julie whispered. “Everyone
in the family knows Anthony is gay, but they’re letting him ruin his life, not
to mention that stupid girl’s life, as if everything’s just fine and dandy.”

“It’s sad,” Kay said. “Poor Anthony.”

“I want Pauly to do something about it, but those boys …
that mother …”

“I know,” Kay said.

“I hear Sonny’s been calling on you all hours of the day,” Julie
said with a sly grin. “He’s my favorite, you know. Matt seems like the jolly,
nice one, but that’s an act he puts on down at the IGA. He’s really a miserable
prick.”

“Julie!”

“I’m sorry, but I call ’em like I see ’em,” Julie said. “I
know he was your high school sweetheart, but he’s had his head up his own ass
for years. He’s still mad at me for being on Sonny’s side when he got divorced.
And that Diedre, God rest her soul. They couldn’t go on vacation on account of
her agoraphobia; they couldn’t have people over on account of the hoarding; she
wouldn’t even go to her own daughter’s wedding on account of it wasn’t in a
Catholic church. She held them hostage for all those years, and now we’re
supposed to be sorry for their loss? I’m glad about it. It’s just a shame all
that time got wasted.”

“Even if they didn’t get along while she was alive, they
will still grieve her loss,” Kay said.

“Well, just so you know, I’m all for you and Sonny getting
together. Besides my Pauly, he’s the best one of the bunch. Karla made an ass
out of herself and there will be no going back.”

“She definitely wants to.”

“Sure she does,” Julie said. “She’s all the time calling me,
asking me how Sonny’s doing. Left him for some no-good bum who goes around
breaking up marriages like it’s his hobby or something. She’s burned that
bridge, though; don’t you worry about that. Their girls are on Team Sonny, and
they’ll be happy as long as he’s happy.”

“Where are they today?”

“They weren’t that fond of Diedre, as you can imagine,” she
said. “Definitely not fond enough to purchase plane tickets at the last minute,
for a thousand dollars a pop.”

“Sonny adores his girls.”

“They’re sweet, like him,” she said. “Their mother broke
their hearts, but does she care? She calls them selfish for not being happy for
her. Can you imagine? She’s the type of mother who wanted to be a friend to her
kids instead of a parent. She wore their clothes and flirted with their
boyfriends; it was embarrassing.”

The diaper had been changed, and now they were sitting on
the bed, talking. Giada fussed, and Julie started to unbutton her blouse.

“Do you mind?” she asked Kay.

“Do you want me to leave?” Kay asked her.

“Hell no,” Julie said. “I don’t care. Antonia doesn’t like
me to do this downstairs; she thinks it might upset someone to see me feed my
child in such a natural manner.”

The baby latched on and sucked hungrily, while looking up
dreamy-eyed at her mother.

“How is Sal?” Kay asked. “He doesn’t look good.”

“He could go any minute,” Julie said. “It’s going to
devastate this family, but look at him; it will be a blessing he won’t suffer
anymore.”

“He adores Antonia,” Kay said.

“You mark my word; she’ll go back to Italy.”

“No,” Kay said. “With all her boys here?”

“There’s a man,” Julie said. “A childhood sweetheart,
recently widowed. They’ve been emailing. She was sixteen when she married Sal,
and he was twenty years older. There’s a lot of life left in that woman and I
doubt she wastes a minute of it.”

“Oh my goodness,” Kay said. “Who’d have thought?”

“It might be the best thing for the boys,” Julie said,
“speaking of hostages.”

Antonia called up the stairs that dinner was ready. She
sounded irritated. Kay felt guilty, as if she had been caught doing exactly
what she was doing, which was gossiping about Antonia and her family.

“You go on,” Julie said. “I’ll put her down for a nap and
then join you.”

“Thank you, Julie,” Kay said. “I’ll keep everything you said
in confidence.”

“No worries,” Julie said. “Everybody downstairs knows
exactly how I feel; I don’t bottle it up.”

Kay reflected that was probably why Julie didn’t weigh fifty
pounds more than she should, didn’t smoke, drink to excess, or gamble away the
family grocery money.

Dinner began with grace, during which Kay found herself
holding hands with both Sonny and Matthew. In a wheezing whisper, Sal thanked
the Lord for everyone, became tearful, and by the end of his prayer, there
wasn’t a dry eye at the table.

The food was delicious looking, and there was plenty of it, but
Kay only took a dab of everything.

“That’s a pitiful helping,” Sonny said, as she put a few
gnocchi on her plate.

“Kay’s probably on a diet,” Matt said. “We could all stand
to lose a few pounds.”

Kay felt her face grow warm. She felt as if everyone was
looking at her, judging her.

“But not today,” Sal said. “Today we enjoy life, for
tomorrow we may be gone.”

He winked at Kay, and she smiled back at him.

“This is just my first go round,” she said. “I’m pacing
myself so I have room for dessert.”

It was then she realized, ‘Oh my Lord, I forgot to bring the
dessert.’

“I’m going to check on Julie real quick,” Kay said. “See if
she needs anything.”

“That’s kind of you,” Antonia said. “I hadn’t noticed she
was missing.”

“The peace and quiet should have been your first clue,” Matt
said. “Let’s enjoy it while it lasts.”

“My wife does not suffer fools gladly,” Pauly said, “so
unless you’re some kind of fool, brother dear, you’ve got nothing to worry
about.”

Kay went to the upstairs bathroom and used her cell phone to
call Fitzpatrick’s Bakery. She was so relieved when Melissa answered, and said
she’d bring something right away.

Kay looked in on Julie and Giada, and saw that they had
fallen asleep together. Julie’s shirt was still open, and Giada was nestled up
against her breast, her little mouth making nursing motions in her sleep, even
though she was no longer nursing. Kay took a woolen throw off a nearby chair
and draped it over them.

‘I missed out on this,’ she thought.

Kay had provided a safe, loving refuge for multiple foster
children over the years. Soon Grace would be her daughter, and she looked
forward to living vicariously through her, and any eventual grandchildren she
might produce. No, it was fine that this was no longer an option. She had made
her choices, and if she made up her mind to, she could live quite happily with
the consequences.

Back downstairs she could tell there had been an argument;
the air was thick with tension.

“You missed the good news,” Kimberly sang out, oblivious to
the atmosphere. “Anthony and I are engaged!”

She held out her hand, which now sported a modest diamond
ring. Kay glanced around the table and absorbed the many emotions she saw
reflected in the family’s faces. Antonia was irritated, Sonny and Matthew
seemed angry, Pauly looked like he might cry, and Sal looked worn out.

“Congratulations,” Kay said. “Have you set a date?”

“No hurry,” Sonny said. “There’s nothing wrong with long
engagements.”

“It’s up to them,” Matt said. “We should stay out of it.”

Pauly’s tears spilled over and he left the table. Kay could
hear him bound up the steps to where his wife and baby slept.

“You must excuse us, Kay,” Antonia said. “We’re such an
emotional family.”

To Anthony, Antonia said, “You could have waited a few days,
out of respect for your brother and his daughter.”

Anthony’s face was blotchy with shame, and he hung his head.

“I don’t mind,” Tina said. “I’m glad somebody’s happy.”

“We thought it might cheer everyone up,” Kimberly said,
still determined to get the elated reaction she had anticipated. “We thought
you’d be glad to have something to look forward to, didn’t we, honey?”

Anthony looked the most miserable of anyone. He looked up
and caught Kay’s eye. She thought, ‘Oh, Anthony, don’t do this,’ and it must
have shown on her face, because he quickly looked away.

The doorbell rang and Kay jumped up, offering to answer it.

“How bad our company must be that she keeps finding reasons
to leave it,” Antonia said as she left the room.

Melissa was at the door with a coconut-covered chocolate
cake in a bakery box.

“It’s Sonny’s favorite,” Melissa said with a wink. “You can
pay for it tomorrow.”

Kay wanted nothing more than to take the cake home and eat
the whole thing. Instead, she took it to the kitchen and looked for a cake
plate to put it on. Antonia came in and looked at the box.

“I thought you were going to make one of your homemade
specialties,” she said, as she removed a cake plate from a high shelf in one of
her cupboards. “Sonny says you’re quite the cook.”

“There was no time today,” Kay said. “I promise I’ll bring
something homemade next time.”

“I’m happy to hear you say there will be a next time,”
Antonia said with a mischievous smile. “I’d like to see my boys all settled
before …”

Kay thought she was about to say, ‘before I leave,’ and gave
Antonia a sharp, questioning look.

“Before their father passes away,” Antonia said. “He would
like to see them settled and happy. He doesn’t care which one you end up with, so
long as it’s one of them.”

“Mrs. Delvecchio,” Kay started.

“I know, I know,” Antonia replied, waving her hands in the
air. “It’s none of my business, I’m only their mother. But between you and me,
you should take Sonny. He’s not much to look at, but neither was his father,
and I couldn’t have asked for a better husband, a better life. Sonny will dote
on you, and Matthew, well, I love him, he’s a good boy, but he wants all the
doting to himself, you see? He was such a clingy child; always needed the most attention
and it was never enough. But my Sonny? He’s the oldest, so he never got much,
and he’s grateful for anything he gets.”

“I see,” Kay said. “Thank you for being so welcoming.”

“A mayor in the family, just imagine,” Antonia said. “I can
bring you all my parking tickets.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Kay said, “I heard you were
the only witness to what went on at Knox’s yesterday.”

“I do my housework and then I sit on the porch with Sal. He
sleeps and I read. I can see everything that happens at Knox’s house; not that
I’m a nosy neighbor, but when I hear yelling, I want to know who’s doing the
yelling.”

“You heard yelling?”

“The other mayor woman, what’s her name?”

“Marigold?”

“I saw her, wearing one of those horrible outfits she wears;
that woman has no sense of style; she doesn’t know how to dress for her figure.”

Antonia paused, as if realizing she was insulting one heavy
woman in front of another, and Kay prompted her to continue, saying, “She was
at Knox’s house?”

“She came, she yelled, she left, boom, boom, boom; it
happened quickly.”

“I wonder what that was about,” Kay said.

Antonia shrugged.

“Did you see anyone else?”

“I saw the little gray wife, the number two wife,” she said.

“Meredith?”