The Ladies' Room (26 page)

"What? A live tree? I love it. Always wanted one, but my
mother said they weren't the `in' thing, and your grandmother
Williams would have gone into cardiac arrest if we'd brought
a live tree in after all the money she'd spent on that interior
designer."

.,Not the tree. I think it's great. It smells like the stuff you
spray out of a can during the holidays, only not as strong. About
me living here and having a baby without a husband"

"Truth is, if you were the first woman to have a child without a husband, we could sacrifice you to the gods of the perfect,
but since you aren't and most likely won't be the last, then I
suppose we'll keep you and the baby both"

Billy Lee fairly beamed.

"What about you?" I asked him.

"Neighborhood needs a child in it," he said.

Crystal picked up another ornament and studied the tree. "I
wasn't expecting you to understand, Momma. I figured you'd
give me a lecture and tell me what it'd cost me to stay here"

"I'm a changed woman. Speaking of which, you are going
to be a mother, my child. You're going to need to figure out
what you're going to do. Mothering is a big, big responsibility.
How do you plan on caring for this baby?" I hitched up my
sweats again. I was going to have to break down and buy some
smaller clothing.

Billy Lee kept putting one ornament on after another. "What
is your passion, Crystal?"

She eyed him carefully. "Passion? What are you talking
about?"

Passion to a kid had a different connotation than to us fortyyear-old dinosaurs. It had to do with steamed-up car windows in a parking place. She wasn't sure what he was talking about,
and it showed in her face.

"As in, what makes you the happiest? You said you hate college. What makes peace in your heart? That's your passion."
"

"Digging in the dirt and making things grow," she said, and
she put a red bell-shaped ornament on a bottom limb.

I jerked my head around to stare at the child I'd birthed
twenty years ago. She wouldn't pick up fall leaves without
gloves.

.11 loved going to the garden with Grandpa Matthews. He
used to let me plant all the marigolds around the perimeter of
the garden, and I took some classes in horticulture in college.
Daddy would have died if he knew I'd blown off pre-law and
accounting and taken classes in plants. But that's the thing I
liked. They're the only classes that kept my grades up high
enough to even let me stay on probation. Someday I'd like to
have a greenhouse and produce plants to sell to flower shops."

"You wouldn't rather own a flower shop?" he asked.

"Nope. For now I'll just get a job doing whatever I can, but
my ultimate dream is to own a greenhouse. I'll have to save a
long time for it, because even after I have one, it will be a year
or more before it would support me and the baby."

This was my child, talking like an adult. Not once had she
mentioned having her nails done or asked when we'd shop for
a wardrobe.

"Sounds like a good idea to me. Job like that, you wouldn't
have to take your child to a sitter. Never did like the idea of a
baby being left with strangers," Billy Lee said.

"Me, neither. I don't know what I would have done if Momma
hadn't stayed home with me. I didn't turn out too good even
with that, did I?"

"I'd say you did all right. We're all entitled to a mistake or
two in our lives." Billy Lee put several more ornaments on the
highest limbs. "Gert would have liked the tree this year. I believe we're ready for icicles."

Crystal actually smiled when he handed her a fistful of
long, silver-foil icicles. "Aunt Gert would have strung me up
from the tree outside."

"I don't think so," Billy Lee said. "We aren't too judgmental here on Broadway Street."

He handed me the angel for the top of the tree and held the
chair steady while I stepped up onto it and set her in her place.

"That's beautiful," Crystal said.

Billy Lee nodded. "I'm going home. I'll be around tomorrow
morning to help start the holiday cooking. Seven all right?"

I didn't want him to leave, but I couldn't think of an excuse
to keep him other than I didn't really want to be alone with
Crystal. I needed his support.

Crystal's eyes bugged out. "Seven?"

"Seven in the morning, young lady, and you will be up with
us. Whoever lives in this place works in this place," I said.

"Yes, ma'am," she said.

"You didn't think you were going to sleep until noon on
Christmas Eve, did you? We've got pumpkins to clean and
boil and a turkey to pluck," I teased.

"For real?"

"No, the turkey and ham are from the store, but don't say
that too loudly. Gert will rise up out of her grave and haunt
us," I whispered, and I waved good-night to Billy Lee.

"I'm dreaming."

"No, Crystal, you aren't. We'll get through this together. It
won't be easy, and you'll face a lot of flak, but you'll live, and
that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Now let's go to
bed. I've got the most amazing Jacuzzi up there, and you're
going to love it."

She looked around the room. "The old place is looking great.
When are you buying furniture?"

"I'm not in a hurry about anything. But your room is furnished, so you won't have to sleep on the floor." I pulled the
plug on the tree lights and flipped the wall switch. A nightlight guided us up the stairs.

"Oh, my," she whispered when she saw the bedroom furniture.

"Pretty, isn't it? Billy Lee made it. Take a peek into my
bedroom. It's just as gorgeous. If that man is an idiot, I'd love
to see what he could have done with a brain."

We started Christmas off early with presents. Billy Lee
gave me a gorgeous quilt rack that he'd made out of aspen, and I
gave him a signed copy of James Lee Burke's newest novel. It
seemed as if I was copying the idea he'd had for my birthday, but
he was truly tickled with his present. Together we had a dozen
packages under the tree for Crystal, most of them bought at the
last minute and some pretty silly, like a new alarm clock with
huge numbers. But she squealed at each gift like a little kid.

"This is the best Christmas ever," she said after each one.

"It really is," Billy Lee agreed. "Gert would've loved this
day. Now, let's start cooking in earnest. I'll make breakfast,"
he said.

"I'll set the table. Can we use the good china for dinner?"
Crystal asked.

"Of course. It's a holiday. Get out Granny Molly's pretty
glasses too," I said.

She went to the dining room, and Billy Lee and I headed for
the kitchen.

He touched my arm. "I want to thank you again for the book.
I'm not too good with words, Trudy. I can talk all day about
wood and refinishing, but ..

"Your face showed that you liked it. But there's no way you
are as proud of that book as I am of the quilt rack," I said.

He smiled, and my heart melted. Billy Lee Tucker was the
best thing that had ever happened to me.

At ten o'clock Crystal drove the Maverick over to the nursing home and picked up Momma and Lessie. Momma came in the front door all dressed up in a velour jogging set I'd
bought for her for Christmas the year before. She and Lessie
each had presents under the tree, and they carried on like two
little girls.

Marty and Betsy arrived at eleven with a basket full of homemade cookies and candies. They went straight to the kitchen to
help and sent Crystal in to visit with Lessie and her grandmother.

I couldn't have asked for a better gift than Momma's knowing everyone that day. We put the finishing touches on dinner,
and Billy Lee sat at one end of the dinner table and carved the
smoked turkey. Momma and Lessie were on his right. I was to
his left, with Betsy, Marty, and Crystal across the table from
Momma and Lessie.

Momma clinked her iced-tea glass with a knife and got
everyone's attention, then raised it in a toast. "To Trudy, who
has redone this house beautifully and who cooked this dinner
for us" Everyone held up tea goblets and made some kind of
"hear, hear," noise.

I didn't clink.

I stood.

"I can't take the credit for this meal or this house alone.
Billy Lee has worked twice as hard and long as I have on the
house. He's worked all day beside me, teaching me all kinds
of valuable lessons. One in particular is that paint stripper will
take the skin right off the knuckles if I don't get it washed off
in a hurry."

Everyone chuckled.

I went on. "He's kept the carpenters, painters, plumbers,
and electricians as well as all the laborers on schedule and
organized. Then in the evenings he went to his shop and built
furniture. You are welcome to tour the upstairs after dinner
and take a look at his work."

Betsy and Marty glanced up the staircase. I bet they wished
right then that they hadn't been so eager to plow the old place
down.

I took a breath and kept going. "But most of all, Billy Lee
has kept me sane through all my personal troubles this year. He's been my true friend, and I couldn't ask for a better one.
As far as dinner, I can't take credit for that, either. Crystal and
Billy Lee helped all day yesterday and this morning. And
she got up early both mornings, so that is truly a Christmas
miracle."

That brought a round of laughter.

"So the toast goes to Billy Lee and Crystal also, not just
to me. By the way, Crystal brought me the most wonderful
Christmas present ever. She's having my first grandchild. So
please raise your glasses to the next generation."

Crystal wiped her eyes, pushed her chair back, and stood
up. "I didn't help that much. Billy Lee and Momma did most
of it. I did get up early, but it was out of necessity. Morning
sickness is horrible." She laughed. "To avoid a bunch of questions, I got married in Vegas a few months ago. The father of
my child has chosen not to be a part of this baby's life. This
toast is to Momma and Billy Lee, who have taught me more in
two days than I'd learned in twenty years. And not just about
how to make a pumpkin pie from scratch. I love you both."

A wide grin split Billy Lee's beaming face, and his blue
eyes twinkled.

Momma leaned over and whispered, "When is Granny Molly
coming out of her room? Are we taking a tray up to her later?
She did a fine job on this sweet-potato casserole. I always did
like it when she put in extra pecans. It's the only way to eat
yams. Did Gert make the cranberry salad? She told me once
that her secret is grinding up a whole orange, peelings and all,
for it, but I think she was teasing. What do you think?"

"That's what she told me too," I whispered back, wishing
she hadn't slipped away.

The table was silent for a while, but in a few minutes everyone was talking again. Momma kept right on eating, putting
food into her mouth, laying the fork down between bites, her
hands in her lap. Whether she could remember any more that
day or not, the manners that had been drilled into her as a
child had stuck. She'd always be prissy. What other constant
was there in my life?

Billy Lee's name came to my mind without hesitation.

After dinner Momma and Lessie were both worn out, so
Crystal offered to take them back to the nursing home. Momma
shook her head. "When I come to this house, Billy Bob Thornton takes me home in his red Caddy. We leave the top down.
Call him and tell him I'm ready to go home."

"Grandma, Billy Bob Thornton isn't here," Crystal said
apologetically.

I touched Momma on the arm and smiled at her. "I will call
him right now. I'm sure he's already on his way. He was really
sorry that he couldn't be here with you today"

Lessie was the only one who smiled and nodded at everything I said. Everyone else looked at me as if I'd grown an
extra eyeball right in the middle of my forehead. I kept talking
to Momma about Billy Bob while Billy Lee slipped out the
back door, and in a few minutes he drove the red Cadillac up
into the driveway and honked.

"There he is, Momma, right on time. I'll help you get your
coat on, and he'll take you home"

Marty, Betsy, and Crystal wasted no time getting to the
back door to see who had honked. Poor little Crystal's face
was a sight to behold, but Marty and Betsy's jaws hanging
loose and eyes nearly popping out of their heads was just payment for the night they'd made fun of Billy Lee at the fireworks show.

"What in the .. " Betsy got control of her jaw before Marty
did.

Momma clapped her hands together like a little girl. "I told
you. See there? It's Billy Bob Thornton in his red Caddy.
Come on, Lessie. He'll give us a ride down Main Street and
then take us to the home. He's a good man."

Lessie led her outside, where "Billy Bob" opened and closed
doors with a flourish and then drove away.

"I know that's real, but I don't believe my eyes," Crystal
said.

"God, that thing is beautiful," Marty said. "I had no idea
Billy Lee had a car like that"