for me, okay?"
She returned to the house to find Mary in the kitchen with her hand on the light switch, surveying the room as if afraid she might never see it again. Her eyes moved in an affectionate sweep over her aged possessions: the stove on which she'd cooked for decades, the glass canisters shaped like vegetables with chips on the edges of their covers, the worn countertops, the garish wallpaper, the table with that ugly plastic doily getting uglier by the day.
On the doily sat the potted ivy. Mary's eyes stopped on it. "I watered my houseplants yesterday, so they should be okay."
"Everything will be just fine back here. I'll take care of everything."
"Judy brought milk and bread for you, and some ham-burger she put in the freezer. Oh, and eggs! The eggs are fresh."
"Don't worry about me."
Still Mary hesitated, looking back at the room. Tess waited while her mother searched for other excuses to delay. A single word, uttered last night by Kenny Kronek, came back to Tess. "Scared?" he'd asked, hunkered down beside Mary's chair. At the time Tess had so much resented his presence and his familiarity with her mother that she'd disregarded the conversation. Now, watching Mary's hesitation, she realized she herself hadn't bothered wondering if her mother was scared to face this second surgery. It appeared she was.
"Come on, Mom," she urged gently. "We'd better go. I'll take care of everything, don't worry."
They left the house with the sun bending their long shadows against the back steps and up the wall beside the door. Watching her mother cling to the sturdy iron railing while painfully negotiating the three steps, Tess felt pity, and the greatest wave of love since she'd arrived home. She'd given little consideration to what her mother had been going through with the cartilage in her hips deteriorating. Principally, she'd thought,
It's a common surgery today. A lot of people have it. She'll pull through just fine like she did the first time
. Watching Mary's painful struggle from the house—the first time she'd observed her on steps—brought her condition into sharper focus. Tess took her momma's arm and helped her along the narrow back sidewalk toward the alley.
As they passed the newly planted garden, Mary said, "You'll water the garden, won't you, Tess?"
"Sure I will."
"The hoses are—" She tried to turn and point, but winced and shot a hand to her hip, trying not to gasp aloud.
"I'll find the hoses. Don't worry about it."
"If you don't know where anything is, just ask Kenny. The yard's going to need mowing before I get back, but maybe you can get Nicky to do it. He's pretty busy with his sports right now, so I don't know if he'll have time, but… well, you can ask him. Otherwise, sometimes if Kenny sees it needs doing, he just comes over and does it without asking."
Oh, for Pete's sake! Was she getting sick of hearing about Kenny! Fat chance she'd ask that man anything.
They reached the Z and Tess opened the passenger door, but it was apparent from Mary's first effort that getting into the car was going to be too painful for her. The seat was low slung and would require her to bend too far.
"Mom, wait! It's…" Tess glanced at the closed garage door. "This is silly… can you stand here and wait while I get your car out? I think we'd better take it instead."
"I think so, too."
"Have you got the keys in your purse?"
"No, they're on the hook beside the door."
Tess ran back to the house and got them, but before getting Mary's car out of the garage she had to move her own. She maneuvered it backward into the cramped alley, left the engine running and got out.
Mary said, "Use the activator on my key chain. I've got a new automatic garage-door opener."
"You do? Wow! Way to go, Mom!"
"Kenny installed it for me."
Tess's exuberance soured. Saint Kenny the Garage Door Installer. What did the guy do, live over here?
The new garage door rolled up smoothly and Tess shimmied into the crowded building
She returned to the house to find Mary in the kitchen with her hand on the light switch, surveying the room as if afraid she might never see it again. Her eyes moved in an affectionate sweep over her aged possessions: the stove on which she'd cooked for decades, the glass canisters shaped like vegetables with chips on the edges of their covers, the worn countertops, the garish wallpaper, the table with that ugly plastic doily getting uglier by the day.
On the doily sat the potted ivy. Mary's eyes stopped on it. "I watered my houseplants yesterday, so they should be okay."
"Everything will be just fine back here. I'll take care of everything."
"Judy brought milk and bread for you, and some ham-burger she put in the freezer. Oh, and eggs! The eggs are fresh."
"Don't worry about me."
Still Mary hesitated, looking back at the room. Tess waited while her mother searched for other excuses to delay. A single word, uttered last night by Kenny Kronek, came back to Tess. "Scared?" he'd asked, hunkered down beside Mary's chair. At the time Tess had so much resented his presence and his familiarity with her mother that she'd disregarded the conversation. Now, watching Mary's hesitation, she realized she herself hadn't bothered wondering if her mother was scared to face this second surgery. It appeared she was.
"Come on, Mom," she urged gently. "We'd better go. I'll take care of everything, don't worry."
They left the house with the sun bending their long shadows against the back steps and up the wall beside the door. Watching her mother cling to the sturdy iron railing while painfully negotiating the three steps, Tess felt pity, and the greatest wave of love since she'd arrived home. She'd given little consideration to what her mother had been going through with the cartilage in her hips deteriorating. Principally, she'd thought,
It's a common surgery today. A lot of people have it. She'll pull through just fine like she did the first time
. Watching Mary's painful struggle from the house—the first time she'd observed her on steps—brought her condition into sharper focus. Tess took her momma's arm and helped her along the narrow back sidewalk toward the alley.
As they passed the newly planted garden, Mary said, "You'll water the garden, won't you, Tess?"
"Sure I will."
"The hoses are—" She tried to turn and point, but winced and shot a hand to her hip, trying not to gasp aloud.
"I'll find the hoses. Don't worry about it."
"If you don't know where anything is, just ask Kenny. The yard's going to need mowing before I get back, but maybe you can get Nicky to do it. He's pretty busy with his sports right now, so I don't know if he'll have time, but… well, you can ask him. Otherwise, sometimes if Kenny sees it needs doing, he just comes over and does it without asking."
Oh, for Pete's sake! Was she getting sick of hearing about Kenny! Fat chance she'd ask that man anything.
They reached the Z and Tess opened the passenger door, but it was apparent from Mary's first effort that getting into the car was going to be too painful for her. The seat was low slung and would require her to bend too far.
"Mom, wait! It's…" Tess glanced at the closed garage door. "This is silly… can you stand here and wait while I get your car out? I think we'd better take it instead."
"I think so, too."
"Have you got the keys in your purse?"
"No, they're on the hook beside the door."
Tess ran back to the house and got them, but before getting Mary's car out of the garage she had to move her own. She maneuvered it backward into the cramped alley, left the engine running and got out.
Mary said, "Use the activator on my key chain. I've got a new automatic garage-door opener."
"You do? Wow! Way to go, Mom!"
"Kenny installed it for me."
Tess's exuberance soured. Saint Kenny the Garage Door Installer. What did the guy do, live over here?
The new garage door rolled up smoothly and Tess shimmied into the crowded building
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