one more of the idealistic, save-the-world, bubble-headed schemes that all the grandchildren had proposed at one time or another. Even Mee had taken time off from college to travel the country telling fortunes at state fairs. She’d set off in an ancient rattling VW camper with her boyfriend Sky, a handsome, emaciated fellow who seemed to survive on whatever nutrients he inhaled from marijuana plants. They had gotten as far as Indiana before the VW broke down. She’d called her parents, who sent her a plane ticket. Mee flew home and went back to college that January. Sky had stayed in Indiana and, as far as Nona knew, Mee never heard from him again.
But remembering this about Mee made Nona feel a surge of affection for her, and the timing was propitious, for here they were, three of the four Wheelwright granddaughters. Mandy carried her baby, Zoe, and her husband, Claus, had four-year-old Christian riding on his shoulders. Sweet little children, really. Mellie lumbered along behind, hugely pregnant, with her husband, Douglas, following, his forehead wrinkled in concentration as he barked into his cell phone. Mee came last, by herself.
They swept toward Nona in a wave of greetings, kissing, hugging, and, in Zoe’s case, drooling. Behind them strode Kellogg, bags in each hand and one hooked over each shoulder. “Hello, Nona!” he called heartily from behind his flock. “Girls, where do you want the luggage?”
Grace struggled in through the French doors, also laden with bags. She blew Nona a kiss. “Mother! You look lovely! Does it matter where we sleep?”
“Not at all. Charlotte’s in the attic, you know.”
“I’ll take another attic bedroom, then,” Mee declared. “We spinsters can have our own floor.”
“Can’t be a spinster if you’ve been married,” Mandy corrected. “It’s too bad Charlotte’s taken up the attic. The playroom’s up there. It would be much easier if we could have the attic bedrooms.”
“Don’t be silly, Mandy,” Mee retorted. “The attic bedrooms only have single beds.”
“Well, I don’t want an attic bedroom,” Mellie pouted, rubbing her round belly. “It’s going to be hard enough for me to climb stairs as it is.”
“I’ll take an attic bedroom,” Mellie’s husband, Douglas, said. “Maybe I’ll be able to get some sleep without being bounced about by a great white wh—” He was skewered by his wife’s glance. “Sorry, Mellie.”
“Why don’t you and Claus take the front bedroom,” Grace suggested to her oldest daughter. “The children can go in the old sewing room, and Daddy and I will stay in the room across the hall so we can help with the children.”
“Is the crib still set up in the old sewing room?” Claus asked. “Christian, you’re getting heavy, Papa’s going to put you down.”
“These bags are what’s getting heavy!” Kellogg announced. “I’m taking them up to the second floor. You can sort them out up there.”
Bulging and joining and separating like some kind of amoeba shown on a Nature Channel special, the dynamic mass of Grace’s family made their way from the living room into the large hall and up the front stairs. Interesting, Nona thought, that Charlotte hadn’t come in from the garden, rushing into the room to hug her cousins and aunt and uncle. Well, Charlotte was serious about her work, and although she had to have seen the vehicles arrive, driving over the sandy path from the main road, she might have only waved and then returned to her weeding or watering or whatever she was doing. The years when they would have hurried to greet one another, all of them squealing like piglets, had passed.
Mandy fluttered into the room. “Do you think you could hold the baby for just a minute? I’ll be right back with her diaper bag and her bouncy chair. There’s so much paraphernalia required for a baby”She plunked the baby down in Nona’s arms and hurried out to the garden and through the hedge to her SUV.
Nona
But remembering this about Mee made Nona feel a surge of affection for her, and the timing was propitious, for here they were, three of the four Wheelwright granddaughters. Mandy carried her baby, Zoe, and her husband, Claus, had four-year-old Christian riding on his shoulders. Sweet little children, really. Mellie lumbered along behind, hugely pregnant, with her husband, Douglas, following, his forehead wrinkled in concentration as he barked into his cell phone. Mee came last, by herself.
They swept toward Nona in a wave of greetings, kissing, hugging, and, in Zoe’s case, drooling. Behind them strode Kellogg, bags in each hand and one hooked over each shoulder. “Hello, Nona!” he called heartily from behind his flock. “Girls, where do you want the luggage?”
Grace struggled in through the French doors, also laden with bags. She blew Nona a kiss. “Mother! You look lovely! Does it matter where we sleep?”
“Not at all. Charlotte’s in the attic, you know.”
“I’ll take another attic bedroom, then,” Mee declared. “We spinsters can have our own floor.”
“Can’t be a spinster if you’ve been married,” Mandy corrected. “It’s too bad Charlotte’s taken up the attic. The playroom’s up there. It would be much easier if we could have the attic bedrooms.”
“Don’t be silly, Mandy,” Mee retorted. “The attic bedrooms only have single beds.”
“Well, I don’t want an attic bedroom,” Mellie pouted, rubbing her round belly. “It’s going to be hard enough for me to climb stairs as it is.”
“I’ll take an attic bedroom,” Mellie’s husband, Douglas, said. “Maybe I’ll be able to get some sleep without being bounced about by a great white wh—” He was skewered by his wife’s glance. “Sorry, Mellie.”
“Why don’t you and Claus take the front bedroom,” Grace suggested to her oldest daughter. “The children can go in the old sewing room, and Daddy and I will stay in the room across the hall so we can help with the children.”
“Is the crib still set up in the old sewing room?” Claus asked. “Christian, you’re getting heavy, Papa’s going to put you down.”
“These bags are what’s getting heavy!” Kellogg announced. “I’m taking them up to the second floor. You can sort them out up there.”
Bulging and joining and separating like some kind of amoeba shown on a Nature Channel special, the dynamic mass of Grace’s family made their way from the living room into the large hall and up the front stairs. Interesting, Nona thought, that Charlotte hadn’t come in from the garden, rushing into the room to hug her cousins and aunt and uncle. Well, Charlotte was serious about her work, and although she had to have seen the vehicles arrive, driving over the sandy path from the main road, she might have only waved and then returned to her weeding or watering or whatever she was doing. The years when they would have hurried to greet one another, all of them squealing like piglets, had passed.
Mandy fluttered into the room. “Do you think you could hold the baby for just a minute? I’ll be right back with her diaper bag and her bouncy chair. There’s so much paraphernalia required for a baby”She plunked the baby down in Nona’s arms and hurried out to the garden and through the hedge to her SUV.
Nona
Similar Books
