I thought I remembered that the O’Sheas were the Presbyterian minister and his wife. They’d come after I’d begun living in Shakespeare.
Varena was chattering away, as if she could hardly wait to fill me in on all the details of her life. Or as if she were uncomfortable with me.
We pulled into the driveway and passed the larger house to park in front of Varena’s place. It was a copy of the house in miniature, done in pale yellow siding with dark green shutters and white trim.
A little girl was playing the yard, a thin child with long brown hair. Sure enough, a perky red-and-green bow was clipped right above her bangs. On this cold day, she was wearing a sweatsuit topped by a coat and earmuffs, but still she looked chilly. She waved as Varena got out of her car.
“Hey, Miss Varena,” she called politely. She held a ball in her hands. When I got out of the passenger’s door, she stared at me with curiosity.
“Eve, this is my sister, Lily.” Varena turned to me. “Eve has a sister, too, a new one.”
“What’s her name?” I asked, since that seemed indicated. I am very uneasy around children.
“Jane Lilith,” Eve mumbled.
“That’s pretty,” I said, because I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“Is your sister taking a nap right now?” Varena asked.
“Yeah, and my mom too,” the girl said forlornly.
“Come in and see my dress,” Varena invited.
Eve really brightened up. Varena seemed to have a way with children. We trailed into the little front room of the house and followed Varena back to her bedroom. The closet door was open, and the wedding dress, swathed in plastic, was hanging on a special hanger that fitted over the top of the door.
Well, it was white and it was a wedding dress.
“It’s beautiful,” I said instantly. I am not stupid.
Eve was awestruck. “Oooo,” she said breathlessly.
Varena laughed, and as I looked at my sister, I saw how warm and responsive her face was, how good-natured she looked. “I’m glad you like it,” she said and went on talking to the child in an easy way that was totally beyond me.
“Can you pick me up so I can see the scarf?” Eve asked Varena.
I looked where the child was pointing. The veil, yards and yards of it, attached to an elaborate sort of tiara, was in a separate bag attached to the one holding the dress.
“Oh, honey, you’re too big for me to pick up,” Varena said, shaking her head. I could feel my eyebrows crawl up. Was it possible Varena couldn’t lift this girl? I assessed the child. Seventy-five pounds, tops. I squatted, wrapped my arms around her hips, and lifted.
Eve squealed with surprise and delight. She turned to look down at me.
“Can you see?” I asked.
Eve examined the veil, admired the glittering sequined tiara, and went all dreamy-eyed for a minute or two.
“You can put me down now,” she said eventually, and I gently lowered her to the floor. The girl turned to give me a long stare of evaluation.
“You’re really strong,” she said admiringly. “I bet nobody messes with you.”
I could practically taste Varena’s sudden silence.
“No,” I told the little girl. “Nobody messes with me now.”
Eve’s narrow face turned thoughtful. She thanked Varena for showing her the dress and veil in a perfectly polite way, but she seemed almost abstracted as she said she’d better be getting home.
Varena saw Eve out. “Oh, Dill’s here!” she exclaimed in a happy voice. I stared at the frothy white construction of a dress for a moment more before I followed Varena to the living room.
I’d known Dill Kingery since he moved to Bartley. He’d just begun dating Varena when the whole eruption in my life had occurred. He’d been a great solace to my sister during that time, when the whole family had needed all the help we could get.
They’d continued dating ever since. It had been a long engagement, long enough for Varena to bear a good amount of teasing from her coworkers at the tiny Bartley hospital.
Looking at Dill now, I wondered why he’d dragged his feet. I didn’t think he’d been beating other women off with a stick. Dill was perfectly nice and perfectly pleasant, but you wouldn’t turn to look at him twice on the street. My sister’s fiancй had thinning sandy hair, attractive brown eyes, wire-rimmed glasses, and a happy smile. His daughter, Anna, was another skinny little eight-year-old, with thick, shoulder-length brown hair that was lighter than her father’s. Anna had her dad’s eyes and smile. Anna’s mother had died when Anna was about eighteen months old, Dill had told us, in a car accident.
I watched while Anna hugged Varena. She was about to run to play with Eve when Dill stopped her. “Say hi to your aunt Lily,” he said firmly.
“Hey, Aunt Lily,” Anna said and gave me a casual wave of the hand, which I returned. “Can I play with Eve now, Daddy?”
“OK, sweetie,” Dill said, and the two girls clattered outside while Dill turned to me to give me a hug. I had to endure it, so I did, but I’m not a casual toucher. And I hadn’t quite adjusted to being “Aunt Lily.”
Dill asked me the usual questions you ask of someone you haven’t seen in while, and I managed to answer civilly. I was tensing up already, and nothing had happened to make me so. What was wrong with me? I stared out the front window while Dill and my sister talked over the plans for the evening. Tonight, I gathered, Dill was attending his bachelor dinner, while Varena and I and Mother were going to a wedding shower.
As I watched the two little girls playing on the front lawn, heaving the beach ball back and forth between them and running a lot, I tried to recall playing with Varena like that. Surely we had? But I couldn’t dredge up a single recollection.
Without asking me, Dill told Varena he’d run me home so she could start getting ready. I looked at my watch. If Varena needed three hours to get ready for a party, she needed help, in my opinion. But Varena seemed pleased with Dill’s offer, so I went outside to stand by Dill’s Bronco. A tiny, thin woman had come outside of the bigger house to call to Eve.
“Hey,” she said when she noticed me.
“Hello,” I said.
Eve came running up, Anna in tow.
“This is Varena’s sister, Mama,” she said. “She came for the wedding. Miss Varena showed me her dress, and Miss Lily picked me up so I could see the veil. You wouldn’t believe how strong Miss Lily is! I bet she can lift a horse!”
“Oh, my goodness,” said Eve’s mama, her thin face transformed by a sweet smile. “I better say hello, then. I’m Eve’s mother, as I’m sure you figured. Meredith Osborn.”
“Hello again,” I said. “Lily Bard.” This woman had just had a baby, according to Varena, but she looked no larger than a child herself. Losing “baby weight” was not going to be a problem for Meredith Osborn. I didn’t think Meredith Osborn was over thirty-one, my age, and she might be even younger.
“Can you pick us both up, Miss Lily?” Eve asked, and my niece-to-be suddenly looked much more interested in me.
“I think so,” I said and bent my knees. “One on either side, now!”
The girls each picked a side, and I hooked my arms around them and stood, making sure I was steady. The girls were squealing with excitement. “Hold still,” I reminded them, and they stopped the thrashing that I had worried would topple us all over onto the driveway.
“We’re queens of the world,” Anna shouted extravagantly, sweeping her arm to indicate her turf. “Look at how high up we are!”
Dill had been talking to Varena in the doorway, but now he glanced over to find out what Anna was doing. His face looked almost comical with surprise when he saw the girls.
With the anxious smile of someone who is trying not to panic, he strode over. “Better get down, sweetie! You’re a big load for Miss Lily.”
“They’re both small,” I said mildly and surrendered Anna to her dad. I swung Eve in front of me and set her down gently. She grinned up at me. Her mother was looking at her with that smile of love women get when they
