She lays her hand on the top, pressing it so it covers her eyes, leaving only that smile.
At her house I shut off the motor. “Guess I should’ve put the top up. What is your dad going to think?”
She shrugs like a champ. “Can’t be surprised I’m soaked, what with my going steady with a Navy man. Water comes with the territory!”
I get serious. “Are we going steady, May?”
“Well aren’t we?” She gives me a wink, and starts to open her door.
It’s me who winks.
She sure picked that up fast, I think to myself, approving wholeheartedly.
“Oh no you don’t!” I hop out, and see Mr. Kearns waiting for us again, sheets of rain between us. Tipping my dripping head with respect, I stroll around to her door.
Like the sun is shining we stroll up the path together. No hurry at all.
Her Father breaks out in a smile that shows he and I are going to get along just fine.
Her Mother appears. “May Eloise! You get in here before you catch your death!”
“Yes, Mother.” May turns to me. “I had a lovely time.” She walks inside and Fred Kearns shuts the door, his smile intact.
At home, my folks are waiting, too, on account of the storm forcing everyone inside with little to do but wonder about my love life.
Pops is so appalled at the state of his prized possession that he walks outside in the rain. “Why didn’t you put up the top? Have you lost your mind?”
I jump out and grin. “I think I have lost it! But do me a favor and don’t tell me where it is.”
Hank runs out in socked feet. “There aren’t enough towels to soak this up!”
The Lincoln is drenched, and it’s still raining, so Hank and I manage to get the top up while Pops waits, soaked to the bone, with his fists on his hips.
Ma is much more sensible, dry and protected inside the door. She’s dressed in a cream blouse and high-waisted slacks, arms crossed as she yells, “Must you bring the ocean with you, Jerald? You’ll be seeing it again tomorrow.”
Pops grumbles, “It’s not funny, Frances,” following us inside and slamming the door.
24
MAY
I t’s Monday and I can’t sit still. “I can’t call him, Mother, can I?”
“I should say not!” She separates laundry as if the subject is over.
“If you have to be at the airport at two o’clock, what time must you leave?”
“May Eloise, now you stop thinking about that boy. I can’t believe I allowed you to stay home from school. If he wants to call you, he’ll call. Don’t be a ninny. And stop picking at my wallpaper!”
I drop my hand and sigh, looking from the window to the phone and back again. “I feel like if that doesn’t ring I’ll bust!”
“Yes well, you won’t.”
How is it only two minutes since I last looked at the clock?
Matthew and Margaret run down the stairs, but this time get away with it. Perhaps even Mother is feeling anxious for me. I caught her looking at the clock, too, without reason for it.
“Do you like him?”
She shrugs, “Can’t say I know him very well.”
“Do you?”
On a sigh she picks up detergent. “I like his parents. Mrs. Cocker is very kind. And Mr. Cocker couldn’t be more charming. Although I suppose that’s a necessary trait for a politician. Still, I felt they were genuine. But Jerald, well, him I’m not quite sure of.”
I slide onto the chair, my arm on the back of it, posture slouched with disappointment. “Why?”
“He’s much too handsome, May.”
I laugh from surprise. “Is that all?”
“That’s a lot. He’ll be overseas for who knows how long. And I’m not sure if you understand young men, or even young women for that matter.”
“Is it really too hard to believe he could love me? The way Father loves you?”
“I just think it’s easier to love a man who won’t have women chasing his coattails is all. You’ll have a lot less to worry about.”
The chair rocks as I jump up. “You know what I think? Worrying about a thing doesn’t stop it from happening. In fact it probably makes it happen. And if it doesn’t, well then it was just time wasted, now wasn’t it? Someone’s going to marry him someday, and I hope that someone is me.”
“Where are you going,” Mother calls out.
I swing open the front door. “For a bike ride!”
“May Eloise! Don’t you go riding by that boy’s house!”
“I won’t!”
“I mean it!”
“I said I won’t, didn’t I?!”
It is tempting, but I do have pride. Never chase boys, that’s a rule. I simply cannot wait around for one, neither.
Climbing on my bike, I pedal to the library, praying the whole way.
God, if Jerald Cocker and I would be happy together for a long long long time, please tell him where I am. That will be my sign, and I’ll know that you approve. I need your help, because I’m not sure I trust myself right now!
Abandoning the bicycle outside, I hurry to my special place in the far corner of the library where my favorite books are. Snatching Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown from the highest shelf, I skim a little to where it gets good, and lower myself to the footstool. It takes some time, but I do find a respite from thinking about him, my thoughts transported into the wonderful imagination of author Maud Hart Lovelace.
25
JERALD
“M a, did you have to invite our entire extended family?” I ask, as our cook places more hors d’oeuvres on Ma’s best silver platters.
“It’s a special occasion, so yes. Now stop hiding in the kitchen!” She shoos me along, and I am forced to hear the well wishes of family members so distant I don’t recall their names. I excuse myself, and make a beeline for the telephone. The operator connects me to the Kearns residence in a jiffy, and May’s Mother answers, “Hello?”
“Mrs. Kearns? Good
