Part 34 (2/2)

”I remember the penny candy,” I said, picturing long strips of colorful candy b.u.t.tons.

”One time we rode our bikes here and got sprayed by the mosquito truck on the way home,” Julie said.

”I remember that, too,” I said. ”I fell off my bike and cut my arm.” I looked at my arm as though expecting to see a scar, but I wasn't even sure which arm I'd injured. ”We'll probably die premature deaths because of that DDT or whatever it was,” I added.

Julie turned the next corner. ”Do you want to drive by the bay and our old beach before we go to Ethan's?” she asked.

I shook my head. ”Later,” I said. I had a urinary-tract infection, which seemed terribly unjust since I hadn't had s.e.x in months. At that moment, all I could think about was using the bathroom at Ethan's house.

It was early on Friday afternoon and Ethan had invited Julie, Shannon, Tanner and me to his house for the weekend. Shannon and Tanner had begged out, but I'd accepted. Something was pulling me down to the sh.o.r.e. I wanted to see what I remembered.

For a number of reasons, I wished that Shannon and Tanner were with us. I wanted my niece to see an important part of her mother's childhood, but more than that, I thought that both Julie and I needed more time with Shannon and Tanner. I liked the little I knew of Tanner. I'd only gotten to spend time with him at the barbecue, but he'd impressed me and I thought Shannon could do far worse than a bright, socially conscious-not to mention handsome-young man. Not nearly young enough; I agreed with Julie on that point. Still, that was not our choice to make. The thing that wrenched my heart and that I knew was killing Julie, was that Shannon wanted to move so far away from us. I remembered what it was like to be young and in love and yearning for my independence, and visiting home had been one of the last things on my mind.

”You know,” I said now to Julie, ”we'll just have to go to Colorado ourselves a couple of times a year. We'll take Mom with us.”

”What?” She glanced at me in confusion, then laughed. ”Oh, you're back on that topic again.” We'd talked about Shannon and Tanner for most of the ride down the sh.o.r.e, but I could see that Julie had now s.h.i.+fted gears to our old neighborhood and Ethan. ”I don't plan to go to Colorado a couple of times a year,” she said, ”because I don't intend to let Shannon go.”

”She's pregnant,” I said. ”She can become legally emanc.i.p.ated and do whatever she likes if she wants to.”

”Can we talk about this later?” she asked, as we turned yet another corner.

”Sure,” I said. We'd recently gotten into this dance of Julie denying the reality of Shannon's leaving and me trying to force it down her throat. ”Sorry to be a pain,” I added.

To our right, between some houses, I saw the ca.n.a.l.

”Oh!” I said. ”Is this our old street?”

”Uh-huh.”

”Wow. I'd never recognize it,” I said. Then I asked rhetorically, ”Where did all these houses come from?”

Julie stopped the car in front of a sunny yellow-and-white Cape Cod.

”Do you recognize this one?” she asked.

I didn't. ”Is that ours?” The house meant nothing to me.

She nodded.

I looked at the mailbox, painted to resemble the sea and topped by a sailboat. ”Somebody loves this house,” I said.

”And this is Ethan's house,” Julie said as she pulled into the next-door driveway. She opened the car door before even turning off the ignition. The recent change in her was dramatic. I knew she was upset about Shannon, and I knew the past was weighing heavily on her in a way it had not for many years, but there was also a joy in her I couldn't remember ever seeing before, not even when she was falling in love with Glen as a young woman. And the cause of that joy walked out the front door of his house and over to us, giving Julie an embrace that lasted several seconds as he planted a kiss on her neck. The scene made me smile.

”Welcome, Lucy!” he said to me, giving me the much shorter and more perfunctory version of the hug he'd laid on my sister.

”Hi, Ethan,” I said. ”I'm desperate for a bathroom.”

He laughed, pointing behind him to the house. ”Halfway down the hall on the right,” he said. ”We'll meet you in the yard.”

When I left Ethan's bathroom, I headed for the back of his house. Through the open jalousies on the sun porch, I could see the ca.n.a.l clearly and suddenly everything seemed familiar. I walked outside to where he and Julie were leaning against the chain-link fence watching the beginning-of-the-weekend array of boats on the water. I felt almost dizzy with deja vu. The current was so fast, and I remembered my fear of it. I'd have nightmares of falling into the ca.n.a.l and being swept away by the water as I struggled unsuccessfully to swim into one of the docks.

I s.h.i.+vered as I leaned against the fence next to my sister.

”Whew,” I said. ”I remember how scared I was of the water.”

Julie put her arm around me. ”You were,” she said. ”Poor little kid.” She nodded in the direction of the yard next door. I had not even thought to look over there. ”Do you remember it?” she asked.

I looked across a short metal fence to see a little boy playing in a swimming pool. He was riding-and falling off-a huge plastic alligator, while a heavyset, dark-haired woman relaxed with a book on a lounge chair nearby. I could see the top of a boat in the fenced-in dock, but the long, dark, deep-green screened porch was the most familiar part of the scene to me.

”I'd love to see the house inside,” I said. ”See how it's changed.”

”It's totally different,” Ethan said. ”I'll give them a call later and we can go over.” He glanced at Julie. ”You don't have to go with us, if you don't want to.”

Julie bit her lip. ”I think I can do it,” she said. It was clear they'd had a conversation about this before.

We spent the rest of the afternoon on Ethan's boat on the ca.n.a.l and the river. It was my first voyage ever in those waters, since I'd been too chicken to go out on our boat when I was a kid. I loved it now, but what was most amazing to me-thrilling to me-was seeing Julie in a boat again. She laughed when the wake of a much larger boat sent a wall of water cras.h.i.+ng over us, making us look like two women in a middle-age wet T-s.h.i.+rt contest. She was not only finding love in Ethan, I thought, but also a rekindling of the courage and vitality she'd lost many years ago. Watching her laugh put a lump in my throat. to me-was seeing Julie in a boat again. She laughed when the wake of a much larger boat sent a wall of water cras.h.i.+ng over us, making us look like two women in a middle-age wet T-s.h.i.+rt contest. She was not only finding love in Ethan, I thought, but also a rekindling of the courage and vitality she'd lost many years ago. Watching her laugh put a lump in my throat.

After dinner, as the sky turned fuchsia from the setting sun, we strolled barefoot across our old front yard and knocked on the frame of the screen door. The young dark-haired woman I'd seen in the backyard pushed the door open for us.

”h.e.l.lo!” she said, as we entered. ”I'm Ruth Klein. And you guys must be the former residents of our house.”

”Hi, Ruth,” Ethan said to her. ”This is Julie Sellers.” He rested his hand on Julie's back. ”And her sister, Lucy Bauer.” We stood packed into the hallway near the front door.

”When did you live here?” Ruth asked. She was beautiful in spite of the fact that she was quite overweight. Her pink skin was flawless, her blue eyes a vibrant contrast to her dark hair.

”Our grandfather built the house in 1926,” Julie said. ”Lucy and I lived here during the summer in the fifties and early sixties.”

”Oh, wow,” said Ruth. ”I bet it's totally different by now. Where do you want to start your tour?”

”Well,” Julie looked at the partly open door on our left. ”This used to be our grandparents' room.”

”Go ahead in.” Ruth leaned forward to push the door open. It was a small room with a queen-size platform bed and sleeklined dresser and armoire. ”This is the master bedroom, as you can probably tell,” she said.

Julie nodded. ”And across the hall was the bathroom.”

”Still is,” Ruth said, and we followed her across the hall, taking turns peering into the tiny bathroom. The toilet and pedestal sink looked new. In the corner was a small triangular tub.

”We just had a shower there,” Julie said.

”I think the people before us put the tub in,” Ruth said.

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