Finding Grace: A Novel (14 page)

"Have you ever missed being home?" she
asked. "Even the least little bit?"

Jack slowly put down his glass. He and Alice
looked at each other, and then he looked over at Grace. His face
was quite serious, his voice calm…and almost cold as he spoke.

"Baby sister," he said.
"There are little things that I'll always miss. The music we used
to play, for one. The big outdoors, for another. And I miss
most
of the family.” He
paused a moment, and then his eyes grew very dark, the way they had
always done when he was growing angry. Still, his voice was calm.
"But I don't lose sleep at night, wishing I was still there. I
don't miss freezing to death in the winter, or working like a dog
every day and never getting a thing out of it. I don't miss
scraping up just enough food to keep body and soul together. And
I'm not sorry I got away from that damned old coal
mine."

As if sensing that the mood had gotten too
serious, and perhaps realizing that his tone had taken on a rather
dark note, he paused for a few moments. He cleared his throat, and
then, a little smile came back to his face. Now his tone was almost
joking in its sarcasm. "I lost the chance to die in a collapse, or
from a methane explosion. Or better yet, there's always that old
black lung disease, from swallowing all that coal dust. What a
shame I missed out on all of those things."

Alice frowned. "That's enough, Jack.”

For several moments he didn't look at her,
or at Grace. Then he rose to his feet.

"I have to answer the call of nature," he
said. "You two will excuse me, won't you?" He said it all rather
quickly, as if he was in a hurry to get away. Then he turned and
left the room.

Alice sighed...and Grace lowered her eyes,
troubled and saddened.

"I shouldn't have opened my big mouth,” she
said.

But Alice was quick to comfort her. "Don't
talk like that. It's been a sore subject ever since we left the
mountains. The few times I ever did get him to talk about it, he
either made jokes or refused to talk about it at all. We’ve gotten
into a few bad arguments about it over the years. He has to be the
most stubborn man I've ever known in my life."

Despite the gloomy mood that had descended,
Grace couldn't help but smile a little, though her eyes were fixed
on the table. "He always was like an old mule, when it came to
doing what he wanted." Her face fell again, as a sad memory came
into her head. "I remember how bad things got at home, especially
after you both left.”

Alice shook her head sadly. "I always wished
things could’ve been different. I never wanted to break up anyone's
family. I hope you never thought I was trying to do anything like
that."

"Alice, you don't have to tell me that. I
was just a kid, but I always thought the world of you. And I always
knew that Jack left because he wanted to leave. He would have gone
away with or without getting married. And now that I'm older, I
understand exactly why he didn't want to stay."

"But no man should forget his family," Alice
declared. "If something ever happens to your Mama, your Daddy, or
one of your brothers, he'll be regretting it until the day he dies
that he didn't go back home."

They heard a door shut
upstairs, and it was a signal to both of them to cease their
conversation, at least in the presence of Jack. Grace rose to her
feet and began clearing the table, and Alice stood and helped her
as Jack came in the room. He stood in the doorway for several
moments, watching them with a kind of suspicion.
Alice looked over at him, and then she snapped her
fingers and gave him an excited look.

“
Honey, I just had the best
idea. When we go to the lake, let's stop at Edgewater Beach.” She
turned to Grace and began talking with delight. “We had our wedding
and reception at the Edgewater Beach Hotel. You should see it. It’s
so beautiful. And pink! You’ve never seen such a place.”

Jack scoffed. “Pink. I can’t believe I
stayed in a place that was colored like a danged piece of bubble
gum.” He sat down…and then a little smile came to his face. “Then
again, I wasn’t exactly thinking about where I was. All I could
think about was getting married.”

Alice cooed at his sweet statement. “The
happiest day of your life, was it?” She leaned down to kiss him…and
as she turned away, she didn’t see the little smirk on his
face.

“
When I woke up the next
morning,” he said, “I saw the ball and chain attached to my leg,
and it scared the hell out of me.”

Before the words were out of his mouth he
was running from the room…and Alice chased after him, threatening
all kinds of violence. Grace smiled, thinking to leave them alone
with whatever they would do next…but when she heard Jack shouting
for help, she couldn’t resist rushing to see what they were up
to.

Jack was lying face down on the sofa, and
Alice had her knee in the middle of his back. She had his arm
pinned behind him, gripping his wrist hard, shouting at him.

“
Say Uncle!”

Jack was laughing and pleading at the same
time. “Help! Get this crazy broad off of me!”

Alice dug her knee in further, twisting
harder on his wrist…and all the while, Grace just watched the two
of them, giggling at their play.

If all couples were more
like them
, she thought,
Marriage might not be such a bad idea.

* * * * *

The company store is nothing
compared to this,
she thought with
wonder.

Marshall Field’s seemed too beautiful to be
a store. It was all polished brass and gleaming tile floors, with
carpeted stairs that went to multiple stories. In the center of it
all was a great glass dome, and looking down from the fifth floor
balcony, she felt her head spin from the height.

Alice seemed quite delighted as they went
along, gushing over this garment and that, trying on hats and
sampling fragrances from the cosmetics counter. Grace followed
quietly along, taking in each new experience.

But as they passed a set of mirrors, she
looked at the reflection of her plain little self in her flour sack
dress…and she wanted to turn and run. As much self confidence as
she'd always had, it seemed to be sapped right out of her as she
looked at her own image reflected.

After walking for a spell, Alice suddenly
noticed that her shopping partner was not beside her. She went
back, and saw Grace standing in front of the mirror.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Look at me," said Grace. "I don't belong in
a place like this."

Alice pursed her lips. "Oh don't be like
that. You just need some new clothes, that's all. We could have
some real fun getting you a new wardrobe."

Grace shook her head. "Oh no. I don't want
you spending all kinds of money on me, even if I am a sorry sight.
I can make my own clothes, if I can get some material. And I'll
help around the house to pay for it. I promise."

Alice smiled. "If it makes you happy to make
your own clothes, then I won't argue with you. We'll find you some
lovely material to work with. But you need at least one or two
simple dresses between now and then. And I have to fight you on one
other thing, sister." She pointed down at Grace’s boots. "Those
things will have to go. And besides new shoes, I just have to twist
your arm about a party dress. You should have at least one fine
dress, in case we go out to a classy restaurant or some other
special occasion. Will you please just let me do that for you?”

Grace was hesitant. But looking into Alice’s
eyes, she saw how eager her sister-in-law was to please her. She
didn't like the idea of being dressed like a doll, but Alice really
wanted to do this kindness, and she was aware that she could stand
a bit of self-improvement. Right then she promised herself that
this would be the first and only time she would succumb to the
temptation of vanity and spending money. Other people's money, as
it was.

As if reading her thoughts, Alice laughed a
little. Looping Grace’s arm in hers, she pulled her away from the
mirror.

"I promise, I won't try to make you into a
princess," she said. "I despise the notion of a princess. But we're
not peasants, are we? So why dress that way? We'll keep it simple
and painless, I promise you. Just some new shoes and stockings.
Maybe a hat or two. And then there are the basics, of course, like
underwear." She saw Grace blush, but only smiled. "Don't be
embarrassed. We're both women. We can talk about these things."

It was a bit embarrassing, picking out such
personal effects. And yet, there was a kind of fun in seeing all
the different garments and under things. As for picking a party
dress, it wasn't at all difficult. Her eye was caught by a pale
pink garment in a rose print, with a straight-across bodice and
draping chiffon sleeves that came to the elbows. It was one of the
prettiest things she'd ever seen, but she felt ashamed of liking it
so much, when she knew that Alice would be paying for it.

"I wish I had a way to pay for this myself,"
she said. "I feel just awful having you buying everything for
me."

Alice smiled, giving her a thoughtful look.
"I'll tell you what. If you keep on keeping me company, and keep
helping me around the house, it'll be worth its weight in
gold."

Just when Grace thought they were through
with their buying, Alice came across another item of a female
wardrobe that she insisted her sister-in-law needed - a swimsuit.
Grace took one look at the selections and went red with
embarrassment.

“
Women actually wear those
things in public?” She gasped, shaking her head in denial of
accepting the thing. “That’s a little too bold for me. I think
that’s the one place I’ll have to put my foot down.”

“
Well you wear a wrapper
over it while you’re on the beach,” Alice assured her. “And when
you’re in the water, no one will really see it anyway. It works
better than wearing regular clothes. Remember how we used to do
that when we went swimming back home? It was all well and good
while we were in the water, but once you got out, it was like your
clothes were plastered to your skin.”

“
I remember,” Grace said.
“But I still don’t reckon I’ll take one of those things. I never
was much for swimming anyway.”

Despite her initial reluctance, she actually
found herself having a fabulous time. When she looked at herself in
the mirror, dressed in her new clothes, she felt a great sense of
pride in what she saw. And she had to admit that the new shoes
looked and felt better than those worn out old boots. When they
left the store she was feeling quite confident, and ready to take
on whatever new adventures lay ahead.

* * * * *

When they came through the front door of the
house, they were laughing and smiling as they put their bags down
in the living room. Then they heard the sound of Jack's voice
coming from the kitchen, and the sound of another male voice
talking to him.

Grace felt her stomach drop. She knew the
sound of those low, melodic tones, and who they belonged to. The
sound of that voice rattled her nerves, and she wondered…

What is that old sour puss doing here?

She had a momentary urge to run upstairs and
hide. But that seemed like the coward’s way out. And she was no
coward. She never had been. Henry was just a man, after all, and
she'd been around men all of her life, so what was there to be
afraid of? Gathering her courage, she followed Alice into the
kitchen.

There he was, sitting across the table from
Jack, who turned around in his seat. He smirked as he looked at the
two of them.

"Did you two put Marshall Field's into
bankruptcy?"

"Yes, honey, we did," said Alice. "Looks
like I’ll have to keep teaching after all, no matter how much you
fuss about it." She bent down and gave him a kiss on the forehead.
Then she looked over at Henry and smiled politely. "Good morning,
Henry Shaw. What brings you over today?"

Jack looked up at her. "Henry just stopped
by for a cup of coffee. We were talking, and he’s invited us down
to the club tonight."

She leaned down, putting her arms around
Jack’s shoulders. "That sounds all right to me. I think we'll take
you up on that offer, Henry."

No one said anything more for several
moments, and all three turned to look at Grace, who was standing
just inside the doorway, partially hidden by the frame as if she
were trying to avoid being seen. Jack gave her a curious look.

"Why are you hiding over there like that?
Come on in here and be sociable. You remember Henry.”

Grace came forward a few steps, nodding
slightly. Then she looked away, folding her arms across her chest,
eager to keep her hands free from nervous little gestures. She
could feel Henry's eyes on her, examining her. She refused to look
at him…and yet, even when her own eyes were cast away from him, she
could feel his gaze looking right through her. It was shameful to
think about, but his look almost made her feel naked.

He probably enjoys making a
fool of me
, she thought.
But he won't rile me. That would make him happy,
and I'm not putting on a show for anyone, especially
him.

But even if she could keep from looking at
him, she couldn’t ignore that velvety tone that was his voice.

"Well,” he said. “It's all of a sudden too
quiet in here for me. I suppose that's my cue to leave." He rose to
his feet, looking at each of them in turn. "Victoria is down at the
club already, deep into rehearsals. I should probably get down
there and tend to business. I hope to see you at the show
tonight."