Authors: Kate Sweeney
“No,” he said, still gazing at Bess. “I mean, yeah.” He backed up. “Well, if you need anything, you just flag me down, Miss Adams. May I…may I call you Bess?”
“No,” Roz said severely.
“Of course you can, Mark.” Bess glowered at Roz, who looked to the heavens.
“Thanks. Okay, well, remember if you need me, Bess,” he added with a grin.
“I’ll raise the red flag,” Bess said with a grin.
“Okay, well…”
“Oh, God, will you go back in the kitchen?” Roz pleaded.
They all laughed quietly when Mark disappeared through the swinging door.
“Got a crush on you?” Sandy asked Bess.
“Yes, the poor kid.”
Sandy coughed gently, and for the first time, Kit noticed she was carrying two small gift bags. “Dale told me it was your birthday, and well, I just thought you’d like this.” She handed one bag to Kit. “And, Helen, you deserve one, as well.”
“For me?” Helen asked, taking the bag.
Kit opened the small box. It was a necklace charm of an open parachute. Kit laughed. “This is very sweet. Thank you.”
Helen had the same thing, only hers was a pendant. “I’m going to wear it right now. Kit, do the honors?”
Kit took the silver pendant and pinned it to the lapel of Helen’s blazer. “Perfect. We survived our first jump.”
“I feel like I’m getting a medal,” Helen said proudly.
“Don’t kid yourself. It is. Both of you did a fine job,” Sandy said, glancing at Dale. “Under duress, I might add. They’re from both of us.”
“They are?” Dale asked, then grunted when Sandy gently jabbed her in the ribs.
Helen ran her fingers over the pendant and sniffed. “I’ve never been so honored.”
Kit laughed and kissed her cheek. “Neither have I.”
Sandy leaned in. “I think Mark is watching,” she whispered.
“Oh, Bess, you have so much competition tonight,” Helen said.
“I can’t remember when you’ve had three men after you,” Kit agreed. “Are you blushing?”
Bess glared. “I am not. It’s hot in here.”
“Liar,” Roz said. She glanced at the kitchen door and saw Stella giving her the thumbs-up. “Okay. Stella’s ready if we are.”
“I’m starving,” Bess said.
“All right, gentlemen, ladies,” Helen said. “Time for dinner. You may sit wherever you like. Except for Kit, she sits at the head of the table.”
They gathered around the long table; Helen watched everyone. Bess sat next to Kit. When Stan pulled out a chair at the other end of the table, Helen called out, “Oh, no, Stan. Sit here, dear.” She offered the chair next to Bess.
“Pushing, stop it,” Bess mumbled to her through a smile.
“And, Nate dear, you sit there. Dale, you sit there. Sandy, right there,” Helen said, directing the table traffic.
“Where are you sitting, Helen?” Roz asked. “How about the patio?”
“Don’t be insolent. You can take the other head of the table. I’ll sit next to Kit on this side. Dale, would you move down one, please?”
“You told me to sit here.”
“And now I’m telling you to sit there,” Helen said sweetly.
Dale grudgingly gave up her seat next to Kit and scooted down. Sandy laughed and moved down, as well.
“Good thing we get to sit where we want,” Roz said to Sandy, who laughed again.
“She’s adorable,” Sandy said to Roz.
“Yes,” Roz said. “You don’t know her like we do.”
With everyone settled, Helen looked around the table. “There. We’re all nice and cozy by the fire. Everybody happy?” She leaned into Dale. “I can’t wait to see what Stella has made for dinner.”
Dale smiled sweetly and picked up her beer, almost drinking the entire bottle.
Kit watched Dale and noticed how Sandy’s hand went under, and when Dale’s face contorted into a grimace, Kit knew it was not playful.
“Are you in pain, dear?” Helen asked Dale.
Kit glared at her mother.
“What’d I do?” Helen whispered, then laughed. She picked up her knife and tapped it on the empty glass.
“This is not a wedding,” Bess said to her.
“Shush. Attention!” Helen said, raising her glass. “I’d like to propose a toast.”
Everyone raised their glasses and waited. Helen smiled at Kit, who looked so terrified it made Helen laugh. “This evening is not about me, but I have to show you this…” She smiled and presented her new award. “Isn’t it marvelous? Anyway, enough of me. My daughter is afraid I’m going to say something horrible. Normally, I would. But not tonight. There are two events in my life for which I will be forever thankful. The day I met my husband and the day I gave birth to my only daughter.” She stopped for a moment and looked down at Kit, almost in awe. “Can you believe that was fifty years ago?”
Kit swallowed her tears and nodded.
“She has never failed me and never disappointed me. I’m proud of her and love her with all my heart. Happy birthday, my darling.”
Kit stood and grabbed her mother, hugging her around the neck. “You just had to make me cry, didn’t you?” She wiped her eyes with the linen hanky, then sat down.
As she looked around the table, Kit noticed the centerpiece. Roz watched the questioning expression, then she knew it dawned on Kit when she saw the clover. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked down at the end of the table at Roz.
It was as if they had tunnel vision. They heard muffled conversations around them but nothing else.
“You remember?” Roz whispered.
Kit nodded, though she really couldn’t hear her. “I do.” She chuckled and shook her head.
“Well, I could use a beer,” Dale called out, breaking the moment completely.
Bess had been watching Kit and Roz. Roz never looked at Dale, but she smiled down at Kit as she started to get up. “Can’t Mark get it, Roz?” Bess asked.
“Are you kidding? He’s only seventeen and can’t be behind a bar. At least I don’t think he can. But regardless, I’m not taking the chance. Do you want my liquor license revoked? You have no idea how much it cost,” Roz said.
“Oh, who would know?” Bess asked.
“I would, you nut,” Roz said.
“You’re a Girl Scout.”
“I know. Can I get anyone else anything?”
All hands rose slowly. Roz laughed. “I had to ask.”
It was during the soup course when Dale started. The noise was horrendous. Helen dropped her spoon right in her soup, and everyone else jumped.
“God bless you,” Kit said after a second powerful sneeze.
“Pepper up your nose?” Roz asked, looking down the table. She avoided Kit’s warning glance, even after Kit picked up the butter knife.
“Wow, excuse me. I don’t know where that came from,” Dale said, wiping her nose on her napkin.
“That’s okay. That’s how I sneeze, too,” Stan said, eating his soup. “This is delicious.”
“And my favorite,” Kit said, eating a spoonful.
Roz preened slightly, much to Dale’s ire.
Dale was about to say something when she put her head back; her face scrunched and her eyes clamped shut. Everyone at the table either backed or leaned away. “
Ahhga
,” Dale grunted nasally. Her mouth opened. “
Ahh
...
ga
…
Ahhh
…”
Helen leaned away and grimaced. “She’s about to blow.”
And blow she did. She couldn’t get the napkin up to her face fast enough. When she sneezed, she nearly came off her seat.
“Well, dang,” Stan said with a laugh. “Maybe it’s the soup. Are you allergic to onions?”
Dale sniffed and shook her head. “I have no idea.”
“Maybe
ya
did get pepper up your
schnoz
,” Roz said.
Mark came out to clear the soup dishes, and once he had them out of the way, the sneezing seemed to stop.
“Maybe that was it,” Kit offered as Mark set the salad in front of them.
“Maybe,” Dale said, taking a drink of beer.
Mark set the salad plate in front of Bess. “I gave you a little more,” he whispered.
Bess looked down at the behemoth salad enough to feed a family of rabbits. Helen raised an eyebrow; even Stan took a look.
“Hell, I do have competition,” he said to Helen, who laughed. “Well, I had a friend who sneezed almost fifteen times in a row.”
“That has to be some kind of record,” Nate said. “This salad is delicious. Is that raspberry vinaigrette?”
“Yes. Stella makes all her dressings from scratch,” Roz said, hovering over the salad.
Kit agreed. “You should try her homemade jam and—”
Dale let loose with another
doozie
. They all waited, knowing another one would come. And it did. Dale’s head went back, she closed her eyes. “
Idunnowha
…” she said quickly, trying to get a sentence out before she sneezed. “
Wha
…It’s…
Iya
…
Iya
…”
Helen smiled around the table as she ate her salad. “That’s an upgrade from
ahhga
.”
After the explosion, Nate wiped his mouth on his napkin. “Are you allergic to raspberries?”
“No,” Dale said miserably.
Sandy continued eating her salad. “I don’t think I’ve seen you allergic to anything.”
“I don’t know,” Dale said, still sounding nasally and miserable as she sniffed.
Now Roz felt bad for her. The kid’s nose was getting red and puffy. Were her eyes swollen? She looked away and concentrated on her salad.
The heavenly prime rib course was magnificent as was the trout. Every one oohed and
ahhed
when Stella brought the baked fish, head and all, out on a silver platter. She served a small piece to all who wanted.
Bess held up her plate. “Well, it’s not lobster.”
“But Dale caught it this morning,” Roz assured her. “Can’t get any fresher than that.”
The conversation was delightful, and everyone just ignored Dale when she had her sneezing attacks. It became commonplace.
Kit was in red meat heaven. She almost asked for more—menopausal weight gain be damned—but knew dessert was coming. She couldn’t wait to see what it was. A pang of guilt wafted over her when she saw how miserable Dale was. It passed quickly, though, when she saw the huge piece of tiramisu set in front of her.
Stella came out to see how everyone was doing. She stood at the head of the table by Roz. “How is everything?” she asked, looking around the table.
After the brief applause, Stella bowed. “Well, just to let you all know, there’s going to be a food critic coming soon. So I’m honing my skills so we can impress whatever old geezer the
Denver Post
sends.”
“We’re glad to be your guinea pigs,” Stan said. “You’ll put White Clover Lodge back on the map.”
“That would be nice. Well, enjoy the dessert. A little bird told me it was your favorite,” Stella said to Kit.
Kit put a hand to her heart and looked down at Roz, who nodded as she ate a mouthful. “I could die and go to heaven right now,” Kit said happily.
“Eat it first,” Helen said, digging in.
On the last course, there was little talking. The happy moans coming from everyone were conversation enough—except for the occasional blitzkrieg from Dale.
With dinner finished, everyone sat back, drank coffee, and groaned.
“If I were at home, I’d have my belt loosened,” Stan said happily.
“I’d have my pants off.” Helen looked around the table. “Oh, please. Like you’ve never done that.”
It was then they all heard the buzzing. It started out low, almost inaudible, and for a moment, everyone looked around. Then it got louder, and in the next second, it came out of the centerpiece—an enormous wasp.
Helen screamed and picked up her napkin.
“Holy shit, that thing is huge,” Stan said.
Nate laughed. “We need to saddle it.”
“Kill it!” Bess cried out. “Kill it!”
“Okay, take it easy,” Stan said, trying not to laugh.
Stella and Mark appeared from the kitchen. “What’s going on?” Stella asked, watching napkins waving and women screaming. “No more alcohol for you people. If you can’t handle your…Whoa…” She ducked out of the way when the huge wasp flew by her.
Mark ran immediately to Bess’s aid. “I’ll take care of it, Bess,” he said, then let out a shriek as it buzzed by his head.
The wasp flew around everyone’s head, dive-bombing here and there.
Helen put her napkin over her hair. “Don’t let it get in my hair!”
Kit laughed. “Mother, it’s a wasp, not a bat.”
“I don’t care. It’ll make a nest…” She screamed as the wasp flew over her head.
Sandy looked as if she was having the time of her life. She laughed and swatted at the wasp with her napkin, as well. “This thing is on a mission.”
Stan, Roz, and Nate all swatted at it, ducked out of the way, then tried again.
Then the unthinkable happened. It flew right at Dale and hit her in the mouth. She screamed and smacked her face, trying to get it off her lip.