Authors: Mariah Stewart
Tonight’s work had filled her with the same sense of accomplishment and joy. She read the completed scene over and over, and each time, she rejoiced, knowing that the magic was there. She hooked up her printer and printed out the scene and turned off the lights. Tomorrow she’d go to the office supply store outside of town and pick up some supplies: more paper, more ink, some notepads, some file folders. She snapped off the hall light and walked up the steps, past the portraits of her ancestors and those of her costumed aunt. She fell asleep across her bed, the credits rolling in her head
: Screenplay by Dallas MacGregor, adapted from the novel written by Victoria Seymour …
Dallas was already behind closed doors in the library when Berry and Cody came back into the house from their morning tai chi. Berry knocked before opening the door, then poked in her head.
“Pardon the interruption, dear, but we’re wondering if you’re going to join us for breakfast.”
“I’m just having coffee,” Dallas said without taking her eyes from the computer screen.
“There are peaches and some yogurt in the fridge if you get hungry later. Cody and I are going to eat and go to the library.”
Dallas nodded, and Berry began to close the door quietly, but Cody slipped through and bounded into the room.
“Mom, we’re going to go to the library right after breakfast ’cause I want to be there early.” He threw himself onto her lap, forcing her to back away from the keyboard. “I can write my name on the activity paper for next week and I can tell Logan that I am going to stay here until September seventh.”
“Who is Logan?” Dallas leaned back in the oversize chair and ran her fingers through her boy’s hair.
“He’s my friend at story hour.” Cody squirmed away from her hand. “And I can’t wait to see what happens next in the story Mrs. Anderson is reading to us.”
“Sorry, Dallas,” Berry told her from the doorway. “I was trying not to disturb you.”
“It’s fine, Berry. I was going to have to stop soon anyway to run to that office supply store to pick up a few things I need.”
“Do you have a list? Cody and I can stop after the library and pick up whatever you need so that you can continue working. I could tell by the look on your face when I opened the door that you were totally absorbed in whatever it is you’re doing.”
Dallas smiled. “I spoke with Norma last night. She’s going to contact Victoria Seymour and see if we can negotiate the film rights for
Pretty Maids
. But I’m so excited about the project that I decided I’d just start working on a possible screenplay. You know, in case it works out, I’ll be that much farther along with the project. And yes, I was totally absorbed in it. It’s such a wonderful story. You really should read the book.”
“I’ll see if Barbara has another copy. I’m curious to see what it is about this story that has you so enthused.”
“I’ll be very interested to know what you think of it. I think the characters are absolutely … well, read it and we’ll talk about it.”
“I’ll stop at Book ’Em between the library and the office supply store. Go ahead and make that list for me.” Berry waved Cody to the door, and shut it behind
them, leaving Dallas to work on her new project.
It seemed like no time at all had passed between the moment Dallas handed Berry her list of supplies and the second she heard the back door slam to announce their arrival back home. She glanced at the digital clock on her computer and was stunned to see that almost three hours had gone by.
“We have your stuff, Mom.” Cody pushed open the door and carried a plastic bag directly to the desk. “I have pens and a stapler and paper clips and boxes of ink.”
“Thank you, Cody.” Dallas pushed the chair back and reached out for the bag, but her son went past her to dump the contents of the bag onto the desk.
“See? Pens with blue ink and some with red, like you wanted. And this box has big paper clips in it.” He held up a box with the picture of a big clip on it. “And these are pencils. I had to show Berry the kind you like best.”
Dallas picked up the package of mechanical pencils. “And you’re exactly right. This is the kind I like best.”
“Dear, I had no idea you had such a thing about refillable lead pencils.” Berry came in with a box of file folders on top of a box of computer paper. Dallas got up to take the load from her aunt.
“I have it, Dallas. I’m not a weakling, you know. I’m just going to drop them right here.” The boxes landed with a
thud
on the worn Oriental carpet. “There is another box of paper for your printer in the car, but my arms aren’t long enough to carry more than one at a time.”
“I’ll get it. Thank you so much for picking up everything for me. I really appreciate it.” Dallas stood and stretched. “I got quite a bit done on the second scene.”
“Why don’t you go get that other box from the car, and use this as your break? Anita came to clean this morning, and she made some of her delicious chicken salad for us to have for lunch. I’d love to sit out on the back porch to eat. Last night’s rain cooled things off quite nicely, and there’s a delightful breeze off the Bay, so we’re not only cooler and less humid today, but we’re bug-free as well.”
“How could anyone turn down an offer like that?” Dallas saved her work and closed the program.
Twenty minutes later, they were enjoying lunch on the small back porch that was just wide enough for the wicker table and six chairs. Dallas was distracted, still thinking about how best to write her scene, but Cody chattered away. Finally, Berry tapped her on the arm and said, “You’re a million miles away, dear. Why don’t you go back to work until it’s time to go to see Grant.”
“See Grant?” Dallas blinked. Was she going to see Grant today?
“To see the dog he called about last night, remember?” Berry prodded.
“We’re gonna get a dog! We’re gonna get a dog!” Cody sang out at the top of his lungs.
“Perhaps, child. We’ll see.” Berry turned back to Dallas. “You can get another few hours of work in. We’ll give you ten minutes’ heads-up before it’s time to leave.” She studied Dallas for a moment. “You might want to think about changing into something
that doesn’t say ‘working at home and don’t give a damn how I look’ quite so loudly. And a little makeup might help, while you’re at it. You have circles under your eyes and look as if you haven’t slept in several days.”
“I was up until three working,” Dallas admitted. “But I don’t know that I need to go with you today.”
“Of course you do, dear. What if we can’t decide between dogs? We’ll need you as the tiebreaker.”
“You have a point. And I suppose a little cleanup before I leave the house is in order.” Especially if she was going to see Grant. Not that it mattered, but, still … “A twenty-minute heads-up would be appreciated, Berry. Thank you.”
Dallas stood and held the door for her son, who was suddenly helpful again, as he appeared at her elbow carrying the basket of rolls from lunch and the salt and pepper shakers. He smiled at her angelically, and she glanced over her shoulder at Berry and rolled her eyes. Berry laughed, and followed them into the kitchen.
Berry sat on the porch and thumbed through the day’s mail while keeping one eye on Cody, who was crabbing off the dock with a raw chicken neck tied to a length of string. Earlier he announced that today he would catch crabs. He was doing okay luring them to the bait, but still hadn’t mastered the art of scooping them up with the net, so the bucket he’d prepared with cool water and seaweed held no crabs. So far he’d lost five big ones, he’d told Berry mournfully, because he wasn’t fast enough to catch them before they saw the net coming and disappeared into the eelgrass.
“The only way to learn is to practice,” Berry had told him, and he’d nodded, determined to perfect his technique.
Berry set aside the magazines and the small pile of envelopes, and watching Cody’s efforts, offered a simple prayer of thanks for the unexpected blessing she’d so recently received. Dallas’s call out of the blue, asking if she and Cody could come for a visit, had been nothing short of a miracle. Berry had hated to admit, even to herself, just how lonely she’d been.
Lonely
always sounded so needy. But if the truth were to be told, there was no denying that she was paying the price for the years of independence she’d enjoyed when she was a much younger woman, the woman who had had the world by the tail and had enjoyed every last moment of her fame and stardom.
At a very young age, Berry had been drawn to Hollywood and had conquered it. Over the years, she’d tired of the game, yet she’d gone back time and time again, even when there’d been nothing left to win. It had taken years for her to realize that there really was nothing for her there, and several years beyond that to understand that, sadly, there was precious little for her in St. Dennis, either. Any chance she’d had for real happiness with the things that truly mattered, she’d squandered. Too late she’d learned that a man—even one who claimed to love you more than anything else on the face of the earth—could only wait for so long before he’d give up, and move on to someone who was there for him.
She sighed heavily. That was all in the past now. The man she’d loved—and learned too late had a limit to his patience—had moved on, and in time, so
had she. If she thought of him now and then, if her ears perked up at the sound of his name, if her heart beat faster if she thought she caught a glimpse of his proud head towering above others in a crowd—his hair now as white as her own—well, that was hers to deal with, hers to own.
She wished she’d known how best to warn Dallas of the consequences of confusing illusion with reality (was there anything sadder than believing one’s own press?). She’d been simply beside herself when Dallas had announced she was going to marry Emilio. Berry had known the first time Dallas brought him to St. Dennis to meet her that he was a snake. There was a certain sort of man who should never be trusted, and Berry recognized at once that Emilio was just such an entity. Berry had picked up right away on something that apparently eluded Dallas: Emilio didn’t love her. So for Berry, it had been loathing at first sight, and in spite of her efforts at cordiality for Dallas’s sake, Emilio knew exactly how Berry felt about him. There had been no crisis on his latest film, as he’d claimed, that had forced them back to Hollywood days earlier than they’d planned. He’d disliked Berry every bit as much as she disliked him, and couldn’t wait to be out from under her roof.
Berry often regretted not having told Dallas how she’d really felt about him, but other than having made some vague comments like, “Dear, are you sure you’ve known him long enough?” or, “Why the rush to the altar?”—well, how did one tell a loved one that the person they’re set on marrying is a cad? And God knew, Berry had had enough experience with cads in her day to know one when she met one. Emilio had
been and always would be unworthy of Dallas, and that was the bottom line. It had given Berry no satisfaction to have had her fears confirmed. She’d have given anything to have spared Dallas the pain and the humiliation of these past few years.
Yet to Berry’s eye, Dallas seemed to be holding up well enough, but then, that would be expected. On the Eberle side, Dallas came from a long line of women who knew how to rise from the ashes. Berry had not been the least bit surprised when Dallas declared she was going to write her own screenplay; she’d never been one to sit in the corner and wait for something to come to her or for someone else to make things happen for her. Berry was willing to bet everything she had that by the end of summer, Dallas would not only have completed her work, but would have found backing for it.
Of course, Berry reminded herself, by the end of the summer, Dallas and Cody would be gone.
Yes, there is that
.
“Aunt Berry, look! I caught one!” Cody held up his net in triumph. “Come see!”
Berry smiled and set aside the mail and went down the cobbled path to the dock. She peered into the net.
“He isn’t very big, is he?” Cody noted.
“Well, no, he isn’t very big,” Berry agreed, “and
he
isn’t a
he.”
“He’s not?” Cody frowned. “How can you tell?”
She pointed at the crab’s claws. “See how the tips of her claws are bright red?”
Cody leaned closer, then nodded.
“Hold the net up higher so I can show you something on her underside.”
Cody did as he was told.
“See how this part of her abdomen is shaped like a V? The males—we call them jimmies—have a T shape there. When she gets older, this shape will round out more and look more like a bell.”
“She isn’t very old, then?”
“Not very old, and not very big. And since the crabs have to be at least five inches in length—that would be this way”—she showed him how to measure from side to side on the shell—“I’m afraid we’re going to have to let her go back into the river so she can grow a little bigger.”
He studied the crab for a long moment, then said, “It’s okay, Aunt Berry. There wouldn’t be enough for all three of us to eat from one little crab. We should let her get bigger and catch her next year. By next summer, I’ll be much better at this.”
“I’m sure you will, Cody.”
Berry squeezed her eyes closed for a second or two. How cavalierly the young could look forward a whole year without considering what might come between now and then. She could only pray that she’d be here come next summer, and that fate would arrange for Cody and Dallas to be here with her.
“Is it time to go see the dogs yet?” Cody asked.
Berry glanced at her watch. “Almost. Put the net away and we’ll go see about your momma.”
“Can I leave the bait down there? In case some hungry crabs come by?”
“Just loop the string around the top of the piling … yes, like that. That way, when you come back, your string will still be there.”
Cody tied the string and raced with the net to return
it to the carriage house. Watching him made Berry revisit her earlier mental diatribe against Emilio. Because of Dallas’s marriage—however ill-fated it may have been—they had this marvelous boy, and nothing, not even Emilio’s piggish behavior, would ever make Berry wish that wedding had never taken place. The man may have been unworthy, but the child he had fathered was a most precious gift.