33. Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-One
T hree days later, Laura was running the laundry through the wringer of the washing machine out back in the shed. It was her last day of afternoons, and she was looking forward to a day off. But she didn’t want to spend it catching up on chores, so she was trying to get as much done as possible. She wore an apron over her clothes and had her hair tied up in a kerchief.
Her fingers were like prunes, and she vowed that as soon as Edwin returned from the war and they bought a home, her first purchase was going to be an electric washing machine, just like the ones she’d seen advertised in the women’s magazines.
She stopped halfway through running one of the girls’ nightgowns through the wringer, as she thought she heard someone calling her. Wiping her hands on her apron, she opened the door and found Edna calling for her.
“What is it, Edna?”
“Phone call, Mommy.” With the message delivered, Edna skipped off around the side of the house .
Looking at the two baskets, one of dirty laundry and the other filling up with wet laundry needing to be hung on the line, Laura rubbed the back of her hand against her forehead. She removed her apron and threw it over an old chair in the corner.
She ran to the house, going in through the kitchen door, and went for the phone in the front hall.
“Hello?”
“Is that you, Laura?”
Tentative, she replied, “Yes?”
“It’s Mrs. Quinn.”
“Hello, Mrs. Quinn, how are you?”
“We’re not too well over here. It’s Diana.”
Laura frowned. “Is she sick?”
“No. She hasn’t come out of her room in two days.” Mrs. Quinn did not elaborate.
Putting two and two together, Laura said, “I’ll be right there.”
Her parents were out at some luncheon for friends who were celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary. She couldn’t leave the girls home unattended. Joan had made it clear that she didn’t mind cooking and cleaning, but she wasn’t babysitting. Laura often thought it had nothing to do with children in general, only her two girls, who were a handful.
She’d have to take them with her. She didn’t bother calling Joy, who lived all the way over in the next town.
Holding both girls by the hand, they walked over to Peony Lane which wasn’t too far away, only a block or two.
As the three of them approached the front porch of the Quinn house, Laura said to her daughters, “Behave yourselves in here or you’ll be in a whole heap of trouble when we get home.” She leveled her meanest glare at them, the one that said she meant business.
Taking each girl by the hand, she walked quickly up onto the porch and rang the bell.
Mrs. Quinn opened the door, and her expression was one of pure anguish.
Laura herded the girls into the house. “I’m sorry, I had to bring them with me as I had no one to watch them. This is Edna, and the younger one is Edith.”
Mrs. Quinn smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Two pretty names for two pretty girls.”
“Is she in her room?” Laura asked.
Mrs. Quinn nodded, looking in the direction of Diana’s bedroom. “No matter what I say, I can’t get her to come out of that room.”
“The visit with Preston didn’t go well?” Laura asked, afraid of the answer but already knowing it.
Mrs. Quinn lowered her voice. “No. It turned out as she feared.”
“Gee whiz, that’s awful. I’ll go back and talk to her.”
“Thank you for coming over so quickly, Laura, I appreciate it.” Then, turning to the girls, Mrs. Quinn asked, “Who likes oatmeal cookies?”
Both girls jumped up and down and yelled, “Me, me!”
Laura put a hand on each shoulder. “Hey, hey, tone it down.”
They nodded and followed Diana’s mother to the kitchen.
Laura walked down the narrow hallway to Diana’s room, knocking gently before poking her head inside and saying, “Diana, it’s me. ”
Diana was on her side in her bed, facing away from Laura, and barely lifted her head in acknowledgment. Laura closed the door behind her, went over to her friend, and sat on the edge of the bed. She placed a hand on Diana’s shoulder.
“Your mother called.”
Diana did not turn over. In a flat voice, she said, “There was no need for that.”
“She said you haven’t been out of this room in days. She’s worried about you.” Laura was too.
“There’s no need for me to come out of this room anymore.”
“Come on, Diana, you can’t say that. Tell me what happened with Preston,” Laura prompted.
“We broke it off, just as I predicted.”
“Sit up and tell me.”
“I don’t want to go into it,” Diana said.
“When’s the last time you ate?”
“I don’t know.” Diana shrugged and added, “and I don’t care.”
Laura jumped up, glad for something to do. “Nothing can be done until you eat something.” Before her friend could insist otherwise, she slipped out of the room.
She found the girls seated at the table with Mrs. Quinn. Each girl had two cookies on a small dessert plate and a glass of milk. They were talking about their adventures with Diana’s mother, who seemed amused despite her worry over her daughter.
“She’ll have something to eat,” Laura said.
Mrs. Quinn jumped up from the table and fixed a chicken sandwich and a cup of tea for her daughter .
Laura balanced the serving tray in one hand as she opened the door to Diana’s room. Diana was now sitting up in the bed.
Progress.
Laura set the tray onto Diana’s lap. “Try and eat something.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Try.” Laura’s tone was firm, indicating she would tolerate no resistance. She pulled the chair up closer to the bed and sat down and crossed her legs.
Diana looked pale, and there were purple circles beneath her eyes, which were glassy and bloodshot.
When she had eaten half of the sandwich, Laura said gently, “Tell me what happened.”
Diana took a sip of tea and then a second one, setting the cup carefully down on the tray.
“At first, Preston seemed fine with it. Kept saying it couldn’t be that bad.” Diana rolled her eyes, and they filled up. She gathered her composure and in a shaky voice, she said, “He insisted on seeing it.”
Laura didn’t know how that could have been avoided. Diana had said they’d been talking about marriage before the accident. She’d been expecting to get engaged on his next leave.
Her voice became angry. “I kept putting him off and putting him off. His insistence made me feel like a freak in a traveling circus show.” She sniffled. Ignoring the remaining half of the sandwich, she picked up the teacup and sipped from it.
With defiance in her voice, she said, “So I showed him on the third night of his leave. ”
Laura remained silent, giving her friend all the time she needed.
Diana bowed her head, and a teardrop fell on the tray. “It was his reaction. It just gutted me.”
Oh no.
“I took off my scarf, and he looked stunned.” Diana grabbed a hankie from the sleeve of her housecoat. “Then he looked horrified.” A round of crying followed.
Laura didn’t know what to say or how to comfort her friend. She reached out and rubbed Diana’s arm.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “So sorry that you’ve been hurt.”
In between sobs, Diana said, “You should have seen the look on his face. He made me feel like I was some horror creature. From your worst nightmares.”
Laura wanted to get a hold of him and throttle him. He must have seen a lot worse in the war. He was supposed to love this girl. She wanted to reassure Diana that this fella wasn’t worth it, that there was someone better out there for her. That he’d done her a favor by leaving her because she deserved better.
“And then he broke it off with you?”
Diana shook her head. “No, I broke it off with him. Told him I didn’t feel like waiting for the war to be over to get married.”
She’d given him an escape route.
“What did he say?” If he was the decent sort, he would have refused.
“He didn’t say anything. But you should have seen the look on his face. It was one of pure relief.”
Then Diana broke down, and her shoulders shook as she sobbed. Laura removed the tray so it wouldn’t end up on the floor, and set it on the bureau. She nudged her friend over and sat beside her in the narrow bed, putting an arm around her. Diana sagged against her, her head on Laura’s shoulder.
“That’s it, let it all out,” Laura said.
By the time she had to go, Diana had stopped crying. Laura didn’t think she had any more tears. With a heavy heart, she departed with the promise to see her soon.
She found the girls in the kitchen, eating more cookies, not worried that they’d most likely spoiled their dinner. When she told them it was time to go, both girls protested loudly. But she leveled a glare at them that withered their protests on the vine.
Mrs. Quinn walked the three of them to the door.
“Thank you for bringing your daughters. They were a pleasant distraction.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” As the girls rushed out of the house and ran toward the car, Laura said, “I’ll be back soon for a visit, but call me anytime.”
As she drove home, she thought she and Joy would have to put their heads together to figure something out to help their friend.
1945
They visited Diana weekly when their schedules allowed. Sometimes, they brought their children with them. Diana was less self-conscious with the kids, and Laura thought she was a natural. She sent up a silent prayer that one day, Diana might become a mother herself. In the meantime, as spring approached, they tried coaxing her outside to sit on the front porch, but she refused .
On one visit, Laura brought two of Edna’s dresses with her because of an offhand comment Mrs. Quinn had made about how Diana used to enjoy sewing and making clothes and bed linens but hadn’t picked up her sewing box since the accident.
Although Laura did sew, she wasn’t especially skilled at it, and there were always other things that needed doing. In other words, she just didn’t have the time, not working six days a week. Maybe it was selfish of her, but she figured since Diana was home all day, maybe she could mend a couple of dresses for her.
At first, Diana simply stared at the dresses in Laura’s hand.
“These are Edna’s,” Laura said. “She’s a climber. Trees. Fences. The garage roof.”
Mrs. Quinn looked concerned. “I’d be afraid she’d fall and break something.”
“I am. But right now, I’m more concerned with all the tears in her clothes.” Laura held up the first dress, which had a rip down the side of it.
Diana reached forward and fingered it. “May I?” she asked.
“Of course.” Laura handed both dresses to her.
Diana set the dresses in her lap and lowered her head to examine the rents in the fabric. Finally, she looked up at Laura. “If you leave them with me, I’ll see what I can do.”
“I really appreciate it, Diana, you’d be doing me a favor,” Laura said.
When she returned a week later, Diana was waiting for her with Edna’s dresses folded neatly in her lap. She handed them to Laura.
Laura turned the dresses over in her hands. You couldn’t even tell where the rips had been. “This is fantastic.”
Diana pulled something out of a large bag lying on the floor next to her chair. “I had some extra fabric, so I made two more dresses for Edna. If you give me Edith’s size, I’ll do the same for her.”
Laura was impressed. “Jeez, you didn’t have to do that.”
Diana shrugged, looking sheepish. “I had the time.”
“How much do I owe you for these?”
Her friend looked appalled. “No, Laura. That isn’t necessary. I wasn’t expecting any payment.”
“Are you sure?”
“Definitely. You’ve been a good friend to me. It’s the least I could do. By all means, bring me your mending.”
“You don’t mind?”
Diana shook her head. “No, not at all.” She opened her hands, palms up. “What else do I have to do?”
“All right then, that really helps me.” But Laura was determined to help her friend. And if she insisted on mending Laura’s clothes, she would be paid for it.
On the way out, Mrs. Quinn followed Laura to her car. “Please do bring your mending. Working on those dresses has been good for her. She’s had something to do other than think about her problems.”
An idea began to swirl around in Laura’s head. “You can count on it. It was good to see you again, Mrs. Quinn. I’ll see you next week. Joy couldn’t come today because she switched shifts with someone at work, but she’ll be here next time.”
“Good. We look forward to your visits. They certainly brighten Diana’s days.”
“I’m happy to hear that.”