Chapter Eleven
“No, I really think it’s true,” Fran was saying after the group
had ordered some tea and pastries at a restaurant an hour later.
“I’m sure there are some flowers that don’t smell pleasant. I know
all the ones at the park did, but I distinctly remember hearing my
father say there are a couple of flowers that a person should never
have at a wedding because they stink.”
“I’ve never come across a flower that hasn’t
smelled nice,” Katherine argued.
“That’s a good thing,” Janet said. “You
wouldn’t want to.”
“It’s a shame if some don’t smell nice,”
Margie spoke up. “They’re all beautiful. I can’t recall a single
one that hasn’t brightened up the room.”
“She’s right,” Annabelle agreed. “They all
look splendid. I often think it would be nice to have my own flower
garden, but I never seem to find the time.”
“Why don’t you have the groundskeeper make
one for you?” Fran asked.
“I’d rather do it myself,” Annabelle replied.
“That way I can arrange them the way I want.”
Fran shook her head and laughed. “You’d ruin
your hands. Even if you wore gloves, your nails would suffer for
it. It’s better you concentrate on other things.”
The waiter stopped at their table and gave
everyone their cup of tea and the pastry.
Rosalyn leaned forward and asked Annabelle,
“What type of flowers would you plant if you had the time?”
“Don’t encourage her,” Fran playfully
admonished as the waiter walked away. “She has the prettiest nails
of anyone in Omaha.”
“The question is only one of curiosity,”
Rosalyn told Fran. “We all know Annabelle’s not really going to do
it. I only wanted to know her floral preferences.”
Since Fran seemed content with the answer,
Annabelle began to list off flowers she liked. Natalie let out a
sigh. Further down the table, the other women were discussing some
other topic she didn’t care to keep track of. The only reason she
was focused on this one was because she was closer to these
particular women.
Though, for as much as she participated in
the conversation, it really didn’t matter if she was there or not.
The most she’d said up to now was a brief mention of her favorite
flowers when Annabelle made the inquiry. Other than that, she had
kept quiet. She’d like to blame it on the fact that it was because
she was new to the group, but even Margie had joined into the
conversation several times.
Natalie picked up her teacup and got ready to
drink it when someone cleared her throat. She glanced over at Fran.
Fran gave a slight shake of her head and motioned for her to pick
up the saucer with her free hand. Surprised, Natalie did, and then
Fran showed her how many fingers to use to hold the teacup. Natalie
released her last two fingers. Fran nodded and then sipped her own
tea. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Natalie took a timid sip. Was
there a wrong way to sip? If she hadn’t known the correct way to
handle a teacup and saucer, could she be sure that she was drinking
the tea properly?
She didn’t recall the way she’d held her
teacup being wrong when she’d been with Mark or his family. But, as
she glanced around the table, she realized all of the women were
holding their cups and saucers the exact way Fran was.
Her gaze went back to Fran who was chuckling.
Fran was looking at Rosalyn, but Natalie wondered if Fran was
laughing at her. No. That was silly. Why would Fran laugh at her?
She’d just helped her out.
“Have you ever planted a flower garden?”
Annabelle asked Natalie, breaking her out of her thoughts.
Natalie’s attention went to her
sister-in-law. “Yes, but I often used perennials, so I didn’t have
to plant flowers often.”
“What’s the difference between perennials and
the other kinds of flowers?” Annabelle asked.
Natalie noticed that Annabelle had put her
saucer down. She glanced at Fran who was whispering to Rosalyn. Did
that mean it was alright to put a saucer down from time to time
while drinking tea in public?
“Natalie?” Annabelle asked.
Natalie forced her gaze back to Annabelle.
“Sorry.” She offered a smile. “Um, well, there are some flowers you
need to plant every year. The perennials are ones you plant once,
and they keep coming back.”
“Maybe I could plant all perennials,”
Annabelle said. “Then I’d only have to make a flower garden
once.”
Fran’s nose wrinkled. “Flower gardens need
more than planting. My groundskeeper goes out every day to weed it
and make sure all of the flowers are watered. You can’t just plant
flowers and leave them alone.”
“She’s right,” Rosalyn agreed. “You’re better
off telling your groundskeeper what you want and having him take
care of it.”
Annabelle seemed disappointed but didn’t
argue. Instead, she picked up her pastry and started eating.
Natalie wanted to tell Annabelle that keeping
up a garden really wasn’t that much work. It only required five
minutes a day, or every other day, to nurture it. Annabelle might
even be able to get away with tending to it a couple days a week.
But she knew the others wouldn’t approve, so she kept her mouth
shut.
“You know what we should do?” Katherine asked
everyone in the group.
All gazes went to her, but it was Janet who
encouraged Katherine to tell them her idea.
“We should all go to the opera that’s playing
next week,” Katherine said. “We could have husbands, fathers, or a
gentleman courting us be our escorts. Then when the opera’s over,
we can come to my home for dinner.”
“I’d love to watch an opera,” Margie replied.
“I haven’t been to one in over a year. I miss listening to those
gifted singers. They have voices that make my heart swell up with
emotion.”
“What a lovely idea,” Fran added. “I’d love
an excuse to wear the new evening gown I bought the other day.”
Rosalyn turned to her in interest. “The dark
blue one with the puffy sleeves?”
“That’s the one,” Fran replied. “Father
spoils me so. He insisted the seamstress use real diamonds to
decorate the neckline.”
“You’ll make the rest of us jealous if you
show up in something like that.” Though Katherine gave the comment,
Natalie could tell she was excited by the prospect of seeing the
gown.
As the others started talking about what
gowns they might wear, Natalie focused on the pastry in front of
her. These women were different from the ones she’d grown up with.
She didn’t know how to relate to them. She had nothing in common
with them, except for her financial status, and that was only
because she had married Mark. For the first time, she began to
wonder if Velma had been right. Maybe she wasn’t cut out for this
kind of life.
***
“If you’re too sick, we can stay home,”
Natalie told Mark on the evening of the opera performance.
Mark glanced over at her from the mirror
where he was adjusting his tie. She had finished getting dressed
early. She’d been too restless to do anything else. Otherwise, Mark
was usually ready to go somewhere before she was.
“It’s just a head cold,” he replied with a
smile. “And I’m practically over it. All I do is cough from time to
time.”
“Yes, but when you cough, you have a hard
time stopping. What if you start coughing in the middle of the
opera? There won’t be any water nearby to help sooth the tickle in
your throat.”
“I got that taken care of.” He pointed to his
dresser where a small tin can held hard candies. “My uncle Joel
said the honey in those candies will ease the urge to cough.” He
finished with the tie. “Can you believe he charged me for that even
though I’m family?”
Despite her apprehension about the evening,
she found herself laughing. “Your uncle has to make a living, Mark.
And besides, it’s not like you can’t afford it.”
He grinned and slipped the tin into his
pocket. “I remember when I was a kid. He’d offer things like this
for free. But,” he quickly added, “that was before my parents
earned the bulk of their wealth. My uncle has been generous in the
past. I don’t mind handing him a coin for these. I only give him a
hard time because he picks on my uncle Tom a lot.” He retrieved his
suit jacket and slipped it on. “I always felt sorry for Tom. It
seemed like no matter how hard he tried, Joel got the best of
him.”
“If I had been able to stay around after the
wedding, I would have met these uncles, and then I’d have a better
idea of what you’re talking about.”
He finished buttoning his jacket then went
over to her and drew her into his arms. “No way. I much preferred
what we ended up doing instead.”
She shouldn’t be surprised he made the
reference to their first time together. Since he’d come down with
the cold, he hadn’t been intimate with her, and she could tell he
was starting to get antsy by the way he slid his hands along her
body whenever he held her. Just as he was doing now.
“We could stay here tonight instead of going
out,” she offered, hoping he’d take the bait. For good measure, she
pressed her body up against his in a way she knew brought him some
pleasure.
He groaned. “I’d like to, but this will be a
good thing for us to do as a couple. You’ll get to meet more people
and get new acquaintances. You’ll never know what friends you’ll
make if we don’t go.”
She hid her grimace. She didn’t think she’d
make any friends at all. Maybe it’d been a mistake to tell him
she’d enjoyed going to the park and restaurant with those women. At
the time, she couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth because
it seemed to mean a lot to him that she’d had a good afternoon.
He gave her a kiss, keeping it much too short
so she couldn’t use this as a distraction to get him into bed.
He pulled away from her then grabbed his hat.
“We don’t want to be late.”
Forcing a smile, she let him lead her out of
the room. She could only hope the evening would pass by faster than
the afternoon with those women had.
***
Mark shifted in his seat at the opera house
so he could get a better look at Annabelle and Kenneth. He’d
escorted Natalie to the row behind them for this very reason.