Chapter 43
A s soon as they walked into the house, Mamie went to the wall phone in the kitchen and dialed a number. It took Dalia a minute to figure out who she called.
“Okay, Brody. See you soon.” Mamie ended the call and shrugged at her daughter. “No reason for a hard-working, single man to come home to a lonely, empty apartment with nothing to eat at the end of his day. That roast in the oven is big enough for ten people.”
“Mama, if our bakery fails, you can run a matchmaking service. I’m sure you’d be a huge success.”
“I believe I would.” Mamie turned on the radio and shimmied her hips to Little Richard belting out Good Golly Miss Molly while checking the roast in the oven. Satisfied, she closed the oven door and bopped around the room, singing along.
Rose got in on the fun and Dalia decided why not and joined in, playfully twirling a kitchen towel above her head.
Not to be left out, Rover bounced around, too.
They fixed salad, set the table, and did everything for a proper supper, all the while rocking to their old-time rock and roll.
They chain-danced to Aretha Franklin’s Chain of Fools when Dalia came to an abrupt halt.
Rose bumped into her. That got Mamie’s attention.
Brody stood in the doorway, grinning like a happy thief. “Good evening, ladies. I knocked, but nobody heard me.”
“Mr. Mac-Tyre!” Rose rushed to him, catching him off guard. He had to take a step back as she flung herself into his arms.
“How are you, sweetie?” he asked.
“I’m good. How are you?”
“I’m very, very good, now that I’m here with all of you.”
She giggled and wiggled out of his hold.
Mamie turned down the music while Dalia snatched a kiss from her man, and Mamie motioned for them to grab their drinks while she pulled out the roast. Mamie’s kitchen, always a safe harbor amid the uncertainties of the world, infused joy into the lives of all who were fortunate enough to step over its threshold.
And the food was the best. That was the mood as they sat down and dug in.
While they ate, Dalia and her mama broached a topic they’d discussed earlier, having decided to break the news of Dalia’s heritage to Rose in pieces. Dalia started. “Rose, honey, guess what we found out today?”
“What?” Rose’s focus didn’t veer from her supper, which she was enjoying a lot.
“Well, you know how some people have really big families?”
“Ah ha.”
“Today we discovered that our family is bigger than we thought, because we have some relatives we didn’t even know were relatives.”
“’kay.” Rose chomped on a piece of roasted carrot.
“And it turns out we know them! And we like them a lot!”
That got the girl’s attention. “Oh yeah? You mean like cousins and stuff?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“The O’Brien’s. Kenyon and her mom and her dad and her brother. Isn’t that neat?”
Rose glared at her mother in amazement as she took that in. “You mean Mrs. ’Brien, O? My storyteller?”
“Yes, dear,” her grandmother said. “Isn’t that wonderful?”
“Yeah! Can we bring ‘em over?”
“Of course,” Mamie said. “Just not right now because they’re at their house eating their supper.”
“Oh. How ’bout tomorrow?”
“We’ll see. Maybe not tomorrow, but we’ll have them over some time soon. How’s that?”
“Cool! Can we make ’em a cake?”
“Yes, love.” Dalia stroked her daughter’s hair. “We’ll bake a pretty cake just to share with them.”
“And we won’t make them pay for it. Right?”
Dalia reassured her daughter that when they had company over the cake would be free.
“Do you have any questions?” Mamie asked.
“Nuh uh.”
Brody, sitting next to Rose, reached a hand toward her on the table. “You are one lucky girl, Rose. It’s nice to get a bigger family.”
“Yeah. You can be in our family, too. I mean, if you want. You wanna don’t you?”
“Why yes. I would like that very much.”
“Okay. You can be the, um, I dunno what. Mommy, can he be our cousin?”
“Ah, something like that.”
“Cool!” Rose guffawed like a jolly old man.
Brody offered her a palm and they high-fived.
Like the happy little family they were – at least at the moment – they cleaned up the kitchen together. Dalia invited Brody to join in as she and Rose went out to feed the chickens, but Mamie said she had something to show him.
When she led him into her bedroom, which was right off the kitchen, Brody immediately marveled at the craftmanship of the room. “Mamie, this is a beautiful room. Look at the woodwork.”
“It is fabulous, isn’t it? Butch built it for us six years ago.
This used to be the formal dining room. But seeing that we aren’t ‘formal’ folks, we decided this was a better use for the space.
We wanted Dalia and Rose to have their own space upstairs.
This room is enormous, isn’t it? They used to feed a lot of people in a big old farmhouse like this that was built for a large family.
” Lovingly, she ran a hand across the oak beadboard wainscoting.
“This was here. Butch sanded and refinished it along with the crown molding, the window trim, and the floor.” She ran the toe of her shoe over the floor.
“He painted the walls this soft forest green, my favorite color. It’s so relaxing, don’t you think? ”
Brody cocked his head and squinted suspiciously at his host. “Mamie, what are you up to?”
“Oh, nothing.” She blinked like a cagey teenager trying to get out of trouble.
“It’s just that he put in a bathroom back there in what used to be the utility room, and there’s a back porch that I’d love to have closed in for my sewing room someday.
So, as you can see, I have everything I need right here.
There’s total privacy in that big old upstairs.
It’s like an apartment all its own practically. ”
“I see.” He leaned in, his hands in his pockets.
“But there’s something I need you to know, Brody.”
“What might that be?”
Mamie sat down on the side of the bed. “Well, when Dalia marries again, if she and her husband ever decide they want their own place, I would completely understand. They could build whatever they want on any part of this property they choose. She says she’ll never leave the farm but even if that happens, I would be okay.
Her first responsibility would be to her husband and children. I expect and respect that.”
Brody took a seat beside her. “I see. What if this husband of hers was okay with living here. That’s okay with you?”
“Oh my, yes. Butch and I always wanted a big family.”
“This husband of Dalia’s would no doubt want to support the family – including the house and farm and expenses. If he happened to be somebody like me, I’m afraid he wouldn’t make enough money to do that. He’d feel bad about that.”
“Oh goodness, don’t be silly.” She slapped his knee.
“This house was in Butch’s family for generations.
There’s no mortgage or anything. It’s meant to be passed down.
Dalia’s sheep business takes care of the animal expenses.
She loves those sheep! Butch left us with enough to get by just fine for years to come.
We can’t afford extras but we’re not destitute.
And we make a nice bit on our own with baking.
Hopefully, we’ll make more with the bakery.
Another income would be a bonus, but I’d expect this husband to put part of his earnings aside for his family’s future. Wouldn’t you?”
“Mamie Blackburn, do you realize what a gift that would be?”
“Of course. That was the plan Butch and I made long ago once our girl came into our lives. Just thinking about it made us so happy.”
“You and Butch were such excellent parents. And you still are.”
“Well, be that as it may, a lot of men don’t like living with their mother-in-law.”
“Those men don’t have you for a mother-in-law. Who can cook like you do, no less.” He put an arm around her shoulder and drew her close.
Mamie guffawed, slapped his knee, and stood up. “Well, glad that’s settled.”
When they went back into the kitchen, Dalia and Rose quietly sat at the table.
“You done talkin’?” Rose wanted to know.
“Yes, we are.” Mamie patted Brody’s shoulder.
Dalia sent Rose upstairs to get ready for bed, with a promise that someone would be up to read to her. Innocently happy as a child should be, Rose trotted upstairs with Rover.
The adults went out on the front porch. Mamie and Dalia sat in the swing and Brody in a chair as they watched the sun go down on the horizon. That magnificent spectacle was different every single evening and marveling over it never got old.
Mamie broke the spell of silence by casually saying, “Dalia, there’s something I never told you about your dad and me.”
“Really? What’s that?”
“It isn’t the kind of thing you want your teenaged daughter to know lest she get ideas that feed her immature, hormonal impulsivity.
You know that Butch and I knew each other, of course, when we were young.
The black community in Farmdale was small.
But he was older and I was just a little kid to him when he went into the Army.
It was when he came back and I’d grown up and he came home looking so handsome and captivating in his uniform that we, shall I say, clicked.
We got married three days after setting eyes on each other.
It would’ve been sooner except that’s the waiting period for a license in Michigan. ”
“What? Mama! I had no idea. I mean, it ended up great, but you’re right. That was rather impulsive.”
“Mamie,” Brody said, “I think it’s romantic. There’s no need to wait when you know it’s true love.”
“Exactly. No need to wait. It’s Monday. If someone were to go register for a marriage license tomorrow on Tuesday, they’d have it no later than Friday.
They’d be all set for a nice weekend wedding.
Wouldn’t it be lovely to have a wedding right here on the farm?
Especially this time of year surrounded by the scent of our lilacs?
” She inhaled as dramatically as an actress on stage, her show of feigning innocence masterful.
“Why, they’ll be done blooming before long.
” She chuckled at her own performance and got up. “I’ll go check on Rose.”
Once the screen door closed behind her mama, Dalia shook her head in disbelief. “She’s as subtle as a steamroller. We’ve been played.”
He grinned. “Yup. And I love it.”
She went over and snuggled into his lap. “So, what do you say?”
“Dalia Blackburn, are you proposing to me?”
“Ah, I think the original proposal came from my mother. Let’s be glad she didn’t bring along a shotgun.”
“No need, because I say yes.”
“This weekend?”
“Yes.”
Their laughter at the absurdity and exhilaration of it all echoed across the land, bringing joy to every creature who heard it. Including Mamie and Rose, who excitedly sat at the open window above the porch.