“Oh my—no. I’m going to bed. Good night.”
“It’s not too late to call Joe if you don’t want to do that alone.”
“Good night, Grandma.”
“I don’t know where I went wrong with that girl,” she muttered as I went up the stairs.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
July 1951
Hereford, Massachusetts
Three more days crept by while Evelyn tried to decide what to do. Mrs. Gardner’s voice would come back to her and she would resolve to leave, going so far as to pack a bag. But Vivie slipped into the room when Evelyn went to get her toothbrush.
She looked at the bag on the bed and back at her sister, eyes welling up.
“Vivie, please don’t.”
Vivie brushed at her eyes with the back of her hand and took a deep breath, trying to blink the tears away. “Mama said—”
“I know what Mama said.” She took a deep breath. “But you know Papa will cave eventually.”
“Not if she doesn’t.”
And there it was. The wild card Evelyn hadn’t counted on when she planned to run off with Tony if Joseph said no. Joseph would forgive her. But would he go against Miriam?
Evelyn sank onto the bed. “What am I supposed to do?” she asked. “I love him. I can’t live like this.”
Vivie wrapped Evelyn in her arms. “I don’t know.” She kissed her sister’s hair. “But I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Guilt ridden, Evelyn unpacked the bag before crying herself to sleep.
As the family prepared for the daily trek to the beach the next morning, a car pulled to a stop outside the cottage, and the children ran to the front porch at the sound.
“Well, hello there.” A male voice drifted through the screened windows. “Is your auntie Evelyn at home?”
Evelyn was in her room. She hadn’t been to the beach since she last saw Tony and wasn’t about to help anyone prepare for the day’s adventures. But her ears pricked up at the sound of the car, and a ray of hope traveled through the screen with the familiar voice.
She ran to the mirror over her dresser—she looked frightful. Pale and thin with huge circles under her eyes. She couldn’t even remember the last time she brushed her hair.
Straining to hear the conversation as Joseph went outside to talk to the man, she hurriedly put on some makeup and a dress and tugged a hairbrush through her matted hair.
When she came downstairs, Fred was seated in the living room, a glass of lemonade in front of him, and both Miriam and Joseph fawned over him as if he were the Messiah himself, having realized from his last name that he was the Jewish suitor who could end their worries.
“Hello, Fred.”
He rose, smiling. “Evelyn.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I’ve been calling—when I couldn’t reach you, I figured I’d take a drive.”
“Two hours?”
He grinned. “I missed you.” Miriam grabbed Joseph’s hand with her left and pressed her right to her heart, which Evelyn saw as her window of opportunity opening.
“We were going to the beach,” Miriam said. “We could find you a suit, if you’d like to join us.”
“Mama,” Evelyn said. “With everyone? All the kids?” Fred started to protest that it was fine, but a look from Evelyn silenced him. “Is it all right if I go into town with him?”
“Of course,” Miriam said. She rose, touching Fred’s arm. “It’s so nice to meet you.” She shooed Joseph out of the room, stopping to brush Evelyn’s hair from her face as she went.
Evelyn waited until they were gone, looked behind the sofa for spare children, then grabbed Fred’s arm. “Come on,” she said, pulling him toward the door.
“What’s the hurry?”
“I’ll explain in the car. Let’s go. Now.”
He let himself be led down the porch steps and opened the door of his Studebaker for her. Once in the driver’s seat, he turned to her. “Are you okay?”
“No. Drive down to the end of the road and turn left, then the first right.”
“Are we robbing a bank?”
Evelyn sighed, exasperated. “No. What are you really doing here?”
“I was worried. I called the house a few times and kept being told you couldn’t talk. Then they hung up without taking a message. Are you a hostage?”
“Yes, actually.”
“Now I’m really confused.”
She sighed again. “Tony asked my father for his blessing. And everything went south.”