Her Mother's Daughter (47 page)

When Matt's mother opened the door, she plunked Peter and the diaper bag into Ruth's arms. “I'll be back in three hours.”

Ashley got in the car and went home.

That was the end of the problem.

Two weeks later it was Christmas. Bay invited everyone over to her house for a big Christmas dinner. There were eighteen of them altogether. Bay, Ashley, Matt, and baby Peter. Then there were Tansy and Dermot and Gertie and big Peter and his mother, Dorothy. Also Ruth and Ian and Matt's brother, Adam, and his girlfriend, May Ling. Peter's brother, Michael, and his three children came too, because it was his turn to have them for Christmas and he usually spent it with his brother, but since Peter was coming here, Bay invited Michael and family too. Maribeth and her new boyfriend, Ryan, came for dessert after dinner with her parents, making twenty.

And although it was crowded and noisy and confusing, and Merlin got into the turkey carcass, it was the best Christmas Bay and Tansy could remember.

They waited until June to have Peter christened. It was a glorious Sunday. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. The entire family descended on the church in their finery, having walked to the church en masse. Bay was having everyone back to the house for a summer luncheon afterwards. Dorothy and Michael had cameras at the ready for big Peter's big day and Gertie bought an outfit that wasn't from the Sears catalogue.

During the ceremony, baby Peter was not impressed when the minister poured water on his head. He pouted and cried and held his arms out to big Peter. Of course everyone thought that was adorable.

As they walked home, Michael and Bay found themselves side by side at one point. They smiled at each other.

“You know,” Michael said, “I watched Peter and Gertie on the altar today and I had a premonition that someday we'd be at their wedding.”

“I don't doubt that for a minute.”

He leaned closer. “Actually it's more than a premonition. Peter asked Mom about our grandmother's engagement ring.”

Bay grabbed his arm in excitement. “I won't breathe a word. Oh, how wonderful.”

“You love her, don't you?” he laughed. “Of course, what's not to love?”

Bay grew pensive. “Gertie was the glue when our world became unglued. She hung in there and wouldn't let us give up on each other. I can never repay her for what she's done for my daughter, my sister, and I. She's living proof that family isn't about bloodlines. It's about one heart connecting to another. It's as simple as that.”

“In my line of work,” Michael replied, “I see families interact all day under stressful situations and often it's not pretty. But I have to say, I was impressed with the way all of you handled the crisis last winter. I'm proud of my little brother. He's someone I look up to. It hasn't been easy since the divorce, dealing with the hurt and heartache my own kids have gone through. But seeing the way your friends and family rallied around each other gives me hope that my kids and I will weather the storm and not be crushed by it.”

“You'll be fine, Michael. I've seen you with your kids. You're a great dad.”

“You don't think I'm too mean?”

She looked at him and laughed. “You're never going to let me forget that, are you?”

“Nope. Well, there's one way that might happen.”

“Oh?”

“If you agree to have dinner with me one night.”

Bay smiled. “I'd like that.”

The luncheon was a success. All three of Peter's grandmothers took turns feeding him a tiny bit of vanilla ice cream on a spoon while cameras clicked. Then there was a more formal picture with the happy parents and godparents. It turned out so well that Bay had it enlarged and gave it to Gertie for her birthday.

Ruth and Dorothy offered to do the dishes. Gertie took little Peter upstairs for his nap while Ashley and Maribeth got caught up on the latest gossip. Dermot, big Peter, Michael, Matt, Adam, and Ian settled in front of the television to watch the rest of the ball game.

That left Bay and Tansy free to wander outside, sit on their mother's swing, and enjoy the late afternoon sun.

“Did Ashley tell you that she wants to take that cosmetology course in September?”

“Yes,” Tansy replied. “She mentioned it to both Ruth and I. I'll be lucky if I can pry Peter out of Ruth's hands. She wants to babysit him every day. I said I'd be happy to help out, but you know that woman. She's so damn stubborn. For someone who didn't want this baby to come into the world she's awfully glad he's here.”

“It's kind of sweet,” Bay said. “I know it pleases Matt no end.”

“What are his plans now?”

“He's starting at NSCC in September. That two-year electrician course. He'll get plenty of work with his uncle when he's finished. Ashley told me he'd thought about going away to the police academy, but couldn't bring himself to leave her or the baby behind.”

“I'm glad for them both.”

“Speaking of leaving, are you and Dermot going away on holiday this summer?”

“No, there's too much work to do around the house. I've nagged him for weeks to start scraping the kitchen cabinets so I can paint them. He's already ripped up the carpet in the hallway and living room. We're going to put hardwood in. I think that will make a big difference.”

“Sounds positively domestic.”

Tansy grinned. “If only dear old scumbag Charles could see me now, up to my eyeballs in bleach and furniture polish and loving every minute of it.”

“The reason I ask is that I wondered if you'd help me plant Mom's garden. She and I did it every year and I hated doing it alone last summer.”

“I'd love to, but you can decide what to plant. I'm not good at that kind of thing.”

Just then Flo came outside to hang out her towels. She saw the Gillis sisters on their swing.

“Hi, Bay.”

“Hi, Flo.”

“Hi, Flo,” Tansy shouted.

Flo ignored Tansy. Instead she loudly muttered that rude people would be the death of her.

Tansy turned to her sister. “I do have to plant one thing.”

“What?”

“I need one pumpkin.”

“Just one?”

“Yeah.”

“What can you do with one pumpkin?”

Tansy looked at Flo. “I'll think of something.”

A READER'S GUIDE TO
Her Mother's Daughter
BY LESLEY CREWE

There are many themes in
Her Mother's Daughter
, but arguably the most important is secrecy and its effect on relationships. What are some of the examples of secrets affecting relationships in this book?

What are some of the other themes Crewe explores in this novel?

The swing and the garden are central motifs in
Her Mother's Daughter
. What do they represent to the Gillis family? What do they signify to the reader?

Who was your favourite character in this novel? Why?

The novel takes place in Louisbourg, Cape Breton. How do you think the setting affected the storyline? What elements might have been different if the Gillis family lived in a big city? What would have stayed the same?

Ashley becomes pregnant as a teenager, and chooses to have and raise her baby. Did she receive good advice and guidance from the adults in her life? Would you have given her different advice?

Tansy was also a pregnant teenager, but her situation was complicated by the fact that she was impregnated by her sister's fiancé. Do you think Liz's solution to the problem was fair? What should she have done differently, if anything? What would you do in her shoes?

From the outside, Bay seems like a textbook “good” person—caring, generous, and loyal. Tansy can be and often is labelled a bad person—impetuous, promiscuous, and materialistic. But both sisters are much more complex than these tidy summaries. What are some of Bay's darker qualities, and some of Tansy's good ones? Are the women unfairly cast by the people in their lives—including their parents—as the “good” sister and the “bad” sister, or is there truth in those assessments? In what ways have their lives been shaped by these labels?

What are the significant friendships in this novel? In what way are they important?

Gertie is often referred to as part of the Gillis family. Do you think we can choose our own families? What does it take for a friend to become part of a family?

AN INTERVIEW WITH
LESLEY CREWE

Her Mother's Daughter
is your fifth book. How has your writing
process changed, if at all, since your first book was published?

These first five books were written in a two-year period, from 2003 to 2005. It was a crazy, mad spurt of storytelling, and it very nearly did me in, but I've always been an all-or-nothing kind of gal.

Now I'm trying to incorporate having a life along with the writing and it's been a bit of a struggle. When I'm in the zone, I can't think of anything else. I find it difficult to live in two worlds at once. When I write I belong to my fictional world, and it takes a lot of energy to drag myself out of it. We'll see what happens with the next book. I have no idea how it's going to go.