The Reading Circle (22 page)

“My friends,” she began, making eye contact with everyone in turn, “Locke and I have an important announcement to make tonight on this joyous occasion of Periwinkle's birthday. No doubt some of you think it has been long in coming, but here it is at last. We intend to get married in August at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, and, of course, we will want all of you to attend. It just wouldn't be the same without you. As for my engagement ring, Locke has taken my breath away with this little gem.” She briefly displayed the elegant diamond on her finger. “Now, Locke, do you have anything to add?”

He looked at once sly and subversive, yet still maintained his gentlemanly demeanor. “I just want to thank Voncille for making me see that getting married was my idea from the very beginning.” He paused just long enough to collect a few titters and giggles. “But in all seriousness, she has a certain way about her, and fortunately for me, I fell head over heels as a result. So don't let anyone ever tell you that you can't fall in love twice in a lifetime.” There was an outburst of applause, “Awws!” and congratulatory phrases as the couple hugged and kissed. Then Periwinkle rose and hoisted her glass. “A toast to the soon-tobe bride and groom. We couldn't be happier for you both!”

“To Locke and Voncille!” everyone shouted before tossing back generous swallows of their drinks.

“Thank you, one and all. As a wise retired schoolteacher once said, it's never too late to change your life for the better,” said Miss Voncille. Then she gestured toward Maura Beth and Jeremy. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, get ready for an encore presentation!”

There was general buzzing throughout the room, along with a lineup of genuinely surprised faces.

“Yes, my friends,” Maura Beth began, rising from her seat with her fiancé. “It's true. Jeremy and I are also going to be married in August, and all of you are the first to hear the good news.” Jeremy inched a bit closer, put his arm around her shoulder, and gave her a peck on the cheek. “As you already know, he's going to be moving down here to Cherico to teach English to our bright young minds. How's that for the makings of a devoted husband? All told, I think we're off to an amazing start.” Then she brandished her ring finger. “And you ladies can all take turns checking out this gorgeous circle of stars Jeremy gave me.”

The already-boisterous group exploded further, and the flurry of hugs, kisses, and congratulations—not to mention the
oohs
and
aahs
over the ring—lasted several minutes.

“Well, I think I may need to have birthdays more often,” Periwinkle told Maura Beth, taking her aside at one point. “Good things are happening right and left.”

Maura Beth nodded enthusiastically. “Good things deserve to happen to us. We're The Cherry Cola Book Club.”

“You bet we are!” Periwinkle exclaimed, feeling the warm, fuzzy effects of the several glasses of wine she had enjoyed. Then she turned to address the others, raising her voice further. “Folks, if you'll indulge me, I'd like to make a little speech of my own right now!” Everyone eventually settled down and waited for her to begin. “Tonight, I fully intend to show all of you what a liberated woman I truly am. I will no longer keep secrets from my fellow Chericoans. It so happens I have in the past, but no more. The truth is, I officially turned forty-one today. Yes, you heard me right, and I know you all thought I was celebrating The Big Four-Oh. But I was one of those women who tried to hold off forty as long as I could. I kept shaving a year or two off my age thinking it mattered. But I'm here to tell you tonight that it doesn't amount to a hill of baked beans—which, by the way, is not on the menu of The Twinkle and never will be. I like to think I'm a lot more creative than that.”

Everyone laughed, and Stout Fella even started up a chant: “No baked beans! No baked beans! No baked beans . . . !”

“So here's to no baked beans and definitely no fear of birthdays. Never, ever!” Periwinkle cried out once the chanting had died off. Eventually, she took up a different train of thought.

“I know I've said this before, my friends, but you'll never know how much this surprise birthday party means to me. It's really nice to know that you like me and my restaurant this much. I guess you could say it's my passion, and maybe it was in the stars for me all along.” She pointed dramatically to one of the mobiles dangling above them, which immediately produced some
oohs
and
aahs.
“Well, I think I've finally run out of things to say. You take it, Maura Beth.”

“Gladly. I'd have to say everything has been in the stars for all of us lately. We've shared so much with each other tonight—good food and drink to start with—and then these life-changing announcements such as August weddings one after another.”

“And guess what?” Douglas said, putting his arm around Connie and giving her a gentle squeeze. “We're not through with the announcements yet. Tonight, Douglas and Connie McShay proudly announce to all of you, but particularly to Maura Beth, that we will be donating two acres of our lakefront property for the construction of Cherico's new library. We know the site hasn't been picked out yet, but we thought a state-of-the-art library with a view of the lake would put Cherico on the map.”

Maura Beth was nearly as speechless as she had been during Councilman Sparks's press conference in which he had waved the white flag and claimed victory at the same time. But finally she gathered herself. “Douglas . . . Connie . . . this is unbelievably generous of you. It's more than anyone had a right to expect.” She clasped her hands together and pointed them in their direction. “I just want to make sure. Do you really want to do this? Keep in mind that a year from now you'll have a busy public library next door. You'll be giving up some of your privacy, and I can't promise you there won't be a little traffic from time to time.”

“We understand that, but we've given it a great deal of thought, and this is our time to do something significant for Cherico,” Douglas answered, sounding not the least bit fazed. “I think we'd both be proud to wake up every morning, look out the window and see our handiwork rising right there on the lakeshore. Plus, we'd have no excuse for not returning our books and CDs on time.”

Maura Beth and the others laughed brightly, and she said, “You two are the best, and I think I could find it in my heart to forgive any fines you might have.”

“I do have a serious question, though,” Connie added. “You think Councilman Sparks will be okay with our proposal? For instance, would there be a zoning problem?”

“Oh, believe me,” Maura Beth began, rolling her eyes, “if it won't cost City Hall a cent, he'll be just fine with it. You won't hear a peep out of him, and that will be music to my ears. I'm ready for a little peace and quiet after all the flak he's given me and the library all this time. Zoning, schmoning. And even if there is a problem, Councilman Sparks will find a way around it. Just trust me on this one.”

Then Maura Beth and Jeremy made their way over to the McShays for an exchange of hugs. “Looks like everyone is full of surprises tonight,” Maura Beth said in the midst of all the excitement.

“Wow!” Jeremy exclaimed. “Uncle Doug . . . Aunt Connie—I'm so proud of you both. I'm sure I'll be sending my students out there to do research after hours. You're my heroes!”

“Hey, nephew,” Douglas said, patting his shoulder, “we think you're a great teacher, too!”

“Well, as long as we're celebrating all this good news with each other, don't forget that Justin and I have a little one on the way,” Becca put in. “We've been waiting a long time to get pregnant, and now it's finally happened. And just so you know, I've been thinking about an episode of my show that gives pregnant mothers with morning sickness something to swear by. You know, what to eat when you don't feel like eating, or can't keep it down. I'll be able to say without a doubt that I've done the research myself.”

“Oh, we've all been so excited for you since you told us a few days ago. Not about the morning sickness, of course. But I think maybe some of us are hoping we're in the running for godmother and godfather when the time comes,” Maura Beth said.

Becca and Justin exchanged smiles, and she said, “I can't think of a better group of friends to choose from, can you, Stout Fella?”

“No, ma'am, I can't. Any one of 'em would do us proud. But maybe I should just say that if we don't choose you this time, we might next time. We plan on having a nice, big family before we're through, and when you get that new children's librarian, we'll keep her plenty busy, Maura Beth.”

“I can't wait for them to grow up under her nose—and mine, too,” she answered.

Then Periwinkle stepped in. “Since we're all about announcements tonight, Parker and I have one of our own we'd like to make right now. We've just been waiting for the right moment.” She gestured in his direction. “Will you do the honors, please?”

Mr. Place straightened up in his chair and cleared his throat. “Last year, Periwinkle and I started considering the possibility of a takeout and delivery service for The Twinkle. Someone had suggested it before, and just this past month we worked out all the details. Next month we will officially unveil our new ‘Twinkle in a Twinkle' takeout menu. You can call in your order and pick it up, or we'll deliver it to you anywhere within a five-mile radius of Greater Cherico. Now, your choices will be more limited than if you ate with us on Commerce Street, but just about all your favorites will be available. Hey, we know which side our bread is buttered on.”

There was muted laughter and a smattering of applause.

“I for one will be your first customer, I'm sure,” Connie said. “You know how much Douglas and I crave your tomato aspics.”

“Hey, Parker and I have it documented. You're our best customer. At any rate, what really got us off dead center with this whole concept was our waitress, Lalie Bevins,” Periwinkle continued. “She wanted to know if we had anything for her teenaged son to do this summer, as he had nearly driven her crazy last year asking for an allowance for doing nothing. She couldn't even get him to cut the grass every other week. But since he got his driver's license, he loves to run around town the way teenaged boys like to do. So young Mr. Barry Bevins will be our very first driver, and we just bought a new van with our logo on it and everything to do it up right. It's parked around in back if any of you care to take a look sometime. We're so proud we're about to pop.”

“And I'm sure I'll be taking advantage of your service, too,” Maura Beth said. “There are lots of times when I'm just too tired at the end of the day and don't feel like eating out. But I don't want to go home and cook, either. Your food will be the solution every time. I can't stay away from it too long.”

“That's what we're counting on to make a go of our ‘Twinkle in a Twinkle,' ” Periwinkle said, exuding confidence. “My personal opinion is that it'll become the rage of Greater Cherico.”

 

Perhaps he was imagining things, but after everyone had finally cleared out and he and Periwinkle were left alone to put The Twinkle to bed, Mr. Place thought he was the recipient of a very special smile. To be sure, it was just a moment in time, but it was magnified by the fact that he was constantly on the lookout for a sea change in his workplace relationship with the woman who had caught his fancy. And there were words of praise for him following that smile to encourage him further.

“I think you did a wonderful job of unveiling our new service to the gang, Parker,” Periwinkle told him as they were busily wiping down surfaces and putting things away. “I could tell everyone was really excited about it. But that was the easy part, of course. The hard part comes in a few weeks when we have to keep our promise and deliver. And I mean that literally.”

“Well, you and I know we can flat turn out the food,” he replied, chuckling at her remark. “And Miz Bevins seems to think her son is trustworthy. I've been meaning to tell you that I had a long talk with him when he came in the other day to get the lay of the land. Oh sure, he's a typical teenager with all his loud music and his cool phrases, but he reminded me of myself at that age. I went along with some of the fads back in the day, too. The bottom line here is that I believe he's basically responsible and will get the job done for us.”

“I'll trust your judgment on that one, then.”

Mr. Place put the last of the leftovers in the fridge and continued. “As a matter of fact, I was even thinking that maybe I ought to ride along with him for the first few deliveries. That way if anything goes wrong, I'll be there to help out.”

“You think of everything, you know?”

“Well, I was the best at what I did up in Memphis, and I'm gonna be the best down here, too.”

When they were just about ready to lock up a few minutes later, there was another special moment, and Mr. Place felt the subtle change that had taken place. “I just wanted to tell you how much your poem meant to me, Parker. It was even more unexpected than my surprise party. I don't think I've ever enjoyed working with anyone as much as I do with you. I've come to count on you for so many things, and you do them without asking.”

He lost no time in following her lead. “Well, I take pride in my work and in this restaurant, and I think we make a great team.”

She reached out and gently grasped his hand. “I know you realize all too well what I've just been through with Harlan. You saw it unfold before your very eyes, and I'm sure it was hard on you being the innocent bystander. But I wanted to let you know that I value your friendship above all. It's also nice to know that not all men are like he is. It—well, it just gives me hope.” Then she gave him a hug, lingering longer than was necessary.