Back to Madeline Island by Jay Gilbertson

Author:Jay Gilbertson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2006-04-30T22:00:00+00:00

“Okay,” I say, unwrapping another Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. “So maybe I was a little hard on the guy, but he wasn’t exactly apologetic for his disappearing act either!”

“What have you done,” Ruby asks, “with your manners? Now hand one of those over and be quick about it!”

I hand her a Reese’s out of my stash. We’re sprawled on pillows, facing one another way up in the tower room. Rocky is making a lot of racket, chasing a ball he found, back and forth across the wood floor, and I am about to suggest he go find a nice juicy mouse.

Even though it’s night, the moonlight is pretty bright, and there’s a beach ball–sized light way up in the center of the ceiling. It’s very odd in that it’s got stars punched out of the metal and light comes through them so the walls are covered and the thing is revolving! Who thinks of these things?

“I simply can’t”—Ruby’s voice is garbled with chocolate—“get over the yellow sweater part—to think that your mum made it and you never knew a thing about it. Truly telling.”

“I suppose—what do you mean?” I ask and force myself to put the cover on the tin I keep my precious hoard in. I’ve actually got many secret hoards of these around, but I’m not telling.

“Even though your parents couldn’t completely accept the fact that you—their precious daughter of seventeen—was pregnant, they—your mum—took the time to create that sweater. Why, I bet the entire time she was wondering what her granddaughter would look like. Can you imagine anything more painful?” Ruby takes a sip of wine to consider this.

“Yes,” I answer quickly. “I get your point and it really is touching of my mom, but the fact is…they never once even visited me! Not once. That’s hard to forget.”

“Perhaps so, darling,” Ruby says in her kindest voice. So I listen. “But that was such a long time ago. Aren’t you tired of holding it against them—him? You’ve a newfound daughter, you’re at long last on speaking terms with your father, and—the best part—you have me.”

I grin and we clink our goblets. “I’m beyond grateful for that.” I pause for a moment. “When we got back to the car, Helen said some really odd things about Dad.”

“Oh?”

“She couldn’t see any resemblance between us at all—and that’s not all that unusual—but the really weird thing is that she felt he was looking at me with resentment—and to be honest I felt it, too. I wonder if he always has, and I just never got that. Must be that I was so close to Mom or something.”

“Perhaps she simply saw what she chose, or perhaps she did notice a bit of resentment in his eyes. I should think you were far more jittery than she and, oh, I wouldn’t give it another thought—Miss Worry Wart.” She pats my arm.

But I noticed something odd, too. Like an uncertainty or—“Ruby—look!” We both stand up and look out toward the lake. “It’s snowing.”

“What are we waiting for, then?” Ruby asks.

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