This One and Magic Life by Anne C. George

Author:Anne C. George
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780061850950
Publisher: HarperCollins

TWENTY-THREE

Four Women

DONNIE HAS GONE HOME TO SHOWER AND SHAVE BEFORE GOING out to Harlow. He places Artie’s ashes on the kitchen table, but that bothers him. He takes them into the bedroom and puts them on the dresser. This also bothers him. He finally puts them on the mantel in the den under one of her paintings, a woman climbing the dunes to a house which is obviously the one at Harlow. The picture has hung here for years, part of the furnishings. But now he looks at it carefully. Sea oats at the top of the dunes are bent over in a strong northerly wind. February, Donnie knows. When the woman gets to the top of that dune, it will be freezing. And it’s around three o’clock because the shadows are beginning to lengthen. Behind the woman, though it’s not in the picture, the bay is shimmering, rippling.

Would Artie have painted like this if Carl had lived? He tries to imagine Carl and Artie growing old together, having children. Would her talent have gone into creating a family? Probably, he thinks, considering the time she spent with Dolly and how close they were. If she had had children, painting might have been just a pleasant diversion. But she would have been happy. He knows that. His twin would have been happy with big sweet Carl Jenkins.

“You know Carl, Donnie. You know everything’s going to be fine. Just look over toward Harlow any night and you’ll see us sitting on the screened porch having a couple of beers and listening to the music from the hotel. Maybe we’ll even get in a couple of slow dances. Then we’ll go upstairs and make babies.”

That was Artie in her wedding dress reassuring him. And he, Donnie, was jealous. It wasn’t the fact of Carl, and, God knows, he was happy that Artie was happy. It was the assimilation. Artie was changed, and that was hurtful. Twins, he thinks. Twins. It’s so damn complicated.

And then Carl was gone and Artie was another person. This one Donnie understood better, though. And wherever she was, whatever she was doing, he knew she needed him. He was never again on the outside.

He wonders if Hektor remembers the first time Carl had shown up at the house. It was Valentine’s Day and he and Artie were thirteen. It was Hektor who had answered the knock on the back door.

“Is Artie home?” Donnie heard Carl say. And then Hektor’s amazed “Is that for Artie?” That had been a heart-shaped box of candy. He had been almost as impressed as Hektor. His own idea of a Valentine at the time had been an envelope with a rubber band twisted around a popsicle stick so when the envelope was opened, it would rattle viciously. “Rattlesnake!” he would yell, managing to get some violent reactions.

But Artie had accepted the candy graciously, and she and Carl had walked down to the beach. He and Hektor were picking out all the chocolate-covered nut pieces when their mother caught them and made them put the box up.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.