But Jane was most fascinated by Lynn. As the meal progressed, she spoke of art and music, as well as a reading group discussion she was leading on a new novel. She was also an excellent cook, and Jane found herself feeling increasingly intimidated. Was there anything this former mountain girl didn’t do well?
Ethan nodded toward the table’s centerpiece, a crystal vase holding an arrangement of lilies and dendrobium orchids. “Where’d you get the flowers, Mom? Since Joyce Belik closed her shop after Christmas, I haven’t seen anything like that around here.”
“I picked the arrangement up when I was in Asheville on Thursday. The lilies are getting a little limp, but I’m still enjoying them.”
For the first time since they’d begun to eat, Jim addressed his wife directly. “Do you remember the way you used to decorate the table right after we got married?”
She was still for a moment. “It was so long ago I’ve forgotten.”
“Well, I haven’t.” He turned toward his sons. “Your mother’d pick dandelions out of somebody’s backyard, stick ’em in an old pickle jar, and show ’em off to me when I came in from class like they were some exotic flower I’d never seen before. She’d get as excited about a jar full of dandelions as other women get about roses.”
Jane wondered if Jim had intended to embarrass his wife with this reminder of her humble roots, but if so, his strategy backfired. Lynn didn’t seem at all embarrassed, but his own voice had deepened with an emotion that surprised her. Maybe Jim Bonner wasn’t as contemptuous of his wife’s humble roots as he pretended to be.
“You used to get so annoyed with me,” she said, “and I can’t blame you. Imagine. Dandelions on the dinner table.”
“It wasn’t just flowers she used for centerpieces. I remember one time she scrubbed up a bunch of rocks she thought were pretty and set them in a bird’s nest she found.”
“You very rightly pointed out that a bird’s nest on the kitchen table was disgusting and refused to eat until I threw it out.”
“Yeah, I did, didn’t I?” He rubbed his fingers on the stem of his wineglass and frowned. “It might have been unsanitary, but it sure was pretty.”
“Really, Jim, it was no such thing.” She smiled, cool, serene, unaffected by the currents of old emotions that seemed to have claimed her husband.
For the first time since they’d sat down, he met Lynn’s eyes straight on. “You always liked pretty things.”
“I still do.”
“But now they have to have labels on them.”
“And you enjoy those labels much more than you ever enjoyed dandelions or birds’ nests.”
Despite her promise to distance herself from the family, Jane couldn’t bear the idea of witnessing any more unpleasantness.
“How did you manage in those first years after you were married? Cal said you had no money.”
Cal and Ethan exchanged a glance that made Jane wonder if she’d stumbled on a forbidden topic. She realized her question was overly personal, but since she was supposed to be obnoxious, what difference did it make?
“Yeah, Dad, exactly how did you manage?” Ethan said.
Lynn dabbed at the corners of her lips with her napkin. “It’s too depressing. Your father hated every minute of it, and I don’t want his dinner spoiled.”
“I didn’t hate every minute of it.” Jim seemed pensive as he leaned back in his chair. “We lived in this ugly two-room apartment in Chapel Hill that looked out over an alley where people’d throw rusted bedsprings and old couches. The place was hopeless, but your mother loved it. She tore pictures out of National Geographics and hung them on the walls. We didn’t have any curtains, just two window shades that had turned yellow, and she made tissue-paper flowers out of pink Kleenex to pin across the bottoms. Things like that. We were poor as church mice. I stocked grocery shelves when I wasn’t in class or studying, but she had the worst of it. Right up until the day Cal was born, she got up at four in the morning to work all day in a bakery. But no matter how tired she was, she’d still find time to pick those dandelions on her way home.”
Lynn shrugged. “Believe me, working in that bakery wasn’t nearly as difficult as the farm chores I’d been doing on Heartache Mountain.”
“But you were pregnant,” Jane pointed out, trying to imagine it.
“I was young and strong. In love.” For the first time, Lynn looked slightly ruffled. “After Cal was born, we had medical bills on top of everything else, and since I couldn’t work in the bakery and still take care of him, I began experimenting with cookie recipes.”