I heard an insistent rapping on my front door. Now who
can that be? I was immersed in
Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead and was a bit annoyed by the
interruption. Why did I pay to have that doorbell repaired if people are going to
insist on knocking anyhow? I yanked
open the door, determined to send the intruder on his or her way so I could get
back to my novel. Instead, my face
cracked into a broad grin as I saw a woman with a close-cropped head of silver
standing on my porch.
“Beverly!
Please come in. Why didn’t you
ring the doorbell?”
“Isn’t it broken?
I thought you told me it doesn’t work.”
“That was months ago. I recall that you used it the last time you
visited.”
“Oh, that’s right.
Sorry, I guess I’m not quite with it today. I’m having the downstairs painted and I
haven’t finished taking down my pictures.
Fortunately, they’re late today, so I thought I’d run over here quickly
with my latest draft of your Dear George letter. Sorry it’s taken me so long. I often wonder where the time goes. I wake up, attend to a few things and before
I know it, it’s time for lunch. Anyway,
I think I stuck to the basic ideas we discussed.” Beverly handed me an envelope containing her draft
of the letter.
“Thank you so much Beverly. It hasn’t been that long.”
“A week, by my reckoning. Well, Van Gogh didn’t paint Starry, Starry
Night in a day, did he?”
“I’ll bet it took him at least a week to get it
right,” I replied smiling. “Can you stay
for a few minutes? I’ll put on a fresh
pot of coffee or make tea if you’d like.”
“No, I’ve got to get back before the painters
arrive, but thank you just the same.
Feel free to make whatever changes are necessary to make it your own,
Ellie. When George reads it, he’ll not
be able to wait for you to get to Pittsburgh.
He’ll be calling you from SeaTac airport to get your address here in
Issaquah so he can give it to the cab driver.”
“You are such a dear. By the way, I love your hair, but where’s the
crown of flames you promised?”
Beverly chuckled.
“Fortunately, my hairdresser has more sense than I do. Do you really think it looks good?”
“No, I think it looks great!” I said. You should give me the name of your
hairdresser. I need to do something with
this rat’s nest,” I said running my fingers through my hair.
“Like our kids would say, I’ll text you the name and
address,” Beverly said over her shoulder as she hurried down the front
walk.
“Well I guess this means I should call my sister to
schedule a visit to Pittsburgh, before I chicken out,” I said to myself as I
closed the front door. I walked to the
kitchen, set the draft on the table and put the kettle on to make myself a cup
of tea. While I was waiting for the
water to boil, I read the draft that Beverly had brought me. I was impressed. She had hit the right notes – very friendly
without being too forward. I wouldn’t
have to change much when I copied it to my stationery. I filled my tea strainer with Earl Gray and
poured the boiling water into my cup.
Now all I had to do was schedule my visit with Marnie so I could add a
sentence or two inviting George to another basketball game. I removed my cell phone from my pocket and
dialed my sister’s number.
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