him and the boys? And to be treated the way I was treated by her while he stood by and said nothing? Never mind all the horrible things he allowed her to do to his own boys. And now, for me to be threatened by her family? Now, I should take Sharon’s cats? I mean, in theory, I like cats just fine. Dogs, too. But it’s a huge commitment of years to make when you take in an animal. If I wanted to have cats, the cats I’d have would definitely never have been hers. And did he really think there was no damage done to his boys by Sharon that might need to be repaired? Oh, my God! Was he this stupid? Could he possibly be this incredibly stupid?
“Holly? Are you talking to me or are you just going to stare at me?”
Don’t get indignant with me, I thought.
“I’m just wondering about something.”
“What’s that?”
I said, “How in the name of God did you get into Harvard?”
I said this without malice. I really wanted him to see how unforgivably and insensitively dense he was.
Tiny little lights began to come on in his mind.
“Okay, I’ll tell Sharon’s parents to back off.”
I wasn’t going to be so easily appeased.
“Maybe you should have told them that before the threat of it ever reached my door.” I gathered up my bucket of flowers and shears and turned to walk away from him. “See you around, Archie.”
I went in the house and there stood Leslie and Suzanne giving me a whole lot of quiet applause, huge hugs, and lots of atta girl!
“How did you hear everything?”
“Darling, you were right under your momma’s room. We opened the window and we could hear every word as though you were in her bedroom with us!” Suzanne said.
“You were marvelous! Oh, my God! Suzanne and I were dying!” Leslie said. “Momma wants to tell you something. Hurry!”
I put the bucket of flowers on the floor and the shears on the hall table and went to her room.
I opened her door. She was propped up in bed.
“Come sit here on the side of my bed,” she said.
Of course, I did as she asked.
“What’s up?” I said.
“I want to tell you something I should have told you a long time ago.” She took my hand in hers and held it. “I’m so proud of you. You told that Archie MacLean just what he’s needed to hear from you for a very long time. It takes nerve to tell somebody where the bear goes in the buckwheat and I could not have done a better job myself.”
“Thank you. I just got sick of him thinking I’d do anything on earth for him when he did nothing for me.”
“But you should take Sharon’s cats? I could only imagine what was going on in your head when he said you should take them, so his boys could come visit them once in a while. That was rich!”
“He’s so thick in the head, he didn’t think he was asking for much at all. He hasn’t got the first clue how to take care of anything or anyone except himself. Not even cats. Much less his poor boys.”
“Yes, sweetheart—and yes, I’m calling you sweetheart—if you’d allowed yourself to become actually involved with him in an intimate relationship, you’d have been deprived of any emotional support just like his boys are. You would not have been cherished by him.”
“I see that now.”
“I want more for you, Holly. You are such a lovely young woman in every single way and you deserve so much more than a man like Archie. What I’ve learned and what your sister has learned, both of our lessons coming at a very high price, is the importance of choosing wisely.”
“It’s true.”
“Now, go fix my flowers and hurry up. I need to feel some love.”
I smiled then and so did she.
Of course, the second I opened her door, Leslie and Suzanne nearly tumbled over themselves to get out of the way.
“Let’s get a glass of tea,” I said, picked up the bucket of flowers and my shears in the hall, and they followed me to the kitchen. “Did y’all think I wasn’t going to tell y’all what she said?”
“We just wanted to hear it for ourselves,” Leslie said. “She was actually sweet to you.”
“Yeah, I only had to wait thirty years,” I said and laughed. “And when I think of all the days and nights I wasted thinking about Archie and literally worshipping him