“I liked it,” said Maggie. “Why didn’t you ever tell me that before, just to close my eyes and not try so hard?”
“I never thought of it before,” Tommy said. Suddenly there was a loud crash, the drummer giving his cymbals a good whack. “It’s hokey-pokey time,” the lead singer called. “Go dance,” said Tommy, and when he got back to his table he saw that the boy had claimed her again, standing opposite her in the hokey-pokey line. He tried to figure out who the boy looked like, but he could not. Tommy turned to look at his wife, who was watching the dancers with a small smile on her face, and then he glanced over at Maggie, who had the fixed and exhausted smile of someone who has been having a wonderful time for hours. “I’m a lucky man,” he said out loud, and he finished his brandy, took Connie’s hand and led her onto the floor.
25
WHEN MAGGIE WOKE UP THE DAY AFTER the wedding, she could hear voices coming faintly from the back patio. From her bedroom window she could see her aunt Celeste and her mother outside, sitting in lawn chairs, coffee cups on the cement at their feet. The clock said noon. Maggie had missed Mass for the first time since she had had the mumps three years ago. She noticed that the earrings, which she’d taken off and put on her bureau, were gone. She put on a pair of old pink shorts to match the ribbons in her hair and went downstairs.
“Hi,” she said softly, stepping out into the backyard.
Celeste grinned. “Boy, were you right,” she said to Connie, and then to Maggie, “Honey, you look like a million bucks with your hair like that. I can’t wait to see the pictures of you yesterday.”
Maggie went out the sliding door and sat crosslegged at Cece’s feet, her head down. Her aunt was wearing a hot-pink dress that consisted of one tier of ruffles atop another. She had on hot pink plastic earrings and her engagement ring winked at Maggie. “Happy birthday,” she said to Maggie. “Your present’s inside. It’s a diary.”
“Celeste!” Connie said. “You couldn’t wait and let her open it?”
“What the hell.”
Connie went into the kitchen and returned with a small box in her hand, wrapped in silver paper with a pink bow. “Happy birthday,” she said, handing it to Maggie.
“God, I remember it like it was yesterday,” Celeste said with a grin. “Remember the size of you, Con? I mean, people died when they saw you coming down the street. And then Tommy calling us from the hospital and telling me, ‘Celeste, she’s the biggest goddamn baby in the hospital.’ He said that to everyone. ‘Bigger than any of the boys, too.’ God he was excited. I just kept trying to imagine ten pounds of baby getting out of your body. Maybe that’s what put me off having kids. I remember when you brought her home. I’ve never seen two human beings look so goddamn happy. You had such a smile on your face, I’ll never forget.”
Connie looked down at Maggie and smiled. Maggie had finished unwrapping her gift. It was a heartshaped locket with her initials engraved on its face in curly script. “Your first real piece of jewelry,” Connie said, taking it from her and leaning over to put it around her neck.”
“It’s really, really nice,” Maggie said quietly, and she didn’t say any more. But she fingered the locket as she sat on the ground and each time she felt the little grooves of the engraving beneath her fingertips she smiled.
“Monica just called you,” Connie said.
“How? She left for Bermuda this morning.”
“She called from the airport,” Connie said. “She wants to make sure that you don’t throw her bouquet away. She gave me instructions about how to preserve it until she gets back.”
“That little witch,” said Celeste. “You keep that bouquet longer than two weeks, it’ll outlast the marriage.”
“I think you’re jumping to conclusions,” said Connie with a small smile.
“Not because she’s expecting,” said Celeste. “God, if every marriage that started that way broke up, nobody would be married.” Maggie raised her head and listened carefully. “But a man can only take so much and so much of Monica is about two weeks’ worth.”
“Maybe marriage will change her.”
“Ha,” said Celeste, and Maggie laughed. “So,” her aunt added, “you caught the bouquet. You know what that means.”