Beulah
GERALDINE WAS DRESSED IN AN ice-blue ball gown made of satin and lace when I arrived the next morning. She kept telling me that the shrimp cocktail was unacceptable and that it was past time for the ice sculptures to arrive. I played along because this seemed to be a stronger spell than normal. She was anxious and frustrated and kept yelling at someone named Mona to get her satin slippers downstairs before the guests arrived.
When she slung open the fridge and wailed in a panic that the fruit salad wasn’t even put together, I decided it was worse to let her believe this was real than to bring her back to the here and now. Closing the fridge door, I turned to Geraldine. “It’s the year 2017. I’m Beulah and this is your home in Savannah. It’s time for you to eat breakfast. I thought we’d have egg whites with goat cheese and a slice of tomato from your garden on a whole wheat English muffin.” I spoke slowly and clearly hoping she understood and snapped out of it.
Geraldine stared at me in confusion for only a moment. She blinked several times before looking down at her dress. I almost sighed in relief that she was back when she made a disgusted grunt. “I wore this last year. Why did I forget that? I can’t wear it again this year. This ball is too important. There are clients here, not just friends.” She rolled her eyes and headed out of the kitchen and for the stairs. “If the ice sculpture arrives, tell them they’re late and I want it by the fountain on the back patio.” I walked over to watch her climb the stairs. At least she had calmed down. Maybe she’d come back around soon.
I thought about calling Stone, but I knew he had too much to deal with today. His mind was on other things. I could handle Geraldine. He needed less to worry about and this was all I could do to help him.
“Mona! Where are my riding pants? How can I hunt without them? Good Lord this is a mess!” Geraldine was yelling and she never yelled. Not even during a spell. Today was not a good day for her. I worried that she was getting worse.
“I’ll look for them,” I called back before she came running around the staircase upstairs looking for Mona.
While she went around upstairs looking for things from her past, I went back to the kitchen and worked on breakfast. Hopefully, she’d come back to me soon and I could feed her. The one thing about Geraldine being completely out of it since I had arrived was that it had gotten my mind off of me. Off of my problems.
Touching my stomach, I looked out the window and thought again about my doctor’s appointment tomorrow. I’d originally made the appointment to get a prescription for birth control. Now? Now, I would be taking a pregnancy test. I would find out if I was already carrying Stone’s child. Our child. A child that I would love and adore, but one that I knew he couldn’t focus on right now.
The child inside me wouldn’t ever face a life with the man who Stone hated the most. This child would have me always. He or she wouldn’t have need for love because they would have it unconditionally.
Wills needed Stone and I wouldn’t pull Stone in two directions. I wasn’t sure of the right thing to do. Not telling him was wrong and he deserved to know.
Telling him right now when he needed his complete focus and attention on fighting his father was unfair too. I don’t know how long I stood there silently lost in my thoughts. My thoughts swirled regarding I would do if I was pregnant. What I should do. What I needed to do.
“I don’t even want to know why I was wearing that God-awful gown. It smelled of moth balls and I think I have a rash under my pits from the scratchy fabric,” Geraldine said as she sauntered past me into the kitchen. I jumped at the sound of her voice. I hadn’t heard her come back down the stairs.
She frowned at me. “Lord, girl. Are you okay?”
I smiled. “I didn’t hear you come downstairs.”
“I bet you smelled me though.” She scrunched up her nose. “I must have been in the attic at some point this morning. That dress hasn’t seen daylight in decades.”
“It has held up well.” I imagined the dress had been the height of fashion once.
She shrugged with her left shoulder only. “Perhaps, but now it is the height of ancient.” She chuckled. “I’m a sight. You never know what you’re going to walk into around here.”
The smile that tugged on my lips this time was real. Not forced. Geraldine’s spirit was always cheerful. Being near her made life seem easier. I was glad she was back from her spell. I needed her peaceful presence today.
“What’s for breakfast?” She rubbed her hands together as she walked over to the coffee pot. I’d made coffee earlier hoping to coax her out of her memories.
I repeated the proposed menu.
“Oh, yum. I love that. It’s my favorite. And my tomatoes are exceptional this year. I think it’s the beer I used on them. I read about it on Pinterest. Do you ever go on Pinterest? It’ll suck you in with its brilliant ideas.”
I’d heard of Pinterest but couldn’t say I’d browsed through the photos and ideas there. “No, but I know it’s popular.”
“It’s bloody brilliant,” she repeated with enthusiasm. “I bet you could find great ideas for cleaning, recipes, and the like. We should pull out my computer today and look at it together.”
“Okay.” I was grateful for something else to occupy my mind. I was desperate for anything.
“My friend, Beatrice, brought me some peppermint tea that I love. It can only be bought in England. I’ve tried a million different kinds here, but nothing compares. I even ordered some offline but it’s not the same. This tea”—she held up a mesh bag of tea leaves—“is perfection. Something about the motherland I guess. The British know their tea. We just know our Starbucks.” She sounded a bit disappointed. I knew she missed England. I thought it was because of her fond memories of her British friends that were gone from this world and of England that her mind always wandered back to that period.
“Do you want me to make you some tea to go with your breakfast?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Oh no. This is for tea time. It’s British, darling. We need to have it at three.”
She was teasing me, but then she was also serious. I poured her a cup of coffee instead. She had French coffee. As she swore by British tea, she also swore that the French were the coffee experts. I had to agree the coffee she had was amazing. There was nothing like it anywhere else.
“Where is my boy today? Haven’t seen him in week.” She changed the subject ever-so-subtly.
“He’s dealing with work issues.” I didn’t know how much she knew about Wills. I didn’t want to be the one to tell her the story. It was Stone’s to tell.
Geraldine took the cup of coffee I handed her and her lips pursed slightly. “He’s going to fight him, isn’t he?”
I wasn’t sure what to say here. I remained silent.
She let out a breath and tapped her fingertip on the counter. “I guess it’s time. That child can’t last the way Stone did. He’s not as tough.”
She walked toward the doors leading to the patio and said nothing more. I wondered what she knew. And if he had told her about Wills or she had just figured it out herself.
Again, I glanced down at my stomach and worried she may figure out my secret. What would I do if she did?