Promises to Keep - Ann Tatlock [106]
“Oh, I know she will. You don’t have to worry about that. She’ll think it’s the prettiest ring she ever set eyes on.”
Before I even knew she was there, Darlene was standing over me exclaiming, “Goodness sakes, honey! Where’d you get that ring? It’s just beautiful.”
“Dad – I mean, Uncle Nelson bought it – ”
“Well, what’s the occasion? Is it your birthday or something?”
I laughed. “It’s not for me. He’s giving it to Mo – he’s giving it to his girlfriend.” I looked at Daddy, but he had dropped his eyes. He was tapping the table uneasily with an index finger. “Aren’t you, Uncle Nelson?”
Daddy reached for the ring and pulled it off my finger. “Let’s put that away before it gets lost, Roz.”
I looked back up at Darlene. Her face had gone pale, and she had a look in her eyes that reminded me of Miss Fremont when I told her Daddy was married.
“How nice,” she said, but her voice was as cold as the winter wind outside, and it made me shiver. Turning to Daddy, she lifted the carafe in her hand an inch or so and asked, “Another cup of coffee, Mr. Knutson?”
Daddy waved a hand over his cup. “No thanks, Darlene. I’m fine for now.”
She went on looking at Daddy, clutching the carafe with whitened knuckles. Finally she nodded curtly and walked away.
“What’s got her goat?” I asked.
Daddy shrugged, glanced at Darlene, back at me. “Women are funny, Roz. I never know what they’re thinking. But anyway . . . listen, honey, I’m going to need your help getting this ring to your mom.”
I nodded agreeably. “What do you want me to do?”
“Well, here’s my plan. I want her to come downstairs on February 29, and I want her to find this waiting for her at her place at the kitchen table. That’s the lucky day, you know. It comes only once in four years.”
Another nod from me.
“It’s the day I’m going to ask her to let me come home. I’m going to write her a letter explaining everything – how I’ve been going to AA, how I’m a different person, how I’m going to make it work this time.”
When he paused a moment, I asked, “So what do you need me to do?”
He smiled and winked. “I need you to do two things, honey. The first is this . . .” He pulled a napkin from the dispenser and laid it in front of me, along with a pen he plucked out of his shirt pocket. “I want you to draw a picture of the inside of your house, you know, showing me where all the rooms are.”
I took the pen, clicked it open. “How come?”
“Well, I’m trying to decide whether we’ll keep this house or buy a different one.”
“So we’re staying here in Mills River?”
He nodded. “I kind of like it here. Don’t you?”
I shrugged and went to work drawing the picture. “You want the upstairs too, Daddy?”
“Yes, downstairs and up. Everything.”
“All right.”
“That’s good, honey. And don’t forget to label the rooms, tell me what they are.”
“Okay.” I looked up a moment, an idea turning in my head. “You know what, Daddy? We could sell the house to – ”
Then I remembered, and stopped.
“To who, Roz?”
Tillie, of course. She thought it was her house anyway. Now it really could be hers again, and Lyle could come live in it with her. But I didn’t want to mention Tillie right then, because Daddy still didn’t know she lived with us.
“Just sell it,” I said. “You know, to whoever wants to buy it.”
Daddy nodded slowly. “I’ve been thinking about that. I bet your grandfather made the down payment on that house, didn’t he?”
I shrugged. I didn’t know anything about that.
Daddy went on, “He must have. No way Janis could have bought a house on her own. So listen, Roz, we’ll sell the house and buy another, one we all pick out together. Start all over with a clean slate, you know?”
I smiled and looked down at the napkin. “Do you want me to finish drawing?”
He eyed my floor plan, gave me a nod. “Yeah, go ahead. Now the second thing I need you to do is make sure the kitchen door is unlocked the night of February 28. That way I can slip in and slip out again real quick. I’ll just slip in while everyone’s asleep and leave this for her on the kitchen table, along with my letter and a dozen red roses. Do you