At Last (The Idle Point, Maine Stories)(96)

"Did you have Barbies when you were a little girl?" Sophie asked, clearly skeptical.

"I sure did," Gracie said. "Mine was one of the beach Barbies. She carried a surfboard and had a year-round tan."

"They had Barbies when you were little?"

"Prehistoric Barbie," Gracie said with a straight face. "Ken came with a loin cloth and a club."

"I have two Barbies and one Ken." Sophie lowered her voice and leaned closer to Gracie. "They pulled his legs off."

Gracie met Noah's eyes over the top of Sophie's head. He was trying hard not to laugh out loud.

"Sounds like they're Biker Barbies," Gracie said, inspecting the two innocent-looking blondes for signs of aggression. "A pair of tough chicks."

"They didn't mean to do it. Sometimes these things happen."

"Ken better watch his step," Gracie said, matching Sophie's serious tone.

"Oh yes," said Sophie, "or something bad might happen to him."

That did it. Both Noah and Gracie burst into laughter. Sophie looked at them with annoyance at first and then she started laughing too, obviously pleased to be the source of such good-natured amusement.

"Okay, Soph.." Noah stood up. "Time for that bath you've been putting off for the last half hour."

Sophie looked toward Gracie. "Will you wash my hair for me?"

"I've never washed a little girl's hair before," Gracie said. "Are you sure you want me to do it?"

"You really never washed a little girl's hair?" Sophie asked.

"I shampooed a cocker spaniel," she said and Sophie giggled. "I shampooed poodles and Dalmatians. I even shampooed my cat once and he sneezed soap bubbles all over me."

Sophie tugged at her sleeve. "You can't shampoo a cat."

"Sure you can," said Gracie, taking her hand. "I didn't say he liked it but you can do it."

"I had a cat named Fred when I lived with Aunt Sarah and Uncle Hamish. He wouldn't go out in the rain."

"Uncle Hamish?" Gracie asked, wide-eyed with pretend innocence.

"No, silly!" Sophie was overcome with giggles. "Fred!"

They kept up the silly banter while Noah ran the tub and filled it with fragrant bubbles. They tried to imagine Gracie's Pyewacket swatting the bubbles with a lazy paw and that only made Sophie laugh even more.

If this was all Gracie could have of Noah, it would be enough.





#





Ruth was engrossed in the newest Dick Francis when Doctor Jim stepped into the library to say goodnight.

"Thank you for opening your home to me, Ruthie." He sat down on the edge of the sofa next to her chair. "You made my first Thanksgiving without Ellen much easier."

"There's no need to thank me, Jim, even though I loved your company. Rachel put everything together. I was nothing more than a party crasher."

Jim's smile always made Ruth feel the world was a better place. "And some party it was," he said. "I feel like everyone in town dropped by at some time or another."

"Rachel and Darnell are lucky people.”

"That they are. They raised themselves a fine group of young men and women, didn't they?"

They chatted for a bit about Laquita and Ben's upcoming wedding then talk turned quite naturally to Noah and Gracie.

"If ever a man and woman were meant for each other, it's those two," Jim said with a shake of his greying head. "I never could figure out what's been keeping them apart."

"Whatever it is, it's between them," Ruth said primly in an attempt to hide her own complicity. "I wouldn't dare ask either one of them about it."

"Not suggesting you should," Jim said easily. "Just making conversation."

Ruth slipped off her reading glasses and gently massaged the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry if I sounded sharp, Jim. The holidays stir up a lot of old memories, some of which are better left undisturbed."

"Don't I know it," he said, rising to his feet. "It's just when it comes to Gracie, I can't seem to help hoping for the best."

"I feel the same way," she said. "About both of them."

"I just wish there was something I could do to make things right." He bent down and kissed her on the left cheek. "Guess it's best left in the hands of God."