said, steering the conversation back to less personal ground, “Lacy mislaid the snapshots Jake sent him years ago, but I found copies in the things that came today.”
“Was it the same man?”
Kate shrugged. “It would be quite a coincidence, wouldn’t it?”
Their food arrived and as they ate, Kate mused, “Odd how much difference a beard makes. I can’t get used to Gordon without his, can you?”
“I hardly knew him,” said Rob. “You heard Mother: once Gordon and Elaine married, they took off for more exotic climes. Colleton County was too provincial for them. I doubt if I ever saw him or his brother, either, more than two or three times in the last few years and that was always at a party or some sort of mob scene where you can’t speak to anyone except at a shout. I’ve only come to know Gordon since Thanksgiving. I do know I’ve heard Mother and Bessie talk that when Jake tried to play matchmaker, it was between James and Elaine, not Gordon. Jake ever mention it?”
“I’d forgotten all about that,” said Kate, “but you’re right. It was after Vietnam. They were all back in college then and James came down for spring break. Jake told me he thought James and Elaine might click, but nothing ever happened. Then Gordon tagged along the summer Patricia and Philip were married and it was love at first sight.”
According to Bessie Stewart, the first sight of a millionaire brother-in-law probably hadn’t hurt either. True or not, thought Rob, Elaine and Gordon had seemed perfectly matched: both had proper bloodlines and Elaine’s allowance from Patricia was large enough to finance the sort of life they wanted. Even Bessie and his mother approved of how devoted to each other Elaine and Gordon appeared.
He wondered aloud why James had never married.
“Jake said he couldn’t afford to,” said Kate. “There was a small trust fund somewhere. Enough to keep him off the unemployment line, but not enough to support a wife in the style-to-which, et cetera. I think that’s why they had drifted apart by the time Jake met me. You know what a workaholic Jake could be. He just couldn’t understand a man not settling down to a real career, and James seemed to be the perpetual houseguest. Always the extra man to balance Elaine’s table.
“They kept in touch, though—met for drinks when James was passing through town, and he came over for dinner once right after we were married; but I think Jake was disappointed in the way James’s life was turning out, even though he never said so.” Jake’s loyalty to people and places was another of the things Kate missed with aching sorrow.
To change the subject and take away the sad look in her eyes, Rob said, “I hear you’re ready to start remodeling the packhouse tomorrow?”
Her lips widened in a slow smile. “Is that maid at Gilead by any chance one of Bessie Stewart’s nieces?”
“DeWanda Lanelle Sanders,” he admitted with one of his small tight grins. “She’s got a sister if you need someone to help out this spring.”
“Gordon told me that you’d staffed Gilead. I’m surprised you hired outsiders like the Whitleys.”
Rob finished his sandwich and shook his head when the waiter suggested another beer. “It’s hard to get someone local who’ll live in,” he said, “and the trustees don’t like to leave Gilead without someone on the premises. The college has been good about finding responsible prospects, although—come to think of it—it was Whitley who approached me last fall. He was recommended by the grad student who’d had it before him.”
“Is Tom Whitley a graduate student, too?” she asked, sipping the last of her wine.
“Because he’s older? No. He dropped out of high school and ran away to the army. I believe he got an equivalency diploma in the service, and last spring decided not to make a military career, but come east and study horticulture or landscaping instead. His wife’s a kindergarten teacher, you know,
“Was it the same man?”
Kate shrugged. “It would be quite a coincidence, wouldn’t it?”
Their food arrived and as they ate, Kate mused, “Odd how much difference a beard makes. I can’t get used to Gordon without his, can you?”
“I hardly knew him,” said Rob. “You heard Mother: once Gordon and Elaine married, they took off for more exotic climes. Colleton County was too provincial for them. I doubt if I ever saw him or his brother, either, more than two or three times in the last few years and that was always at a party or some sort of mob scene where you can’t speak to anyone except at a shout. I’ve only come to know Gordon since Thanksgiving. I do know I’ve heard Mother and Bessie talk that when Jake tried to play matchmaker, it was between James and Elaine, not Gordon. Jake ever mention it?”
“I’d forgotten all about that,” said Kate, “but you’re right. It was after Vietnam. They were all back in college then and James came down for spring break. Jake told me he thought James and Elaine might click, but nothing ever happened. Then Gordon tagged along the summer Patricia and Philip were married and it was love at first sight.”
According to Bessie Stewart, the first sight of a millionaire brother-in-law probably hadn’t hurt either. True or not, thought Rob, Elaine and Gordon had seemed perfectly matched: both had proper bloodlines and Elaine’s allowance from Patricia was large enough to finance the sort of life they wanted. Even Bessie and his mother approved of how devoted to each other Elaine and Gordon appeared.
He wondered aloud why James had never married.
“Jake said he couldn’t afford to,” said Kate. “There was a small trust fund somewhere. Enough to keep him off the unemployment line, but not enough to support a wife in the style-to-which, et cetera. I think that’s why they had drifted apart by the time Jake met me. You know what a workaholic Jake could be. He just couldn’t understand a man not settling down to a real career, and James seemed to be the perpetual houseguest. Always the extra man to balance Elaine’s table.
“They kept in touch, though—met for drinks when James was passing through town, and he came over for dinner once right after we were married; but I think Jake was disappointed in the way James’s life was turning out, even though he never said so.” Jake’s loyalty to people and places was another of the things Kate missed with aching sorrow.
To change the subject and take away the sad look in her eyes, Rob said, “I hear you’re ready to start remodeling the packhouse tomorrow?”
Her lips widened in a slow smile. “Is that maid at Gilead by any chance one of Bessie Stewart’s nieces?”
“DeWanda Lanelle Sanders,” he admitted with one of his small tight grins. “She’s got a sister if you need someone to help out this spring.”
“Gordon told me that you’d staffed Gilead. I’m surprised you hired outsiders like the Whitleys.”
Rob finished his sandwich and shook his head when the waiter suggested another beer. “It’s hard to get someone local who’ll live in,” he said, “and the trustees don’t like to leave Gilead without someone on the premises. The college has been good about finding responsible prospects, although—come to think of it—it was Whitley who approached me last fall. He was recommended by the grad student who’d had it before him.”
“Is Tom Whitley a graduate student, too?” she asked, sipping the last of her wine.
“Because he’s older? No. He dropped out of high school and ran away to the army. I believe he got an equivalency diploma in the service, and last spring decided not to make a military career, but come east and study horticulture or landscaping instead. His wife’s a kindergarten teacher, you know,
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