accidentally kneed Nola’s broken wrist. “Sorry!” she said, before I could.
“Why are you apologizing, Mim?” Bridget said.
“It’s just a thing people say, Bridget.”
“You apologize for everything .”
“I do not.”
“When the guy bumped you with his cart at the supermarket? When the dry cleaner ruined that jacket? When that woman splashed you with her bike. It’s your generation.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You wouldn’t ask for a spoon for your soup!”
“He felt so bad about the lemonade mix-up,” Nola said. “Besides it was a very thick soup.”
“I’m just saying you don’t have to apologize for other people’s mistakes. You’re overly sorry.”
“You’re underly sorry,” Vonn muttered.
“Let it go, Vonn.” Bridget sighed.
“How can you say you have no regrets?” Vonn asked. “Every person has regrets.”
“I don’t.”
“In your whole life?”
“None.”
“This isn’t the time or the place, girls,” Nola said wearily.
“You don’t regret having the procedure ?”
“No,” Bridget said.
Vonn leaned toward me. “My mother had elective surgery on a body part that will be retired , like crossing guard–retired ,in a few years, using money she borrowed from me . Then she couldn’t pay it back and I couldn’t go on my graduation trip last spring.”
“It was a cash flow thing,” Bridget said in her own defence.
“You can honestly say you don’t regret that?” Vonn asked.
“That one is in your regrets pile too, Vonn. You could have gone on that trip. You should have.”
“ You didn’t pay me back,” Vonn protested.
“But you lost out. Mim and Pip were happy to loan you the money. You cut off your nose, Vonn.”
“We would’ve been happy to loan you money,” Nola said. “It’s true. You should have gone.”
“You don’t get off that easy, Bridget! She doesn’t get off that easy!” Vonn shouted.
“But she did,” Nola said.
Vonn trembled, and I could feel she was fighting tears. “So you are really going to sit there and say you have not one regret?” Her doggedness would serve us well.
“None.”
Nola cleared her throat and said, “Well, I have regrets.”
“Mim, please.”
“I do. Lots of them.”
Bridget and Vonn shared a skeptical look. “Perfect wife. Perfect mother. Perfect grandmother. Name one thing that you seriously regret,” Bridget said.
“I dug two graves,” Nola said darkly.
“You dug two graves,” I repeated, confused.
“JFK said those who seek vengeance dig two graves,” Nola said.
“I don’t think JFK said that,” Bridget said.
“You’re obviously not saying you killed anyone,” Vonn said. “Right?”
“I made a very big mistake that changed the lives of a lot of people.”
“What did you do?” I asked, eager for the distraction of Nola’s confession.
“Mim?”
“I hated Laura Dorrie,” Nola said into the darkness. “She was my classmate in senior year, the year we moved from Wisconsin to Toledo.”
“Where you fell in love with Pip.”
“Laura Dorrie thought she had dibs,” Nola said.
“So you hated her?”
“I like to think she hated me first,” she said. “But yes. On the first day of senior year at Harding High I fell head over heels for Patrick Devine. He was a two-sport athlete. We said ‘hunk’ back then. He was a major hunk . All the girls had a crush on him. He sang with the band and no one thought that was weird. He was a crooner. Just loved all that Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett stuff.”
Nola was there, walking in slow motion down the halls of high school, starring in her own memory. “He looked just like Warren Beatty in Splendor in the Grass . I nearly quit orchestra for Cheer that first week just so I could get closer to him. First time I loved anyone more than my violin.”
“ Violin ? I didn’t know you played violin, Mim,” Bridget said. “I thought you played piano.”
“I was a prodigy,” Nola said
“Why are you apologizing, Mim?” Bridget said.
“It’s just a thing people say, Bridget.”
“You apologize for everything .”
“I do not.”
“When the guy bumped you with his cart at the supermarket? When the dry cleaner ruined that jacket? When that woman splashed you with her bike. It’s your generation.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You wouldn’t ask for a spoon for your soup!”
“He felt so bad about the lemonade mix-up,” Nola said. “Besides it was a very thick soup.”
“I’m just saying you don’t have to apologize for other people’s mistakes. You’re overly sorry.”
“You’re underly sorry,” Vonn muttered.
“Let it go, Vonn.” Bridget sighed.
“How can you say you have no regrets?” Vonn asked. “Every person has regrets.”
“I don’t.”
“In your whole life?”
“None.”
“This isn’t the time or the place, girls,” Nola said wearily.
“You don’t regret having the procedure ?”
“No,” Bridget said.
Vonn leaned toward me. “My mother had elective surgery on a body part that will be retired , like crossing guard–retired ,in a few years, using money she borrowed from me . Then she couldn’t pay it back and I couldn’t go on my graduation trip last spring.”
“It was a cash flow thing,” Bridget said in her own defence.
“You can honestly say you don’t regret that?” Vonn asked.
“That one is in your regrets pile too, Vonn. You could have gone on that trip. You should have.”
“ You didn’t pay me back,” Vonn protested.
“But you lost out. Mim and Pip were happy to loan you the money. You cut off your nose, Vonn.”
“We would’ve been happy to loan you money,” Nola said. “It’s true. You should have gone.”
“You don’t get off that easy, Bridget! She doesn’t get off that easy!” Vonn shouted.
“But she did,” Nola said.
Vonn trembled, and I could feel she was fighting tears. “So you are really going to sit there and say you have not one regret?” Her doggedness would serve us well.
“None.”
Nola cleared her throat and said, “Well, I have regrets.”
“Mim, please.”
“I do. Lots of them.”
Bridget and Vonn shared a skeptical look. “Perfect wife. Perfect mother. Perfect grandmother. Name one thing that you seriously regret,” Bridget said.
“I dug two graves,” Nola said darkly.
“You dug two graves,” I repeated, confused.
“JFK said those who seek vengeance dig two graves,” Nola said.
“I don’t think JFK said that,” Bridget said.
“You’re obviously not saying you killed anyone,” Vonn said. “Right?”
“I made a very big mistake that changed the lives of a lot of people.”
“What did you do?” I asked, eager for the distraction of Nola’s confession.
“Mim?”
“I hated Laura Dorrie,” Nola said into the darkness. “She was my classmate in senior year, the year we moved from Wisconsin to Toledo.”
“Where you fell in love with Pip.”
“Laura Dorrie thought she had dibs,” Nola said.
“So you hated her?”
“I like to think she hated me first,” she said. “But yes. On the first day of senior year at Harding High I fell head over heels for Patrick Devine. He was a two-sport athlete. We said ‘hunk’ back then. He was a major hunk . All the girls had a crush on him. He sang with the band and no one thought that was weird. He was a crooner. Just loved all that Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett stuff.”
Nola was there, walking in slow motion down the halls of high school, starring in her own memory. “He looked just like Warren Beatty in Splendor in the Grass . I nearly quit orchestra for Cheer that first week just so I could get closer to him. First time I loved anyone more than my violin.”
“ Violin ? I didn’t know you played violin, Mim,” Bridget said. “I thought you played piano.”
“I was a prodigy,” Nola said
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