Vera stood at the foot of the steps to the Shelton Cove Yacht Club and silently stared up at the remarkable mansion, as if she’d been frozen in place. Alice wondered what she was thinking about the house where she grew up. Vera’s expression gave away nothing.
Reggie stood on the other side of her, waiting patiently, as if he understood the emotions swirling through his cousin.
The weathered, gray cedar siding, the towers and the red shingles of the roof made Alice think of mansions she’d seen above the beaches of Newport, Rhode Island.
Finally, Vera took a deep breath and they climbed the steps to the entrance. The door opened and three people came out. They were dressed to go sailing in casual clothes, deck shoes and light sweaters. They smiled and greeted Reggie, said hello to Vera and Alice, then went on down the steps, except for one of the men, who held the door for them to enter.
The encounter seemed to relax Vera, who’d been tense all morning. Inside the entry hall, arched doorways led in three directions. Laughter could be heard from the left.
“They kept most of the rooms the same,” Reggie said. “They extended the dining room by putting tables in the library, so they could seat more people, but all the bookshelves are still there. Now they house trophies and sailing memorabilia.”
They went toward the laughter and stepped into a bright, elegant room with large mirrors in between posts of rich, golden wood paneling. A mural of an Atlantic shoreline dominated one wall above a long sideboard. Several round and oval tables occupied the room. A party of eight was eating breakfast at one table. One of the ladies called to Reggie. They went over and Reggie introduced everyone.
“Vera!” A woman jumped up and enveloped Vera in a warm hug.
Vera hugged her back, but without the enthusiasm of the other woman. “Georgia, how nice to see you,” she said, ending the hug.
A man stood. “Alvera,” he said, holding out his hands. He took her hands and leaned over to kiss her. She pulled back, barely allowing him to brush the side of her cheek.
“Hello, Derrick. How are you? You’re looking well.” She smiled politely and removed her hands from his grip.
Derrick arched one eyebrow. He was tall and dark-haired and had a sophisticated appearance. His white sweater with blue trim was monogrammed. His white shorts were sharply creased. “You look lovely, as always. If anything, you’ve grown more beautiful,” he said.
“And you haven’t lost any of your charm,” she replied, putting her hands in the pockets of her khaki slacks. She did look nice, Alice thought. Her blue eyes held warmth and friendliness and a spark of humor. Alice had never considered the fact that Vera’s natural poise might have come from the society in which she’d been raised.
“Anyone like to join us for a set of tennis this afternoon?” Derrick asked, looking at Vera, then her companions.
“Unfortunately, we already have plans,” Reggie said. He turned to Vera. “We’d better get on with our business.”
“Bye. Nice to see you again,” she said as she allowed Reggie to lead her away.
“Sorry,” he said when they were out of earshot. “I didn’t think about your running into him. He never married, you know.”
“I’m sure that had nothing to do with me,” Vera said.
Reggie grinned at his cousin. “I don’t know. I think you broke his heart.”
“Or his pride. I suppose that isn’t very charitable of me, but he said some mean things about Fred.” Vera turned to Alice. “I dated him after Fred and I broke up. Everyone expected me to marry Derrick.”
“Including Derrick,” Reggie said.
“I’m glad you and Fred got back together. Is that why you hesitated before coming in?” Alice asked. She didn’t want to pry, but she had been curious. She and Vera had become friends when Vera accepted a teaching position in Acorn Hill and moved in with her grandmother, a long-time member of Grace Chapel and friend of Alice’s mother. Alice knew a romance had blossomed between the new schoolteacher and Fred Humbert, the young man who’d returned to Acorn Hill to manage the hardware store. She’d learned that the couple had known each other in college, but she’d never heard much about their lives before Acorn Hill.
“Some of it, I suppose. I’d rather remember this house the way it was when I was a child than to see what it’s become. Besides, that last year was stressful. My parents wanted me to marry Derrick. When I broke up and insisted on marrying Fred, they had a hard time accepting my decision. I think they believed I was going to Fred on the rebound.”
“You never cared much for the social scene, although you played the part well in college,” Reggie said.
“I enjoyed socializing in college. I think we were all spreading our wings and feeling independent. It was exciting and frenetic.”
“Frenetic? There you go, sounding like a schoolteacher. I remember you could still find time to party.”
“I do prefer a good book.”
He reached over and ruffled Vera’s hair. “Which is why you’re the teacher and I’m the carpenter.”
“Carpenter? Far from it,” she said, smoothing her hand over her hair. “Not that there’s anything wrong with carpenters, but I’d call you a designer and a craftsman.”
They went up to the top of the front tower to a circular room with seats beneath the windows all the way around. “This is my favorite place,” Vera said. “I used to come up here to read and daydream about adventures in other times or places. No one would bother me.”
“I knew I could find you here, but I preferred to go out in the dinghy. That’s where I did my daydreaming,” Reggie said. Alice could almost see them as children, living out their daydreams in their own ways.
They left the tower and went down a hallway on the main floor that opened up to a round anteroom that rose three stories high. A wide spiral stairway wound upward, with a landing at each floor. To the outside were stained glass windows that cast a rainbow around them. Reggie opened a double door on the left.
“This is the ballroom, where Vera danced the night away,” Reggie said. “They still hold balls here.”
Vera stepped inside and looked around. Her eyes sparkled. Alice followed her gaze as she pointed toward a carved figure of a cherub playing a horn on the frieze that circled the room between the picture rail and the crown moldings. All around the room were similar cherubs playing various instruments.
“I loved this room for the angels. Mother had a huge tree brought in here every Christmas and she decorated it with angel ornaments. When I was ten, she let me help decorate. She would have a chamber orchestra play for her charity parties. I always had to dress up to make an appearance at the beginning of the party. Then I was sent upstairs.”
“That must have been hard, knowing there was a party going on down below,” Alice said, still trying to understand why Vera hadn’t wanted to visit this lovely old house.
“Oh no. The doors were always left open so people could wander from the ballroom to the refreshment area that was set up in the parlor. When I was little, I’d sit on the stairs and watch from up above. My father would bring me a plate of dainty desserts and punch, and he’d sit with me until he saw mother down below looking for him.”
“What a wonderful memory,” Alice said.
Vera nodded. “Mother would pretend she didn’t see me. Then later, she’d come upstairs with one of the party favors and she’d give it to me, then tuck me in bed. My room is up there,” she said, pointing up the circular stairway. “There’s also a sitting room, where the ladies would gather to chat, like the Ladies’ Necessary at Aunt Agatha’s.”
They wandered up the staircase. The bedrooms had been redecorated as guest rooms for visitors from other yacht clubs or for occasions like weddings. Vera’s room looked like a luxurious hotel room. She frowned, then turned and left without a word. She walked down a hallway farther back into the house, with Reggie following. He hadn’t said much. Just let Vera wander.
They came to a locked door at the end of the hall. Reggie took a key out of his pocket. “The club doesn’t use the rest of the house,” he explained, unlocking the door.
They stepped into a dim, cold hallway with older, worn carpet on the floor. Their footsteps echoed as they walked down the hall.
“When I was little, this was my Grandma Lindsey’s wing when she’d visit from Acorn Hill. I remember her holding court with her old lady friends.” Vera laughed. “I suppose they were about my age, but they seemed ancient. I was in awe of them.”
“I remember,” Reggie said. “I had to put on a monkey suit to come have tea with a bunch of old ladies. I hated it.”
“And we’d sneak out after a while and go down to the cove. Remember, you tore your good pants on the old row-boat and I lost my gloves.”
Reggie laughed. “Boy, did we get in trouble, but it was worth it.”
“I remember your grandmother,” Alice said. “Louise and I adopted her, since our own grandmothers died before we were born. She came to our tea parties and helped with the church choir and the social committee. When Mother died, she organized the ladies at the church to bring in meals and help us take care of Jane. We’d have been lost without her.”
“I loved the short time I lived with her before Fred and I got married. She adored Fred, which helped convince my parents to accept him. They didn’t dislike Fred. They just didn’t think he was the right fellow for me.”
“They were certainly misguided about that,” Alice said.
“We all were,” Reggie said.
Back on the main floor, as they went toward the front section of the house, Vera commented, “I don’t know what you’d use these rooms for now, unless the club opened it as an inn or rented offices to members.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Reggie said. “Maybe I’ll move my office into this study. It’d be a lot quieter. A lot of your parents’ furnishings are still here. Is there anything you’d like to take? If you’d like some of the furniture, we can have it shipped.”
Vera looked around the study. A large carved desk and chairs and bookshelves occupied one end of the room, and a heavy brown leather couch and chairs were arranged around the fireplace.
“It’s all set for your office, Reggie. I don’t want anything. I have my memories and I don’t have to dust them.”
Alice smiled inwardly. Vera didn’t care for housekeeping. Although she kept things clean, she didn’t pay much attention to clutter. Whenever she was expecting company, she’d say she needed to “redd-up” the house. Now Alice realized she was probably raised with a housekeeper and there would have been a massive cleaning campaign before each of her mother’s large affairs. Alice had always loved Vera’s casual approach to her home. It had the homey atmosphere where you could sink into an easy chair and relax. That was not the way Vera had grown up. She’d purposely turned her home into a refuge where she could relax and be her unpretentious self.
“It’s nearly lunchtime. I’d be happy to spring for lunch,” Reggie suggested.
“How can we refuse such a generous offer?” Vera said.
Reggie showed them to a table on the large sun porch overlooking the cove and the river to the east. Out on the water, boats with rippling sails unfurled rode the breeze. All manner of craft from rowboats to yachts bobbed in the water. A jet ski raced past, weaving in and out between the boats, scaring the fish.
“It was a lot quieter here when we were kids,” Vera said. “Maybe you’d like to jet ski this afternoon.”
“No thank you. I want to make it back to work in one piece.”
“I nearly forgot. You’re still a schoolteacher, aren’t you? Have you thought about retiring?” Reggie asked.
“Retire? And do what? I love teaching.”
Alice found it difficult to reconcile her friend Vera, a beloved Acorn Hill teacher, with the girl who grew up in Shelton Cove amid the wealthy yachting set.
Alice gazed out at the deep, blue water. This may have been Vera’s life, but no longer. The Vera she knew was humble, down-to-earth and seemingly unsophisticated. At her childhood home, Vera’s favorite memories had to do with reading and playing with her cousin and spending time with her father and mother and aunt. She remembered the parties, but commented on them as an observer, not a participant. Alice suspected that Vera had always longed for a simpler, quieter life than the one she knew as a child, and she’d found it with Fred in Acorn Hill.