“Thank you, Mr. Lamb.”
“Please call me Jim. Glad you got here. They wouldn’t let me sip the wine until you had yours, and Mrs. Winston knows how much I love her homemade elderberry.”
He nodded at the bottle and glasses on the silver tray Mrs. McGruder hovered over beside the end table. She looked to Mrs. Winston, who nodded, and then she began to pour us each a glass. She handed them first to Mrs. Winston, who then handed one to Jim and one to me.
“This is my great-grandmother’s recipe,” Mrs. Winston explained. “If taken in moderation, elderberry wine has many health benefits. The ancient Egyptians used the plant and its flowers to heal burns, and the British used it as a cure for the common cold and heartburn. Anyway, to our newest Quincy citizen, Lorelei Patio,” she said, raising her glass.
We all sipped.
“Thank you,” I told her. “I don’t think my own grandmother could have done as much for me in one day or been as considerate.”
Her eyes glittered, but she quickly recovered her New England proper posture and demeanor. “Well, since this is a special evening, we’re having one of Mrs. McGruder’s best dinners, roast leg of lamb. We’ll have to get to it,” she said, nodding at Mrs. McGruder. She made sure to pick up the bottle of elderberry wine as they started out. She paused in the doorway. “I’m sorry the other two guests weren’t here early enough to toast with us, but at least you and Mr. Lamb have time to get to know each other,” she said, and nodded, as if she were giving us her blessing and permission.
I looked at Jim Lamb. He smiled and glanced at the chair I was near, urging me to sit.
“I should really go up and shower and change for dinner,” I said.
“Yes. I will change, too, but they don’t serve until seven sharp, so we have some time.”
I sat, and he sat on the sofa quickly.
“I don?
??t know much more about you than that you just were hired at Dolan Plumbing Supply and arrived here in Quincy today. Neither Mrs. Winston nor Mrs. McGruder volunteers much information about any of their guests.”
“Oh?”
I laughed to myself, thinking about how much they had told me about Naomi Addison, but I did consider that they told me those things because she and I were to share a bathroom, or because they weren’t all that fond of her.
“I teach English literature and composition at the Adams School for Girls. I’m in my third year there. I was born and brought up in Boston. Attended Boston University. My family used to come to Quincy for weekends often, and I fell in love with it when I was only twelve, I think. Always knew I wanted to live here someday.”
“What age do you teach?”
“Tenth to twelfth grades. The age of wild hormones,” he added, but he blushed before I could, not that I would have. “I was told that if I could survive them, I could teach anyone anywhere.”
“You were told right.”
“And you’re from?”
“The West Coast,” I said. “We traveled about a bit.”
“What brought you here?”
I thought about being silly and saying “a jet plane,” but I smiled instead and told him I had discovered it in a travel magazine.
“Well, it takes a lot of courage to just pick up and start someplace new, especially someplace like Quincy, which I imagine is quite different from where you’ve been.”
“Sometimes we don’t have much choice but to be courageous.” I glanced at my watch. “I don’t mean to be abrupt, but after the day I’ve had, I think I need a little rest. I want to be up for the other guests and Mrs. Winston’s special dinner celebration.”
“Oh, sure.” He smiled. “I guess we have plenty of time to get to know each other anyway.”
“Have no fear. It won’t take much time to get to know me. I haven’t done all that much yet,” I said.
My reply took him by surprise. He tried to hold on to his smile, but I could see he was a little speechless. I wasn’t all that used to shy men. Ava used to say they made her stomach churn. She didn’t have the patience for them. Whether I wanted to admit it to myself or not, I shared some of that with her.
I finished my wine, put the glass down, and stood. He rose immediately.
“See you at dinner, then,” I said.