has my very best pair of sunglasses that I left in her purse and she wouldn’t let me even come down and get them. What do you mean she’s not meeting you for lunch?”
“I-I . . .” Frida stammered.
“Spit it out!”
Frida wiped her brow. “Well, Ellie called me this morning and asked if I was feeling okay. She wanted to know if I had any reaction from the dinner last night.”
“I knew the beef was too rare!” Barbara snapped.
“Well, I said that I was fine. A little dyspeptic, but I’m always dyspeptic.”
“Get to it,” Barbara prodded.
“Well, then I asked Ellie if she’d like to get together today, and she said that she was going out to your house.”
“She didn’t!”
“Oh, yes,” Frida responded carefully. She ripped off a piece of the newspaper and started fanning herself. This was too much.
“So she lied to me?” Barbara was astonished.
“Well, I’m not quite sure. See, then I got worried. Ellie didn’t sound right. Maybe she was keeping something from me. Ellie always thinks I worry about every little thing . . .”
“Which you do.”
“Well, I’m concerned for those around me, of course.”
“So then what happened?”
“So then I started to think about it a little more. There was something about the tone of her voice.”
“It did sound high this morning.”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I noticed. So now you can plainly see why I was alarmed.”
“Yes, of course! Any rational human being could see why you would be troubled like this.”
“So then I took my key—you know that Ellie and I have each other’s keys, just in case?”
“Yes, yes.”
“So a couple of hours later I went down to see if she was okay.”
“And was she?”
Frida brought the phone to her mouth so she could whisper her next words. “She wasn’t there,” Frida said as gently as she could.
“She what?”
“But that’s not all.”
“Frida, I can’t hear anymore.”
“Well, this is a very important part of the story.”
“What is it?”
“Lucy was there.”
Barbara paused. “What was Lucy doing there?”
“I have no idea. She was with another woman. They had some cakes lined up on Ellie’s dining room table. Ellie would never have allowed that, and that had me a little alarmed. They didn’t even have a tablecloth set up.”
“Lucy put cake on my great-grandmother’s table that grandmother Mitzi oiled and salved every week of her life?”
“The very same,” Frida answered and then regretted it. She didn’t want to get Lucy into trouble.
“Okay, so let me get this straight.” Barbara sighed, then took a deep breath. “My mother told you that she was going out with me.”
“Correct.”
“My mother told me she was going out with you.”
“Yes.”
“Lucy was with some strange woman in her apartment eating cake.”
“That’s right.”
“You stay on the line for a moment. I don’t want to lose the connection. I’m going to call Lucy on my cell phone and get to the bottom of this.”
Frida heard Barbara put the phone down, and then the clack clack clack of her heels on the hardwood floors of the kitchen getting more distant. Then, just as fast as the clack ing stopped, it started again, louder and louder as Barbara clack ed back toward the phone.
“Lucy, this is Mom. Aunt Frida is on my landline, worried sick about Grandma. Frida told me you were in Gram’s apartment this morning with some woman eating cake. Please give me a call. Aunt Frida is very worried.” Barbara got back on with Frida. “Let me call Lucy’s home phone. She never uses it, just the cell phone, but I’ll try just in case.”
Barbara called.
“Lucy, it’s Mom. I know you never use your home phone, but Aunt Frida is very worried about Gram, and she needs to know if you’ve seen her. Please call me.” Barbara picked up the land phone again. “I should call Lucy back and tell her to try me on both my landline and my cell phone. Hold on one more second,Frida.” She
“I-I . . .” Frida stammered.
“Spit it out!”
Frida wiped her brow. “Well, Ellie called me this morning and asked if I was feeling okay. She wanted to know if I had any reaction from the dinner last night.”
“I knew the beef was too rare!” Barbara snapped.
“Well, I said that I was fine. A little dyspeptic, but I’m always dyspeptic.”
“Get to it,” Barbara prodded.
“Well, then I asked Ellie if she’d like to get together today, and she said that she was going out to your house.”
“She didn’t!”
“Oh, yes,” Frida responded carefully. She ripped off a piece of the newspaper and started fanning herself. This was too much.
“So she lied to me?” Barbara was astonished.
“Well, I’m not quite sure. See, then I got worried. Ellie didn’t sound right. Maybe she was keeping something from me. Ellie always thinks I worry about every little thing . . .”
“Which you do.”
“Well, I’m concerned for those around me, of course.”
“So then what happened?”
“So then I started to think about it a little more. There was something about the tone of her voice.”
“It did sound high this morning.”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I noticed. So now you can plainly see why I was alarmed.”
“Yes, of course! Any rational human being could see why you would be troubled like this.”
“So then I took my key—you know that Ellie and I have each other’s keys, just in case?”
“Yes, yes.”
“So a couple of hours later I went down to see if she was okay.”
“And was she?”
Frida brought the phone to her mouth so she could whisper her next words. “She wasn’t there,” Frida said as gently as she could.
“She what?”
“But that’s not all.”
“Frida, I can’t hear anymore.”
“Well, this is a very important part of the story.”
“What is it?”
“Lucy was there.”
Barbara paused. “What was Lucy doing there?”
“I have no idea. She was with another woman. They had some cakes lined up on Ellie’s dining room table. Ellie would never have allowed that, and that had me a little alarmed. They didn’t even have a tablecloth set up.”
“Lucy put cake on my great-grandmother’s table that grandmother Mitzi oiled and salved every week of her life?”
“The very same,” Frida answered and then regretted it. She didn’t want to get Lucy into trouble.
“Okay, so let me get this straight.” Barbara sighed, then took a deep breath. “My mother told you that she was going out with me.”
“Correct.”
“My mother told me she was going out with you.”
“Yes.”
“Lucy was with some strange woman in her apartment eating cake.”
“That’s right.”
“You stay on the line for a moment. I don’t want to lose the connection. I’m going to call Lucy on my cell phone and get to the bottom of this.”
Frida heard Barbara put the phone down, and then the clack clack clack of her heels on the hardwood floors of the kitchen getting more distant. Then, just as fast as the clack ing stopped, it started again, louder and louder as Barbara clack ed back toward the phone.
“Lucy, this is Mom. Aunt Frida is on my landline, worried sick about Grandma. Frida told me you were in Gram’s apartment this morning with some woman eating cake. Please give me a call. Aunt Frida is very worried.” Barbara got back on with Frida. “Let me call Lucy’s home phone. She never uses it, just the cell phone, but I’ll try just in case.”
Barbara called.
“Lucy, it’s Mom. I know you never use your home phone, but Aunt Frida is very worried about Gram, and she needs to know if you’ve seen her. Please call me.” Barbara picked up the land phone again. “I should call Lucy back and tell her to try me on both my landline and my cell phone. Hold on one more second,Frida.” She
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