Page 16 (1/2)
25
MANAGING THE HOUSE, Natalie found, was not as easy as her mother had already made it seem Nancy helped; or Nancy promised cheerfully to help, and announced, just as cheerfully, when Natalie arrived home from work to find the breakfast dishes unwashed and the ot"
"How can you forget that we have to eat dinner?" Natalie asked angrily
"Well, I was babysitting at the Ki a do et used to it," she said "I'Nancy load the dishwasher halfheartedly Mo seem easy and fun And it isn't All those dirty clothes in the ha I didn't even realize that Nancy and I owned so many clothes And Dad He's worse than either of us I never noticed before that he leaves his paja How does Mo s on the telephone and didn't wait for an answer "Tallie and I are having such fun together We went out thisand picked berries, and then Ito have blueberry pie and tea while we listen to the symphony"
"We're all fine, Moht--" (Yes, I do Last night's dishes, and yesterday's laundry) "but we'll be thinking of you Give Tallie a hug from me"
"I will Is Nancy there?"
"No, she went to the library with Steve" (And if she doesn't get ho her neck)
"Well, I' well I think I'll be here a couple more weeks You'll call if you have problems, won't you, Nat?"
"Sure, Mom Just enjoy yourself, and take care of Tallie"
On Thursday afternoon, Natalieit on the kitchen wall
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
Will each of you please put your breakfast dishes in the dishwasher every et up, and erator when you're finished with it
And be on tiht suddenly I'rouch One of the things I always appreciated most about Mom ere kids was that there was never a list in our house, with "Chores" written at the top We never had to make a check mark after we cleared the table, the way my friends did
(Of course, we never cleared the tableTallie, I know there were never lists in her house, marked "Chores," either Probably Mom never cleared the table very often when she was a kid And noe don't We pass our flaws and failings along fros along, too, she thought, recalling with satisfaction the spontaneity and cheer that had always been part of their hohter and that was Kay Arift to their family now
I wonder what Julie's ht suddenly
And went to the phone to call Margaret Jeffries
26
THE VOICE FROM Michigan was clear through the telephone, all the way to Maine: clear, pleasant, and surprised, as Natalie embarked on a new sequence of explanations and lies
"Mrs Jeffries, you don't know me, but I was an old friend of Julie's when she was a student at Miss Sheridan's I'd like to get in touch with her, if you could give me her address"
"Goodness; you haven't seen her in all these years?"
"No," said Natalie, hoping that her voice sounded mature Sometimes her father's patients were surprised, when they realized she was only seventeen, after they had talked to her on the office telephone They said she sounded older "We just lost touch, after we graduated"
Mrs Jeffries laughed "Well, you have seen her, of course"
"No," said Natalie again, puzzled
"I azines," said Mrs Jeffries
Natalie was silent for a moment "I don't understand Do you mean that she did become a model? I remember that she wanted to"
"Oh, my, yes I'm amazed that you don't know that She was so well known for a while Goodness, there was a ti Julie's face"
"No," said Natalie slowly "I didn't know that I guess I just never saw her picture Or never noticed"
"Oh, you ue, Harper's Bazaar, on the cover of Mademoiselle twice, I think it was, and--"
Natalie sat down on the floor beside the telephone table and half-listened as Mrs Jeffries went on and on, recalling Julie's professional triuht, I may have seen azine that lay on our coffee table, or in Dad's waiting rooht there, in lad, you know, that she chose not to accept any jobs for those, you know, those azines for men She could have They offered her a lot of money, some of the "I know"