Full Circle (4 page)

Sofia watched
her indulgently. “Everyone says we should enjoy them now, before they start to
talk.” Her gaze went to Valeria, who was lying on a quilt on the floor.

“Not me.”
Bella shook her head. “I can hardly wait ‘til she starts talking.”

 “Mommy, I
don’t want to wear this dress.”

“But Sweetie,
your Aunty Carla sent it especially for your birthday.”  Bella gazed in wonder
at her daughter. “I can’t believe you’re five years old already.”

Melissa
squirmed uncomfortably. “It’s scratchy, Mom.” She stuck a hand down the neck of
the dress and rubbed her fingers against the seams around the arm.

Bella checked
her watch. “Your friends will be arriving any minute and I don’t really have
anything else.” She squatted down in front of her daughter. “Do you think you
can manage for this afternoon? I’ll fix it later, I promise, even if I have to
rip it apart.” She looked up as a car pulled into the driveway, and one of
Melissa’s friends got out. “How about it, birthday girl, can you manage for
just a couple of hours?”

“Okay.” The
child fidgeted one last time, then ran to meet her friends.

* * *

Bella and
Sofia waved as the last parent drove off. “It’s a good thing our girls have
their birthdays a few months apart,” said Sofia with her ever-present smile. “I’m
completely worn out; either they’re getting more energetic or I’m getting
older.” She eyed the chairs on the porch. “Shall we sit for a moment?”

“Go ahead.
I’ll bring us some iced tea.” Bella was as comfortable in her friend’s home as
she was in her own little apartment. She couldn’t count the times over the past
five years that she’d given silent thanks for the day she found Sofia Alvarez.
She poured two glasses of tea, went back to the porch and sank gratefully into
one of the chairs. “Where’s Valeria?” she asked, handing a glass to Sofia.

The other
woman waved a hand over her shoulder. “She’s at your place with the birthday
girl. Melissa couldn’t wait to take that dress off. Too bad, because it’s such
a lovely style.”

Bella nodded.
“I thought so, too, but she was complaining about it being scratchy, or something.”

Sofia put her
feet up on a small hassock and sighed. “You said Carla sent her that dress?”

Bella nodded.

“It would be
nice if your friend could come to visit. I feel that I know her by now.”

Bella raised
both eyebrows. “Yeah, it would be great. A few years ago she talked about it a
few times; I’d get excited, but then nothing could come of it.” She brightened.
“Of course Ethan is doing well, and that’s what’s important. Imagine! Being on
Broadway already.”
“Maybe he’ll move out here and become a famous movie star.” Sofia chuckled to
herself. “We can always dream, no?”

The
conversation was interrupted by the sound of two little girls thundering down
the outside stairs that led to Bella’s apartment. They were an odd pair;
Valeria dark and exotic, still in her party dress, and Melissa, tanned and
tawny, hair bleached by the sun, in a tube top and shorts.

They ran up
the steps and Melissa stopped indignantly in front of her mother. “See?” she
said, raising her arm. “I told you it was scratchy.” She handed her mother the
party dress.

The skin
under her daughter’s arm was rubbed almost raw. Bella eyed it critically.
“We’ll put some ointment on it later, or do you think we should go to the
Emergency Room?”

Melissa
rolled her eyes. “Oh, Mom, you’re so silly.” She followed Valeria into the
house.

“Let’s see
what we’ve got here,” Bella said, turning the dress inside out and running her
fingers over the seam. “No wonder she said it felt scratchy.” She turned the
dress right side out and pointed to a piece of stiff lace that had been inset
into the bodice. “This fabric is much too abrasive to be left raw at the seam
like that.” She was almost talking to herself. “I said earlier that I’d take it
apart if necessary, but I didn’t really think it would come to that.” She handed
the garment to Sofia.

“You could
put binding on the seam.” Sofia shook out the dress and held it up. “It’s a
lovely style, isn’t it?”

Bella eyed it
critically. “I know Carla meant well when she chose it, but I’d prefer it in a
softer color.” Her eyes narrowed. “When we were young, Carla and I used to
watch my mother make patterns from garments she’d taken apart. Of course that
was mainly because Carla was interested. She was fascinated by the process. And
imagine! Now she’s working in the garment district in New York, training to be
a pattern maker.” Sofia set the dress aside and Bella picked it up, examining
the seams carefully. “I think I
will
try to take it apart. You know how
stubborn Melissa can be. She isn’t going to want to wear it again.”

“While you’re
at it,” said Sofia, “I bought a little sundress for Valeria a month or so ago,
but it just doesn’t fit properly. Maybe we should work on them both at the same
time.”

Bella thought
for a few moments. “It’s been a while since I did any sewing, but I do know
how. I don’t know why I haven’t been making Melissa’s clothes.”

“Maybe
because you’re been working two jobs ever since you moved here? Or because
patterns cost the earth?”

Bella
laughed. “Or because I don’t have a sewing machine.”

“I have a
sewing machine.” Sofia spoke slowly. “When I met Eduardo I was making
sportswear at a clothing factory just over the border.”

“I didn’t
know that about you,” said Bella. “That’s interesting.” She rattled the ice
cubes in the bottom of her glass. “Could I borrow the sewing machine?”

“Of course,
but you should probably do your sewing here. It’s a heavy machine to haul up
those stairs, plus you have so little room in your place.”

“This is
going to be fun.” Bella did a mental inventory of the fabric in the store where
she still worked. “I think I know precisely which fabric I’m going to choose.”

* * *

The two women
worked companionably, heads bent over the work table as they took the dresses
apart. They’d had a “fashion show” earlier; Melissa in her party dress and Valeria
in her sundress. The girls hadn’t been shy to point out what they deemed to be
deficiencies.

“You know,
Mom,” said Melissa in her forthright manner. “What I’d really like is a
wrap-around skirt like that one you have, only short.”

“Hmm,” Bella
continued working. “What would you wear underneath?”

“You’d make
me some matching shorts. It would be so cool.”

She looked up
at her daughter. “How old are you? Five going on fifteen?”

Melissa gave
her an impatient look. “I know what I like, Mom.”

“Yes, I can
see that,” Bella murmured. “That’s what I’m worried about.”

The girls ran
outside and Sofia watched them with a smile. “They’re growing up so fast,” she
said softly. “I would give anything if Eduardo could see her just once.” She
was quiet for several moments.

“Bella.”
Bella’s head came up. She knew that tone of voice by now. Sofia was about to
say something important. “Melissa will be going to school this fall, no?”

“Yes, she’s
really eager to go.” Bella wondered where this conversation was headed.

“Have you
thought about what you’re going to say when she starts to ask about her
father?” Bella had long since confided in her friend.

Over the past
five years Bella had prided herself on facing challenges head on, but this was
one area she had been avoiding. “Yes, I’ve thought about it a lot. I can’t
believe she hasn’t asked me already.”

Sofia nodded,
her dark eyes sombre. “Around here, it’s been two little girls with their mothers.
Neither of them grew up with a father, so it must have seemed normal, but when
she gets to school, everything will change.” She glanced out to the front yard,
where the girls had settled on the grass under a tree. “She’s strong-willed,
that one.”

Bella sighed.
“Don’t I know it.” Her gaze rested for a moment on the two girls. “I’ve been thinking
about telling her that her father is dead.” She looked defiantly at her friend.
“After all, he’s as good as dead to me.”

“Because he
went with someone else?” Sofia spoke gently. “Is that a reason to deprive him
of knowing his daughter?”

“He has his
son.” Bella spoke harshly, and then regretted it instantly. “I saw it in the
paper.” A subscription to the weekly
Willow Bend News
had been her one
indulgence.

Sofia smiled,
but it was a sad smile. “I hate to see you like this.”

Bella’s
shoulders fell. “I may sound cold about it now but believe me, I’ve spent
literally hours thinking about it…wondering if I’m doing the right thing. It
tears me apart some times, but what’s worse? Telling her that her father is
dead, or telling her that he’s on the other side of the country, but she can’t
go to see him?” She looked at her friend through tortured eyes. “You
understand, don’t you?”

Sofia nodded.
“Yes, unfortunately, I do.” She held up the pieces of Valeria’s sundress. “We’ll
be ready to sew by tomorrow.”

* * *

“Here, let me
do that.” Sofia couldn’t stand watching any longer; she urged Bella up from the
seat. “I can have that sewn in no time.”

Bella watched
in amazement as Sofia zipped through the pieces, assembling the wrap-around
skirt in less than ten minutes. Even though it was a prototype, Bella has used
the “real” fabric, eager to see how it moved on Melissa. The girls were
outside, already wearing their new shorts. Bella had taken apart a pair of
Melissa’s old shorts and drawn patterns to fit each girl. The result was better
than anything they could have purchased at the store.

“Let’s see
how this looks,” she called through the screen door. “Sofia has finished the
wrap-around skirt.”

Melissa loved
it. She preened in front of the full length mirror on the back of the door,
turning one way and then the other. The skirt swirled around her, revealing
tantalizing glimpses of the contrasting lining.

“You don’t
think it’s too old for her?” Sofia murmured, watching Melissa.

Bella
considered her friend’s words. “I don’t think so, no. Anything to get them in a
skirt for a while is good, in my opinion.”

Sofia nodded.
“It would be great for the beach. They could go into the water in those shorts.”
She seemed to make up her mind. “Let’s make one for Valeria as well.”

* * *

“Mommy, can I
go on the carousel?” Melissa tugged at Bella’s hand. “Please?”

Bella smiled
indulgently at her daughter. “You just want to show off your new skirt.”

The child
twirled. “I love it, and Val loves hers, too.” “Please, Mommy. Can we go to the
carousel?”

“Oh, all
right.” The excursion had been planned for several days, and the youngsters
were keen to get started. “Let’s go over and collect Valeria and her mom.”

The pier was
crowded with weekend visitors. Bella had quickly learned to tell the tourists
from the locals, and she and Sofia walked at a leisurely pace behind the girls,
people watching.

Suddenly
tense, Sofia clutched at Bella’s arm. “Look” she said, “someone’s talking to
the girls.”

They
quickened their pace, but by the time they caught up to the girls, the woman
had moved off. They saw her moving through the crowd, holding the hand of a
girl similar in age to Melissa and Valeria.

“What did
that lady want?” Bella asked, trying not to alarm the girls.

They both
beamed. “She liked our skirts,” said Valeria proudly. “She wanted to know where
she could buy one.”

Bella and
Sofia exchanged glances. “That’s nice,” said Sofia. “Now, how about that
carousel ride?”

As they stood
outside the railing watching their girls enjoy the ride, a woman and her
husband came to stand beside them.

“There they
are,” the woman said. Bella and Valeria were coming around again. “Don’t they
look adorable in their matching skirts?”

Bella’s heart
swelled. “Those are our daughters” she said, indicating herself and Sofia.

“Really?” The
woman waved to a young girl seated on a horse with a flying mane, then turned
back. “Do you mind telling me where you got those skirts? I’d love to buy some
for my daughter and her friend.”

“Sorry, but
we made them.”

The woman’s
face fell. “Too bad. You just don’t see anything like that in the stores.
Thanks anyway.”

During the
course of the afternoon, Sofia and Bella noticed several women looking at the
girls’ skirts. “You know” said Sofia thoughtfully, “I’ll bet those skirts would
sell like hotcakes at the Venice Beach market.”

Bella was
startled. “I was just thinking the same thing. But we’d need more than just the
one item, don’t you think?”

Sofia nodded.
“And several sizes in each item.”

The girls had
run ahead to an ice cream vendor. “We could do the sun dress,” murmured Sofia.
“They both like that one.” They’d already made it in two strikingly different
colors. “But what else would we make?”

Bella watched
as the girls paid for their ice cream, and then settled side by side on a low
bench. “I’ve got an idea,” she said, nodding her head with growing conviction.
“Why don’t we take them to a department store and let
them
tell us what catches
their eye. They’ve always had a pretty clear cut idea of what they like.” She started
to speak faster, her enthusiasm bubbling over. “Once we see what styles they want,
we could take them to the fabric store and let them choose.” She looked to her
friend for confirmation. “What do you think?”

Sofia looked
doubtful. “They’d get confused, no?”

Bella had
considered that. “I’ll pre-select some suitable easy-care fabrics and ask them
to choose from the ones we show them. That way they won’t be overwhelmed.”