Vintage (36 page)

He pointed his thumb at the massive building over his shoulder. “That’s the address of the courthouse.”

Perplexed, April and Amithi climbed the stairs and went inside, where a security guard made them remove their coats and handbags and run them through a metal detector. April panicked, wondering if maybe Violet had been summoned to court for something to do with the lease on the old building. She thought Violet had worked with Karen to get that all cleared up before moving the shop into her mom’s old house, but maybe there was some detail they’d overlooked.

“Excuse me,” Amithi said to the security guard. “Have you seen a woman with short black hair come through here?”

The guard scratched his graying beard. “Was she wearing a wedding dress?”

Amithi shrugged as April said, “Um, I don’t believe so.”

“Almost all the women I’ve seen come through here in the last hour or so looked like lawyers. You know, they were wearing suits and carrying files and stuff. Only lady I’ve seen who didn’t look like a lawyer had on a wedding dress.”

“Hmmm,” April said. “Well, thanks anyway. I guess we’ll just wait here in the lobby until we see our friend.”

“Oh, and the lady I saw, the one in the dress, she had tattoos. One of a bird, and something else. A starfish?”

Beyond the security guard, April caught sight of Violet coming out of the elevator, wearing the ivory, full-skirted 1950s gown April had purchased for her own wedding, and then returned, back in the spring.

Amithi gasped.

April rushed toward Violet. “Is this what I think it is?”

Violet hugged each of them as best she could without crushing the bouquet of red ranunculus dangling from her hand. “Sam and I are getting married and we need two witnesses. Come on!” Violet flashed a red-lipsticked smile, then beckoned her friends into the elevator.

“Of course we will be your witnesses,” Amithi said. “How wonderful.”

April wasn’t quite so sure. Violet and Sam had been broken up for a couple of months now. Questions rose to her lips, but there were other people riding with them in the elevator—serious-looking, white-haired people wearing ties—so she just stood there in silence like everyone else.

They got off on the third floor and followed Violet into a courtroom, where Sam paced in front of the jury box like a defense attorney about to deliver his closing argument. His face lit up when he saw Violet and he buttoned his houndstooth blazer.

April was still too stunned to be able to articulate anything, so she just hovered near the door.

Amithi grabbed her gently by the arm. “I think we are supposed to go up to the front.”

The bespectacled clerk looked up from her computer and asked, “Should I tell the judge we’re ready?”

“Yes,” Violet and Sam both said at the same time.

INVENTORY ITEM
: wedding gown

APPROXIMATE DATE
: 1952

CONDITION
: good, minor discoloration on lining

ITEM DESCRIPTION
: Ivory, tea-length gown with scooped neckline and cap sleeves. Silk taffeta with crinoline understructure.

SOURCE
: Dress acquired from the couple’s daughter. Later purchased and returned by April Morgan. Worn for the wedding of Violet Turner and Sam Lewis.

Violet

VIOLET HAD BEEN PRUNING
April’s mother’s peony plants on the side of the house on an October Sunday when she heard a car pull into the driveway. She had pulled off her gardening gloves and wiped her hands on the vintage Boy Scout button-down she liked to wear for yard work. Before buying the house, Violet wouldn’t have guessed she’d enjoy weeding the flower beds and mowing the tiny lawn. But it turned out that being outside in the autumn air, caring for living things, had a calming effect on her.

She walked around to the front of the house, where Miles had awoken from his nap and now stood on the porch, barking at a white Subaru in the driveway.

Sam’s car.

He got out and, in two steps, crossed the small expanse of grass separating him and Violet. For a moment, he looked as if he was going to throw his arms around her, and she, too, wanted nothing more than that. But caution and confusion paralyzed her. Sam must have sensed it, too, because he didn’t move any closer.

He cleared his throat. “The shop looks great,” he said. “As if it was meant to be here all along.”

“Thanks,” she said.

“Are you in the middle of something?”

“No. Just some gardening.”

Violet wanted to scream,
Enough with the small talk!
He looked even more handsome now than the picture of him she’d been carrying around in her head since they broke up. He’d let his beard grow in a bit, and Violet had to stop herself from reaching up and putting her hands on his cheeks, tilting her head up to kiss him.

“I’ve done some soul searching,” he said.

“Me too.”

“If I look a bit worse for wear, it’s because I’ve been camping out at Devil’s Lake all weekend.”

“It’s okay,” Violet said. “I’m all full of dirt anyway.”

“It’s a good look for you,” he said. “And is that a new tattoo I see?”

Violet nodded.

Sam reached out and traced the outline of the starfish on Violet’s bicep with his finger, sending a rush of longing through her.

“So did you find out anything about your soul?” she asked. “You know, in your search?”

Sam ran his fingers down her arm and caught her hand in his. “I spent the weekend hiking around the bluffs and canyons there. Everywhere I went, I kept seeing all these families. You know, like big-eyed little girls toting walking sticks and curious boys collecting shells on the shore of the lake. I noticed the parents were always lagging behind them, chatting to each other, you know?”

Violet nodded. She could picture the parents, walking under the orange- and crimson-colored leaves, the children with their fuzzy sweatshirts and scraped knees. She was afraid to hear what Sam had to say next. Afraid to hope.

“For the first time, I could picture myself as one of those parents without feeling afraid,” Sam said. “And I think it’s because I pictured you, too, chasing after a kid in one of your impractical outfits.”

Violet laughed, bathing in a sudden rush of pure joy. “Who are you calling impractical? I’ve got on a Boy Scout shirt. What’s more practical than that?”

“Yeah, but look at your shoes.” He pointed at Violet’s high-heeled, lace-up ankle boots.

“Okay,” she said. “But I promise you I walk better in these than in gym shoes.”

“Seriously, though,” he said. “I want to be with you, whatever that means. Anything I do with you is gonna be an adventure. Of course, I realize there are no guarantees that we’ll be able to, you know, have a family. Or that, if we do, it would be anything like the ones I saw this weekend.”

“Of course not,” Violet said, still grinning. “It would be cuter.”

Sam squeezed her hand and produced a blue velvet box from the pocket of his jeans. He opened it to reveal a vintage ring—a square diamond nestled in a silver art deco setting. He didn’t even have to ask the question.

As soon as Violet saw the ring, her fears about being married again, about losing her freedom, fell away. She reached up to touch his face like she’d wanted to just a few moments earlier and said, “Let’s do it.”

N
ow, on the steps outside the courthouse, they posed and waited for April to snap a picture. Sam pulled Violet close and lifted up her birdcage veil to kiss her. Men and women in suits walking in and out of the building stared at them, but she didn’t care.

“I’m starving,” Sam said as he pulled away. “I was too nervous all day to eat anything.”

“Aw.” Violet touched his cheek. “Cold feet, darling?”

“No, I was afraid
you’d
get them.”

Violet pointed down at her peep-toe pumps, which were cream colored, with little blue bows on top of them. “It may be October, and maybe I’m not wearing the most practical shoes for this time of year, but my feet are nice and toasty. Let’s go get something to eat, then. Pizza, anyone?”

“Don’t you want me to get back to the store?” April asked.

“Oh, no. I’m your boss and I say you’re coming with us to celebrate. The store can be closed for one afternoon. Call Charlie and tell him to come, too. And to bring that delicious little baby of yours.”

“I can go keep an eye on the shop if you would like,” offered Amithi. “I have an alteration I need to finish before I leave for my trip tomorrow.”

“No, I want you to come, too,” said Violet. “At least for a little while.”

“Will someone tell me what’s going on, besides the obvious fact that you just got married?” April asked. “I’m confused. I thought the two of you were broken up.”

“Get in the car, and I’ll tell you on our way to the restaurant,” Violet said.

The four of them got into Sam’s Subaru.

“Okay, so will you please tell me how all of this happened?” April asked. “When did you decide to do this?”

Sam looked at her in the rearview mirror. “About a week ago.”

“A week?” April hit Violet lightly on the arm. “I’ve seen you almost every day at the store. You didn’t say a thing. I didn’t even know you were back together. And now you’re married? You guys sure don’t waste any time.”

Sam stopped at a light and exchanged glances with Violet. “I’d already wasted enough time letting all my stupid fears hold me back,” he said.

“Me too,” said Violet. “So when Sam told me he’d changed his mind about something that was important to me, that was it. There was no reason to wait.”

“But that was over a week ago,” Sam said. “Turns out there’s a six-day waiting period from the time when you apply for your marriage license to when you can actually get married, and today was the first day the judge could fit us in, so we went for it.”

“How did you propose?” Amithi asked.

Sam turned to Violet. “Do you want to tell them?”

Violet laughed. “I guess you could say it was a mutual thing. I didn’t really give Sam a chance to propose before I said yes.”

“But you’ve only been dating since, what, July? That’s only a few months,” April said. “Not even, if you count the time you were broken up.”

“It’s not always necessary to know someone for a long time,” said Amithi. “In India, plenty of people get married after knowing one another just a short while. I think it’s wonderful that you’ve found one another. Time does not matter.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Violet saw Amithi sniffling and dabbing at her cheeks with the edge of her blue scarf—the one with the peacocks on it that she’d almost sold to the store but then changed her mind about. Violet was glad to see that Amithi, who seemed to have been hardened by her husband’s infidelity, could still be moved by love.

During the rest of the ride, Violet made phone calls, leaving messages for Karen and Tom, and other friends in town. She told everyone to join them at Greenbush Bar, the basement pizza joint where she and Sam had eaten many times before, including the evening of the recent Sunday when they’d gotten engaged.

Sam glanced over at Violet in the passenger seat. “You’re going to shock the hell out of a lot of people when they get those messages.”

“Good,” Violet said. “If I’ve learned anything in the last few months, it’s that there are plenty of bad surprises that creep up on you in life. It’s nice to be able to announce a good surprise now and then.”

“Why don’t you ladies get out and I’ll find a parking spot?” Sam asked. He pulled the car up in front of a small building on Regent Street with a sign over the door that said
ITALIAN WORKMEN
’
S CLUB
. American and Italian flags hung from the red brick façade.

Violet pushed through the door and walked down a narrow staircase to the basement of the building with April following close behind her. Violet stopped and turned around. “I hope you don’t mind that I wore this dress.”

“Not at all. I’m glad someone got to use it, since it didn’t work out for me.”

Violet smoothed the full skirt around her hips. “I’m surprised I fit into it. I think I lost some weight from all my worrying and running around for the revue. Did I tell you I’ve already had people contact me to ask when the next one will be?”

“Do you want there to be a next one?” April asked.

“Why not? It’s a good way to make some extra money, and maybe this time we can give some of the proceeds to charity. I wanted to do that last time but didn’t have enough money. I was thinking maybe we could donate to the fund Betsy set up for artists. You know, as a way of saying thank you for what she did for me.”

They entered the low-ceilinged restaurant. Violet spotted Lane already at the bar, talking to Charlie, who held Kate on his lap. The baby, though still tiny, cooed at the sight of her mother.

Lane jumped up from her stool and hugged Violet. “I certainly was not expecting to be going to a
wedding
reception today. What a wonderful surprise.”

“It’s not exactly a wedding reception,” Violet said. “Just drinks and pizza.”

Kate started to wriggle and cry in Charlie’s arms. April grabbed her and said, “I’m gonna see if she needs a diaper change.”

As April walked away, Charlie asked, “Where’s the groom?”

“Parking the car,” Violet replied.

“What can I get you to drink?” Charlie asked Violet.

She ordered a glass of red wine, then looked down at her white dress and changed her mind. She asked for a glass of clear, sparkling Prosecco instead. When the dark-haired bartender came over with a stemmed glass, he winked at Violet. “Best wishes,
bella
.”

Sam came in and walked over to the bar to embrace Violet. They kissed, and the whole restaurant clapped. It was only four thirty, but there were already a few tables of people eating dinner, mostly white-haired couples and young families. One little boy climbed on top of his chair, pumped his fists in the air, and yelled, “Kissy face!”

Violet and the rest of the wedding group settled into a large, round table. April returned from the restroom with Kate in her arms. Violet reached for the baby right away. She snuggled the warm bundle on her lap and caught Sam’s eye. She couldn’t imagine a better day.