She considered and raised her eyes to me.
"What should I do? What should I tell him?"
"If he calls you and complains, you say take me as I am or don't take me at all. That's what I would say."
"Yes," she agreed, nodding. "I will. Imagine him turning around and taking me back home after promising to take me shopping and to dinner. What am I supposed to do with the rest of my day now? I'm all dressed and I spent hours on my hair and makeup."
"Did you let him know that?"
"No. I should have. I will," she said. "I'm going to call him up and insist he get back here or else."
"It's a nice day," I said gazing at the sea. "If he doesn't come back, just come out here and read."
"Read? Read! I have things to buy. I wanted to get a new cape for my red velvet dress," she whined.
"I'll be here," I said, "if you don't go off to Boston."
She stared at me a moment and then, biting down on her lower lip, her eyes blazing, she spun and marched back to the house.
I looked toward the boathouse. Imagine if Carson got wind of that, I thought. He would probably drive around in circles for days. It brought a smile to my lips. I recalled a quotation I had recently read. "A man falls in love through his eyes, a woman through her ears." Carson McGil was the best example of that, I concluded. Maybe one day I'd have the quotation embroidered on a pillow and send it to him so he could sleep with the wisdom under his head. Men, I thought disdainfully.
I returned to my book, never more content with myself.
Belinda fumed for the remainder of the day because Carson wasn't home to receive her irate phone call and didn't return her call until early in the evening. We had just finished dinner, eating under the atmosphere of a wake. Belinda sulked after ranting about how poorly Carson had treated her. Daddy's face was folded into a deep scowl, his eyes dark, his forehead wrinkled as he brooded. Mother, still having stomach trouble, ate little, whimpered in pain occasionally, and sat with her lips trembling most of the time. Belinda ate even less. Only I seemed to have a robust appetite. I tried building some conversation by talking about the new book I was reading and what a beautiful a day it had been.
"Well, it wasn't beautiful for me," Belinda reminded us. "I spent most of it waiting around a telephone."
"I'm surprised at you, Belinda," I said. "You never let a man run your life like this before."
She glared at me a moment and then blinked rapidly and nodded.
"You're right."
"Oh dear, oh dear," Mother moaned.
"You're disturbing your mother," Daddy warned. It was more like a growl. Belinda returned to her sulking and I ate quietly.
As soon as dinner ended, Mother went to her room, clutching at her stomach. I thought she had a pale, pasty complexion.
"Why doesn't- she see the doctor?" I asked Daddy. He looked toward the door thoughtfully.
"She will. For the moment I think it's just her nerves. This Belinda business," he added with a wave of his hand. Belinda had gone back to her room as well. "What could have happened between them?" he wondered.
"All I know is they had some conversations about her past, Daddy. Carson wasn't happy about it, and she told him more than she had to, I guess. You knew he would eventually get to know some of her indiscretions. People don't keep their gossip under lock and key in Province-town any more than they do anyplace else."
"Umm," he said. "I didn't think any of that would matter once they were on their way to the altar," he muttered.
Suddenly, we heard Belinda coming down the stairs quickly, bouncing on the steps. She hurried to the door of the dining room to announce Carson had finally called.
"Good," Daddy said.
"And?" I asked, seeing a look of irritation in Belinda's eyes.
"He's just picking me up to talk, not to take me anywhere nice. He'll be here in ten minutes," she replied. "I hope he has earplugs because I intend to give him a piece of my mind first."
"Now don't say anything you'll regret later, Belinda," Daddy warned. "A mature person thinks before she speaks."
"I know what a mature person does, Daddy. He doesn't turn around on the way to Boston and decide he can't take me where he promised he would take me, and he doesn't fail to answer my phone calls all day, does he? I think I'm more mature."