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She helped Nora into the chair. Together they made their way down the rickety wooden boardwalk that connected the towns three buildings. Wisteria grew along the posts that supported the roofs overhang and festooned the upper timbers with fragrant white flowers. Here and there along the boardwalk were benches, handmade by the sisters. Later in the tourist season, those seats would be filled by people waiting for a ferry.
Ruby came to the stores screen door and pulled it open. A bell tinkled gaily overhead as they wheeled inside. The murky store was long and narrow, built like a shoe box.
Light pushed through the twin windows and illuminated a small desk with a cash register on it. Beyond that, layered wooden bookcases held carefully arranged canned goods. A small freezer offered all manner of Island-raised meat-beef, chicken, pork, lamb-and a refrigerated case held vegetables grown on the sisters own land.
The nun at the cash register looked up at their entrance.
“Nora Bridge? Ruby? I dont believe it!” SisterHelen waddled around the desk, her skirt hiked up to reveal heavy white calves sheathed in nubby woolen socks. Her green rubber clogs thumped with every step. Her fleshy face was scrunched into a welcoming grin that turned her bespectacled eyes into slits. She looked-as always-like a sprightly old gnome. “PraiseGod,” Sister said. Her thick German accent turned the words into Praise Gott. “It has been so long. . . ” She turned to Ruby. “And how is the funny one?”
Ruby smiled. “Im still a stitch, Sister. How ”bout you-got any good Heaven jokes for me?"
“I will think on it, that is for sure. It is wunderbar to see you both. ” She elbowed Ruby. “Mother Ruth still talks about the day your rabbit ran through services, ja? She will be happy to see you again. ” Ruby stepped away from the wheelchair. “I . . . uh. . . havent been to services in a while. Im only on the island a week, anyway. ” Helen gave her “the look”-every Catholic recognized it. “There is a Sunday in every week, ja?”
“Uh . . . maybe. "
Nora smiled up at the nun. “Some things never change. ”
Helen nodded. Her habit slipped down on her forehead and she gave it a quick shove back. “Most things never change. That is what I have learned in seventy-three years of life. ” She leaned back on her heels and crossed her beefy arms. “It is good to see you two together again, that much is for sure. You have stayed away from this island for too long. ” She turned to Ruby. “You have babies, ja like your sister?”
“No babies-and before you ask, no husband. Im either footloose and fancy free or lonely and unlovable. Take your pick. ”
Helen laughed. “Always you were this way, Ruby. Making a joke out of everything. However-just for the record-my guess would be . . . fancy free and lonely. ” She clapped her hands together. “Anyway, the store is set up as it always was. Get what you need. Shall I begin a new account for you?”
“No,” Ruby answered.
“Yes,” Nora said at the same time, shooting her a dark look. “I may be here a while. ”
Ruby grabbed one of the small red baskets stacked by the desk and handed it to Nora. “Lets get started. ”
They moved past the tourist supply section-postcards, pens with ferries on them, little brown and white candlesticks made from Mount Saint Helens ash, Christmas ornaments. Ruby went on ahead; Nora rolled slowly behind her.
They came to the cereal first. Ruby grabbed a box of Capn Crunch and tossed it into the basket in her mothers lap.
“Theres nothing good for you in that cereal. ”
Ruby turned, saw her mothers frown. “Should I get the kind with crunchberries? It adds fruit. ”
“Very funny. Will you grab one of those granolas for me-the sisters make it, if I remember correctly. ”
Ruby reached for the beribboned bag of cereal and plopped it into the basket. If she remembered correctly, it tasted like carpet fibers.
“Well need several cans of tomatoes,” Nora said. “No, not those; the ones in the green cans. ”
Ruby put back the unacceptable canned tomatoes and chose the “right” brand.
“Spaghetti and penne, please. God, no, not that cheap brand; get the good stuff . . . from Italy. ”
Like it was actually made in Italy. Ruby gritted her teeth and kept moving, but with every word her mother spoke, she felt her anger rise. When Ruby reached for the Twinkies, her mother practically shrieked.
“You cannot eat that. ”
That was it. Very slowly, Ruby turned around. “Im sorry, do you hear me asking for dietary advice?”
“No, but-”
"Thats the point. Its my butt thats going to swell to the size of Nebraska, not yours. So please. . . Shut . . . up.
Nora snapped her teeth together. “Fine. ”
