As Sweet as Honey

43




As they had planned, Meterling and Oscar met Susan at the park to eat lunch together about a week later. Meterling had not seen Archer’s ghost since the day of the party, although once, at the grocery store, she thought she’d caught a glimpse of a white-suited man, but decided it was her imagination. Maybe he had gone away for good, as Simon hoped. Susan had brought Japanese takeaway complete with chopsticks, and taught her how to use them, but after a while, Metering just used her fingers.

“I found out about Mou,” said Meterling.

“Moo? Oh, God, Moose. Or Mouse. That awful woman who never ate.”

“I thought you never ate.”

“Oh, I eat.”

“Your family doesn’t seem to have luck with islanders, or Indians, much—”

“I’m so sorry—”

“Forget it, Susan. There’s so much in our lives to discover that is far better than raking up the past.”

“Hmm. What will you do about the land, Meterling?”

“The fields? I thought I’d plant vegetables, and make a garden. I could lease some of it to farmers. Simon and I are going to keep the house. We’ll redo it and make it lighter. I think it will be good to have a family home in the country for all of us.”

“Archer …?”

“He will always remain in my heart, Susan. He is half of Oscar, he’s part of Simon.”

“So many of my friends, well, they didn’t understand …”

“Back home, hardly anyone understood or approved. Some stopped talking to my family.”

“I didn’t know.”

“It was awful—neighbors we’d known for years, my distant relations. It was because I was a widow, and it was because I did not mourn enough. As if anyone knows what it is to mourn, as if you could assign a time period to grief.”

“Aunt and Uncle wanted you both to wait a year, I remember.”

“In the name of decency. But what was decent about Archer dying? What was indecent about falling in love with Simon? I didn’t plan it, I didn’t scheme—”

“It doesn’t matter. None of it matters. They always say that in the end, those who stick by you—well, I’m one to talk.”

“But at least you gave me a chance—you didn’t close the door completely. You are trying to teach me to use chopsticks.”

“Well—” here Susan smiled a little—“Oscar is my nephew.”

“John was the first to accept me completely, without question. I will always remember that. In all those snide remarks, those little glances people threw at us, he just accepted us.”

“Well, Meterling, if you want, now you’ve got me as well.”

“Got you?”

Susan took a breath. “Got me as someone who can try to be a better sister-in-law.”

Together, they sat bundled up in the park, in the weak sunlight of autumn, and looked out at the horizon.