The Book of Leah

American Pie - Chapter 18

Friday morning,  June 8, 1992,   Bass Lake , WI 

"DING"

"Fries are done," Clara called to Leah.

"Do you want an apple pie with that?" asked Bonnie to a middle-aged man waiting for his order to go.

"You got any of that Strawberry Rhubarb left?" he asked, smiling.

"Umm, Grandma?" Bonnie said, turning.

"What, dear?" She said as she moved so Leah could salt the fries.

"Do we have any strawberry rhubarb?" asked Bonnie.

Clara paused. "Sometimes, but I haven't..." until she stopped and looked at the man standing at the cashier. "Oh hey John, was Susan looking for a whole pie?"

"Yeah, Clara, any chance of a whole pie before Sunday?"

"Well, for you John, I can make a special order. Bonnie, remind me later that the Staples want a pie to pick up Saturday afternoon." Clara said to Bonnie before turning her attention back to the conversation "And John, tell Susan I said 'Hi' and for her not to be a stranger at the women's auxiliary," Clara winked.

"I will, thank you, Clara," said John as he grabbed his sack of burgers and fries and headed out thinking of how to tell his wife what the true cost of the pie would be.

Leah was stopping to catch her breath as she opened a box of styrofoam cups in the back before she heard it again. "DING."

"Fries are done," called Clara.

"Coming. I'm grabbing more cups," Leah replied.

"Thank you, dear," said Clara as she took the cups from Leah and began restacking them by the soda fountain.

—

An hour later, Bonnie's cousins arrived for the afternoon shift, and she and Leah said goodbye to Clara and headed out.

At the farmhouse, Leah sprawled herself on the porch swing as Bonnie brought out some iced tea.

"I am so worn out," said Leah. "What time is it?"

"About 1 o'clock," said Bonnie.

Looking out at the lake Leah asked, "Think the guys are still out fishing?"

"My grandpa and Jake's grandpa would fish until they ran out of bait and even then they'd still sit out in the boat smoking and talking till dark," laughed Bonnie. "Why?"

"Well if I'm gonna see Jake, I want to clean up a little," said Leah.

"Really?" Bonnie coyly glanced at her cousin. "You know you could throw that wheat sack by the barn on and shove your hair in my work handkerchief and that boy would still follow you around like the pied piper."

"You hush," said Leah. "He is a nice-looking boy. And I guess he'll be here literally for the next few weeks. You think he's gonna get away with it?"

"Well, if you have any wild ideas in that head of yours, a reminder: their cottage is that green one with the little peaked roof with a window that you can see there to your right just at the start of the curve in the road. And just so you know, anything that happens in this little community, my grandmother knows or knows someone who knows. And also, Jake is terrified of the women in his family."

Really, he's afraid of who?" asked Leah.

"Well, his Aunt Evelyn, Lana's mom, and his grandmother 'cause she runs the show for that family, and lastly, there is Cindy May Stanton. His mother. She is, well, if you get to meet her, which hopefully you won't, you'll see." Bonnie flatly replied

"So what are the plans for the afternoon?" asked Leah.

"Well, Jake, his grandfather, and mine are somewhere probably on the northwest side of the lake past the channel you up there, so we can't see them from here, but that's where all the good fishing is. I know Lucy told my Grandma that you and I were invited to lunch at 2 pm."

"Oh," said Leah, "so why do you keep watching their cottage if they ain't there?"

"Well, they should be arriving any minute now, and I'm watching for Lucy and Evelyn to come out of the van with Lana and Brian. Then I'll know how the day is going by one thing."

"What's that?" asked Leah.

"If they bring the pug. If Lucy and Evelyn are not ready to murder each other or the world, they will bring the pug. If they show up with no dog, no dice."

"Hmm, you know them pretty well, huh?" said Leah.

"I've been watching that mother-daughter dynamic for longer than I can remember cuz, and those two women are as easy to read as a 5 o'clock shadow."

They enjoyed the cool breeze till they saw a minivan pull up to the green cottage. Evelyn got out, followed by Lana and Brian, and the passenger door carefully opened, and a small ball of faun fur hopped down and was scooped by Lana as her grandmother got out of the car and carefully put a leash on the dog as the four of them headed into the cottage.

"Well, there's our cue," said Bonnie as she headed into the house. Leah followed her in as they began getting ready for lunch.