Mary [Ekholm] Francis
(c) 1997
Mary sat by a small round table on the patio of the Riverside Cafe. She watched the sailboats zigzag along the St. Croix River as their owners took advantage of an unusually warm Sunday in September. The late afternoon sunshine glimmered on the water and made her wish she hadn�t left her sunglasses in the car. An early frost had turned the leaves on the trees to harvest colors, and they rustled as the breeze skidded them down the pavement. A red-haired woman jogged down the sidewalk and turned in at the restaurant entrance. Mary sipped her coffee as she watched the waiter lean slightly toward the woman and then point toward this corner of the patio. Mary wasn�t surprised that Robin was late. Robin had been born three weeks after her official due date and had been late ever since for everything.
When she was still ten steps from the table, Robin grinned, �Hey, Mary. What�s up?�
Mary looked at her younger sister and began to whistle �When the red, red robin comes bob-bob-bobbin� along.�
Robin stuck out her tongue at Mary before she sat down. �I hate that song.�
�You deserve it. You�re late.�
�Fifteen minutes. And I spent most of them looking for a parking place.�
�Half an hour. And you know that parking spots are hard to find near the river in Stillwater--especially on a day like this.�
�I wish all fall would be like this.�
�You want a warm fall? Move to California with me.�
�OK. When do we leave?�
�First of the month.�
Robin hesitated for a moment and looked at Mary. �Are you serious?�
�We-e-ell.� Mary shrugged her shoulders. �I�ve been offered free room and board in San Diego. I suppose I could stretch the offer to include you.�
�Offer from who? Whom? I never can remember which I�m supposed to use when.�
�Whom. �Who� is used like �he� and �she.� �Whom� is used like �him� and �her.� If you would say �from him,� then you would say �from whom.��
�OK. OK. So who�s the �whom� that made the offer?�
�Michael Jeffries.�
�Michael Jeffries . . . Michael Jeffries . . . Have I met him?
Mary sighed. �I�ve talked about him a lot, and you�ve had dinner with us several times since New Years. You and Bob met us at The Westwind three weeks ago. Or was it Mike you were with? No, Mike is the blond lifeguard. Must have been Steve. He�s the one with hair redder than yours, right?�
�I was only kidding. Of course I remember Michael. Every time I called him �Mike,� he said, in his deep voice, �Michael, the name is Michael.� And then he looked at me as if I�m an idiot child.�
�Well, you are at times. Just ask mother.�
�Mary, if you asked me to meet you here just so you could insult me . . .�
�I asked you here because you�re my favorite sister.�
�I�m your only sister.�
�Oh, yeah. That�s right.�
�Ma-a-ry.�
�Just kidding. How could I forget you�re my only sister. For thirty-three years I�ve been waiting for you to be on time for something. I bet you�ll even be late for your own funeral.� Mary handed Robin one of the menus that lay on the table. �I�m hungry. Let�s order.� She decided not to tell Robin that Michael was coming to the restaurant about 7:15. About? Hah! Michael would show up at exactly 7:15, not a minute before or a minute after.
Robin�s eyes sparkled as she opened the menu. �Mary had a little lamb, a little beef, a little ham, a little bread, a little jam, a little cheese, a little Spam, a little . . .�
�ROBIN!� Mary glared at Robin. Then the two of them burst into laughter. �Oh, Robin.� Mary said softly. �I really believe I�ll miss you if I move to California.�
�I can understand why you want to get away from our winters, and I know that you love San Francisco, but . . .� Robin looked at Mary and narrowed her eyes, �What does Michael have to do with this? And why San Diego?�
�My coffee is cold, and my tummy is growling. Decide what you want. We�ll order, and then we�ll talk.�
�Yes, ma�am, big sister.� Robin flipped through the menu, then laid it on top of Mary�s. �Where�s our waiter?�
Mary raised her hand to catch the waiter�s attention as he scanned the patio. He saw her and walked quickly toward them.
�Are you ready to order?� he asked.
Mary nodded at Robin.
�The BLT sounds perfect for today. Light on the mayo, and no chips, please.�
�Anything to drink?�
�Iced tea.�
The waiter turned toward Mary.
�Chicken salad sandwich. No chips. And a fresh cup of coffee, please.�
�I�ll be right back with the drinks.� The waiter picked up the menus and left.
�OK. Talk,� said Robin.
�About what?�
�Michael. San Diego. California. The reason you wanted me to meet you here.�
�Maybe I just wanted to see my little sister.�
�Then why leave a message saying �I want to talk to you�?�
�Did I say that?�
�Mary! You can�t be senile yet. You�re only thirty-five. And it�s not fair to play games with me.�
�I haven�t seen you for three weeks. We�ve been playing telephone tag for all that time. I just wanted to sit down and have a nice conversation.�
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