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Authors: Julia Alvarez

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BOOK: How Tía Lola Ended Up Starting Over
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Thank goodness, the colonel has already woken up.
Otherwise, he’d think he was back in a battlefield, shouting orders to his men, having to fight some war all over again.

That night, the two girls are tucked in together in Juanita’s canopy bed back in her own bedroom in her very own house.

“This is the coolest bedroom!” Ming has pronounced several times. “If I had a bedroom like this, I’d never run away from home!”

Juanita decides not to remind her friend that it was she, Ming, who recommended running away. But, of course, that was before Ming had come for a visit and seen Juanita’s fabulous bedroom.

The lights are off, but there’s a soft glow coming in from the hall. Mami has peeked in several times, saying, “Girls, tomorrow’s a long day.” But the two friends can’t help talking into the wee hours. There are so many stories to tell. Ming recounts how her parents finally decided to come up for a visit.

“Your mom called up my mom and told her you were going to run away to New York if I didn’t come to see you.”

So, it was Mami who thought up this special treat for Juanita! Her birthday has indeed stretched out to a whole second weekend.

“My dad called up your dad for driving directions,” Ming goes on. “He also asked for the name of a hotel where we could stay. Your dad told my dad about how Tía Lola had started a wonderful B&B. Except my dad couldn’t
find it listed anywhere. But there was this other B&B right on your road, so my parents called there.”

“Oh no!” Juanita says. “That’s Mrs. Beauregard’s B&B! She isn’t very friendly. I’m so glad you didn’t go to her place.” Tía Lola’s B&B was already full, so they couldn’t stay there either. Thank goodness Ming’s parents finally accepted Mami’s invitation to stay in the farmhouse. This way, the girls could be together.

“But the strange thing is that Mrs. Beau-whatever-her-name-is told my dad that Tía Lola’s B&B had been closed down by the authorities.”

“That’s a lie!” Juanita cries out. Then, remembering that she is supposed to be asleep, she whispers, “It just opened this weekend. And it’s already sold out.”

“My dad said the owner sounded kind of weird. Anyhow, your mom said for us to meet up in town at Tía Lola’s B&B. I’m so glad we finally came to visit.”

The two girls go on talking, fighting back sleep because it’s so wonderful to be together again.

“There’s so much I want to show you,” Juanita whispers to Ming. She starts to enumerate all the things they will do tomorrow, including visit Stargazer’s store, drop in on Rudy’s, explore Colonel Charlebois’s attic, maybe even go out to her teacher Mrs. Prouty’s horse farm.

By the time she leaves on Sunday, Ming will have fallen in love with Vermont. If she ever needs to run away from home, she will know where to come.

How Cari’s Kindergarten Teacher Almost Didn’t Get Married

Cari loves her kindergarten teacher. Not just likes, not just is relieved she isn’t a mean teacher or a strict teacher, but really la-UH-uvs her nice, curly-red-haired fairy-tale teacher. And what is very special is that her teacher seems to love her back in equal measure!

Every morning Cari wants to bring Ms. McGregor a present. Papa explains that now that he is not working as a lawyer, the family has to budget. Cari will have to think of presents that don’t cost money.

With Tía Lola’s help, Cari makes an easy-as-pie apple piñata, which Ms. McGregor shares with the whole class. Cari also brings her teacher a bouquet of late-blooming asters from Juanita’s flower bed; a pumpkin Miguel grew in a patch in the garden; a discarded candied guinea pig
Tía Lola says looks too much like a skinny rabbit; some shiny buttons from one of Colonel Charlebois’s old uniforms that he’d gladly donate to the cause (that’s the way he talks); and a pebble that Victoria says is good luck because it has a white ring all the way around it.

But Cari is running out of ideas that don’t cost money.

Thank goodness, Tía Lola comes up with a solution: “Why don’t you draw whatever you want to give Señorita McGregor and just tell her to use her imagination?”

This is an excellent idea! Cari starts out by drawing a picture of Ms. McGregor holding hands with a little brown girl with dark, straight hair and big brown eyes.

The very day Cari gives Ms. McGregor this special drawing, her teacher makes an announcement to the class: she is getting married. Cari is so excited and claps right along with everyone else.

But a minute later, she’s not so sure she is happy about this. If Ms. McGregor gets married, then she’ll be busy with Mr. McGregor, or no, wait a minute, she won’t even be Ms. McGregor anymore. Cari’s not real sure how it works with last names, but she has heard Tía Carmen say that she is probably going to change her name to Guzmán when she marries Miguel and Juanita’s
papi
. That way, if they have a baby, Tía Carmen can have the same last name as her child. There’s another thing Cari isn’t happy about. Ms. McGregor, who might not be Ms. McGregor anymore, could have a baby, and then she’ll definitely have her hands full, as everyone knows that you need both hands to hold a baby—or so Cari has been told every time she has been given one to hold.

Every night since she heard about the wedding, Cari has made a wish on a birthday candle that Juanita gave her. It’s one of those trick candles that Essie got at Stargazer’s store to put on Juanita’s cake. You make a wish, then blow and blow, and they don’t blow out! Cari assumes that this being a birthday candle, it preserves its wish-granting properties. So, before going to bed, Cari goes in the bathroom with Victoria, who lights it—Papa has given them permission to do this in the bathroom sink only. Then Cari closes her eyes and wishes that Ms. McGregor won’t get married. Cari tries blowing out the candle, but it flickers and flares up again, so she gets to make the same wish again and again.

“Wow, that must be some wish,” Victoria finally says, startling Cari, who opens her eyes. There is a half-concerned, half-curious look on her big sister’s face. Victoria is hinting that she wants to know what all this wishing is about. But Cari can’t tell. Wishes have to be kept secret, or they spoil on you. And this is one time when Cari really, really needs for her wish to come true.

Tía Lola knows all about the wedding, as she is friends with all the teachers at Bridgeport Elementary. It turns out that Maisie (that’s Ms. McGregor’s first name) is getting married to Boone Magoon, which has to be the silliest name Cari has ever heard! Boone is a young farmer, and since farmers have to milk their cows twice a day every day, the newlyweds can’t get away even for a honeymoon weekend. In fact, they’re thinking of just having a justice of the peace come out to the farm and marry them on the premises!

So, Tía Lola comes up with a plan. She invites Ms. McGregor and Mr. Magoon to stay at her B&B at a special newlywed rate. For no extra charge, they can be married right in the elegant front parlor by the colonel himself, who happens to be a justice of the peace. Since they’ll be in town, Boone can still milk his cows in the morning, attend his own wedding in the afternoon, then go out for the evening milking and be back again for a honeymoon night. Ms. McGregor is delighted and accepts right off.

Normally, Cari would love for someone special to be staying at their B&B. It’s like having a sleepover. But Cari doesn’t want her teacher to get married. So having Ms. McGregor stay for her honeymoon at Tía Lola’s B&B will be like hitting herself on a boo-boo and having it start to bleed all over again.

Every time the topic of the wedding comes up, Cari pouts. “But I thought you’d be excited.” Papa is puzzled. He is happily preparing the rooms for the wedding party. (Ms. McGregor’s parents are driving over from Maine; her sister is flying in from L.A.) The couple will, of course, be given the bridal bedroom. “What an enlightened idea it was to decorate the room this way,” Papa exclaims. Victoria gives him a little I-told-you-so smile but nicely doesn’t say so out loud. “Wasn’t that a brilliant idea of your big sister’s?” Papa adds, trying to pull the sullen Cari into the conversation.

“I think it’s stupid! Stupid idea. Stupid room. Stupid, stupid, stupid!” Cari has run out of things to call stupid, which makes her feel really stupid. On top of which, Papa
gives Cari a little scolding about not-nice responses, then sends her up to her room for some time out, and that is the stupidest thing of all.

Early in the week, Ms. McGregor comes over to Tía Lola’s B&B to finalize the arrangements. She brings along some blank invitations she bought at Stargazer’s store. Victoria, whose handwriting is really pretty, has agreed to help her fill them out. Meanwhile, Papa, who has atrocious handwriting but is great at licking envelopes, seals them up. The rest of the crew heads upstairs to clean the rooms and make a list of supplies needed.

The only people coming to the ceremony in the colonel’s front parlor will be the groom’s family, Ms. McGregor’s parents and sister, the Espadas, the Guzmáns, and of course, Tía Lola. But Rudy has thrown open his restaurant for a party afterward. Instead of gifts, the couple requests that guests bring their favorite family dish with the recipe written down. After all, no one was even expecting to be invited to a last-minute wedding that would have taken place in a stable among a hundred head of Holsteins and Jerseys if Tía Lola hadn’t come to the rescue.

The last invitation Victoria addresses is for the Magoon family, not that they need one. But Ms. McGregor says it’s for his parents and sister to have as a keepsake. It turns out Boone’s father can’t farm anymore on account of his bad arthritis, and his sister is confined to a wheelchair from a car accident. Meanwhile, his mother is kept busy taking care of them both. All of these details Victoria learns from Ms. McGregor as they work together at the kitchen table.

Victoria can’t help sighing. These young lovers have fallen in love amid such sad circumstances, like the star-crossed Romeo and Juliet. How wonderful that Tía Lola thought up a special wedding package. Victoria puts extra flourish into the handwritten details of where and when the ceremony will take place and the ensuing reception. Before giving Papa the invitation to seal, Victoria sprays the card with the rose-scented air freshener she bought for the bridal bedroom.

BOOK: How Tía Lola Ended Up Starting Over
11.19Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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