Full Dark, No Stars

“Never mind,” she said, and gave her head a single brisk nod. This was a done deal, a dead letter, a closed discussion. If she mentioned it on the phone when he cal ed later tonight, or when he came

home, he’d be embarrassed and defensive. He’d probably cal her sexual y naïve, which she supposed she was, and accuse her of overreacting, which she was determined not to do. What she was

determined to do was rol widdit, baby. A marriage was like a house under constant construction, each year seeing the completion of new rooms. A first-year marriage was a cottage; one that had gone on

for twenty-seven years was a huge and rambling mansion. There were bound to be crannies and storage spaces, most of them dusty and abandoned, some containing a few unpleasant relics you would

just as soon you hadn’t found. But that was no biggie. You either threw those relics out or took them to Goodwil .

She liked this thought (which had a conclusive feel) so wel that she said it out loud: “No biggie.” And to prove it, she gave the cardboard box a hard two-handed shove, sending it al the way to the rear wal .

Where there was a clunk. What was that?

I don’t want to know, she told herself, and was pretty sure that thought wasn’t coming from the Stupid Zone but from the smart one. It was shadowy back there under the worktable, and there might be mice. Even a wel -kept garage like this one could have mice, especial y once cold weather came, and a scared mouse might bite.

Darcy stood up, brushed off the knees of her housecoat, and left the garage. Halfway across the breezeway, she heard the phone begin to ring.

- 3 -

She was back in the kitchen before the answering machine kicked in, but she waited. If it was Bob, she’d let the robot take it. She didn’t want to talk to him right this minute. He might hear something in her voice. He would assume she’d gone out to the corner store or maybe to Video Vil age and cal back in an hour. In an hour, after her unpleasant discovery would have had a chance to settle a bit,

she’d be fine and they could have a pleasant conversation.

But it wasn’t Bob, it was Donnie. “Oh, shoot, I real y wanted to talk to you guys.”

She picked up the phone, leaned back against the counter, and said, “So talk. I was coming back from the garage.”

Donnie was bubbling over with news. He was living in Cleveland, Ohio, now, and after two years of thankless toiling in an entry-level position with the city’s largest ad firm, he and a friend had decided to strike out on their own. Bob had strongly advised against this, tel ing Donnie that Donnie and his partner would never get the start-up loan they needed to make it through the first year.

“Wake up,” he’d said after Darcy turned the phone over to him. In the early spring this had been, with the last bits of snow stil lurking beneath the trees and bushes in the backyard. “You’re twenty-four, Donnie, and so’s your pal Ken. You two galoots can’t even get col ision insurance on your cars for another year, just straight liability. No bank’s going to underwrite a seventy-thousand-dol ar start-up, especial y with the economy the way it is.”

But they had gotten the loan, and now had landed two big clients, both on the same day. One was a car dealership looking for a fresh approach that would attract thirtysomething buyers. The other was the very bank that had issued Anderson & Hayward their start-up loan. Darcy shouted with delight, and Donnie yel ed right back. They talked for twenty minutes or so. Once during the conversation they were interrupted by the double-beep of an incoming cal .

“Do you want to get that?” Donnie asked.

“No, it’s just your father. He’s in Montpelier, looking at a col ection of steel pennies. He’l cal back before he turns in.”

“How’s he doing?”

Fine, she thought. Developing new interests.

“Upright and sniffin the air,” she said. It was one of Bob’s favorites, and it made Donnie laugh. She loved to hear him laugh.

“And Pets?”

“Cal her yourself and see, Donald.”

“I wil , I wil . I always get around to it. In the meantime, thumbnail me.”

“She’s great. Ful of wedding plans.”

“You’d think it was next week instead of next June.”

“Donnie, if you don’t make an effort to understand women, you’l never get married yourself.”

“I’m in no hurry, I’m having too much fun.”

“Just as long as you have fun careful y.”

“I’m very careful and very polite. I’ve got to run, Ma. I’m meeting Ken for a drink in half an hour. We’re going to start brainstorming this car thing.”

She almost told him not to drink too much, then restrained herself. He might stil look like a high school junior, and in her clearest memory of him he was a five-year-old in a red corduroy jumper,

tirelessly pushing his scooter up and down the concrete paths of Joshua Chamberlain Park in Pownal, but he was neither of those boys anymore. He was a young man, and also, as improbable as it

seemed, a young entrepreneur beginning to make his way in the world.