They assumed his attraction to the girl would wear off and their relationship would eventually just run its course. But the young couple soon proved them wrong, as their connection only grew stronger.
“She came here for a new life, just like your own parents.” Tom finally summoned up his nerve to confront his mother, who had yet to invite Grace for dinner. “She lost her sister at a young age, so maybe I’m drawn to her because she embodies the Golden family philosophy that you have to find a way to move forward.”
His voice was strong and full of conviction. “So, Mom, please don’t tell me that we come from two different worlds.”
As the newspapers blazed with headlines of societal change, the space program’s goal of putting a man on the moon, the confirmation of the first Black Supreme Court Justice, and rising anti-war protests, Tom’s courtship with Grace was swept into a wave of progressive thinking that his parents couldn’t ignore. And while his mother worried out loud about her future grandson having a baptism instead of a bris, and his father’s heart was broken by the loss of nearly all Jewish life in Europe and hoped to somehow replenish the number, both of his parents eventually warmed to Grace despite her different religion. They came to recognize her good values and her deep appreciation of family. Harry loved her caring nature and the homemade shortbread in a recycled blue cookie tin that she brought to their house. And when Grace asked if she could learn how to make Rosie’s brisket, it lifted his mother’s spirits to know this young woman was interested in traditions other than her own.
His father mentioned he’d noticed that Grace never wore a watch. The only adornment he could find on her was the simple saint’s medallion hanging from her neck.
One evening, after Grace helped clear the dishes, Harry gave Tom the keys to the shop. “Go pick out a watch for the pretty girl,” heinstructed, winking at his son. “She deserves something lovely to go along with that smile.”
Grace blushed. “It’s not necessary, Mr. Golden. You’ve already been so generous with having me over for so many Friday-night dinners.” She patted the waistband of her skirt.
“Go on, now,” Rosie said as she smiled and pushed them both toward the door.
Tom pulled Grace’s wool coat from the closet and slid it over her shoulders. “It’s a brisk walk or a short drive to the store.… Which do you prefer?”
“The brisk walk, of course!”
“Just no motorcycles!” Rosie called out from the kitchen.
“No, Mrs. Golden, I would never!” Grace’s giggle filled the hall.
As he slid the key into the store’s front door and ushered Grace inside, her face lit up when she saw all the antique clocks. “This one’s from England,” Tom said, pointing to a small brass carriage clock. “And this one is French Revival.” Her eyes danced from one clock to the next. At the glass case he looked for a watch that would be just perfect for her and found one on a black grosgrain ribbon. “Is it too dressy?” he asked as he began to wrap it around her wrist.
“It’s so elegant,” she whispered. And when she lifted her head upward to him, he kissed her in the moonlight. His heart raced at the touch of her lips.
CHAPTER 10
ASGRACE CLEANED UP THE KITCHEN, THE PHONE RANG.
“Grace?” Adele’s voice sounded urgent. “Is now a good time? I tried to wait until after dinner to call.…”
Ever since she saw Adele in the street that morning, she knew she’d be hearing from her. Adele loved gossip.
“Yes … I’m just doing the dishes.…” Grace cradled the receiver against her shoulder and shook the water off her hands. It was nearly 9:00 p.m., and all she wanted to do was crawl into bed after such a long day.
“I just wanted to check up on you. I was a little worried when I saw you this afternoon with that … boy.”
“Worried?”
“Oh, you know what I mean, Gracie. He clearly wasn’t from around here. So I was concerned.”
Grace kept her voice measured. A lot had happened over the years between the two women. Adele was one of the first to welcome Grace to Bellegrove after she married Tom. Those first few months in the town had been particularly hard for Grace, as so much of suburban East Coast life was unfamiliar to her. When she lived in Queens, she was surrounded by loads of girls just like her, from small Irish villages, who all still kept a little bottle of holy water and a prayer book tucked inside their handbags, along with the rosary from their first communions. None of those girls cared if someone’s house hadn’t had indoor plumbing back home.
But in Bellegrove, she had on occasion found herself being described as “progressive,” a term she’d never heard before. When she inquired its meaning to Tom, he had laughed. “Gracie, it’s their way of saying someone’s broad-minded enough to marry a Jewish guy like me.” He bent over and kissed her.
“I just feel like a country bumpkin … that’s all.…” she said. While Tom was smitten by her old-world innocence, she couldn’t help but feel insecure about her lack of sophistication. She hardly felt like a trailblazer. Her cloth coat and sensible shoes looked dated, and her Irish accent only reaffirmed the notion that she was still very much a new immigrant.
When Tom and his mother suggested she might want to join the local branch of the City of Hope organization, a group of young women who raised money for that prestigious research hospital, she took their advice to heart, hoping she’d soon find a circle of friends willing to welcome her. While nearly all of the women had snubbed her, preferring to socialize with friends they’d known for years, Adele had come up and introduced herself to Grace at that first meeting.
“Are you the new Irish girl who married Tom Golden?” she asked with an enviable confidence that Grace found intimidating. She dazzled in her green angora sweater and strand of cultured pearls, her slim hips fitted in a wool pencil skirt and kitten heels.
“Welcome to Bellegrove!” Adele squeezed Grace’s hand and then paraded her around the basement room, introducing her to the other women.
Grace had felt lucky when Adele first befriended her, as if some of her new friend’s glamorous shine might rub off on her. She was elated when Adele offered to take her shopping to update her wardrobe or offered to share her “American” recipes. And when her brother Bobby died in Vietnam, Grace’s heart broke for Adele, especially knowing the young man had been a childhood friend of Tom’s. But as much asGrace wanted to have compassion for the O’Rourke family tragedy, she soon saw another side of Adele that made her pause. There had been many times where she felt Adele was inappropriately relaying information that should have been kept private, like news of miscarriages or husband problems. It made Grace reconsider sharing any personal information with her.
“That’s very kind of you, Adele. I appreciate you checking up on me.” Grace pulled the dishrag from the counter and dried her hands. “And him.”
