Free The Tolling of Mercedes Bell: A Novel by Jennifer Dwight

Tillich’s
Systematic Theology
and Teilhard de Chardin’s
Phenomenon of Man.
    “I can’t believe that of all the books here, that’s the first one you take off the shelf,” said Gabe. He looked at Jack. “Where did you find this woman?”
    “I used to own this exact translation,” she explained, “but I lent it to someone who never returned it. I’ve searched for it in many stores since, but have never been able to find it. I never thought I’d see it again. I can’t believe you have this, Gabe!”
    She went to the shelves of poetry and selected a volume of Edna St. Vincent Millay. Without opening it she recited “First Fig”:
    My candle burns at both ends;
    It will not last the night;
    But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—
    It gives a lovely light!
    Jack had a gleam in his eye. “We’d better get you away from that bookcase.”
    She reshelved the books and sighed. The library made her ache. “This
is
the best room,” she said quietly.
    “Let’s go see whether Kitty and the kids have torched lunch or actually gotten it on the table,” Gabe said brightly.
    Mercedes helped Kitty carry the dishes to the table. Immediately the children abandoned their duties and began running in circles around Jack. Kitty yelled at them, to no effect. Gabe poured out the next round of mimosas. Jack grabbed a child under each arm, which made them both holler more loudly. He asked Gabe where the garbage can was. The children flailed and squealed with joy.
    They sat at the rectangular dining room table, which was set with old, ornate sterling silver flatware. The food was delicious, although difficult to savor amidst the racket of the ill-behaved children and their mother’s alternate cajoling and yelling. Jack and Gabe carried on, ignoring the noise, catching up on the news about their friends, especially Damon Vanderveer, a psychologist, and Murielle Hand, a psychiatrist.
    Gabe told Mercedes about Jack in law school—how he hadn’t been the best student in the class but had excelled at extracurricular activities, like making money in the foreign currency market, partying, and traveling in Europe.
    Kitty piped up, “So, Mercedes, where did you go to college? Tell us a little about your family.”
    “I graduated from Colorado College, where I studied religion,philosophy, and English literature. Not the most practical education, I suppose, but it’s what I’m interested in.”
    Gabe nodded and threw a look at Jack.
    “My parents live in Boston now, but we moved around while I was growing up. My father is an engineer. My mother never worked outside the home. I have a nine-year-old daughter named Germaine Llewellyn.”
    Molly perked up. She looked at Mercedes and then at Jack, who winked at her.
    “We live in Oakland. I met Jack at the office where I’m a paralegal.”
    The conversation turned to interests outside of work. “Kitty’s got a new project,” Gabe interjected. “She’s been doing genealogical research so she can join the DAR—Daughters of the American Revolution.” Mercedes thought she detected a taunt in his voice and wasn’t sure at whom it was directed.
    Kitty sat up a little straighter and stuck out her chin ever so slightly. Brandon slugged Molly, who had been baiting him. Gabe got up to intervene.
    “Kitty, you’ve been holding out on me,” Jack said. “I never knew you were a blueblood!”
    “My ancestors have been here for many generations,” Kitty said haughtily.
    “Gabe’s family was a bunch of horse thieves and grave robbers,” Jack asserted.
    Gabe laughed. “Oh, and no doubt yours were priests and poets!”
    “You don’t even want to know.”
    Kitty couldn’t resist prodding Mercedes, whose circumspection and popularity with the men were getting on her nerves.
    “Mercedes, what do you know about your family heritage?”
    “Both of my grandmothers belonged to the DAR,” she said quietly.
    Jack turned his head, raising an eyebrow. Kitty sniffed.
    “My ancestors were Dutch