Page 30 of Sensing Selma
She smiled, a reserved smile that seemed to want to enjoy what Moon Manor had to offer but felt guilty about enjoying it.
We reached the main floor and headed to the dining room, easily following the direction Ayra had taken earlier.
Her husband, already seated at the head of the table, rose to greet us. “You must be the Selmas. I’m Jai, and I am thrilled to make your acquaintance.”
“I’m Holly, the new singer,” I quickly said.
“Susan,” Susan simply said with a shy wave of her hand.
“I’m Mrs.Selma, but you can call me Maggie.”
Maggie? I’d never heard Mother refer to herself as anything other than Mrs.Selma, or Mrs.Margaret Selma.Was she turning over a whole new leaf with this Maggie persona?
Ayra quickly joined us, and we sat down to a lovely dinner; roast chicken, buttery Brussel sprouts and tasty mashed potatoes. The conversation was light, with talk of their transformation of the immense home into a hotel, Moon Manor’s appearances in Keely’s previous works and the pleasures of living in the countryside.
Little was said of the upcoming project, and nothing was said about our expulsion.
“I want you to know, Mrs.Selma...,” Ayra began.
“Maggie. Really, do call me Maggie. Mrs.Selma ages me so.”
“All right, Maggie. I want you to know that our gardens are very wheelchair friendly. You can actually go quite far...to our little bridge, our water fountain...all lined with beautiful and fragrant blooms.”
“I look forward to it.”
Our dinner dishes were cleared, and dessert, a piping hot apple pie, was brought out. We enjoyed the pie accompanied with a good coffee and more pleasant chit chat.
“I can’t remember the last time I ate so well,” Mother said. “Times have been a little frugal at home.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Ayra said.
Mother waved the comment away. “But we don’t want to get into that. We’re here now, this is a beautiful place and you two seem to be truly good people. I couldn’t ask for a better outcome to this tumultuous time.”
Before finishing her coffee, Susan stood. “I do want to thank you for your hospitality...Ayra...Jai. I know that showing up so unexpectedly must have changed your plans for the evening, and I do appreciate it.”
Ayra and Jai smiled.
“I am rather fatigued from our day and, if you don’t mind, I’ll go up to my room.”
“Please,” Ayra said. “You’re at home here. Rest up and we’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Thank you.” She looked at us all. “Goodnight everyone.”
With Susan gone, Ayra turned to me. “She seems to be taking this sudden move rather badly.”
I nodded. “I’m sure once we get to work, she’ll be back to her old self. Speaking of which... When do we start?”
Ayra smiled.
“Tomorrow morning you’ll meet our crew who is already busily making the needed changes for this new movie. They do start early, and I hope they won’t wake you.”
“We’re early risers,” Mother said. “So that won’t be a problem.”
“Keely should be here also and maybe you’ll want to talk to her about your part in this project. Then, in a few days we should have the main cast here to meet up, get to know one another, meet Keely...all that.”
“I can’t wait.”
*****
