Page 118 of Hushed

Ruthie rolls her eyes and then turns to me. “Congratulations on your recent wedding. I heard it was quite the event. I wish we could have been there to see it.”

“I don’t know why we would have been,” Alison says. “We only met Saint-Jacques once, in passing. He’s not a bosom buddy. You’re just sentimental about weddings. When it became legal for us to get married, she planned every detail for months,” she tells me.

“We had less than a week to plan, but we pulled in people from our families, friends, random passersby,” I admit. “How long have you two been together?”

“Forty-seven years,” Alison says.

“We were working on one campaign after another for people who never got elected,” Ruth adds, “and one day, I says to her, ‘Alison, we keep backing losers, so we might as well back each other.’ And it’s been her ever since.”

“That’s amazing.”

“It was hard in those days,” Alison admits. “Ruthie was head librarian out at the University.”

“Never missed a day,” Ruthie says. “Never had a complaint, nothing.”

“Well, they let her go when they found out she was a lesbian,” Alison says. “It was legal then to do that. You young people forget how much things have changed.”

“That’s terrible! You should talk to our lawyer. I don’t know if there’s anything that can be done now, but—”

Ruthie laughs. It’s a low, deep sound. “Oh, honey, I’m over it. I spent my whole life around books and I wanted something new. I finally moved in here, stopped pretending, and took up painting like I kept telling myself I would. That was still years before we could get married, but it was my first time living openly as a lesbian. It was hard, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.”

“By that time, I already had tenure,” Alison adds. “So they couldn’t fire me for it.”

“Yeah, people talk about that a lot. What is tenure?”

Alison takes another sip and puts it down. “It means they can’t fire you. In theory it exists so we can research controversial things without being fired for it. In practice a certain number of people use it to kick back and become assholes.”

“You should show him the box,” Ruthie says.

Alison sighs and frowns. “It could help,” she says.

“Go on and get it,” Ruthie says. “Shoo. I’ll talk to him.”

Alison stands up reluctantly. She rests her hand affectionately on Ruthie’s shoulder and Ruthie reaches up to touch it.

“I heard there’s quite an age gap between you,” Ruthie says when her wife is gone. “How do you feel about that?”

“Nine years. I think it matters more to Bastien. He looks at me and sees that number, but when I look at him, I just see…Bastien.”

Ruthie smiles gently. “I’m twelve years younger than my wife, and it bothered her. She’s always worried about her going before me. Even still, I wouldn’t trade these forty years for anything. I just look at her and see the irascible woman I first fell in love with.”

“How long did it take you before you knew it was her?”

“The first few days. I had such a crush that it hurt to look at her.” She laughs again.

“I had that when I met Bastien,” I admit. “Those first few minutes, I knew I wanted to stake a claim. It was everything I could do to play it cool. I still don’t want to think of what I would have done if he had said no that first day.”

“Funny how it all hinges on the little things.” She smiles fondly.

“Here it is!” Alison says, bringing out a dusty cardboard box that she puts onto the table. “I can’t help much with the Bore—that’s Preston—because he came after I retired. But as far as the Gremlin and the Hatchet go, I had a little leverage to help make sure they stayed neutral.” She opens the box to reveal pictures and newspaper clippings.

I take out an old picture and recognize a much younger version of the dean and that beady-eyed harpy, when they were relatively young and good-looking. It surprises me and I’m not sure what I’m looking at.

“I suppose you can keep it,” Alison says. “It’s best if you arm yourself before the Kirkfields’ little soirée.”

“Hmm?” I ask, sifting through the box.

“Yes,” Ruthie chimes in. “A little birdie told us Sébastien is a finalist for the Kirkfield Grant! Congratulations!”