Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club

Florence narrates in 1934.

To impress the mysterious Archie, Florence learns cribbage. Floyd happily offers to help her with the game, though he is noncommittal when she asks to join his regular play with Archie. He urges her to instead play with the teenage busboy at the inn. She practices diligently, playing against various members of the inn staff, but when she asks Floyd again about joining the game with Archie, he urges her to leave Archie alone. Betty reveals that she wants to date Floyd, but can’t ask him out herself, as it would be unprofessional. Betty calls Archie creepy and tells Florence to spend less time playing cribbage and more time finding a job.

Ignoring this, Florence goes to Archie’s house and challenges him to a cribbage match. If he wins three out of five games, she’ll wash his dishes again. After two losses, she proposes that she work for him on housekeeping tasks. He refuses, suggesting she instead try carrying luggage for tips—unofficial but potentially lucrative employment. When Floyd arrives later, Florence is washing dishes, per her lost bet. He is surprised to find her in Archie’s house, but they play several cribbage games as a trio.

Florence overhears Floyd and Archie talking about being gone within a few months. When she asks what they mean, they brush her off. (She later learns Archie is attempting to get Floyd to move to Chicago with him so they can be together romantically without secrecy.) When she returns home at nearly midnight, Betty scolds her for smelling like smoke, which Florence blames on her school friend Hazel. She thinks that the game night made her feel “like being part of a family” (113).

The next day, Florence goes to the Majestic Lodge parking lot, but instead of carrying luggage as Archie suggests, she offers to clean windshields and headlights for two cents per car. She earns 58 cents in four hours, far more than the dollar-per-week rate she asked from Archie. When Florence returns home, Betty praises the work and urges her to continue, while gleefully reporting that Floyd asked her on a date. The date goes well, but Florence grows weary of her mother’s excessive cheer, worrying that the more authentic Floyd she saw with Archie never appears with Betty, which she fears will mean the women’s eventual departure from Bear Jaw.

Florence continues to spend time with Archie and Floyd, who are cheerful and playful with one another. Archie opines that it would be “the best thing for everybody” if Floyd and Betty marry (117). Florence, however, wants to be a teacher, not inherit the Lakeside. The only thing her background has taught her is that only she will look out for herself. Archie scolds her for this attitude and Florence leaves, upset. When Betty, after several dates with Floyd, frets that Floyd is seeing someone else, Florence describes Archie and Floyd’s relationship, “doing her best to make it seem as unusual and improper as possible” (119). When Betty plans to break up with Floyd, Florence feels guilty about what she’s done.

That afternoon, Floyd comes to speak with Florence. He is going to marry Betty that fall, and Archie will be the best man. He smiles, but Florence detects sadness underneath. He doesn’t want to replace Florence’s father, but he would like to be a supportive figure for her. Florence argues that her father will return despite knowing that the troubled World War I veteran will never come back. Floyd will welcome the man, should this happen.

Betty considers the proposal good luck and dismisses Florence’s implications of a sexual relationship between Floyd and Archie, though she believes Archie may be gay. She urges Florence to take a job as a “salad girl,” at the considerable rate of a dollar per day. Florence finds the job acceptable and befriends Al Norgaard, another teenager working there, who treats her as an equal. She enjoys Floyd’s novel practice of sending a complimentary relish tray to each table. She dislikes the idea of working in the restaurant her whole life, however.

On Betty and Floyd’s wedding day, Florence tells them that she doesn’t want to run the restaurant. Betty counters that, after Florence inherits it, she can sell it if she wants. The idea appeals to Florence. She finds her mother’s wedding unglamorous, though she enjoys sitting in the front row with her friends. She notes Archie’s apparent sadness about the marriage in the weeks prior to the event, though he seems happy for Floyd on the day of the wedding. She is relieved when her mother, offhandedly denies any interest in having more children. At the end of the evening, Betty warns Archie to stay away from Floyd.

Ned narrates in 1982.

Mariel and Ned tell Florence about their impromptu wedding, which Florence attributes to the simultaneous announcement that Mariel is pregnant. Florence surprises them by praising their decision for a small wedding, though Ned soon realizes it is because Florence intends to be excessively involved with the baby. Mariel does not return to the Lakeside that summer, which clearly saddens her, despite their visits to Betty and Floyd. In October, Mariel gives birth to a boy, whom they name Gustav Edward Prager, after Mariel and Ned’s fathers.

Florence and Ned’s stepmother, Peg, both help during Gus’s first weeks home, causing Ned and Peg to bond. Peg’s ambition was to become a pediatric nurse. She always wanted children but was unable to sustain a pregnancy. Ned regrets previously keeping Peg at an emotional distance. Florence is unusually helpful and supportive. Ned appreciates the grandmothers’ help despite being jealous that they see more of Gus than he does.

Ned begins getting lunch with different employees so he can know them better, a task he enjoys. A security guard named Edgar encourages him to take more time for his family. Their peaceful lunch is interrupted when Ned’s father collapses on the sidewalk outside with a heart attack.

Florence narrates in 1940.

Florence and Al Norgaard plan to go on their first date after a longstanding mutual crush. She feels out of place at the Majestic Lodge, despite now being wealthy enough to afford to eat there, but is comforted when their server is one of Florence’s former classmates. When they talk about their futures, Al envisions them married, with children, running the Lakeside. However, Florence doesn’t want children and plans to be a teacher. He cries over their differences and demands to know why she can’t be “a normal woman” (148). The date ends before they even place their orders, dashing Florence’s visions of her future. She gets a shift at the Majestic the following day, fearing that the magic camaraderie of the Lakeside kitchen staff is now ruined.

Florence walks to Archie’s house, which she and Floyd still sometimes visit, though they lie to Betty about it. She views Betty and Floyd’s relationship as functional but Floyd and Archie’s relationship as passionate and loving. She finds the two men celebrating: Floyd has agreed to go to Chicago with Archie so they can be together openly. They plan to leave that night. The Lakeside will become Betty’s.

Florence returns to the Lakeside, watching Betty happily interact with customers. Over the years, Betty has increased the bar’s success enormously. Florence tells her mother of Archie and Floyd’s plan. Betty immediately leaves for Archie’s house, calling shortly after to tell her employees to close the bar. Howie, the bartender, drives Florence home and expresses regret over her breakup with Al, which has already traveled through the town grapevine.

The next day, Floyd is clearly sad. He knows Florence told Betty about his plans. Once she leaves for college, she is not to return to town as long as he lives there, though she can visit her mother. Archie’s house is empty when Florence bikes past later; she never sees him again. At the Majestic, she meets Gustav Stenerud, a student at the Duluth State Teachers College, which Florence plans to attend.

Ned narrates in 1982-1986.

Edward struggles with dietary restrictions after his heart attack. Ned shops for healthy food for Edward and Mariel joins him while Florence watches baby Gus. It’s Mariel’s first time leaving the baby. They bring home a rutabaga, which Ned has never eaten before. Edward, whose grandmother used to prepare rutabaga, weeps over the dish. Ned is grateful for his father’s acceptance of healthier foods—he fears he is too soft to run a corporation like Jorby’s. Ned wonders if he should become more like Edward to protect Gus’s legacy. Betty, meanwhile, sees Gus as the future owner of the Lakeside. Both Ned and Betty see owning Jorby’s or the Lakeside as mutually exclusive.

Gus’s first birthday is celebrated extravagantly at Jorby’s, though Ned notes the lack of healthy food options aside from what is specifically prepared for Edward. He no longer likes Jorby’s food and plans to develop a healthy menu there. However, when Ned promises to spend more time at work, Edward instead encourages him to focus on Gus, citing his own regrets over working too much.

Betty dies the following spring. Ned is ashamed that his instinctive reaction is victory in the argument over Gus’s future. Betty’s funeral is crowded, with all of Bear Jaw turning out to celebrate her life. Floyd, to Ned’s astonishment, reveals that Mariel has offered to come north to help with the Lakeside. As a compromise, Mariel spends the summer in Bear Jaw with Gus, but Ned plans Gus’s second birthday at Jorby’s. Without telling his wife, Ned plans to open a Jorby’s in Bear Jaw. Mariel is furious when she learns of this. In exchange, Ned agrees to plan Gus’s third birthday celebration at their home.

On Gus’s birthday, Florence disrupts party preparations by bringing a replica T-Rex skull that weighs over 200 pounds. While the adults are distracted by this, Gus falls into the pool and drowns.

Mariel and Ned struggle through their grief. Mariel blames Florence for Gus’s death; Ned blames himself. Ned eventually returns to work, though he struggles to care about his job. When Ned goes to his father’s house for dinner, Peg is distant. Edward returns to his old eating habits and has another heart attack shortly after.

Edward announces his retirement. Ned, who feels incapable of running Jorby’s, is both relieved and offended that Edward plans to leave the company to Carla. Soon after, Carla approaches him with a payout to relinquish his rights to Jorby’s. She eagerly offers him a million dollars, but he holds out for a better offer.

When he tells Mariel (who is gradually learning to live with her grief, though she avoids any reminders of children), she is mostly worried that this will change their relationship with Carla, whom she loves. Carla returns with an offer of $2 million, which Ned accepts. Ned and Mariel plan to move to Bear Jaw and live across from the Lakeside. Mariel initiates intimacy, but Ned does not yet feel ready for sex, as it could potentially lead to another pregnancy. Floyd is pleased with Ned joining his side of the Lakeside-Jorby’s divide, as the Bear Jaw Jorby’s has been popular, threatening the Lakeside’s business. Mariel settles into life at the Lakeside while Ned builds their new house, using the physical labor to help process his grief.