Annie's Answer (12 page)

“I’m sorry I
didn’t make all the rounds this week,” she said, knowing an apology didn’t make
up for the lack of revenue.

“We’re not
angry, Annie,” he said, his tone of voice belying his words. “But you’ve taken
on too much. I think it would be better if you forget about selling ads for us.
I have a lead on someone else for the job.”

“I
understand,” she said, trying not to feel rejected. Ted was right. She simply
didn’t have enough hours in the day to live up to their expectations. “I
appreciate having the job as long as I did.”

“Well, good
luck to you,” he said, going back into his office and closing the door.

She’d never
been fired before. It was for the best, but it still hurt. She wished Marge had
been there so she could apologize for letting her down, but there was no time
to dwell on it. As it was, she was going to be a few minutes late getting to
the Sawyers.

 Nathan
delayed leaving for work as long as possible in hopes of seeing Annie. He
needed to tell her when he’d pick her for this evening, but he could do that
quickly with a phone call. What he really wanted was to make sure she still
wanted to be his aunt’s companion after her unfortunate fall yesterday.

She was late.
Did that mean she’d had second thoughts about coming?

A client was
due for an appointment in a few minutes, and he had to leave. Bonnie was taking
today and tomorrow off because a relative was visiting—time she certainly
had coming and deserved. But he’d turned down her offer to find a temporary
replacement, believing it would take too much of his time to show a temp what
to do. Now he had an important consultation and no one to open the office.

Getting into
his car at the latest possible moment, he heard the aging VW pull in behind
him. Common sense told him to go, but he resisted, wanting at least a few words
with Annie. He rushed back to her car before she had a chance to get out.

“I’m sorry I’m
late,” she said with an odd little catch in her voice as she stepped out of the
vehicle.

He picked up
on her distress in spite of her attempt to conceal it with a forced smile.

“Are you
okay?”

“Oh, yes,
sure. Just a little rushed this morning.” Her cheeks were as pink as the knit
shirt she was wearing.

“Your hours
aren’t set in stone. If you have something to do before you come here, that’s
perfectly all right.”

“I appreciate
that. I had to stop by the newspaper. It seems I let them down, so that’s one
less job I have to do.” She started to walk around him with her eyes focused on
the ground.

“They fired
you?” He felt a sudden flash of anger at the person who’d caused the unhappiness
on her face.

“It’s okay. I
really don’t have time to sell ads. I’d better go inside. Mattie will be
expecting me.”

“Mattie can
wait.” He needed to get to work, but not before he heard more about why she’d
lost her job at the paper. “Do you have a contract with them? Did they offer
severance pay?”

She laughed, a
light melodic sound that washed over him like a cooling mist.

“I sounded
like an attorney, didn’t I?”

“You sounded
like a concerned friend, but no, I never had a contract. It was only a
part-time job.”

“Don’t worry
about the lost income. You’re worth a lot more to me than what I’m paying you.
I’ll just bump your salary up.…”

“No, please,
no. You’ve over paying me already.” She was so insistent he dropped the matter
for now.

“I wanted to
tell you I have reservations at the Windsor Inn for dinner and tickets for the
Barn Theatre. Can I pick you up fairly early, say 5:30?”

“Yes, that’s
fine.”

“You can leave
as early as you like. Aunt Mattie won’t object—and don’t let her talk you
into any balancing acts on a ladder. You’re not here to clean house. You gave
me a scare tumbling off.”

“Thanks to
you, I wasn’t hurt.” She kindly didn’t mention that he probably startled her
into falling.

“Well, I’ll
see you this evening. I have to get to work.”

“Have a nice day,”
she said, turning to hurry to the front door of the house.

“You too.”

Before he
could get in his car, Aunt Mattie was standing in the doorway waiting for
Annie. He should be thankful his sometimes difficult relative was getting along
so well with her, but he was more concerned about his growing infatuation. He
was nearly thirty and too old for crushes. Maybe when they were better
acquainted, reality would set in and he could get adorable Annie out of his
mind.            

“You’d better
get going,” Mattie said in the middle of the afternoon. “You don’t want to keep
Nathan waiting. That boy was born with a built-in clock.”

“There’s
plenty of time,” Annie assured her. “I’ll sweep the patio before I leave.”

“Nonsense! It
will still be there tomorrow. A girl needs time to primp before a date.”

“It’s really
not a date,” Annie said, trying to convince herself as well as Mattie. “But
speaking of tomorrow, I have an idea if you’re interested. It’s my day to help
out in the church office. The woman who folds the bulletins is on vacation, and
they asked me to do it. Would you be willing to come along with me and—”

“That’s the
best idea I’ve heard in a long time. It’s about time I did something useful.”
The older woman’s smile transformed her face.

“Great! Would
the morning work for you?”

“Any time
would. I’m starting to run out of ideas to keep us busy around here.”

Annie didn’t
know whether that was good or bad, but taking Mattie to the church would
certainly solve the problem of what to do with her for at least one day. She
understood Mattie’s need to feel useful, but she was beginning to worry about
Mrs. Sawyer’s reaction to all the cleaning and organizing in her house.

“We’ll go
shortly after nine then,” Annie said.

“If you’re out
late, you needn’t get here that early,” Mattie said. “But it’s time for you to
leave. Go.”

This was one
time when Annie appreciated her bossiness. It would be nice to have time to do
her hair and nails and have a leisurely bath. She rarely had time for makeup in
the morning, but it would be fun to experiment if her meager supply hadn’t
dried up from lack of use.

Now all she
had to do was hope the VW wouldn’t stall on the way home.

The house was
empty when she got there, but both her mother and grandfather came home in time
to see the results of her careful preparations.

“You look
absolutely stunning,” Mom said. “When did you have time to shorten your prom
dress?”

“Last night,”
Annie admitted.

“I would’ve
done it for you.” Her mother had her twirl around to see if the hem was even.
“I guess you managed just fine on your own.”

“Yes, you look
nice,” her grandfather said with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm. “I just
hope.…”

“What?” Annie
asked.

“Well, don’t
get your hopes up too much.” He shrugged.

“Hopes about
what?” Annie knew what he meant, but she didn’t want him to rain on her parade,
not this evening when she was super nervous already.

“Never mind,”
he said dismissively. “I’m just an old man looking for something to worry
about.”

“Well, don’t
worry,” Annie said a little sharper than she’d intended. “This is just a thank
you for keeping Nathan’s aunt happy. I know nothing will come of it.”

“You look
lovely, dear,” Mom said just as the doorbell rang.

Annie braced
herself for an awkward moment before going to the door, but Gramps put on his
welcoming smile, the one he used to greet members of the congregation after a
service.

“Hello,”
Nathan said when she opened the door.

She was used
to seeing him dressed up for work, but he’d outdone himself in a silky suit
that captured shades of green and bronze without being either one. His copper
colored dress shirt could’ve been made to go with it, and the necktie brought
the whole outfit together. He looked gorgeous, and she didn’t know how she
could go with him wearing a made-over prom dress. Her little lace jacket
suddenly seemed too childish, and her heels needed to be two inches higher to
be fashionable.

“Nice to see
you, Nathan,” her grandfather said, offering his hand.

Was her mother
really blushing when Nathan turned his attention to her?

Fortunately
the encounter of the family-kind was brief. Nathan hustled her out to his car
after a minimum of small talk.

“You look
lovely,” he said when she was belted in beside him on a white leather seat that
almost had to be custom-ordered.

“So do you,”
she said impulsively, feeling even more awkward after she said it.

“How did your
day with Aunt Mattie go?” he asked as he started the low humming motor.

“Fine. She’s
running out of jobs at the house, but tomorrow she’s going to church with me to
fold bulletins.”

“Great. She’s
been at home too much. We got bad news from the contactor Dad hired to see if
her house can be repaired. He recommends tearing down what’s left.”

“She must be
upset.”

“She doesn’t
know yet. So far, there’s no plan B.”

“I assumed
she’d be staying in Westover.” Annie felt sad for her but didn’t know what else
to say.

“Dad wants her
to, but I don’t think she and my mother could live in the same house. If Mattie
agrees, I’ll have to find an alternative for her, maybe assisted living.”

“That would be
sensible but.…”

It wasn’t her
business, but she had a feeling Mattie would hate being in an old folks’ home.

“She won’t go
for it,” Nathan said as if reading her mind.

“Maybe an
apartment.”

“There aren’t
many good ones in town. I suppose she could buy a little house, but that’s a
different set of problems. You can see how she tries to do too much.”

“She might be
lonely.” Annie suspected Mattie would feel abandoned living by  herself in
Westover. “Do you think she’ll want to go back to Iowa?”

“Probably, but
she doesn’t have family there, no one to look after her.”

“She has
friends.” Annie remembered how happy the phone call had made her.

“Friends her
age. She can’t count on them being able to help her, no matter now
well-intentioned.”

“I can see the
problem.”

“Well, let’s
not talk about Mattie this evening. I’m really looking forward to a quiet
dinner and a good play. Have you been to the Barn Theatre?”

“Once when
they did a children’s play. It was a long time ago.”

“I’ve heard
they’ve improved the place a lot. Put in old theatre seats instead of folding
chairs and generally updated the facilities. My parents have a sponsoring
membership, but I haven’t had time to go in years.”

Annie took a
deep breath. The Sawyer family seemed to be financially involved in almost
everything in Westover. She knew from helping the treasurer they were the
church’s largest donor, and their name was on a bronze plague at the public
library for helping renovate the building Andrew Carnegie had donated to the
town a hundred years ago. The same was true at the hospital where Mrs. Sawyer
had headed up a drive to build a cancer treatment center. What would it be like
to be able to help so many people in so many ways?

She was glad
when they reached the restaurant located in an historical Victorian house on
the outskirts of town. It was the most  upscale dining place in town, and
she’d never even thought of eating there.

In the foyer a
receptionist in a black floor-length gown and stiletto heels greeted Nathan,
calling him Mr. Sawyer, and escorted them to one of several dining rooms. The
tables had white linen cloths and an array of crystal and china in the place
settings. There were antiques and walls covered with oil painting in heavy gold
frames, so much to see she could hardly take it all in.

Their server
appeared immediately, a young man in a burgundy waiter’s jacket and black
slacks who was familiar to Annie.

“Hi Randy. I
didn’t know you worked here.” The words slipped out, and she almost said
‘whoops’ when Nathan looked up in surprise.

Randy only
gave her a stiff nod although she’d served him pancakes dozens of times. In
fact, he’d asked her out several times before he started going with Belinda
Bennett, a beautician at the Cut and Curl. Rumor had it they were going to get
married.

The menus he
handed them were printed on creamy paper  stock reminding her of a wedding
invitation and enclosed in dark red  leather folders. Annie had never felt
so much out of her depth.

“We’ll begin
with an appetizer platter,” Nathan said while she was still reading the menu.
Was he going to order everything for her? Is that how things worked in fancy
restaurants? She was beginning to wish they’d gone to a drive-in.

“What looks
good to you?” he asked, the warmth in his voice dispelling some of her
discomfort.

“Maybe the
trout,” she said, grasping at one of the entrees without a French name. She’d
never heard of the sauce, but it came with fresh asparagus and wild rice, two
things she could at least recognize.

“This looks
like dinner for two,” she blurted out when Randy put a huge platter of
appetizers on the table between them.

Was that an
indulgent smile Nathan gave her?

“I don’t often
eat like I’m starving,” he said. “I had toast for breakfast and no time for
lunch.”

She stared at
the array of appetizers and failed to recognize any of them as food. They were
all breaded and deep-fat fried. They could’ve been pig’s ears and octopus
tentacles for all she could tell.

“I don’t know
where to begin,” she said, an understatement if there ever was one. What if she
bit into something awful and wanted to spit it out? This dinner date was
beginning to seem like a very bad idea.