Back Home Again (15 page)

“It’s okay,” Alice reassured her. “But back to this realtor. I wonder if he spoke to Aunt Ethel and then simply assumed she was our sister. He did say
older
sister.”

Louise smiled slyly. “
Older
sister? Well, of course, it
must
be Aunt Ethel. She must’ve been talking to Lloyd. But what gives her the right to put our house on the market?”

“Well, it’s not exactly
on
the market,” said Alice.

“You wouldn’t have known that after listening to that fast-talking realtor.” Jane made a face. “Talk about slick.”

“He mentioned something about a possible development of the whole property,” said Alice. “Even the carriage house. Do you suppose that Aunt Ethel wants to move?”

“I wonder if she needs money,” said Jane.

“But the carriage house belongs to the family property,” said Louise. “My understanding was that Father only gave it to her to live in, for the course of her lifetime, but that it wasn’t hers to sell.”

“That’s right.” Alice sat down in a chair and leaned her elbows onto the table.

Louise frowned. “I don’t know why she’d do something like this.”

“We don’t know for sure that she did,” said Alice.

“I think we should get to the bottom of this,” said Jane, “and the sooner the better.”

They marched right over to Aunt Ethel’s little house and knocked on the door. When no one answered, Alice remembered that Aunt Ethel liked to join Lloyd for Bingo Night on Thursdays.

“It’s at Town Hall,” she explained. “They serve chili dogs at five o’clock. Aunt Ethel likes to help out in the kitchen and calling numbers. It’s sponsored by the Chamber, and they raise money for the elementary school.”

“That’s right,” said Louise. “She invited me to go with her when I first came home, but that was back before the situation with Lloyd Tynan got out of hand. She hasn’t invited me since.”

Jane laughed. “I can just see you playing bingo at Town Hall. Yeah, and eating a chili dog with onions to boot!”

Louise involuntarily brushed off an imaginary crumb from her mauve cashmere sweater. “That would be something now, wouldn’t it?”

Alice sighed. “Well, unless we want to storm Town Hall and make a complete spectacle of ourselves tonight, I guess we’ll just have to wait until later.”

“At least we have a pretty good idea that it
was
Aunt Ethel,” said Jane. “That’s something of a relief.”

Alice wasn’t so sure. Why would Aunt Ethel pull something like this in the first place? Perhaps even more perplexing was that Alice had come to feel as if she and Aunt Ethel had actually become a little closer after that last visit when her aunt had seemed so supportive of the development of the inn. But then, if Alice knew anything about her aunt, she knew that you could never completely count on that woman.
Father used to say that one of Aunt Ethel’s most charming personality traits was her complete unpredictability.

“My little sister is just like the weather,” he would say with a knowing but loving smile.

But Alice knew that some forms of weather could be damaging and destructive. And she sincerely hoped that Aunt Ethel wasn’t as responsible for this little storm as it appeared. Otherwise, they might as well start calling their aunt “Hurricane Ethel.”

Chapter Eighteen

T
hey decided to wait until after breakfast before invading their aunt’s little cottage the following morning. Fortunately it was Alice’s day off. Not that she particularly enjoyed controversy or even wanted to see Aunt Ethel confronted like this. Mostly she wanted to see the truth brought to light as well as help make sure that no feelings got irreparably hurt.

“Goodness,” said Aunt Ethel when she opened the door to see her three nieces standing on her little porch. She looked as if she had only just gotten up. She was still wearing her purple bathrobe, which proved a striking contrast against her flame red hair that had yet to be combed and tamed. “To what do I owe this unexpected visit?”

“May we come in?” asked Louise in a firm tone.

“Well, certainly.” Aunt Ethel held the door open and stepped back. “Is something wrong?”

“Possibly,” said Jane.

“Why don’t you sit down at the table,” offered Aunt Ethel. “I’ll put the tea kettle on, and we can visit.”

“That’s okay, we don’t need any tea,” said Jane. “Just some answers.”

“Well, all right then.” Aunt Ethel led them to the kitchen, sat down at the table and waited, glancing nervously at Alice as if hoping for some sort of potential backup. Alice nodded but kept her mouth closed.

Louise cleared her throat as she placed her hands on the table. Jane and Alice had chosen her as the designated speaker. They both knew that Louise could be both tactful and firm. “We had a visit from a man named Mike Wall yesterday, Aunt Ethel.” She waited for any reaction from her aunt.

“Mike Wall?” Aunt Ethel firmly shook her head, jostling her chins. “Don’t recall that name. Now what’s this to do with me?”

“Mike Wall is a real-estate developer. A friend of Lloyd’s.”

Aunt Ethel’s eyes flickered a bit. “Oh, maybe that’s that Michael fellow. Nice looking young man, drives a fancy car.”

“That sounds like him,” said Alice.

“His father is a good friend of Lloyd’s. Michael was in town the other day, and Lloyd introduced him to me at the Coffee Shop.”

“And?” Louise waited.

“And what?”

“Did you mention our house being available for sale?” Louise peered at Aunt Ethel.

“Goodness me, of course not.” Aunt Ethel sat up straighter and patted her hair.

“Did you mention our house at all?”

“Well, now, I suppose I may have. Simply in passing.”

“What exactly did you say about our house?” asked Louise.

“Just that you girls were renovating it …” Aunt Ethel smiled a bit sheepishly now. “And that perhaps it was getting to be too much for you—”

“Too much for us?” Jane’s brows lifted.

“Jane,” Louise gently patted her arm. “Remember.”

“Sorry.” Jane looked down at the table.

“What exactly did you mean, Aunt Ethel,” continued Louise, “when you told Mike Wall that our house was getting to be too much for us?”

Aunt Ethel fluttered her hands. “Oh, nothing really. I simply might have mentioned that you sisters were squabbling over the renovations and that perhaps it would be better for everyone concerned if the family home was sold.”

“So you gave Mike Wall the impression that we were interested in selling?”

“I suppose I may have.”

“And you were going to include the carriage house in this little real estate transaction too?”

Aunt Ethel just shook her head. “Well, no, of course not.”

“That’s not what Mike thinks. He seemed to assume the entire property is up for sale.”

“Well, I suppose he could’ve gotten that impression. I did mention that the lot was fairly large, with some good potential. I was just talking. He’d been telling Lloyd and me about how he locates these unique properties, many of them historic, and he develops them and then sells them for a tidy little profit.” Her eyes grew wide. “Did you know that he paid close to a million dollars for a property that didn’t sound much better than your place. Although it did have more land and—”

“Aunt Ethel,” said Louise, “the house isn’t yours to sell.”

“Well, I know that.” Aunt Ethel stood now, crossing her arms across her chest with a frown. “I was only trying to help you girls out. Goodness, if someone were going to offer me a large chunk of money for a piece of property I owned, I’d be nothing but grateful.”

“You know that we’re turning the house into a bed and breakfast,” said Jane.

Aunt Ethel rolled her eyes. “Well, so you say, but I happen to think that bed and breakfast idea is still a long shot. Lloyd said that your business license isn’t even approved yet. And your renovations are still—”

“Aunt Ethel.” Louise stood now. “What you did caused
us some unnecessary problems, and we think it was wrong for you to interfere like that.”

Aunt Ethel blinked. “I don’t see how you can say that. I was simply trying to be helpful. Mike Wall is willing to pay top dollar for that house—”

“Does this mean that you actually want us to sell our house?” asked Alice, despite her earlier resolve to remain silent. “Do you really want to see some strangers living in our house, or someone developing it into apartments, or something like that?”

“Well, now, I don’t know about that.”

“Don’t you like having us as your neighbors, Aunt Ethel?” asked Jane. “Do you really dislike us that much?”

“Of course not.” Now Aunt Ethel began to sniffle. She pulled a tissue out from her robe sleeve and daubed her eyes. “I don’t know why you’re all getting so angry with me. I only thought you might like to hear what Michael was willing to pay for your house. I thought I was doing you a favor.”

“But it only created trouble for us,” said Louise firmly. “It was meddlesome.”

“I’m sure Aunt Ethel didn’t realize it would cause such a problem for us,” suggested Alice.

Aunt Ethel’s chin quivered as she offered up a grateful smile to Alice. “I really didn’t mean to make trouble for you girls. Goodness, you three must know how much I love you.”

“I’m sure that you do love us, Aunt Ethel,” said Louise, softening a bit. “But sometimes it doesn’t feel like it.”

Aunt Ethel looked down at the floor.

“Another thing, Aunt Ethel,” began Jane.

“Yes?” Aunt Ethel looked up.

“Well, we’d appreciate it if you didn’t repeat so many things that happen within our family around the town.”

“But I’m just a naturally friendly person,” said Aunt Ethel. “You all know how much I love to chat with people. Goodness knows, even Lloyd calls me his social butterfly.” Now she paused and carefully studied the three of them. “I suppose I didn’t realize we have so many family secrets to hide.” Her brows lifted in a slightly challenging expression.

“Oh, it’s not that we have secrets,” said Alice. “We just want you to respect our privacy a bit more. Is that too much to expect?”

“You know Acorn Hill, Alice. Everyone pretty much knows everything about everyone. That’s just the way it is.”

“Thanks to people who gossip,” said Jane.

“
Harrumph
,” Aunt Ethel snorted.

“I know it’s not pleasant to hear these things, Aunt Ethel, and you need to understand that we all love you and are only saying this because we want to have a good relationship with you,” Alice said. “Do you remember what Father used to say about gossip?”

Aunt Ethel nodded in what seemed a truly contrite manner. “My dear brother liked to remind everyone that gossip was as much a sin as murder or stealing.”

Alice waited a few moments for this piece of truth to sink in before she added, “He also reminded us that Jesus forgives us when we admit we’re wrong.”

Aunt Ethel looked at Alice with what appeared to be honest-to-goodness tears now. “You are absolutely right, Alice, and I’m so sorry.” Then she turned toward the other two. “I apologize to both of you, Louise and Jane. Honestly, I really don’t want to see you girls sell your house and move away. I guess it’s true that I did let my mouth run away with me again. Truly I didn’t mean to hurt any of you.” She wiped her nose with her tissue. “I guess I just like to feel involved.”

“We want you to be involved, Aunt Ethel,” said Alice. “You’re family and we love you.”

Louise and Jane both nodded.

“That’s right,” agreed Louise. “We do love you.”

“Yes,” said Jane. “And we need you too.”

“Oh, you girls,” said Aunt Ethel happily. “I don’t ever want you to move away from here. Sometimes I feel closer to you three than my very own children.”

Soon they were all hugging, and Alice felt that all was forgiven. Of course, she knew Aunt Ethel well enough to know that her tongue could easily get out of control again,
but then they would just have to deal with that when it happened. Sometimes the best part of being part of a family was the ability to forgive and forget.

“Do you suppose you could straighten this little mess out with Mike Wall?” asked Louise as the four of them finally shared a pot of tea together.

Aunt Ethel nodded. “Certainly.”

“And with Lloyd Tynan too?” asked Jane.

“I’ll explain to both of them that you three have absolutely no intention of selling your house.”

“Thank you,” said Alice.

Then Aunt Ethel got a sparkle in her eye. “But what would you think if Mike Wall really offered you a million dollars for it?”

Alice glanced uncomfortably at her two sisters. Would a sum as large as a million dollars tempt either of them to sell out? Louise was already shaking her head in a firm “no.”

“There are some things in life that money can’t buy,” said Jane with what sounded like heartfelt conviction.

Alice smiled in relief. “And our family is one of them.”

Aunt Ethel smiled. “You three are most definitely your father’s daughters.”

Chapter Nineteen

J
im Sharp started refinishing the hardwood floors during the week of Thanksgiving and didn’t expect to be done for another week. No matter how hard the sisters tried to keep things clean, everything seemed coated with a fresh layer of sawdust by the following day. It was bad timing, but then the floors were in terrible condition and this job had to be done.

“I don’t see why he couldn’t have waited until next week,” complained Jane as she wiped the coat of dust from the teakettle. “I’d really been looking forward to cooking a traditional Thanksgiving dinner this year. Usually we did something trendy and exotic at the restaurant. I’ve been hoping for good old-fashioned turkey and dressing, with homemade cranberry sauce and candied yams.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Louise.

“How about cooking a meal like that at the church?” suggested Alice. “I know that there are a number of people in town who are alone on Thanksgiving. As usual, the
ANGELs are preparing food baskets for the needy, but maybe we could do something even better this year.”

“What a great idea, Alice,” agreed Jane. “I love cooking for a crowd.”

“Are you sure?” asked Louise. “It sounds like a lot of work.”

“Oh, but it would be fun.” Jane looked at Alice. “How many people do you suppose we could expect?”

“Oh, I’m not sure, but I could find out pretty easily. I doubt that it would be more than, say, twenty, maybe thirty at the most. Does that sound like too much?”

Jane shook her head. “Piece of cake.”

“We can all help out, Jane,” Alice reassured her. “And maybe my ANGELs would be interested in helping to serve that day.”

“That would be great.”

Louise looked as if she felt left out now. “Perhaps you’d like me to play some music for the event?”

“Oh, Louise, that would be wonderful,” said Jane.

“And I happen to make a pretty good pumpkin pie,” she added.

“Fantastic. I’ll make some pecan and apple and …” Jane went over to the table and began making a list.

“Well, I’m off to work,” announced Alice. “I’ll start contacting our potential guests. I suppose I could even ask Carlene to put a notice in Wednesday’s paper.”

“Well, we don’t want this thing to get too big,” warned Louise.

“Oh, the more the merrier,” said Jane with a wave of her hand.

“But who’s going to pay for it?” asked the ever practical Louise.

“Goodness,” said Alice. “I hadn’t given that much thought.”

“Doesn’t the church have a fund for things like this?” asked Jane.

“Yes,” said Alice. “We do. I’ll call Pastor Ley during my morning break and ask about it. Naturally, he’ll need to give his okay before we proceed, but I’m sure he’ll love the idea.”

Alice was exactly right about Pastor Ley’s reaction.

“That’s a f-fine idea, Alice,” he told her over the phone. “I know of s-several elderly p-people who should be invited. They may be s-some of the s-same ones you have in m-mind, but I’ll m-make a l-list just in case.”

Alice even invited some of her co-workers to join them. She knew of several hospital employees who might be alone for the holiday. Then she called Carlene and asked her about putting a notice in the
Acorn Nutshell
.

“I’d be glad to,” said Carlene. “Fact is, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do on Thanksgiving myself. Until last
week, I thought I was going home to my parents, but they’ve decided to fly out to Arizona to visit my brother this year. I might just end up at Grace Chapel too.”

“Great,” said Alice. “We’d love to have you join us.”

The next couple of days whizzed by for Alice. Between her work at the hospital, helping out at home, and shopping for their upcoming dinner, she was practically asleep before her head hit the pillow each night. Some of her ANGELs were able to help serve on Thursday afternoon, and they all helped to decorate the assembly room on Wednesday night. They skittered around the room, artfully adorning the tables with bright gold tablecloths, little pumpkins, gourds, Indian corn and candles. Alice thought the room had never looked more festive. Just to be on the safe side, Alice had set the tables with forty-eight place settings. She figured they’d have some empty spots, but felt that was preferable to not having enough. She didn’t want anyone to feel left out. Jane and Louise and even Aunt Ethel had been cooking for days. Not only that, but when others in the congregation heard about the dinner, they had offered to drop something by too.

“We’ll probably have way too much food,” said Jane. “Maybe we can send doggy bags home with our guests.”

“Yes,” agreed Louise as she pulled another pumpkin
pie from the oven. “The worst thing about eating Thanksgiving dinner at someone else’s home is that you miss out on the leftovers.”

Thanks to Jane’s expertise and punctuality, everything was ready at two o’clock sharp. The first half hour was supposed to be for socializing and appetizers, and the real dinner was to begin at two-thirty. Louise, already seated at the piano, was thumbing through sheet music, while Alice coached her ANGELs on proper serving techniques. Before long a few guests began to trickle in. Alice greeted a couple of young co-workers from the hospital, as well as Cyril Overstreet. Taking their coats, she showed them to the appetizer table. She was beginning to feel a bit concerned. What if only a handful of people showed up today? Poor Jane, how would she feel if all her lovely food went to waste? Suddenly Alice remembered the story that Jesus had told about the rich man who gave a big fancy dinner, but nobody came. The desperate host had sent his servants out in the streets to invite more guests. She figured that the few streets of Acorn Hill would be fairly deserted right now.

Then more people began coming in. Carlene from the newspaper showed up with a basket of wheat rolls. And Hope from the Coffee Shop appeared with a hot blackberry pie. Alice graciously took their offerings, but at the
same time fretted that she’d have to send them back home with them since there was already far more than enough food here. Then Viola from the bookstore showed up with a young family that had recently moved to town. Alice had heard that the father had suffered a back injury and the mother was looking for work.

Soon the basement was bustling with people and noise. Even Fred and Vera decided to come, explaining to Alice that both their girls had been invited home by college chums. “We were feeling a little lonely,” confessed Vera as she handed Alice a casserole dish of yams. “Let me know if I can lend a hand with anything.”

“Oh, I’m so glad you came,” said Alice.

Alice took the hot dish to the kitchen and asked Jane if she needed any help.

“The place looks packed,” said Jane as she pulled an extra pan of turkey dressing from the oven. “Have you done a nose count yet?”

Alice nodded. “Yes, and I think it was nearly sixty now. Can you believe it? And I was worried that we’d have way too much food. I already asked Sarah and Ashley to set another table.”

“Oh my, I hope we have enough food for that many people,” said Aunt Ethel as she paused from mashing potatoes and glanced out across the crowded room. “Good grief,
Alice, there’s another whole bunch more coming down the stairs right now. You better do another count.”

Alice went back out and continued to greet people, smiling and taking coats, and all the time counting. This time she made it to nearly eighty. Eighty people! She was stunned. How was it that so many people were alone or in need? She hurried back to the kitchen to inform the others.

“My word!” exclaimed Aunt Ethel. “Eighty people? I thought you were only expecting about thirty.”

“We weren’t really sure,” said Alice.

“But how will we manage to feed everyone?” said Aunt Ethel.

Alice grinned. “Remember the loaves and the fishes, Auntie.”

“You better inform Pastor Ley that he needs to say one mighty impressive blessing,” said Aunt Ethel.

Alice went out to tell the ANGELs to set up another long table with twenty more place settings. They had long since run out of paper plates and plastic utensils, but fortunately the church’s kitchen was equipped with about forty sets of real dishes and silverware. Of course, this meant that someone would have to wash up now. But that seemed to be of little consequence at the moment.

Next Alice located Pastor Ley and his wife. “Quite a crowd, isn’t it?” she whispered.

“This is quite a gathering you’ve pulled together, Alice,” said Patsy.

Alice nodded with wide eyes. “Believe me, I’m as surprised at the turnout as anyone.”

“W-wouldn’t your father have loved this?” said Pastor Ley as he adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses. “I don’t know w-why we didn’t do something like this long ago.”

“We didn’t have Jane then,” said Alice. “She’s the cook in the family.”

“Speaking of cooks,” whispered Patsy, “you sure you’ll have enough food? I brought a ham, but I could run home and get something else if you think—”

“No, no, Patsy,” said Alice. “You just stay put.” She turned to Pastor Ley now. “I was just reminding Aunt Ethel of the loaves and fishes. I told her I’d ask you to say a special blessing.”

He grinned. “I’d be h-happy to invite the Good Lord to help us out.”

Alice had already asked Lloyd Tynan to use his public speaking ability to get the crowd’s attention, perhaps tell a few jokes and invite everyone to take their seats before he gave them an official welcome.

“We thank you all for coming,” said Lloyd in his authoritative voice after the guests had been seated. “It’s a pleasure to see you all here today. We had no idea we’d have such a
fine group.” He glanced toward the kitchen. “Maybe this will become a Grace Chapel tradition, although we better not mention this to the cooks just yet as it seems they have their hands full.” This brought a few laughs. “Now, I’d like to ask Pastor Ley to say grace.”

Pastor Ley nodded and bowed his head. “Dear heavenly F-father, we gather here today to give You th-thanks. We have so m-much to be th-thankful for … for our family and f-friends and community … for all this f-fine food and the hands that prepared it today. And we ask You to b-bless it—in the same way You b-blessed those loaves and f-fishes so many centuries ago. We ask that we m-might all leave this p-place f-filled with good food and good f-fellowship. Amen.”

A hearty “amen” echoed throughout the basement. It wasn’t long before everyone had a full plate of turkey, dressing, potatoes and gravy. Meanwhile, the ANGEL servers skittered about the tables bringing additional baskets of rolls, salads and a variety of other side dishes.

Louise and Alice finally took seats near Aunt Ethel and Lloyd and the Humberts, but Jane insisted upon staying in the kitchen.

“It’s just my way,” she had assured them. “I can’t relax and eat until all of my customers—I mean guests—have eaten their last bite of dessert.”

“Everything is delicious,” said Vera.

Fred nodded. “I guess if we couldn’t have Polly and Jean at home, this is the next best thing.”

“Church should be like an extended family,” said Louise. “I never really experienced that with our large congregation back in Philadelphia, but I’ve always felt that way here at home.”

“Acorn Hill is just that kind of town,” said Lloyd. “It makes you feel right at home.”

“It sure does,” said Jim Sharp from the other end of the table. “I’ve only been here three months and I feel like I know half the people in town already.”

“You probably do,” said Lloyd. “It only takes a week or two.”

Aunt Ethel laughed. “We always tell newcomers to hang out at the hardware store if you want to get acquainted with folks.”

“Thanks,” said Fred. “I appreciate the business.”

“It’s true,” said Lloyd. “Sooner or later, everyone in Acorn Hill goes into the hardware store.”

“You got that right,” said Jim. “I should know since I’ve been in there almost every single day these past two months.”

“How’s the renovation coming along?” asked Lloyd as he helped himself to another roll. “I haven’t been by for a while. You got that roof replaced yet?”

Jim shook his head. “Afraid we’ll have to wait until spring now that the cold weather’s set in.”

“Bet that’s going to be one expensive little job,” said Lloyd, blowing a low whistle through his teeth.

Louise nodded. “Don’t we know it, but we can’t very well run a first-rate inn with the rain coming down through the roof, now can we?”

“Daniel was lucky it held up this long,” said Aunt Ethel. “I think that roof’s about as old as the house.”

Jim nodded. “Yep. Some of the worst sections of slate have been replaced over the years, but most of it’s in pretty bad shape.”

“I’ve been wondering about the church’s roof too,” said Fred. “I expect it won’t be long before it’ll need replacing too. Now, that’s going to be an expensive job.”

Alice felt uncomfortable with all this talk of repairs and money. “How are your girls doing, Vera?” she asked. “Does Polly like college?”

“She was pretty homesick, you know, but then she made a good friend. That’s who she went home with for the weekend. The girl’s family lives in Connecticut. And, of course, Jean went home to meet her boyfriend’s family. We’re not too sure what to make of that just yet.” She gently elbowed her husband.