Special Delivery (12 page)

The afternoon spiraled by, darkness falling so that the candles on the dining room table seemed to glow more brightly. The turkey and vegetables and breads were taken away, and just when Olivia thought she was as stuffed as the turkey had been, out came pies and ice cream and the chocolates. Olivia groaned, but she popped one of her mother's chocolate pumpkins in her mouth anyway. The phone rang then, and Paw stood up to answer it.

Nana put her hand on his arm. “Let it be,” she said.

“But it might be someone calling to say ‘Happy Thanksgiving.'” Paw strode into the kitchen. Moments later, he returned to the dining room and handed the phone to Olivia. “For you,” he said.

“I'll bet it's Jacob!” exclaimed Henry.

It took exactly half of one second for Olivia's blush to return. “Hello?” she said. She struggled out of her chair and carried the phone into the bathroom.

“Hi! It's me!” said Jacob. “I just wanted to wish you a happy Thanksgiving.”

“Happy Thanksgiving!” Olivia replied. “How did you find me here?”

“I have my ways.”

When Olivia returned to the table, she was given a look of pure awe from her ten-year-old cousin Tara, and was clapped on the back by Dawson.

Darkness fell, and one by one the relatives left. As the house quieted, Olivia thought about Jacob. Were they
really
boyfriend and girlfriend? Henry and Jack teased her about having a boyfriend, but she and Jacob never discussed the exact nature of their relationship, although she and Flora and Nikki talked about it. (Olivia suspected that boys didn't concern themselves with such things nearly as often as girls did.)

Was she old enough to have a boyfriend? Did she truly want a boyfriend? She knew she could discuss these questions with Ashley, but the only person she really wanted to call was Flora, and she planned to do just that as soon as she was safely in her bedroom that night.

Several times on the drive from Camden Falls to Three Oaks, Flora snuck a look at Ruby, who was riding sulkily next to her in the backseat of Mr. Pennington's car. Ruby had barely spoken a word since hustling Min out of the community center after the concert. When, on the walk back to Aiken Avenue, Min had said, “So — would you like to talk about what happened this morning?” Ruby had snapped, “
No
.” Her mood had not improved when Min had taken Mr. Pennington by the elbow, laughed, and whispered something about drama queens.

The car rolled lazily through the countryside. Flora contemplated the fir trees and imagined them with snow-covered branches sweeping the winter ground. She turned, glanced at her sister, and tried to take her hand, but Ruby jerked it away. “I just wanted to —” Flora began to say.

“Well, don't!” hissed Ruby. She looked quickly at the front seat and added loudly, “And don't anyone say anything about drama queens.”

Min made a great show of zipping her lip, and Ruby scowled and stared at her shoes.

When they arrived at Three Oaks, Flora was pleased to find a smiling Mr. Willet waiting in the lobby. He was dressed in a navy suit and a silk tie embroidered with turkeys. Flora was even more pleased when Mr. Willet said that she and Ruby could have the job of bringing Mrs. Willet upstairs to the dining room. “She should be ready and waiting,” he added. “I told the nurse on duty that you would be coming for her.”

Ruby perked up. “We can go get her ourselves?”

“Yes. Flora, you know what to do, don't you?”

Flora, who had spent more time at Three Oaks than Ruby had, nodded. “When we're on the elevator, I'll be sure to set the brakes on her wheelchair,” she said importantly. She took Ruby's hand. “Come on. We have to go down to the lower level.” She led her sister along a hall. “Three Oaks is a nice place, don't you think? I wouldn't mind living here.”

“Remember when you thought it was depressing?”

“I didn't think Three Oaks was depressing, I thought Mr. Willet's apartment was depressing when it was empty and hadn't been painted yet. Doesn't Mr. Willet seem happy now?”

Ruby considered this. “Yes. He does seem happy.”

“Okay. Here's the elevator.”

The girls rode down to the lower level, which, because Three Oaks was built on a little hill, was not underground. (Ruby found this confusing.)

Flora led the way down another long hall, past a nurses' station, and stopped when she reached a locked door. She expertly entered a code on a keypad by the door and then pushed the door open. She remembered the first time she had seen the door and the keypad and how she had been horrified by the thought of Mrs. Willet locked into her wing. But she understood why Mrs. Willet and the other people with Alzheimer's couldn't leave their safe quarters. More important, she saw that Mrs. Willet seemed as happy in her new home as Mr. Willet did.

“There she is!” exclaimed Ruby, and she ran across the lobby to a sleepy-eyed Mrs. Willet, who was strapped into her wheelchair.

Mrs. Willet widened her eyes at the sound of Ruby's voice, but her expression remained stony, and Flora had the strange thought that Mrs. Willet looked like a lion, with her proud, sad, motionless face.

Flora approached Mrs. Willet more quietly. “Happy Thanksgiving,” she said. She bent to kiss Mrs. Willet's soft, powdery cheek. “You got all dressed up,” Flora added, even though she knew that the nurses had dressed her. “Doesn't she look nice?” she said to Ruby, and Ruby nodded. “You're wearing stockings and jewelry and everything, Mrs. Willet. And I think you got your hair done. Did you go to the beauty parlor?”

“Bum-bum-bum-bum,” said Mrs. Willet.

Flora caught the eye of a nurse. “Is it okay if I take Mrs. Willet upstairs now?” she asked.

The nurse smiled. “She's all ready to go.”

“Can I push her?” Ruby asked, reaching for the handles on the back of the wheelchair.

“Sure. But go slowly. She gets scared if you go too fast…. Hey, Mrs. Willet is smiling! Happy Thanksgiving, Mrs. Willet,” said Flora again.

“Hi,” replied Mrs. Willet, sounding as if she had just woken from a nap.

Ruby tapped Flora's shoulder and whispered, “Does she know who we are?”

Flora shook her head. “I don't think so.”

Ruby looked thoughtful. “Okay.”

Flora unlocked the door, Ruby pushed the wheelchair through it, and Mrs. Willet said, “Bum-bum-bum-bum-bum” very softly under her breath.

When they reached the lobby upstairs, Min and Mr. Pennington and Mr. Willet were sitting side by side on a couch, leaning toward one another and talking, and Flora thought of the times she had seen them, the three old friends, do just that in Min's living room in the Row House.

Min caught sight of Flora and Ruby and Mrs. Willet and stood up slowly. “There she is!” she said brightly. “Mary Lou, don't you look lovely. Happy Thanksgiving, dear.”

“Bum-bum-bum.”

“You're in your holiday finest,” Mr. Pennington added, and was rewarded with a sudden glowing smile.

“I think she remembers you,” Ruby whispered to Mr. Pennington.

“Come look in the dining room,” said Mr. Willet to his guests, and he kissed his wife and gently took the wheelchair from Ruby.

When they reached the dining room, Flora peeked inside. She had no idea that at an inn in Maine, just an hour earlier, her friend Willow Hamilton had walked into a dining room that looked almost identical to the one at Three Oaks. “Oh,” said Flora. “It's beautiful.”

Mr. Willet beamed. “It is nice, isn't it? I wasn't sure what to expect when I moved here, but I've been pleasantly surprised.”

“This is elegant,” said Min approvingly.

“Nikki's mom is in charge of the dining room,” said Flora. “That's her job.”

“Which table is ours?” asked Ruby, wide-eyed.

“Follow me,” said Mr. Willet, and he led the way to a round table by a picture window. “We're right here.”

“Ooh! Chocolate turkeys!” exclaimed Ruby, sizing up the decorations.

“I bought those specially,” said Mr. Willet. “They came from Sincerely Yours.”

“Min? Could I go find Mrs. Sherman?” asked Flora. “Ruby and I want to wish her a happy Thanksgiving.”

Min granted permission, and Flora and Ruby walked around the bustling dining room until they caught sight of Nikki's mother giving instructions to a group of waiters. They waved discreetly to her and called, “Happy Thanksgiving!”

She smiled and waved back.

“She's busy,” said Flora. “This is a busy place. Actually, I'm glad there's so much going on. It takes my mind off of —”

“Don't say it!” cried Ruby. “Can people not talk about
any
thing except my one teensy mistake?”

“I was going to say that it takes my mind off of Aunt Allie and the baby.”

“Oh,” said Ruby.

“Aren't you afraid of what I'm afraid of?”

“What are you afraid of?”

“I'm afraid the birth parents will change their minds. Aren't you?”

“I'm more afraid the baby will be a girl. I just
have
to have a boy cousin. Anyway, don't the birth parents have a right to change their minds? It's their baby.”

“I know, I know,” said Flora. “But Aunt Allie wants a baby so badly and … oh, why is everything always so complicated?”

“Because you're twelve,” Ruby replied grouchily.

“You'd better get rid of that attitude before we go back to the table,” said Flora.

“All I have to do is think about chocolate turkeys,” said Ruby airily. “
Mmmm
. Chocolate. Yum. See? My good mood is back.”

Flora and Ruby returned to the table and took their seats. Flora politely put her napkin in her lap. She saw that Min had taken Mrs. Willet's hand and was saying earnestly to her, “Do you remember the apple tree in the Jensens' front yard? Well, not two weeks ago it was hit by lightning and it split right in two.”

Mrs. Willet stared at Min in a concentrated manner.

Mr. Pennington pulled his wallet out of his pocket and showed Mr. Willet some photos.

A waiter approached the table with a tray of small bowls, which turned out to hold corn chowder.

Ruby eyed the chocolate turkeys fondly.

“I love Thanksgiving!” said Flora suddenly, and everyone smiled at her.

“Min? Any news from Allie?” Mr. Willet asked when the waiter had left.

“She called this morning before the concert” (at the mention of the concert, Ruby glared ferociously into her soup) “but only to say that nothing has happened.”

At that very moment, Min's cell phone rang.

“Min!” exclaimed Flora, horrified. Min rarely used her cell phone, and she had certainly never left it on during a meal in a fancy dining room. Min said people who took phone calls at the table were as uncivilized as hyenas.

“I have to leave it on in case Allie calls,” said Min hurriedly.

“Maybe the baby's here!” shrieked Ruby. “Aunt Allie wouldn't call us during dinner unless it was really important!”

“Hush, Ruby,” said Min. She held the phone to her ear, ducked her head, and said quietly, “Hello? … Well, my goodness!” she exclaimed after a pause. “Happy Thanksgiving to you, too! It's so nice to hear your voice.”

“I guess it isn't Aunt Allie,” said Ruby.

Min kept the conversation brief, clicked off the phone, and said, “That was my old friend Sadie. I haven't spoken to her in ages. I'll have to call her back tonight.”

When the soup bowls were empty, the waiter collected them and passed around plates of salad.

Min's phone rang again.

“He's here! My new cousin is here!” yelped Ruby.

“
He's
here?” said Flora.

“I just know it's a boy.”

Min was speaking quietly into the phone. “No. No news yet,” Flora heard her say.

Ruby shook her head sadly. “Not Aunt Allie. Hey, we should start fining Min for taking calls during a meal.”

Min cleared her throat as she put the phone back in her purse. “That was Gigi, wondering if we'd heard anything,” she murmured.

The salad plates were removed, and a few minutes later, the waiter returned with his tray piled high with covered dishes.

“This is it,” said Ruby. “Turkey time.”

As each plate was set down, the waiter lifted the cover to reveal turkey with cranberry sauce and gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas, and squash.

“This is heaven,” said Min. “Simply heaven.”

“Who would like to say the blessing?” asked Mr. Willet. “Flora?”

Flora was so surprised by the request that she forgot to feel shy. She bowed her head and said, “Thank you for this holiday. I'm glad we can all be together and that we can celebrate with the Willets. Thank you for the food. And thank you for our new cousin. Happy Thanksgiving.”

“Lovely,” said Mr. Willet.

Min's phone didn't ring again until just before a dessert of apple pie with whipped cream was served. “That was Paula Edwards,” said Min apologetically. “Wanted to know if the baby was here yet.” She laid the phone on the table.