Enright Family Collection (141 page)

“How’s my tenant doing?” she asked.

“He loves your condo. He’d buy it in a snap. As would I, if you ever wanted to sell it.”

“I thought you loved your townhouse.”

“I do. But the longer I stay there ... since David ...” He didn’t have to finish the sentence.

Georgia took his arm as they walked to his car, each of them carrying a container overflowing with lilac. “If I decide not to move back to Baltimore, you’ll certainly be the first to know.”

“I’d be happy to get an appraisal or two of the property for you. I know several people in the business. And I’m sure the condo is worth much more than you paid for it. Real estate in that part of the city has really sky-rocketed in value.”

“Hmmm.” She tucked the thought away. “That’s good to know. I haven’t made any long-term plans as yet, though I am thinking about going back to school this fall.”

She told him about her call to the local college.

“Well, it sounds as if everything is falling into place for you. You left Baltimore and found love and happiness at Pumpkin Hill.” Lee smiled as they tucked the flowers into the back of the car. “And I couldn’t be happier for you. I can see my fears were totally unfounded ...”

He paused, and looked as if he was about to bite his tongue.

“What fears?”

“Oh, you know, sometimes when you don’t see someone you’re close to for a while, you start wondering if they’re okay.” He shrugged it off and gave her one last hug and kissed her cheek before getting into the car. He put the key into the ignition and said, “You know what a mother hen I am at times.”

“I’m fine. I’ve never been better.” She stepped back from the car as he eased onto the gas. “Thank you for the visit. And for the flowers ... the music ... the dance ...”

“My pleasure,
cara,”
he made a U-turn in the drive and slowed down as he passed her, tempted to ask her if the farmhouse had smoke alarms, if there was a local fire department that came out as far as Pumpkin Hill. But then he’d have to tell her about the dream that had shaken him and sent him to see with his own eyes that she was all right, that there had been no fire, no danger, that no dark forces threatened her. Pumpkin Hill was a place of peace and positive
energy. There had been no hint of anything dark or sinister.

He’d simply been mistaken this time, he told himself as he waved and headed for home. This time, perhaps it had just been a bad dream, one that had no deeper meaning, unlike some of the others he’d had over the years, which had, in their time, become reality. His own car accident three years earlier, David’s illness and death.

Sure, he told himself, this time there’s nothing to worry about. Georgia’s fine. She’s happy, she’s in love. All is well.

Convinced, he slipped a CD into the dash and accelerated, hoping to get the lilac to the restaurant while it was still fresh and fragrant.

chapter twenty

Shoo!” Georgia charged the crows feasting in her new garden, waving her arms about and swatting at the birds with her wide-brimmed straw hat.

“Out ... of ... my ...
garden!”

Assisted by Spam, who did more harm than good by gleefully chasing the intruders through the fledgling green beans, Georgia stood with her hands on her hips and contemplated the age-old problem of keeping pests from her garden.

“Starting with you, Spammy,” Georgia frowned and gently stood the mangled green bean vines back against the wire frame she was using to train the plants to grow upward, thus saving space. “The marigolds are doing a decent enough job against the bunnies and the ground hogs, but flowers haven’t proven much of a defense against your ... er ...
dainty
feet. And I don’t know what to do about the birds.”

She repeated her lament later to Laura.

“Aunt Hope used scarecrows. She had wooden
forms that she dragged out every year and dressed. I think she kept them in the barn.” Laura suggested.

“You might want to take a look.”

“What did she put on them?” Georgia asked. “For clothes?”

“Oh, she had a different theme every year. She had the cleverest scarecrows you’d ever want to see. They always appeared to be in costume.” Laura laughed. “There are some boxes of old clothes in the attic; she used to take stuff from there. Go on up and take a look. You’re welcome to use whatever is there. No one’s likely to wear any of those clothes again.”

“Maybe I’ll do that. It irks me that I worked so hard and spent so much time getting that garden in, only to have the birds come pecking along for the seeds.”

“They are pesky. But a good scarecrow might buy your seeds some time. By the way, did you speak with Delia yet today?”

“No. I’ve been outside all morning, and I haven’t checked the answering machine yet. What’s up?”

“She’s decided that we should have Zoey and Ben’s engagement party now, rather than in July, because she thinks that we should do it before India delivers. She’s planning a big party for the baby’s christening, and doesn’t want the two events too close together.”

“Mother never misses a good excuse for a party.”

Georgia thought back to India and Nick’s engagement party. Hadn’t that been the night that Georgia realized that Zoey and Ben had found each other again after so many years? “I guess she’ll have her caterer going crazy again ...”

“Not this time. She’s asked if we could have the
party here at the inn. That way, everyone could stay over and go to the beach the next day.”

“Great idea. And you’ll be catering the party?”

“Jody will be. You know, for one so young—she isn’t even thirty yet—Jody’s very accomplished in the kitchen. She’s already putting together some menus and will be going over her suggestions with Delia later in the week. It should be fun. I’m really looking forward to having a big family gathering here at the inn. I figure it’s time.” She paused, then added, “I only wish ...”

“Wish what?”

“That somehow I could get Matt to come around.”

Laura frowned, thinking back to Ally’s birthday party. “I think we almost had him turned around at Ally’s birthday.”

“I’ll work on him,” Georgia tried to suppress a giggle. Obviously Delia hadn’t discussed Matt’s presence at breakfast the previous weekend.

“I wish someone would,” Laura sighed. “I wish he wasn’t so hard-headed. I love all of my family. I want you all to love each other.”

“Well, maybe he’ll surprise you.” Georgia bit the inside of her cheek.

“Maybe Spam will learn to fly.” Laura grumbled.

“Stranger things have happened.”

Grinning, Georgia hung up the phone, thinking what fun it would be when Laura realized that Matt had “come around” in a big way.

Georgia’s construction of her scarecrows took most of the afternoon. Having found the wooden forms—six of them—leaning against the wall inside one of the old stalls in the barn, she dragged them outside
and dusted them off before heading to the attic to search for proper attire.

“Wonder who these belonged to?” she muttered as she went through box after box of old clothes. “Laura said Hope always had a theme. Let’s see what we can come up with.”

Pleased with her final selections, she folded the garments over her arm and turned off the light.

All I need are a few inexpensive straw hats to complete these ensembles, and I’ll have scarecrows to make Hope proud,
Georgia grinned as she stood up the wooden T-shaped forms—one at each end of the garden, two on each of the sides. Over each of the forms, she draped the garments, then stood back to view her handiwork.

All Georgia’s scarecrows wore housedresses, the skirts of which billowed in the light breeze. Over the arms she had slipped long sleeved blouses, the cuffs of which dangled and flapped slightly.

“You ladies definitely do need hats,” she said aloud as she straightened a shirt collar.

Gathering her purse from the house, and admonishing Spam to keep out of the garden, Georgia drove over to Tanner’s and looked at the selection of straw hats. She bought one for each of her scarecrows, along with six pair of neon sunglasses from a barrel near the door.

Once back at Pumpkin Hill, with hammer and nails in hand, she proceeded to the garden, where she distributed the hats and the sunglasses to her crones, as she had begun to think of them.

“Scare
crones
,” she told the silent forms. “Much more apropos for ladies such as yourselves.”

Three nails—one on each of three sides of each pole—held on the sunglasses, and one nail through the top kept the hats from blowing off.

“You are altogether
too
charming, each and every one of you,” she announced as she tied the long hot pink scarf that bedecked one of the hats. “Stay right there ... I’m going to take your picture.”

Georgia ran back to the house, grabbed her camera from the sideboard in the dining room, then dashed back to photograph her crones in all their glory.

“Now, do your job well and maybe I’ll have some pretty beads to drape around your necks.” She told them as she shot the last frame.

“Lord help me, I’m starting to sound like Zoey.” Georgia laughed out loud, recalling how her fanciful sister used to talk aloud to the stuffed animals in the craft shop she had once owned when her stock had been more plentiful than her customers.

The phone in the kitchen was ringing when Georgia reached the house.

“Ah, there you are, sweetie. I’d almost given up on you today. Don’t you ever check your answering machine?” Delia admonished.

“Oh, hello, Mother. Actually, I was going to call you tonight.”

“And what have we been busy with today?”

“I was making scarecrones to keep the birds out of my garden.”

“Scarecrones?” Delia laughed.

“Picture nineteen-forties housedresses and straw hats,” Georgia told her. “With sunglasses and long-sleeved polyester blouses from the sixties ...”

“Oh, I can just imagine,” Delia laughed. “I cannot wait to see them.”

“They are fun. And hopefully, they will keep the pests from devouring my garden. I’ve worked so hard, Mother, trying to get all my plants in. I’m not so generous that I want to share with the wildlife.”

“Perhaps a well-stocked bird feeder will keep the birds out of the garden. And perhaps you should think about a fence to keep the deer from eating the plants as they get a little bigger.”

“I’ve been wondering about that. I did plant marigolds ...”

“They’ll do as long as there’s other plants for the animals to eat. But I wouldn’t depend on them.”

“I’ll ask Matt this weekend. Maybe he’ll have some ideas.”

“Oh? Will Matt be there again this weekend?”

Delia asked nonchalantly.

“Yes. He’s helping me to ...” Georgia tried to remember what it was that Matt was helping her to do. “... to adjust to farm life.”

Delia bit her lip and tried her best not to laugh.

“I see,” she said.

“Yes.” Georgia cleared her throat. “You probably do.”

“Well, perhaps in return you can help Matt adjust to life with the Enrights,” Delia said. “I’m planning on having a party for Zoey and Ben in three weeks.”

“Laura mentioned it. She said you wanted to have it at the inn.”

“I thought it would be nice to ask Laura to host it.

She’s missed out on so many important events with us through the years.”

“That was a nice touch on your part, Mother.”

“Well, it would be especially nice if Matt attended.”

“And who all else will be there?”

“Just family this time, sweetie—immediate and extended. Ben’s grandfather and his lady friend, of course, and August ... and certainly her friend Pete, which is convenient since his son is working with Gordon ...”

“And of course, Gordon will be there.”

“Well, he
is
staying at the inn, Georgia.” Delia said casually. “We certainly wouldn’t want to exclude him.”

“Oh, of course not,” Georgia agreed. “We couldn’t do
that.
How is Gordon, anyway?”

“He’s fine, dear, and if you’re thinking to pry, don’t waste your time.”

“Mother, I have never known you to be coy.”

“Yes, well, there’s a first time for everything. And I don’t consider myself
coy
... I hate that whole concept. I prefer
discreet.”

“Ah, I see, so if I were to ask you ...”

“Which you wouldn’t do,” Delia laughed, cutting off her daughter, “because you were raised with much better manners. Now, not to cut you short, sweetie, but I have plans for the evening ...”

Plans for the evening,
Georgia mused as she hung up the phone.
My mother has plans for the evening.

And I couldn’t be happier. It’s about time Mother had some fun and found someone who appreciated her for the extraordinary woman she is. Mother’s worked so hard over the years and spent so much of her time and energy keeping up with her children, she deserves a little romance ...

Georgia searched the tool drawer in the kitchen, where, she had found, Hope had stashed wrenches of various sizes, nails, a screwdriver or two and other assorted things with which Georgia wasn’t well acquainted. Finding the clippers she was looking for, she went back outside and began to clip away at the suckers that had sprouted along the bases of the apple and peach trees.

“It’s probably late in the season to be doing this,”

she said aloud to Spam as she inspected the thin clippings, some of which had already sprouted leaves as well as small flowers. “But it’s better than not doing it at all, and I’ve made up my mind that every day I will do just a little. Before we know it, Spam, all of the fruit trees will be tidied up. Just think of all the apples that will just drop right off the trees and into your waiting mouth come September and October.”

Would she still be here to see the apples ripen and fall?

Matt had said she could stay in the house, but what of her dancing school? She couldn’t give up her plans to have a dancing school, not now, when she had students clamoring to attend and she had so newly discovered the joy of teaching, of sharing her love for the dance.