Hollyhock Ridge (4 page)

“I’ll be all right,” Kay said.

“I’m sure Grace will appreciate you taking her in, but I
doubt she’ll take care of you in your old age. She’s not your blood relative,
after all, and she’ll only be with you a couple of years before she’s off to
college. You won’t be able to count on her long term, you know.”

“I’m glad to have her for as long as she needs me,” Kay
said. “She should go on and have her own life. I want her to do whatever makes
her happy. There’s no guarantee children will take care of their parents,
anyway. You’re just lucky.”

“Have you heard from that last one, that rotten Tiffany?”

Tiffany was the previous foster child Kay had hosted.

“No, I haven’t heard from her; nor am I likely to.”

“She had the prettiest voice, just like an angel. She didn’t
turn out to be an angel, though, did she?”

“Addiction can happen to anyone,” Kay said. “It breaks my
heart when I think of the potential that child had. She was bright; she could
have gone on to college.”

“The apple didn’t fall far from the tree, is all.”

“That’s not necessarily always true,” Kay said. “She could
still turn her life around with the right help.”

“You did all you could for her, and how did she repay you?
Stealing from you and running away.”

“Let’s talk about your new grandbaby,” Kay said. “I know you
have pictures and I’m dying to see how much she’s grown.”

Kay was thus able to distract Ruthie from depressing
subjects and awkward walks down Memory Lane.

An hour later, as Ruthie packed up her photo albums and
prepared to leave, it was all Kay could do not to sigh with relief. She loved
Ruthie but it wasn’t always easy.

“Oh, one more thing,” Ruthie said. “Have you seen Hannah’s
campaign posters?”

“I have,” Kay said. “I think they’re funny.”

Animal Control Officer Hannah Campbell’s City Council
campaign poster featured a photo of herself dressed in a white choir robe,
surrounded by a veritable ark-f of animals that had been digitally added to
the photograph, holding her deceptively-cherubic-looking son, who had a tinsel
halo affixed to his head. The caption was “Beloved by animals and children,
trusted by all, vote for Hannah Campbell for Rose Hill City Council.”

“She’s not taking it seriously, if you ask me,” Ruthie said.
“If she was, she’d be here campaigning instead of gallivanting off to Myrtle
Beach to horn in on her cousin’s honeymoon.”

“Maggie and Scott invited the family for the last week of
their month in Myrtle Beach,” Kay said. “No one in that family has gone on a
vacation for years. It’s good for people to get away.”

“I don’t see why the town should have to pay for the chief
of police to have a month off
and
pay for someone to cover for him,”
Ruthie said. “It just doesn’t seem right to use tax payer money that way.”

“You missed the meeting where we voted on that,” Kay said.
“Scott’s earned more than enough vacation days; he just never gets to take
them. Laurie’s being paid out of the contingency fund, which Stuart never used
for anything legitimate; just whatever cockamamie scheme he was involved in at
the time.”

“Like the time he sold our only good snowplow to Pendleton,
in the middle of the winter, and then didn’t have enough money to replace it.”

“So he could pay for a new heated bandstand for the winter
festival, so his wife wouldn’t have cold feet in her high heels and fur coat.”

“That man is a piece of work,” Ruthie said. “Do you think
he’ll serve any time?”

“I’m sorry but I can’t talk about it.”

“Oh, I know,” Ruthie said. “Someday, when this is all over,
you owe me a good, long chin wag. Just don’t go forgetting all the details.”

“We’ll see,” Kay said, who wished she could forget.

Kay had to put the leaves in her dining room table in order
to accommodate her many guests. She covered the table with her best linen tablecloth,
and set each place with her mother’s Virginia Rose pattern china. The final
touches were ivory tapers in pink Depression glass holders, and a green McCoy
Pottery vase full of over-bloomed pink peonies she had purchased on sale from
Erma at Sunshine Florist. She just hoped the petals would stay attached until
dinner was over.

The
Rose Hill Sentinel
owner and editor, Ed Harrison,
arrived first, carrying a bottle of wine. Kay rarely drank anything stronger
than coffee, and had to dig out some wine glasses in order to accommodate the
gift.

Ed was tall with the lean frame of a runner, had bright blue
eyes behind wire-frame glasses, and kept what hair he had left shaved close to
his head.

“I appreciated the invitation,” Ed said. “I haven’t seen
Claire much these past few weeks, since the wedding. We’ve both been too busy,
I guess.”

“The wedding was beautiful,” Kay said. “Claire did an
amazing job on such short notice.”

“I’m just glad Maggie didn’t leave Scott at the altar.”

“There was no fear of that,” Kay said. “Those two belong
together. You and Claire looked good together, walking down the aisle
afterward. I noticed you disappeared for a while.”

“We’re just friends,” Ed said. “Maggie says she needs time
to adjust to being back here, and I need to be patient.”

“Easier said than done,” Kay said. “I think it might be hard
for Claire to adjust to small town life after traveling all over the world.
Rose Hill is as far from Hollywood life as you can get.”

“She says she’s ready to settle down, and her parents need
her.”

“How’s Ian doing?”

“His dementia’s getting worse. He’s upset about Delia going
to the beach for a week. He keeps telling people she’s left him.”

Ian and Delia were Claire’s parents.

“Poor Delia, she needs the time away. How is Claire coping?”

“We’re all pitching in,” Ed said. “I take him to breakfast
and then to the service station, where Patrick watches him all morning. Patrick
then takes him to the Rose and Thorn for the afternoon, and Melissa takes him
home for dinner. Claire gets off work at five and then watches him all
evening.”

“How’s Claire’s new job?”

“It’s just temporary,” he said. “She interviewed for an
associate professor position in the drama department at Eldridge. They want
her; they just need board approval in order to hire her.”

“Meanwhile, I’m sure Sean appreciates her running his new
office while he gets on his feet.”

“I’m not sure how suited Claire is to a desk job,” he said.
“I think she’ll be happier at Eldridge.”

“As will you be, too, I’m sure.”

“I’m nervous about it,” Ed said. “It’s one thing to edit a
small town newspaper, and quite another thing to teach journalism to college
kids.”

“You’ll be a great teacher,” Kay said. “How’s Melissa coping
with the bakery while Bonnie’s at the beach?”

“She’s doing great,” Ed said. “I think Bonnie might resent
how well she’s doing without her. She’s added some things to the menu that
Bonnie would never allow.”

“I’ll have to go down there,” Kay said. “I’d love to support
her and I never pass up the opportunity to try a new treat.”

“Anything I can do to help with dinner?” he asked

“You’re my guest,” Kay said. “I wouldn’t hear of it.”

Laurie arrived with another bottle of wine, and the two men
settled into Kay’s deep arm chairs in the small living room. Kay tended to
dinner as she enjoyed hearing them get to know each other. It felt so good to
have people in the house; why didn’t she do this more often?

Sonny arrived bearing an apple pie from Fitzpatrick’s
bakery.

“It’s apple streusel,” he said.

“Sounds delicious,” Kay said.

“It was the prettiest,” he said, and then more quietly, “just
like you.”

Kay felt herself blush.

“I saw my big pink present out on the front porch,” she
said.

“I came over this afternoon and had a peek under the house,”
he said. “There’s a drainage issue I need to address right away. After that
I’ll work on your roof and gutters, and then get up in the attic and insulate.
After everything above it is ship-shape, I’ll winterize the crawl space.”

“Just between you and me, I may be able to pay you for your
work after all,” Kay said. “I found out today that Grace’s trust is going to
pay me for taking care of her.”

“So they should,” he said. “It won’t be expensive; you can
pay for the supplies and I’ll do the labor for free.”

“I should pay for your labor,” Kay said.

“It’s easy for me,” he said. “Plus your house is so small,
there’s not a lot of square footage to work on.”

“I appreciate it,” Kay said. “I’m ashamed at how I’ve let
things go.”

“Don’t give it another thought,” Sonny said. “This is what
I’m good at. You’ve got a whole town to run.”

Claire arrived, and Kay was immediately struck by her facial
expression when she saw Laurie and Ed together in the living room. She didn’t
seem glad to see Ed, but seemed downright dismayed to see Laurie. She
immediately covered this up with a bright smile, but Kay had seen how she felt,
and wondered.

“Hello everybody,” Claire said. “Sorry I’m late; I put the
rolls in but forgot to turn on the oven, so I had to start over. Melissa’s
staying with Dad tonight, but she’s also taking care of everyone’s pets while
they’re at the beach, so I had to take him back to the Thorn to wait until
she’s done.”

Claire was a tall, striking woman with a fair complexion,
blue eyes, and long dark hair. She was dressed, as usual, in form-fitting,
fashionable clothing and high heels, her hair and makeup expertly applied. To
Kay, she looked like someone more fittingly attired for attendance to a fashion
show in New York, rather than a quaint, home-cooked supper in the tiny town of
Rose Hill.

Claire brought the tray full of rolls to the kitchen and Kay
put them in a basket lined with a white tea towel. Sonny had pulled the ottoman
out and was seated upon it, talking to Ed and Laurie. Kay watched with interest
as Claire peeked in at them and then chewed her lip.

“I didn’t know Laurie was going to be here,” she whispered
to Kay.

“Don’t you like him?” Kay asked.

“It’s not that,” Claire said. “I was just surprised, is
all.”

It was obviously more than that, but Kay let it go.

Dottie and Georgia arrived. Dottie was the head librarian at
the Rose Hill Library, and Georgia was a retired schoolteacher. Kay considered
them her closest friends.

As soon as Kay relieved them of their covered dishes, she
and Claire hugged them both.

“I haven’t seen you two since I was in high school,” Claire
said.

“We’re old ladies now,” Georgia said. “I’m surprised you
recognized us.”

“Speak for yourself,” Dottie said.

Georgia’s dark hair was now shot with gray and white,
Dottie’s fingers were knobby with arthritis, and there were many more lines on
both of their faces, but since Kay had seen the changes come along gradually,
it was hard for her to picture them any differently. Georgia was dressed for
the summer in capris, a pink breast cancer fundraiser T-shirt, athletic shoes
and white socks, and Dottie wore a chambray jumper over a white T-shirt with
sandals.

You rarely saw one without the other, taking a morning or
evening walk, shopping for groceries, attending church, or sitting together on
the porch of Dottie’s house on Lilac Avenue. Active members of the
Interdenominational Women’s Society and avid gardeners, they also made weekend
deliveries for the Sacred Heart Food Bank, even though they were Methodists.

In the way that close friends and family members have, they
often finished each other’s sentences and enjoyed an almost psychic
communication method made up of cryptic comments and facial expressions. Kay
watched them now, as both noted the presence of Ed and Claire, and an amused
expression flitted between them like a badminton birdie being popped back and
forth.

“I have a bone to pick with you, Claire,” Georgia said.
“You’ve been back for months; why haven’t you been to see us?”

“I’ve been busy but that’s no excuse,” Claire said.

“Working for movie stars and traveling the world,” Dottie
said. “You probably have a lot of juicy stories you could tell.”

Claire didn’t look as if she wanted to revisit her past any
time soon.

“Let’s eat,” Kay said.

At the table, Kay directed everyone to join hands and bow
their heads.

“Bless us, Father, and bless this food,” Kay said. “We thank
you for good friends old and new, for the food that nourishes our bodies, and
the love that nourishes our souls. Amen.”

“Short and sweet,” Sonny said. “Just like I like it.”

“My father used to say a funny grace,” Claire said. “Praise
the Lord and Holy Ghost; who eats the fastest gets the most.”

“We sing our grace,” Georgia said, and then she and Dottie
treated everyone to a harmonized rendition of it.

“Oh, the Lord is good to me,

And so I thank the Lord,

For giving me the things I need,

The sun, the rain, and the apple seed.

The Lord is good to me.

Hallelujah, Amen.”

“That was beautiful,” Kay said.

“This looks delicious,” Sonny said, as he passed the big
platter of fried chicken.

“All diets are off,” Georgia said. “I hereby declare all
assembled to be in a state of grace where no calories will adhere to our hips.”

“Here, here,” Dottie said. “So mote it be.”

“Was your father a Freemason?” Laurie asked Dottie.

“He was,” Dottie said. “Here in Rose Hill.”

“Mine, too,” Laurie said. “I believe the lodge in
Familysburg was in amity with Rose Hill; so they probably knew each other.”

“What are you talking about?” Claire asked.

“It’s a secret,” Laurie said. “If we told you, we’d have to
kill you.”

Claire rolled her eyes and turned to talk to Georgia while
Dottie and Laurie discussed people they had in common.