Grounded Page 16

  Compatible as two peas in a pod, they had all thought. When they went out to dinner on Saturday nights, as had been their tradition for nigh on twenty years, Fred and Charlie teased that if the kids married, it would join their two farms and make a nice big plantation for Annie and Jake to keep up, but they never went on like that in front of the children. No, the kids never knew how they all felt, and it was better that way, with how things turned out.

  Jake had found his way and Annie would too, Beulah was sure. It all worked out good in the end for those who loved the Lord, like that verse in Romans said.

  Eleven o’clock. She turned on the television and flipped through the channels to see if anything was worth watching. She found a local channel playing round-the-clock sermons. She listened first to the Baptist who had a tendency to screech. Then there was the Presbyterian who took a whole hour preaching on two verses—“unpacking,” he called it. Now, she was in the middle of a breathless preacher laying hands on people right and left. Her knee exercises the nurse was teaching her would go particularly well with the cadence of this preacher. Hold, two, three, four … “And God said,” five, six, seven, eight, “Do not fear!’”

  At the end of a sentence, he made a mighty groaning noise, sucking in a lungful of air before he went on to the next sentence. He ought to have an X-ray, she thought. Her cousin sounded like that, and he was eaten up with the emphysema.

  After that she switched off the television and hoped desperately for sleep. When it did not come, her eyes rested on a sign below the clock. It read, “Dial-A-Prayer.”

  “Well, now,” she said aloud, “I could sure use a prayer right now.” She picked up the receiver and dialed the number posted on the sign.

  The line was busy.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  After the icu scare was past, Annie confessed her water fiasco to her grandmother.

  “We’ll start all over if it is ruined,” Beulah said. “I’ve had to do that before when a late frost took everything I planted one year.”

  Woody thought most of the garden would be all right, other than one corner that might not survive the drowning. “Nothing to do but wait and see,” he said.

  As frightened as Annie had been at her grandmother’s health scare, the extra days had given the painters more time to work. Another man had shown up on Wednesday to help speed the work along. The priming was finished and they had started the actual painting.

  Annie had hoped it would all be done before her grandmother came home over the weekend, but it all depended on the weather, according to Woody, who appointed himself supervisor.

  On Friday morning, Annie called Duke at the hardware store and made a request she’d been thinking about all week.

  “Sure thing,” Duke said. “I’ll put your name on it. It’ll need a coat of paint, but you should have some left over from the house.”

  Still in her pajama pants and a long sleeve shirt over a T-shirt, Annie took her coffee to the back porch. Curled in a chair with a throw wrapped around her shoulders for extra warmth against the cool morning, she quietly listened to the birds singing in the trees. It sounded like an enormous orchestra warming up, each playing his or her own song before the conductor approached the podium, and they all quieted in preparation for the musical piece.

  Annie tried to remember the last time she heard such a mass of birds singing in New York or even Rome. Had other noise drowned it out or did she not listen? From now on, she vowed, she would listen for the birds no matter where she was in the world.

  Nutmeg stood next to the fence, barely moving a muscle. It was as if she were posing for a sculpture. Annie sipped her coffee and watched her for several minutes to see if she would move from the spot, but she didn’t. The mare pawed the ground, but remained motionless as if she were waiting for something to happen.

  The whole pasture wasn’t visible from where she sat on the porch, but she could see maybe a third of it. It was the same section where she fell off Nutmeg, which must be how her grandmother knew what had happened.

  When Woody brought Nutmeg over, he said, “Horses can get into anything. Best check them once a day.”

  Annie looked for Nutmeg once a day, although she didn’t exactly know what she was looking for. She figured as long as a horse was upright, it must be okay. And there was Nutmeg standing next to the fence and looking perfectly content. There seemed to be no need to walk all the way out there.

  Woody stopped by to check on her, sometimes twice a day and particularly at mealtime. She liked Woody and even felt a little sorry for him. He seemed very devoted to his mother’s care and Annie admired him for that; but Annie wondered if she should come right out and tell him she had no interest in dating, now and maybe ever. Being that forthright had always been difficult for her. Janice would come right out and say it: “Woody, I appreciate your help, but if you’ve got anything else on your mind other than friendship, forget about it.”

  The contents of her coffee mug empty and the morning wearing on, she went inside and called the hospital number posted next to the phone.

  “I’m tolerable well. Ready for better food, that’s for sure. You can’t imagine what they call sausage and biscuits.”

  “Be glad you’re not on the cardiac diet. I’ve heard its worse,” Annie said, smiling. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come today?”

  “Law, no. My Sunday school class is coming today. That will keep me entertained. I will be ready to leave in the morning as soon as they sign me out.”

  “I’ll be there by nine. Call if you need me.”

  Annie had taken over lunch preparations for the painters. Evelyn was busy straightening up her house, preparing the guest room, and “laying up food” as she called it, for the next couple of weeks. Annie prepared fresh hummus dip and baked pita chips as well as a large Greek salad with grilled chicken for each man.

  “What is this, if you don’t mind me asking?” Jim pointed to the bowl of hummus.

  “Garbanzo beans, garlic, olive oil, a little lemon and a touch of sugar,” Annie answered.

  “Never heard of garbanzo beans,” he said.

  “They are also called chickpeas,” she said, realizing her menu choice might have been a mistake.

  “Never heard of that either,” said Elbert. “But it don’t taste bad,” he quickly added.

  After the meal, Annie cleaned up the kitchen and made a list of grocery store items before heading out in her grandmother’s Marquis. Approaching the hardware store, Annie had a pang of fear at the thought of having to parallel park on Main Street. It had been years and she had never been good at it.

  She slowed and searched for two spaces together that she might slide into, but there was only one space. Scanning both sides of the street, Annie saw this was the only spot available. With a deep breath, she pulled up next to the car in front of the space, wishing all the while her grandmother had traded for something smaller than a Marquis. With her arm over the back of the seat and her body twisted in order to see, she backed up, but soon realized she was too far from the curb.

  Turning and putting the car in drive, she pulled forward and tried again. This time she cut too sharp and the front end was sticking out in the middle of Main Street.

  The car behind her waited patiently while she pulled forward. She tried again, but was still not close enough to the curb. A group of men in jeans spilled out of the diner. By this time, several people had stopped on the sidewalk, faces curious, to watch her effort. Annie felt her own face flush as she put it in drive once more. Just as she was about to pull forward, a knock on her window made her jump. It was Jake, motioning for her to roll down the window.

  “Want some help?” he asked.

  Annie hesitated, determined to figure the thing out. But the growing spectacle brought her to her senses. “Please!” she said, and scooted over in the seat.

  Jake didn’t say a word while he positioned the car, then slid it perfectly into the parking space. When he put it in park, he said, �
�The space is small. It’s no wonder you had trouble.”

  “Thank you,” she said, surprised he didn’t tease her.

  “Alright, I gotta go. We’re headed over to Rutherford to look at a farm,” he said, sliding out of the car. “See you later?”

  She nodded and he turned to go. Jake was home. Why did that make her feel so happy?

  Inside the hardware store, Annie admired the wooden porch swing Duke had set aside for her. “Anything else?” he asked before ringing her up.

  “That should do it,” Annie said, pleased with her purchase. “Will it fit in the backseat of the Marquis?”

  “Oh yeah. That’s one advantage of a big car,” he said, and winked at her.

  After Duke loaded the swing, Annie walked down the street to Wyatt’s Drug Store, where ceiling fans hung low from the ancient tin ceilings. A massive wooden soda fountain claimed a section of wall. Round tables with woven iron chairs sat on the hardwood floor near the soda fountain and the film development was in the back, past the dining area and the gift section.

  A young woman behind the counter took the pictures after Annie explained the enlargements she wanted. She was nearly out the door when a nostalgic craving for a chocolate milkshake pulled her like a magnet back to the soda fountain. Instead of asking for it to go, she sat at the counter and enjoyed every drop.

  “We’re almost done,” Elbert said after they helped Annie unload the swing and take it to the front porch. “If you don’t mind us staying late, we’ll try to finish up tonight.”

  “You’ve still got hooks up there,” Jim said, pointing to the robin’s-egg-blue beadboard ceiling. “Want us to hang it for you?”

  “Sure,” she said, wondering if accepting all this help would serve her well later. Independence was a valuable survival skill in the city.

  “I’ll grab the ladder,” said Elbert.

  Jim sorted through the chain and as Elbert held the other end of the swing, he looped a link onto the hook. They did the same on the other side, counting the links so the swing would be level.

  “Now, see how high you want that seat. I can raise or lower the chain.”

  Annie sat down and thought the swing was a few inches high, especially for her grandmother, who would want to sit easily.

  “Maybe down a few inches,” she said. “Yes, that looks about right.”

  “We can put a coat of paint on it before we go,” Elbert offered.

  “No, no. I can do it while you all finish the house,” Annie said.

  Jim and Elbert left the porch to go around back where the last bit of painting needed to be done. Before Annie started on the swing, she decided to sit again just to make sure the height was right. She sat and swung for a bit, enjoying the feel of it and imagining how pleased her grandmother would be when she saw it.

  Just then, a crack sounded above and before she knew it, her side of the swing thumped to the concrete floor and pitched her headlong into the boxwood bush.

  Annie rolled and scrambled to stand up as footsteps approached from the side of the house. She did not want to be the center of attention yet again today.

  “We should have checked those old hooks,” Elbert said, reaching for the loose chain.

  Annie fought back the urge to cry, what with the sudden dump into the bush on top of her mortification at parallel parking. Instead, she brushed herself off.

  “Who would have thought,” she said.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Evelyn had invited Annie to eat dinner with her and Jake when he arrived Friday night. Annie had been tempted, but she wanted everything ready for her grandmother’s return.

  “How about a movie after dinner?” Jake asked her when he called to check on Beulah. She had agreed and suggested including Lindy.

  While Annie waited outside for Jake, she saw Nutmeg in her favorite spot and staring at her with wide and questioning eyes. Annie started to walk over and give her a rub on the nose, but the crunch of gravel signaled Jake’s arrival.

  When she scooted into the seat, he said, “How’s Beulah?”

  “Ready to come home! I can pick her up tomorrow morning. And thanks for bailing me out today. I was horrified to see half the town watching.”

  “I liked it,” he said. “And the single guys I was with wanted to know who you were. I told them not to bother, you were way too good for them,” he teased.

  “Good. I’m not interested anyway. What was the meeting about?”

  “The plan for a processing facility outside Rutherford. We want to start a butcher shop to sell only meat grown locally and handled humanely, with access to pasture and no hormones or antibiotics. They need growers and I would need a place to process the meat.”

  “It sounds like the farming stuff is coming together,” she said.

  “It is. I feel confident enough to give the bank my notice. The more I dig into the foundation work, I realize it’s not my passion. That narrows my options down to farming or going into business with Cam’s dad. Either way, a partnership with these guys is important. I’ve been thinking that if I go the hotel route with Cam’s dad, it should focus on a small boutique hotel with sound environmental practices and a restaurant with an emphasis on local food: a farm-to-table concept. This next couple of weeks of working through the business plans and having Cam here to weigh in on everything is critical.”

  Annie felt a slight pang of envy at his reference to Cam. Annie had grown used to being Jake’s adviser, especially during a time when Cam seemed busy with work and unavailable.

  “Grandma wants to have you, Cam and Evelyn over for dinner. She said she would help slice and dice if I could put it all together. My cooking has improved in the few weeks I’ve been here.”

  He laughed. “I remember you making us donuts one time and catching the kitchen on fire!”

  She giggled. “We made them out of biscuit dough and tried frying them in the iron skillet. They weren’t bad until I dropped several in at one time and the grease caught the dish towel on fire!”

  “You ran screaming, and I dumped the whole jar of Beulah’s flour on it.”

  “And you looked like a ghost! Even Grandma laughed after she gave us both a tongue-lashing,” Annie said, trying to catch her breath from laughing.

  He stopped the car in front of Lindy’s office and apartment and turned to look at her. The fading sunlight cast a warm glow on his face.

  “Annie, thanks for listening to me through this whole process. It’s been good to have somebody who understands.”

  Annie had never before noticed the tiny white specks that made his blue eyes look crystalline.

  “Well,” she said, breaking the spell, “I have something for you.” She reached into her purse and pulled out the framed picture.

  He looked at her with raised eyebrows then tore the tissue off.

  “What is this …?” His words trailed off and he smiled at the picture. “This is great. I’ll put this in my office.”

  Annie watched his face as he looked at the photo. “Look at you in your overalls,” he said.

  “And you in those highwater pants,” she said, and they both laughed.

  “Thanks!” He moved slightly in his seat, as if he was going to hug her, but instead he grasped her hand tightly. “I really like it.”

  “I better go get Lindy, or we’ll be late,” she said, sliding out of the car.

  Rutherford was by no means a large town, but it was four times the size of Somerville’s population of four thousand and boasted a stadium-seating movie theater, more stores and a coffee shop. It was a college town, and with that came the advantages of a bookstore, an arts league and theater. Only twenty minutes on a nice, new four-lane road, the drive was easy, and for rural Somervillians, it saved a long trip to Lexington.

  After the movie, Annie checked her cell phone to make sure Beulah had not called. No one wanted the night to end, so they finished out the evening in a bustling coffee house near the college that boasted of fair trade practices and homemade
desserts. Their discussion of the movie about the struggles of a single parent continued over the coffee.

  “Do you realize all three of us only have one parent? Wouldn’t you say most people still have both parents by the time they hit the early thirties?” Lindy asked.

  “Probably,” Jake said, “but I try to remind myself I had a great dad for as long as I had him. He had me doing chores from the time I was three. He taught me to drive a tractor when I was eight, how to fix machinery, how to build, how to handle cows. It’s almost like he knew our time wouldn’t last forever so he got everything in early.”

  “What about your dad, Annie? Do you see him?” Lindy asked.

  “My dad left when I was a baby. He called occasionally and sent birthday cards with a little money, but I didn’t know him until after I moved to New York.”

  “Why then?” Lindy said.

  “My father is a wanderer. He has lived the world over, ironically living the life my mother would have loved to have had with him. When I could finally travel to see him, he was happy to have me come. He is the kind of man who is proud to be a father, but never wanted to raise children.”

  Annie stirred her coffee before taking a drink. “When I finally understood that, I expected so much less of him and our relationship improved dramatically. We get along fine today, although we don’t see each other very often. When we do, it’s good.”

  “Was it difficult for you to relate to men, not having a father around?”