Boxed In Read online

  “If by creative you mean having rye toast instead of wheat, I guess that’s true.” Peggy winked at the two women and turned to Annie.

  “Well, I’m going to need lots of energy today. I’ll have oatmeal with walnuts and raisins.” Annie raised her coffee mug to her lips. “What?” she asked as three pairs of expectant eyes settled on her.

  “Energy for … another mystery?” Ian guessed.

  “Definitely not! I have much too much to do without that. Uh, Peggy, I think Jeff is trying to get your attention.” Annie pointed her spoon toward the counter, where the owner was waving a spatula.

  “Oh, blast! Fill me in when your food is ready.” Peggy bustled across the room to hang the two orders on the wheel and then refill coffee mugs at the tables.

  Alice nudged Annie. “Go on.”

  “Spending the week with LeeAnn and the twins was such a joy. As I told Peggy, John was so excited about his lobster boat and Joanna loved her doll and the matching sweaters, but most of all, we all enjoyed each other so much that—”

  “You’re not moving back to Texas, are you?” Alice interrupted. “I know it sounds selfish, but I found my best friend after so long. It would be hard to see you go again.” Ian stayed silent, his intense gaze focused on the sugar dispenser.

  Annie smiled. “What I was going to say is that I talked to LeeAnn again about the family coming to Stony Point for a visit. I think she’s warming to the idea.”

  “Awesome! I’m so relieved,” Alice stirred her coffee a little too enthusiastically. Thin brown rivulets trickled down the side of the mug. “Of course, I’ve been wanting to meet your daughter and the twins. I feel like I already know them.”

  “I’m thinking if I can put together some ideas of day trips and fun things to do, LeeAnn’s ‘maybe’ will grow up to a ‘definite.’ And of course, I want to have Grey Gables ready for their visit. There’s still much to be done to make it safe for the twins to explore.”

  “I’ll help with Grey Gables,” Alice volunteered, “if Boots will let me in.”

  The whirlwind that was Peggy set food in front of Annie and Ian. “So what did I miss?”

  “Plans for a visit from Annie’s daughter and grandkids,” answered Alice.

  “That sounds like so much fun. Do you think your granddaughter would like to meet Emily?” Peggy spoke at top speed before her boss could notice her lingering.

  “I think they could be great friends.” Annie smiled. “Though I hope they don’t get into as much mischief as Alice and I did on my visits!”

  “What’s life without a little mischief?” Peggy asked before she whirled on to another booth.

  “Annie, I’d be glad to help you with ideas for ways your family can enjoy our town and state.” No longer contemplating the sugar, Ian’s smile had returned. “How about a whale-watch tour on a real lobster boat? Do you know when they are most likely to visit?”

  “John would flip, Ian! The twins are starting school this fall. That would make Thanksgiving break the most likely time for a visit.” Annie sprinkled a little cinnamon onto her oatmeal and took a bite.

  “Hmmmm, whale-watch season goes until the end of October. By Thanksgiving, it’s pretty miserable out there.” Ian paused for a moment. “But I bet the Maine Maritime Museum would capture his imagination.”

  “Oh, that sounds perfect. Where is it?” Annie set down her spoon to pull a small notebook and a pen out of her purse.

  “In Bath, just one county over. It would be an easy day trip with plenty of time to enjoy the town,” Ian answered. “I’m surprised you and Alice haven’t been there yet.”

  “Hey, I do have to work occasionally,” Alice defended herself.

  “Yes, you do,” said Ian. “Your Princessa and Divine Décor businesses help keep our town a charming place to live and visit.”

  “I’ll have to make sure it’s open Thanksgiving week,” Annie said as she wrote down the name and location of the museum.

  “It’s only closed on Thanksgiving Day, and all of you will be in town that day for the Stony Point Community Thanksgiving Dessert, won’t you?” asked Ian.

  “Your grandkids will go nuts over all the dessert choices,” said Alice. “Most families feast in early afternoon to make sure they can sample several by seven p.m.” She picked up her coffee mug and took a sip.

  “I have some brochures from the Maritime Museum at the office. Come by and pick one up before you and Alice leave town.” Ian took the final bite of his toast. “I’d better get to the office, as pleasant as this start to my day has been.”

  Alice winked at Annie. “Mr. Mayor, don’t forget to give Peggy a nice tip.”

  “I always pay my debts,” Ian grinned as he slid out of the booth. “Ladies.” He gave another bow, shorter this time, and went to the register to pay his bill. As he walked past them on his way to the door, Alice and Annie gave him the same wave they had when he had first walked in.

  “That was fun,” Annie said before taking another spoonful of her oatmeal.

  “You know, Ian seemed a little out of sorts while you were in Texas.” Alice moved over to the empty side of the booth.

  “You have an overactive imagination, Alice,” Annie said. “I’m sure he wasn’t any different at all.”

  “Actually, Alice is telling the truth,” Peggy announced as she topped off the remaining coffee mugs and picked up Ian’s mostly empty plate. “I didn’t think he’d ever get over Arianna when she died. But now …”

  “You two are starting to scare me.” Annie pushed the last dollops of oatmeal around the bowl. “I spent the past week in the home I shared with Wayne for more than two decades. The thought of giving my heart to any man again makes me numb—terror-numb.”

  For once Peggy only nodded. Alice reached across the table to pat Annie’s hand.

  “I appreciate Ian’s friendship, and I know I can rely on him if I need help. But that’s as far as my feelings go, and I plan to keep it that way.” Annie slid her bowl toward Peggy. “We better start on our errands, Alice. Peggy, what do we owe?”

  “Nothing. Your friend paid the whole bill.” Peggy grinned.

  “If he’s trying to soften me up for our next race, it won’t work.” Alice tossed her auburn hair behind her shoulders. “But I might just vote to re-elect him. See you at the meeting tomorrow, Peggy.”

  “If I can get away, you know you will.” Peggy, a quilter, tried to take her morning break at the diner so that it coincided with Hook and Needle Club meetings each Tuesday at A Stitch In Time, the local needlecraft shop.

  Annie said good-bye, and the two friends left The Cup & Saucer.

  “I need to pick up some organizing supplies from Malone’s. How about you?” Annie asked, draping her sweater over her shoulders.

  “Weather stripping for me. The carriage house is long on charm but short on insulation. I’m determined to have a warmer winter this year!” Alice hooked her arm through Annie’s. “Malone’s Hardware it is.”

  As they approached A Stitch in Time the door swung out, and Mary Beth Brock’s head appeared. She motioned to the two women.

  “Annie, are you enjoying our version of late summer after being in Texas?” the owner of Annie’s favorite store asked.

  “Mary Beth, ‘enjoy’ doesn’t begin to capture it.” Annie drew in a deep breath of the fresh coolness of the morning. “I loved my time in Texas, but I don’t miss the heat and humidity!”

  “I’m glad to have you back. We need your creativity for our next project. Yours too, Alice.” Mary Beth never went long without cooking up a project or two. “The Harvest on the Harbor celebration is approaching fast. I want both of you to be thinking of ideas for the Hook and Needle Club theme this year. We want to raise plenty of money for the Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway this year.”

  “So we know the why, just need the what?” Alice quipped.

  “Exactly. We’ll all share our ideas at tomorrow’s meeting, and the group will select their favorite. Then we’ll all get to
work!” Mary Beth squinted and tilted her head toward somewhere behind Annie’s right elbow. “Not even noon and already handprints! See you tomorrow!” Before the door closed all the way behind her, Annie and Alice heard Mary Beth call out to Kate Stevens, her assistant at the store. “Kate! Where’s the vinegar spray?”

  “I don’t know how I will be able to concentrate enough to think of any themes,” Annie confessed as they crossed Main Street to Malone’s Hardware. “My mind is set on November. When is the Harvest on the Harbor?”

  “Last week in September, as it is every year,” answered Alice. “The town needs all the socializing it can get before winter turns us all into hibernating critters.”

  “And dentists gain more customers through caramel- and candy-apple mishaps.”

  “It’s all in the biting technique. I’d be glad to teach it to you.” Alice pushed open the door of Malone’s Hardware.

  “Gram never lost a tooth as far as I know. I’d like to keep the tradition going, so thanks for your offer. Now … where’s the organization section?”

  Mike Malone called to them from behind the front counter. “Good morning, Annie and Alice. May I help you with anything today?”

  “Point me to your weather stripping, Mike. My windows and doors failed the candle test in spectacular fashion. I want my cozy carriage house to actually be cozy this winter.” Alice had learned many things through her failed marriage to John MacFarlane, but home improvement wasn’t one of them. After pouring time into restoring her heart, now was the time to begin the restoration of her home.

  “You have some options, Alice. Come with me to aisle three. Annie, I’ll be with you in a minute.”

  “Oh, no need, Mike. I found the aisle for me.” Annie moved her gaze from top to bottom of the nearly ceiling-high shelves that held the organizational products. Then she took a step to the right and repeated her visual scan. As she took in the different storage options, mental images of the kinds of clutter in the attic, library and bedrooms paraded in her mind’s eye. She scribbled sizes, shapes and materials in the notebook she always carried tucked inside her purse. She was pleased by the variety of choices. Grey Gables obviously wasn’t the only storage-challenged home in town. She was debating the merits of magazine holders versus file boxes for her grandfather’s journals, when something round and hard pressed into her back.

  “Don’t move or …” whispered a husky voice, “… or I’ll caulk you!” Annie spun around just in time to witness Alice’s attempt at twirling the caulk gun.

  “Are you suggesting I’m leaking hot air?” For the second time that morning the two women collapsed against each other in giggles. Mike gently took the caulk gun from Alice and carried it to the counter with the amused look of one who, after raising five children, was more than used to shenanigans.

  “Alice, we have caulk and gun and foam sealant for the exterior, and weather stripping for the interior windows and doors. That should make a significant difference in the cold season.” Mike rang up the items.

  Alice wiped the corners of her eyes. “Thanks, Mike, for your help.”

  Annie stacked two of the file boxes onto the counter and went back for a couple of see-through and stackable storage containers. “This will get me started. I’m sure I’ll be back several times between now and Thanksgiving.”

  “Getting ready for your family’s visit, eh?” Mike asked. The speed of information dissemination no longer startled Annie as it used to. She simply smiled as Mike added, “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

  “Say hello to Fiona for us.” Annie picked up her tall stack of storage stuff, while Alice slung her bag over her shoulder and fished in her pocket for her keys.

  “I certainly will.” Mike held the door open.

  As the Mustang wound along Ocean Drive, Annie tilted her head back and closed her eyes, reveling in the play of warm sunshine and cool ocean air against her cheek. “On days like this, do you feel like you can accomplish anything?”

  “I’m usually conflicted. Part of me is energized to tackle something … like weatherproofing.” Alice broke into the tune of I Am Woman with slightly different lyrics. “I am woman, see me caulk! The wind can no more … mock or … stalk!”

  Annie’s humming along turned to groaning.

  “OK, so I promise to never show up on America’s Got Talent. But as I was saying earlier today, the other part of me wants to spend the day outside puttering in the garden or collecting sea glass on the beach.”

  “Sea glass! We haven’t done that in ages.” Annie made a mental note to add that to her list of things to do with Joanna and John. “I wonder how many pounds of sea glass you and I collected over my summer vacations.”

  “Why don’t we have a conflict-free day and do both?” Alice pulled the Mustang over to the roomy shoulder of the road. They had come to a popular place for beachcombers to access the small sandy beach north of town. “It would be a shame for you to spend the rest of the day cooped up inside Grey Gables, as wonderful a place as it is.”

  “Hmmm, that depends. Just how much help are you going to give me with getting the house ready for LeeAnn and the twins?”

  “More than enough to earn a little sea-glass hunt.”

  Annie was out of the car before Alice finished her sentence. Before disappearing through the break in the beach roses that lined the road, she tossed over her shoulder, “What’s taking you so long?”

  3

  Annie resembled an ostrich, her head disappearing into the back of her grandmother’s antique corner cabinet. The beachcombing she had done the day before with Alice had netted a small but beautiful collection of white, green, amber and blue glass, and Annie knew just the dish to use to display them. Annie selected the small cut-glass sweetmeat dish and carefully lifted it from the cabinet. She shut the door and dropped the tiny latch over the knob. Footsteps sounded on the porch.

  Annie set the dish on the rococo table and then glanced around for Boots as she strode to welcome Alice. Alice was putting her right hand up to the doorbell when Annie opened the door. “You beat Boots to the door! It must be a light-on-your-feet kind of day.”

  “I had a head start,” Annie confessed. “I was in the living room, and Boots is upstairs, I think.” Her eyes went to the basket hanging from Alice’s left arm. “You brought your magical bread basket!”

  “It doubles as a magical cookie basket too.” Alice lifted the red and blue plaid cloth. “Molasses crinkles, to be exact.”

  Annie bent close to the basket and inhaled. “Oooooooh, heavenly! It’s a good thing I already put on the coffee. I wouldn’t have the strength to wait for brewing.” As the two friends walked past the staircase, Boots, who had come to investigate the newcomer, stuck her face between two posts of the banister.

  Alice laughed. “Boots is acting casual, but you know it’s bugging her that I got in before she knew it.”

  “Good thing you did too. Too many Kitty Crunchies a fat kitty makes.” In the kitchen Annie poured the coffee while Alice set the cookies on the kitchen table.

  “How long did your energy last for your organizing yesterday?” Alice asked.

  “Long enough to make a to-do list that would be considered big even in Texas.” Annie selected a cookie and dipped it into her coffee. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to clean out Mike’s entire aisle of storage options.”

  “You won’t turn Betsy’s attic into a complete plastic palace, though, will you?” Alice nibbled along the edge of her molasses crinkle.

  “Absolutely not. Somehow I feel like I’d be dishonoring the spirit of Grey Gables if I did that.” Part of the cookie in Annie’s hand was showing signs of making an imminent plunge into her coffee. Annie bent her head and rescued it just in time. “Mercy! This is the best cookie I’ve ever tasted! I didn’t think anything without chocolate could be so amazing.”

  “It’s an old recipe from my family. Maybe I’ll make them for the Thanksgiving Dessert.”

  “Then I’ll come for su
re. How’s the weatherproofing coming along?” Annie asked as she snagged another cookie.

  “I had a demonstration last night that I had to prepare for, so I didn’t break out the caulk gun. But I will this afternoon. Cracks and gaps, beware!” Alice glanced at her Princessa watch, a gift from the company in recognition of her sales the year before. “And we need to beware of the time. Who knows what the girls will rope us into if we’re late.”

  Annie’s green eyes widened. “I completely forgot to think about themes! How embarrassing.” She drained the last drops of coffee and took her mug and Alice’s to the sink.

  “Don’t worry about it. There will be enough ideas from the others to prime the creative pump. Can I persuade you to take a few of the remaining molasses crinkles?”

  “If I must. Mother and Gram both taught me the virtue of serving others.” Annie took a small plate from a cabinet.

  “Betsy loved my molasses crinkles too. Superb taste must run in the family.” Alice arranged a pyramid of cookies on the plate and tucked the cloth back over the basket.

  Annie placed a glass cake dome over the cookie plate. “I think it might have skipped a generation. Mother was known to eat crickets—and worse—on the mission field. And she enjoyed it!”

  The two friends shuddered. “No cricket crinkles from me, though Boots might like them.”

  “Now there’s a stocking-stuffer idea.” Annie walked down the hall, with Alice following, stopping in the living room to grab her crochet tote bag. Almost empty and collapsing in on itself, the bag had a forlorn air about it. “Mary Beth’s new project is coming at just the right time. I need something new to crochet.”

  “You’ll have plenty of handwork to keep you busy when you’re not organizing. Whatever theme is decided, the plan is to make as many items as possible to sell at Harvest on the Harbor.”

  “And to think there was a time not so long ago when I didn’t know what to do with myself!” For the first year after Wayne passed away, Annie could not imagine a full life would bloom again for her. Except for the love of her busy daughter and grandchildren, her days had been as sparse as the desert of West Texas. Her grandmother’s death had changed that, leaving Annie with so much more than wonderful memories and the charming old Grey Gables. She had been gifted with a new sense of community and purpose.