“Your ANGELs are delightful.”
“They can get a bit silly sometimes, but I do enjoy them.”
By four-thirty, the brightly colored eggs were all carefully placed back into their cartons and stored in the big refrigerator. All the egg dyers were treated to Jane’s special Easter egg truffles as a thank you.
Although Mark had not come down yet, Alice saved one for him. She figured he might need something to lift his spirits, and Jane’s chocolates were capable of doing just that.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Just as Alice said good-bye to the last ANGEL, Mark appeared in the kitchen looking tired and downhearted. First, Alice offered him a chocolate egg, and then she invited him to take a walk with her. She could tell that Jane, who had been very patient with the egg dyeing, now wanted her kitchen back to herself, and Alice hoped that some fresh air might cheer up Mark.
“It’s turned into a lovely day,” she said as their long walk took them to the park where the festivities would take place the next day.
“Should be nice for the big egg hunt tomorrow.” He glanced over at the empty bench in the park. “Want to sit for a bit?”
“Sure.” She controlled herself from glancing over her shoulder as she and Mark walked across the grass toward the bench. She knew that if she and Mark were spied sitting together in this private but public place, the local tongues would be wagging before dinnertime. Still, she told herself, what did it matter?
Mark sat down and leaned forward in a dejected posture. She reached over and patted his back. “I know you’re feeling bad,” she said in an understanding voice. “I am too, but I’ve decided that it won’t help anything to go around depressed. Instead, I’m praying for Adam. Every single time I think about him and begin to worry, I just put him in God’s hands. As Jane reminded me this morning, we may not know where Adam is right now, but God does.”
Mark sat up straighter and looked at her. “I know you’re right, but my heart is still heavy.”
“Have you been praying for him?”
He nodded.
“Then maybe we just need to believe that God is handling it.”
He nodded again. “I’ll try.”
“Hi, Miss Howard,” called a girl’s voice from the street.
Alice looked up to see the girl waving wildly from her bicycle. “Hi, Ashley,” Alice called back. Now she could be sure that word would get around about her and Mark. If anyone could jump to conclusions, it was Ashley.
“One of your ANGELs?”
Alice smiled. “Yes. They were so helpful today.”
“Sorry I didn’t make it down.”
“It may have been a bit chaotic for you,” she told him. “I’m glad you had a good rest.”
“You know, Alice,” he began, then stopped.
She waited without speaking.
“We need to talk … about us … you know.”
Again, she said nothing.
“I want to, well, make my intentions clear, you know?”
“Intentions?”
“That’s probably not the right word, but I feel as if I’ve been dancing all around this thing. That’s partly because of what’s been happening with Adam. I guess to be fully honest, I’ve had a case of chilly toes too.”
She laughed. “Chilly toes?”
“Yes, they’re not as severe as cold feet. I’ve been a bachelor my whole life, and I know that I’m self-centered and set in my ways. That’s certainly been driven home well enough with my relationship with Adam. Anyway, I want to be perfectly honest with you.”
“Yes?”
“Well, I just don’t know what’s going on in me right now.”
She smiled. “Join the club.”
“Really?” He peered into her eyes. “You feel like that too?”
She nodded.
“Well, that’s a relief.” Then he took her hand with his good one. “I do have strong feelings for you, Alice. I’m just not sure of the timing.”
“I understand.”
“If this thing with Adam hadn’t blindsided me, well, maybe it would be different. I don’t know.”
She patted his hand with her other one. “Perhaps we don’t need to be too concerned about these things right now, Mark. I mean, really, we’ve waited this long. What’s the hurry, right?”
He smiled. “Right.”
“Now,” she slipped her hand away from his, “before we become the talk of the entire town, although I suspect it’s already too late, perhaps we should go home.”
They reached the inn and were walking up the steps to the front porch when Alice heard a man’s excited voice. “Alice and Mark! Over here!”
They looked up to see Mr. and Mrs. Langley sitting together in the porch swing, and Mr. Langley was waving. “Come here,” he called. “I have good news.”
Alice and Mark went over to join the older couple.
“What is it?” asked Mark as he sat in the wicker rocker.
“It’s about Adam,” said Mrs. Langley.
“Yes,” agreed Mr. Langley, “We’re on our way back to the inn when I pull into a Shell station, and what do you know?”
“There, parked on the side street, was an old car that looked like Adam’s,” Mrs. Langley said.
“That’s right,” said Mr. Langley, “so I say to the missus, I say, you wait here while I check into this matter. I go over and sure enough, leaning back in the driver’s seat of that rundown little car is a familiar-looking young man. So I knock on the window, giving the poor lad a start. But then he recognizes me and gets out of the car.” He sadly shook his head. “And the boy looks worse than ever. But I tell him that everyone at the inn is looking for him.”
“That’s when I came over,” said Mrs. Langley. “And poor Adam didn’t believe my husband, so I jumped right in and straightened him out. I told him that we’d all been frantic with worry and that we’d all been looking.”
“Well, he is pretty surprised,” said Mr. Langley. “And he asks if Mark is looking, and I tell him that Alice has been chauffeuring him all over the state and that, even today, you two are looking up north.”
“And did he believe you?” asked Mark hopefully.
“He was still skeptical,” said Mrs. Langley. “But we told him that he should come back to the inn and see for himself.”
“And will he?” asked Alice.
Mr. Langley held up his hands in that way people do when they are unsure. “I don’t really know whether he will or not.”
“But we gave him some money,” said Mrs. Langley. “His tank was empty, and he was broke.”
“And then we begged him to come back to the inn,” said Mr. Langley.
“Thank you,” said Mark. “I really appreciate it.”
“I just hope he does,” said Mrs. Langley. “He still has the kitten with him. He said not to worry, that he was taking good care of it.”
“Probably better care of it than himself,” offered Alice.
“No doubt,” said Mrs. Langley.
“I guess all we can do is to pray now,” said Mr. Langley.
“Do you think we should drive over?” asked Mark suddenly. “To talk to him?”
“I don’t know what more you could say,” said Mr. Langley.
“Maybe we should wait,” said Alice, “let him come back on his own.”
Mark nodded. “Maybe you’re right. There’s certainly no use forcing him.”
“I suspect he’s not the kind who likes to be forced,” said Mr. Langley.
“Who does?” said Mark.
Dinner was a bit more cheerful that evening. Mark and Alice filled in Jane and Louise on the details as the four of them dined in the comfort of the kitchen. Alice noticed that Mark kept glancing at the clock and out the window, as if he were waiting for someone, and of course, she knew that he was.
After dinner, Louise played piano while Jane and Alice put together a dessert of chocolate-covered cream puffs.
“How are things going with Mark?” ask
ed Jane as she took the pastry shells from the oven.
Alice stirred the custard filling. “Does this look okay?” she asked, ignoring her sister’s question.
Jane set the shells on a cooling rack. “That looks perfect,” she said. Putting her hands on her hips in that I-mean-business stance, she then turned to Alice and said, “Come on, I’ve tried to be patient, but you’re holding out on me. How’s it going with Mark?”
Alice shrugged. “It’s fine.”
“That’s not what I mean and you know it. Tell me what’s going on with you guys. Come on, you promised you would.”
Alice sighed. “Okay, it’s not going anywhere. Does that answer your question?”
“But why?” demanded Jane.
“Oh, it has to do with the whole Adam thing,” said Alice, “but there’s more to it than that. I think it has to do with us—I just don’t think we’re ready to make any decisions.”
Jane nodded and turned her attention to the chocolate sauce in the double boiler. “Okay,” she said as she dipped in a spoon. “That makes sense. I know there’s been a lot going on, and I can see that you might not want to make a commitment yet. What about later, when things settle down and Adam gets his life on track? What about then?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
Jane brought the spoon of chocolate sauce over to Alice. “How’s this?”
Alice tasted the sauce, then smiled. “Decadent.”
“Okay, then,” said Jane, “you will let me know if things change between you and Mark.”
Alice nodded. “You’ll be the first to know—well, you and Louise both.”
“Good.” She returned to the stove and turned down the gas.
“Tell me, Jane,” said Alice, “why do I feel as if you’re pushing me toward Mark? Are you eager to get rid of me?”
Jane turned around wearing a shocked expression. “No, Alice, that’s not it at all. You know that I don’t want to get rid of you. Selfishly, I’d like everything to stay just as it is, but I want you to be happy too.”
“I am happy.”
“You really care about Mark, Alice. I can see it.”
“Yes, you’re right, I do. I care about a lot of people.”
“Not like that, Alice. You know what I mean.”
“It’s just not that simple, and, honestly, sometimes I’m not even sure how I feel.”
“Well, as you said, it could be just the timing. There’s no harm in waiting.”
Alice laughed. “You make it sound as if Mark and I have some big kind of romantic plan to pull off. Really, Jane, trust me, we don’t.”
“I believe you.” Jane set the chocolate pot into cold water to cool. “I just don’t want to be out of the loop if you ever do.”
Soon they had the cream puffs constructed, and Alice was topping them with dollops of whipped cream. “These are going to disappear before our very eyes,” she told Jane. “No one can resist your cream puffs.”
She was right. Not only did they disappear, but Mark had more than one. For some reason, that gave Alice hope that his spirits were improving. Still, she prayed long and hard for Adam before she went to bed that night. She prayed for his safety and she prayed for his heart.
Please, let him be like the prodigal son, she prayed. Let him see that it is time to come home and then help him to humble his heart so he can do it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Saturday morning was a flurry of activity at the inn. Alice helped Jane with breakfast and its cleanup, as well as the preparations for the picnic that would follow the egg hunt. She had already made her apologies to Mark, explaining that she would probably be busy until after the egg hunt. They had agreed to meet then.
The ANGELs arrived at the inn and were standing in the foyer when Jenny spotted Laura and her mother in the parlor. “Can Laura help us hide eggs, Miss Howard?” asked Jenny.
Alice glanced at Mrs. Winston, not sure that this plan would work. “Of course,” she said. “Laura is welcome to help us if she wants to.”
“Oh, I don’t think—” Mrs. Winston began.
“Why not, Mother?” said Laura.
“Well, if you’d like to …”
Jenny pulled another set of bunny ears from her bag and ran over to take Laura’s hand. “You have to wear bunny ears like the rest of us,” she said as she reached up and arranged them on Laura’s head, careful not to disturb the hot pink sunglasses that Laura was sporting.
“They look cool with your glasses,” said Jenny. “The fuzzy white outsides are lined with pink satin on the insides.”
Laura reached up and felt the furry ears that were attached to the headband and grinned. “Just call me Peter— no, Mopsy—Cottontail.”
“All right, Mopsy,” said Ashley. “We better hit the bunny trail.”
Sissy gave Laura one of the prize baskets to carry, happily explaining to her what it was and how the ANGELs had put them all together themselves.
“There are ten prize baskets,” said Jenny as they all trooped out of the inn wearing bunny ears.
“We’ll meet you at the park with the eggs and stuff,” called Jane as Alice followed along behind the girls.
The ANGELs started singing as they walked, changing the words of “The Ants Go Marching” to “The Bunnies Go Marching,” and to Alice’s pleased surprise, Laura sang right along with them.
By the time they reached the park, Jane and Louise were already there. Jane was setting up a table, and Louise was having what seemed to be an intense conversation with Ethel and Lloyd. Alice could tell by their faces that it was some kind of disagreement. Alice decided to pay them no mind. Surely, they would figure out whatever it was in time.
Louise came over to help her sisters. “Good grief,” she said under her breath.
“What’s up, Louie?” asked Jane as she spread a pretty, pastel print table cloth over the folding table.
“Well, Aunt Ethel has decided that Mr. Easter Rabbit should give the opening words at the beginning of the egg hunt.”
“That’s always been done by the pastor of Grace Chapel,” said Alice. “I already asked Rev. Thompson to do the honors.”
“Oh, Ken will understand,” said Jane. “I can talk to him.”
Louise frowned and shook her head. “Politics.”
“Well, the children will probably like it,” Alice assured her. “After all, it does seem fitting that a rabbit open the egg hunt. I don’t know why we never thought of it before.”
“Probably because Mr. Easter Rabbit only got his bunny suit a couple years ago,” Louise said with an exasperated shake of her head. “Alice, is that Laura with your ANGELs?”
Alice laughed. “That’s Laura. The girls wanted her to help them hide eggs.”
Now Louise smiled. “Well, now that is something.”
All the pretty prize baskets were lined up on the table, and every last egg was hidden just before ten o’clock, when the festivities were due to begin. Mr. Easter Rabbit gave his opening words, and everyone cheered—even Louise.
“Don’t worry,” Pastor Ken had assured Jane after she had told him the news. “I’ll get my chance to be up front tomorrow.”
The children were divided into five different age groups, with the toddlers starting first and with the ten-year-olds ending the hunt. The prize eggs were hidden in areas restricted to the various age groups, with the ANGEL bunnies and Mr. Easter Rabbit paying close attention lest any of the older children try to sneak into one of the younger sections. Alice noticed that Jenny was still holding onto Laura’s hand, and it looked as if both of them were having a good time.
While Alice was manning the prize station, she noticed a woman walking across the park toward them. Alice did not recognize her at first, although she felt certain because of the shiny gold suit, that this woman was not a local. It also caught Alice’s attention that this woman was not accompanied by a child. As she got closer, Alice realized it was Mattie Singleton.
She waved at Mattie, but her old fr
iend must not have seen her for she suddenly turned and walked toward the spectator area, straight to where Mark and her sisters were seated in the lawn chairs they had brought from home. Well, that was fine. Alice had her hands full for the next hour anyway. They would take care of Mattie.
Eggs were found, a few tears were shed and the much coveted prize baskets awarded. Then it was finally time to move on to the picnic portion of the day’s event. Alice was happy to be relieved of her responsibilities as she went over to join her sisters, Mark and Mattie.
“Alice!” Mattie waved to greet her. “I simply adore your little town. The Easter egg hunt was like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting. That funny old Easter Bunny and the little girl bunnies helping the children. Oh, it was just too sweet.”
“I’m so glad you came,” said Alice as she sat in the empty chair next to Jane. “I see you’ve met my sisters.”
Mattie smiled. “Yes, they’ve been making me feel right at home.”
“I hope you’ll join us for lunch, Mattie,” said Louise. “We have more than enough.”
“I’d love to.” Mattie smiled at Mark. “You were absolutely right, Mark. Acorn Hill is a charming, delightful place. I almost feel as if I’ve been transported back in time. It reminds me of the fifties, back when we were young and life was simple.”
Louise handed each person a plate, and Alice poured cups of lemonade while Jane began to arrange the food on a small folding table.
“Let me help you with that, Mark,” offered Mattie when Alice attempted to hand him his drink. Mattie scooted her chair closer to Mark and took the drink for him.
“Everything gets a lot trickier when you have only one good arm,” he said as Mattie helped him to put his cup in the drink holder.
“I’ll get your food for you too,” said Mattie as she took his paper plate.
Jane eyed Alice curiously, but Alice simply acted as if she were preoccupied with opening a jar of pickles.
“Hello there,” called Ethel as she led Lloyd, or rather Mr. Easter Rabbit, over to where they were sitting. “May we join you?”
“Oh my!” cried Mattie happily. “Do we really get to have lunch with the Easter Bunny?”
Memories from Acorn Hill Page 18
