Refuge on Leebrick (The Hills of Burlington Book 4)

by Jacie Middlemann

  “I’d love to help out but you don’t need to pay me,” Addie said without hesitation. What she didn’t say was that it would feel weird taking money from Mary.

  “Yes, I do.” Mary was firm on that point. “You can bank the money for a rainy day or something special you’re saving for, Addie. But I wouldn’t feel right about it if I didn’t pay you. It’s not like I’m asking you for a few minutes of your time here and there. I’m asking for quite a bit more.” She saw the hesitation and more importantly the worry. “Addie, I consider us very good friends but I’d like you to consider this strictly as a business request.” She paused and thought of one of the ways Addie was very much involved in their online business. “You get a portion of the sales of Aunt Charlie’s paintings,” she said with a smile. “Of course you totally deserve it since you’re the star of most her paintings these days. What I’m proposing is no different.”

  Addie let that slide around in her mind. Thought about the huge checks she’d received from those paintings and her healthy savings account that she hoped would one day fulfill her own dream. This would help. Not like the painting sales did but anything that added to it would help. “Okay, you’ve got yourself an employee.”

  “Wonderful.” Mary stood and went to the refrigerator to pull out what she’d brought with her from home that morning in hopes this would be the result of their conversation. “We need to celebrate.” She set the cheesecake she’d made the night before on the small table then pulled out plates and forks from the cabinet where she’d decided to keep them. Once she had everything set up the way she wanted she sat back down. She lifted her glass of grape juice she’d poured for both of them in a toast and when Addie did the same made their agreement official. “To a long and successful joint endeavor.”

  “This is so cool,” Addie said as she clinked glasses with her new boss. “When can I start?”

  “Tomorrow is good,” Mary said with a smile that went all the way to her eyes as it so often did. Then brought up the other reason she’d asked Addie over. “Since we’ve got that settled I want to thank you for something else as well,” she said and watched Addie’s eyes narrow in concentration and curiosity.

  “What for?” Addie finally asked.

  “If it weren’t for you I might not have had the courage to take this step on my own without the mantle of Mary Lane the author opening the door for me.”

  “Me?” Addie said in practically a squeak.

  “You, sweetie.” Mary smiled as she took another bite of the cheesecake. “Do you remember our little talk about my worries because of what some people wrote about my books? How you took the time and very patiently explained to me how things could be on the internet?” Mary asked and didn’t have to wait long until Addie’s face showed she indeed did remember.

  “That wasn’t any big deal…”

  “Oh, yes it was, Addie,” Mary said, interrupting her and making her statement in a very firm way. “You didn’t just explain how things sometimes work on the internet you helped me to understand I simply couldn’t take everything so personally.” She looked at the young woman who’d been through so much herself. She remembered her feelings during that talk between just the two of them that if Addie could display such courage, how could she not do the same. Especially since she was so much older and expected to be just as much wiser. “You helped me to look at what was written without letting it rip through clear to my soul as if it somehow defined the whole of me. I’ve already dealt with something similar with my jewelry store and in all honesty if I’d read the comment before our talk all those months ago I would have been in a panic over that others would read it and what they would think. Because of you I was able to read it and deal with it much differently.”

  Addie wondered how anyone could have said anything bad about Mary’s jewelry. It was intricately made and gorgeous. “What did they say?” she asked.

  “Oh,” Mary waved her hand in a gesture that expressed a lack of worry that she wouldn’t have been capable of all those months ago. “It wasn’t even about what they bought. It was a complaint over how long it took to receive it after it was mailed which I have no control over. I can’t help but believe the buyer knew that as well. But they weren’t happy and I was the one they brought their complaints to.” She paused, reached across the table for the hand Addie had resting there. “Oh, Addie. I read it and simply thought, Oh, well.” She smiled in response to Addie’s small laugh. “Months ago I would have been panicked over it. And that’s not to mention it probably wouldn’t even be an issue because I wouldn’t have had the guts to open the store on my own in the first place. I would have gone through Casey, asked her to put my jewelry in our online store and let her deal with those kinds of problems. I would have kept myself sheltered from all of it.” She gently squeezed the small hand held in hers. “So thank you, Addie. Thank you for showing me differently and in the process allowing me to do more for myself and to be better for it. You helped me to understand and to accept that I can’t please everyone through no fault of my own. It may seem like no big deal to you but it is a huge deal to me.”

  Addie stared at the older woman thoughtfully. She wasn’t certain how to take what Mary said but because of it wondered about something that she’d thought about for a long time. It had been on her mind ever since their first talk about things people said about others on the internet. Said about others that they didn’t even know. She knew first hand how much that could hurt deep where no one could see. She took a deep breath and plunged forward.

  “After we talked about it there was something else that sort of came to me later but I didn’t know if I should say anything about it to you then,” she paused watching for Mary’s reaction. At her slight nod she went on. “Aunt Charlie is always saying if you don’t have anything nice to say not to say anything at all. Aunt Carrie told me she’s been saying the same thing since she was a little girl. My Mom and Dad say something kind of like that to me but not nearly as often as it sounds like Aunt Carrie heard it.” She let out a deep sigh, took a moment to think of how to say what she wanted to. “I guess what I’m really trying to get to is I think it’s more about us than about them in some ways. No matter what they say or write it’s their choice. I bet if the lady who wasn’t happy about how long it took her to get her jewelry had asked you for a refund you would have given it to her,” she said struggling to find the words to express her thoughts the way she wanted. “I’ve thought about this a lot.”

  “It sounds like you have,” Mary said softly when Addie paused again. She could tell from the halting way in which the younger woman spoke that she had indeed thought long about it but wasn’t certain whether it was something she should share with her or not. “Go on,” she urged her gently.

  “I really believe that just as they have the choice of what to say or write, you or anyone else on the other end of it also have the choice of how to deal with it. No matter what people say about us, we have the choice of how we let it effect us and whether it should or not.”

  “Addie, you’re absolutely right,” Mary said, once again stunned at this young woman’s insight. She also realized that Addie’s words reflected how she had dealt with the online harassment that had been inflicted upon her before her arrival in Burlington. “You are absolutely right. We can only truly be responsible for our own actions and in this case, our reactions. And just so you know, you can talk to me about anything…anytime.” With that she pulled her into a tight hug.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  “Did you hear that someone bought one of the older buildings on Jefferson Street? From what I heard the plan is to build a place similar to that neat old ice cream store our Moms used to take us to.” Casey stirred the coffee that Mary had set in front of her. Worked around in her head the words that she planned on sharing with whoever showed up for their little get-together this morning. At least she was thinking about it.

  “I remember that place,” Mary said from where she stood at the counter cut
ting through the two coffee cakes she’d gotten out of her freezer the night before. “What was the name of it, Aunt Charlie?”

  “Sutters,” Charlie said between one sip of coffee and the next. “When Miri and Leslie were little there were two of them on Jefferson until one of them closed.” She closed her eyes trying to pull on those memories from so long ago. “I just remember the one somewhere in the three hundred block, at least I think that’s where it was.”

  “Wasn’t it near Third Street,” Jake asked. He’d come in just as the conversation about the ice cream shop had gotten started. “Mom used to take us there when we were kids.”

  “One of them was,” Charlie said as she again tried to picture the place in her mind. She let out a short sigh deciding the exact location of the place just wasn’t that darn important especially if it wasn’t even there anymore. That she remembered it at all was the important thing. “I remember my father telling me about how when he was a little boy one of their stores burned down sometime during one winter. It was a terrible thing.”

  “Was anyone hurt?” Carrie asked while she slid a piece of the coffee cake on to her plate.

  “I don’t remember him saying one way or the other, sweetie. But I do remember he said it was a confusing time for anyone who got their prescriptions there. Everything was destroyed. I think he told us that his mother had to go to another pharmacy to get her medication. She paused to think back and tried to remember what else her father had told them. “He said that all the other pharmacies were doing everything they could to help out during the time.” She took a quick sip of her coffee. Her jerky motions alerted everyone else in the room that whatever she was thinking wasn’t something that made her happy. “That’s what people did back then. They helped each other out. They didn’t have to be asked they just did it.

  “It was a different time, Mom.”

  “Indeed it was,” Charlie said with a soft sigh. Then as quickly as the disappointment has risen up inside her she let it go. “It was a wonderful place. Long before I took all you kids there, before your mothers took you, our father took us there with any excuse he could find. Mama was never big on us having too many sweets so Daddy had to find excuses to take us.” She smiled at the memories, remembering the numerous times her father had found just such an excuse. “We’d all go and have sundaes. Daddy and mine were the hot fudge ones.” She looked around at all the quiet faces surrounding her. Looked over towards her nieces. “Both Leslie and Miri worked there when they were in high school.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Mary said softly as she looked towards Casey. Saw from the slight movement of her head she hadn’t known either.

  “I don’t know that it qualified as major news, sweetie. Just about everyone worked there at some point in time once they were old enough. If not there then over at Swishers near where the skating rink is now.” For a moment her thoughts turned inward. A slight smile on her face told everyone else that whatever she was thinking now her thoughts were happy ones from another time. “Whenever I went in there after school if either of them were working they would always give me some of their tip money so I could have an ice cream.” She looked around the kitchen. Saw that at some point Mark and Terry had wandered in. Just as she felt so blessed in family she was so very grateful for the friends who completed their circle. “Every single time. And I know there were times they didn’t have it to spare but they still stuffed it in my hands. I can still hear them tell me, get an ice cream.” She couldn’t stop the small spurt of laughter that escaped. “Then just as quick they’d say, Don’t tell Mama.”

  “They loved you so much,” Carrie said as she reached over to take her mother’s hand. Wished she could as easily take some of her pain.

  “We’ll all have to go there when they open the new place,” Mary said into the silence that had fallen in the room.

  Casey looked around and saw the mix of sadness for what was gone as well as the joy for the memories that had been shared. With a deep breath she spilled out the words she couldn’t contain any longer hoping in part to ease the hurt on so many of the faces in the room…especially her aunt’s. “Depending on when they’re slated to open we may have another family member to haul along with us.” She figured she could have been more specific when everyone looked at her as if they wondered what in the world she was talking about. But it didn’t take long before she saw that it was her brother who waded through the proverbial muck first and reached the accurate conclusion.

  “I’ll be damned!” Jake said as he stood and took the couple of steps needed to reach his sister and gently haul her up into a hug. Then just as quickly and gently set her back away from him. “How are you feeling?”

  “Sick.” There was no other way to put it as far as she was concerned. “If all the stuff on the internet is right about the sicker you feel the healthier the kid, well that means this is going to be one healthy little kiddo.”

  “Oh, Casey,” Mary was the next to fold her into a hug. By the time Casey made the rounds Mallie, Brian, Rob, Beth, and Addie had come in and been told the news. And the round of hugs began again.

  “What’s going on?” Grace asked from the kitchen doorway where she stood with Tom.

  “Casey’s going to have a baby!” Addie told her, her own face covered with a huge smile. “Isn’t that cool?”

  Grace stepped through the doorway, made her own way through the crowd to reach her friend. “I imagine Pete is over the moon,” she said with a gentle smile of her own.

  “When he’s not holding my head over the toilet…or sink, whichever I’m able to reach first.”

  “Oh, you poor thing.” Grace pulled her into a careful hug knowing despite the complaint her friend wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.

  “I’ve got just the thing to fix that, sweetie.” Charlie grabbed her purse and pulled a pad of paper and pen from it and immediately began writing down instructions for what her niece needed to do.

  “I’ll take any advice that comes my way, Aunt Charlie.”

  “This worked just dandy for me and your mom too,” she said without looking up, intent on what she was scribbling down on the paper. “Leslie had the hardest time of all of us but this always worked for her.”

  Carrie sent a silent look of gratitude towards Casey. She’d known almost immediately what had spurred the timing of her cousin’s unexpected announcement. One she knew her cousin would have preferred to make with Pete by her side but had chosen this moment because of her mother. Had taken that moment of sad reflection and shifted it to one of tremulous anticipation for the miracle of new life. She knew her mother like the rest of them was thinking how much her Aunt Leslie would have cherished this day.

  In the midst of everything Mary looked around the room knowing this likely wasn’t going to go as planned. They had hoped to discuss what each person had learned in regards to their family history. There had been some business issues that needed to be addressed at some point but none that was so pressing it couldn’t wait. She glanced over her shoulder and around the corner into her living room when she heard her front door once again open. She’d been meaning to fix the squeak in the hinges and wondered now if she shouldn’t just leave it as it was. It definitely provided an advanced signal for whenever someone arrived as Pete just had. That explained who Casey had been calling on her cell phone a few minutes ago as the initial fervor over her announcement had begun to die down. As Pete strode through the short distance between the door to where she stood it started up again with plenty of back-slapping and hugs. This, she thought, was what was truly important. Why she was here. Why she…why they had all come home to Burlington. This was what her parents and grandparents had known. What she knew they would have all wanted for them as well.

  She let the noise die down again before she spoke up. She’d already decided this day was meant to be one of celebration not discussion. But there was one piece of news she wanted to be shared before the party really got into gear. She sent a quiet loo
k towards Beth who was also quietly watching the unexpected activity in her kitchen.

  “There’s something I’d like to share with all of you before we get to the heart of our celebration today,” she said only slightly louder than she normally would. It took only a few moments for the attention in the room to shift in her direction.

  “We can get together another time to discuss all we had planned to this morning,” she looked over at her cousin who was standing close to her husband. The smiles on both of their faces telling her and all of them their immense joy in the news just shared with them. “But I’d like to take a couple of minutes to tell you about something Beth learned late last night. It doesn’t answer all of our questions but it’s a good start to getting there.” She looked over at Beth, not at all surprised to see that in the last few minutes Wes had come in and was holding her gently against his side. Mary gave her a small nod letting her know she wanted her to tell everyone the news.

  “The woman Tom and I were able to connect to the other day, the one whose mother had died,” Beth looked around to see if everyone understood who she was talking about since not everyone here now had been with them at the Summer Street house at the time. Seeing that they did she continued. “Her name was Ingryth. She was the oldest child and the only daughter of the three children of Julya and Jonas of Vilina.” She paused, leaned slightly into Wes as she tried to set aside the sorrow that came with what she’d learned. “I found references to her in an old tome that contained information about her family. It was primarily about Jonas and his kingdom but included other biographical information as well.”