“Afternoon, Sommers,” Mr. Mitchell said. “Glad you stopped by. We’re moving. So is Ruby. The Kinnards have already moved.”
“And the Ballards, and Big Bud will be moving, and most likely, both Mathews families,” Wylene put in quickly.
Sommers stopped where he was. His face showing complete shock. He was speechless for several moments. “Well, I, uh, and just where are all of you moving to? And don’t expect any refund on your month’s rent.”
“We know you better than that,” Mr. Mitchell said.
Addie didn’t like this man, and she knew it was wrong, but she wished everyone who lived in these shacks could move. Wylene had been a bit presumptuous. She just hoped it would work out for the Mathew’s. She wasn’t worried about the Ballards.
Mooney had walked up beside Addie. “Is this true? All these people are moving?”
Sommers didn’t miss Mooney’s questioning Addie. “And just who are you?” he demanded of Addie.
“She’s Addie Martin,” Mooney said as he stepped between Addie and Sommers, “and if she says these people are moving, then they’re moving.”
“I know who you are-Ben Martin’s girl. What are you doing here?”
“Hopefully, moving these people to better places to live. These shacks aren’t fit for animals to live in. They should all be burned to the ground,” Addie answered with disgust.
“Then the rats and cock roaches wouldn’t have a place to live,” Billy Mitchell said, and everyone laughingly agreed.
“There ain’t a one of you who wasn’t glad to get one of my shacks, as she calls them, to move into when you rented them. And I have people waiting to replace you,” he declared as he turned and walked off.
“Good riddance,” several voices called out to his back. Then Wylene said, “That leaves him his two ladies of the evening, the dope dealers, and a couple of families of deadbeats.”
“I don’t see why the police don’t do something about the dope dealers, since everyone seems to know who they are,” Addie said to Wylene.
“Because Sommers and the mayor are in the real estate business together, and Mayor Crumbley runs this town.”
“Right now, I’m lucky he’s out of town.”
Claude Mathews walked up to Addie. “Are you saying that we could move to the Arnold farm?” he asked hopefully.
“I think it could be arranged, Mr. Mathews, if you want to. As soon as Miss Judy is moved,” she quickly added, and hoped it could be arranged with the bank. And she wondered what it was going to cost her? Then she wished that she and Wylene had not been so hasty.
As soon as Addie walked into the kitchen at Stonegate, Mattie asked, “Dear, do you have some men looking over the land outside the fence?”
“Why, no, Miss Mattie.”
“Well, there are five of them. I’ve seen them off and on all morning as they walked over the land. And I don’t have lunch ready yet. I thought I’d wait for you. I knew you had a lot to do.” The sound of the knocker on the big front door reached them, startling the two of them. “That may be them. The last I saw of them they were headed this way,” she said as she moved toward the front of the mansion.
Addie followed her, and grandpa suddenly appeared hovering over them. “What’s going on, Grandpa,” Addie silently asked.
“I think we’re about to find out. I’ve been watching those men from various windows all morning,” he answered.
When Mattie opened the door, there were only two men, dressed in suits and ties, hardly what you’d go walking in the woods in, Addie thought. Both women looked for the other three.
The men noticed. “Good afternoon,” the tallest, and the oldest one said. “Are you Miss Mattie Horn.”
“I am,” she answered.
“Miss Horn, I’m Hester Beaman, and this is Clement Wood. We are associates of Grant Cutler’s. About a week ago he asked us to look Stonegate and its grounds over. I trust Miss Elinor called you to let you know to be expecting us.”
“No, she didn’t, but she could have tried. I’ve been in and out most of the morning. What can we do for you?”
“I’m sorry. Miss Elinor said she’d get in touch. I hope we haven’t inconvenienced you. We are a committee of five. The other three had to return to their businesses. Cutler knew that we were looking for a parcel of land with the intentions of building a golf course and clubhouse somewhere in this general area. He told us there was some twenty-five acres surrounding the mansion and fenced in, plus some one hundred and sixty-four acres outside the fence. We’ve looked the outside area over, but we don’t see any need to look at the mansion and its grounds. Our thoughts are that the mansion is bigger than we have a need for, and the upkeep on a building this size would be beyond our means.”
“Ask him what they thought of the one hundred and sixty-four acres?”
“Grandpa!”
“Ask him, young Addie!”
Addie knew she might as well do as he said. “Mr. Beaman, I’m Addie Martin. I inherited Stonegate. I’d like to know your opinions of the outside acreage?”
Neither of the men spoke. They stared at Addie. Then, “You own Stonegate?” Beaman asked in disbelief.
“Yes. I do.”
The man sort of chuckled, to Addie’s displeasure. “Then I guess you’re the one we’d have to deal with. So I’ll tell you frankly, all five of us were very much taken with it for our purpose. There is a very picturesque parcel of land surrounded by tall beautiful trees that we fell in love with for the clubhouse. We are thinking of making Cutler an offer.”
“Tell him to have it appraised and the asking price will be eighty-five percent of the appraisal,” grandpa said.
She repeated grandpa’s words. Miss Mattie as well as the two men looked surprised. Hester Beaman exclaimed, “Young lady! Grant Cutler would never approve of a deal like that. I think we’d better wait until we contact him.”
“Tell him if they wait, the offer will expire in thirty days,” grandpa said.
“Mr. Beaman,” Addie said curtly, “I own Stonegate, not Mr. Cutler. The mansion and its twenty-five acres are not for sale, but, if I want to sell the rest of it to whomever I choose, and at what price I choose, I will. The offer is good for thirty days. You can see Mr. Sully Morgan in Mr. Cutler’s office. Good day,” she said, turned away and walked to her bedroom.
Grandpa got there first. He was already sitting in the other blue chair by the window. “Bully,” he said. “I’m proud of you. But I think he got your dander up. Right?”
“He didn’t believe me,” Addie said irritably. “Grandpa, I’m tired of people treating me like a child playing dress-up.”
“Young Addie,” grandpa said patiently, “you’ve taken on responsibilities that a lot of adults would run from, and since you have, perhaps you should try to look more mature.”
“What? And just how am I supposed to do that?”
“Well, to begin with – your hair. You have beautiful hair, but you wear it like some of these young school children I see out shopping with their mothers – all tied back on the back of your head. Even some of the boys wear theirs that way – Mooney, for instance.”
“Oh,” she said. “We’ve never had money for me to even get it cut. I promise I’ll give it some thought, but right now, I’m doing well to find time to put it in a ponytail. Sometimes I feel like I’m on a merry-go-round and can’t get off. I’m going to see if Miss Mattie has some lunch for me, and then I’m going home. My daddy will be home by supper time. But about the land – you think I should sell it, right?”
“What good is it doing us just sitting there? Think of the jobs that such a building project will create. Maybe you ought to tell those men that they have to hire Riverbend labor if they want to buy the land, and believe me, they want it.”
Mattie was standing at the open refrigerator door laughing when Addie entered the kitchen. “Oh, Addie, you should have seen those men’s faces when you turned and walked off after issuing your ultimatum. I think they’l
l be getting in touch with Mr. Sully.”
“I hope so. The land needs to be put to some good use.”
“And, Addie, another reason I waited for you to finish our lunch is, I was preparing a seafood chowder. Do you like seafood?”
“I don’t know, Miss Mattie. I don’t think I’ve ever had seafood chowder, but anything will be delicious with your rolls.”
Mattie smiled big. “Well, I have it about ready. And I’ve been working on my figures this morning. I get more excited every day, and I can’t wait to meet Judy Arnold.”
“I saw her this morning. She’ll be moving in tomorrow. So you won’t have much longer to wait.” The phone rang, and Addie rushed to the kitchen desk to answer it hoping it was her mother.
Della’s voice answered her ‘hello’. “Honey, Ben just called. They’ll be her in about three hours. I’m sure they’ll be tired and hungry for some of Mattie’s good food. We may want to have supper ready for them.”
“Oh, I’m so glad, Mama. What time are you going to the house?”
Addie reached the house on South Street before her mother. She was so anxious to see her daddy, and Donnie. She had brought Denise several recent magazines of Miss Willy’s and placed them about the house as she went through it again. She was so pleased with the way the house had turned out. She hoped Donnie would like it, and for the first time she thought of the possibility that he might not have wanted her to fix a house up for him. Her mother had said that he didn’t say much when she told him about it. What if he resented her doing it? But they had to have a place to live. Could he have been wondering how the little money that he made delivering furniture for his uncle would support them? He might accept the house, but he would never accept her offering him money. What little they had gotten to know each other, she knew that much about him. Maybe her mother would know how to handle it. She didn’t want anything to interfere with their feelings for each other. She liked him so much, and she knew he liked her – quite a bit, she hoped. And she had done what she thought she should. She guessed she’d find out how he felt about it very soon now.
She was marveling at how clean Wylene’s crew had managed to get the old refrigerator when Della drove the Lincoln around to the back of the house. And let daddy please like the Lincoln, she prayed. Suddenly, she was filled with anxiety almost to the point of fear. And she wasn’t sure that the happy homecoming she had been anticipating was going to be happy. So much had happened in the past week.
She opened the back door for her mother whose arms were loaded down with grocery bags. “A few more things I thought of,” Della said. “When you start from scratch, there is just so much you need. I had forgotten about such things as paper towels, toilet tissue, bathroom soap, tooth paste, aluminum foil, cling wrap, things you wouldn’t believe,” she said as she deposited the paper bags. “What do you think we should have for supper?”
“I was thinking the hen and dressing with creamed potatoes and gravy, and green bean casserole.”
“And that fruit compote would top it off,” Della said. “Good choice. I’ll get it together if you’ll put this stuff away.”
“Mama,” Addie said as she was going through the bags to sort things out, “I know you said daddy was very pleased about the house, but, well, do you think Donnie was?”
“He sounded pleased when I told him, but he just didn’t have much to say about it.”
“I sure hope he’s happy about it. I don’t want anything to come between us, because, well, we like each other. I think we like each other a lot.” Addie looked at her mother who was busy with the food at the microwave oven. “Is that all right?”
“Of course it is, honey. It’s time you had boyfriends. I just worry about you getting hurt. Mother’s do that, you know. There’s always that possibility when a relationship breaks us.”
“But I don’t want us to ever break up.”
That’s normal for now, but it’s also normal that you will have other boyfriends before you’re grown. Just think how young you are now.”
“Oh, Mama! They’re here! I hear cars out front!” Excited, but nervous, Addie headed for the front door, which they had left open to air the house out.
She ran out the door, across the porch, down the steps and into her daddy’s open arms. Della was right behind her. “Princess!” he exclaimed giving her a big hug and kissing her on the cheek.
“Oh, Daddy, I’ve missed you so much.” And ‘princess’. Hopefully, she was right. He had had time to rethink the inheritance. She was his princess again. She couldn’t be happier. She relinquished him to her mother, and turned to find Donnie waiting to wrap her in a big, bear hug, their first.
“I didn’t know I could miss anybody as much as I’ve missed you,” he whispered in her ear, his face snuggled in her long, thick, red hair. Then he moved his head and kissed her on the mouth, right in front of her daddy and mother.
Addie felt it clear down to her toes, and she was sure Donnie could feel her heart beating. She never wanted him to stop. When he released her, she wasn’t sure her knees would hold her up. “I’ve missed you too,” she whispered. He gave her another tight hug and released her. He looked at the house.
“I couldn’t believe it when Della told me about the house. I don’t know what to say, how to thank you. Gramps broke down and cried. It seems Uncle Nate had told him that Aunt Mel was not going to let mom stay with them, and he didn’t know what to do, or how to tell us. I’m so grateful to you. One of these days, I’ll pay you back for the house and the furnishings, but that can never ...”
“Donnie!” Addie exclaimed. “What is a house and some furniture, that didn’t cost me anything, compared to my life? Where would I be right now if you hadn’t gotten my mother to Stonegate to face Julian Dane when she did? Do you know? I don’t. I can’t even imagine. You don’t owe me anything.”
“Are you two arguing?” Gramps asked as he walked up to them.
“No, Sir,” Addie said.
“I want to say thank you, Addie. I don’t know what we would have done.”
Addie reached out and hugged Gramps. “You’re welcome. I hope all of you like the house. And we’ve got a great supper ready for you, thanks to Miss Mattie at Stonegate.”
“We’ve got to get mom out and into the house, Addie.” Donnie said as he shook his head and looked down at the ground. “Just let me say how grateful all three of us are, and I will repay you one day.”
“I’m just happy we could do it. Mama and Miss Mattie had a great time choosing furniture and furnishings for it – from the stuff stored at Stonegate. We hope you like it, and we put in a bed for you, Gramps just in case you want to stay. If you want to move back here, we’ll furnish the apartment for you.”
“Thank you, Addie, more than I can ever tell you.”
Ben had taken over getting Denise out of the van, and Addie was watching him walking toward the house with her in his arms. She wasn’t sure how she felt seeing another woman in her daddy’s arms. She didn’t like it, she knew that.
Donnie sighed loudly and shook his head. “Ben seems to think that Gramps, nor I are strong enough to carry her. He has taken care of mom all the way here.”
“I’m sure you could. She’s so small.”
“She’s five foot-two,” he said as he lifted suitcases from the van.
“But you and Gramps are about six feet.”
“Right. But mom’s mother was a small person, and my Grandmother Whitefield was pretty big. And, Addie, there are some things about me that I need to tell you. I hope we can have some time together before we go back to school – just to talk.”
“I do too, Donnie. I’ve been so busy, but now that daddy is home, he’ll help me with a lot that I’ve been having to do.”
“Donnie!” Ben called from the door of the house. “Bring the walker.”
Donnie reached into the van and brought out the folded walker to add to the three suitcases he was carrying. “Got to get it all unloaded,” he said.
> “And I’ve got to go help mama with supper. What can I carry?”
Addie was following Della to the Lincoln. “I’m glad daddy decided to wait ‘til morning to unload the truck. He seemed awfully tired.”
“Yes. They all did. And it will give Ben the opportunity to drive your car. He didn’t think the bent in passenger side was too bad, and he thinks you got a good deal.”
“I know. He told me. What did he say about the Lincoln?” she asked as they buckled up.
“Not much, except for admiring it. He seemed a little occupied. Just real tired, I’m sure.” Della turned the key and the big motor hummed into life. She eased the car out from between Ben’s heavily loaded truck and Addie’s white Ford.
“Mama,” Addie said quietly, “how can I dislike someone I don’t even know?”
“Denise?”
“Yeah. I didn’t like the way she depended on daddy to do her every bidding when she had Gramps and Donnie to do for her. And I know she was too tired to look at much of the house, and she did say how much she appreciated it, but she made me feel like it was our duty to furnish her with a place to live. Am I wrong, Mama? We usually share the same feelings. Did you feel any of the same way?”
“Honey, I have to confess I have mixed feelings about her. I don’t know exactly what they are, and I don’t understand it. But it’s like you said, you can’t dislike somebody you don’t even know. And we have to remember that she’s had a very rough time. First, she gives up a good nursing job to go to Florida with her new husband. Then she finds out that the job wasn’t exactly as he had presented it to her – the pay or anything else. Then he gets fired for drinking on the job. And he was drinking when they had the wreck. He was driving, and he didn’t even get hurt. But she was badly hurt, and he just walks off and leaves her. I think we have to take all that into consideration and give her the benefit of a doubt for the time being. Shall we?”
“I’m sure you’re right. And I have to learn to like her – she’s Donnie’s mother. Do you think daddy will be right on home? I promised Miss Mattie I wouldn’t be too late, but I have so much to tell him. Mama, could I stay home tonight? I’m sort of homesick.”
The Daughters of Julian Dane Page 55
