“Then you understand how strong that bond can be between a granddaughter and her grandmother,” said Dolores. “I think my mother and Ophelia understood each other better than Ophelia and I ever did. That is my regret.”
Kate said, “I heard that you have a granddaughter.”
“Yes,” said Dolores, her countenance brightening. “Isabelle. She’s beautiful and intelligent—that is my absolutely unbiased opinion.”
“How old is she?” asked Kate.
“She’s thirteen,” said Dolores.
“That’s just a couple of years younger than my Vanessa,” said Kate. “Do she and Jacob still live in California?”
Dolores’s face suddenly clouded over. “Yes, they do. Isabelle attends a boarding school there so her father can do what he wants. I’d rather have her here with us, but it appears I have no say in the matter.”
An awkward silence followed in which neither Annie, Kate, nor Alice knew quite what to say.
Dolores apologized, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought up our personal squabbles.” She stood up easily, unaided by a chair. “I hear people in the hallway. Maybe we should see what everyone else is doing.”
****
After a trip to the restroom to freshen up, Annie and the others took the elevator down to the lobby of the theater where many of the cast and crew were milling about. Several long folding tables had already been set up, including a food and drink table along one end. Ian, Jacob, Stacy, and Felix were setting up folding chairs around the other tables.
Dolores saw Cyril talking to Professor Howell and excused herself to join her husband. Annie watched as she gave her husband a brief good-morning kiss. It was a sweet moment. Professor Howell looked away. Annie couldn’t tell if he was giving them a moment of privacy or if he was embarrassed—that didn’t seem characteristic of the professor, but his expression was strange. Annie just couldn’t read it.
Peggy was busy pouring a full pot of coffee into a brown insulated carafe, like the ones Annie had seen used at The Cup & Saucer. When Peggy finished pouring up the coffee, she replaced the pot on the coffeemaker and began to make another pot of coffee. Next to the coffee area were three tall stacks of Styrofoam, cups and next to those were rows of individual containers of milk and orange juice. After Peggy had started the next pot of coffee, she set to work opening up bakery boxes full of freshly baked muffins, the kind that Annie often ordered at The Cup & Saucer, and a variety of other baked goods. The smell of coffee and muffins made Annie’s tummy growl.
Annie saw that Stella also was helping to prepare for breakfast, setting out Styrofoam bowls—some full of sugar and sweetener packets, and others full of little creamer tubs—in the center of each table. Alice and Kate went to see if they could help Peggy, and Annie was about to offer to help Stella when Ian looked up and saw her, and walked over to speak to her.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” said Ian with his characteristic smile. He seemed to have combed his hair that morning, but his five-o’clock shadow from the previous evening had turned into salt-and-pepper stubble. This time, Annie had the urge to reach out and run her hand along his jawline, but of course she didn’t, and she silently berated herself for thinking such things.
Ian appeared to be taking in the condition of her hair. She had brushed it—fortunately she carried the basics in her purse—a small brush, and a little zippered case with a tube of face cream, a concealer stick, a small container of cream blush, an eyeliner pencil and a tube of lip gloss—but she was aware that she had not slept well, and that her hairstyle had suffered along with the rest of her. She reached up to run her fingers through her hair.
“You look gorgeous this morning,” said Ian.
“Well, I know that’s a lie, but thanks anyway,” said Annie with a laugh.
Ian’s smile disappeared, but his eyes were still bright. “I never lie, Mrs. Dawson—you do look gorgeous.”
Annie smiled and shook her head. “I think we need to change the subject. Are you the one who arranged all this?”
“Not just me—Stella is the real organizer,” Ian said. “She had us bring up the tables and chairs from the main-floor classroom, where they do presentations for school groups that visit the museum. The coffeemaker, coffee, sugar, and creamer, and the cups, bowls, plastic forks, and napkins are from the volunteers’ break room on the main floor. When I called Jeff at The Cup & Saucer last evening, I did arrange to get a few things—the baked goods, and the milk and orange juice, and he let us borrow a few carafes too. Jacob and Peggy and I walked over there earlier to pick up everything.”
“How is it outside?” Annie asked.
“Still not good,” said Ian. “The wind is fierce. Main Street is pretty much buried, and I’m sure that’s the general condition all over. I called the county commissioner earlier, and he said that as soon as the code white is lifted they’ll be sending out crews to get the main arteries cleared first.”
“So, I guess we’ll be here for a while,” said Annie.
“I don’t doubt that,” said Ian.
Annie excused herself so she could help get things set up. When it was evident that all the cast and crew had made it to the lobby, it was Ian who got everyone’s attention to organize them to begin.
“Morning, everyone,” said Ian. “I hope you all slept well.”
Several in the rumpled-looking group laughed at that.
“Before we have breakfast, a word or two—let’s form two lines, and I think we should let the ladies go first.” A few of the younger men grumbled at that a bit, including Trent Bodkin, Annie noticed, but Ian ignored it and continued. “Let’s have a brief prayer before we begin.” Ian closed his eyes and bowed his head, “Heavenly Father, we thank you for the food we are about to share and for the safety and warmth of this building. We pray for our families, our friends, and our neighbors who are not here with us today, that you would grant them food and safety and warmth as well. These things we ask in Jesus’s name. Amen.”
A few, including Annie, chimed in on the “amen.” Ian looked up and said, “Ladies—please go ahead.”
Annie walked over to Peggy, who was starting another pot of coffee, and said, “You’ve already done more than your fair share. I’ll take care of coffee if it’s needed.”
“I don’t mind, Annie,” said Peggy.
“Neither do I,” said Annie. “Please go ahead.”
Peggy thanked Annie and got in line with Kate and Alice. It wasn’t long before everyone had something to eat and drink, and had found a seat. The coffee situation seemed well in hand, so Annie grabbed a bowl and put a muffin in it, and then poured herself a cup of coffee. Most of the seats were full, but there was a place open next to Jacob Martin. Annie sat down next to him.
“We’ve never had a chance to talk before,” she said. “My name is Annie Dawson.” She shook his hand.
“I remember you from the meeting in the conference room,” said Jacob. “You’re the prompter—right?” Annie had just taken a bite of muffin, so she just nodded. “I hope that’s going well. Some people find that rather tedious.”
Annie swallowed and said, “Sometimes it is, truthfully, but most of the time, I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve never seen a play come together. It’s been a real eye-opener. I’d have never thought there were so many ways to say the same line.”
Jacob laughed. “That’s true. I remember one actor who performed in an earlier play of mine; he would say a key line of the play a different way every night, just to see how the reaction of the audience changed. It was amazing. That was one of my first plays, so I went to most of the performances. I don’t really do that anymore—for one thing, I just don’t seem to have the time.”
“I’ve noticed that we haven’t seen you here that often. Is that because of work back in California?” asked Annie.
“It does have to do with my work there and with my daughter, Isabelle, too. She goes to boarding school, but it’s not that far from my house, so I pick her up and bring her home
most weekends. Professor Howell asked me to come here this week for the Friday and Saturday rehearsals, so I took the red-eye to New York and caught a flight up to Portland Thursday morning—he wanted me to be here for a dinner party he was giving that evening. Anyway, Isabelle knew that I would be away, and since she is at the school, I know she is well looked after. It’s a great school, and she’s getting a wonderful education. It’s kind of expensive, but it’s something that Ophelia and I discussed before she died. Ophelia wanted to be part of those decisions even though she knew she wouldn’t be around to see her daughter grow up. We talked about the future a lot. That’s the way Ophelia was; she was more concerned for Isabelle and me than she was for herself.” Jacob paused and took a deep breath; Annie saw a look of pain cross his face momentarily. “If Isabelle hadn’t liked the school, we had a back-up plan, but it turns out that she really loves it there. She’s smart, and it challenges her, and she’s made a lot of good friends.”
Annie thought about the way that Dolores had characterized her son-in-law’s motive for sending Isabelle to boarding school—so that he could “do what he wants.” It didn’t sound to Annie like Jacob had sent his daughter to a boarding school because he wanted to be free of his responsibility, or because he didn’t care about his daughter. Annie was sure that both Jacob and the Fortescues only wanted the best for Isabelle. How had they come to be at odds?
Jacob pulled out his wallet and opened it. “This is Isabelle’s school picture from this year.”
Annie smiled as she looked at the photograph. Isabelle had brown hair like her father, but her face reminded Annie very much of Dolores—she had the same up-turned nose and the twinkle in her eyes. “She’s adorable,” said Annie.
Jacob flipped to a different photo. “This is a family picture we had taken a couple of years ago. You can see how much Isabelle has changed since then. She was just a little girl, but now she’s growing into a young woman. I just wish that Ophelia were still here. Sometimes, I wonder if I’ll know how to handle a teenage daughter.”
Annie looked at the photograph of the young family—mother, father and child smiling broadly for the photographer. Ophelia was blond and very lovely—a pleasant blend of her parents. Annie asked, “What about your mother, or Ophelia’s mother—couldn’t you ask them for advice?”
Jacob continued looking at the photograph as if it were hard to tear his eyes away. “My mom passed away when I was still in college. My dad still lives here in Stony Point though. I stay with him whenever I come here. It’s been nice to see him more often. As for Dolores—we aren’t exactly on speaking terms right now. I’d hoped that when she and Cyril agreed to do the play, that we could sit down and talk about … well, everything, but I still can’t seem to get through to them. They seem to think that I put Isabelle in boarding school because I didn’t want her, and I can’t seem to get them to understand that Ophelia and I both agreed that it would be the best thing for her.”
“Perhaps losing their daughter makes them fearful of losing their granddaughter, and they just want to be more involved,” said Annie gently.
“Then they should talk to me instead of blaming me,” said Jacob with some bitterness. “I think that’s what it comes down to. They didn’t like it when we moved to California for my career. I don’t think they’ve ever forgiven me for taking their daughter so far away. When she got sick, it made things worse between her parents and me. It’s almost as if they think she wouldn’t have gotten cancer if we’d stayed on the East Coast. The thing is, moving to California was Ophelia’s idea. She always had more ambition for me than I had for myself. I was painfully shy in high school and in college, but when I met Ophelia and we feel in love, she helped me gain confidence in myself. She encouraged me to stretch my talents and to take risks. I would never have had the success that I’ve had without her.” Jacob became silent and closed his wallet and put it back in his pocket.
Annie wasn’t sure what to say. She liked Jacob and the Fortescues; they all seemed like people of good character, but sometime in the past misunderstanding had crept in and caused the lines of communication to break down. Annie wished there was something she could do, but she didn’t know how to change their attitudes toward one another.
14
Since the snowstorm hadn’t yet abated, and no one seemed to know when the roads would be clear, or when the cast and crew of King Lemuel’s Treasure would be able to get home, Saturday became an all-day rehearsal. The code white was lifted, but only authorized vehicles were allowed on the highways until the main highways were cleared. Ian said he hoped that Main Street would be cleared by noon, but he didn’t sound certain it could be done.
Professor Howell relaxed his rule about allowing cellphones to be used during rehearsals, so occasionally, Annie would hear some different ringtone as family and friends contacted each other to make sure they were safe. Kate called Vanessa again to make sure she was still all right, and Peggy talked to Wally and Emily, who wanted her mother to come home so they could go outside and build a snowman and make snow angels.
Stella didn’t have a cellphone; she said she refused to get one on principle. Annie had heard her say more than once that she didn’t see why people thought they needed to “jabber away all the time,” and she wished they’d be a little more discreet about what they said in public places. She had used a landline phone inside the building to call Jason the previous evening to let him know she was all right and to check that he was home safe, but she didn’t see any reason to call him again the next day. “He’ll get here when he’s able to,” she said.
Mary Beth called Annie to check on all of her friends from the Hook and Needle Club, and Annie assured her that they were all OK.
“I’m just glad the storm began on Friday after I got home,” said Mary Beth, “so it didn’t interfere with my visit to the radiologist. I hope the roads are clear by Monday.”
“I hope the roads are cleared today!” said Annie. “Boots is home alone, and she’s going to get mighty hungry if I don’t get there soon.”
“I forgot about Boots!” said Mary Beth.
“I’m going to try to call Gwen later to see if I can get a report about the conditions on Ocean Drive,” said Annie. “If it’s too bad, I may call Jeremy, the boy who clears the snow from my driveway. He has a snowmobile, and I know he’d be willing to go to the house to feed Boots.”
“Well, I’m not even going to try to get out,” said Mary Beth. “Even if the roads are cleared somewhat, I can’t imagine there will be anybody beating on the door to get into A Stitch in Time on a day like this.”
Annie advised Mary Beth to curl up with a good book or to put on a DVD and just relax for the rest of the weekend. She added that she would see her Tuesday at the Hook and Needle Club meeting.
Professor Howell started rehearsal about eight o’clock that morning, and it was almost ten when he called for a break. The snow seemed to have let up some, though the wind was still strong with sudden gusts that would send the snow that had already fallen into white swirls that spun in the air like white tornadoes. Several people took the opportunity to bundle up in their winter gear to walk over to The Cup & Saucer or go out to the parking area behind the Walker Building to see what it was going to take to dig their cars out of the snow. Most decided it would be better to wait to see if Main Street was going to be cleared before attempting to move the massive amount of snow that had piled up between the cars.
Annie and Alice had ridden over together in Annie’s car, so they agreed that they would wait until later before they tried to go out. Without anything to change into, they didn’t want to end up having to wear wet clothing all day.
It was Peggy who rounded up the other ladies of the Hook and Needle Club for a private conference in the seating area of the theater. Most of the people who remained in the building were in the lobby getting another cup of coffee or eating one of the few muffins that had been left over from breakfast, but the house seats and the stage appeared to
be empty.
“What is it, Peggy?” asked Stella.
“I just wanted to report that I’ve been talking up our ‘lead’ for the missing tapestry,” said Peggy.
“What lead?” asked Annie.
Peggy looked at her incredulously and said, “Hel-lo! Earth to Annie! Don’t you remember? It was your idea. We planned that we would tell everyone that we had a lead about who might have stolen the tapestry, and that you were going to be checking out some information at the college next week. … Does that ring a bell?”
“I didn’t even think it was all that good of an idea,” said Alice, “but I told a couple of people too. I can’t believe you forgot,” she said teasingly to Annie. “Is that Ian Butler distracting you again? Do you want me to have a talk with him?”
Annie gave her friend a fake grimace. “No, Ian Butler is not distracting me, and no, I do not want you to have a talk with him. I was just thinking about other things.”
“Yeah,” said Alice, “and that ‘thing’ is about six-foot-two with chocolate brown eyes and is crazy about you. I saw you guys talking. There was some definite chemistry going on there.”
Kate tried to stifle a laugh, but was not really succeeding. “Now, Alice, you leave Annie alone. She can’t help it if our illustrious mayor can’t keep his eyes off of her.”
“Oh, forevermore, would y’all stop it?” said Annie.
“I guess we’d better stop,” said Alice, still with a mischievous gleam in her eye. “When the Southern accent comes on strong, that’s when you know that you’re really getting to her.”
“Yes,” said Stella in a no-nonsense tone. “Stop teasing her. This is serious business. I mentioned ‘the lead’ this morning, too, at the table I was sitting at for breakfast. Though, I can’t imagine that any of the people I was sitting with had anything to do with it, since it was Professor Howell and the Fortescues, but I think my voice was loud enough that people at the other end of the table might have heard, or maybe even the table next to us. That’s the advantage of being an old woman; if you talk a little loud sometimes, they just think you’re losing your hearing.”
The Tapestry in the Attic Page 13
