Tie Died

by Carol Dean Jones

  Publisher: Amy Marson

  Creative Director: Gailen Runge

  Acquisitions Editor: Roxane Cerda

  Managing Editor: Liz Aneloski

  Project Writer: Teresa Stroin

  Technical Editor/Illustrator: Linda Johnson

  Cover/Book Designer: April Mostek

  Production Coordinator: Zinnia Heinzmann

  Production Editor: Jennifer Warren

  Photo Assistant: Mai Yong Vang

  Cover photography by Lucy Glover and Mai Yong Vang of C&T Publishing, Inc.

  Cover quilt: Tie Died, 2012,

  by the author

  Published by C&T Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549

  A Quilting Cozy Series

  by Carol Dean Jones

  Left Holding the Bag (book 10)

  Tattered & Torn (book 9)

  Missing Memories (book 8)

  The Rescue Quilt (book 7)

  Moon Over the Mountain (book 6)

  Stitched Together (book 5)

  Patchwork Connections (book 4)

  Sea Bound (book 3)

  Running Stitches (book 2)

  Tie Died (book 1)

  Dedicated to Phyllis

  Acknowledgments

  My sincere appreciation goes to my friends Phyllis Inscoe and Janice Packard, as well as to my sister Pamela Kimmell, for all their encouragement, critiques,

  and suggestions along the way.

  Chapter 1

  Sarah Miller sat at the window of her new home, watching her unfamiliar neighbors doing the familiar things that people do. She was surrounded by unpacked boxes and furniture scattered here and there with little thought to placement. Her bed was made; Martha, her forty-year-old daughter, had insisted on that. Her medications were on the table. There was food in the refrigerator, and a place setting for one was neatly arranged on the kitchen counter. Again, Martha.

  It definitely wasn’t Sarah’s idea to move from the place that had been home for the past forty-two years. “We worry, Mama,” Martha had said in a voice that denoted both concern and annoyance.

  Sarah had finally stopped resisting. Martha strongly felt the house was too much for her mother. Perhaps it was. Sarah and Jonathan had moved into the house in the early 70s right after they were married. They’d both been saving for the down payment, and when the little Cape Cod in King’s Valley went on the market, Jon was there with an offer. It was a settled neighborhood of small homes built after the war, and it had become a haven for newlyweds and struggling young families.

  And a struggling young family was exactly what the Millers had become. Martha was born ten months to the day after their wedding. Sarah left her job at Keller’s Market where she had been working since she graduated from high school. Her days at home felt empty at first, but she made friends in the neighborhood, began gardening, and ultimately had little Martha to keep her busy.

  Jon never complained about the loss of income but was only making a little over $8,000 a year at the time, which barely covered their mounting expenses. Several years after their son Jason was born, things began to look up. Jon moved up to production manager at the factory, and over the next years, the Millers were able to catch up on their bills and even update their home with a small garage and some landscaping.

  Aside from the children, Sarah’s greatest joy came from her garden. Having been deeply influenced by reading The Secret Garden as a child, she was eager to re-create this dream escape. Over the years, she had planted in such a way that, from early spring until late fall, there were blossoms to enjoy both in the garden and in vases around the house. Jon enclosed her garden with a white picket fence, which she immediately covered with rapidly climbing wild roses. She spent every available hour in her garden, lavishing her plant family with loving care.

  Jon had added a garden swing nestled beneath an arbor and intertwined with wisteria. It was there Sarah spent the warm summer days with her family and dreamed of their future. She envisioned the children getting married in her secret garden and the grandchildren who hadn’t come yet playing among the flowers. She hoped her grandchildren would learn the magic of nature in this special place. Her garden had become her solace when the children had left home—first her younger child, Jason, and later Martha, who was reluctant to leave the nest.

  Dreams. Just dreams, she thought.

  * * * * *

  Sarah continued to sit at the front window and daydream while watching the goings-on of her neighbors. Each had a small one-story house like hers, with a front door, two windows, and a small porch. All were attached in groups of five. Each had a small square of grass and a tree. Each had a story.

  There were several people outside—mostly women, probably in their late sixties—but her attention fell on the couple sitting on the porch across the street. They were older than most of their neighbors. The wife was sewing something, perhaps a quilt. The husband was reading. They rarely spoke, but when they did, their expressions were gentle. Loving, even. Comfortable. There was a calmness about them that came from years of familiarity and a shared life.

  I thought Jon and I would be like that couple.

  Chapter 2

  Sarah spent the next few weeks getting settled. But as she chose new places for her pictures and mementos, she found herself reliving earlier times. School pictures of the children brought a reluctant smile. She wasn’t happy about this move, but remembering Martha’s soft giggle and Jason’s boisterous childhood games softened the pain. Seeing little Arthur’s picture caused her heart to ache for her only grandson. He had been gone now for seven years—a second and nearly unbearable loss.

  Jon would have loved Arthur. He was so much like Jason as a child.

  Thinking about Arthur and Jon led her to the carved cedar chest. She began sorting through the neatly packed contents. She had kept many of Jon’s personal items in his old service footlocker; it hadn’t been opened for years and sat unopened even now. But the cedar chest was different. It was often opened just to enjoy the endearing memories it held: anniversary cards, letters, and pictures too special to share in the family album.

  She held his watch to her heart and sat down on the bed. She allowed herself to remember that summer day eighteen years ago when two uniformed policemen approached the house. One was young and appeared reluctant to climb the two steps up to the front porch. The other was older and more confident, but also appeared somewhat reticent.

  “Mrs. Miller?”

  “Yes, I’m Sarah Miller,” she had said with a smile. She was forty-eight then, but her friends said she looked much younger. She wore her soft blond hair loose and to her shoulders the way Jon liked it. She was wearing a ruffled apron and carrying a basket of freshly cut roses. Jon had invited several people from the plant home for dinner. Sarah loved to have company, although she had few opportunities. The dinner table seemed empty now that the children were grown.

  The roast was in the oven, and the sweet smell of freshly baked pies wafted through the screen door. “Just let me put these down.” She moved away from the door and returned quickly without the basket. “There. Now, what can I do for you gentlemen?”

  Sarah opened the wood framed screen door and joined the men on the porch. As she did, she caught the eye of the youngest officer for just a moment as he lowered his head. In that moment she sensed his distress. She felt her own heart stir as if it were moving to a safer place in her chest.

  “I’m Officer Parker,” the older officer said gently. Too gently, she thought. She felt a stirring in her head, a kind of lightness as if her knowing was also searching for a safer place. She felt momentarily unsteady. The older officer reached out for her arm, stopping just short of touching.

  “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Miller, but there’s been an acciden
t at the factory.” He paused. Something moved in the depths of her soul. He caught her just as she collapsed.

  Later that day, Sarah found herself in her bed. Martha and Jason were sitting on the settee Jon had bought her for their twentieth anniversary. She had told him that was what she wanted, and she never asked how he was able to find it. Surely he had no idea what a settee was. Maybe Martha helped him.

  “Did you?” she asked Martha. Her words were slurred and her eyes unfocused.

  “Did I what, Mama?” Martha leaned over her barely conscious mother and gently kissed her cheek. “Did I what?” she repeated softly. Doc Collins had just left, and Martha and Jason were alone with their mother.

  Sarah couldn’t answer. She wasn’t sure what she was asking. Something about the settee? And, for a moment, she didn’t know why she was in her bed or why the children were there. But like an ocean wave washing over her body, she was suddenly submerged into the remembering. She struggled to catch her breath, but the remembering was too strong... an accident ... didn’t make it ... dead. Jon is gone. Sarah began to sob softly before slipping again into medicated sleep.

  Months passed without Jon and without joy.

  Chapter 3

  “Aretirement community?” Sarah had retorted indignantly. “And what about my job?” she added with a stiff smile designed to hide her mounting anger.

  Jason had warned Martha that their mother would not take this suggestion well. “It makes sense for her to move to a safer place, but, Martha, you know her,” he had said. “She’s become fiercely independent since Dad died. Besides, she’s fixated on that garden of hers, not to mention her job. She’ll work there until she falls over in the produce department. There’s no way she’ll accept moving to an old folks’ home.”

  “It’s not an old folks’ home, Jason,” Martha argued. “It’s a retirement community. She’ll have her own house in a neighborhood with other people her age. And when she needs more services, they’ll be available. This is perfect for her.”

  “Well, maybe,” Jason conceded. “But she’ll never go for it.” Martha was determined to try despite her brother’s protests. “As for your job, Mother, you’re sixty-eight years old. You’ve worked since Dad died, and you deserve to retire and take life easy. Being on your feet all day is taking a toll on you, and you know it. Your back hurts. Your feet hurt. Just come with me and look at Cunningham Village. You don’t have to commit yourself. Just look.”

  “Commit myself,” Sarah mumbled. “I might as well commit myself before you kids do it for me.”

  “Come on, Mother. That’s crazy. We’re just trying to help.”

  Why is it that grown children think it’s helping when they treat you like a child? Sarah wondered.

  But in the end, she agreed to go see Cunningham Village. It was just across town. As they pulled past the security kiosk, Sarah spoke for the first time. “This is really compact, isn’t it, Martha?” She offered this comment with a smile on her face and just a trace of sarcasm in her voice. “I see little connected houses—rows and rows of them. And I noticed an apartment building touting assistance with living, whatever that could possibly mean.” The sarcastic tone was building.

  Suddenly her eyebrows shot up and with incredulous surprise, she said, “Oh look. I see a nursing home, and ...” she continued with mock excitement, “... as we were driving in, didn’t I see a cemetery across the way? Very handy indeed. I won’t even need to call a cab when I die. I can just walk across the street and heave myself into a hole.”

  “Mother.” Martha stopped the car abruptly and turned to look at her mother, ready for a fight. But instead of defiance, she saw despair in her mother’s eyes. She wished she had never taken this on. Jason was probably right. They should just leave her alone. Let her stay where she was and do what she wanted. And they could just continue to worry.

  With a sigh, Martha started up the car. “Let’s just go home, Mother.”

  But in the end, Sarah had complied. As she continued to unpack, she quietly wondered why she had succumbed to Martha’s insistence. In a way, she knew this was probably the right thing to do. That didn’t make it any easier, but as she began to get settled into her new place, things didn’t look quite so bleak. Sarah was a strong, resilient woman. She knew she would survive this but wished she could sit in her garden under the wisteria and allow all the new pieces to work their way into a new pattern.

  Perhaps there’s a little space in the yard where I can make a flower bed. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll introduce myself to one of the strangers tomorrow. Or maybe the next day.

  Chapter 4

  “Well, of course you don’t like it here yet. You haven’t even been to the center, and you don’t know about Saturday night movies or the bus that takes us into town for shopping or any of the trouble we manage to get into.” Sophie was a short, rotund woman in her early seventies with a contagious laugh that could be heard up and down the block. She could turn anything that happened in the Village into a comedic episode worthy of a prime-time spot on TV. “Just let me show you around, kiddo.”

  Sophie was her first and only acquaintance, but certainly not for long. Sophie saw to that. By the end of the week and after two parties thrown by Sophie herself, Sarah had met two or three dozen of Sophie’s “closest friends,” as Sophie called them.

  “Mother, I’ve called and called. Are you ever home? Where are you? Call me.”

  Answering machines. Sarah made a mental note to return Martha’s call tonight and disconnect that annoying machine. But today she was taking the neighborhood shuttle to the center with Sophie and several of her friends who lived on their block. Sarah’s neighbor Andy said he might tag along as well.

  The group boarded the little bus at the corner of their street, but at each stop others joined in. Sophie had apparently arranged another party—this one on the road. By the time the group arrived at the center, there were fourteen people, mostly women. Sarah had no idea what to expect of the center. She had only been told, “You’ll love it.” And love it she did.

  From the outside, the center appeared to be a large institutional building, which immediately turned her off to the whole idea. But once they went inside, she was amazed. The building had apparently served some other purpose in its previous life, perhaps as a warehouse of some sort, but it had been completely gutted and rebuilt. The ceiling above the lobby was two stories high, and the center of the lobby was filled with plants from the tropics that nearly reached the skylights. As she looked up, she could see an upper-level walkway overlooking the lobby. Andy said there were classrooms up there. Several glass-sided elevators carried people between the two levels.

  On the first floor were not only the large lobby but also numerous rooms off of it. Many of the rooms had large interior windows revealing the activities that were going on inside. Sarah saw exercise and ballet classes and a pool with five or six people laughing and swimming together. Four wheelchairs were parked by the pool ladder, and she wondered what it must feel like to be restricted to a rolling chair yet be able to break free in the water. She could sense their joy just by watching them cavorting in the pool.

  Continuing around the lobby, there were rooms that appeared to be classrooms. Some were empty, but one in particular caught her attention. “What’s this room?” she asked.

  “That’s our computer lab,” Andy offered. “We can use the computers anytime they aren’t having a class. Do you have a computer?” he asked.

  “I never got one, although my kids thought I should. I was working, and when I was home, I just wanted to be in my garden.” Sarah realized this was only a half-truth. For some reason, she frequently rebelled against anything her children told her she should do.

  “Have you ever used one?” Andy asked, interrupting her thoughts.

  “Well, at the store we had one, but it just kept track of our stock and our hours. Things like that. I could use it for those things but never had a chance to learn anything else. I think I might l
ike to give it a try someday.”

  Sophie joined the conversation at this point and guided Sarah up the hall to the Resource Room. There she picked up a schedule of classes and told Sarah to check out the computer classes. Andy recommended that she start with the basic class. Sarah felt a tinge of exhilaration she hadn’t felt for a long time.

  They continued through the center, and Sarah was surprised to find a small grocery store and a coffee shop. Their group had dwindled to five, and they decided to stop for coffee. Conversations at the table were light and unrevealing, except, of course, for Sophie, who had no qualms about telling anyone about anything. She kept the group in stitches with her stories, and at noon she announced it was time to move on to the dining room.

  Before she moved to Cunningham Village, Sarah had been told the dining room was one of the features, but she had made a decision to always prepare her own meals, feeling that eating in a congregate dining room would only be appropriate for the very old. But here was a beautiful restaurant with white tablecloths and waiters bustling around. They were seated and offered a menu. Sarah had expected a meal to be wheeled in like they did in the hospital.

  “How can they offer this luxurious dining room? We aren’t paying enough to cover this.” Sarah commented.

  “You’re right. This is actually not the regular dining room. That’s in another part of the building, and dinners there are included with our membership. This is a privately run restaurant, and here we pay. But you won’t be paying anything today ‘cause we’re treating you to the meal of your life.”

  Sophie motioned for the waiter saying, “Okay, kid. We’re ready to start.”

  The rest of the group had arrived, and tables were pulled together this way and that to make one large, although oddly shaped, table. There was a great deal of commotion as people shuffled around trying to find the perfect seat. But, of course, Sophie was already in it.