Julian

by Kathi S. Barton

  “They’re not from here. I mean, not even this state.” Dad told him they were born in Ireland but wouldn’t be able to claim citizenship there because of there being no certificate of birth. “That is so sad. I mean, to come all the way here to give them away. It must have been the hardest thing she’s ever done. Besides giving birth.” “She’d done that on her own too. Birthing twins without nary a bit of help.” His respect for the mother went up off the spectrum. “I showed her pictures of the nursery. And of them with their sister. You can imagine that she’s very happy.” “Dad, what are you not telling me? I can’t take anything sad anymore. Please tell me that she’s all right. I beg you to even if you have to lie.” He said that she was just fine. “Then what is it? Tell me.” “Nothing, son. I promise you. I’m thinking that you need to get out more. You’re becoming as bad as your momma, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Oh, did I tell you her roses came in yesterday? She’s so excited that she wanted to go out and start digging up the yard. I told her we’d have to wait at least a few more days. You have to make sure that they’re going to be readied to this area before putting them in the dirt.” He explained to Tess about Mom’s garden and Vonda, who had destroyed it. “She was something else, that woman. And nutty as a fruitcake too.” “Sounds like it. I was wondering about something. You said that the others were on a shopping trip and would be gone for a week.” Dad nodded, and Jules remembered that he’d asked them to find him a couple of things for his office. “I was wondering what they’re doing this for. I mean, isn’t there a place that can just go and get it for them? Like an antique shop that’s not someplace they have to go to?” “They needed this. Every year since they were doctors, Wyatt and Colton go to the convention. This year it was cancelled for some reason. I wasn’t going—I haven’t in a long while—but they decided that they were going to take Levi with them. He’s been in a funk.” Tess asked if they knew why. “Yes, I’m thinking he’s ready to hang up his paintbrushes for some reason. He’s into a lot of other media, but painting has been his favorite. Anyway, I see him going to teach. I think he’d love that.” “Teach? You mean at the local school?” Jules told Tess that it would more than likely be at the college level. “Why not teach down at the shelter? I’m sure that there are people there that would love it. And it’s good therapy too. Painting stimulates the mind for some.” “I’m going down there today and do some crafts with some of them. Not as a teacher, but as a learner. They’re going to have a couple of classes on how to do stained glass. I might not like it, but I’d surely like to try. And next week they’re going to have a glassblower come in. You hiring that girl, Sandra, has been perfect. She has been bringing in someone each week for the past month.” Jules mentioned how Ken was working with her while they were gone. “Yes, and you know what he does? Made me laugh. He tans hides. Not the kind like him, but beaver and others. I guess there is a real market for it. But I never would have guessed that as being a hobby for a wolf.” Lunch was ready and Dad decided to stay, but Mom was coming as well. She came in the door and reached for the babies, not even caring which one she got. It just happened to be Ruby, and she was delighted to see her grandma. Mom said pretty much the same thing his dad had said about holding a baby. Nothing like it. Ruby was sitting in her chair and having part of Mom’s lunch when she just looked at him and said “Da-Da,” again. He was stunned, much like he’d been the first time. Of course, she wouldn’t say it again, but she did clap every time he said it to her. Jules thought that was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard, to be called Da-Da, and he asked Dad how he’d felt the first time it had happened. “Well, Brayden, as you know, wasn’t keen on talking much when he was little. He’d point and then point back at himself with his hands. Then when he did open up to speak, there was no shutting him up.” Mom said that you still couldn’t. “Yes, that’s about right. Then when Christian came along, I swear to you, it was almost as if he were a lawyer already. He would sit and study things before making any kind of decision about what he wanted and how much of it. The rest of you, including you, took to talking like you had plenty to say and you weren’t going to waste any time in saying it.” The girls were laid down for their naps and Jules needed to get to work. Unless needed, he’d only work after lunch on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then on Tuesdays he had meetings and on Thursdays he’d do paperwork. So far it had been working out well, and he was getting more done than his predecessor had ever done. Walking to his office, he waved at some of the people and stopped to talk to a couple more. Things in this little town weren’t great, but they were getting there. Jules stopped to watch the construction going on at the school. A new cafeteria, as well as new playground equipment, was going to be nice. “Hello, Jules.” He nodded at Mr. Hamby. “I was wondering what you’re planning to do with the old wood that you take out of the building on Sanders Street.” “What wood? Oh, you mean the old flooring. Nothing that I can think of, but then my dad owns that building. They’re in pretty rough shape. Did you want to build yourself something with them?” He shook his head and started to explain. “I’ve been off work for some time now. I have a lot of woodworking equipment that was my dad’s and father-in-law’s. I was going to try my hand at some goo-gaas like they sell at the arts and crafts show in the fall. I get unemployment, but I was thinking that I’d try and make some extra money for the kids’ band and stuff.” He asked him where the show was. “Not far from here. I was hoping that sometime this summer or so, we could get one started here. But the mayor, he was never for it.” They talked all the way to his office. And by the time he’d left him, Howard Hamby was going to see what it took to get an art fair started. They might not have many come this year, but Howie said that he thought it would be a good time to start, what with the town starting to perk up a bit. When he got to his office, a group of people was waiting in the lobby. He hadn’t any idea what was going on, but he went on up to his office. Mrs. Crock, his new secretary, was there waiting for him. He asked her what was going on.

  “They want to have a street party.” He nodded. Jules wondered if Howie had told someone already. “The band, they took second in state, and you know that the football team did just as well. They want to celebrate in the street, and try and raise some cash while they’re at it. You know, selling things they might have made. We used to do it a lot more when the baskets were in full swing.”

  “Call Howard Hamby, tell him he’s in charge. I think he’ll do it.”

  They were both laughing when she left him. Picking up the phone, he called his mom.

  “Mom, what do you know about street fairs?”

  Chapter 12

  Colton watched the people look at the items in the sale. He didn’t care for tag sales, but auctions he could get into. He’d done a lot of them in his younger days, when he would flip things for cash. Today he was in the market for some things for his own home. Wyatt came up to him just as his turn came up to get a bidder number. “Can I bid on your number?” He told Wyatt that was fine. “Good. Can he have two cards? That way we can keep them separate.” As they were walking away, Colton asked Wyatt what he’d been looking at. “Believe it or not, not too much. I just love coming to these things. Where is Levi?” He said that he was flirting with the woman at the pop stand. “Figures. Anyway, you have your eyes on anything?” “Yes, several things. There are a few desks that I really like.” He took him to them, but neither of them really looked. They didn’t want to show anyone they were interested in them. “I need a house, though.” “Yeah, I just heard from Dad. Did you know that the old mayor’s house is for sale?” Wyatt said he loved that house. “Well, good, he bought it for you. And before you ask me how much it was, I haven’t any idea. All he told me was he got a good deal, and that he’ll see you when we get back. If you want the desk, he said that the house is empty but for a few things. He’s having the refrigerator and stove replaced today. Dad said they were nasty.” “Great.” He agreed with him. “All right then, time to do some serious looki
ng. Oh, you should have a look at the stuff back in the house. Man, that sucker is nice. It’ll go for a bit, solid oak, but it’s really nice.” Wandering around, Colton found several boxes that he’d like to bid on and wrote those down. There was a table and chairs that would have to be cleaned, but he liked them. Once in the house, however, he changed his mind about the table out there and fell in love with the one in the house. Now this was a table for his family. It was oak, like the rest of the furniture in the oversized room. It was an Amish table, where everything had two uses. This could be a table or a deacon’s bench. The entire top of it lifted up and was the back of the bench. The solid wood top had been made from two very different woods, which he thought was done on purpose. He was just sitting it back on its base when a little old woman came to join him. He’d not realized that he was the only one in the house. “There are chairs that go with it, one at each end, and large backed benches that go down both sides of it. My husband’s grandfather made this.” He told her it was lovely. “I do so hate to get rid of it, but there just isn’t any room in my condo that they’re moving me to.” “I’m sorry to hear that.” Forever the doctor, he wanted to cheer her up. “Being way out here in the back of this farm, I bet you aren’t as social as you used to be.”

  “No, not anymore. I’ve outlived three husbands and a cat. Liked the cat more than I did the husbands.” He laughed. “I have a lot of family, and most of those I don’t care much for either. All brats, even my own kids.” “My mom has six sons, and we still listen when she says to jump. Just before I left, she told me to call her when I get to each place on our trip.” She asked if he was here with his wife. “No, two of my brothers. I’m not married.” “Grandma?” She woo-hooed at the young man. “They’re about to begin. Mr. Ploughman wants to know if you’ve decided on this table or not. Do you want to sell it?” “This young man just made me an offer I can’t refuse. He’s getting the chairs as well.” The young man congratulated him, and when he left them, Colton sat down on the bench of the table and patted the seat. “I suppose you’d like to know what that was about.” “I do. And the deal that you and I made. I do want the table, but you had something else in mind, I think.” She said she did. “Your name is Mrs. Spencer, correct?” “Alma.” He felt his heart race. “I had it in my head to sell it, then not to sell it. But when I saw you looking it over, being so careful with the wood, I knew you’d have the perfect place for it.” “I do. How much do you want for it?” She told him that she’d get to that. “I knew of a woman once, named Alma, but she passed away before I could meet her. She and a very good friend died at the hands of another.” “That’s so sad; why would you tell me that?” Colton said he had no idea. “Probably because it’s such an old name. Anyway, the table. I want you to have it. And stop right there if you’re going to tell me no. I loved this table, but not the man who brought it to this house when we were married. He was a mean man, didn’t ever want to use this, and when it came time for him to be buried, I almost said to use it to make his casket. But then his granddaddy, the maker of the table, came to talk to me. He was right nice, let me tell you.” He said that there are some very nice people in the world and that he was sitting with one of them. “You’re a flirt. Does your stern mother know that?” “She does, as a matter of fact. My brother, Levi, he’s ten times worse than I am.” They were laughing. “You said he came to see you. I’m assuming that he had a story about the table.” “I’m almost afraid to tell you about it. It was used as a birthing table when it was necessary. Even a few times, he told me, as a funeral casket stand.” She got up to show him the hidden panel at the bottom of the seat. “See those names? It was like a Bible for him, he told me. All the births that happened, the deaths that were laid to rest, it’s all there. And with that, I’ve kept up the tradition, so to speak. Lives and deaths, but not on this table. Those were his.” “What a tragic yet lovely story.” She asked him what he did for a living. “I’m a Doctor of Psychology. I’m what some call a head doctor.” “Come with me, young man.” She got up, and he realized then how little she was. Shorter than him by a couple of feet, as a matter of fact. They ended up in what he only assumed was her bedroom. The bedroom furniture there wasn’t being sold either, she told him. Going to the little lady secretary, she handed him a photo. Her hands were gnarled with arthritis. Liver marks, he’d heard them called, made her skin looked tanned because there were so many of them. But her nails were painted, and her hair was done up. The dress she had on was probably her Sunday best. He loved everything about Alma Spencer. “That’s my first husband, the mean bastard, his father, and the man who made your table.” He looked at the faded photo and thought of the time they would have had to stand still for this. Then he noticed what they were seated on. “That’s right, the table in the other room. The year of that picture is about eighteen ninety-three. We were married at nine-thirty.” “You can’t be that old.” She told him he was flirting again. “No, I’m not. I had you pegged for about seventy-five to mid-eighties. If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you, Alma?” “I’ll be one hundred and seven on my next birthday.” Pride was all over her face, and he wanted to hug her. “You go on now and have a seat there. Not on my bed, that’s not proper like.” He couldn’t help it, he fell in love with the elderly woman. They sat there for over an hour, and he knew that he was missing everything that he wanted to buy, but he got so much more than he’d ever dreamed possible. She told him stories about her life, the furniture in the house, and how she’d come to have a Model-T Ford in the back of her barn. The two of them even had a slice of pizza together before he wandered outside with her to watch the goings on, as she called them. He was given the pictures of the table and a few more things that she had loved. He tried hard not to take things he thought might be family items, but she said they’d taken what they wanted. Colton bid on and won two of the boxes of stuff that he wanted, and managed to get her recipe box all written in her own hand. When the end of the day came they were still hanging out together, and he invited her to dinner with him and his brothers. “You don’t want an old woman having dinner with you.” They all three said that they’d love to have her company. “Well, then, I’ll do it. I want me a nice steak, and I’ll

  pay.”

  Levi laughed. “A woman never pays when they’re with a Stanton. And tonight we celebrate. I just got a house back home, and the perfect desk to go with it.”

  She went into the house and told them she had to settle up with the man. So when they were finished loading their things, even the table and chairs that he’d never gotten a price on, she joined them. It was going to be a fun night, probably the best he’d had in a very long time.

  Dinner was just how he thought it would be—loud and fun. Alma proved to be just as much of a flirt as she accused him of being. When he asked her again what the table would cost him, she smiled and told him that he’d paid her more than double by just being with her today.

  “Well, I thank you. But I think you’re getting the short end of the stick. I was the one that was charmed by you. And having all the pictures you gave me is going to make my dining room looked better for them being there.” She thanked him, then the other two, for giving her a grand time. When they dropped her off at her home, making sure that she was inside all right with her grandson, who was staying with her, they went to the hotel. It had been a very good day, and they were excited to be moving onto the next home. The phone ringing startled him awake at four thirty. He sat up in bed when he didn’t know the voice of the man on the other end. But when he said that he was David Spencer, for the third time, he remembered he was the grandson of Alma. “Grandma passed away tonight.” His heart broke then, and Colton asked him if he needed him to come there. “No. The ambulance is on its way, and she died with a smile on her face. I got up to see to her and she was already gone. I checked on her all the time. She was pretty old, you know.” “Yes, she told me. One hundred and eight this year.” David cried a little. “I’m so sorry that she�
��s passed on. She was a wonderful lady.” David said that she was. And wondered if he could come by in the morning. “Grandma wrote you a note. She knew, I think. Hugged me extra tight last night, and told me what a good time she’d had with you and your brothers. You certainly did make her happy.” He said he was glad. “If you don’t mind coming by, she told me to make sure you got this before you left. And I was to tell you that she didn’t die in her bed, but on the porch swing out front. I don’t know why that would be important, but I promised her that I’d tell you that.” “Alma was watching the stars, wasn’t she?” David said that she was, actually. “Good. She said that people my age don’t do that often enough, and they miss a great deal.” “She surely did like you, Dr. Stanton. She really did.” After hanging up, he got up to get a shower. They were to meet at the restaurant for breakfast, then head on out. The things that they’d bought were on their way home, and the driver would be returning tonight. It was going to be a while before he bought himself anything so nice as his table. His brothers went with him to the house. There were several cars there, but he was met outside by David. He handed him the pretty lavender envelope and sat down with him at the picnic table. David smiled when he sniffed it. “She loved to smell pretty. Whenever I see or smell lavender from now on, I’ll remember her. She was the greatest grandma—well, my great-great grandma. You go ahead and read it, then her attorney wants to speak to you briefly. It’s not about the table, that is yours, but about his conversation with Grandma last night before you went to dinner.” Opening the envelope, several pictures fell out. He looked at them and knew that one of them was of her as a child. The other two, according to the back of them, were her mom and dad. There was one of a baby that had no name on it, but it was a recent picture. He could almost see her writing the letter, sitting at her desk with her pen and inkwell close by. ~~~ “My dearest friend, Colton. I had so much fun this evening with you that I knew that it was time. No one could be happier, you see, than the three of you made me tonight. I have been wanting to die for several weeks now; my poor old body is just exhausted. You give my boy David a hug for me, and tell him that he was my greatest creation. He’ll understand. “I called my attorney before we left and made some arrangements that he’ll talk to you about. He’s a good man, if a little old. You treat him nicely, like I know you will. He has some things for you that I wish you and your brothers to have. Tell Levi that the desk is very sturdy, and that he can make love on it whenever he wishes. “I love you, dear boy. You have given this old woman a purpose in her final hours. And I cannot thank you enough. Love, Alma Spencer.” “This is a very nice letter.” Mr. Chap wiped his nose again. “That old woman could tear you apart one moment and give you the best hugs in the next. The part where she tells you that I’m old, and you should treat me right? She was like that with everyone until you did her wrong. You must have really impressed her, young man.” “I don’t know what we did other than to hang out a little while and to have dinner together. I never meant for her to do anything. What did she do?” He told him. “I don’t understand what you mean, she left me everything. What everything? And why would she do that?” “I’m sure you don’t have any idea who she might be, do you?” Colton said that he knew her name but that was all. “A. J. Spencer? Does that ring a bell?” “Holy shit.” They all turned to Levi. “She’s the painter. The greatest primitive painter there ever was according to most. I’ve some of her pieces at home.” Mr. Chap laughed, telling him she gave him her favorites. “I can’t take that. Surely the family wanted them.” “Perhaps, but she didn’t want to part with them to them. She told me that there was someone out there that would appreciate them more than her family would. She knew that they’d just sell them off and take the money. Alma wanted you to have them. There are ten, total. They’re being wrapped up to move for you now. You’re a very lucky man.” He said he was amazed that she’d do this. “It was just like her to do something like this.” The room was clearing out now that the family had come by. Albert didn’t care for the rest of them, not like he did David or Alma. She was right in what she’d said to him. They would have sold it all off and been broke in no time. The table that young Colton had gotten was worth thousands, but that’s all it would have been to them. Money. This man would treasure it, he could see that about him. Albert looked at Wyatt. “She said that you were a surgeon that has only just purchased a house. Well, she left you some of her second husband’s things. She said that you were eyeing her collection of old medical books; those are yours, as well as his instruments. Alma thought that a man like you could have fun with them in his new house. Also, all the patio furniture that is off her room, that belongs to you as well. I guess she caught you napping there yesterday.” He nodded and smiled. “You’re a good man, she told me, and I can see it. Yes, I can see that all of you are, and your mother must be very proud of you.” “She is.” Albert looked at Colton. “I’m still upset that she wouldn’t let me pay for the table. She knew that I wanted it, and could have gotten any price she wanted from me.” He told him that she didn’t need the money, but the friendship she did. “What else did she leave me, Mr. Chap?” “Let me tell you something first. The house was going to be bulldozed in a few months. A farmer got the land and has no use for the house. You’re to get the contents of it. There are nine rooms full of furniture, as well as things that you would need for it. Linens that are of the finest quality. The bedroom suite that she used as her own. There are also a few things upstairs, more paintings that she put aside. The desk, I’m afraid, is going to your brother, Levi. She, as you have read, had ideas for his use of it.” They all laughed, but Albert shook his head as he continued. “Colton, she left you the contents of the house. You don’t have to take it all, but whatever you leave will go with the house it’s taken down.” “The contents of this house?” He nodded. “How much furniture are we talking about, Mr. Chap? I mean, I have a big house, but this one is much larger.” “Nine, like I said, such as her bedroom. There are more desks and chairs too. Things that her family didn’t know about, or she supposed weren’t able to get into. There is her jewelry collection as well. Not all of it is real, but enough that you could sell it should you want and make some money.” Colton asked about the fees. “There are none. She made this happen as part of the table that you purchased yesterday. Oh, I nearly forgot, you need to pay for that. One dollar, if you please.” He stood up and pulled out his wallet. Even the man’s wallet said humble and friendly. “Thank you. I don’t know what to say.” Albert told Colton he’d said plenty when he’d talked to Alma. “She did too much for us, but you can bet that I’ll take care of it all. I just can’t believe this.” “You made her happy, and that, my dear boy, is more than anyone ever did for her. But I have a favor to ask of you.” He told him anything, just as Alma said he would. “David—other than the hug you owe him, he’d like for you to help him out with one more thing. He wants to drive the Model-T just once before you take it. You will be taking it, won’t you?” Colton was still laughing when he left the house. Albert loved that he was going to get her things. Loved even more that her stingy family wasn’t going to get any of it. Looking upward, he told Alma that he’d done as she asked, and told her that she was a good judge of character. He could not wait for Ray to find out about this. The letter to her went out in the morning post. ~~~ Ray put the final touches on the furniture that she was having photographed. If this guy continued to give her shit, she was going to fire him and do the work herself. She could do it too. She was taking her own advertising pictures before this guy knew that a camera pointed toward the thing you were shooting and not at himself. “Ray, there’s a letter for you.” She glanced at her assistant and just gave him the look. “You have to sign for it. It has your name on it. From somewhere in West Virginia.” “That’s family. Tell the man that I don’t sign for things that are from my family.” The guy came around the corner and told her if she didn’t accept this, he’d not get paid. “How much will you make? I’ll pay you.�
� “I can’t do that either, ma’am. I would lose my job then.” Christ, she hated people and their rules that didn’t apply to her. Which in her way of thinking, none of them did. Signing her name to the paperwork, she took the envelope and threw it in the trash. Going back to her work, she finished the entire set before she finally fired the photographer. “Because when I tell you to show up here at ten, that does not mean eleven-thirty. When I say the lighting is all wrong for what I want, you’re supposed to say, how much lighting do you need? And then—” “Then you will not get the pictures.” She put out her hand and told him to give them to her. “No. You’re not a nice person. And these belong to me.” “Did your company pay you to come here and work with me?” He nodded. “Then you’ve been paid for them, with my money. Fork the drive over or I’ll put a fork in you and finish you off. I’m serious. I don’t have time for your shit anymore today.” He started for the door and she just nodded at security. As soon as he handed over the drive, she picked up the phone and called his boss. Enough was enough. “Margo, it’s Ray of Ray’s Furnishings. I would like to tell you about the run-in I had with the photographer you sent me today.” After telling her everything that she’d had to put up with, she ended with telling her that he’d tried to refuse to hand over the pictures. “I’ll have to probably reshoot the entire thing, because his way was apparently the only way that there is to shoot my catalog.” “I’m so sorry, Ray. You have no idea how many people have called me today about him. I’m so sorry.” She asked why she’d send him to her if he was an obvious problem. “He’s the only one we had today.” Hanging up on her, she knew she had to find a different firm for the catalogs now. And when she was finished with that, she’d have to reset the furniture and do it herself. Fucking asses. When she sat at her desk, she saw the envelope had been put on her blotter. Picking it up, she nearly threw it away again when she read who it was from. Albert Chap. Great grandma’s attorney. Taking a very deep breath then letting it out slowly, she opened the letter up. Before she could get it unfolded, her phone rang. Picking it up without looking, she answered with just her company name. “Ray’s Furnishings, how may I help you?” The caller demanded that she put Ray on the line, that it was her father. “I’m sorry, sir, Miss Ray has left for the day. May I take a message?”