by Jeff High
“And an old journal.”
“And an old journal.”
“I have to admit,” I said, “you’ve made me curious.” I leaned forward, propping my elbows on my desk. “Okay, Christine Ann Chambers, time to confess. What deep, dark mysteries are hidden in those pages?”
Folding her arms, Christine eased back in her chair, wearing a flirtatious expression of stealth and amusement, her eyes full of secret warmth. “Not happening, Bradford.”
“Oh, I see. So that’s how it is, huh? Well, no matter.” I slumped back into my chair. “Actually, besides my journal, there are three pretty important things I want to find in the Atlanta storage.”
“Oh?”
“Yep. There’s a box of old family photo albums and some of my mom’s jewelry that I want to bring back with me.”
Christine nodded thoughtfully. “Your mother’s jewelry . . . hmm.” She unfolded her arms and tucked a strand of her long brown hair behind her ear. Given the intensity of our relationship, I was sure she was curious about the mention of my mother’s jewelry, but she was tactful enough not to ask. Her voice was tender and accommodating.
“Well, that all sounds very sweet. I’m sure it would be nice to have some family photos and some things of your mom’s around you.”
I stared at the bookshelves that lined the walls of my stately office, formerly the library of the antebellum home turned community clinic.
Christine’s words conjured my best memory, my mother. Evelyn Bradford was a slim, tall, elegant woman with sandy hair and sky blue eyes, traits that I had inherited—except perhaps for the elegant part. I remember Aunt Grace, my dad’s sister, once telling me that my mother had the prettiest legs she had ever seen. My mother was an only child and had come from a modestly wealthy family in Atlanta. Yet when my father, a doctor like myself, had set up practice in a rural Georgia community, she had willingly embraced small-town life.
In all my memories of her, whether sitting at a Little League game, going out for an evening, or working in her flower beds, she always wore a pearl necklace. As gracious and approachable as she was, there was something in my mother’s private definition of herself that wanted to hold on to the aura of her Buckhead upbringing, a keepsake of her roots. I wanted to find those pearls.
I did, in fact, have definitive plans for some of my mother’s jewelry. But I was far from ready to divulge any particulars. The musical sound of Christine’s voice pulled me from my momentary trance.
“Luke, what is the third thing you’re hoping to find?”
“Excuse me, the what?”
“The third thing. You said that besides your journal, there are three things you will be looking for in storage.”
“Oh yes.” I nodded and smiled softly. “There’s something very special, something very dear to me from my younger days that I want to give you.”
Christine leaned forward in her chair. Her entire body language seemed to be melting toward me in an expression of yielding endearment. She spoke in a pleased, excited voice. “Oh, and what would that be?”
“My old Beavis and Butt-Head T-shirt.”
The pencil she sent flying only barely missed me.
CHAPTER 5
The Sisters
There was still plenty of warmth and daylight to be enjoyed when shortly after five we walked out to my car. Since Christine was a schoolteacher and off for summer break, we had a delightful flexibility in scheduling our time together, which of late had become a daily expectation. We laughed at ourselves about this new reality. I was thirty and Christine was in her late twenties . . . both of us old enough to have developed very independent lives. Yet our hunger for each other’s company had become part of every day.
“Listen,” I said, “I’ve got a house call to make in about an hour. You want to grab a bite to eat before I go?”
“Sure? Is the house call anything serious?”
“Nah, just following up on something. It’s out past Gallivant’s Crossing in the Mennonite community. Let’s drop by the bakery. Estelle may have some wraps left over from lunch.”
Christine climbed into the passenger side of my convertible, a 1960 Austin-Healey. I could never have afforded such an expensive second car had it not been willed to me by one of my patients who passed away. Watervalley’s local mechanic, Chick McKissick, had beautifully restored the classic roadster.
I drove the few short blocks to the downtown square and the newly opened Sweetlife Bakery. Connie Thompson, my saintly, stern, and unexpectedly wealthy housekeeper, and her flamboyant sister, Estelle Pillow, were the owners.
Despite her sixty years, Connie was a lively, robust black woman with a brilliant mind, a no-nonsense demeanor, and a heart of gold. Soon after my arrival the previous year, she had agreed to keep house and cook to help me make a smooth transition as the new town doctor. After a rocky start, she had become a beloved friend. Now she came to help out only once or twice a week, but we still enjoyed an endearing relationship.
Estelle was in her early fifties and had recently retired from a professorship at Vanderbilt University to return to Watervalley and start the bakery. Originally, Connie had been less than enthusiastic about the new business, but eventually she had warmed to the idea and had become a silent partner in her sister’s venture . . . at least, silent in the figurative sense.
I parked the car in front. As we entered, I noticed something odd down the street. Luther Whitmore had just walked out of the Tilted Tulip, Watervalley’s local flower shop, and was carrying a bouquet of daisies. With his face framed in its familiar scowl, he walked straight to his car, oblivious to the rest of the world. Luther’s buying flowers for someone was pretty much on par with a sign of the Apocalypse. I turned and followed Christine inside the bakery, curious about what I had just seen.
We found Connie and Estelle in the kitchen; squared-off with arms folded, they were engaged in a highly audible and enthusiastic discussion. In any other setting, this would be known as yelling, but with these two, it was daily discourse laced with a peculiar, underlying bond of affection.
“Estelle, sweetie! I know that technically corn bread is bread, but I don’t think we should put it with the ciabatta and the baguettes.” Connie was in rare form, lecturing her younger sister.
“Well, I can’t believe my ears, Constance Grace. You’re talking about Momma’s corn bread recipe. It was so good people wanted to write poetry about it.”
“Oh heavens, girl. Cousin Shirley tried to get Momma to make it for a wedding cake. Everyone knows it’s good. But you’re putting it in the wrong display.”
It seemed that both sisters were masters of speaking passionately under a facade of detached indifference, as if a breezy boredom were crucial to the art of arguing.
Estelle still wasn’t yielding. “I’ll have you know I went through a very meticulous process to determine where to put the corn bread.”
Connie regarded her skeptically. “Mmm-hmm. And what process was that? The one potato, two potato, three potato method?”
“Constance, you know when you start talking like that, it only means there’s no logical basis for your argument.”
“Estelle, honey, I’m just saying the corn bread ought to be with the chess pies and other Southern baked goods and not in the artisan breads display. It’s just not efficient.”
This insight deflated some of Estelle’s bluster, and she hesitated for a moment. I suspected she finally saw the wisdom of Connie’s assertion but wasn’t quite ready to acquiesce. She responded with a reserved voice and raised chin. “We’ll see. Efficiency takes time.”
With that pronouncement, she walked triumphantly across the kitchen and back out to the front of the store. As she passed us, she offered a gushing and engaging “Hi, you two,” to Christine and me, flipping her hand in a sprightly manner and radiating a bubbly smile as if addressing an i
nfant in a carriage. The two of us grinned, doing our best to muzzle our outright laughter. As always, Estelle and Connie’s exchange lacked any real sting of hostility. It was their norm for spirited conversation.
Meanwhile, Connie had removed her glasses and was rubbing the bridge of her nose. She stared straight ahead in bewilderment.
“Mmm-mmm. Efficiency takes time. I’m going to have to dwell on that one for a while.” She shrugged, gushed a short laugh, and turned to us. “So, how are you two lovebirds?”
“Hungry,” I responded. “And sorry about barging in on the business meeting, but it was just too entertaining to walk away from.”
Connie cut her eyes at me and spoke with her usual deadpan intonation. “Mmm-hmm. Do tell.” She shook her head in exasperation. But then, just as quickly, she exhaled another abrupt laugh. “It’s just my crazy sister, the pain de boulanger, being a pain in the you know what.” The hint of a smile remained at the edges of her mouth.
My close relationship with the two sisters afforded me carte blanche access to the treats of the bakery. I casually grabbed one of the newly frosted cupcakes from a nearby worktable. “Ah, come on, Connie. Admit it. Estelle is a load of fun. She’s such a personality, it’s kinda hard not to love her.”
Connie dropped her chin and regarded me from above the top of her gold-inlay glasses. “Why wouldn’t anyone love her personality? She has several to choose from.”
I took a bite of the cupcake and handed it to Christine. Connie spoke again.
“So, big plans for the evening?”
Abandoning any pretense of good etiquette, I spoke through my half-swallowed bite. “Not really. I need to make a house call out in the Mennonite community and work a little of my magic. We thought we’d grab a quick bite first.”
“Mmm-hmm,” Connie responded in low reprimand. “Not if you choke on that cupcake first. Where are your manners, young man?”
I swallowed and continued. “Jacob Yoder came by today and asked me if I would come check on his dad. Apparently his father’s eyesight has gotten worse, but he refuses to come to town to see the doctor. So, looks like the doctor is going to see him.”
“Well,” Connie responded, “that’s certainly good of you.”
“Maybe. Truth is, I’ve never seen a Mennonite village. Thought it might be interesting. What’s the difference between them and the Amish?”
“The two are ecclesiastical cousins, but the Amish are less adapted to modern technology. Even so, the Watervalley Mennonites are an Old Order community and pretty basic.”
“So, no phone, no lights, no motorcar?”
“Yeah, something like that. Anyway, busy day at the clinic?”
“Not too bad. Looked down a few sore throats, put in a few stitches, and did a physical on a rat in a black suit.”
“Oh, so Luther came by to see you?”
“That obvious, huh?”
“His liver finally telling him that he’s not immortal?”
“No. Genetics didn’t take a holiday when Luther was born. He’s got a chink or two in his armor, but otherwise he’s pretty indestructible.”
Connie nodded. She knew that I wouldn’t divulge confidential patient information about Luther, despite how much I disliked him. “Those superpowers must have come from his mother’s side. She was a tall, handsome woman. His father’s people, on the other hand, were a little different. You shake that side of the family tree and a few nuts fall out.”
“Did his father run the newspaper, too?”
“No, Luther inherited it from his mother’s side. His father farmed and had a place near the Mennonite settlement out by Moon Lake. Luther grew up out there. His dad battled lung cancer, so they sold the farm and moved to town when Luther was in his early teens. The family kept Moon Lake to be a homesite for Luther . . . not that he’s ever wanted to live there, the way he’s got it all fenced off.”
“I know. Why in the world did he do that?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. Claire, his ex-wife, and I were friends. Even she didn’t know. Said he never wanted to talk about it.”
I shrugged and let the matter drop. Luther was a curiosity, but he had occupied enough of my world for one day. “Anyway, I was hoping there are a few wraps left over from lunch? Mind if we grab a couple before I head out to the promised land?”
“Check the back fridge and help yourself. We’re about to close up.”
“You and Estelle have big plans this evening?”
This evoked a despairing slump from Connie. She spoke in a breezy monotone. “Oh, yeah. Estelle and I are observing our Tuesday night ritual. We make spaghetti and watch old Elvis movies. She sits there and giggles, and I contemplate setting myself on fire.”
After raiding the fridge, we bid Connie good-bye and made our way back out to the front of the bakery, where Estelle and her assistant, Louise Fox, were cleaning up for the day.
Louise was my next-door neighbor on Fleming Street. In her early forties, she was a widow raising a brilliant, albeit quirky, thirteen-year-old son named Will. The sudden loss of her husband more than a year ago had left Louise in a spiral of alcoholism and imminent bankruptcy, but a recent turn of fortune had restored the family’s financial standing, and with Connie’s help, Louise had recovered from her struggles with addiction. She smiled warmly at me as we entered.
I left a twenty on the counter, waved, and headed for the door, but not before Estelle, who was more touchy-feely than airport security, came over and grabbed me.
“Now, sugar, you know you can’t leave here without giving me a squnch.”
I played along with enthusiasm. “Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Estelle was a half foot shorter than me, and despite being rather portly and fifty, she had a lively, pretty face. She approached from the side and wrapped her arms around me in a gushing hug, making a deep “mmm-mmm” sound.
She addressed Christine. “Now, don’t be getting jealous, sweetie. Every well-stocked kitchen has a little brown sugar in it.”
Christine’s improvisation was quick and natural. “I don’t know, Estelle. You’re kind of the total package. I’m feeling a little threatened.”
Having squeezed most of the oxygen out of me, Estelle finally let go and took a step back. She lifted her head in a rather queenly fashion and spoke airily, as if making a closing soliloquy. “I know, I know. But don’t worry, dear. For you, I’ll keep my irrefutable charms in check and just play catch and release. There’re always more fish in the sea.”
This brought no small amount of laughter from the three women, who were clearly having a good chuckle at my expense. I smiled, shrugged, and put my hand lightly on Christine’s back, ushering her toward the door.
Estelle continued laughing, quite pleased with herself. “You two have fun.”
As we exited, I noticed that two doors down, Trina Hamilton, the owner of the Tilted Tulip, was locking up for the day. I asked Christine to give me a minute, and I walked toward Trina. Curiosity had gotten the better of me.
“Hey, Trina, mind if I ask you a question?”
“Oh, hi, Dr. Bradford.” Trina was a small but pert and engaging woman. She dressed smartly and had short blond hair with bangs that wonderfully accentuated her lively brown eyes. She had a degree in marketing and had been an account manager with IBM before moving to Watervalley. Her outgoing and winning personality had a professional polish a notch above the norm. She had both a love and a gift for flower arranging and had owned the shop for almost a decade.
Trina peered around me, noticing Christine standing next to the Austin-Healey parked down the street. “I can open back up if you want to buy some flowers, Dr. Bradford. But I think you’ve lost the element of surprise.”
“Thanks. Actually, I just have a question.”
“Sure.”
“Was that Luther Whitmore I saw coming out of here a little while ago?”
Her puzzled face relaxed into an amused smile. “It sure was.”
“Any idea what that’s all about?”
She nodded her understanding. “Does seem odd, doesn’t it? Every year on May twenty-seventh, Luther comes in and buys a bouquet of daisies. It’s always the same. He calls ahead and places the order, comes in and complains about the price, then buys them and leaves. It’s just speculation, but I figure it’s his mother’s birthday and he puts them on her gravesite.”
“Well, I guess that makes sense. Even Luther had a mother.” I paused and smiled. “Sorry to be so nosy. It just struck me as strange.”
Trina smiled warmly. “Tell me about it.”
“So, daisies, huh?”
“Yeah, same every year. Kind of an odd choice.”
“Why is that?”
“Plenty of daisies grow wild in the countryside. Luther can pick them just about anywhere.”
“I suspect he would rather wear a tutu than be seen picking flowers.”
“Sounds about right.” She tilted her head and glanced around me, once again observing Christine waiting at the car. “Anyway, you should surprise that pretty girl with a dozen roses sometime. Rumor has it that women like that kind of thing.”
“So noted,” I responded heartily.
“We do weddings too, you know, Dr. Bradford.”
I swallowed hard and spoke with a discerning smile. “Let me try the dozen roses sometime and we’ll see what happens.”
Trina’s eyes twinkled. “Funny thing, I haven’t met a woman yet who thought later was better than sooner.”
I smiled obligingly and held up my hand in a gesture of departure. “Thanks, Trina. I’ll get back with you . . . sooner.”
I returned to the car, and to Christine’s amused scrutiny.