Home on Apple Blossom Road (Life in Icicle Falls)

by Sheila Roberts

  “I know,” Pat said. “Your grandmother had such a fighting spirit, just like many of the other people who worked so hard to bring this town back to life in the early sixties.”

  “But how?” Okay, how had Gram gone from a poor widow to a millionaire?

  “She came into the store one day and asked me to recommend some books on personal finance and investing. Your grandfather had a small life-insurance policy that paid out, and she still had some money left from selling the orchard. She thought maybe she could find a way to do something with it. She took a gamble and invested her nest egg in the stock market, investing in companies she liked, such as Apple and Starbucks.” Pat smiled. “I don’t know how much you follow the stock market, but I remember when Apple was selling for around eight dollars a share in 2005. I wish I’d bought some then, or even when your grandmother did. It was still a bargain. It’s worth a great deal more than that now. I’ll leave it to you to imagine the profits on a thousand shares of Apple stock alone.”

  Colin shook his head, hardly able to believe his ears. “She never said anything.”

  “She wasn’t one to brag,” Pat said.

  Yeah, but still.

  “Is this the last clue?” Mia asked.

  “Yes, it is,” Pat said with a smile.

  The final clue, the end of the line. After this, he’d have to let Mia leave. But, he reminded himself, he’d be joining her soon. Whatever Gram had left them was bound to help them make a new start. Maybe there’d be enough money for a down payment on a house.

  He handed the envelope to Mia and let her do the honors. She opened it and there was another letter from Gram, along with a hand-drawn map that looked like something out of Treasure Island.

  Colin peered over her shoulder and read silently.

  Dear Ones, if you’re reading this, then your treasure hunt is about to come to an end. This is your final clue.

  By now Pat will have told you how I came to escape becoming a poor widow. Although, really, even if I’d never gotten my hands on another cent, I’d have felt rich. There have been times in my life when money was tight—when Grandpa and I were first starting out, when the children were little and we were trying to make a go of the orchard, and of course when I had to put the dear man in that nursing home. That ate through our money in a hurry. But you know, I’ve always been blessed in the things that mattered—good family, good friends, my health, and above all, having a true and faithful love. Really, if a woman has all that, she has everything.

  Still, after Grandpa died, I found myself feeling down, feeling as though I’d failed somehow. I’d lost the orchard and it had meant so much to him. To me, too, and to all of you. That’s not to say I didn’t love my little house. I did, and we made some lovely memories there. But whenever I thought of home, I thought of the house on Apple Blossom Road.

  You’re both young and have many years ahead of you, plenty of time for your hearts to find that special place you call home. Perhaps what I’m leaving you will help.

  So, here are your instructions. Take the map to Apple Blossom Road. It’s where my happiest times were, and it’s where you’ll find my final gift to you.

  “This is it,” he said to Mia. “Looks like we’ll be done in plenty of time for you to catch your flight.”

  “You’re leaving?” Muriel asked, sounding disappointed.

  “I have to get back to Chicago,” Mia explained. “My job.”

  The look Muriel and Pat exchanged wasn’t hard to interpret. What are you two doing?

  “I guess we should get going,” Colin said. “Thanks for the clue.”

  “You’d better pick up a shovel on your way,” Pat said. “You’ll need it.”

  So Gram really did have them digging for buried treasure. And in the apple orchard. Either old Garvey was a real sport to have given permission for them to go digging around there or Gram had bribed him. She’d sure gone to a lot of trouble for them. But then, that was Gram. Colin couldn’t help smiling.

  The smile did a vanishing act when he remembered that soon their time together, here in Icicle Falls, would be at an end.

  * * *

  This was it. Within the hour, she and Colin would have their inheritance. Mia would just have time to run home and gather her things. Then she’d have to get back in her rental car and drive over the mountains to SeaTac airport. She hated having to say goodbye to Aunt Beth and Uncle Mark. Dylan not so much. As for Colin, she hated to leave him again for even a day. Although they’d worked things out, the underlying fear that he’d change his mind and not come to Chicago lurked beneath the surface of her mind like the Loch Ness monster, waiting to grab her newly found happiness and devour it.

  But that was silly. Colin was right; they were meant to be together. Hopefully, whatever they inherited would smooth out any bumps in the road ahead. Maybe it would be enough for Colin to start a business or...something. Whatever it was, they could pool their resources. She’d prove Dylan wrong. She’d show him that she was worth keeping. Maybe she’d even show herself once and for all.

  They stopped by Aunt Beth’s house and Mia waited in the car while Colin got a shovel. Pat must have called Aunt Beth, because she came out to the car. “This is it, huh?”

  Mia nodded. “And a good thing, too. It turns out I have to fly back tonight.”

  Aunt Beth lost her let’s party expression. “You do?”

  “I’m afraid so. I can’t wait any longer.”

  “But we’re going to need to sign a few things, sort out some details.”

  Mia gnawed her lip. “I may have to do that from Chicago. My boss is pretty mad that I’m not already back in the office.”

  Aunt Beth frowned. “I guess that’s the curse of success. Your boss doesn’t sound very understanding.”

  Right now Aunt Beth wasn’t being very understanding, either. No one in Icicle Falls understood the corporate world. “She also has someone to answer to,” Mia said in Andrea’s defense.

  “The advantage of being self-employed,” Aunt Beth said, “is that the only person you have to answer to is yourself. But I understand,” she added.

  No, she didn’t.

  Colin was back now. He put the shovel in the trunk and came around to the driver’s side.

  Aunt Beth leaned down and said through Mia’s window, “Come on over here when you’re done. I’ll be waiting.”

  He nodded and put the car in gear and they were off. Neither one of them spoke, and that was okay with Mia. She was too busy digesting what Aunt Beth had said. Since when was success a curse and not an accomplishment?

  She was still chewing on that when they turned onto Apple Blossom Road. There was the orchard, all the trees lush and green and lovely and holding more than apples. So many memories lived among them. How appropriate that Grandma Justine would send them here for their treasure.

  Following the map, Colin pulled off at the old fruit stand and onto the dirt road that paralleled the orchard on the eastern side. In the distance Mia could see the same old truck they’d seen at the farmhouse, which meant Butch Garvey, the man they’d met when they first started their hunt, was around somewhere, possibly culling the apples with blemishes from the trees. The irrigation system was going, small hoses giving the trees their early-morning drink of water. Mia got out of the car and inhaled the mountain air. Today it smelled of damp earth and growing things.

  She could almost see her younger self darting in and out of the trees, playing tag with Colin. She’d taken a walk with her mother through this orchard before Mama died. It had been a slow and labored stroll, with Mia holding tightly to her mother’s hand, hoping fervently that if she just held on she wouldn’t lose her. She’d learned at an early age that just holding on didn’t work. Maybe that was why she hadn’t fought for what she and Colin had.

  He took the shovel out of
the trunk and came around to her side of the car. “Okay, let’s see what we can find.”

  She opened the map and they studied it again.

  “Starting from the northeast corner, we have to go down ten rows,” he said. He counted the rows of trees and pointed. “Three more rows to the left.”

  She nodded and they fell into step. Mia realized her heart was beating faster.

  They reached the designated row and consulted the map again. “Twenty trees down that way,” she said.

  Mist from the sprinklers drifted on the air, landing on her face and arms. The morning was already warm, and the cool spray felt good.

  A little more walking, a few more paces counted off, and they saw a fresh mound of dirt in between two trees. It looked like a small grave, and Mia swallowed down the sad memories of losses both distant and recent.

  “Jeez,” Colin muttered, and she knew he was having the exact same thoughts. “Well, let’s get digging,” he said with determination.

  Soon a fine sheen of sweat covered Colin’s face and arms, and his T-shirt was damp. He stopped digging and wiped his forehead with one arm. “Poor Uncle Mark if he had to dig this hole. They must’ve said shoot for China, ’cause I think we’re halfway there.”

  “It can’t be much deeper,” Mia said, squatting at the edge of the hole.

  “I hope not. We’re in hard pan now and this stuff is tough digging.”

  “Want me to take a turn?”

  “And get all dirty and gross right before you have to leave? No way.” He jammed the shovel into the ground again and brought up some more earth. A few more shovels full and he struck something hard. “This is it.”

  Now Mia’s heart was galloping. She caught her lip between her teeth and held her breath as he scraped earth off some sort of steamer trunk.

  “A real treasure chest. Leave it to Gram,” he said, and started scraping away more dirt from the edges.

  Another few minutes, and she and Colin were lifting out the chest. He brushed the dirt off the old leather top, undid the hasps and raised the lid. And there inside, in a large sealed plastic bag, was a large manila envelope.

  He looked at Mia. “Well, here goes.” Then he pulled it out and offered it to her.

  She shook her head. “You open it.” Her hands were shaking too much to do it, anyway. Once more she found herself holding her breath as he opened the bag and took out the envelope. She watched as he opened it and pulled out a document.

  His eyebrows drew together, and then he blinked several times in an obvious effort to hold back tears. “Oh, my God,” he said faintly and sat down hard on the damp ground.

  August 3, 2016

  Dear Mother,

  Gerald came to me again last night. He promised to be right there at heaven’s gate waiting for me.

  I’m ready to go. This morning I feel awful. I’m perspiring as if I have the flu and I have a horrible headache and a terrible pain in my arm. I think I’d better call Beth.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Colin stared at the deed. How could this be?

  Mia was kneeling next to him now. “What is it?”

  “It’s the deed to this place.” His eyes were seeing it, but his brain was having trouble processing. The home that held so many memories was now theirs? He felt overwhelmed with gratitude, but it came wrapped in disbelief. He had to be dreaming.

  “Oh, my,” Mia said faintly.

  He heard the sound of heavy footsteps and looked up to see the man he’d assumed now owned his grandmother’s house.

  “Saw your car,” Butch Garvey said. “I see you found what you were looking for.”

  “I thought you owned this,” Colin said.

  Butch shook his head. “Nah. I’ve just been the caretaker. Got a little place over on the other side of town I’ve been renting out to my cousin. Your grandma hired me six years ago to keep the place running for her. If you want, I’ll stay on and help you with it.”

  “She bought it six years ago? Who knew about that?”

  Butch shrugged. “Your dad, I guess, since he’s the lawyer.”

  Colin opened the accompanying piece of folded pink stationery and read.

  If you have any questions, you can ask your Aunt Beth. I love you both,

  Grandma

  Any questions? Yeah, he had a ton of them! Who knew about this besides Aunt Beth, Uncle Mark and Dad? Why had Gram kept it a secret from him? Why hadn’t she moved back? Then there was the most important question of all. What were he and Mia going to do now? He looked at her and saw her wiping away tears.

  “I think we need to go see Aunt Beth,” he said.

  She nodded and they got up and started for his car.

  “Be talkin’ to you,” Butch called after them.

  Gram had left them the orchard. More than that, she’d left him his dream. And a house, and a chance for a new beginning.

  But Mia was leaving for Chicago. He was supposed to move to Chicago. “I don’t know what to do,” he said. He knew what he wanted to do, but that was something entirely different.

  “Like you said, we go talk to Aunt Beth.”

  He’d half hoped she’d say that they should get married and move into the house on Apple Blossom Road. But she didn’t. Maybe all the implications of their inheritance hadn’t registered yet. Or maybe she was so in love with her important corporate life that she didn’t care. She’d been focused on success since high school. Growing apples probably didn’t fit that definition.

  So he could buy Mia out and continue what his grandparents had started. Or he could sell the place and go with her. He felt like the proverbial monkey with his hand stuck in the jar. Let go of what’s in the jar and you can keep Mia. It was a no-brainer—he needed to let go of what was in the jar.

  They didn’t talk on their way back to the car. They didn’t talk as they drove to Aunt Beth’s place, either, and it wasn’t a comfortable silence. They each had a choice to make. She, too, had her hand stuck in a jar.

  They found Aunt Beth at her kitchen table, along with Dad, both nursing lattes. “So you found your treasure at last,” she said.

  Yes, he had, and the treasure wasn’t that orchard, special as it was. The true treasure was Mia. He loosened his grip and pulled his hand free from the jar and was rewarded with a giant swell of love and joy. He put an arm around her shoulders. “Yep, we did.”

  “So you knew about this all along?” Mia asked. “Both of you?”

  Dad wasn’t smiling, but Aunt Beth was beaming. “Yes. Our mother was a very special woman.”

  Dad nodded. “Yes, she was.”

  “Once she made all that money, she was determined to get the orchard back. She knew how much you loved it, Colin, and she’d always felt a little as if she’d robbed you of your birthright.”

  Hearing this made him feel unappreciative, considering what he knew he had to do. “I never thought that.” Yes, he’d been sad to see the orchard go, had envisioned it staying in the family, but he’d never felt entitled to it like some kind of prince or a rich kid waiting for his inheritance.

  “I know. Still, selling it was such a blow. When she realized she had enough money from her investments, she approached the owners and made them a nice offer and they took it.”

  “Why keep it a secret? Why didn’t she tell me?”

  “She was going to,” Aunt Beth said, “but you seemed to be happy in the city and she didn’t want you to feel obligated to come home and take over managing it. So she hired Butch Garvey to run the place and simply sat on it for a while and just enjoyed having it. Then it became apparent that you were...drifting. After she talked with you on your last visit—”

  The Fourth of July. She’d stuffed him with pie and grilled him about his job, the city, his love life, even Mia. He’d finally ha
d enough of getting his sore spots poked and told her to mind her own business. Ugh.

  “She knew she’d been right to buy back the orchard and that it needed to go to you. It was meant to stay in the family.”

  He didn’t deserve it. He wanted to cry. “Why all this running around chasing clues, though?” he asked and saw the corners of his father’s mouth slip farther down.

  “Can’t you guess?” his aunt asked.

  Actually, he could. He looked at Mia and she was blushing.

  “She’d hoped you’d find an even greater treasure than that deed.”

  “We have,” Colin said.

  His aunt’s face lit up. “So...”

  “So we’re going to—”

  “Talk about it,” Mia said, and hauled him out of the kitchen.

  “What’s there to talk about?” he protested as she led him through the living room.

  “What do you mean, what’s there to talk about?”

  “We need to sell it.”

  “Sell it!” Her frown was as deep as Dad’s. She opened the front door and pulled him to the front porch swing, settling him on it. “You can’t sell your family’s orchard, not when Grandma Justine worked so hard to get it back for you.”

  “For us,” he corrected her. “What use have we got for it if we’re living in Chicago?”

  Except, maybe they could keep Butch on to run the place. Surely someday they’d get back to Icicle Falls. Unless Mia kept rising in the company. Then what would they do?

  She sat for a moment, looking at the mountains rising all around them, seeing something he couldn’t. Then she suddenly stood. “Stay there,” she said, and marched back into the house. What the heck?

  * * *

  “You’re wrong, as usual,” Aunt Beth was saying when Mia walked into the kitchen. She gave a start at the sight of her. “Oh. You’re back.”

  “Could I speak to Dylan alone?” Mia asked.

  Beth seemed surprised, but said, “Sure,” and left the room.

  Now it was just the two of them, Mia and the man who had never accepted her, and he was looking as uncomfortable as she felt. Her heart was at it again, banging so hard she felt it was going to push its way right out of her chest. Part of her wanted to turn and run, but she knew she couldn’t. She had to have answers. She’d needed answers for years.