Kay checked her kitchen cupboards and refrigerator in order to make a store list, and then used the rest of her lunch hour to shop at Delvecchio’s IGA.
As soon as Matt Delvecchio saw her, he came out of the back room to greet her.
Kay’s heart fluttered, as it had for more than 30 years, whenever she saw Matt. He may have acquired several gray strands among his dark curls, some deep laugh lines on his face, thicker lenses in his glasses, and an extra chin, but to Kay he was still her first love, and so far, the only man she’d ever felt that way about. She had dated a few other men over the years, and had even gone so far as to get engaged to one of them, but ultimately she hadn’t been able to go through with it. She told people she was just too set in her ways to accommodate a husband, but in her heart of hearts she blamed Matt.
“Hey, gal,” he said. “Whatcha lookin’ for?”
“I’m cooking fried chicken for some friends,” she said. “Do you have any pole beans?”
“I do,” he said. “I’ve also got some beefsteak tomatoes and new potatoes that look good.”
“I’ll take them,” she said.
“I’ll get you a fresh chicken out of the walk-in,” he said.
“Better get me two,” Kay said. “I’ve invited some big eaters.”
“I wish I could be there,” Matt said. “There haven’t been any home-cooked meals in my house for a long time.”
Kay let that go, just like she did all his woebegone statements. It was his fault, after all. He could have had all his meals at her house every day, slept in her bed every night, and sat next to her in church every Sunday; but Diedre had shaken her tiny rear end and he had thrown it all away.
To say she had been humiliated and heartbroken was an understatement. At the time, to her teenage heart, it had felt like attempted murder.
Today, Matt made sure she had the best of everything, and once she was in line at the front registers, he sighed.
“You take care,” he said.
His big brown eyes bore a wistful expression.
“Thanks,” was all Kay said.
It was embarrassing how he acted, and Kay hoped no one would say anything about it. As soon as it was her turn to check out, the clerk shook her head.
“He’s like a big, sad puppy dog whenever you’re in here,” she said.
Kay felt her face redden, but she just smiled a tight-lipped smile in response.
“Biggest mistake that man ever made,” the clerk said. “Have you heard about their house?”
Kay nodded but kept adding her groceries to the moving conveyer belt, hoping to get this over with as quickly as possible.
“I was up there last winter, making a delivery, and even though she wouldn’t let me past the front door, I could tell what it was like in there. The front porch is covered with old lawnmower parts, bicycles; you name it, they’ve got it, rusting in the rain.”
Kay didn’t want to be unfriendly, but she also didn’t want to talk about Diedre and Matt.
“How’s your son?” Kay asked the woman, and was rewarded with a long humble brag about how the woman never saw him because he was so good at school and sports, and so popular with the girls.
“I’m voting for you,” the clerk said as Kay prepared to leave. “We can’t let Marigold take over or we’ll, none of us, be good enough to live in Rose Hill.”
Kay thanked her and left. If it wouldn’t look so bad, and if she wasn’t running for mayor, she’d do her grocery shopping in Pendleton.
Back at work, as Kay passed the conference room where the FBI team was working, she realized she was holding her breath and walking softly. Someone dropped something behind her, and the loud noise made her jump and scream.
“Sorry,” the mailman said.
He had dropped a heavy package on the floor just inside the door.
A female FBI agent, the one named Terese, opened the door to the conference room and looked out, her hand on the gun she wore concealed under her suit jacket.
“Don’t shoot,” laughed the postman.
Terese frowned and then nodded at Kay.
“Good afternoon,” Kay said, her heart still pounding from being startled.
Kay hoped that seeing her wouldn’t remind Terese that they needed something else from her, wanted to ask more questions. Kay was so rattled by every interaction with them that she always made stupid mistakes in her own work during the rest of the day. She reassured herself, as she always did, that she hadn’t done anything wrong, but still she worried.
The FBI was investigating the most recent mayor of Rose Hill, Stuart Machalvie, for various underhanded and illegal activities he and his cohort, ex-bank president Knox Rodefeffer, had cooked up over the past few years. Although Kay had partial knowledge of several of the schemes they were involved in, she hadn’t been involved in any of them nor done anything illegal. That hadn’t stopped Stuart from trying to implicate her; or his wife, Peg, from slandering her in an effort to undermine her credibility and derail her mayoral campaign. The whole situation was like a dark cloud that followed her around, and she was looking forward to the day when it was gone.
Later that afternoon, City Council Member Ruthie Postlethwaite stopped by. She handed Kay a jar of her homemade strawberry preserves and helped herself to a cup of coffee from the service cart in the hallway. She settled herself in the chair by Kay’s desk and took a sip of the coffee.
“Thank you for the preserves,” Kay said. “I enjoyed the hot pepper jelly you made last month.”
“The berries are from the IGA,” Ruthie said, “so they’re probably from Peru or Mexico. Hard to believe we can’t grow perfectly good strawberries in this country.”
“I’m sure they’ll be delicious.”
“I heard you went grocery shopping today.”
“Such a small town, and with so many other more important things to talk about,” Kay said.
“If it’s any consolation, Matt Delvecchio is as miserable of a man as you’re likely to meet.”
“That all happened ages ago,” Kay said. “It’s ancient history.”
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Ruthie said. “I was the one who held you while you cried in the girl’s bathroom.”
“I’ve always appreciated your friendship,” Kay said. “We’ve been through a lot together.”
“Shug and Doreen are living in Sarasota, next to a golf course,” she said. ‘That could’ve been you, you know.”
Shug, short for Bert Sugarman, was the man Kay had been engaged to, but had broken it off.
“Shug would not have been happy with me in the long run,” Kay said. “He’s better off with Doreen. She loves to golf and eat salads for every meal. All those vitamins and protein shakes that man lives on; I couldn’t have stood it.”
“But where’s your security, Kay? Who’s going to take care of you in your old age? I’ve got old Pudge and my kids, and who’ve you got?”
Kay knew that Ruthie didn’t mean to be cruel; she just didn’t have the sensitivity filter that most people are born with or develop over time. Ruthie loved Kay and was concerned about her, so blunt observations were how she communicated it.
“I’ll be all right,” Kay said.
“I’m sure Grace will appreciate you taking her in, but I doubt she’ll take care of you in your old age. She’s not your blood relative, after all, and she’ll only be with you a couple of years before she’s off to college. You won’t be able to count on her long term, you know.”
“I’m glad to have her for as long as she needs me,” Kay said. “She should go on and have her own life. I want her to do whatever makes her happy. There’s no guarantee children will take care of their parents, anyway. You’re just lucky.”
“Have you heard from that last one, that rotten Tiffany?”
Tiffany was the previous foster child Kay had hosted.
“No, I haven’t heard from her; nor am I likely to.”
“She had the prettiest voice, just like an a
ngel. She didn’t turn out to be an angel, though, did she?”
“Addiction can happen to anyone,” Kay said. “It breaks my heart when I think of the potential that child had. She was bright; she could have gone on to college.”
“The apple didn’t fall far from the tree, is all.”
“That’s not necessarily always true,” Kay said. “She could still turn her life around with the right help.”
“You did all you could for her, and how did she repay you? Stealing from you and running away.”
“Let’s talk about your new grandbaby,” Kay said. “I know you have pictures and I’m dying to see how much she’s grown.”
Kay was thus able to distract Ruthie from depressing subjects and awkward walks down Memory Lane.
An hour later, as Ruthie packed up her photo albums and prepared to leave, it was all Kay could do not to sigh with relief. She loved Ruthie but it wasn’t always easy.
“Oh, one more thing,” Ruthie said. “Have you seen Hannah’s campaign posters?”
“I have,” Kay said. “I think they’re funny.”
Animal Control Officer Hannah Campbell’s City Council campaign poster featured a photo of herself dressed in a white choir robe, surrounded by a veritable ark-full of animals that had been digitally added to the photograph, holding her deceptively-cherubic-looking son, who had a tinsel halo affixed to his head. The caption was “Beloved by animals and children, trusted by all, vote for Hannah Campbell for Rose Hill City Council.”
“She’s not taking it seriously, if you ask me,” Ruthie said. “If she was, she’d be here campaigning instead of gallivanting off to Myrtle Beach to horn in on her cousin’s honeymoon.”
“Maggie and Scott invited the family for the last week of their month in Myrtle Beach,” Kay said. “No one in that family has gone on a vacation for years. It’s good for people to get away.”
“I don’t see why the town should have to pay for the chief of police to have a month off and pay for someone to cover for him,” Ruthie said. “It just doesn’t seem right to use tax payer money that way.”
“You missed the meeting where we voted on that,” Kay said. “Scott’s earned more than enough vacation days; he just never gets to take them. Laurie’s being paid out of the contingency fund, which Stuart never used for anything legitimate; just whatever cockamamie scheme he was involved in at the time.”
“Like the time he sold our only good snowplow to Pendleton, in the middle of the winter, and then didn’t have enough money to replace it.”
“So he could pay for a new heated bandstand for the winter festival, so his wife wouldn’t have cold feet in her high heels and fur coat.”
“That man is a piece of work,” Ruthie said. “Do you think he’ll serve any time?”
“I’m sorry but I can’t talk about it.”
“Oh, I know,” Ruthie said. “Someday, when this is all over, you owe me a good, long chin wag. Just don’t go forgetting all the details.”
“We’ll see,” Kay said, who wished she could forget.
Kay had to put the leaves in her dining room table in order to accommodate her many guests. She covered the table with her best linen tablecloth, and set each place with her mother’s Virginia Rose pattern china. The final touches were ivory tapers in pink Depression glass holders, and a green McCoy Pottery vase full of over-bloomed pink peonies she had purchased on sale from Erma at Sunshine Florist. She just hoped the petals would stay attached until dinner was over.
The Rose Hill Sentinel owner and editor, Ed Harrison, arrived first, carrying a bottle of wine. Kay rarely drank anything stronger than coffee, and had to dig out some wine glasses in order to accommodate the gift.
Ed was tall with the lean frame of a runner, had bright blue eyes behind wire-frame glasses, and kept what hair he had left shaved close to his head.
“I appreciated the invitation,” Ed said. “I haven’t seen Claire much these past few weeks, since the wedding. We’ve both been too busy, I guess.”
“The wedding was beautiful,” Kay said. “Claire did an amazing job on such short notice.”
“I’m just glad Maggie didn’t leave Scott at the altar.”
“There was no fear of that,” Kay said. “Those two belong together. You and Claire looked good together, walking down the aisle afterward. I noticed you disappeared for a while.”
“We’re just friends,” Ed said. “Maggie says she needs time to adjust to being back here, and I need to be patient.”
“Easier said than done,” Kay said. “I think it might be hard for Claire to adjust to small town life after traveling all over the world. Rose Hill is as far from Hollywood life as you can get.”
“She says she’s ready to settle down, and her parents need her.”
“How’s Ian doing?”
“His dementia’s getting worse. He’s upset about Delia going to the beach for a week. He keeps telling people she’s left him.”
Ian and Delia were Claire’s parents.
“Poor Delia, she needs the time away. How is Claire coping?”
“We’re all pitching in,” Ed said. “I take him to breakfast and then to the service station, where Patrick watches him all morning. Patrick then takes him to the Rose and Thorn for the afternoon, and Melissa takes him home for dinner. Claire gets off work at five and then watches him all evening.”
“How’s Claire’s new job?”
“It’s just temporary,” he said. “She interviewed for an associate professor position in the drama department at Eldridge. They want her; they just need board approval in order to hire her.”
“Meanwhile, I’m sure Sean appreciates her running his new office while he gets on his feet.”
“I’m not sure how suited Claire is to a desk job,” he said. “I think she’ll be happier at Eldridge.”
“As will you be, too, I’m sure.”
“I’m nervous about it,” Ed said. “It’s one thing to edit a small town newspaper, and quite another thing to teach journalism to college kids.”
“You’ll be a great teacher,” Kay said. “How’s Melissa coping with the bakery while Bonnie’s at the beach?”
“She’s doing great,” Ed said. “I think Bonnie might resent how well she’s doing without her. She’s added some things to the menu that Bonnie would never allow.”
“I’ll have to go down there,” Kay said. “I’d love to support her and I never pass up the opportunity to try a new treat.”
“Anything I can do to help with dinner?” he asked
“You’re my guest,” Kay said. “I wouldn’t hear of it.”
Laurie arrived with another bottle of wine, and the two men settled into Kay’s deep arm chairs in the small living room. Kay tended to dinner as she enjoyed hearing them get to know each other. It felt so good to have people in the house; why didn’t she do this more often?
Sonny arrived bearing an apple pie from Fitzpatrick’s bakery.
“It’s apple streusel,” he said.
“Sounds delicious,” Kay said.
“It was the prettiest,” he said, and then more quietly, “just like you.”
Kay felt herself blush.
“I saw my big pink present out on the front porch,” she said.
“I came over this afternoon and had a peek under the house,” he said. “There’s a drainage issue I need to address right away. After that I’ll work on your roof and gutters, and then get up in the attic and insulate. After everything above it is ship-shape, I’ll winterize the crawl space.”
“Just between you and me, I may be able to pay you for your work after all,” Kay said. “I found out today that Grace’s trust is going to pay me for taking care of her.”
“So they should,” he said. “It won’t be expensive; you can pay for the supplies and I’ll do the labor for free.”
“I should pay for your labor,” Kay said.
“It’s easy for me,” he said. “Plus your house is so small, there’s not a lot of square foota
ge to work on.”
“I appreciate it,” Kay said. “I’m ashamed at how I’ve let things go.”
“Don’t give it another thought,” Sonny said. “This is what I’m good at. You’ve got a whole town to run.”
Claire arrived, and Kay was immediately struck by her facial expression when she saw Laurie and Ed together in the living room. She didn’t seem glad to see Ed, but seemed downright dismayed to see Laurie. She immediately covered this up with a bright smile, but Kay had seen how she felt, and wondered.
“Hello everybody,” Claire said. “Sorry I’m late; I put the rolls in but forgot to turn on the oven, so I had to start over. Melissa’s staying with Dad tonight, but she’s also taking care of everyone’s pets while they’re at the beach, so I had to take him back to the Thorn to wait until she’s done.”
Claire was a tall, striking woman with a fair complexion, blue eyes, and long dark hair. She was dressed, as usual, in form-fitting, fashionable clothing and high heels, her hair and makeup expertly applied. To Kay, she looked like someone more fittingly attired for attendance to a fashion show in New York, rather than a quaint, home-cooked supper in the tiny town of Rose Hill.
Claire brought the tray full of rolls to the kitchen and Kay put them in a basket lined with a white tea towel. Sonny had pulled the ottoman out and was seated upon it, talking to Ed and Laurie. Kay watched with interest as Claire peeked in at them and then chewed her lip.
“I didn’t know Laurie was going to be here,” she whispered to Kay.
“Don’t you like him?” Kay asked.
“It’s not that,” Claire said. “I was just surprised, is all.”
It was obviously more than that, but Kay let it go.
Dottie and Georgia arrived. Dottie was the head librarian at the Rose Hill Library, and Georgia was a retired schoolteacher. Kay considered them her closest friends.
As soon as Kay relieved them of their covered dishes, she and Claire hugged them both.
“I haven’t seen you two since I was in high school,” Claire said.
“We’re old ladies now,” Georgia said. “I’m surprised you recognized us.”
“Speak for yourself,” Dottie said.
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