"Do you suppose they're seeing each other?"
"I certainly hope so, if he's driving!" Miss Minnie observed dryly.
"You know very well what I mean. Do you think so?"
Miss Minnie paused, since it was obvious this would have to be discussed and decided before her sister would let her get back to her ledger.
"Yes. I think so." She looked over her glasses at her sister, "I don't know why you're so surprised."
"I'm not surprised, I'm just glad. Maybe I should call and tell Connie about this."
"No, I wouldn't do that."
"Why not?" Miss Mayme's face registered her disappointment at that.
"Because we could be wrong. They may have had some reason to go to lunch. Or maybe it's not lunch, it's early," she glanced at the clock. "And if it is a lunch date, it may not be the Start of Something Big, as the song says. What did I tell you about getting all your exercise jumping to conclusions?"
"Oh, Minnie, you tell me that every chance you get, and exercise is vastly overrated. You can think of more negative things than Mattie. It must run in the family. GALLOPS," she muttered.
"Have a little patience. If they've started seeing each other it won't take long for word to get around. Maryvale is one place that will never have to put out any ads for a Town Crier."
* * *
At the cabin on the lake, Mattie wasn't wasting any time gazing out at the scenery. She closed her tired eyes a few seconds to rest them.
"Even work you like to do is still work," she reminded herself. A dull ache was growing between her shoulder blades. She straightened, setting a paperweight on the stack of pages beside her.
It was definitely break time. As she stretched her arms she smiled, remembering all the affectionate good advice and care taking aggravation she was so used to hearing and getting from Katie about taking breaks and eating right. "A good shoulder rub would feel good right now."
She got up feeling stiff to the point of bent over pain. Impatient with having to do some of the exercises Katie had suggested when she sat so long working. Or what Katie thought was too long. She pictured Katie giving her one of her good lectures, knowing she was right but still impatient with the interruption of her work.
Mattie got up slowly, stood beside her chair, rotated her arms, and lifted each leg a few times.
"That should keep me from taking root and get my circulation going again. No sense in overdoing it."
Looking around the kitchen shelves and the contents of the refrigerator, Mattie didn't see anything that appealed to her. In fact she felt a little upset. It was as though her stomach could see with eyes of its own all the stored, unappetizing edibles and was rejecting them all in advance.
"Must be nerves, pushing to get my book finished. Well, I'm certainly not going to stoop to lecturing myself! I'll wait till I get home and let Katie do that." She managed a weak grin.
Taking a cold drink from the refrigerator she started for the front porch to get a breath of air. On the way out she resolved next time to hem and haw a little and give herself more time to get things together when the publisher's editor asked for a proposal and a due date.
The phone interrupted her thoughts before she got the door open.
"Mattie?"
"Katie," Mattie set her drink down. "I was going to call you later. Next time you and Eugene come up here, will you stop at the crossroads drugstore? It's right on your way or maybe just a little bit off and I want you to pick up some face cream they have for me and order another jar while you're there."
"I meant to ask you if you needed anything last time we talked and it slipped my mind. Is there anything else besides the cream?"
"No, dear, not right now. The drugstore doesn't usually carry the cream I like, but they offered to order it for me. It's the only thing I've found that's good for everything I need a cream for. Also, you can tell them that's all they'll have to order, since that will probably last until I go back home."
"Are you sure that will be enough, it's no trouble. And I know you use it on your hands and neck too."
"And on my arms," Mattie told her. "Eugene told me when he brought my case to me I should use it on my arms too, since my skin is so dry. First good idea I've known him to have," she chuckled, feeling a little better.
"Shame on you, Mattie. He's been so good to us." Katie smiled at this seeming acceptance of Eugene in spite of what Mattie called his shortcomings.
"I know he has. But I'm sure this new jar and another order of the cream will be all I'll need. I'm not out yet, just low. Another jar will be plenty after you pick up the new one. That's about a two month supply. I'm glad I came up here, Katie," she confided happily. "I'm getting a lot done."
"We'll be there next weekend then, and we'll stop for the cream. I'm glad your book is going well."
Mattie eyed the phone after she hung up. "Maybe I should have asked them to get something for my stomach, but the coke will probably do it. I don't want Katie thinking I'm not well."
* * *
Later at home, Katie looked up at Eugene adoringly. She couldn't justify Mattie ever saying anything but something good about someone who had proved to be such a friend. Why, he'd even exchanged jobs at work to do favors for them. Worried about where they would have breakfast the day after the explosion in their house. There wasn't a selfish bone in his body as someone in the family used to say. She smiled.
"Eugene, I honestly don't know what I'd do without you." He looked pleased and put his arms around her. She sighed and put her arms around him, resting her head against his chest.
"Now, now, it's all right. You know how much I care for you."
He made light of his volunteering. "Things you want me to do are never any trouble as far as I'm concerned. I don't mind one bit. With luck, someone will have a call to go up around the lake anyway, and I can swap a call of mine for the call up there, and she won't have to wait for her cream till the weekend."
"Well, if you can do that. But if there's not a call you can swap for, we'll wait until the weekend. She said she's not completely out of her cream yet."
"Well, we want her to have everything she needs and not have any worrisome interruptions while she's working on her book."
Katie turned in his arms and looked up at him. "She must be nearly finished with her book," she said thoughtfully. "From what she said about just ordering one more jar of the cream, she must feel like she will be able to come back in less than two months, wouldn't you think?"
Eugene didn't answer, thinking about what she said.
"It's the first time she's mentioned anything about not needing any more of anything, or made any reference about coming back."
"You said a jar of her cream usually lasts her about a month?"
Katie nodded, thinking back on their conversation. "Usually around a month, so that would mean at least two or a little less from our weekend visit, since she said not to order but one more jar of the cream."
Eugene was silent, wondering how close they could figure the time involved by measuring it in cream. He smiled slightly.
"Oh, I know it's not all that accurate, like sand in a timer, but the new jar she will have represents a month and as far as the other one goes, she can bring that one home if she hasn't used much. I'll just be glad to hear it when she does say to come and get her."
"She will want to get her book done the way she wants it, so give her time. Maybe it will be as successful as that first one."
Katie nodded. "Yes, she's a perfectionist, all right. But she did say the book was going well and she was glad she had gone up there. So even if it wasn't a definite month she mentioned, it's not hard to figure it out. She's used that kind of cream for a long time and she should know about how long it lasts by now. And, oh, Eugene," she hugged him. "I just wish she was home. I never wanted her to go!"
"Now, now, she will be home soon. What she said does sound like she must be nearly finished with her book."
He looked sideways at Katie, "D
id she say anything about it? About the book, I mean. How it's going or what she is doing with it? You know, what it's about? The general things in the first one or the entertainment thing in the second? Does she think it might do as well as the first one?"
"No." Katie shook her head. "She hasn't told me anything specific. Just that it was going well." She looked up at him. "But then, she doesn't usually talk about her books until they're all finished and the publisher has them with everything done that she needs to do on them."
She paused, standing close to him, glad to have someone who was interested to talk to about Mattie's books.
"They made pretty little bookmarks with measurements on them for the first book."
"That must be a handy thing." Eugene put his other arm around her holding her as if she were made of fragile glass. "I'm sure the ladies liked that."
"Eugene," Katie's worry lines reappeared. "Are you sure about going up there? That it will be all right, I don't want to interfere with your work."
Eugene stopped her questions with a kiss. "No more about that, don't worry any more about my work or the cream." He said firmly. "I'll take care of this little errand."
"All right, I'll think of some way to show you how much I appreciate you," her eyes danced as she snuggled closer.
* * *
The next morning Eugene reported for work at Rid-A-Pest in the best of spirits and felt able to handle the company work and his personal obligations along with it, no sweat. His part of the world was going so well he whistled on the way in.
"Good morning, Martin." Eugene walked over and greeted the new employee who always looked a little lost to him.
"How's it going?" He eyed the clipboard with his work orders on it.
"All right," Elkins nodded agreeably. "Everyone's been so helpful. I still don't know the area too well, but I have this map I've been studying, and the directions they always give me from the customers are a lot of help, too."
"That's good," Eugene was feeling generous and looked sideways at the top work order Elkins was holding. He smiled as if bestowing a blessing as he carefully gathered all his hair into the cap he was putting on. "You'll make it all right. By the way, it looks like you have several work orders there, do you happen to have a job out by the lake or up that way?"
"Wait a minute, I'll look at the rest of these jobs I've got here." Elkins awkwardly thumbed through his papers, letting Eugene see the top one as he managed to put his map back in his pocket. "Guess you can see this one is a full treatment, and there's a couple more here." He fanned the papers with his thumb, "One of them is a treatment and the other is for inspection only."
"Inspection only, hum? I see it's here in town, what about the other two?"
"There's one here for a treatment and it's out by the lake. They've got that noted on here." He grinned, "Guess they know it will save time to give me a clue right up front. And they've got some directions how to get to it written on it."
"Okay." Eugene was already reaching. "If it's all right with you, I'll take the treatment out by the lake and swap you this one I've got for a treatment here in Maryvale, so you won't have to worry about getting lost. I have an errand to run up that way, so the swap will be good for me, too." Eugene pulled the work order from his clipboard as he spoke.
"All right with me, and thanks. Mark my name off that one, and I'll change the one up by the lake for you."
"Okay, it's done."
"You seem to know this area well," Martin said enviously. "You must be a fast learner." Elkins looked at him from the corner of his eye. "Didn't you come here from Georgia?"
"No. I've never been to Georgia."
"I thought I heard you say something about Peachtree Street the other day."
"Nope, wasn't me." Eugene dismissed it and turned to leave, waving his clipboard at him, "Thanks for the swap."
Eugene left feeling superior and even generous. He liked having got what he wanted so easily. He smiled to himself about killing two birds with one stone. He looked like a good friend helping the new man and he helped himself while he was at it. All it took was a little planning, he congratulated himself. There was no doubt in his mind he could manage his relationship with Katie and Mattie's negative attitude as well as things at work. And Katie was fond of him, she appreciated him. It was exhilarating to have everything under control and going smoothly.
After Eugene left, Martin Elkins put his things in his van and pulled over to park by the pay phone at the far side of the parking lot. Some of his fellow workers watched as he got out of his van.
"Elkins makes about as many phone calls as Austin makes trips out by the lake," one of the servicemen observed to another as they walked toward their own company vans.
"Elkins is probably calling home, he hasn't said anything about his family to me. Has he to you?"
"No, come to think of it, I don't think he has."
"They may not have moved here yet."
He grinned as they watched Eugene drive out, "And Austin is running errands for his lady friend. Making points, I guess."
"Lady friend, is it? Guess that's why he works so much overtime."
"Yeah. And he must be one lucky sucker, too," his friend said with a slight frown. "The few times I've been able to come in, needing to make a little extra money, there hasn't been any work for me."
* * *
It was nearing lunchtime, Mattie had made some chicken salad for sandwiches.
She dialed the drugstore's number and asked if Eugene Austin had been by there.
"I don't know what time he's coming, I just wondered if he'd been there yet."
"Yes, he has, Ms. Carrington," the cheerful voice answered. "I gave him your cream to bring to you, and I'll order one more jar. Mr. Austin seems like such a nice friendly person."
"Yes, he does. Is, I mean. He is. I just thought if he hadn't been by there yet, I'd ask you to send me something to settle my stomach."
"Oh, you're not feeling well?" The friendly voice was concerned. "I'll be glad to call Dr. Kelso for you, or send you whatever you want."
"No, no. It's nothing to worry about I'm sure. I'm just feeling a little under the weather. Stomach's a little upset. I'm going to order some things from the grocer, would it be too much trouble to take me something over there so they can bring it with the grocery order?"
"Why no, no trouble at all. And I have some samples here. One of the pharmaceutical company salesmen left some of them here this morning. Hold on a minute."
There were rustling sounds, then, "This may be just the thing. It says on the envelope, it's for minor upset stomach and if problems persist to see a physician. Just like most of these remedies do." She laughed lightly. "To keep them out of court in case you take too many I guess. If you want them, I'll take a couple of them over and put them in with your grocery order."
When Mattie hesitated, she added, "They're gel caps so they should be easy to swallow. And be sure to read the directions for the proper dose."
"Oh yes, I will. Thank you, I would like them. I'll read the directions and I'm sure they will be all I'll need, no need to call a doctor. And I sure can't beat the price," Mattie chuckled. "Thank you for your help."
The friendly voice of the clerk spoke again, sounding a little concerned, "Come to think of it, it's been quite a while since Mr. Austin was here, I hope he hasn't had some kind of car trouble? He was in a large van if I remember right."
"He was in the van because he had some work to do up this way. The company he works for goes all over the state. He has a job up here today so that's why he hasn't come yet, I'm sure he's all right. He'll be here soon. Thanks again."
Feeling light headed, Mattie sat down to rest a few minutes before calling the grocer to put in her order.
She had called so many times she knew the drug store and grocer's numbers without having to look them up. Service from both had always been good and she put in her grocery order before adding, "And there will be something from the drugstore to put in with
it. Some medicine samples."
"Yes, they're here. Our next door neighbor just came in with them. We'll send them with your order as soon as the truck gets back, Ms. Carrington."
It wasn't long before Eugene arrived, Mattie was feeling better and had sandwiches made for them.
"It was good of you to come, Eugene," she greeted him. "I know you're working today."
Eugene was pleased to be so well received and saw that she had gone to the trouble to make the table look nice and to garnish the sliced sandwiches with pickle slices. The food reminded him it was past his usual lunch time and he was hungry.
"It was no trouble to stop. I was able to swap a call with someone who works with me, so it worked out fine."
Eugene handed her the sack with the cream in it. "And I told them to order just one more jar of the cream for you, that's right, isn't it?"
"Exactly right. Thank you." Mattie took the sack and gestured, "If you'd like to wash your hands, I'll fix us some ice water."
She turned away and started getting out ice. "I ordered some juice but my grocery order hasn't come yet but I do have ice."
She hadn't realized until she started fixing sandwiches she had finished all the carbonated drinks she had, trying to settle her stomach. "I didn't realize I was out of anything to drink," she apologized.
"I can fix that," Eugene smiled. "I keep drinks in my cooler in the van. What's your pleasure?"
"Coke, or anything you happen to have is fine with me."
Eugene went out to his van and Mattie had plenty of time to get out chips and get everything else on the table before he got back.
Eugene returned with four two liter cokes. "I took time to check my tires while I was out there." He set the drinks on the table. "I'll leave you two or three of these to tide you over until your order gets here," he said. "I always take my cooler with me."
Making himself at home, he walked over and put three of the oversized bottles of coke in the refrigerator and set the other one on the table beside Mattie's glass of ice.
"Thank you, I've been wanting something carbonated, my stomach's been a little upset for some reason."
Recipe for Trouble Page 13