They laughed together, “Friends again?” Jake helped her stand up with the baby still in her arms.
“I’m not setting him down again,” she stated.
“I’ll secure the perimeter and then I think it’s safe to set him free.”
“Free range baby… doesn’t sound safe to me.” She narrowed her eyes at Jon, who had her hair twisted in his fist. He was too heavy to pack around for the rest of his stay anyway.
“Four eyeballs are better than two.” Jake made his way to the other three doors in the house and locked them inside the fortress.
~
The sounds of barnyard animals singing merrily about the sunshine had faded to blue light from the finished DVD as Jake hit the volume button on the TV remote. “He looks like he’s asleep…” he whispered to an exhausted Paige who had the baby on her lap.
“I’m afraid to move.” She said softly.
“He’s been sleeping for a while, I think its ok.” Jake reached for him and Paige cringed at the thought of another round of crying. The baby appeared boneless. Jake picked him up and she dashed for the bedroom, realizing the baby bed that hadn’t been set up yet. They made it through dinner with no problems. Bath time was fun and wet. Her bathroom probably had standing water on the floor and would until she got in there to wipe it up. She found the baby bed in a little carrier and flipped it out like a camping chair. Feeling pretty smart, she reached for the blankets and saw the sides had collapsed into the middle. She arranged the sides as the picture on the bottom of the crib indicated but they fell in loose and unstructured. “This is ridiculous!” Paige muttered to herself, looking for further instructions. She folded it up and started again, with two sides catching and two sides folded into the middle.
“Grab it from the middle and shake the sides out…” Jake whispered.
Paige did as instructed and watched the crib magically erect itself. She slanted her eyes at him as she put the baby blankets in the bed. They both held their breaths as Jon was lowered into the bed and lay limp on the pillow. Jake covered him with the old blue blanket and shook his head, “Quite a little man, isn’t he?”
Paige stared at Jon resting like a rag doll. She immediately regretted that she let out a deep tired sigh as Jake slipped his hand into hers. He leaned into her hair and whispered, “Betty’s dog had puppies. I set up the crib in her nursery.” Paige had to smile. They softly walked from the room leaving the door cracked open in case Jon woke up.
In the kitchen Jake searched for something in the cupboards until he turned with a bottle of wine. “I think you need a shower and a big glass of this.”
“A shower?” she looked indignant.
His gaze landed in her hair and his smile turned into deep dimples as he pulled a half eaten animal cookie from her wild mane. Paige looked down at the noodle stars buried and dried in the velour, spills of grape juice on her pants.
“I feel like I’ve been to war!” she said incredulously, “I didn’t know how hard this would be!”
“Me either. I guess we can’t be upset with Will for being all consumed by this little guy.” Jake answered.
Freshly showered, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt with her wet hair pulled into a clip Paige padded her bare feet back into the kitchen. She was too tired to care about vanity. Judging by the look on Jake’s face he didn’t mind, “You look like a new woman.” He stared directly into her eyes. “Paige,” he stumbled, “Do you think we can…”
Paige put a finger to his lips, “Shhhh. Can we just talk like old friends tonight?” She assessed his look of trepidation and added, “I don’t have the strength to be angry with you. I understand now, Jed is an asshole that you have no control over. Betty keeps telling me she has the secret to the problem, but so far… nothing. I get it Jake, I’m on my own in this.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. The whole city is behind you on this,” Jake jammed his hands into his pockets and looked out the window. “Jed is so rattled he doesn’t know which way to turn. He made an idiot out of himself. Everyone knows this house can’t be moved. He’s buried. I want to know if you are ready now.” Jake turned to look sternly into her face.
“Ready? Right now I’m ready for that glass of wine and to sit down!”
He handed her a fat glass full of red wine, “Are you ready to ask for help? I’m here, Paige. I’ve always been on your team.”
~
Paige woke up at least a dozen times in the night whenever she heard Jon turn or breath differently. Jake was on the sofa where he’d fallen asleep and Paige had slipped a blanket over him. It was nice the way the night had played out, watching a movie together with her head in his lap. She loved the feeling of his hands in her hair, the way she fit next to him like two puzzle pieces. Thinking back over the past few weeks she realized what a pitiful, prideful idiot she had been. He was sleeping in her front room and she had never felt so safe. He made no move to join her in the bedroom. Jon would have had no objection. For the first time in a long time it felt like everything would turn out alright. She closed her eyes and fell back to sleep with a smile on her face.
The smell of coffee drifted through the bedroom as Paige opened her eyes. Jon, who wasn’t in his bed, she assumed was with Jake. She went to the bathroom, took her time putting her clothes on and stumbled out into the kitchen with bare feet.
Jake was leaning against the counter with a mug of coffee in one hand, his smile was radiating joy towards Paige, “Hey my little sleepyheads slept in this morning.”
Paige looked to the high chair but Jon was not in it. “Where’s Jon, he’s not in his bed.”
“Sure he is… I just checked on you two, he was snoring like a little puppy.”
“Oh no….” Paige and Jake broke into a sprint through the house. Breathlessly they went from room to room. All the doors were still locked. Jon was nowhere to be found. The baby gate was still on the stairs, so they looked through all the rooms again. Jake stopped cold when he went through the foyer for the second time and looked up at the open door at the top of the stairs, “Paige,” he called out a little more frantic than he intended.
She dashed into the foyer and immediately saw what Jake was looking at, “That’s impossible! The baby gate is up and the attic door is wide open. Have you been up there?” He shook his head no in slow motion.
They broke through the baby gate and bolted up the stairs to the open attic door. Paige was the first one up the stairs. Looking around, her gaze stopped at an old rocking chair which was rocking away while Jon sat on the floor banging something. She ran to him, “Jon… what are you doing?”
The baby didn’t look phased by his situation at all. He was playing on the floor and saying, “Gi Gi…. Gi Gi.”
Paige nabbed him up in her arms and said loudly, “Georgina, that’s not fair! If you want to visit with Jon you have to come down to us.”
Jon made a chubby fist and then poked out his index finger, shaking it, “GiGi… NO No no!”
Jake stood pale and helpless at the top of the stairs taking it all in, “So, you want me to believe that a ghost brought Jon up here?”
“You can believe what you like, Jake. That’s the only explanation I have for you. The baby gate was up, Jon was up here saying GiGi.” She shrugged her shoulders and took the baby back down for breakfast.
The first thing she noticed about the kitchen was the smell of delicious scones on the counter, “How wonderful!” Paige looked to Jake, “You made scones.”
“Um… nope. I did not make scones.”
“Oh I get it….” Paige looked up as though through the floor to where she left Georgia, “Thank you Georgia.”
Jon clapped his hands and said, “GiGi!”
“What’s a matter Jake? Never had ghost scones before? You loved the pie!” Paige said with a smirk.
“I thought you were pulling my leg about that raspberry pie. I would’ve taken that one to the grave with me.” He said.
“They’re lovely,” Paige said with
a mouthful, handing a little piece to Jon, “really Jake, you should have one.”
“What’s that in Jon’s hand?” Jake asked.
Paige looked to his chubby fist holding onto something metal and shiny which was now covered in baby slobber and scone scum.
“Jon, can Aunti Paige see?” she pried his fingers away from the skeleton key he held onto.
“Do you feel like we’re in an old Nancy Drew story?” Paige asked.
“Well, I was thinking Hardy boys, but hey I’m a guy.” Jake examined the key, “It’s too small to belong to a door. Have you found anything locked without a key?”
“Not that I can think of. Whatever this key opens I bet we’ll find it up in the attic.”
“I think it’s going to wait until Jon goes home. It’s not safe up there for him.”
“I’ll watch him while you rummage around, but I have to leave at noon.” Jake said, “We’ll watch Barnyard Buddies” He widened is eyes in faux excitement.
“Ya, that’s a good idea,” Paige washed the yuck covered brass key and assessed the men in her kitchen. “Ok, you two behave.”
CHAPTER 20
Paige searched the attic, making stacks of things she had already gone through. Trying to find anything waiting for the key she had tucked away in her pocket. Georgia was obviously telling her something, but what? Frustration buzzed Paige’s brain like a hungry mosquito. Covered in powder fine dust, she checked her watch. It was almost noon and she’d found nothing.
She closed her eyes and shook her hair out. As she watched the dust motes fall into the light streaming through the dirty window, she saw for the first time the turret of a house, a doll house! It was tucked into a corner so tightly it had gone undetected even after all of the rummaging through the attic. She placed her hand on the roof and realized it was much larger than she originally estimated. It stood at least five feet tall. Afraid that she might damage it by pulling or scooting it into the middle of the floor, Paige began moving everything that had been stacked around it. Having entirely forgotten about the time, she grabbed an old curtain and began to swipe away the dust to get a better look.
Jake stood behind her with Jon in his arms, “Wow, that’s quite a find!”
“It’s an exact replica of this house.”
“Let me help you move it…” Jake sat Jon down and together they gently moved the doll house into the middle of the attic floor. Paige pulled the key out of her pocket and looked for a place to unlock and open the house. There was just a small latch, no lock. Once the house was opened they were staring into a magnificently preserved replica of the house they were standing in. The mermaid wall paper in the bathrooms and bedroom colors were there. Chandelier fixtures and crown moldings were the grandly guilded. Even the carpets and floors were identical miniature recreations.
“Beautiful!” Paige whispered, “Look, it’s the table in the library, and look at the tiny books. I feel like I’ve stepped back in time a hundred years.”
“Amazing,” Jake responded.
“GiGi…. GiGi,” Jon chanted from behind them which made them both jerk around to see Jon rocking in the chair smiling widely.
“Let’s go downstairs and get you guys settled, I’ve got to head out for a Saturday meeting.”
~
“Oh I’m eight years old again!” Mim clapped her hands in delight then she fell to her knees to really get a good look inside.
“Are there dolls that go with it?” Della asked. Paige remembered that Della was an avid doll collector.
“I saved these for you to look at first.” Paige handed her the box with four pristine dolls inside. Della ran her bright red fingernails gently along their clothes, “I’ve never seen something this divine! This is real human hair.”
“Kinda’ creepy if you ask me…” Patti interjected.
There were four fannies up in the air with heads poked inside the dollhouse when the door opened behind them.
“Well, that’s a pretty picture,” Betty said.
“We didn’t hear the screech of the Bentley, Darlin’. Are you stealth again?” Mim flopped over on her butt to look at Betty.
“Jake took my car keys away from me. He said the city didn’t have the money for damages.” Betty shrugged it off and then came into the room and smiled softly when she caught sight of the doll house. “I haven’t seen that since Jesus was a baby! I used to play with that for hours and hours, it was my favorite thing.”
“You know about the doll house?” Paige exclaimed.
“Oh Honey, I know about a lot of things. But it seems that these days I mostly forget.”
Betty padded further into the foyer wearing a pale blue jogging suit and white keds. Her hair had lost its pouf and was uncombed, but it had a white and blue floral scarf tied in it. Paige watched the exchange of glances regarding Betty’s appearance and went to the kitchen to make a pot of earl grey. Etta followed close behind.
“She’s never looked like this,” Etta whispered close to Paige’s head.
“Frail and shaky,” Paige added as she poured hot water into the pot. “Can you grab the cups and I’ll get the tray and some cookies.”
“You’ve got cookies in the house? My goodness…”
“Animal cookies,” Paige said as a matter of fact, “I’ve grown fond of them.” Then she winked and whisked the tray towards the library.
“Have you seen Doc Adams?” Paige heard Mim ask Betty as she walked back into the room with the tea tray.
“Oh yeah, he’s sure I’m just old now…” Betty said waving her hand dismissively. “Old and forgetful.” Her eyes looked sad.
“There are specialists at UC Davis, Betty. We can arrange for you to see someone there,” Della chimed in.
“Nope, I’ve been seeing Doc Adams for over 50 years. He’s the only one that’s going to poke around on this old body. If I see anyone else I’ll have a lot of explaining to do. I’m lucky my liver’s held out this long. Honestly girls, I want to go out authentic. No drugs to prolong the agony. I would have taken better care of myself if I’d known I was going to live this long.” She smiled and took the tea cup Paige handed her.
Della, Patti, Etta and Mim all settled in with their tea cups and munched on animal cookies while Betty began, “It’s so funny, you know, I can remember things from seventy years ago better than I can remember what I had for breakfast.” She glanced off and then announced triumphantly, “Grape nuts and coffee.”
“You are going to tell us about the doll house.” Etta said.
“What house?” Betty looked confused again.
Paige pointed to the doll house in the middle of the library.
“Oh that house…” Betty thought for a moment, followed by the distinct look of a light bulb over her head, “It’s all in the book!”
“The book,” Mim asked, “Betty this is a doll house. Is there a book?”
“Oh yes, the book tells everything.” Betty’s confusion felt hopeless as Paige contemplated the key in her pocket.
Betty perked up in her chair, “I know my mother scribed everything in a book directly from Georgina before she passed. It’s all in there. All the gory details of how she came to live in this house and how she was shunned from her family her whole life. She was denied her family name, her heritage and in the end she wanted to make sure this house landed with its rightful owners. Her heirs didn’t even know they were part of her family.” Betty heaved out a dismissive sigh and shrugged her shoulders.
“Any idea where that book is, Betty?” Patti asked sweetly.
Betty looked around the room and said, “Well, I just know it’s here somewhere…” She rose up and began to wander through the room.
“Oh look, the doll house.” Betty’s face was alight with the wonder and joy of a small child, “I forgot all about it, you know I played with that when I was a little girl. I love this house.” Betty looked into the doll house then reached inside. “Look at that,” Betty said softly to herself, “It’s stuck.”
“Just a minute… and I’ll…” Betty was huffing, working fretfully on the concealed undertaking.
Patti scurried around to the far side of the house, knelt down to peek through one of the turreted windows getting a better view of what Betty was fiddling with. He stood up and shrugged his shoulders, dumbfounded.
A solid click echoed from inside the doll house followed by the sound of a metal release pop open from the base. They all heard the noise, but didn’t see the hidden drawer pop open.
“There!” Betty gleefully plunged her tiny hands into the open drawer. Irritation spread across her face as she groped for its hidden contents.
“What happened to my…” Betty put her face down to the edge of the drawer, looking closely, “Dang it all to hell. They’re gone.” She flopped down onto the closest chair, exhausted by her exploration, “My marbles are gone… who would take my marbles? The only thing in here is this damn book. ”
Mim pulled a leather bound book from the secret drawer, “Betty, is this the book that your mother wrote in?”
“I don’t know, I’ll have to ask her.” Betty quietly replied.
“It’s locked.” Mim went back to the drawer to search, “The key has to be here somewhere…”
Paige had goose bumps all over her body, “Jon found a key…”
“Baby Jon?” Mim asked.
“Yes, it was quite an ordeal, ask Jake about it. But here it is…” Paige pulled the key from her pocket, handing it to Mim.
“This book is intended for you, Paige. You open it.” Mim handed the key back to her.
The beautifully tooled leather book felt heavy in her hand. The key slipped into the lock. Her hands shook with the quiver of anticipation as she opened the cover to reveal an inscription. She read out loud:
Broad Street Goddesses Page 17