Nancy had come to the conclusion that she was either going to have to dig out some of the maternity clothes she wore more than five years before or go shopping for some new ones. Whatever her decision, her current clothes were at the point where they had stretched all they were willing to stretch. So, the Sunday after Mother’s Day, Nancy showed up in a maternity dress. Each of the ladies of the church made sure that they told Nancy how nice she looked in it.
The expectant parents said their only concern was for the health of their baby, but Kenny openly admitted that he was praying for a brother. Jill and Mallory thought a baby brother might be okay, but each of them preferred to have another sister.
+++
While Nancy looked forward to giving birth to her fourth child, Brad anticipated giving birth to his sixth book. Five months after he began to write, Brad finished his latest whodunit. This allowed him to spend more time with Amy. He thanked God for giving him a talent for writing and a neighbor to spend time with when he was not writing.
Always eager to celebrate, Brad decided that each book should be celebrated twice, once when it was finished and again when it was published. All celebrations must take place with his next-door neighbor. So, minus the white horse and carriage, and their neighborhood friends, Brad and Amy headed once again to Martinelli’s to celebrate. Amy looked across the table at Brad. Unlike her previous visit to Martinelli’s, this time there were no neighbors to distract her. She could focus all of her attention on the man she loved, the man who sat across the table from her.
“You don’t know how good it is just to be able to sit and look at you and to have you all to myself,” Amy said, meaning every word.
“Yes, I do,” Brad replied, “if it’s anything like what I feel to be able to sit across from you and just stare at you and not wonder who’s looking at us.”
“Brad, since your book is finished, will it really be like the old days, when we seemed to be together all the time?”
“The old days? Do you mean those three weeks in December?”
“Was that all it was? All I’ve had of you recently were those memories, so I guess maybe I magnified them so that it seemed longer. I just know that the time without you has seemed oh so long.”
The young couple drank in the moment of being together. They took advantage of the better weather and walked home, holding hands all the way.
+++
The sun shone down on Aylesford Place. Brad and Amy sat on Brad’s porch sipping a glass of lemonade when they noticed Allison and Chuck coming out of Allison’s house. Chuck scheduled some form of exercise every day. During the summer when there was no school, he rode his bike to Allison’s several times each week. Allison was big into physical fitness before her accident and Chuck encouraged her to exercise with him.
“Wonder what the athletes are up to today?” Brad asked Amy.
“There’s no telling, but Chuck has been good for Allison.”
“Yeah, most of the time.”
“What do you mean, ‘most of the time?’”
“Remember a couple of weeks ago when he tried to hoist her onto his bike and they tumbled onto the grass?”
“Yeah, that was funny.”
Because there was little traffic on Aylesford Place, Chuck and Allison navigated the street with little difficulty. All the residents parked their cars in their driveways. Aylesford Place was a wide street, so it gave Chuck and Allison a lot of room to maneuver. Recently, Allison bought her third wheelchair, a racing model, and sometimes she raced Chuck to see if her wheelchair could beat his bike to the park entrance.
Brad and Amy looked at Chuck and Allison. “Wonder what they’re up to now?” Brad asked, as he and Amy watched Chuck set up orange cones at different intervals down the street.”
“I don’t know. Look at Allison. She’s in a different chair, and she has on knee pads, elbow pads, and a bike helmet. I’m not sure I like the looks of this,” Amy replied.
Brad and Amy continued to watch as Chuck finished placing the cones and came back to Allison. They talked for a moment. Then, Chuck got on his bike, and he and Allison headed toward the street. Chuck tied a rope around his bike and threw it back to Allison.
“Oh, no,” Brad exclaimed.
“What?” Amy asked.
Before Brad could answer, Chuck and Allison took off down the street. Much like a motor boat pulling a water skier, Chuck maneuvered around the orange cones and pulled Allison through the slalom course until they passed the last cone.
“That was fun. Let’s try it again,” Allison said.
“Are you sure?” Chuck asked.
“Of course. Let’s just start from here and go back.”
Chuck and Allison slalomed back up the street and all was well until Allison noticed Brad and Amy and took her eyes off the orange cone ahead of her. At the last minute, she tried to swerve to avoid a head-on collision with a cone. In doing so, Allison let go of the rope, but not before she hit the curb and tumbled partly onto the sidewalk and partly onto the grass in front of Brad’s house. Chuck hit the brakes, stopped, turned around, and raced toward Allison. He got to her at the same time Brad and Amy did.
“Are you okay?” the trio asked.
“It looks like you’ve got a couple of scrapes,” Amy said.
“Oh, I’m fine,” Allison said. “Remember I hit the parts that I can’t feel.”
“I didn’t realize that you hit your head,” Brad said, causing Allison to grab a handful of grass and throw it his way.
Once everyone realized that Allison was okay, they enjoyed a good laugh and Brad and Amy asked Chuck and Allison to join them for a glass of lemonade. Over lemonade, the two couples made plans for a double date.
Double Dating
Kenny sauntered up the street acting very much like the boy he was. If there had been a tight spot to squeeze through or a mud puddle to splash in, Kenny would have managed to achieve his objective. But since there were none, he settled for scraping his shoes against the sidewalk. He looked up and saw Harry sitting on his porch swing. Enough time had elapsed since the end of the neighborhood fund raiser that most everyone felt comfortable in Harry’s presence once more, or at least as comfortable as someone could feel in his presence.
Kenny looked up and Harry waved to him. Kenny waved back, and Harry motioned for Kenny to join him on the porch swing. Kenny knew that he was about to have another session of what life was like in the old days. Harry braced his feet against the porch. Kenny had visited Harry before. Harry knew that this boy was not one who would sit down gently on the swing. Instead, Kenny ran for the swing, jumped, turned around in mid-air, and landed with a thud on the porch swing. Harry grabbed for the swing to steady it, and then checked to make sure he still had all of his teeth.
“So, little man, what’ve you been up to?”
“Nothin’ much. How ‘bout you?”
“Well, I just got through checking my e-mail and decided to come out on the porch and sit a spell.”
Kenny was not sure how long a spell was, but refrained from asking.
“What’s the matter, boy?”
“I’m bored. You ever been bored, Mr. Conklin?”
“Everybody gets bored sometime.”
“You ever get bored when you were a kid?”
“Of course, but most of the time I just had fun.”
“Doin’ what?”
“Well, what I liked most of all was going to the movies. I loved to go see Hopalong Cassidy and Andy Hardy.”
Harry proceeded to tell Kenny about Hoppy and Judge Hardy’s sometimes trying son, and the similarities between Andy and Kenny. Kenny wondered which was worse, having a preacher or a judge for a dad. Then Harry changed the subject to most men’s least favorite type of movie.
“Have you ever seen any musicals, Kenny?”
“Yeah, one time we rented one mom liked when she was young. It was stupid. All of a sudden the people in the movie started singin’ instead of talkin’, and dancin’ around a
lot. Didn’t make much sense to me.”
“Me, either, Kenny, but Ethel loved them, so I took her to see one every now and then.”
“I’m glad I don’t have to take some girl to see musicals.”
“You’re lucky, there. But I’m sorry you didn’t get to see the movies I saw as a kid. Movies aren’t as much fun as they used to be. Do you know that when I was a boy we got to see a double-feature, a cartoon, a newsreel, a serial, and previews of coming attractions?”
“What do you mean by a newsreel and a cereal? You mean like a commercial?”
“No, Kenny,” Harry laughed, as he thought about the multi-generation gap.
“A newsreel was like seeing the news at the movie theater, only more fun. And a serial was the most fun at all. All the serials had a hero and a bad guy. They showed one episode each week, and at he end of each episode the good guy or some girl was in trouble. Like, maybe the episode ended with the bad guy tying a girl to the railroad tracks when the train was coming.”
“Hey, I’d go see one where one of my sisters was tied to the railroad tracks. That gives me an idea. Do we have any railroad tracks around here, Mr. Conklin?”
“No, Kenny. I’m afraid not. At least not the tying down kind.”
“Too bad they don’t show any cereals today. I might get some ideas.”
“I think you’ve got all the ideas you need, Kenny.”
“So they showed a new cereal each week. I bet they did that to get more money out of you. I bet it got kinda expensive, didn’t it, Mr. Conklin?”
“In a way it did, but things didn’t cost as much back then. Of course, people didn’t have as much money, either.”
“How much did it cost?”
“Well, when I was a kid, it only cost a dime to get in, but by the time Mrs. Conklin and I were dating it had gone up to a quarter for kids and fifty cents for adults. And popcorn was fifteen cents and candy bars a dime. Of course you could get popcorn with butter on it for a quarter. We never got that kind. I convinced Ethel that she’d get butter all over her clothes. And another thing. You could stay in the theater all day and only pay once. Sometimes, if I was by myself or with another guy, I stayed and saw a movie twice.”
“You mean you hid until they started letting people in again?”
“No, little man. People were allowed to stay all day in those days.”
Kenny spent the next two hours listening to Harry talk about the old days. It was hard to tell who enjoyed the experience more.
+++
When Frank agreed to take up woodworking as a hobby, Cora gave him carte blanche. He could buy whatever tools he needed and partition off one-third of the garage for his work center. This worked out well, since Frank and Cora had two automobiles and the only four-car garage on the street. Frank was only a beginning woodworker when he retired, so he hired a contractor to install a wall with a door to the garage and a second door to the outside. The contractor also built Frank a workbench around the back and side wall.
As nosy as Cora could be, in the beginning she agreed to stay out of Frank’s work area. Surprisingly, in the five years Frank had been retired, she never ventured into his wood shop, even though she remained interested in his hobby.
Frank decided in early February what his first project of this year would be. He told Cora he was making something for her, but would not tell her what it was. When Frank had not finished it in two weeks, Cora guessed it was something major. She inquired every few days as to how his project was coming along, but Frank always answered with one word, “fine.” Frank finished the bookcase for Cora sometime in late May. By the time she saw it, it was a polished, six-foot tall, five shelf, cherry bookcase. Frank and Cora carried it into the living room, where Cora immediately started filling it with books. Because her new neighbor had become her favorite author, Cora relegated the top shelf for Brad Forrester novels. Before Brad moved into the neighborhood, Cora shuffled her reading between classic novels, murder mysteries, and current best sellers. Cora had enough classic novels to take up two shelves.
Both Frank and Cora were pleased with Frank’s work, so Frank set out to make a second bookcase, a bookcase that would sit in another Aylesford Place home by Christmas. Frank expected to make the second bookcase in less time than the first, so he planned to make as many bookcases as he could before Christmas.
+++
Brad and Chuck let Amy and Allison make plans for their first double date. The guys would plan the next one. Allison was from the area, so Amy told her to go home and think of any good ideas she could come up with. Then, on Wednesday the two of them would go to lunch and talk over their plans.
+++
Brad opened his front door and faced the grinning young woman who stood in front of him. “What’s with you?”
“Oh, nothing. It’s just that Allison and I planned our double date today.”
“Oh, so where are we going?”
“It’s a secret.”
“So, what are you going to do? Tell me to ‘turn here’ until we get where we’re going?”
“Nope. I’m the designated driver.”
+++
Amy and Allison continued to keep Brad and Chuck in the dark. All they would discuss is what time they were leaving and how the guys were to dress. Because Chuck was the only one who did not live on the street, the women agreed to meet him at Brad’s.
“We thought about blindfolding you, but we decided against it,” Amy teased, as Brad slid into the front seat and Chuck jumped in the back.
The guys tried not to let the suspense get the best of them. They were not about to reveal that Brad had called Chuck twice earlier in the week to see if he knew anything. Neither had a clue where they were going, especially after their dates told them to be ready by 10:00 a.m. that Friday morning.
Brad and Chuck tried to take things in stride, even after Amy took the road that led out of town. Brad wanted so much to confer with Chuck, because Chuck knew the area much better than he did.
“Is this it?” Brad asked when Amy pulled up to a roadside diner.
“This is only the first part of it. I’ll tell you this much. It will be an all day date. We won’t get in until late tonight,” Amy said, then turned to Allison and smiled.
The foursome enjoyed their lunch and then drove off to bigger things. On the outskirts of Plantation, a smile lit up on Chuck’s face.
“I know where we’re going. I should’ve thought of it sooner.”
“Just be quiet, Blabbermouth,” Allison said, as she reached over and covered Chuck’s mouth with her hand.
In a few minutes, they arrived at their destination. Amy pulled her SUV into the parking lot across from the Royal Theater. “We’re here,” she said as she turned to face Brad.
“I should’ve guessed it sooner,” Chuck said. “This place shows nothing but old movies, and this week they’re showing An Affair to Remember. It’s Allison’s favorite movie.”
“I’ve heard of it,” Brad said. “Isn’t it a chick flick?”
“I guess so. It’s got Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in it.”
“Wait until you see this place,” Allison interrupted. “Have any of you been here before?” Allison was pleased to find out it was the first time for each of her three companions.
Chuck reached into the back and lifted Allison’s chair to the pavement. Then, he wheeled it around to her side of the vehicle, opened the door, lifted Allison, and sat her down. Amy locked her SUV, and everyone walked or wheeled their way to the theater.
Once inside, all four were impressed. It looked like something out of another time. Brad guessed that the main floor of the theater would seat at least four times as many people as any of the multiplexes he had frequented. And the theater had two balconies on top of that. For obvious reasons, the group decided to sit on the main floor. Allison pointed out the opera boxes on each side of the theater, and high above them hovered a fixture that looked like a huge Tiffany lamp. Gargoyles guarded the areas above the op
era boxes, and a large clock advertised a business that had ceased to exist many years ago.
“What are you thinking about?” Amy asked Brad.
“Oh, just forming ideas for my next book, Murder at the Movie Palace.”
“But isn’t this place something?”
“It sure is. Chuck and I are going to be hard pressed to top this.”
“I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
The foursome enjoyed the movie and a nice dinner before returning home. Over dinner, everyone discussed the movie, although Brad and Amy were reluctant to do so, at first, because of Allison’s similarity to Deborah Kerr’s character. They had forgotten that Chuck had told them that An Affair to Remember was Allison’s favorite movie.
+++
The next morning Brad received a phone call from Chuck.
“Hey, Brad, I’ve got an idea for our double date next weekend.”
“Shoot.”
Chuck shared his idea, and Brad approved. Brad knew he would enjoy it, and he figured the girls would, too. He hung up the phone. He had a mission. It was time to get even. He hurried next door and when Amy answered, he stood there and grinned.
Amy shook her head and said, “Are you going to be this way all week?”
“Just following my next-door neighbor’s lead. I will tell you this much. We’re going on Saturday instead of Friday, and at night instead of in the morning. Oh, by the way, tell Allison we won’t be leaving until around 6:00 p.m.”
+++
While young love filled the hearts of three of Aylesford Place’s residents and plans had been made for Saturday night’s double date, Harry sat in deep thought about his dilemma for the upcoming Saturday. Did he want to stay home or gamble that a little money spent on gas would be well spent on checking out some garage sales? Harry wondered if he could talk Frank into going with him. He would ask Frank to drive.
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