Poppy’s strained laughter echoed through the room again, making her giggle. Then as if struck by lightning, she froze. “But what if he’s like Charles?”
“And what’s wrong with Charles? He’s a good man and a terrific manager.”
“No argument there. He’s the best, a strange character, but good at what he does. Surely, you know what I mean.” She exaggerated a pretend shiver.
“I always thought he fancied you, Amanda. Even along the lines of marriage.”
“Are you serious?”
Poppy motioned her to sit on the bed again. “Now listen here, young lady. I wouldn’t mind having him for a grandson-in-law.”
His statement astounded her. “Can you repeat that?”
“You heard me. He’d be good to you. Treat you with respect, not like that dot-com guy you used to date.”
Frantically waving her hands, she shouted, “No thank you to both of them. The dot-com guy, as you call him, was a mistake, probably the biggest mistake of my life. And Charles,” she paused. “I think the only thing he’s interested in is himself and Sarah Mitchell.”
“You’re impossible.”
“No, I’m not.” She gently pinched his cheeks. “This isn’t the old country where marriages are arranged, remember? And as you always say, you’ll know who is and isn’t that once forever person.”
Before he could respond, an aide wandered into the room carrying an oversized bouquet of colorful, cut flowers.
“Aren’t these lovely?” she asked, placing them on the windowsill. She removed the card and handed it to him.
“Speaking of the devil, these are from Charles himself.” He passed the card to Amanda. ‘We’re all sending good thoughts - The Gang at The Farmhouse.’
“Sure puts my offering to shame.”
Poppy shook his head. “Charles does go to extremes to make a point. It’s just his generous nature. Besides, you know how daisies have been the flower of choice in our family for a long time: you, your mother and your grandmother.” He drifted off in private thought for a few seconds. “Back to Charles. Since you’re not interested in him as a marriage candidate, how about as a business partner?”
“Now you’re talking about something I can live with, even welcome. He’s paid his dues, Poppy. I think it might be time for you to make him a partner.”
“Are you sure you’re okay with that, sweetheart? The business will be yours someday, you know. Are you sure you wouldn’t mind him sharing ownership?”
“Even though we’re talking about something off in the distance, I don’t think I could ever run the business by myself. I’d be happy to work with him. Besides, there’s no doubt in my mind or in my heart that Charlie has earned that position.”
“I’ve been thinking about this for quite a while now. A fifty/fifty split.”
“It’s your call, Poppy. I’ll be happy with whatever you decide.”
“Okay, then, I’ll talk with Jack Hallway and have him draw up the papers, and then you and I can present them to Charles, together.”
Amanda reached down and gave his hand a squeeze.
“After he survives the shock, I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.” She extended her hand out. “Let’s shake on it,” she teased. “To make it official.”
Before their hands met, she suddenly pulled hers back. “Just one tiny stipulation.”
She winked with mischief.
He playfully furrowed his brows. “And what might that be, Amanda?”
She reached for the make shift vase of flowers and placed it in his left hand. “Now, raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Peter Russo, promise to never, ever again broach the subject of any romantic notion about Charles Wharley and Amanda Conifer.”
Through his laughter, he reluctantly admitted defeat and willingly carried out her courtroom dramatization.
“By the way, what kind of romantic notions do you have about this Nick fellow?”
She rose. “That’s my business.”
“Of course it is, sweetheart. And I won’t pry.” Then to himself, he murmured, “For now.”
“Oh, yes, you will. I know you pretty well, too, Poppy. You won’t be happy until you know everything.”
He didn’t respond. his cunning grin said it all.
“Besides, there’s nothing to tell. I just met him.”
“In that case, I promise to wait until you decide to update me about the outcome should something of interest develops.” His hardy laugh filled the room.
After a while, she noticed her grandfather’s fatigue. “Poppy, you look like you need to rest. So I’m going to drive into Denver to arrange to move out of the condo. There’s no sense paying rent on a place where I’m not living. I’ve decided to put my stuff in storage for the time being.”
“Are you sure that’s what you want, Mandy?”
“Definitely. I haven’t said much about it, but I’ve been giving it some thought, and truthfully, I don’t think I can live there again. I wouldn’t feel safe.”
“That’s understandable, sweetheart. Circumstances speak for themselves.” He lifted his hand for her to take it. He drew it to his lips and gently kissed it. “A horrible ordeal. I thank God every day you survived the attack.”
“Me, too.”
“I’m going to tell you something, and I don’t want you to be angry with me. My asking you to stay on a while longer was not only for your benefit, but mine, as well. I’m just a grandfather who enjoys his granddaughter’s company, and being a bit selfish. Once this episode here passes, I’ll be fine, and you can move on with your life.”
“Poppy, I’ll stay until the time’s right for me to find another place.”
“It’s whatever works best for you, Mandy. I’m always here to support your choices.”
She frowned. “Now, you know me better than that. I wouldn’t make any kind of change if I didn’t want to. Besides, there are two things I’ve learned over the past few months. One, I can’t deny I like the bank world, yet I feel I was meant to work in the family business.” She took a deep breath. “And two, what would you do without me?”
He let out another howl of laughter that triggered a shortness of breath and another coughing seizure. Amanda raced to the nurse’s station for assistance. Within a few minutes, her grandfather was resting comfortably.
Feeling bad her visit had put a strain upon him, she decided to leave. She fluffed his pillow and tucked him in, just as he had done for her for so many years in the past.
“I want you to rest. I’ll be back later.”
She gave him a parting kiss as he closed his eyes, ready to drift off into a sound sleep.
Chapter Fifteen
Nick led his sister and brother-in-law into his hospital room. “Okay, Monica. What’s this all about?”
“I don’t know how to tell you. It’s so awful....” An uncontrollable sobbing ensued.
Jeff walked toward Nick and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Simply unbelievable.”
What in the world was going on? What could be so terrible to make these two normal people act this way?
“Obviously, Monica can’t speak so it’s up to you, Jeff. Let me hear it, no matter what it is or how devastating you think it is.”
Jeff cleared his throat. “You’d better sit down.”
Nick followed the suggestion, sat on the edge of the bed, and waited. “Okay. Okay. I’m sitting. Tell me.”
“We went to your warehouse this morning to get the employee list from the office.” He glanced at his wife. “Remember earlier, you asked us to call everyone?”
He nodded. “And you couldn’t find it? Is that what this is all about?”
“Not to make light of it, but yeah. We couldn’t find it. But not because it wasn’t where you said.” He paused. “No, that’s not exactly true.”
He stared down at the sterile floor of the hospital room.
“Come on, Jeff. Get to the point.” He glanced at his sister. “Are you going to tell me what this is all
about?”
Monica wiped her eyes with a soggy tissue. “It’s not that easy.”
Nick couldn’t stand the suspense. “One of you just spit it out.”
Jeff ran his fingers through his salt-and-pepper hair, sighing as he did. “We couldn’t find the list because we couldn’t find the office.”
He stared at Nick and waited.
“That makes no sense. You’ve both been there a hundred times before, so I know you didn’t get lost. And being of sound mind, I know buildings don’t just disappear in the middle of the night. So what’s this all about?”
Still unable to speak in clear sentences, Monica tried to explain. “That’s what happened. It disappeared.”
Totally bewildered, Nick rose and walked toward the door. “Okay, I’ll play along.” He turned around and faced the distraught couple. “Star Restaurant Supplies disappeared, and you think it’s because…?” He didn’t finish, waiting for one of them to fill in the blank.
Monica’s loud wails brought a nurse running into the room. Raising his hand, Nick indicated things were under control. The nurse shrugged and left.
“I know you’re my older—I mean, slightly older sister, Monica, but I’m a big boy now. Just tell me.”
She burst out the news. “It burned down during the night.”
“What exactly do you mean? Burned down?”
“Fire. Big fire. Ashes. Charred wood. Melted equipment. Rubble. It’s all gone.”
“Are you serious?”
Monica and Jeff stood nodding like two bobble-head-dolls.
Nick’s eyes glazed over as if in a trance. His legs grew weak. He staggered back and collapsed onto the chair next to the bed and swallowed hard.
“Fire? Gone? Impossible.” He stood. “Must be a mistake.”
The couple shook their heads and stared at him.
“How’d it happen?”
“They don’t know yet.” Monica searched her purse, pulled out a clean tissue, and wiped her tears. “The fire trucks were still there when we left. They told us they wouldn’t have any answers until later today, maybe even tomorrow.”
She walked to the window then back and forth and around the bed.
“This is serious, brother. It’s awful” She broke down in tears again. “I’m so sorry. I know how hard you worked to build a successful business.”
Nick jumped up and threw on a clean set of clothes. “Why didn’t they call me?”
“The Fire Marshall said they tried your cell phone all night and didn’t get an answer.”
“Of course not. It’s probably still out on the highway.”
“We explained what happened to you, and they told us the firemen would be there for quite a while. Hoped you’d come by and talk to them.”
By this point, he was frantic. “Let’s get out of here. I’ve got to see it to believe it.”
After one last check of the discharge details, the threesome fled the hospital, Denver-bound. No one spoke on the drive down the mountain. This sudden distressful news had hit with a powerful force. Its effect scrambled Nick’s emotions and put all his plans at risk. He stared out the window wondering how this could have happened. I passed the yearly inspection with flying colors, no fines, no repairs, no warning of any kind. Nothing remotely indicated a fire hazard. Last night, he remembered checking everything before he’d locked up and left. There hadn’t been anything out of order or unusual. What could have gone wrong?
When they turned down the street to his building, he leaned forward from the backseat, peering at the blinking lights from the fire trucks, police and ambulance. A police barricade and two officers stopped them from proceeding any further then directed them to park off to the side. After he had identified himself as the owner, they allowed the trio to walk closer.
Overwhelmed by the sight of a dozen or more firefighters, a maze of hoses and the charred, wet rubble, he stopped, frozen in his tracks. Only yesterday, this had been the site of a thriving business, his business; one he struggled to maintain to its present level of success. Now, little remained to even recognize Star Restaurant Supplies ever existed. He fought the urge to throw up as his stomach churned and heaved. Seeking support, for both his personal stability and security, he reached for Monica’s arm as if asking why this catastrophe had happened.
“Mr. Dalton?” A deep voice resonated from behind him.
Nick turned, coming face to face with a fire captain.
“I’m sorry, sir.” He paused. “As soon as we got the call, someone did try to reach you, several times. We kept trying all night. No one answered.” He acknowledged Monica and Jeff and continued, “Your sister explained what happened.”
Unable to speak, he nodded.
The fire captain went on. “Our preliminary findings, leads us to think someone started a fire in the open dumpster in the alley next to your building.”
“Impossible. I made my routine check of things before left Friday night. I didn’t see anything suspicious. I didn’t smell smoke.”
“It doesn’t take much to spread once it catches. Someone could have easily tossed a cigarette into the bin and whoosh….” He waved his hand in an encompassing manner. “Fire has its own energy. One never knows what it’s going to do. And these older downtown buildings are often nothing but fuel.”
The small group circled the perimeter of what used to be his business. Nick threw his arms up in the air.
“Do you have any enemies that might want to do you any harm?”
“Not to my knowledge, and not to sound self-serving, but no. I’m an honest guy. I have a lot of friends and customers who like and respect me.”
Jeff spoke up. “Don’t want to sound politically incorrect. Perhaps a homeless person or a transient started it accidentally. They’ve been known to be careless.”
The fire captain shrugged.
“We’ll do a thorough investigation to get to the bottom of it.” He turned to Nick. “I don’t mean to bother you with questions, but you do have insurance, don’t you?” He pulled out a small note pad.
Nick nodded. “The Gilner Agency, know it?”
“Yes, sir. A lot of Denver’s businessmen deal with them. My own father-in-law, too.”
Nick stared at the bleak remains of his office and warehouse. Absent-mindedly, he muttered, “Now what do I do?”
“Well, Mr. Dalton, I’d call your agent and let him make the necessary arrangements.”
“Yes, of course.” He turned to walk away. “Is that all?”
The firefighter nodded and extended his hand. “For the time being, it is. But please know we’ll be in touch.”
Nick’s scanned the site. “How could anyone be so careless?”
“I’m sorry for your troubles, Mr. Dalton.”
“Me, too.” He turned and meandered back to Jeff’s car. Slumped in the back seat, he sat in a trance-like state. “Let’s get out of here. There’s nothing I can do.”
The tap on the car window startled them all. Jeff opened it quickly to hear what the fire captain had to say.
“For your protection, I think you should call Gilner’s emergency number right away. Knowing insurance companies, they’ll want to get to the scene as soon as possible. They’ll want to do their own investigation.”
“Even better,” Nick said. “I’m not too far from Gilner’s office. We’ll swing by and report it in person.”
“That’d be a good idea if it were during the week. I happen to know their hours. Ten to one on Saturdays.”
The firefighter’s statement and his faint, yet compassionate, smile jolted Nick’s emotions. He burst into a robust laughing spell.
“Of course it’s too late,” he lamented. “Just my luck. Guess I’ll have to phone ’em and leave a message.” He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “Wonder what else can go wrong….” He shook his head and tapped Jeff on the shoulder. “Let’s get out of here. I need some time to be alone and think this out.”
Jeff eased the car into traffic. Monica
twisted around to face her brother in the back seat. “I’m so sorry, Nick. I don’t know what to say or how to help you.”
“Say? Say? There’s nothing to say.” His anger seeped out. “It’s all over for me. I might as well leave town and keep on going.”
“You can’t leave and never come back. I won’t have that,” Monica scolded.
“And how will you stop me, big sister?”
“I, ah… I don’t know yet. What I do know is that that we’re your family. We love you. How can you even think about leaving?” She unbuckled her seatbelt, turned to her brother, and lunged toward the back seat to embrace him.
Jeff grabbed his wife’s arm. “Sit down. Do you want to top the day off by killing us all?”
Nick stole one last look at the charred debris then sighed. No hope of recovery. No hope of rebuilding. No hope….
Back at Monica and Jeff’s house, he made all the necessary calls—insurance company, employees and all his suppliers. While Monica fixed dinner, he sought comfort from his dog, Maxine. He sat on the floor leaning against the sofa. Maxine sat across his lap. He stroked her gently. She popped up, licked his face, and snuggled against his chest, sensing he needed some comforting.
“Well, Maxine, how about we take that long vacation we talked about? What do you say?” The dog’s tail wagged with an enthusiasm indicating she understood and approved. “Atta girl.”
Nick turned his attention to his family.
“You know what’s weird about this whole thing?” He didn’t wait for a response. “Everything in my life seemed to be on track. A booming business, building a log cabin home in the mountains….” He paused. “It is still there, isn’t it?”
A nervous laugh filled the room.
“To top that off,” he continued. “A beautiful woman I was hoping to get to know entered my life and disappeared before I had the chance.” He scratched Maxine behind her ears and took a deep breath. “Now absolutely nothing!”
His mood emitted doom and gloom.
“You have your family, Maxine and the opportunity to start over.” Monica attempted to cheer him up.
Matters of the Heart Page 8