45. Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Two
I t was Nadine’s first free day in almost three weeks. She’d given Mike a key to the house so he and his sons could get in and clean up. She was looking forward to a day away from the house, and her first stop was going to be her aunt’s antique shop in town. She left Herman with her mother and promised to be back soon.
Opting to take the shortest route, she turned south from Heather Lane and walked along Pearl Street, catching glimpses of the lake between the houses. Like the day, the lake was gray, and the foamy surf whipped up against the shore.
Prime Vintage, the only antique shop in Lavender Bay, was on the corner of Main and Pine, just down the block from Coffee Girl on the same side of the street. Her aunt had been dabbling in antiques for as long as Nadine could remember. When Nadine and her sisters were young, Aunt Gail would drag them, along with her own two daughters, Esther and Suzanne, to flea markets and auctions.
A large sign hung from the corner of the building, displaying the name of the shop in Old English script. The entrance was flanked by large bay windows displaying fine china, vases, and various pieces of silverware. In the left window, behind all the items, was a large painting of a young blond child with a terrier at his side. The portrait must have come from a family that had been wealthy at one time. But the fact that it was currently for sale indicated that the descendants either needed money or weren’t interested in their heritage.
Antique shops always aroused curiosity in Nadine. She often wondered about the people whose belongings had ended up in these shops. Had they cherished these items during their lifetimes? Did they pull out the good china only on Christmas and other special occasions as she did?
Brutus the dog was missing from his usual spot in front of the doorway. The day was likely too misty for him. He was used to the heat of the southeast of the country. She stepped into the shop. Paintings stood on the floor, leaning against the cream-colored walls. There were all kinds of furniture, from bedroom sets to dining room sets to all sizes and sorts of tables and desks. She eyed a vanity table with longing but decided it was definitely not in her budget. The store was well lit, as antique chandeliers of every sort hung from the ceiling, switched on at their full wattage. It gave the interior a warm glow.
Brutus lay on his back on a plush red velvet settee with ornate scrollwork. One tawny ear hung over the side of the settee, and he snored contentedly. She shook her head and laughed. Everyone in town knew Brutus and that he had the run of the place. He’d worked hard in his life down south, finding missing people and tracking down escaped felons, and therefore people cut him a lot of slack. He’d earned a life of ease.
She walked along the narrow aisle to the back of the shop, taking everything in. There were books piled on a winged armchair. Every available shelf and tabletop had some kind of figurine or knick-knack on it. As she made her way through, her hip caught a small accent table and it teetered, but she immediately righted it before it crashed into anything else.
At the back of the store was a glass counter and showcase displaying various pieces of jewelry and watches and even a couple of antique pistols, which she hoped weren’t loaded.
Off the back of the store was a small room she knew to be Aunt Gail’s office. The curtain dividing it from the sales floor was half open, revealing the turquoise walls behind it. The sound of her aunt laughing and giggling made her smile. She spoke, but her voice was muffled. And then more laughter .
Nadine called out as she approached the counter. “Aunt Gail?”
“I must go, ta-ta,” she heard her aunt say into the phone.
Aunt Gail emerged and if you didn’t know she was the older sister of Louise Cook, you’d never guess it, as the two were as different as day and night. Where Nadine’s mother was trim with short silver hair, Gail Campbell was robust, with vibrant red hair and a flair for the extreme. Currently she sported a pair of glasses with multi-colored striped frames, bright red lipstick, and a heavy knit shawl that fell to her knees.
“Nadine!” She came out from behind the counter and immediately pulled her niece into a warm embrace, giving her a good hug. When she pulled away, she kept her arms outstretched, hands on Nadine’s arms, and studied her. “You’re looking well.”
She dropped her smile and said, “Now, there are no secrets between your mother and me—in fact, I was speaking to her just now—and she told me about Richard. That dirty dog!”
“That’s exactly what he is.”
“I’m so sorry for your troubles, honey,” she said. “But you did the right thing in coming home. Be with people who love you.”
A smile broke out on Nadine’s face. “That’s the plan.”
“And how’s Emma getting on at college? ”
Nadine nodded. “Good. She likes it. In fact, I think she likes it a little too much.” The last conversation she’d had with her daughter was over the weekend and she couldn’t talk long because she was on her way to a party.
“Good for her! You’re only young once.”
That wasn’t the way Nadine felt. She hoped her daughter wasn’t neglecting her studies while she was enjoying herself.
“I heard you bought the old Hadley place,” Gail said.
“I did. It needs a lot of work, and Richard has tied up our money, but I’m managing.”
“Your mother told me that, too.” Aunt Gail shook her head and repeated, “That dirty dog.”
They were interrupted by a shuffling Brutus, his eyes mournful, his ears dragging on the ground. He stopped and looked at Gail.
“Your lunch is ready, Brutus,” she announced.
The old dog shuffled off behind the counter and disappeared into the back room. The air was soon punctuated by the sound of him gobbling up his food.
As if making an excuse for him, Gail said, “When he worked, he probably had to eat on the run. Always busy.”
This was followed by a long burp from behind the curtain.
Her aunt shrugged, arms raised as if to say What can you do ?
Nadine had to suppress a smile. The dog was a character, just like her aunt.
“Anyway, I’ve been meaning to stop over and see the place,” Gail said.
“I’d love for you to come over.”
“But I don’t want to bother you. I’m sure you’re busy.”
“Never too busy for you. Please stop by any time,” Nadine encouraged her. She shifted the conversation, asking about her cousins. “How are Esther and Suzanne?”
“They’re fine. Looking forward to catching up with you.”
“I’d love to see them.”
“As soon as you get settled, we’ll all get together. But there’s a reason I asked you here. I want to show you something.” She waved her hand. “Follow me.”
Gail pushed the curtain aside and walked through the back room, with Nadine right behind her. An old rolltop desk stood in one corner, piled with ledgers and papers and cups full of pens, pencils, and markers. There was a calendar on the wall from the year 1982. Against the opposite wall were two beige metal filing cabinets topped with black wire baskets full of papers and receipts. Brutus sat at the only window in the room, a tall, narrow one, his chin resting on the sill. Gail led Nadine to a smaller storage room with a tiny bathroom off to the side. Every available space was stacked with boxes. A fire extinguisher stood sentry by the back door .
Gail pulled a set of keys from a pocket beneath her shawl and opened the back door onto a fenced-in space behind the store, part of it paved and part of it a small grassy area with a dog bowl full of water. At the far end of the yard was a steel-framed storage space as wide as the lot.
With the same set of keys, Gail unlocked the padlock that secured the small building. She pushed the door open and flipped on a light, illuminating the windowless space. It was packed with furniture.
“I had this put up three years ago because I’m running out of room, and I was tired of keeping everything in my garage at home.”
“Where do you get all this stuff?” Nadine asked, looking around. Articles of furniture were stacked on top of one another, some piles as high as the ceiling. There was everything: bookshelves, tables and chairs of various sizes, bed frames and dressers and bureaus. There was an old television unit with a stereo compartment to the left of the screen and a radio unit to the right.
“Mostly estates or auctions. I’ve been around so long that people call me when there’s estate pieces that need to be sold.”
“Huh.”
“Last year I purchased a lot of furniture from the old Glenville Arms. Have you ever been to Glenville?” she asked, her hand on a generous hip .
When Nadine shook her head no, Gail continued, “Anyway, the owner of the Glenville Arms died—that little inn had been around forever , run by four generations of the same family, and there was no one to take it over so everything was auctioned off.”
She pushed furniture out of the way as she made her way through the crowded space. She stopped at a bunch of antique mahogany tables. “I got the little tables from their dining room with the matching chairs.”
They were fine tables, small and square with space to seat four. The solid mahogany chairs had fabric seats and curved, scrolled legs. They were in pretty good shape.
“I was going to gift you a dining room table, but your mother tells me you plan to turn the place into an inn,” she said.
“Yes, that’s the plan.”
“Then I’ll give you these tables and chairs for your dining room. I assume you’ll be giving your guests breakfast?”
As an innkeeper, the only meal she’d be serving would be breakfast. She looked over the furniture. The gift was too generous. “I can’t accept these.”
“You can and you will,” Aunt Gail said firmly. “You probably don’t need all twenty tables?”
“No, I only have four rooms for guests,” Nadine explained.
“Then take five or six tables, and you can put two together to seat six or eight,” her aunt suggested .
“Oh, I don’t know . . .” It was a generous gift to be sure, and she did need furniture for her inn. Right now, she had none.
Gail turned and made her way through the slog of furniture, heading toward the door and leaving Nadine no choice but to follow. “That’s settled then. I’ll pick out the five that are in the best condition, and I’ll have Marty drop them off.”
“Who’s Marty?”
“He’s my delivery man. He’s retired and he was looking for some part-time work.”
“I’d appreciate that as I have no way to transport them.”
Gail flipped off the light switch and the interior went dark. She closed the door behind them and locked the padlock. “In fact, if you ever need anything transported, picked up, or moved, let me know. Marty is reasonable.”
“Thanks, Aunt Gail.”
Rain began to fall as they stepped inside the back room of Prime Vintage.
“I can’t thank you enough, Aunt Gail,” Nadine said. She swallowed a lump in her throat, feeling overwhelmed by her family’s generosity.
The older woman waved her away. “What good is family if they won’t help you when you need it?”
They’d just stepped out into the main shop when the front door opened and a small, spry woman with salt-and-pepper hair stepped in, clinging to the shoulder strap of her purse. Her face transformed into a smile when she spotted Gail.
“Kay, how are you?” Gail said to the other woman. Brutus was back on the settee, sleeping, his jowls puffing out with each blast of a snore.
“Kay, this is my niece, Nadine Eberhardt. Louise’s daughter.” She turned to Nadine and said, “This is Kay Bright. She runs the Lavender Bay Historical Society.”
They said hello and Gail interjected, “Nadine bought the old Hadley house.”
“I heard that,” Kay said, still clutching her purse. “I heard you’re going to turn it into an inn.”
Nadine took a deep breath. “Hopefully.”
“No hoping about it. Get it done,” Kay joked. “This town needs an inn.”
“Would you have anything at the Historical Society about the Hadley place?” Nadine asked.
Kay’s eyes traveled up and looked off to the left. She placed a forefinger to her chin. “Off the top of my head, I’d say no.”
Nadine felt a stab of disappointment. Wouldn’t it have been nice to have something historical to add to the house. Or see how it used to be.
“But I’ll have a look around,” Kay promised.
“Thanks, I appreciate that. It was nice meeting you and thanks, Aunt Gail, for everything,” Nadine said, figuring she should leave the two women alone .
They said their goodbyes, and Nadine headed out. Brutus did not even bother to lift his head as she walked past.
A week later, Nadine received a piece of mail at her new house from the Lavender Bay Historical Society. She tore it open, and inside there was a notecard from Kay Bright:
“I found your house on the 1910 and 1920 censuses. Included are the photocopies.”
Nadine pulled them out and unfolded them, her eyes scanning the papers.
The census record was laid out in a grid, and the headings across the top of the page included location, name, age, race, sex, marital status, and number of children. There were columns for nativity, citizenship, occupation, and education. When she found her house number, she almost shouted with glee.
There was the first family in residence at 19 Pearl Street. Surname: Anderson. Her eyes scanned down the list and then widened in surprise: the Andersons included a husband and wife, six children, the wife’s brother, the husband’s aunt, and a cousin.
She’d get a frame for the census and hang it right here in the front hall.
Nadine leaned against the wall, recalling Edna Knickerbocker’s words: It’s a house that takes in strays.