Annie's Answer (8 page)

“I can make it
that far without help,” she said, although he suspected she liked the
attention.

He was
thankful it was a friendly congregation. One of the greeters came up to his
aunt and asked about her ankle, giving her someone to talk to while he moved
his car to a parking spot. When he came back she was leaning on her crutches
and reading the bulletin.

“It says here
Reverend Dwight Williams is giving the sermon,” she said. “Is he related to our
Annie?”

Our Annie? Was
Mattie planning to adopt her? His first instinct had been to find an older
woman, maybe a retired nurse, to keep his aunt company. Had he made a mistake
throwing Annie to the lion, so to speak?

“Her
grandfather,” he replied. “He’s the retired minister, but he fills in when
Reverend Graham takes vacation time.”

“Our minister
didn’t believe much in time off. Good thing too. When  he was gone, Fred
Brewster read the sermon. He’s so boring the fish go to sleep when he takes a
boat out on the lake.”

A man nearby
laughed at his aunt’s joke—or at his aunt. He didn’t want to know which.

“Let’s go in,”
Nathan said as the organist began playing.

“I don’t
recognize that hymn,” his aunt said. “Is it one of those in the green book? I
can’t get used to the words up on those big screens at the front, but I guess
it’s good for people who can’t see too well anymore.”

Nathan put his
hand lightly on Mattie’s arm, hoping to guide her down to the pew where the
Sawyers always sat before she critiqued everything in the church.

“Look, there’s
Annie. I didn’t recognize her until she turned her head to the side. I see
there’s room in her row.”

“We usually
sit on the left,” he reminded his aunt, not wanting to inflict Aunt Mattie on
Annie when it was her day off.

“I didn’t see
your name on the pew,” she said, taking off on her crutches like a teenager and
giving him no choice but to follow.

At the end of
the row, she greeted Annie in a whisper that could be heard six blocks away.
“Mind if we join you?”

“Not at all,”
Annie said, looking a bit startled. “This is my mother, Laura Williams. Mom,
this is Mrs. Hayward.”

“Call me
Mattie.”

The two women
exchanged a few words, but his aunt made no move to sit.

“Aunt Mattie,
I think the service is about to begin.”

“Nathan, you
slide in by Annie,” she said. “That way I can lean my crutches on the end of
the pew.”

She left him
no choice. He sat down beside Annie, but in a few moments, the congregation
rose for the opening hymn.

Singing wasn’t
his thing. He couldn’t read music in spite of the piano, violin, and flute
lessons his mother had forced on him, none lasting more than a few weeks before
his opposition forced her to give up. Nor could he carry a tune, whatever that
meant. He’d been invited to leave the mandatory boys’ choir at his private
school, instead spending the time helping the librarian shelve books.

Beside him
Aunt Mattie sang with gusto, making up in volume what she lacked in voice
quality. It took him a full verse of “Amazing Grace” to realize what a lovely
voice Annie had. When he did, he gave up his own attempt to sing and listened
to the sweet tone of her voice. It was worth giving up his accustomed pew to
hear her.

Annie was so
conscious of Nathan beside her she started out whispering the lyrics, but the
familiar words quickly drew her to sing with her whole heart. She loved the old
traditional hymns, and it wasn’t until the end that she realized he hadn’t been
singing. Had he stayed silent to listen to her? That didn’t make any sense.
Hopefully he just wasn’t a good singer.

“I’m glad your
grandfather is preaching today,” he said in a soft voice. “I remember he used
to give good sermons.”

“He still
does,” Annie said, trying to concentrate on the service. It was hard when
Nathan leaned toward her and whispered in her ear. She could feel the warmth of
his breath and smell the spicy aroma of his aftershave. She wanted to tell him
to behave himself in church—or did she?

Gramps didn’t
let the congregation down. He talked about loving one’s neighbor as oneself. A
small man, he was very large in the pulpit, and Annie thanked the Lord for
letting him live with them.

After the
service, her plan was to leave quickly. She didn’t feel up to making small
talk, especially not with Nathan, but she was thwarted by Mattie and her own
mother. For two people who’d just met, they seemed to have a lot to talk about,
a conversation they continued as the crowd around them thinned out. Nathan
hovered near her, waiting for his aunt to leave but saying nothing.

When the
silence between them started to feel awkward, she asked, “Did you get your
aunt’s ring cleaned?”

“Yes, but I
don’t think that store will get any of my business in the future.”

When she
thought of the case full of diamond rings, she couldn’t help but wonder whether
he had plans to get engaged in the near future. As far as she knew, he didn’t
date anyone in town, but the Sawyer family had connections across the country.
She could imagine him with a New York society girl or a fashion model.

Apparently
Aunt Mattie had great hearing—or maybe it was her own special radar—but
she interrupted what she was saying to make a comment to her nephew.

 “I
should live to see the day when you walk into a jewelry store and buy an
engagement ring,” his aunt said honing in on his mention of a jewelry store.

Was that a
flush on Nathan’s face? Annie only had a glimpse before she forced herself to
look away.

“Aunt
Mattie.…” The look of exasperation on his face said it all. Not only was he not
planning to get engaged, it must have been  a sore subject.

“I’m glad I
got to visit with you, Laura,” his aunt said, ignoring Nathan. “You’re welcome
to come visit any time.”

“I’d love to,”
her mother said, “but I don’t get many days off at the bank.”

Just when
Annie thought they could finally leave, her grandfather walked up to the
visitor.

“It’s nice you
could join us this morning, Mrs. Hayward,” he said after Nathan introduced the
two of them.

“Please,
Reverend, call me Mattie. I forget to answer to ‘Mrs.’ these days.”

“I’m Dwight,”
Gramps said.

While Mattie
raved about his sermon, deserved praise but greatly overdone, Annie tried to
edge her way to the double doors at the front of the church. She managed to get
outside without her mother or grandfather noticing, but she wasn’t alone.
Nathan had followed her.

“My aunt is a
handful,” he said.

“Yes, but she
means well.” Annie did like the older woman, although she wasn’t exactly
looking forward to being her constant companion for the rest of the summer.

“It’s not your
life she’s trying to orchestrate. If she were trying to find a match made in
heaven for you—her words, not mine--you might feel differently,” he said.

“I can
sympathize, although people have pretty much given up on me.”

“So there’s no
one special in your life right now?”

He threw in
the question so casually Annie didn’t have time to think of a clever answer.

“No,” she
admitted.

She didn’t
want him to think she was a loser, but it would sound too lame to explain she
simply didn’t have time to date, let alone find the man of her dreams.

“Westover is a
small town. Not many men for a nice girl like you to date.” He sounded
downright gloomy about it.

A nice girl?
She might be working for him temporarily, but she was a career-minded woman,
not a girl sorting through possible marital prospects.

“I’m not
looking for a man,” she said, trying to put ice in her voice.

“Sorry, I
didn’t mean to suggest you were.” He glanced at the church door, obviously
impatient for his aunt to get a move on. “My aunt really seems to enjoy your
company. I don’t suppose you’d consider—no, I won’t ask.”

“Won’t ask what?”
She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear his question, but curiosity won out.

“Really, it’s
just a thought. I wonder whether you’d accept a job as a live-in companion,
just for the summer, of course.”

“Sorry, I have
other things to do—my job at the pancake place, selling ads, helping in
the church office. I couldn’t possibly accept.”

“That’s why I
hesitated to bring it up. But if you were willing to accept, I’d pay a salary
to compensate for giving up your other jobs.”

How wonderful
would it be to have just one job? She could forget about waiting tables and Bob
Hoekstra’s petty tyranny, not to mention running all over town begging
merchants to buy ads in the paper. She couldn’t pretend she wasn’t tempted, but
what would she do twenty-four seven with Mattie?

The silence
between them loomed large while she debated with herself. At last it wasn’t his
aunt’s difficult personality that decided her. She just couldn’t imagine living
under the same roof with Nathan—even though he had his own area in the
big house. There would be a chance of seeing him every morning and every
evening, not to mention all weekend.

The situation
was much too threatening to her peace of mind. She was already attracted to
Nathan more than she wanted to be. The less she saw him, the safer she was.
Regardless of whether he was unattached at the moment, he was too handsome, too
charming—when he wanted to be—and altogether too appealing. She had
to remember that wealthy lawyers who lived in mansions didn’t marry struggling
waitresses.

She absolutely
could not let herself fall in love with Nathan Sawyer.

“I’m sorry,”
she said. “I couldn’t possibly accept a live-in job.”

“Of course
not. I shouldn’t have asked. It wouldn’t be much of a life for you, constantly
at my great aunt’s beck and call.”

Was the
disappointment in his voice all about Mattie? For a brief instant, she thought
he might actually want her around because he liked her. But that kind of
thinking could only lead to disappointment and potential heartbreak.

When her
mother came to put an end to their conversation, Annie wanted to hug her. She
knew how easily Nathan could’ve persuaded her to accept his offer, but she had
to avoid him as much as possible.

Think flower
shop, she silently told herself. She wasn’t Cinderella, and this Prince Charming
had no intention of sweeping her into his arms and carrying her away on a white
horse.

“I thought we
could do something about the kitchen cupboards today,” Mattie said as soon as
Annie showed up for work Monday morning. “I can’t abide a spice drawer that
isn’t arranged in alphabetical order.”

“Would Mrs.
Sawyer want us to change things?” Annie asked, a bit skeptical about Mattie’s
proposed project.

“George’s wife
is lucky if she can locate the stove. She lives on rice cakes and lettuce. No
wonder my nephew eats out most of the time.”

Annie couldn’t
help but notice Mattie never spoke of Nathan’s mother as Linda. Did the
Sawyers’ long trip to Europe have anything to do the arrival of his great aunt?
She hoped not. Families were a gift from God, and it distressed her to think
Nathan might be caught in the middle of a feud.

Mattie
gingerly walked over to a drawer, using only one crutch and carefully putting
her weight on the injured ankle. Would her job her end when the older woman was
fully healed? Annie doubted it, but she still thought she’d made the right
decision in not accepting Nathan’s offer of a live-in job.

Apparently
he’d left the house before she got there, although Mattie didn’t mention him.
Annie tried not to feel disappointed, but it was difficult. She was thinking
about him entirely too much for her own peace of mind.

“Oh dear,”
Mattie said, peering into the broad drawer filled with spice containers. “The
paper lining needs to be replaced. I always line my cupboards with contact
paper. It can be washed. Of course, I don’t have drawers of my own anymore.”

Mattie sounded
so sad Annie wanted to hug her, but she was leery of offering too much
sympathy. Nathan’s elderly aunt wasn’t a person who felt sorry for herself.
After a few moments, she sounded perky—and a bit bossy—again, but
Annie could imagine how traumatic it must be to have a long-time home
destroyed.

“Oh, that’s
for me,” Mattie said, digging a cell phone out of the pocket of another of her
housedresses, this one a pretty patterned one in shades of bright pink, orange,
and lavender.

“Ruth, it’s
good to hear from you. Hold on just a minute while I go sit down.” She held the
phone away and spoke to Annie. “It’s a dear friend from Iowa. You can go ahead
and wipe off the spice cans if they need it. I won’t be too long.”

Annie had
never seen Mattie look so happy as she hurried as quickly as possible to talk
in the privacy of another room. It was nearly half an hour before she returned,
practically glowing from the conversation.

“Ruth and I
went to high school together,” Mattie said, seemingly eager to share the
welcome phone call with Annie. “We’ve been in the same bridge club since we
were both newly married. Sometimes I can’t believe how old we’ve both gotten.”

“It was nice
she called,” Mattie added, and  Annie heard the regret in the older
woman’s voice.

Her
grandfather was so lively and engaged in the community, she hadn’t realized how
hard it must be to grow old among virtual strangers. She vowed to be patient
with Mattie, even when the woman’s demands made her difficult.

“Now about the
drawer. I don’t imagine George’s wife has anything as practical as a roll of
contact paper in the house. We’ll have to go to the store.”

“I can run get
some for you,” Annie said.

“I’d like to
pick the pattern, not that you don’t have good taste,” Mattie said. “Anyway it
will be a nice outing. You can drive George’s wife’s car. Nathan left me the
keys.”