Back Home Again (18 page)

“Be angry and sin not,” he would quote to Alice from the Bible. “I don’t want to give the devil a chance to make this situation any worse than it already is.” He was always
right. If he gave himself enough time, he usually came up with the answers, and the wait never hurt anything.

So Alice slipped up the back staircase to her bedroom. She knew she needed to cool off a bit, although she wouldn’t be able to hide out for long. Once safely in her room, she got down on her knees and asked God to help her through this trial. She asked Him to help her to control her anger as well as her tongue. Then, worried that Jane’s sharp eyes would soon notice that she was missing from the group, she went back down and joined the jovial crowd of carolers now gathered around the piano in the parlor.

Naturally, it bothered her to see Florence and Clara standing with Lloyd and Aunt Ethel as they sang along with the others. She felt they were hypocritical participating in this party after they’d said such horrid things about her family. She took a deep breath as she carefully averted her eyes from the two women and attempted to focus her attention on the music and the joyful words of the old familiar Christmas carols.

Louise and Jane both looked so happy tonight. Alice knew she wouldn’t trouble them with this unfortunate bit of news yet. It was bad enough that her spirits had been dampened, no need to spoil their holiday too. As the group sang “God Bless Ye Merry Gentleman,” she wondered how her father would handle these two mean-spirited women.
Of course, she knew that whatever Father had ever said or done to remedy such malicious problems, he had always done so with grace. If anything, grace had been Father’s main motto for living. It had always seemed to permeate all areas of his life and, quite properly, it was even the name of his beloved little church, and now their soon-to-be inn. Grace Chapel.

Grace, grace, grace
. Alice sighed.
Dear God, help me.

Chapter Twenty-Three

A
lice decided to wait until after Christmas to do something about Florence and Clara’s misguided and misinformed little gossip session. She figured a couple of days would prove a good cooling off period for her. But she knew she couldn’t ignore this problem for too long. She had seen too many other incidents where serious damage had been inflicted when thoughtless gossip had spread like wildfire. And Alice had no desire to confront those two busybodies herself. Despite two days to cool off, she wasn’t sure that she could control her temper when it came to someone slandering her beloved father. So on the day after Christmas, Alice walked over to Aunt Ethel’s little carriage house and knocked on the door.

“Good morning, Alice,” said Aunt Ethel in a cheery voice. “You’re just in time for tea.”

“Thank you,” said Alice. “That would be nice.”

After they had sat at Aunt Ethel’s kitchen table and visited for a bit, Alice broached the subject. “Aunt Ethel, I have a problem,” she began.

Her aunt frowned and leaned forward with keen interest. “What is it, dear? Are those two sisters of yours fighting again?”

Alice shook her head. “No, it’s nothing like that. In fact, we had the best evening playing Scrabble with Cynthia last night. Naturally, Louise won.”

“That Louise. She always manages to come up with some obscure word with a Z that she plants right over the triple word score.”

“Yes, that’s about how it went.”

Aunt Ethel refilled Alice’s cup. “But, tell me, Alice, what is troubling you?”

“Well, I accidentally overheard a conversation on Christmas Eve.”

Aunt Ethel’s eyes grew bright. “Accidentally?”

Alice sighed. “I really wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. I was simply cleaning up in the kitchen and I heard Florence Simpson and Clara Horn talking in the dining room. I was about to go in and say something, but their conversation had already gone too far for me to make a graceful interruption.”

Aunt Ethel nodded, eager to hear more. “What were they talking about?”

“It seems that they’ve gotten the crazy idea that Father may have, well, embezzled money from the church.”

Aunt Ethel’s teacup clanged against the saucer. “What on earth?”

“I know. It sounds terrible saying it out loud. But apparently they’re suspicious about the renovations we’ve been doing in the house. They assumed that none of us would have enough money to do these repairs and improvements, and that perhaps Father had squirreled away some church funds that we are currently squandering.”

“
Good night alive!
” Aunt Ethel blew air through her nostrils. “Of all the idiotic things to say!”

Alice nodded. “I know. Even though it’s totally ridiculous, I just hate the idea of them spreading a vicious rumor like that—”

“Well, certainly! It’s absolute nonsense.”

“But I wasn’t quite sure what to do. I was worried that I might lose my temper with them and only make matters worse. Then I remembered that they’re friends of yours and I hoped maybe you could talk some sense into them.”

“Well, I most definitely will.”

“Without upsetting them?”

“
Humph
. I think they need to be upset a bit. The nerve of those two! Spreading such complete poppycock about our dear Daniel!”

“I thought about how Father would handle something like this … and then I remembered how he would often
bring in a third party to settle a dispute. That’s why I thought of you.”

Aunt Ethel smiled and patted her hand. “You did exactly the right thing. Now, don’t worry, dear, I won’t go getting them all riled up either. I’ll simply set the record straight with them. Perhaps Lloyd would like to join me. We could invite the two of them to meet us at the Coffee Shop—a public place is always the best place for something as potentially volatile as this.” Aunt Ethel stood and patted her hair. “If you’ll excuse me, I should probably get right on this before it gets any further out of hand.”

“Thanks, Aunt Ethel.” Alice smiled with relief. “I thought you’d know what to do.”

“Of course, dear, this is right up my alley.”

Alice knew that was true. Aunt Ethel was an expert when it came to gossip and rumors. Even though she never intended to inflict hurt, it might prove a good reminder to her of how easily these things can get out of hand.

Aunt Ethel chuckled as she reached for her coat and purse. “You know me, Alice, I’ve always enjoyed a juicy piece of gossip as much as anyone, but only when it’s the truth. I do not approve—and never have approved—of out and out falsehoods.”

Alice wanted to ask her aunt how she was able to discern the difference, but decided not to go there today. “Good
luck,” she said as she went out the door. “And remember to season your words with grace.”

Aunt Ethel waved. “Yes, of course, dear.”

Alice said a quick prayer for Aunt Ethel as she headed back home. She had decided not to trouble her sisters with this little predicament during the holidays and felt no need to make them feel bad now. She hoped that Aunt Ethel would nip it in the bud before the day was even over.

“Hey,” called Jane as Alice came in the backdoor. “I thought we could work on the Sunrise Room today.”

“I’d love to,” said Alice.

“Well, I promised Cynthia we’d give her a lesson on faux painting.” Jane lowered her voice. “And this way we get some free help too. Who knows, we might even get the painting completed today.”

So Jane and Alice and Cynthia spent most of their day happily spreading and wiping layers of pale blue paint on the walls. The floors were already a pickled finish, giving the room a light and airy feel. Alice wanted the room to feel cheerful. Some weeks ago, she had ordered a pretty patchwork quilt from a catalog—a pinwheel pattern in shades of cornflower blue, sunny yellow and a creamy white. They had used this quilt as a guideline for picking paint colors as well as the accessory fabrics that would be used for pillows, curtains and a dust ruffle.

“This room feels happy,” said Cynthia after they finished the first wall. “Maybe you’ll have a guest who needs to be cheered up and you can put her or him in here.”

“Perhaps we should try to define the personalities of the rooms to match the varying needs of our guests,” said Alice as she held up a paintbrush.

“The Sunset Room is definitely a very artsy and imaginative room,” said Cynthia. “Just staying there makes you want to be more creative.”

“That’s good,” said Jane. “We’ll have to remember to write these things down before we forget them.”

“Did I hear someone say we need to write things down?” called Louise as she came down the hallway. Then she stuck her head in the bedroom. “Oh, my, girls, that looks lovely.”

Cynthia explained their idea to her mother. “Maybe you could put all this in your brochure,” she suggested.

“Yes.” Louise nodded. “I’ve been making some notes for these things, and a brief description of the guest rooms would be a nice addition.”

“And you’ll need a website too,” suggested Cynthia as she attempted to remove a blue splotch from the tip of Jane’s nose.

“Great idea,” said Jane. “I bought the software for creating my own website last year. I wouldn’t mind giving it a shot.”

“I wonder how I would describe my Symphony Room,” said Louise.

“Think about how a symphony makes you feel,” suggested Jane as she carefully blotted the narrow wall space between the windows, artistically twisting her rag from left to right.

“Inspired,” said Louise.

“Then it should look like an inspiring room,” said Cynthia.

Louise frowned. “Well, I hope I picked out the right sort of wallpaper for it then.”

“Was that the paper with the rows of climbing roses?” asked Cynthia.

“Yes. Do you think it will feel inspiring at all?”

The bedroom got quiet. “I think so,” said Alice after a bit.

“How?” asked Louise with a frown.

Alice paused to refill her brush with paint. “Well, the roses are climbing upward, right?”

“Yes,” said Louise. “They are.”

“So it sort of inspires you to look up.”

“That’s right,” said Louise. “I think it will be quite uplifting.”

“There you go,” said Jane.

Louise went back out into the hallway, and then paused.
“But what about Mother’s room, Jane? You seem to be keeping your plans for it a secret.”

“Yes, Jane,” urged Alice. “Don’t keep us in suspense.”

“Okay.” Jane set down her rag and stood up straight. “Naturally, I think that Mother’s room will be very gardenlike, with varying shades of green. Very serene and peaceful.”

“Peaceful.” Louise nodded. “That sounds like Mother.”

“Yes,” agreed Alice. “I remember how she could make my troubles melt away just by holding me in her arms and stroking my hair.”

“That’s right,” said Louise. “She could simply walk into a room and an air of peace and dignity seemed to accompany her.”

Jane sighed sadly. “I wish I had known her.”

Alice went over and put an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry, Jane, you already do.”

“I do?”

Alice smiled. “Yes. There is so much of Mother in you, Jane. Of the three of us, you look the most like her.”

“Really? You think so?”

“Oh, everyone knows that, Jane,” said Louise in a slightly impatient tone. “Father always said you looked just like Mother. And you’ve seen the photos.”

“I guess I just didn’t really notice.”

“So, if you’re ever missing Mother, just take a look in the mirror,” said Alice. “You’ll get a little peek of her in there.”

“All right.” Jane straightened her shoulders. “I guess we should get back to work, crew. That is unless we want to be here all night.”

“I thought I could fix dinner tonight,” offered Louise. “After all the fancy Christmas food we’ve been eating, I’ve been hankering after some of my corn chowder.”

“Sounds good,” said Jane as she winked at Alice.

“
Sounds good?
” repeated Cynthia after her mother was well out of earshot. “Have you guys ever tasted that stuff?”

Alice laughed. “Oh, you’d be surprised, Cynthia. I’m sure it’s not nearly as bad as you remember.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

B
y the New Year, Aunt Ethel had finally managed to completely squelch Florence and Clara’s rumor. Alice suspected it took a great deal of effort on her aunt’s part, because she knew how gossip could fly through their small town. She had already heard, through Hope, that people were talking about the three sisters’ methods of funding their home improvements.

It required someone as well connected and socially active as Aunt Ethel to put a real stop to something like that. Fortunately it seemed that she had succeeded. The downside was that most of the town was now fully aware of the Howard sisters’ financial situation, including how Louise’s deceased husband Eliot had been such a savvy investor.

“I hear that Louise’s husband made a killing in the stock market before he died,” said Hope as she set a piece of blackberry pie in front of Alice. She winked. “Now, who would’ve dreamed that Louise had actually been married to the Wolf of Wall Street?”

Alice thought about Eliot’s thoughtful and modest
personality and just shook her head. “Oh, I wouldn’t describe him like that, Hope. Honestly, he was just a nice, quiet man who had fairly good sense when it came to investments.”

Hope leaned forward with interest. “So is Louise really a millionaire?”

Alice blinked. “No, not at all.”

Hope frowned. “Shoot, I thought it’d be fun to have a real millionaire in town.” She glanced around the Coffee Shop. “Everyone says that Hank McPheeter is pretty wealthy, maybe even a millionaire, but I have my doubts.”

“Why’s that?”

“First off, you should see how he tips.” Hope shook her head dismally.

“Maybe that’s why he’s so well off.”

“Guess I’d rather be poor and generous than rich and stingy.”

Alice grinned. “I’m with you there.”

“So what’s going on with the inn these days?”

“Not too much at the moment. Our contractor hasn’t come back from the West Coast yet.”

“
Hmm
. That Jim … I can’t quite figure him out.”

“How’s that?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Hope shrugged. “I just don’t get the feeling that he really likes it here that much.”

“What makes you think that? I’ve only heard him say positive things about Acorn Hill.”

“I guess it’s just the way he comes across sometimes. Sort of disconnected, you know, like he won’t be sticking around for long. I’ve kind of gotten a sense about these things over the years. I can usually guess which of the newcomers is going to stay.”

By the end of the week, Alice wondered if perhaps Hope was right. It was the second week of January, and Jim still hadn’t returned from his holiday trip. Jane and Louise were both getting a little worried.

“Do you think he’s okay?” asked Louise over dinner one night.

“I wonder if there’s someone we should contact,” said Jane. “Perhaps we should try to call his son.”

“Do you know his son’s number?” asked Alice.

“No, but his last name is probably Sharp like his dad’s. I could call information and ask.”

“I’m sure glad that I didn’t pay him any more advance yet,” said Louise with a frown. “Then I’d really be worried.”

“What if he’s sick or has been hurt?” asked Jane. “Wouldn’t you be worried then?”

“Well, of course.” Louise set down her knife.

“I really wanted to work on the foyer,” said Jane. “I feel pretty stuck without Jim’s help.”

“And the plumbing on the second floor is still at a complete halt,” said Alice.

“Oh, he’ll probably be back any day now,” said Louise. “Let’s not worry about it, girls.”

“Yes,” agreed Alice. “It would be better to just pray.”

That night before Alice went to bed, she did remember Jim Sharp in her prayers. “Dear heavenly Father,” she prayed, “I ask that You protect Jim and keep him safe. I also ask that You help him to see that You have all the answers for his life’s questions. Show him how much You love him, and please …” she wondered if this part was selfish, but continnued anyway, “please help him to hurry back to Acorn Hill so that he can finish the inn on time. Amen.”

In less than a week, Jim was back on the job. He explained to the three of them that his son’s family had all suffered a bad bout of the flu right after Christmas. “And after I helped them to get better, I ended up coming down with it myself.”

“Well, we’re just relieved that you’re okay,” said Jane as she handed him a mug of hot coffee.

“And glad that you’re back to complete our inn,” said Louise.

“Do you have any idea when we’ll be up and running?” asked Alice as she reached for her coat. She was already a bit late for work, but she wanted to hear what was going on before leaving.

“Yes,” said Jane. “We’d like to be able to announce an opening date for the inn. I’m creating a website, and Louise is having brochures made.”

Jim’s brow creased as he considered this. “Well, we’re closing in on the end of the interior projects. Then we’ve got the fire escape and meeting the safety codes for the inn. I expect we’ll wrap that up by mid-February.”

“And pass our final inspections?” asked Louise.

He nodded. “Yep.”

“That means we could actually open around Valentine’s Day,” said Louise happily. “Maybe we could offer some sort of introductory offer for a romantic getaway.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea,” said Jane. “I could bake special desserts and do flowers and—”

“But what about the roof?” asked Alice. “Will that be done by then?”

“No way,” said Jim. “I can’t even start that up until March.” He looked at the date on his watch. “That reminds me, ladies, it’s time to order up that slate now. It takes about six weeks to deliver.”

“So, does that mean you’ll be working on the roof after the inn is running?” asked Alice. “That doesn’t sound too safe for the guests.”

He waved his hand. “Oh, don’t worry about that. There are ways to do these things without upsetting your guests.”

Alice wasn’t so sure, but she decided not to fret about this as she hurried off to the hospital. More and more, her motto was becoming to pray about everything and worry about nothing. She felt that she had been getting better at it. Father would be proud.

By the end of the week, the foyer wallpaper had been hung, and all three sisters agreed that the pale gold and ivory stripes looked absolutely perfect.

“I feel a little guilty about monopolizing Jim’s time these past couple days,” admitted Jane. “But I just felt that we needed to get this done.”

“I agree wholeheartedly,” said Louise. “I’ve gotten so weary of explaining to everyone that we haven’t had a chance to finish it yet. And, of course, it’s the first thing people see when they come inside.”

“Oh, it’s such a welcoming sight,” said Alice. “I’m glad that you did it.”

“Jim did get all the fire alarms up, and he promised that he’ll start on the second-floor bathrooms first thing next week,” said Jane.

“And he’s ordered the slate now,” said Louise. “So everything is right on track for our opening date.”

“Just think,” said Alice. “We could have real guests in just a month’s time.”

“Not a moment too soon either,” said Louise. “We are
really going to need that income before long. Jim’s final check pretty much cleared out our bank account.”

“But that will cover absolutely everything left, right?” asked Alice with a wave of concern.

“Yes.” Louise sighed. “Mostly it’s for the slate. Jim has guaranteed that everything will be completely finished.”

“Oh, I can’t wait,” said Jane. “I think I’ll work on my website tonight. I want to get it up and running and see if we can’t get some guests lined up for the latter half of February.”

“Are you certain that you really want to book guests before we’re absolutely sure?” asked Alice. “I mean we can’t open our doors without those inspections and—”

“Don’t worry, Alice. Jim says it’s a piece of cake,” Louise assured her.

“Besides, it’s a whole month away still,” Jane waved her hands at the freshly papered walls. “And just look at this, Alice. Doesn’t it make you feel like we’re almost there?”

Alice smiled. “Yes, it’s very encouraging!”

During the weekend, the three of them worked together on the Garden Room. Jane had completed faux painting the walls in soothing shades of pale green and then added a couple of delicate floral borders above the cherry wood wainscoting and at the ceiling. The sisters had decided to leave their mother’s original rosewood bedroom furniture in this bedroom.

“It looks perfect in here,” said Alice after they had put everything back into place.

“Yes,” agreed Louise. “It goes so well with the wainscoting, plus it really stands out nicely against those pale greens. I do love green, Jane. I’m so glad you decided to go with that in here.”

“And it does feel peaceful, doesn’t it?” asked Jane.

“Definitely,” said Alice. “I feel as if I’m in a garden.”

Jane laughed. “It actually makes me want to go find my spade and get my hands dirty. I can’t wait to start working up the old garden this spring.”

As if to torture Jane, the weather had turned cold and brutal with nearly a foot of snow by Monday. Schools were closed, and the already slow pace in Acorn Hill ground nearly to a halt. Still, people were happy and cheerful as they shoveled their walks and greeted their neighbors.

“Haven’t seen s-snow like this since b-back in the eighties,” called Pastor Ley as he shoveled the sidewalk in front of the chapel.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Alice called back as she scraped the snow off her car’s windshield. She paused to look at the town now draped in a blanket of pristine white. The houses looked so quaint and cozy, and the street lamps wore white caps on their heads.

He nodded as he walked over and started to give a hand
helping her to clear off her car. “S-snow’s kind of like God’s m-mercy, don’t you think? M-makes everything look all clean and white.”

Alice laughed. “But thank goodness, God’s mercy doesn’t melt away.”

There were more casualties than usual at the hospital that day, mostly resulting from the weather. A sledding accident yielded a broken collarbone, and a slipping mishap left Viola Reed with a badly sprained ankle.

“How are you feeling, Viola?” asked Alice as she popped into the emergency room to check on her friend.

Viola groaned. “Just wishing these pain pills would kick in.”

“Do you need a ride home later today?”

“Thanks, I already asked Donna to close up the shop and come get me. I told her to load me up a box of the newest books to take home with me—might as well catch up on my reading while I’m down.”

“You be sure to call if you need any help,” said Alice. “And keep that foot iced and elevated.”

“Thanks.”

Later in the day, a couple whose car had slid off a Potterston road and smacked into a tree came in. They had just been passing through town and fortunately suffered only minor injuries. But the local hotel was full, and now
they had no place to stay. Someone in the ER had told them about Alice’s bed and breakfast and the husband, Thomas Redding, sought out Alice during the only break she’d been able to get all day.

She set down her tea. “Yes, I heard about your wreck. Too bad.”

“Our car’s not looking too great, but it could’ve been much worse.” He rubbed a bandage along his chin. “Seems the hotel in town is full, and I wondered if you might possibly have a room available in your inn tonight. I heard that Acorn Hill’s not far away.”

She smiled. “I’m sorry, but our inn’s not open for business just yet. We’re still in the renovation stage.”

He frowned. “Our car’s getting worked on right now, they’re just going to patch it up enough to make it home to New York, but it won’t be ready until tomorrow afternoon. Do you have any idea where we could stay around here?”

Alice thought for a moment. “Actually, you could probably stay with us, but we couldn’t allow you to pay for a room since we’re not even licensed yet. Unfortunately the bathrooms on the guest floor aren’t finished yet, but there is one downstairs. Are you and your wife able to climb steps?”

He nodded. “April only suffered a broken wrist and some bruising.”

“Has she been released from the hospital yet?”

“The doctor plans to check her again. I heard that it would take a couple more hours still. I guess things got busy here today.”

“The weather helped out.” She glanced at her watch. “My shift ends at five. If you and your wife would like, I could give you a ride then.”

He smiled. “Thank you, we really appreciate it.”

So Alice called home and explained about the unexpected guests. “I told him that we couldn’t accept money since we’re not officially open.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” said Jane. “It’ll be fun just to pretend that we’re running an inn tonight. I’ll ask Louise to get their room ready. Tell them that they’re welcome to stay for dinner. I’ll even whip up something special.”

The Reddings appeared to be quite impressed with Grace Chapel Inn. Louise gave them the full tour while Alice changed out of her uniform and Jane put the finishing touches on dinner.

“I feel like we’ve really discovered something special,” said April at dinner. “I hope we can come back and stay when you’re officially open and we’re not in such bad shape.”