“Hooray, Mikey,” Esther congratulated him.
“That’s awesome.” Meredith gave him a thumbs-up. “Can you hang your coat over the railing?” He was obviously confused so Meredith got up and draped her own coat over the stair railing. He put his coat right next to hers.
Esther stood up and took off her coat as well. Mikey came up to her and said, “Hang up.” He reached for Esther’s coat.
Esther smiled and said, “Why, yes, young man, you can hang up my coat for me. Thank you very much.” Mikey smiled and ran to the railing where he flung Esther’s coat next to his own.
Meredith said, “Sorry about Mikey’s little outburst. I think he’s tired. He’s probably hungry, too.”
“Oh, he’s fine, honey. Don’t worry.”
Just then, loud footsteps sounded on the porch. Esther’s face lit up. “That’s my Millie. I’ve missed that step on the porch.”
She was right. The front door to the house opened wide, and Millie yelled, “Lunch is ready.” She held out a bucket of fried chicken.
Dani came in behind Millie with several bags from the hardware store and the Price Chopper grocery store.
Esther’s face lit up into a huge grin. “You got lunch? How sweet. Dearest, we don’t have any plates or silverware.”
Dani held out a Price Chopper bag. “We took care of that. We got paper plates, plastic utensils, napkins, big trash bags for our lunch trash and for the, uh, debris in the kitchen.”
Meredith got up and took the chicken bucket and the other fast food bags from them. “Thanks for getting the food, you guys. Hey, Mikey, look. Dani and Millie brought us lunch. Say thank you.”
Mikey ran to Dani and hugged her around the middle. “Thank, Dani.”
“You’re welcome, dude.”
“Welcome, dude.” He giggled.
“Thank Millie, too,” Meredith directed.
Mikey let go of Dani and ran over to Millie as if to give her a big hug, too, but he stopped short and looked up at her. He said shyly, “Thank, Mill.”
Millie laughed. “You’re welcome, young one.” To Meredith she said, “He doesn’t know me well enough, I guess.”
Meredith nodded and smiled.
“Hey, dude.” Dani reached into one of the grocery bags. “I’ve got something else for you.”
“Okay.” He came over and took the book Dani offered him. “Thank, Dani.” He sat cross-legged on the floor and opened up his new book.
Meredith looked at Dani questioningly. Dani said, “Oh, we were in Price Chopper and I saw one of those
Harry, Dog Spy
books and thought he might like it. That was okay, wasn’t it?”
“More than okay,” Meredith said relieved. “This’ll give him something to do. Thanks.” She took the plastic wrap off the paper plates, then unwrapped the stack of paper napkins. While they ate, Meredith told Dani all about the pictures Esther was lending them for their project.
After their quick meal, Dani and Millie went into the kitchen to start repairs while Mikey settled in on the floor near his sister to read his new book. He was so absorbed in his book that Meredith and Esther were able to look at more photos uninterrupted. Meredith saw pictures of Esther as a young girl, Esther’s family, and the house when it was much newer. The house had been splendid in its day. At one point in the parade of pictures, she got a sense of the time period when Millie entered Esther’s life. She couldn’t help but smile because Millie and Esther were obviously great friends.
Esther closed the last of the photo albums and sat back in the resin chair. “Oh, I’m going to miss this old house, but time marches on, and Millie and I need to pare it down a bit. I know that once I see the Randall-Bradley house opened and helping people, I’ll be okay. You girls have been so helpful. Millie and I missed out not having children.” She laughed loudly. “Maybe we can adopt you two, but I guess you’d have to be our grandchildren at this point. Can you adopt grandchildren?”
Meredith smiled. “We’d love to have, uh, adopted grandmothers. That’s sweet. I think it’s awesome what you and Millie want to do with the house. I want to give you a gift for the Randall-Bradley House, if you and Millie are willing, that is.”
“Oh?”
“I want to, um, paint your portraits for the front hallway.” She pointed toward the front door. “You know, somewhere in the entryway.”
“Meredith, oh my.” Esther put a hand on Meredith’s arm. “That would be so nice. Let’s tell Millie. I need to get up and walk a little bit, anyway.”
Meredith helped Esther out of the plastic chair and pulled the walker over. She then reached down and tousled her brother’s hair. “Hey, Mikey, Esther and I are going to the kitchen to check on Dani and Millie, okay?”
“Okay.” He didn’t look up from his book.
Meredith swung the kitchen door open just in time to hear Millie proclaim, “That ought to hold ’em. Belts and suspenders.”
Meredith held open the door so Esther could shuffle through.
“Belts and suspenders?” Dani asked confused. Meredith hadn’t understood the comment either.
Esther laughed. “They’re too young, Millie. Aren’t they?”
“Pah,” Millie said. “C’mon, youngsters. Belts and suspenders. It means you overdo something like wear both a belt and suspenders to keep your trousers up.”
Dani clapped Millie on the back. “I get it. That’s cool.” Apparently, Dani and Millie had become old friends in one afternoon.
Meredith checked out the repaired back door. She never would have known what to do. They had replaced the back door lock and the doorjamb hardware, reinforced the wood with metal sheeting, and they also—Meredith assumed this was the “and suspenders” part—secured a two-by-four barricade across the door.
Millie leaned in close to Meredith and whispered, “Your girl is quite handy with the tools. I’d hang onto her.” Millie winked and turned back to Esther. “My work here is done. How’s the hip, hon?”
“A little sore, dearest. I think we should get going. Did I tell you girls? They let me go home for good two days ago. You should see how much work my Millie did to unpack the new apartment. It’s so cozy, and she did everything. We must have you girls over sometime. Oh, which reminds me, Millie, I’ve informed the girls that we’re adopting them as our granddaughters.”
“Ho, ho. That’s excellent.” Millie clapped Dani on the back.
Dani looked pleasantly surprised. “Hey, Meredith, we’ve got new grandparents. Grandmoms? Hey, can I borrow the car?”
They chuckled over the new leaves in their respective family trees as they made their way out of the kitchen toward the front foyer.
Esther stopped in the foyer and said, “And, dearest? Meredith wants to paint our portraits for our Randall-Bradley house. Isn’t that wonderful?”
Millie, for once, seemed incapable of responding. Meredith saw Millie’s eyes get moist. For all her confident mannerisms and gruff ways, Meredith decided that Millie Bradley was an old softie.
Millie blinked back her tears, cleared her throat, and said, “Thank you, Meredith. I…this is a wonderful thing you’re doing.” She turned to Dani and said, “See? I told you she was a keeper.”
Dani turned away, obviously embarrassed, but turned back around just as quickly. Her eyes grew wide. “Where’s Mikey?”
Meredith looked where she had left him only to find his book on the floor abandoned. She spun around in a panic. “Mikey?” she called. “Where are you?” There was no answer.
Dani took charge. “Millie, will you look outside for him? Esther, will you stay here, please, in case he comes back? Meredith, you and I should go upstairs.” Dani bounded for the stairs before anyone had a chance to agree or disagree with her plan. “You take the second floor. I’ll take the third.”
Meredith was frantic. She knew her brother had a tendency to wander and she had left him alone. She tried to reason with herself that she had only left him for a minute, but she knew she had messed up. She sprinted as best she could up the stairs and into the master bedroom on the second floor. She didn’t see him and started to leave, but turned back around to double check the fireplace. He wasn’t there. “Mikey,” she called out. When she didn’t hear him answer, she unlocked the doors to the balcony. Nothing. She saw Millie walking the fence by busy Center Street. Her nerves jangled. What if Mikey had wandered out onto the busy road?
“Millie?” she shouted and heard the panic in her own voice. “Anything?”
Millie looked up to the balcony and shook her head no.
“Okay,” Meredith called. Her heart pounded as she made her way out of the master bedroom. She was about to go to the room she had dubbed her art studio when Dani called from the third floor. “He’s here, Meredith. He’s here. He’s okay. He’s…” She popped out of a door near the top of the stairs and laughed. “He’s sleeping in the fireplace.”
“He is?” Meredith ran up the stairs past Dani. Her brother was indeed sleeping in his usual fetal position. She watched his chest slowly rise and fall. She exhaled in relief and willed her pulse to slow down. “Oh, my God. That was a close call. I know I can’t leave him like that. What’s wrong with me?” She fought back tears and struggled to keep her composure.
When Dani moved beside her, Meredith let her sudden exhaustion consume her and leaned heavily against her friend. Dani’s arm went around her and Meredith welcomed the warmth from her friend.
“He’s okay, Meredith. We’d never let anything happen to him.”
She liked Dani’s comfort. She felt safe. “Thanks.” Meredith lifted her head. “I think we need to get him home, okay?”
Dani nodded. “You’re right. I’ll go tell Millie and Esther that we found him.”
Dani bounded back down the stairs, and Meredith leaned down near her brother. “Mikey? Time to get up. We have to go home now.” She shook his shoulder gently.
He blinked and sat up. He blinked several more times and looked confused.
Meredith brushed the hair out of his eyes. “Are you okay? You scared me. I didn’t know where you went.”
He took a deep breath, clearly trying to wake up. “I’m okay, Mewey.” He crawled out of the fireplace and stood up.
“Why did you go upstairs?”
“Look for Mewey. Mewey and Dani.” He made his way toward the door and grinned back at her. He said, “Dani hold Mewey. Dani hold Mewey.” He laughed gleefully, fully awake now, and hopped down the stairs.
Meredith tried to keep up with him as best she could. When they got back down the stairs, she watched Dani on her knees hug Mikey anxiously. Meredith had never felt such relief.
Millie walked in the front door. “Oh, look at our three grandchildren, Esther.”
“We lucked out, didn’t we?”
Meredith struggled to gather up Mikey and the box with Esther’s pictures without losing either. Dani relieved Meredith of the box, and they made their way out the front door. Meredith held onto Mikey’s hand as they went down the front steps together.
Although the winter afternoon sky had darkened, Meredith clearly saw the Cayuga Commercial Real Estate car move slowly and with purpose past the house. Meredith nudged Dani in the side and pointed to the car.
Dani’s eyes flew open wide. She whispered low so only Meredith could hear. “Fish sticks.”
“Fish sticks?”
“Yeah. There’s something fishy going on here.”
Chapter Eleven
Don’t You Know?
MEREDITH PUT TWO different colors, brown and yellow ochre, on her pallet and mixed them with her palette knife. Today was Dani’s first hair day so she would only use the browns and yellows. Later she would add greens and grays for shadow and after that, cadmium yellow mixed with white for Dani’s light blond highlights. Meredith was pleased, very pleased, with Dani’s portrait, even though it was only their third session.
Dani looked out the window of the workroom obviously lost in thought. The only thing she could possibly see was the early March mud. Meredith smiled when she saw Dani distractedly flick her head in an effort to toss a lock of hair out of her eyes. She had seen Dani do this a thousand times. The movement was familiar, as familiar as that hot chocolate feeling that regularly crept into Meredith’s stomach these days.
Meredith mixed the colors together and out of the corner of her eye saw her friend smile. The hot chocolate feeling that always started near her stomach spread through her again, and she felt her face get hot. She moved quickly behind the canvas so Dani wouldn’t see her blush. She didn’t understand why Dani’s smile made her react so oddly. Maybe, no probably, because Dani had been the only one to show her compassion over the last two years.
Meredith took a deep breath in an attempt to get herself together. She tried to focus on the painting in front of her, but couldn’t so she asked, “Why are you smiling?”
Dani didn’t answer.
“C’mon. Why were you smiling just then?” Meredith peeked out from behind the painting.
“I’m just happy, that’s all. Lacrosse started. We’ve got a great team, and Coach Pratt has me at first home again. I’m so psyched.”
“First home. Is that a good position?” Meredith reached for a round brush. She had to remind herself to keep painting while they talked.
“Yeah, you get to score a lot. I hate playing defense.”
Meredith laughed. She stroked Dani’s painted hair. “Yeah. Offense fits you. I don’t see you as the defense type.”
“Exactly.”
“So what else made you smile just now? You weren’t smiling that big because of lacrosse.”
Dani looked down at her hands. “Pah...just stuff.”
She sounds just like Millie.
Meredith waited, but Dani didn’t finish her thought. Meredith pushed. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
“Nope.”
“Oh, my God, Dani Lassiter. You like someone. That’s it, isn’t it?” Meredith knew she had hit the nail on the head when Dani cringed and put her head in her hands to hide her smile. Meredith was surprised when a shot of jealousy torpedoed through her.
Meredith put her palette down and folded her arms. “Okay, who is it? That cute guy in history? What’s his name? Brian? Is it him?”
Dani looked up, this time with only a hint of a smile in her eyes. “No, I don’t like Brian. I mean, I like Brian, he’s a nice guy, but I don’t like like him.”