The Quaker Café (24 page)

“Come on, boys,” Chase said
. “Let’s head home. We’ll leave your mother here to talk to the Shannons for a bit.” 

Nicholas and Evan scrambled from their chairs and out the door
.

“How’s
Maggie today?” Richard asked.

“Not good,” Liz said
. She didn’t want to get maudlin about her visits, but at present they were weighing heavily on both her and Billie. Maggie was dreadfully sick. “She feels like she’s dying…lots of nausea and back pain. Billie and I spend all of our time feeding her ice chips and giving her back rubs. It’s exhausting.”

Miss Ellie walked over to the table and sat down in the chair just vacated by Chase
.

“Do they think they’ll
end up with a bone marrow transplant?” Richard asked.

“Don’t know,” Liz said
. “Gotta find a donor match first.”

              Miss Ellie shook her head sadly. “Is there anything I can send to her that would help?”

              Liz wanted to reassure herself, as well as the others. “The doctor tells us she’ll begin to feel much better in a couple more days. Another week and we’ll have her home, and then you can start sending over those buckets of chicken soup.”

“Well, I’m looking forward to that day,” Miss Ellie said as she took the Shannon’s order.

“So what’s the plan?” Richard asked.

“We’re going to move her bedroom downstairs so she won’t have to deal with steps
. Billie plans to stay overnight with her for as long as necessary and sleep on the day bed in the Judge’s office so someone will be there during the night if she needs anything. LuAnne is coming in the mornings. Billie or I will check in from time to time during the afternoons.”

“That’s good,” Miss Ellie said
. “Let me know as soon as you’ve got a date for her to come home. I’m going to fill up her refrigerator.”

“Anything else I can do?” Richard asked.

“Listen, having you there once a week is a tremendous help. Billie and I are worn to a frazzle. If I didn’t believe this was going to be over in another week, I don’t know how much longer we could keep it up.

   Maggie had hoped to be home for Labor Day, but Dr. Rao delayed her release by a week. Billie went to pick up Maggie at the hospital. LuAnne and Liz were in the final stages of moving the contents of her upstairs bedroom and office to the ground floor.

             
  Two of the farm hands were supposed to arrive shortly to move her mattress, desk, and filing cabinet downstairs. Liz knew they should have had this done sooner, but she wanted to be involved when they shifted Maggie’s files. There might be documents from work, and Liz was acutely aware of the need to protect the confidentiality of any files Maggie may have at the house.

“That Mr. Gill, he’s a strange animal,”
LuAnne said as they piled papers in a laundry basket.

“He’s harmless,” Liz said
. “Don’t let him bother you. You’re a big help to Billie right now, and Maggie will want you around in the mornings when she gets home. I doubt if you’ll even see Gill over here that much. He stays in his studio painting most days.”

“You ever seen what he paints?”

“I have… mostly abstracts.”

“Does he sell them, or what?”

“Yes, he actually has a bit of a following up in the Virginia Beach area. There’s an art shop that carries his work.”

LuAnne
mulled this over while Liz pulled the next pile of papers out of the file. A loud thump shocked her as something slid to the bottom of the drawer. She jumped. There lay the Smith and Wesson with the bullets rolling across the inside drawer. “What the?” she said.

LuAnne
peered down at the gun. “Lawd, Lawd,” she stepped away.

“What’s that gun doing here?” Liz asked.

“I don’t know, but stick it someplace else, Miss Liz. The Judge kept it in his desk drawer until Maggie killed that dog. I remember he locked it in the safe.”

A call from downstairs alerted them that the field hands had arrived to move the furniture
. Liz shoved the gun and the bullets under the papers in the basket and LuAnne headed to the stairs to direct them. Two hours later, the last piece of Maggie’s furniture had been carried downstairs and LuAnne and Liz were straightening up the room in final preparation for Maggie’s arrival.

“Don’t say anything about the gun,” Liz said to
LuAnne. “I put it in the Judge’s desk drawer, but I’m not sure I want her to know that yet. Let’s just see how things go.”

*****

  As Maggie slowly made her way into the downstairs den, LuAnne rushed to the door and embraced her. “Child, you gotten thin. We got to get more food in you,”

LuAnne was right. Maggie had aged. She had lost enough weight for her clothes to look baggy. Her skin remained blotchy from the chemo, and the lack of hair added to her years. She reminded Liz of Chase when he had gotten a bad case of the flu some time ago.

Maggie dismissed the concerns with a wave of her hand
. “I’ll find that weight, don’t you worry. I’m already feeling a lot better now that I’m home. This place sure does look good.” She dropped onto the sofa and petted Webster, who had jumped out of the back of Tank-Tank and already found his cushion.

Billie scurried in behind with a small suitcase and headed for the downstairs bedroom
. “They’ve got you all set up in here, your dad’s old room,” Billie called back. “I see Liz got your files down, so you can work in your dad’s office, too.”

“Can I get you something?”
LuAnne asked.

“Not a thing
. You sit right down here and tell me everything that’s happened since I’ve been gone. Tell me about the election. How are things going?”

Liz grimaced
. “To be honest, Maggie, I haven’t done a thing in regards to the election. We’ve been too busy keeping up with you.” 

“That’s
gotta change. Now’s the time you need to be out there asking people for their votes. You know people expect to be asked. They expect you to stop them on the street and say ‘I’d really like your vote.’”

Liz groaned
. “You’re right. I just haven’t had the time.”

“I suppose you’ve still focused on the wedding?”

“Well, it does require some attention.”

“She hasn’t even bought her dress yet,” Billie tweaked from the sideline.

“Do you think I could steal Billie for a trip to Virginia Beach?” Liz asked.

“You two go.”
Maggie said. “For God’s sake go buy the freakin’ dress and get that chore out of the way. LuAnne will be here if I need anything, won’t you, LuAnne?

“Of course I will, Miss Maggie
. I’m here for as long as you want.”

*****

Every day Maggie got stronger. Food, phone calls and flowers poured in from around the county. Billie handled it all with the skill of a personal manager. Meanwhile, Liz contact donors from the Red Cross list at work and spoke with ministers, business resource directors, and student activities coordinators on college campuses to encourage blood donations and emphasize the need for bone marrow donors. Campaigning was at the very bottom on her priority list.

  By mid-month B
illie and Liz agreed that the time had come to make a dress-run to Virginia Beach. Liz would go with the intent to buy. She didn’t want to be bothered with more than one trip. “So how do things stand?” Billie asked on the drive up.

“Invitations are ready to go out
. I’m dealing with flowers now,” Liz said.

“What do you need flowers for?  You’re having a beach party.”

“Louise Lloyd called me to recommend the florist they are using for the wedding reception for the rehearsal dinner. I took that to mean I am supposed to do flowers. Do you have any idea what flowers cost?”

“You’re looking at
a thousand for starters, and it can skyrocket from there.”

“Right! A thousand dollars for something that’s going to get thrown out the next day
. I can’t stand it. Honest to God, Euphrasia will die.”

“There you go with
Euphrasia again. Give it a rest. She’s not that bad.” Billie let out a long sigh. “You should have known
my
mother-in-law. My God, she had all this money, and she hung it over our heads like a puppeteer.”

“Why didn’t you just say,
screw it
and forget the money?”

“It was a lot of money, Liz
. A lot of money is hard to turn your back on.”

*****

Billie pulled Tank-Tank into the parking lot of a circle of small shops. Celeste’s Evening Wear was to the left with several hipless mannequins in dazzling arrays of sleek shimmering gowns that promised endless cleavage and limited waddle room for anything  a half size above a four.

“Billie, I’m not going to find anything here,” Liz said
. “This is where skinny people come. As you can see….”

“Nonsense
! You haven’t even looked. Focus, Liz, focus.”

More stunning dresses were displayed on four other mannequins placed in strategic locations around the shop. A cozy seating area with Queen Anne arm chairs in the middle featured a coffee pot brewing on a side table. Mints and a plate of cookies sat on a second coffee table between the chairs. One end of the store smelled like
Evening in Paris
and the other like chocolate chip cookies. Liz headed for the baked goods.

Built-in open floor-to-ceiling carpeted cabinets displayed dresses hung along the sides
. The sections were divided into short cocktail dresses, long basic dresses, and finally, long designer ones with beads and ruffles. One entire wall was basic black.

Liz stood at the entrance in her jeans with a slip-over knit shirt (at least it had a collar on it) and a UNC baseball cap
. A svelte lady in her early sixties approached them wearing a breezy forest green skirt with a silk scarf draped fashionably over a tea green blouse. She had a zippy haircut that went in several different directions at the same time. The blonde part had been paid for, but the color made her look younger, even at sixty. Liz wondered if she could ever carry off such a look, but before she opened her mouth she knew she’d been set-up.

“Billie,” the woman was buoyant, “what a delight to see you
. How have you been?”

Billie beamed, and they kissed cheeks
. “Celeste, I have brought a dear friend with me today. This is Liz Hoole,” she said as she stepped back for a formal introduction. “I’ve mentioned her to you before. She’s getting ready for a wedding. She’s the mother-of-the-groom.”

Celeste gave a gracious smile, took Liz’s hand and led her over to one of the chairs
. “Oh yes, I’ve heard so much about you already. This is a big wedding, I understand. You’ll have so much fun. Let’s just have a seat and talk for a bit so I can get an idea of what you hope to find. Coffee?  Sherry?”

Taken a bit off guard, never having actually sat down and chatted about a dress over a glass of sherry, Liz accepted coffee and a cook
ie and breathed in the intoxicating aroma in the midst of evening gowns.

“So tell me, Liz
. Where is this wedding?”

Billie jumped in, “St. Michael’s in Charleston.”

“Say no more,” Celeste said with a smile. “I’ve already got the picture.”

“Well, not really,” Liz interjected
. “You see, my son is Quaker.”

“And that is a problem because…?”

“There’s no problem exactly. It’s just that Quakers believe in simplicity.”

“Are you thinking of basic black?”

“I don’t know what I’m looking for at the moment. Not necessarily black, but yes, basic, and not too expensive. You see my mother-in-law would die if I spent too much on a dress.”

“Is your mother-in-law paying for the dress?”

“No.” Liz said, somewhat annoyed.

“Do you give her a report of what you spend on your clothes?”

“No, of course not.”

“I don’t see the problem
. If she asks, just lie.”

“I couldn’t lie to her.”

“You couldn’t?”

“No, I can’t lie.”

“You never lie?”

“A few times, maybe, but I try not to.”

“So lie this time. This isn’t a heaven or hell issue, is it?”

“That’s true.”
The twenty questions game was taking a toll. Liz got up and started browsing through the rack of short black dresses. “You know what? I think I could use that glass of sherry now.”

“Splendid idea,” Celeste beamed and left for the back room
. Liz immediately began to dig into the inside of the sleeves to find the price tags.

She leaned over to Billie, who had obviously enjoyed the exchange
. “Billie, what have you gotten me into? I can’t afford this place.”