The Apple Of My Eye (2 page)

“Wow, I remember that. He was mean then too. I figured he would have moved away by now,” Kara shuddered unpleasantly.

“Gramps used to complain about him all the time. I think there was some bad blood between the two of them. He’s given Uncle Tom some trouble too. Whatever he was doing with that saw, I’m sure it has nothing to do with us. I sure hope so anyway.” Shaking her head, Michelle grabbed another load from the car and headed inside.

The rest of the day flew by as all of Michelle’s belongings were moved into the old, familiar rooms. The sun had begun to set as Michelle surveyed the spare bedroom while Kara unpacked, singing a pop song deliberately off key. The sight of all her belongings taking the place of her Grandmother’s gave Michelle an odd feeling of displacement. She had decided to sleep in the spare bedroom while she worked on the master bedroom and attached bathroom. The idea of sleeping in her grandparents' bedroom exactly as they had left it made her uncomfortable. She planned to replace the old carpeting, buy new light fixtures, tear down the wallpaper and repaint the walls. For now, this smaller room would be where she slept.

             
“Hey Shell, are you sure I can’t borrow this?” Kara held up Michelle’s brand new bustier, the soft black lace and garter straps dangling from her hands. “It’s not like you are using it right now.”

             
Michelle frowned at her friend and snatched the lingerie back. “The last time I let you borrow lingerie of mine, it came back shredded.”

             
Kara giggled. “I know; that was so much fun.” Seeing her friend’s disapproving stare she attempted to look abashed. “What? I paid for a replacement.”

             
“Yes, and I’m not letting you ruin the replacement before I have even had a chance to use it,” Michelle shot back. “Not that there has been any need for sexy lingerie lately.”  Michelle frowned and sat down on her bed.

             
“Oh, don’t look so down. You’re gorgeous.” Kara bounced over to her and turned her so they were both looking into the large mirror of her vanity. In school, the two girls, always seen together, had been nicknamed Day and Night. Michelle was elegantly curved with warm honey colored hair and hazel eyes. She had a peaches and cream complexion and full Cupid’s bow lips. Kara was shorter; a sprinkling of Asian heritage gave her black hair and deep brown eyes. She was much more exotic looking, although her boundless energy tended to throw some men off. “Who wouldn’t want to be with you? That guy in the neighbor’s yard this morning sure seemed interested.”

             
“You are imagining things again Kara.” Michelle couldn’t deny the wistful longing that seeped into her voice. “He certainly didn’t stick around.”

             
“Well he probably had to go to work. Some people have to work on Sundays. Like your Aunt Deb for instance.” Kara gave her friend a little hug. Then she tilted her head, like a dog that had just heard something interesting. “Speak of the devil. Come on, I think I just heard your Aunt come in, and that means pizza!”  With that Kara leaped off of the bed and headed down the stairs at a bound. “I claim the first piece of sausage!”

             
Michelle smiled and headed down the stairs at a statelier pace. To her surprise, when she got to the dining room, an older woman was in the room chatting with her mother and Aunt.

             
Laura looked up from her conversation and smiled at her daughter. “Oh Michelle, Mrs. Turner stopped by to say hi.” The older woman turned around and Michelle instantly recognized her Grandmother’s flamboyant best friend and neighbor, Betsy Turner. Betsy was in her seventies, although you wouldn’t know it by her attitude. She was a sharp as a tack and had seemingly limitless energy. Today she was dressed in a cheetah print coat with a gold belt and black pants. Her fluffy, curly short hair was dyed the lightest shade of blue. Michelle had known Betsy Turner her entire life. When she was in high school, she had even been allowed to take their golden retriever, Sandy, to dog training classes for a 4H project.

             
“Oh, my dear girl, welcome home.” Michelle was quickly enveloped in a lemony scented hug.  “Gerry and I are so delighted to hear that you are keeping the house and moving in. If there’s anything you need, you just come right next door and let us know.” The older woman gestured to a casserole sitting on the dinner table. “I brought over my famous goulash. You can just drop the dish back off when you are done with it. I see you have everything firmly hand so I will get out of your hair and let you all get back to dinner. Ta- ta.” Dropping a kiss on Michelle’s cheek, Betsy breezed out of the house.

             
“Mrs. Turner is so awesome,” Kara said. “I’m going to go throw this in the fridge, be right back.” Scooping up the casserole dish, Kara headed to the kitchen with it. Michelle sat down to have some dinner. Over the meal, Michelle laid out her plan for the rest of the week.

             
“Kara is going to stay over for a few nights. We're just going to keep Gran’s spare bed in the library for now. We'll unpack some more tomorrow and then start painting on Wednesday. I don’t have to go back to work until next Monday, so hopefully that will be enough time to get the master bedroom done.”

             
“I can drop off the carpeting for the master bedroom on Friday, if you are sure you want to go ahead and order it Michelle,” Tom said, after finishing a slice of pepperoni. “I can help you with the install Saturday morning. Just be sure the painting is finished and has had a chance to dry before then.”

             
“That shouldn’t be a problem Uncle Tom. Thanks for everything.” Michelle fished a check out of her purse and wrote out the total payable to Tom’s contracting company.

             
Tom pocketed the check and stepped away from the table. “Well, I’m off. I have to finish the Killian remodel tomorrow, which means getting up early. Michelle, there’s one last thing. Stay away from the Olson property. Ed is mean as a snake, and he won’t hesitate to try to take advantage of you. Your grandfather and I have both had plenty of trouble from him over the years. I would strongly suggest putting up a privacy fence and getting a dog; preferably something large and loud.”

             
Laura shook her head at her brother. “Honestly Tom, there’s no need to scare her. It's true Ed isn’t the nicest man that was ever put on this earth. Still, I don’t think he is about to do anything that would harm her.”

             
Tom shook his head frowning. “You haven’t had to deal with him, Laura.” He turned back to his niece and gave her a hug goodbye. “Just remember what I said Sweetie. I’ll see you on Friday.”

             
Michelle’s parents and Aunt were quick to follow Tom’s example. The girls were soon left to their own devices.

             
“Well, that was fun,” Kara said, stretching in her chair. “I think Tom’s idea of getting a dog was a good one. You have plenty of room, and you are living by yourself out here. Galoshes may not like it at first, but he will adjust.” She scooped the black cat up from where he sat at her feet. Galoshes knew Kara was always good for a handout.

             
Michelle shook her head. “You too, Kara? From the way you and Uncle Tom talk, you’d think I had gang members living behind me, not a grumpy old man.”

             
“I just don’t like the way he was looking at the yard. Plus a dog can help dissuade people from trying to break in. Come on, it’d be fun!”

             
Michelle sighed. “Fine, I will think about getting a dog. I don’t have money for a fence right now though. That’s going to have to wait. Satisfied?”

Kara’s grin split her face from ear to ear. “Yep! Now back to the bathroom to unpack toiletries!”
Michelle laughed as she followed her friend to the back of the house. Only Kara would get excited over unpacking toiletries. The two spent the rest of the evening cleaning and unpacking. They set up Gran’s spare bed downstairs in the library for Kara. Exhausted, the two finally fell asleep well after ten.

A knock on the door woke Michelle up the next morning. For a moment, she looked around the room, feeling disoriented to not find herself in her old apartment. The persistent knocking downstairs quickly cleared her head. Throwing on her robe, Michelle quickly ran downstairs. She knew there was no way Kara would get up in time to answer the door. She could sleep through a tornado.

“I’m coming! Hold on a minute.” She called loudly, to whoever was standing outside.  Sliding to a stop in front of the door, she took a peek out of the glass pane. A man wearing a bright orange safety vest and holding a clipboard stood on the front porch. Behind him on the road, a large truck emblazoned with Greenville city lettering was parked. The truck was jammed full of construction equipment. Michelle frowned to herself and then swung the door open. “Hi. Can I help you?”

“Good morning, Miss. I’m sorry if I woke you. My name is Steve Wizener. I’m one of the Greenville city inspectors.” The man pointed to a city badge that hung prominently on his safety vest. “First off, am I speaking with the home owner?” The inspector looked down at his clipboard and then back up at Michelle.

“Yes, I’m Michelle Perry. I’m not sure if the ownership information has been corrected on the city records yet, though. My lawyer just finished filing the title change two weeks ago.” She smiled apologetically at the man, who seemed annoyed at the news.

The inspector frowned down at his clipboard and then back up at her. “Hmm. Well, Miss Perry, I’m sorry to inform you that one of your neighbors has filed a nuisance claim against your property. It was my understanding that the property was currently vacant.” He frowned again, looking past her into the hallway filled with moving boxes. He shook his head slightly, and then snapped an envelope free from the metal clip of his board. “Since you are now in possession of the property, I am hereby notifying you that the apple tree adjoining the southern border of the property is currently in violation of property maintenance ordinance 158.” The man handed Michelle the envelope. “You have ten days to resolve the violation. If the violation is not resolved in that time we will be forced to remove the tree. You will be charged for both the cost of removal and the fine for the violation.”

“What?” Michelle sputtered at the inspector. “You want to tear down my Grandmother’s apple tree?” The obvious horror in her voice must have communicated itself to the man. He winced as she continued. “I inherited this home from my Grandmother. She passed away over the winter. You can’t just tear down her apple tree!” Michelle’s voice caught on the edge of a sob, and she clapped her hand over mouth. She looked away from the inspector, trying not to start crying.

The inspector shuffled the papers on his clipboard, clearly disconcerted. “The details of the violation are laid out on the complaint, which you have a copy of in the envelope. You may be able to file an appeal with the city. Unfortunately the tree’s overgrowth into the alley is a clear violation of city code. It impedes snow removal, as well as traffic access. I had planned to…” He stopped and sighed. “I’m sorry to hear about your loss Miss Perry. It’s obvious the tree has some sentimental value to you. If it were me, I’d try getting in touch with an arborist.” Steve pulled out his wallet and flipped through it, clearly looking for something. Soon he had pulled out a slightly crumpled white card. “This is who we use, Hayes has never steered us wrong.”

Her hand trembling slightly, Michelle took the business card from the inspector. “I will mark down that you are filing an appeal; that should buy you some time. However, as things stand now, I’m not sure anything short of a full removal of the tree will resolve the situation. You have a nice day now Miss, and welcome to Greenville.” With a nod of his head, the inspector turned and walked back to his truck. Stunned, Michelle watched as he climbed in and drove away. A familiar singsong voice broke the moment.

“Good morning, dearie! Now what was that all about?” Mrs. Turner, wearing a bright pink velour jogging suit, came walking up to the house from farther down the street. Sandy wagged her golden tail enthusiastically as the two approached the front porch. “Sandy and I were out for our morning constitutional, and we saw the truck. Have they been bothering you already? You just started moving in yesterday for heaven’s sake!”

“Good morning, Mrs. Turner.” Michelle smiled a bit, in spite of herself. “The city inspector was just by. Someone filed a nuisance report, and the city wants to tear up Gran’s McIntosh tree in the back yard.” Michelle could feel her eyes tearing up just talking about it.

“Tear up one of Violet’s trees?” The old woman’s eye’s looked ready to pop out of her head. “Why the nerve, how dare they!” Betsy was practically shaking with indignation. “It was Ed Olson, you mark my words. He could care less about anyone but himself. Oh, I could just give him a piece of my mind. Violet loved those two trees, especially the McIntosh. I remember her standing out in the yard, oh about this time every year. Adam would get his clippers out, and they'd bicker back and forth about which branches to prune.”

Michelle smiled sadly at the recollection. Gran would have been crushed if she knew someone wanted to tear down her favorite tree. Sensing Michelle’s grief, Sandy whined and butted her hand for a pet.