Abide With Me (19 page)

W
ith no loaner car available, Bill and Andrea would have been forced to stay in Sea Gate until Monday, when the new computer module for the Jeep was expected to arrive. Instead, they had borrowed Russell’s car, minus the car seat, and made it back to Welleswood in time for Andrea to make a quick change and get to the office by nine-thirty. They planned to return to Sea Gate Monday night, to return Russell’s car and pick up the Jeep.

Andrea was half an hour late for her clients, probably the only couple in the mid-Atlantic region who did not have an answering machine so that Andrea could have left a message and told them she was running late. Fortunately—or unfortunately—Doris was scheduled to open the office on Saturday. Doris had many traits that annoyed Andrea, but she was always punctual, and she had an answering ma
chine, too! She would be there to meet the Wilmots, and assuming she had retrieved Andrea’s message, she would keep them occupied until Andrea arrived.

With a date set for Monday night for Andrea to drive Russell’s car back to Sea Gate, with Bill following her to bring her back home again, they had parted company, but not before he had given his word not to discuss Sarah with anyone. He had been beyond patient and considerate and never once questioned her for an explanation.

Andrea parked her own car at the back door and rushed into the office. She slowed the moment she realized she had forgotten the keys to the credenza. When she reached the front office, her frown deepened. Her clients were not there. There was no sign of Doris, either, but one look at the mess on top of both desks, not to mention the broken lock on the credenza, told Andrea Doris had been there. Andrea could not decide whether to cry with frustration or run outside and scream for help.

Then she saw a note stapled to one of the outrageous peacock feathers in the arrangement on Doris’s desk. She approached it with apprehension. She almost cried when she recognized Doris’s handwriting and read:

The Wilmot’s insisted on seeing the Locust Street property.

Now! (You did mention they were cash buyers in your message.) Rather than upset them, I got the file, but please don’t get mad. I called the locksmith.

He’ll be here by ten to fix the lock on the credenza.
Doris

Andrea read the note again and surveyed the damage to the credenza and the desks for a second time. Yesterday, she
would have been horrified by the woman’s gall and disregard for office property. Today, she simply marveled at the woman’s tenacity and her refusal to let a client like the Wilmots slip away because Andrea had been late. She had had the listing for that house on Locust Street for months, but there were so many repairs that had to be made, there wasn’t a bank or mortgage company willing to take the risk of holding a note for more than half the asking price, which was just over six figures.

“Maybe I needed a little bit of a hurricane in my life to shake things up right,” she mumbled, but cheerfully set both desks back to right and made a call to Jamie Martin before the locksmith arrived. He did not show up until eleven, but when he left an hour later, he was no sooner out the door than Doris walked in without her clients.

Actually, Doris did not walk into the office. She just poked her head around the door. “Is it safe to come in or should I go to The Diner, have a cup of coffee and try again later?”

Andrea waved her inside. “It’s more than safe.”

When Doris walked in, she was carrying a white cardboard bakery box that she put on top of Andrea’s desk.

“You didn’t have to bring a peace offering.” Andrea told her. “It’s my fault I was late in the first place. I forgot the keys to the credenza anyway, so I probably would have done the same thing. The locksmith’s already taken care of the repairs.” With her stomach growling, reminding her that she had not had time for breakfast, Andrea fiddled with the knot in the string holding the box closed.

Doris glanced over Andrea’s shoulder and grimaced. “What happened? He promised me he’d be able to put a new locking mechanism on today.”

“I told him just to fill in the hole. We won’t be needing a lock anymore.” Andrea gave up with the knot, got a pair of scissors from her drawer and snipped the string. When she lifted the lid and looked inside, her mouth began to water. She was also surprised to see there was a message written in pale yellow icing on top of one of McAllister’s giant, cream-filled crumb cakes. The message made it clear Doris had not brought a peace offering:

We did it! We have a sale on Locust Street!

She looked up at Doris, but she did not know what pleased her more—the sale of the house on Locust Street or the fact that Doris had used the word
we
instead of
I.
“They bought the house?”

With a proud smile on her face, Doris held up a signed agreement of sale that had two sets of signatures, the buyers’ and the sellers’. “Signed and sealed, but not delivered yet. Settlement is set for October tenth. We really do make a great team, don’t we?”

It took a few seconds for Doris’s announcement to really register in Andrea’s mind. “How on earth did you get all this done in a matter of hours?”

Doris tossed her briefcase on top of her desk. “I couldn’t have done it without your help.”

“My help?” Andrea chuckled. “Being late could have cost us a client and a sale. You were the one who saved the day, met the client, showed the house…and three hours later, you’ve not only got the buyer and seller to agree on a price, but a signed agreement, too? I’ve never had that happen so fast.”

“You made it easy for me. All the obstacles that normally slow down the process, like a report from an independent
house inspection to a termite inspection? You had them all done and ready to show the client. He was impressed, I must say. It didn’t hurt that the sellers happened to be home, either, so I just drove over and got everything signed. We still need to get each of them their copies, though. I was so excited, I stopped at McAllister’s and had them make this up. I don’t care much for cake, but this cream-filled crumb cake is almost sinful.”

“You’re amazing,” Andrea murmured, and she meant it.

Doris looked at her warily. “Are you feeling okay?”

Andrea nodded. “Actually, I’m feeling like maybe we should have a talk while we dig into this crumb cake.” She rifled through her drawers looking for the leftover paper plates and plastic utensils, but came up empty.

Doris, however, ran across the street to The Diner and came back carrying a tray with real plates, stainless-steel utensils and two glasses of iced tea. “Caroline said to tell you to stop in sometime early this afternoon. She said something about the meeting for the Shawl Ministry. She needs to see you before you go.”

Andrea grimaced. “I forgot about the meeting. I’ll take the tray and glasses back then.” She cut a generous serving of the crumb cake for each of them, scooped a forkful of the cream by itself, and let it melt in her mouth. “You’re right. It’s almost sinful.” She enjoyed a bite of the crumb cake, then set her fork down. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” she began.

Doris set her fork down, too. “About the office?”

“Yes. When we first started working together, I think I made it very clear that the position was temporary. I feel a little awkward—”

“You’re right. You did, and if I recall correctly, I also said I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to work full-time. It’s okay, really. You’ve been back on your own two feet again for a few weeks. I’ve been expecting you to tell me any day that you didn’t need for me to continue any longer. I’d like to take next week to tie up some loose ends, if that’s all right with you.”

“No, it isn’t. A week wouldn’t be nearly enough time. I was thinking of a bit longer, somewhere in the neighborhood of at least a year or two. Even longer, if you’re interested.”

Doris cocked her head. “You want me to stay…permanently?”

“I do.”

“But you—”

“I know. I’ve been really cranky, as my sisters have been quick to point out to me. I’d like to blame it on a lot of things, but mostly, it’s just plain been my fault, and that’s why I wanted to talk to you. First, to apologize.” She held up her hand when Doris tried to interrupt. “Second, I know we have very different styles when it comes to paperwork. At first, I thought you were just totally and hopelessly disorganized, but now I know better. Your desk might be chaos, but it’s an organized chaos. I don’t know how you do it, but you know precisely where everything is in that…mess. Unfortunately, I’m your classic fussbudget. I can’t operate on full steam unless I have complete order.”

Doris smiled. “Type A, superachiever. I know.”

Andrea chose not to respond. “Third, and this is really important, you really know your clients and you work very
hard for them and for me. I’d really like you to stay because we balance one another well. We make a good team.”

Doris beamed. “We do, don’t we? To be honest, I told my sister, Betty, that I couldn’t wait much longer. I was going to flat out ask you if there was any way I could stay. Begging was on my list, too.”

Andrea’s eyes widened. “You want to stay, even though I’ve been so cranky?”

“You had a lot to contend with after your accident.”

“I wish I could use that as an excuse, but I can’t,” Andrea murmured. This was definitely not an occasion that called for her to play the cancer card. She knew she should tell Doris about the time off she would need each month, but she was not going to use her condition as an excuse for her behavior or as a plea to get Doris to agree to stay, either.

Doris took another forkful of the pastry. “I do have a few conditions, though. Mostly they’re minor details, like setting up a little firmer schedule for floor time, that sort of thing.”

“I think that’s a good idea.”

“We have to change the office arrangement, though. That’s a must.”

Andrea sipped her tea and tried not to smile. “Really?”

Doris’ expression turned serious. “We make a good team, but we don’t make good desk mates, if you get my drift. You’ve got two perfectly good rooms set aside as conference rooms that get dusted more often than they get used while the front office is crowded with our two desks. If we both have clients here at the same time, which has happened, or one of us has clients and the other doesn’t, we can’t help
but overhear one another, and some of that information is or can be confidential. If I stay, which I’d very much like to do, we have to move things around a bit.”

Before Andrea could respond, Jamie Martin walked in with three of his friends. If she had told Jamie the precise moment to arrive, she could not have timed it more perfectly.

He smiled at both of them. “Hey, Mrs. Hooper. Mrs. Blake. You’ve got some furniture for us to move?”

Andrea looked at Doris and grinned. “I told you we made a good team.”

Four strong teenage boys made the work look easy, but they were sweating hard by the time they finished rearranging the entire office. They left with cash in their pockets and smiles on their faces, and they also left behind some news Andrea had not heard. By the fifteenth of October, the skateboarders would have their own place in Welleswood Park.

While Doris tried to decide where to put her flower arrangement in her new office, directly opposite Andrea’s office in the other former conference room, Andrea took a tour and made notes of the surprisingly few changes that still had to be made. The wing chairs and coffee table that had once been scrunched together in the corner now occupied the space where the two desks had been and looked much more inviting. Andrea planned to use the former office as a reception area. She made a note to have another telephone jack installed and another electrical outlet. She already had someone in mind to hire as a receptionist, but there was no rush to do that today.

Her own office had been set up perfectly. No changes
needed there. Doris’s office, on the other hand, would require some new office equipment. Andrea knocked on Doris’s door and waited to be invited inside. When she found Doris on her hands and knees, she chuckled. “You don’t have to resort to begging. Just ask. What do you need?”

Doris blew away a wisp of hair that had fallen in her face, looked up and winked. “I wouldn’t dream of asking you to help me find two of those peacock feathers for me. I guess they got knocked out in the move.”

Andrea looked at the arrangement and made a face. “How can you tell there are two missing?”

“There were twelve when I got that ugly flower arrangement. Now there are only ten.”

“Did you say ‘ugly’?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t pretend to like that arrangement for another second. It’s ugly, awful, terrible, unattractive, tacky or ghastly. Take your pick.”

“But I thought you liked it.”

“When I stopped in the shop that day, the owner insisted that I take it as a ‘Welcome to Welleswood’ present. What was I going to do? Say no? I was so shocked, she talked me into buying the matching desk set and had it all wrapped up before I realized what I was doing. If she stops in, she’ll expect to see the arrangement. I don’t want to hurt her feelings.”

Andrea spied the two peacock feathers in the corner, picked them up, and stuck them back into the arrangement. “Wait here,” she said, went to the storage closet in her office, and returned with a large black plastic trash bag. “Put it in.”

Doris scrambled to her feet. “The arrangement? I can’t throw it out!”

“No. I agree,” Andrea said as she bagged it up herself. She pulled the yellow drawstring closed and handed the bag to Doris. “Take it home. If the owner stops in, which I highly doubt, tell her you’re getting so much more pleasure having the arrangement at home. You will enjoy it more, say, on a shelf in your sister’s basement?”

Doris’s smile was not slow in coming. “Yes, I do believe I will. You’re one smart lady, Andrea Hooper.”

“‘Too soon old and too late smart,’ to quote my grandmother,” Andrea murmured. Thinking of her grandmother’s quote reminded her of the one Madge had used last night. “Before I take the tray back, there’s one more thing I wanted to tell you.”