Hidden History (26 page)

“Have you seen much of the festival yet?” she asked.

“Not much, but I’d like to see more.”

“I can walk with you for a bit if you like,” she told him,
“but I promised to go help my friend Vera at the silent auction booth pretty soon.”

“Great, I’ll enjoy your company while I can get it.” He paused by a trashcan to drop off what was left of the cotton candy. “You’re right. It did taste good at first.”

She nodded and held up her sticky fingers. “And I need a place to wash off.”

“Likewise. Where can we get a cup of good coffee?”

They stopped by the high school’s food booth where they rinsed their hands and Mark ordered a latte and Alice got a cocoa. Then they walked up and down the street, pausing here and there to examine the various booths. As they walked, Alice was frequently stopped by friends, and more introductions were made.

“This is great,” said Mark. “I’ll probably know everyone in town before the day is half over.”

“That’s a distinct possibility,” said Alice.

“Hello, Dr. Graves and Alice,” said Clara Horn as she pushed her baby carriage up to them. “Do you want to see how your patient is doing?”

Mark nodded and peeked into the carriage. “Well, doesn’t Daisy look pretty today.”

Alice peered into the carriage and smiled. Daisy’s black snout and dark beady eyes made an interesting contrast with the bright pink bonnet that Louise had knitted. The
sweater seemed to fit her perfectly. “Your little Daisy looks very chic today, Clara.”

“I thought about letting her walk through town just so that everyone could see her darling outfit,” said Clara. “But her little legs are so short that I was afraid I might wear her out.”

“That was a wise choice,” said Mark. “She looks very comfortable in there.”

Clara nodded. “I do let her get out and stroll for a spell. I know the exercise is good for her.”

“That’s right.”

Clara reached over and took his hand, then spoke in a conspiring tone. “I heard that you might be moving to Acorn Hill, Dr. Graves. I’ve been telling everyone in town just how remarkable you are.” Her face wrinkled into a smile. “I know Daisy would love to have her favorite doctor nearby.”

He nodded. “Well, we’ll see what happens.”

Clara bid them good-bye and continued on her way.

“Word certainly gets around,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” said Alice. “My sisters told Aunt Ethel and she—”

“Not a problem.” He chuckled. “That is precisely one of the things that charms me about a town like this. I’ll never need to run an advertisement in the local paper.”

“That’s right. Just tell my aunt and by the end of the day everyone should know.”

Just then his cell phone rang. “Excuse me.” He paused to look at it, then said, “I better take this.”

“I think I’ll go check on Vera,” said Alice, slightly relieved to get away.

He nodded and she turned to head over to the silent auction booth. She enjoyed Mark’s company, but she was not sure that she would be comfortable spending the whole day with him. And, having to pause every two minutes to introduce him to someone was beginning to wear on her. She felt she needed a little break.

“Hello, Vera,” she said as she entered the booth. “How’s business?”

“Great,” said Vera. “Do you need a number?”

“I’ve got one.”

“So, is that handsome man you’ve been seen with the mysterious Dr. Graves?”

“I don’t know why you’d think he was mysterious, Vera.”

“Simply because I’ve never met him.”

“I forgot. You were under the weather the last time he was here. I’ll be sure to introduce you two before the day is over. Goodness knows, I’ve introduced him to half of Acorn Hill already.”

“So, how’s it going?” asked Vera in a lowered voice.

“The festival?” asked Alice innocently, although she knew exactly what Vera meant.

“No, silly. How’s it going with the doctor?”

“All right, I guess.”

“You guess?”

“I’m just not used to this.” Alice glanced around. “It feels like everyone in town is staring at me and drawing conclusions. I’m sure I’ll be doing damage control for the next couple of weeks.”

Vera chuckled. “Well, just tell Aunt Ethel to spread the word that it’s not that serious.” Then she leaned over the table and peered at Alice. “If it’s not, that is.”

Alice waved her hand. “Oh, it’s not, Vera. We’re only friends.”

“Hello, Vera and Alice,” said Clarissa Cottrell as she bent over to sign up for a bidding number. “I thought I’d sneak away from the bakery long enough to place a couple of bids.”

“Good for you,” said Vera.

“Although I know I should wait until later since I’ll probably just be bidding myself up.”

Alice laughed. “I know what you mean, but remember it’s all for a good cause.”

“Right.” Clarissa headed straight for the quilt.

“I’m bidding on that too,” Alice whispered to Vera.

“Good luck,” said Vera.

“Hello, ladies,” said Mark as he came up to the booth.

“Hi, Mark,” said Alice. “I’d like you to meet my very good friend Vera Humbert.”

He shook her hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you. I even read about you in the newspaper last week.”

“Goodness,” said Vera. “They actually reported about that in Philadelphia?”

He shook his head. “Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if they did run a human interest article on it. It’s an unusual story. I read it in the
Acorn Nutshell
—online.”

“The
Nutshell
is online?”

“That’s right.”

“Well, I’ll have to tell my daughters. They’re away at college, but I’m sure they’d like to read the local news from time to time, especially if they could do it online.”

“This looks like an interesting booth,” observed Mark.

“Here,” said Vera as she handed him the secret notebook. “I’ll give you a bidding number, and you can go in there and knock yourself out.”

“Thanks.” He signed the sheet and took a number from her. “I think I’ll do that.”

“We appreciate all this out-of-town money,” teased Alice. “Do remember it’s all for a good cause.”

A few minutes later, Susan and her husband Tom appeared, and introductions were made. “Have you seen Mark?” asked Susan.

Alice pointed into the booth. “Right that way.”

“You better get a number first,” suggested Vera. “In case you want to place a bid on anything.”

“And remember,” said Alice with a grin, “it’s for a good cause.”

“We make a good team,” said Vera.

“Well, of course,” agreed Alice.

“Do you want to join us for lunch?” asked Mark when he finally emerged from the booth.

“No thanks,” said Alice. “I’ll stay here and help Vera.”

“Okay, then shall I pick you up at the inn for dinner?”

“Yes, that would be fine.”

“Around six then?”

“Great.”

After Mark, Susan and Tom left, Vera turned to Alice with a frown. “You did not need to stay here to help me, Alice Howard. I am perfectly fine on my own.”

“I know, Vera.” Alice patted her arm. “I just wanted to. Okay?”

Vera’s eyes lit up. “Okay then, because I am feeling perfectly fine—never better. It’s as if I have a whole new lease on life.” She sighed happily. “I suppose you don’t fully appreciate what you’ve got until something threatens to take it away.”

“I’m sure you’re right about that, Vera.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

A
lice helped Vera until her shift ended at two-thirty, then the two of them slipped over to the Coffee Shop for a little break and a late lunch.

“What are you doing in here?” asked Hope as she handed them menus. “I thought you two would be at the Fall Festival all day.”

“We thought we’d sneak away for a bit,” said Alice. “It’s pretty busy and noisy out there.”

“Good,” said Hope. “I plan to check out all the booths as soon as I clock out.” She checked her watch. “Which should be in about twenty minutes. Is there anything good left?”

“Of course, although some things are a bit picked over,” said Vera. “The silent auction tent will be running until five.”

“Unfortunately, the bids over there are getting a little high,” said Alice. “I was trying to get something myself and decided to lay low for a while. No sense in helping the price to go up.”

“But it’s for a good cause,” teased Vera, mimicking what Alice had been telling folks all day.

They each ordered a cup of navy bean soup and shared a piece of blackberry pie, then lingered over a pot of Earl Grey tea.

“So, are you saying it’s not getting a little bit serious with Mark?” asked Vera.

“How do you define ‘a little bit serious’?”

“Well, you went to dinner with him once, spent some time with him today, and you’re going out again tonight. Plus, the man wants to relocate his life to your hometown, Alice. I think I would define that as a little bit serious.”

Alice shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with being a happy couple.” Vera poured the last of the tea into Alice’s cup. “Fred and I are a testament to that. Do you know how nice it was to have Fred around during my little poisoning spree?”

Alice laughed. “Don’t call it that, Vera.”

“Really, there’s something to be said for having a good man by your side, Alice. You may be perfectly happy being single, especially now that you have your sisters at home, but what if the good Lord wanted something different for your life?”

“Goodness, I suppose I hadn’t thought of it quite like that, Vera. Of course, if I truly believed that God wanted
me to, well, become more involved with Mark, then naturally, I’d do so. The problem is I’m just not sure that’s really the case.”

“Well, as long as you’re open to the idea.”

Alice glanced at the clock above the cash register. “Do you think we should head back? I’d really like to be the one to make the final bid on that quilt.” She smiled.
“Since it is for a good cause.”

“At the rate the bidding was going, I think you might need to take out an equity loan.”

Alice left a tip on the table and the two of them headed back to the festival, stopping to visit with Jane at Sylvia’s booth.

“How’s business?” asked Vera.

“Great,” said Jane. “Both my necklaces sold, and all but two of Alice’s aprons went. Of course, one of those is already sold, but, honestly, I could’ve sold it a dozen times over. Next year, you better make them all like that, Alice.”

Vera looked at the apron with the sold tag on it. “Very pretty.” Then she picked up the other one. “This is nice, too. I think I’ll take it.”

“Oh, I can make you one, Vera.”

Vera’s brows drew together. “Alice, have you forgotten that this is for a good cause?”

They both laughed, and Vera paid Jane for the apron.

“Sylvia’s going to relieve me in a few minutes,” said
Jane. “So I can come by the silent auction and make some last-minute bids.”

“That booth is going to be busy,” said Alice.

Alice was right, that booth
was
busy. At a quarter to five it was swarming with last-minute bidders all hoping to secure their items with the highest bid. Alice noticed Susan and Tom hovering near an old butter churn, and she spied Mark moving through the crowd, too. Just minutes before five Alice went to place her bid, but she stopped cold, stunned: The last bidder had jumped the bid by more than one hundred dollars.

Sadly, she put her pen back into her purse. That was just too dear for her part-time nurse’s budget—even if it
was
for a good cause.

The bell rang and the bidding came to a close. Fred Humbert was running the show again, with Vera at his side, and together they went around and collected the bid papers. One by one, Fred announced the names of the highest bidders for each item. Susan and Tom got the butter churn. Hope had managed to get a set of pottery dishes, and Jane had placed the highest bid on the rice cooker that she wanted.

“But the big ticket item of the day is this beautiful quilt,” said Fred over the PA system. “And the highest bidder is Mark Graves.”

Alice blinked in surprise. So Mark had been the bidder who upped the ante at the last minute.

“Maybe you can talk him out of it,” whispered Jane with a twinkle in her eye.

Alice just shook her head as she watched Mark go up to collect the quilt.

As the crowd began dispersing, Mark came over to show it to her. “Did you see what I got?”

Alice smiled. “Yes, I’ve seen it before.”

Jane gave Alice a gentle nudge with her elbow.

He smiled. “I suppose it seems odd for an old bachelor to buy something like this, but I was just so taken with it. Besides, as you told me, it’s for a good cause, right?”

“Yes. It definitely is.”

“Well, I guess we’ll see you around six.”

Alice nodded and waved good-bye.

“What do you think of that?” said Jane.

“What?”

“Mark’s outbidding you for that quilt.”

“I think it’s nice that he got it.”

Jane winked at her. “Maybe you’ll get to share it with him someday.”

“Jane!”
Alice just shook her head. “I think I’ll head for home now.”

“I’m coming with you,” said Jane. “Someone’s got to make sure you pull yourself together for your date.”