The Patricia Kiyono Christmas Collection (27 page)

Like coming home.

Had he found a place — and a woman — that
would remain in his heart for always?

Helen finished
rearranging
her curios above the wooden
valance in her kitchen. The little porcelain figurines had been in
the cabinet that she’d sold in her garage sale. These pieces, given
to her by her Oma so many years ago, were all that were left of the
collection she’d started as a girl. She couldn’t part with these.
But now that the cabinet was gone, she needed to find a new home
for them, and this would work — for now.

Maybe the kids had been right about the
clutter. Her closets weren’t quite so full anymore, and several
rooms seemed more… roomy. Still, she didn’t feel ready to
leave.

Her phone rang just as she got down from her
step stool.

“
Hello?”

“
Helen, this is Donna
VanDoorn. Did I call at a bad time? You sound out of
breath.”

“
No, I just got down from a
ladder. What can I do for you?”

“
Helen DeGroot, what on
earth are you doing on a ladder when you’re all alone? What if you
fell and couldn’t reach the phone?”

“
Relax. I was on a two-step
step stool. Nothing high. I’m just fine.”

“
Hmpf. I still think you
need to get those boys of yours to help out more. Good thing you’ve
got the pastor’s brother there to help around the yard. It was
looking pretty dismal.”

Trust Donna to call it
like she sees it.
“Yes, he’s very helpful.
Now, is there something I can do for you?”

“
Oh! Yes, I want you to
come to Mackinac Island with me this weekend.”

“
Goodness, a trip to
Mackinac in October? Isn’t it a little late in the year to go
there?”

“
No, it’ll be fun. There
won’t be so many tourists clogging up the shops and the horse and
buggy rides. Besides, there’s ballroom dancing and a Murder Mystery
party.”

“
How are you getting there?
Do you have reservations?”

“
Yes, Sandy Ettema and I
have tickets with the Senior Bus Tours out of Holland. It leaves on
Thursday and comes back on Saturday. The bus picks us up in Zutphen
at the high school, so it’s really convenient.”

“
A bus trip? Day after
tomorrow?”

“
Right. I know it’s short
notice, but Sandy just called and needs to cancel. Her mother is
having emergency surgery and Sandy needs to fly out to Iowa
tonight.”

“
How awful for Sandy. But I
really can’t afford it.”

“
Sure you can. Sandy
already paid for the seat, and she said she’d only get half of her
money back from the travel agency. If you take her place, she said
she’ll be happy if you just give her the other half.”

“
Really?”

“
Really. Look, you’ve got a
new renter, and you just had a huge garage sale. Spend some of that
extra money on yourself, for goodness sake!”

The woman had a point. It had been a long
time since she’d traveled, and even longer since she’d done
anything for fun. Could she do it?

“
Come on, Helen. It’ll be
fun.” Donna cajoled. “We leave on Thursday morning, so you won’t
miss your rehearsal at church on Wednesday night. We’ll get back on
Saturday evening. There’s no reason why you can’t go. Sandy said
she’d even wait if you can’t pay for it right away.”

Helen hesitated. The bus trip to Mackinac
Island sounded like a great time. As Martha pointed out, the
popular tourist destination wouldn’t be quite as crowded in October
as it was in the summertime. And the Murder Mystery Weekend sounded
like fun.

“
Let me think about it,
okay? I’ll call you back later this afternoon.”

“
All right. I hope you can
go.”

Maybe she should ask Paul if it was a good
idea…

As soon as that thought crossed her mind she
discarded it. Paul would talk her out of it, whether she could
afford it or not. Howard Tillema, her financial planner, would be a
better choice. Joe had chosen him to handle their finances when
he’d retired, and he’d done well by them. She hadn’t seen him in
quite some time, other than to go in and sign papers now and then.
Yes, she’d call Howard. She looked up his number and dialed.
Luckily, Howard answered on the second ring.

“
Heritage Financial
Services.”

“
Howard, this is Helen
DeGroot. How are you?”

“
Helen, it’s good to hear
from you. What can I do for you today?”

“
Well, I have a chance to
join a bus trip to Mackinac Island later this week and I want to
know if I can afford it.”

“
You can afford
it.”

Helen laughed. “Howard, I haven’t told you
how much it costs yet!”

“
Doesn’t matter. You could
go on a cruise, a European tour, or an African safari and it
wouldn’t make a dent in your standard of living.”

“
You’ve got to be joking. I
know Joe didn’t make
that
much money. He was always saving for a rainy
day.”

“
And that’s exactly why you
have more than enough money to go anywhere you want.”

“
I asked Paul if there was
enough for me to buy a new couch last spring. He said I needed to
be careful or I’d run out.”

Howard muttered something about Paul, but
Helen didn’t quite catch what he said.

“
So you’re saying if I take
a thousand or so out I’ll still be all right?”

“
Absolutely. Take an extra
couple hundred with you — the prices there are high, and you’ll
want money for souvenirs and fudge and whatnot.”

“
Really? You’re sure
there’s enough?”

Howard sighed. “Helen, don’t you look at
those statements I give you when you come in to sign your
papers?”

“
No, not really. I just
send them home with Paul for safekeeping.”

“
And he doesn’t discuss
them with you?”

“
No. But then, I don’t
really ask.”

“
Helen, do you have some
free time this afternoon? Say around two o’clock?”

She checked her calendar. “I think so.”

~~~~

A few hours
later Helen sat in Howard’s office, her mind
reeling with the numbers Howard showed her. Was it true she had
this much money in the bank?

“
You can take these copies
with you,” Howard explained. “I can always access your accounts
online. But these are the totals right now.”

“
But… but that’s
impossible,” Helen insisted. “How can I get this much each month?
That sounds like so much money. Paul must be right. The house costs
way too much money to upkeep. I should move to a smaller place so I
can have more fun money.”

“
I don’t understand why
your costs are so high. Your house isn’t that large, and Joe
installed new insulation and a new roof before he died. You don’t
have a pool, and your yard isn’t that big. There should be plenty
left over after the bills are paid.”

“
I’ve been cutting back on
extras — cable television, lawn care and snow removal, the land
line phone, membership at the gym, my road service—”

“
You gave up road service
on your car? Why would you do that?”

“
Paul said it was another
thing I could cut back on. Thank goodness Mike Sikkema came along
when I ran out of gas last week.”

Howard muttered under his
breath. “Helen, some of these are things you should not have to do
without. While I think it’s wonderful that your sons are helping
you, it’s
your
money, and you should know where it’s going. Something is
eating up your budget, and I want to help you find out what it is.
If you want me to.”

“
I would love it if you
could help me. I don’t think I’m poor or anything, but if I’m being
wasteful somehow I’d like to know.”

“
Can you bring your bank
statements here sometime next week? We can go over them together.
Maybe we can figure out why you’re running short. Honestly, Helen,
I know how much you get each month. Your house is paid for, so
there’s no mortgage. There’s no reason why there shouldn’t be
plenty left over for whatever you want to do, within
reason.”

“
I… don’t have the
statements. I always give them to Paul without opening them. He
takes care of it all and gives me cash for my spending money each
week.”

Howard frowned and bit his lip. Was he going
to reprimand her for being so clueless about her own finances?
Finally he sighed. “Can you get the statements from Paul?”

“
I think so. Wait, he’s out
of town for a few days.”

“
You can get them from the
bank. They’ll print them out for you.”

“
Really? That’s good to
know. If I can’t get them from Paul on Sunday, I’ll go to the bank
and ask. When would you like to go over them with me?”

“
I’ve got some time next
Thursday morning. How about ten o’clock? I’d like to get this
cleared up. I don’t like the thought of you going without because
of money shortage. I promised Joe I’d see to it you were set
financially. He was a good friend, and I like to keep my
promises.”

Helen couldn’t speak for a while she was so
overcome with emotion. Her Joe had been an honest businessman and
loyal friend, and that inspired loyalties in his friends. She
couldn’t have had a better husband. “Thank you, Howard. I’ll get
those statements from Paul on Sunday, and if he doesn’t have them,
I’ll stop at the bank. Thank you so much!”

“
You’re welcome. Have a
great time.”

She left, happy she’d be able to repay Sandy
for the trip and eager to start taking more control of her own
affairs. The extra withdrawal from her investments wouldn’t come
for another week or so, but since Sandy had already paid for the
trip, she would go and then pay Sandy back when she got the
check.

How had she gotten to this point where she
didn’t have any idea of her finances? It had been a gradual thing,
she supposed. Joe had taken care of them, but he always discussed
things with her. She knew how to write checks and balance the
checkbook. She knew how to budget. After Joe died suddenly, she’d
been in a haze and her bills had gone unpaid, simply because she
hadn’t had the presence of mind to open her mail or respond to
emails. Finally, Paul had taken her to the bank to have himself
added to her account, telling her that he would take care of her
bills so that she wouldn’t have to. She’d agreed simply because it
was one less thing for her to worry about. Maybe she shouldn’t have
been so quick to let go of that power.

She spared a moment to wonder where her
money was going. Was Paul right in that she was being too
extravagant? The house was kind of big for one person. But she’d
spent the past thirty years there. She’d chosen every piece of
furniture, every nick-knack, and every paint color. How could she
leave it all? Well, with Mike moved into the apartment, she had
more time to make arrangements to move. If she really needed
to.

She got home to find her new tenant making
himself useful. Mike was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt and was
cutting the hedges along the side of the house.

“
Good afternoon. I don’t
remember grounds keeping as part of our rental agreement, but I’m
very grateful for your help.”

Mike laughed. “I enjoy working outdoors. I’m
not much of a gardener, but I noticed the shrubs are getting a
little large. If I cut them back, then I won’t brush against them
when I’m heading to my apartment.”

Helen felt her face heat. She knew that the
yard was getting a little… unkempt now that Paul had cancelled the
lawn service. And since Donna had mentioned it, others must have
noticed it, too. During the summer, some local boys had come over
and cut the grass, but once school started, they weren’t available.
Knowing her tenant had gone to great lengths just so he could get
to his apartment was downright embarrassing.

“
I guess I’ve been
neglectful on the upkeep around here. I had some junior high kids
cutting the grass over the summer, but they’re back in school now.
My son Jonathan cut it a few weeks ago, but I see it needs to be
cut again. I never even thought about the hedges.” She looked sadly
at the shrubbery surrounding the house. “Joe would be appalled if
he saw this yard looking like this. He took such pride in it,
especially the plants. That was his business, and it wouldn’t look
good if the nursery owner had rotten looking plants around his
house.”

“
Do you still run the
business?”

“
No. Thankfully, Joe sold
it a few years before he died. Neither of the boys wanted it.
That’s when we started our list of places to visit.”

“
I’d love to hear about
your trips sometime. The places you went and what you thought about
them. Writing about travel destinations is what I do for a living,
and I always need material for articles.”

She brightened. “Really? I’d love to hear
about some of your travels, too.”

“
Sounds like a deal. We’ll
talk about trips and traveling over a cup of imported
coffee.”

She laughed, enjoying the banter. How long
had it been since she’d had a casual conversation with a man?