Mary #36

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36

Mary went upstairs and got dressed.  When she came down Elizabeth was sitting in the living room waiting for Jody.

“Do you have any plans for today Mary?”

“No, I thought I would do something around here.”

“Have you been to town since you’ve come home?”

“No.”

“Why don’t you go and look around.  They have a lot of antique stores now.  They also have some stores that sell Amish furniture.  You could even go to City Hall and ask for a brochure about all the events they have in town during the year.”

“Still thinking about the B&B, huh?”

“I just want you to realize there are a lot of things to do here.  More than you think. We might be getting more built up as a county but to city folks; we still have the small town feel.”

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

Elizabeth’s phone rang “Hello” she said.  “Tom, can I do it in a couple of weeks?  I’m just not up to it now.  Okay, I’ll call you.  Tell John, I’ll call him too when I’m ready.  Okay, bye" and she hung up the phone.  "Lawyers, Mitch is hardly dead” Elizabeth said indignantly to Mary.

“I’m sure he’s just doing his job.”

“I know.  That was Tom Baxter; do you remember him from school?  He’s our lawyer and his younger brother is John who is our financial guy.  Our stuff is going to be pretty cut and dry.  I can’t even think about going and talking about the will.”

“I hope I’m not being nosy but are you going to be all right with losing Mitch’s income?”

“Oh yes, Mitch made sure of that.  All the years I worked, we would put my money in the bank and then invest it.  He was really old fashioned in that way.  He made a good salary and we lived off that.  He always envisioned retiring early and enjoying ourselves.”

“I forgot to ask, are you still working?”

“No, I quit as soon as I got my diagnosis.  Mitch wanted me to concentrate on my treatments.”

“That was nice.”

We heard a knock on the door.   Mary opened it and Jody came in and said “Are you ready to get going?”

“Yep, I’m already” and they left. 

Mary thought about calling her boss but then thought better of it.  She decided if he was going to give her the axe, she would wait and call when she came back from town.

She put her shoes on and said “Lulu, I’m going to town.  You want to stay out while I’m gone?” and Lulu followed her out the back door.

She got in her car and drove to town.  She remembered how excited she got whenever her Ma or Pa drove there.  She chuckled to herself when she saw it now.  It seemed so big when she was small.  They still had a row of parking spots in front of each store.  That’s something they don’t have in a big city she thought.  They still had the grassy area in the middle of the town square with benches and the gazebo.

 She parked in front of city hall first and went inside.  She asked at the information desk for a listing of all the events for the year.  She walked out with it and went to a little coffee shop.  Got a cup of coffee and then went to one of the park benches by the gazebo and sat down.  She drank her coffee and looked at the list.  Summer band concerts in the gazebo, county fair, ice sculptures, Christmas pageant, and festivals.  Elizabeth was right.  There were a lot of things to do in town. 

She looked around the square from where she sat and noticed that the old ice cream parlor was still there.  There were a ton of antique shops and some clothing boutiques. 

She noticed a mother coming with a toddler and a baby in a stroller.  The mom and the toddler sat on a bench looking at a book.  After a while the toddler got up and started running around picking up the red and orange leaves and throwing them in the air and laughing.   

Mary’s heart started to sink.  She always thought by now she would have had a child but maybe that wasn’t in the cards for her.  She was still young enough but with no man in her life it was highly unlikely that that it would happen.

Mary got up and went to her car and drove home.  When she got there she was in a melancholy mood and thought she might as well get the call over to her boss. 

She dialed the phone.  “Hello Emily, this is Mary Jenkins.  Is Paul in? I’d like to talk to him.  Thanks”

“Hi Paul, I’m doing fine.  What’s this I hear about the hotel going bankrupt…Why didn’t anyone tell me…I can understand that but I thought I was upper management…How about my job…No, you can have them email me the papers with the details I’ll sign them and fax them back…Yes, that would be good…I’ll call if I need something…Bye Paul”

Mary thought well that’s done.  All those years at that hotel and they just threw me away like an old dish rag.  Now she would have to call Sadie later and tell her she’s in the same unemployment boat with her. 

Mary went and got a glass of wine and sat on the front porch.  What a day it’s been already she thought.  She wondered how Elizabeth was doing about getting her hair cut short.  She didn’t ever remember a time when she had short hair. 

Mary decided she would make Elizabeth some hats.  She went upstairs to the boxes with her Ma’s knitting things.   She found some pink and white baby yarn and circular needles.  If she was going to be bald, her head would be cold with winter coming and this yarn would be nice and soft on her head.

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