Hidden History (13 page)

“Thanks, but don’t you think Jane is taking this a little too far? Did she dress you too?” Alice studied Louise’s outfit of pale blue sweater set, beige skirt and pearls, but could find nothing out of the ordinary.

“I am perfectly capable of dressing myself,” said Louise. “You, on the other hand, could sometimes use a hand.”

“Thanks a lot.”

Candles were lit downstairs and jazz music played softly. Alice could hear happy conversation coming from
the living room. “Did they start the party without us?” she whispered to Louise.

Louise just smiled.

“Here are Alice and Louise now,” said Jane as she greeted her sisters with both hands outstretched. “We have a surprise visitor tonight, ladies. Susan invited her brother Mark to come down for a little visit.”

Alice felt her eyes widen and her throat went tight. Mark Graves was here? In Acorn Hill? In her own home? Why had she not been warned?

“Well, I actually invited him to come out here to check on that sick little pig,” explained Susan. “I felt sorry for that poor old woman, and as it turned out Mark wasn’t busy this weekend….”

Alice felt as if everything were in a blur. She could see the tall man in the tweed jacket, a dignified stranger with charcoal-colored hair that was light gray at the temples, and a salt-and-pepper beard. He reminded her of a character in a movie, a sea captain perhaps.

“Louise,” he said as he shook her sister’s hand. Then he stepped toward her and took her hand in his. “Alice, it’s so good to see you again.”

“Mark,” she somehow managed to say. “It’s been years.”

He nodded and she felt as if she were sinking as she looked into his eyes.

He smiled broadly, as if he was truly glad to see her, and said, “You’re looking well.”

She tried to form an answer but felt tongue-tied and stupid, as if she were sixteen again. Goodness, she hoped she was not about to do something really ridiculous, like faint.
Dear God
, she prayed silently,
please help me to hold myself together tonight.

Chapter Eleven

H
er prayer was answered. Somehow, and she felt it nothing short of miraculous, she was able to converse and laugh and ask appropriate questions as they all gathered around the large mahogany table in the dining room.

“Jane, you’ve really outdone yourself tonight,” said Alice as Jane finally presented her special dessert with dramatic flare.

“I haven’t had baked Alaska in ages,” Mark commented.

“Speaking of the cold part of the world,” said Louise, “I heard that you were treating penguins down in Antarctica not long ago.”

That was all it took for Mark to launch into another interesting story, complete with a humorous account of how he had to go around wearing a fisherman’s smelly jacket after his expensive Gortex parka mysteriously disappeared one night. “The truth is that I grew to truly appreciate that greasy oilskin coat. I think it kept me warmer than the one I’d brought. So much for today’s new technology
in outerwear.”

“You should write these stories down,” said Jane. “They’d make an interesting book.”

“Actually, it’s already been done,” he told her. “Ever heard of the book called
Zoo Doctor?”

“And then, of course, there is the old James Herriott series,” said Alice. “I so enjoyed reading those books years ago. In fact, all this talk of animals makes me want to read them over again.”

“Yes, Eliot and I used to watch the stories on public television,” said Louise. “One of the few times we ever turned on the TV. But, oh my, we would just laugh and laugh over it.”

Finally, dinner came to an end, and Jane suggested that Mark might enjoy a tour of the house.

“Yes,” he said, “I do remember being here long ago, but it seems different to me now.”

“We have done a lot of renovations,” Louise explained.

“Jane is our decorator,” said Alice.

“Alice helped me quite a bit with the painting,” said Jane. “Why don’t you show Mark around, Alice?”

“I’ll help you clean up, Jane,” said Louise.

“So will I,” offered Susan. “Anything to get another look at that kitchen. You’ve got to see her kitchen, Mark. It is just darling.”

“Not until it’s cleaned up a bit,” warned Jane. “We normally don’t allow the guests in there, but Susan is becoming more like family since she’s been with us all week.”

Susan grinned. “Hey, maybe you could adopt me.”

Alice knew this was a setup, but what could she do other than cooperate? “Well, you’ve obviously seen the living room and the dining room, and I assume the foyer.”

“That’s about it. And I must say the rooms look splendid. Jane really has a touch.”

“Yes, she’s an artist, you know.” She led him back into the hall.

“I recall your saying how artistic she was, but she must have been quite young … back then.”

Alice smiled. “Yes, Jane would’ve still been in grade school …” she followed his choice in words, “back then.”

“This was my father’s den. But, as you can see from the plaque, we call it the library now, although I usually forget.”

“This is a handsome room,” said Mark as he perused the bookshelves. “Your father was quite a reader.”

“Yes.” Then she chuckled. “Although we have a guest right now who doesn’t think much of this library.”

“Why?”

“No westerns,” she said with a smile.

Mark nodded. “No, your father didn’t strike me as the
western type.”

Alice turned and studied Mark. He had only met her father a couple of times. “What type did he strike you as?”

Mark’s face grew serious and he seemed to be considering his answer. “Actually, as I was young and immature at the time, I’m not sure that my opinion of your father was accurate.”

She nodded. “Yes, I can understand that, but I’m curious about how you perceived him.”

“Do you mind?” Mark nodded to the desk chair as if he wanted to sit down.

“Of course, have a seat.”

“Thank you.” He sat in the chair and ran his hands over the smooth surface of the desk. “Very nice.”

Alice sat down in an easy chair across from him. This evening felt very odd. She felt almost as if she were an actor in a movie, as if none of this were really happening.

Mark was looking at Alice as if perhaps he, too, thought it was all a bit strange.

“In answer to your question about your father, Alice, I suppose … well, I may have thought your father was a bit stuffy.”

Alice blinked. “Stuffy?”

Mark’s brow furrowed with what appeared to be regret. “I know, I know. I probably read him completely wrong.
I’m sorry.”

“No, I appreciate your honesty. Really, it’s rather interesting. Anything else?”

“Well, I could tell that you and your father were quite close. I suspected you were his favorite—”

“His favorite?” Alice shook her head. “Oh no, I don’t think Father ever had a favorite.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. You two seemed to have quite a connection. I suppose I might’ve been a bit jealous.”

“Jealous?”

He nodded. “It sounds silly now.”

She smiled. “I suppose so. That was so very long ago.”

He sighed. “Yes, it seems like another lifetime. I think I am a completely different person now.”

“As am I.”

“Yes. We’ve both changed considerably.”

She sighed. She was not sure if it was a sigh of relief or perhaps disappointment, but she suspected that they had just confessed that what had happened so long ago was really and truly over.

“Would you like to see the rest of the house?”

He said that he would, and Alice, playing tour guide, showed him through the parlor and the sunroom, pausing at the staircase. “I’d show you the guest rooms upstairs, but they’re all taken. Well, except for one.”

“Actually, I think I will be staying in that one.” She nodded.

“Of course.”

“I’m sorry if my unexpected visit took you by surprise, Alice,” said Mark as he ran his hand over the smooth banister. “Susan didn’t mention you or even tell me she was staying at your family’s home. She did pique my curiosity when she said it was in Acorn Hill, and I thought it would be fun to see this town again. I knew there was a possibility that you might still live here.”

“Well, I’m glad you came.” She could hear laughter drifting out from the kitchen, and part of her longed to be there, out of this uncomfortable situation.

“Really?” His eyes lit up slightly. “I wasn’t sure.”

She looked down at the floor. As usual, the carpet in the foyer had a wrinkle in it. She controlled herself from bending down to straighten it. She looked back up at him. It seemed the least she could be was honest. “I have to admit that it was a bit of a shock but, yes, it’s good to see you again.”

“Do you ever think—”

“There you two are,” said Susan as the three women emerged from the kitchen. “Well, did you get the full tour, Mark? What do you think?”

“This is a beautiful home,” he told her. “These ladies have done an incredible job restoring the place.”

Susan came up and linked arms with her brother. “I thought you’d like it. I’m so glad you could get away. I feel as if I haven’t seen you in ages.”

Alice could feel Jane’s eyes on her, and she suspected she would be fully interrogated before she was allowed to go to bed tonight.

“You must see this kitchen,” said Susan as she led Mark toward the back of the house. “It is so charming.”

“How’s it going?” Jane asked as soon as Mark and Susan were safely out of earshot.

Alice could see that her sisters were eager for a report on Mark. It was one of the few times in her life when she was certain that she had the undivided attention of both of them. “All right.”

“Come on,” said Jane. “That’s not an answer.”

Alice looked from Jane to Louise and just shook her head. “I can’t believe you two. I assume you were in on this too, Louise?”

Louise’s lips curled into what looked more like a smirk than a smile.

“My own sisters.” Alice tried her best to appear betrayed.

Jane took Alice by the arm. “How else could we have gotten you to cooperate?”

“Cooperate?”

“Yes. Think about it, Alice. What do you think you would’ve done if I had announced that Mark Graves was joining us for dinner?”

Alice shrugged.

“Oh, come on. You would’ve been a bundle of nerves. You might’ve even made up some lame excuse not to join us. I just figured this way would be easier for everyone.”

“But, Jane, you lied to me.”

Jane shook her head. “No, I did not lie. Believe me, I was very careful not to lie.”

“But you told me you had some art people coming to—”

“No, Alice, I said, ‘
what if
’ I had some art people coming to dinner.”

“Oh, Jane, this is so—”

Just then the phone on the reception desk rang. “Goodness,” said Alice slightly startled. She picked it up and said, “Hello, Grace Chapel Inn.”

“Alice?” cried a shrill voice. “Is that you? Oh, mercy me, I need help for my Daisy. She’s not doing well and I….” The old woman broke into sobs.

“Clara. Now calm down. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I think she’s dying,” she sobbed.

“Hold on, Clara. I’ll be right over.” Alice hung up the phone and ran to the kitchen, where Susan was just showing her brother the handmade tiles that Jane had
put up.

“I have to excuse myself. Clara’s pig is in distress. I’m going over right now to see if I can help her to—”

“I’ll drive,” said Mark. “I have a medical bag in my car.”

The two of them took off in his SUV, speeding toward Clara’s house on the other side of town.

“I’m sorry to have involved you in this—” began Alice.

“Are you kidding? This is what I do for a living, Alice. I love saving animals.”

Alice smiled to herself. Mark was a good man. She had always known that.

“This is it,” she told him.

“Now, it’s possible that we may need to operate. Are you okay to assist me? I know that you used to be a nurse.”

“I am still a nurse,” she told him as he grabbed his bag and they both jogged toward the house.

Mark was right; Daisy did require surgery. Alice quickly sterilized Clara’s kitchen table and told the old woman to wait in the living room until they were done. Fortunately, the surgery went perfectly. Mark quickly located the source of Daisy’s digestive problems. “I think it’s some sort of pit,” said Mark as he pointed to the dark object.