He hadn’t asked Maggie how she felt about that, had he?
Maggie shook her head. She was making excuses. She was fond of Aunt Nettie, too, and it had made sense that Will move to Maine to take care of her.
Maggie was thirty-nine. She only had a few years left in which she could be a parent, and not feel as though it would be more logical for her to be a child’s grandparent.
If Will had wanted to be a parent, too, that would have been perfect.
But he hadn’t. He’d made his choice. Now she’d made hers. She just had to tell him.
The next step would be up to him.
And she had to be prepared for the possibility that her decision would end what otherwise was the most perfect relationship of her life.
Maggie pulled her van into a space in back of Gussie’s old house.
“Hey, Gussie!” she called out to her friend, whose van’s wheelchair lift had almost reached the ground. “Why don’t we open another bottle of that champagne I brought you? Tonight is your last night in this house. That deserves a few toasts.”
Chapter 25
Night Sky: September and October.From Half Hour with the Stars by Richard A Proctor, 1887. Lithograph showing round dark blue sky with Milky Way and constellations for certain fall dates in the Northern Hemisphere. For October 22, the time is 8:00 P.M. Stars of different magnitudes are shown with different numbers of points. One of a series showing the night sky throughout the year. 9 x 11 inches. Price: $50.
The next day went by in a whirl of activity.
Diana’s presence was a big help with the packing. Maggie’d hoped she’d talk a little more about what was happening on Apple Orchard Lane. But today Diana was quiet.
“We’re fine,” she said. “The medical examiner hasn’t released Dad’s body yet, so we can’t plan a funeral.”
And a little later, “Cordelia’s back working on her dolls. She’s promised customers some special orders, and she says focusing on work keeps her mind off other things. A nice man from the fire department came and cleaned that stuff off the porch. He said it might be paint remover, not gasoline, but whatever it was, he got most of it off, so we’re not worried anymore. It still smells a little, but he says it’s safe.”
She seemed remarkably relaxed, considering all that had taken place in the past week. She and Gussie chatted about the wedding, and the guests, and she oohed and ahhed over Gussie’s dress and veil. They were getting along so well that Gussie asked if she’d like to help with preparations Saturday morning before the wedding. “Not too much, you understand. But a few ribbons and plants, and some flowers that the florist is sending. And maybe answer the phone and the door while I’m getting dressed.”
Diana nodded her head excitedly, “Oh, yes. Please. I’d love to. Are you going to decorate your house for the wedding, too?”
“No, we’re having the reception at one of the inns in town,” said Gussie.
“But you have to hang a big white bow on your door!” Diana said. “Everyone does that when they get married. Especially when you have a new house. People from out of town will want to drive by to see it!”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Gussie said. “You’re right; not many people know where the house is. I like that idea. Let’s call Abigail at Floral Fantasies right now and see if she can do a wonderfully large bow for us!”
And off they went.
Maggie repacked her own suitcase; her possible dresses for the wedding were still hanging in her van. Gussie gave her directions to the B and B she’d reserved for “close friends and family,” and Maggie decided to check in after she’d made sure Gussie had all her personal things unpacked and accessible this afternoon. Everything might not be arranged exactly where she’d put them eventually, but at least they’d be in the master bedroom. And then everyone could leave her to have some peace.
She deserved some before the wedding.
Maggie was already planning what she might do after she’d checked into the B and B. A little peace for herself might not be bad.
Jim and Andy and two other friends arrived with two pickup trucks at 11:30.
Maggie looked at them dubiously. “You’re going to put everything in those trucks? Furniture and boxes and everything?”
“Not to worry,” said Jim. “We’re only going a couple of miles. And we plan on making a couple of trips. We’ll start with the boxes.”
Gussie took a final look around the building that had been her home and business for twenty years, blew it a kiss good-bye, and headed for her van. “Let’s get out of here, ladies. I don’t want to watch what’s going to happen now. We’ll deal with the results at the other end.”
They parked down the street from her new house so the trucks could get close to the door. “Note well,” said Gussie, “the advantages to handicapped-accessible homes. Wide doors and ramps make moving a lot easier.”
Gussie’d already called a friend who worked at a Winslow deli and who’d promised, as a special favor, that she’d deliver trays of assorted sandwiches, chips, cookies, sodas, and coffee.
The women had time to arrange lunch on the kitchen counter and each eat at least half a sandwich before the men arrived with the first truck to be unloaded.
After that there was little time for anything but organized chaos. Gussie directed the inside operation, telling anyone carrying a carton or piece of furniture what room it went into, and where exactly in that room it should be placed. Jim was in charge of getting the trucks loaded at the old house, and unloaded at the new one, trying to achieve some sort of order, so the pieces of a bed and its mattress arrived in somewhat the same time-frame.
The system worked remarkably well.
Maggie unpacked Gussie’s clothes and hung them in her half of the room-wide walk- (or roll-) in closet and filled her drawers while Diana checked all the arriving cartons and made sure they’d been put in the right rooms.
Cartons holding fine china, silver, and extra kitchen accessories went in the extra bedroom, to be sorted later. Boxes of books and seasonal accessories went to the garage. At one point Gussie zoomed down to where Diana was stacking those cartons and directed, “Lights! Hold out any cartons of Christmas lights! I may use them in the shop when I decorate the windows!”
“Will do,” answered Diana calmly. She seemed unflappable.
“She’s amazing,” said Gussie as she stopped to see how Maggie was doing in the master bedroom. “She fits right in, and seems to anticipate what needs to be done.”
“You’re right,” Maggie answered. “I’m almost finished in here. I did leave a little space in the closet for Jim, too.”
Gussie touched her arm. “Love you. I couldn’t have gotten through all this without your help. And tomorrow we finish the store!”
“I think I’ll take off at about four-thirty today, if that’s okay. I’ll go check in at the B and B and unpack my things. And you need to rest. The closer we get to the wedding, the crazier this week will get.”
“You go ahead. We have lots of food left from lunch, so I have plenty for dinner, and Jim had the same idea. He’s going to take a plate of sandwiches and plans to collapse at his place. He wants to finish packing his clothes and a few other things tonight so he can move them here tomorrow.”
“He’s not going to move in officially until the day of the wedding, though, right?”
“No. And since his house hasn’t been sold, he’s leaving a lot of his furniture there for now. He has a lot more than I did; he has a bigger house. But most of his things are Victorian, and we’ll probably sell them, because they don’t fit with this house. We’re not worrying about that right now.”
By four-thirty everything was in the house. It wasn’t in perfect order, but Gussie had moved. And was ready for a long nap. The trucks left; Diana left; Jim left; and then Maggie gave Gussie a big hug.