Chapter 18

Ruby woke up Monday morning to the news of Gertie Lafferty’s passing, and shed a few tears in memory of the little woman who had once frequented the Curl Up and Dye. She started to go to the phone to call Peanut, then the ache rolled through her as she remembered. She lowered her head and took a deep breath, trying to move back into her safe place, knowing the ache in her heart would never leave if Peanut didn’t recover.

“I hate you, Gary Dye, and God forgive me, but I am not sorry you are dead.”

Ruby shoved her fingers through her hair in frustration, then got dressed and started her day.

Since she intended to go back to the salon tomorrow, she fell back into her normal Monday morning routine by cooking for the coming week so that when she got home every evening, she didn’t have to cook something to eat.

She started a pot roast in her slow cooker and then stirred up the brownie mix and put it in to bake. All the while she was working, she was thinking of Peanut. She was going to see him today. Would there be another sign his memory was returning? She could only hope.

* * *

The alarm went off before daylight.

Alice threw back the covers, slipped on house shoes, and went to turn up the heat before heading to the kitchen.

She’d already made the kids’ lunches the night before and put them in the refrigerator. They didn’t have lunch boxes, but they did each have a new backpack, so she’d have to put their lunches in those. Someone had been thoughtful enough to put notebooks, pens, and pencils in each backpack, and for that she was truly grateful. The minutiae of details it took to live life were vast when a person was without the means to supply them.

As soon as she had the coffee started, she went to wake up her babies. Even if one of them was already taller than her, he would forever be her baby.

She pushed his door inward and then smiled when she saw his feet sticking out from under the covers and Booger asleep at the foot of his bed. She leaned down and gave the old dog a head rub, then laid a hand on Charlie’s shoulder.

“Charlie, wake up, Son. We’re going to school today, remember?”

Charlie rolled over, blinking sleepily, then frowned. “What did you say, Mama?”

“We’re going to school today. You need to get up.”

His eyes widened as a smile spread across his face.

“Oh yeah! I’m up,” he said, and threw back the covers as Alice left to go wake up her little girl. Pitty-Pat had slept through the alarm, and Alice suspected getting her daughter up would be more of a challenge than with Charlie.

Alice sat down on the side of the bed and then gave her daughter’s leg a gentle pat. “Hey, little girl, it’s time to wake up. Today is the day we go to school, remember?”

Pitty-Pat scooted deeper into the covers.

Alice grinned. “You get to wear new clothes to school, remember?”

Alice had said the magic words. New clothes.

All of a sudden, Pitty-Pat was crawling out from under the covers and into her mother’s lap. Alice hugged her close, marveling at the warmth and energy of such a tiny body.

“Come eat some cereal, and then we’ll get ready.”

“Carry me,” Pitty-Pat said, and Alice picked her up, because she remembered all too well how fast Charlie had grown out of this stage.

Alice gave them their cereal, fed Booger, and then sat down with a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal too. The kids talked as they ate, excited, but at the same time a little anxious. It was never easy being the new kids at school. When they finished, Alice sent them to get dressed.

Charlie took Booger out in the fenced-in backyard before they left, then brought him back in and settled him on an old rug.

“Gotta go to school now, Booger. We’ll be back this afternoon, okay?”

Booger let out a little grumble as Charlie scratched behind his ear.

Charlie laughed. “You cranky old man… You know you like that spot to be scratched. Be good for Mama.”

“Come on, Charlie. We need to go,” Alice said.

He grabbed his coat and backpack and gave the house a last look before going out the door.

The morning air was chilled but they all had warm coats, and both Charlie and Pitty-Pat had the backpacks for a little added warmth.

Alice felt more like herself than she had in over two years and thought how sad it was that Marty’s death three months ago was what had triggered the change—that and the good people of Blessings.

They walked past the Quick Stop and were headed down Main Street when a police cruiser passed them going the other way.

Charlie saw Chief Pittman behind the wheel and waved.

Lon waved back and then made a U-turn two blocks up and drove back to catch up. He stopped a few yards ahead of them, then rolled down the window and waited for them to catch up.

“Hey, Charlie!” he yelled.

Charlie stopped. “Hello, Chief.”

“Where are you guys going?” Lon asked.

“Mama is enrolling us in school this morning,” Charlie said.

“Hop in. I’ll take you.”

“Thank you!” Charlie said, and got in the back seat with his little sister, while Alice got into the passenger seat beside the chief.

“I sure appreciate this,” Alice said.

“No problem,” Lon said. “Everybody buckled up?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” Charlie said.

Lon took off up the street, turned off Main a few blocks down, and then made another turn past the Baptist church and straight to the school. He pulled up in the front behind a bus that was unloading.

“Thank you for the ride,” Alice said.

“You’re welcome, and have a great day, kids.”

“Thank you,” Charlie said.

The fact that the chief of police had given new kids a ride to school was something to talk about.

Charlie felt the other children’s eyes on him as he walked, but he kept looking forward, then ran ahead to open the door for his mama and sister.

Arlene Winston, the principal, was standing just inside the front door talking to Coach Sharp and welcoming the students as they walked in. When she saw the strangers, she immediately spoke up.

“Good morning,” she said. “Welcome to Blessings Elementary. I’m Mrs. Winston, the principal.”

“I’m Alice Conroy. These are my children, Charlie and Patricia. I came to get them enrolled.”

Mrs. Winston smiled. “Of course. We can get Patricia enrolled here, and then you’ll have to go two blocks over for the high school.”

“Oh no, ma’am. Charlie’s twelve and in the sixth grade.”

Coach Sharp grinned as he saw visions of a possible athlete Charlie’s size on the sixth-grade teams.

“Charlie, I’m Coach Sharp. Do you play any sports?”

“I played basketball and baseball at my old school.”

“Then I’ll see you in PE.”

Charlie grinned. “Yes, sir.”

“I’ll see you in class,” Coach said, and headed down the hall to his first class.

Arlene gave Charlie a second look. “My goodness, he’s sure a tall one for twelve.” Then her eyes narrowed as she kept staring at Charlie.

“You look familiar. Have you been in school here before?”

“No, ma’am,” Charlie said. “Maybe you saw one of my flyers. I put them in a lot of mailboxes a few days ago.”

Arlene gasped. “Yes! You’re the boy with the dog that found Gertie Lafferty.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Charlie said.

“It’s a shame she didn’t recover, but with her age and everything, I guess it was a blessing.”

Charlie was shocked. “She died?”

“This morning, actually,” Arlene said. “Follow me. I’ll take you to the office. My secretary, Mavis West, will get you both enrolled.”

Alice took her daughter’s hand and gave her a quick smile, but she was a little irked with the principal for blurting out the news like that to Charlie. It wasn’t as if they knew her, but he and Booger had found the elderly woman, and Alice knew this would hurt him.

Alice kept glancing up at Charlie, worried this news would ruin his first day, as they followed the principal. “Are you okay?” she whispered.

He nodded. “I’m okay, Mama. It was just a bit of a shock, but I guess it was her time.”

Charlie was super conscious of the curious stares of the kids they were passing, but so far nothing felt challenging. Then they reached the office, and Charlie’s greatest wish to get back in school was coming true.

Arlene Winston entered the office talking. “Mavis, this is Alice Conroy. We need to get her children enrolled this morning. They are Charlie and Patricia. Sixth grade and first grade.”

“Sixth grade?” Mavis said, as the principal went back out into the hall.

Alice frowned. She could see that look on the secretary’s face, thinking about how many grades he’d failed.

“He’s twelve,” Alice said.

Mavis blinked, then smiled a little sheepishly. “My goodness. Well, then. Do you have birth certificates and immunizations records with you?”

“No, ma’am. Our house burned three months ago. It’s why we moved to Blessings. But their old school has all of that. Can you request the records?”

“Yes, we can. I’m sorry about your home. Write down the name and address of the school for me while I get a couple of enrollment forms.”

Alice did as she was asked, and then sat down at a table and filled out the enrollment forms.

“I need to ask about free lunches and getting them on a bus route,” she said as she gave the secretary the forms. “We live at the far north end of town.”

Mavis checked the bus schedule, then added that info to their enrollment forms so she could enter it all into the computer database.

“They’ll be riding Bus Two. The driver is Millard Coffee. Just let him know where to stop when you first get on this afternoon, and he’ll tell you what time to meet him in the mornings.”

Alice glanced at Charlie. “Got that?”

“Yes, Mama. I won’t forget.”

“One more thing, Mrs. Conroy. I’ll need to see your SNAP card indicating you are receiving family assistance so I can set up free lunches.”

“Jewel Easley from DHS just signed us up so I don’t have that yet. She said we should get it by the first of the month,” Alice said.

Mavis frowned. “The rules are—”

Alice felt the slap even though it never happened, and she damn sure wasn’t going to beg. She held up a hand.

“Never mind. We’ll manage,” she said shortly, then turned to her children. “You have your lunches today, so don’t worry about a thing, okay? Have a wonderful first day, and make lots of friends.”

“Yes, Mama,” Pitty-Pat said.

“We’ll be fine, Mama,” Charlie added.

Alice knelt down and hugged Pitty-Pat, then stood up.

“See you both this evening.” Then she gave Mavis a cool smile. “I know you’re going to take good care of my children.”

Mavis had a momentary flashback of facing the anger of Johnny Pine when his little brother had been injured at this school. She didn’t want to relive that.

“Yes, ma’am. We take our responsibilities very seriously here.”

Alice gave the kids one last encouraging look and was leaving the office as the first bell rang. She couldn’t look back or she would cry. She needed to ignore what other people thought of her and not be so touchy. Life had put her on this path, and she was doing her best not to fall off.

The chilly air felt good on her face as she exited the school, and then she headed toward Main Street. Walking back would give her time to shake the chip off her shoulder. She was pleased at how friendly people were as she walked through the neighborhood.

An older woman who was outside picking up a paper waved at Alice. She waved back and walked on as the lady went back inside.

A few houses down, a woman was trying to get her kids in the car. Alice heard the mother fussing and the kids whining. They were going to be late for school, she thought, and kept moving.

She was a block off Main when she met an older man walking his dog and thought of Booger, their gentle giant.

“Morning, miss,” the man said.

“Good morning,” Alice said. “What a sweet little dog.”

“Thank you, ma’am. This is Petey. He’s a Yorkie.”

Alice grinned. “Hi, Petey,” she said, then stepped aside to let them pass.

By the time she got to Main Street and headed north, her heart was lighter. Shopkeepers were outside sweeping in front of their stores. As she approached, they stopped to let her pass, wishing her good morning. She’d been hiding in her house for so long, struggling with the shame of their situation and then her health, that it felt good to be seen.

She passed a travel agency and a pharmacy and was coming up on the newspaper office when a passing car suddenly honked. She looked up and saw one of the ladies who’d brought her groceries waving. She waved back, trying to remember her name.

Oh yes…that was Rachel. Rachel Goodhope.

She noticed the time as she passed a bank. It was moving toward eight thirty. The kids would already be in class.

God, please let this day be a good one.

She saw a store in the next block and smiled at the name. Bloomer’s Hardware. She wondered how many times the owner had been teased about that name. But as she got closer, she saw a sign in the window. HELP WANTED. Her heart skipped a beat as she began walking faster.

“It won’t hurt to try,” Alice muttered, and went inside.

The man behind the counter looked up and smiled. “Good morning. Welcome to Bloomer’s. How can I help you?”

“I’m hoping I can help you,” Alice said. “I saw your sign in the window.”

Fred Bloomer shifted gears from customer to applicant.

“Have you ever worked in a hardware store?” he asked.

“No, but I’ve worked in retail and as a checker in a supermarket, and I need a job. I just enrolled my kids in school and was on my way home when I saw the sign. My name is Alice Conroy,” she said, and extended her hand across the counter.

Fred’s mind was racing. Right now, nearly everyone in town was mad at him for firing Melissa, and this woman was new in town. Chances were he wasn’t going to get another applicant for months—until people had time to let bygones be bygones.

“Can you work a register?”

“Yes, but may I look at yours to see if it’s very different?”

“Come this way,” he said, and she circled the counter for a closer look.

“It’s a newer version than the ones I’ve used, but with a little coaching, I see no problems.”

“Do you want to fill out an application?” he asked.

She didn’t hesitate. “Yes, sir.”

He ran to the office and came back with an application. “Fill this out and bring it back.”

“I’ll fill it out now, if you don’t mind. I don’t have a car so it’s easier to do it here rather than make two trips.”

He frowned. “Why don’t you have a car?”

She lifted her head. “My husband is dead. Our car burned up with the house he was in.”

Fred blinked. “I’m sorry.”

Alice shrugged. “So am I, and I don’t need a car to get to work on time.”

“Fill out the application,” he said.

So she did, and when she was finished, she handed it to him, then waited while he looked it over.

This was the fastest decision about hiring an employee that Fred had ever made, but he was desperate, and from the sounds of her story, so was she. Something inside him felt like this was a test of his conscience, and if he failed again, he was going to be in trouble.

“So, when could you start?” Fred asked.

“Tomorrow, but what does the job pay, and do you pay twice a month or only once a month?” she asked.

Fred became a little cagey and wanted to start her off at minimum wage, but then he remembered her situation.

“Well, I was paying my other clerk ten dollars an hour, although she’d been with me for nineteen years, and I pay twice a month.”

“Why did she quit?” Alice asked.

“Oh, it’s a long story, and hers to tell,” Fred said, not wanting to scare Alice away before she began. “I need a clerk, and I’m willing to pay that much again if you work out.”

Alice couldn’t believe it. That was sixteen hundred dollars a month before taxes.

“That works for me. One other thing. I don’t know what time you close, but because I am a single parent, I can work Monday through Friday, no weekends, and will have to leave by five because of my children coming home from school.”

Fred stifled a groan. He’d be on his own on Saturday and have to close every night. But it was his fault he was in this fix, and he needed the help.

“Then eight to five, Monday through Friday, at ten dollars an hour. We’ll make this a six-week trial period, and if you work out, then it will be permanent.”

“That’s fair,” Alice said. “I’ll take it.”

They shook hands again, but this time Alice was grinning. “I appreciate the opportunity and I will not let you down,” she said. “See you tomorrow morning at eight.”

“Tomorrow at eight,” Fred echoed, and shivered as he watched her leave. She’d just said the same thing to him that Melissa Dean had said on the day he hired her: I will not let you down. He considered it a sign, and this time, he wasn’t going to mess things up.

Alice waited until she reached the sidewalk before she started to grin, and then she couldn’t stop. She walked the rest of the way home in a fog before it hit her. This would certainly change what Jewel Easley was setting up for her. As soon as she got home, she’d call Jewel and let her know. If she didn’t qualify for assistance anymore, then so be it. Charlie was right. They were figuring things out.