Back Home Again (7 page)

Chapter Nine

T
uesday night came quickly, and with it the board meeting. Alice walked to the chapel with mixed feelings. On one hand, she had spent the past two days listening to Louise and Jane’s indignation about any church opposition. They both felt strongly that the board should have absolutely no say in their business ventures. Of course, Alice didn’t disagree with them on this, and yet she wanted to honor her father and the church that he had so lovingly served during the course of his lifetime.

“God, please lead me,” she prayed as she walked down the dimly lit hallway toward the meeting room. “And, please, guide my words. ‘Let my speech be with grace and seasoned with salt that I may know how to answer any man’—or woman, for that matter.” She opened the door and walked into the room.

“Hello, Alice,” called Lloyd Tynan. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

She glanced at her watch to see that she was nearly five minutes late-highly unusual for her, but then her sisters
had been giving her lots of last-minute advice. “Sorry, I must’ve lost track of the time.”

“No matter,” said Pastor Ley kindly. “You’re here now.”

“Let’s call this meeting to order,” announced Fred. He had been acting as board chairman for the past several years and so far no one had challenged him for the seat, although Alice suspected that Florence was considering it. For now it was a relief to have Fred in charge. Alice slipped into the vacant chair next to him and stared blankly at the chalkboard. The assembly room was also used for Sunday school, and a Bible verse was still neatly inscribed across the dark board in bright yellow chalk. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Jesus’ words sounded simple enough, and yet it seemed that no one ever fully mastered them. At least no one that Alice knew, although her father had come mighty close.

“Well, we all know why I called this emergency meeting,” began Florence as she pushed back her chair to stand. Alice could tell that the portly older woman had groomed herself especially for their meeting tonight, donning a red and blue striped polyester dress and gold-toned jewelry, while Alice had simply worn her best jeans and a neat cotton sweater. Florence held up her notes and cleared her throat as if she were about to perform “Ave Maria.” Then she began to speak. “The board is called to a meeting tonight
because the chapel needs a platform on which to voice its concerns over the use of the parsonage—”

“Excuse me, Florence,” interrupted Fred. “But the Howard home is
not
a parsonage. The word
parsonage
suggests that it is owned by the chapel. The Howard home is, and always has been, a private home.” He glanced over to Pastor Ley’s wife, who although not a board member, always came along to take notes. She nodded to Fred, then returned to her notepad.

“Well, if you want to get technical. It’s come to our attention that Pastor Daniel’s home—”

“Excuse me again, Florence.” Fred gave her a sharp look this time. “Pastor Daniel is deceased and the family home now belongs to his three daughters, Alice, Louise and Jane. How about if we refer to it as the Howard home for the purposes of tonight’s meeting?”

“Fine,” she snapped. “The
Howard home
. Now, may I please continue?”

“By all means.”

“The
Howard home
has always been a good neighbor to Grace Chapel and the chapel has always appreciated this relationship, but it has come to the board’s attention that this is about to be drastically changed. We all understand that this private home, a historic home, is about to be turned into a commercial business. Furthermore, the church board
had not been consulted in regard to this change.” She peered down at Alice. “Isn’t that true, Alice Howard?”

“We never really had the chance to consult anyone. My sisters and I only decided to look into the possibility of opening an inn during the past weekend. We hadn’t intended for the word to leak out like it did.” She glanced at Lloyd Tynan and Aunt Ethel, and then continued. “If we’d known that the board felt a need to be consulted, we surely would’ve done so. But everything happened so fast, it was actually a bit of a surprise—”

“It was quite a surprise to us too,” said Florence indignantly. “Another concern is that we’ve heard that you intend to use the name of the chapel for your hotel?”

“Excuse me,” said Fred with a scowl. “I do not believe the Howard sisters are opening a
hotel
.”

Alice nodded. “That’s right, Fred. It’s only going to be an inn, a very small inn, in fact, more like a bed and breakfast.”

“Nonetheless,” continued Florence, “Is this true? Do you plan to call your
inn
Grace Chapel?”

“We liked the sound of Grace Chapel Inn,” said Alice weakly. “We never imagined that it would pose any kind of a problem.”

“Do you think it’s proper to use the name of the Lord’s house to promote a business—and right next door?” Florence asked.

Alice considered this. “I suppose I hadn’t actually thought of it like that. I guess I thought that it was a compliment to the chapel and perhaps even a way to memorialize my father. But maybe we should reconsider—”

“Hold on there,” said Pastor Ley. “B-before you go reconsidering—well, let’s kick it around s-some. I don’t see any p-problem with sh-sharing the name. I’ve heard townsfolk call the Howard home ‘Grace Chapel house’ for ages. I’m certain there are p-people in Acorn Hill who b-believe that’s the actual name.”

“That’s true,” agreed Fred. “Most folks do call it the Grace Chapel house. Seems it would be less confusing for everyone if they just stuck with that name.”

“Not so fast,” said Lloyd. Alice had noticed that both he and Aunt Ethel had been unusually quiet so far, but she’d also suspected it wouldn’t last for long. Lloyd stood up now, posturing himself as if he were about to give a formal speech. “If I may remove my church board cap for a moment, I would like to address this group as the mayor of Acorn Hill.”

“Feel free,” said Fred.

“Well, first of all, as your mayor, I must point out that the city will definitely have some concerns about this
inn business
. For starters, we have some unresolved designation and code issues to be worked through. Now, I haven’t had much of a chance to officially investigate anything yet, but
I’m guessing that the Howard home has been designated for low-density residential use.”

“But it’s not in a strictly residential neighborhood,” pointed out Fred. “Thanks to the presence of the chapel.”

“True enough. But even so, we’ll still have some code issues to go over, then there’s business licensing and safety inspections and whatnot.” He hooked his thumbs into the lapels of his pale blue suit and smiled contentedly. “If it makes any of you feel better, Grace Chapel Inn is still nothing more than a pipe dream.”

Alice’s heart sank, but she remained quiet.

“May I speak?” asked Aunt Ethel.

“Go right ahead,” said Fred.

Aunt Ethel stood and looked around the group. “As both a neighbor and church board member, I’d like to go on record as having some serious reservations about this little venture. Goodness knows, I don’t want strangers traipsing in and out of my neighborhood at all hours of the day and night. And what about the additional traffic? Not to mention, where are the guests going to park their vehicles while they’re visiting? And what if they have noisy children or unruly pets? I certainly have no desire to see my neighborhood, or for that matter the chapel’s neighborhood, turned into a three-ring circus.”

“We have no intention of creating a circus,” said Alice.
Suddenly she wished she had her sisters here to back her up. “We only want to make our home into a nice, quiet, dignified place where people will come to rest and reflect—to enjoy the quaint charm of our little town and maybe even attend the chapel. Jane will prepare lovely breakfasts, and Louise will grace us with an occasional evening of classical piano. Is there really anything terribly wrong with that?”

Fred smiled. “I think it sounds wonderful.”

“So do I,” said the normally quiet and reserved Mr. Overstreet.

Alice turned to see the little old man in the well-worn tweed jacket. He was leaning back in his chair with his arms folded across his front, but he had what seemed a pleased smile on his face.

She blinked in surprise. “You do?”

He nodded. “Yes, I do. I think Pastor Daniel would’ve approved of this idea as well.”

Alice remembered how Mr. Overstreet and her father had enjoyed an occasional game of chess, and she knew how much her father respected this soft-spoken man, but she’d never actually heard the elderly man utter more than a handful of words at once. “Thank you, Mr. Overstreet. Your opinion means a lot to me.”

“I’m sure it does,” said Florence with open exasperation. “But the rest of us are still not convinced.”

Fred nodded. “Perhaps it’s time to put this thing to a vote.”

Naturally, Florence wasn’t ready to let the board vote just yet. She had numerous other concerns she felt she must voice, which she did, as did Aunt Ethel and Lloyd, but finally it seemed that everyone had had his say.

“All right now,” said Fred, glancing over at Patsy, who’d been furiously writing down all their comments. “If we’re ready, I’d like to motion that we put the matter to a vote now.”

“I second,” said Mr. Overstreet, surprising Alice again.

“Okay. All in favor of welcoming Grace Chapel Inn into the neighborhood, please raise your hands.”

Alice, Fred, Pastor Ley, and Mr. Overstreet raised their hands.

“Opposed?”

Now Florence, Lloyd, and Aunt Ethel raised their hands. Patsy wasn’t really on the board and therefore wasn’t eligible to vote, although Alice felt certain hers would have been in the affirmative.

Alice tried not to appear too pleased. And she also tried not to feel betrayed by her own aunt. After all, Aunt Ethel did have some valid concerns that Alice would attempt to address later, in private. Mostly Alice was relieved that, thanks to Mr. Overstreet, the majority was in favor of opening the inn.

“Thank you all very much,” she directed this to the favorable votes. To the others she said, “I want you to know that my sisters and I are very interested in hearing and addressing your concerns. We have no desire to alienate ourselves from anyone in the community or from our beloved chapel. Be assured that we will most definitely go through all the proper channels to establish our inn. All of your comments and suggestions will be most welcome. Thank you for coming tonight.” Then she stood and left.

The night air felt comfortingly cool against her flushed face. She most definitely did not enjoy being in the center of a controversy like this. She hoped that tonight’s meeting would be the worst of it. Although, after hearing the mayor’s comments, not to mention Aunt Ethel’s “neighborly” concerns, she wasn’t entirely sure. At least tonight was a small victory. She couldn’t wait to tell the good news to her sisters.

“Thank you, God!” she whispered as she hurried up the steps to the porch.

Alice tried to play down Aunt Ethel’s opposition to the inn, but Louise finally pinned her down. “Tell it to us straight, Alice, did Aunt Ethel actually vote against the opening of the inn?”

Alice held up her hands. “She did, but then I assured her that we’d listen to her concerns. She will be our closest neighbor and—”

“I cannot believe our own aunt would betray us like that,” said Jane.

“Well, I think Alice is right,” said Louise. “We need to convince Aunt Ethel that the inn poses no threat to anyone.” She shook her head. “I’d much rather have Aunt Ethel for us than against us.”

“I agree,” said Alice. “Aunt Ethel and Lloyd Tynan could prove to be formidable foes.”

“Okay,” said Jane. “Let’s get a plan together. Louise, you work on Lloyd, and I’ll work on Aunt Ethel. I do love her and I’m sure she still has a bit of a soft spot for me.” Jane winked at Louise. “And Lloyd certainly took a liking to you the other day.”

“Don’t be silly.” Louise waved her hand. “Just the same, I’ll talk to Lloyd about the city business. I’ll tell him that I need someone smart and knowledgeable to help me work my way through all the local red tape.”

“Great idea,” said Jane.

“I guess I’ll just continue my role as peacemaker—that and keep praying a lot,” Alice said.

“Sounds like a surefire plan for success,” said Louise.

Chapter Ten

O
n Wednesday nights, while most of the chapel parishioners attended a worship service in the sanctuary, Alice met in the basement with the ANGELs, a girls’ club that Alice had started years ago. The group’s real name, hidden within the acronym, was kept strictly secret. Only the ANGELs and Alice knew exactly what those letters stood for, but they were always quick to point out that it didn’t have anything to do with being excessively good or saintly or even angelic, although they did encourage each other toward loving God and performing good deeds.

The girls loved getting together with Alice and always had a good time doing various projects in the chapel’s assembly room. The fruits of their youthful energy and enthusiasm were always bestowed upon whomever the ANGELs determined to be the most appreciative recipient, but the actual giving was always done anonymously—and that, the ANGELs all agreed, is what made it so much fun.

“Hey, Miss Howard, are you really going to turn the Grace Chapel house into a hotel?” asked Ashley Moore as
she pressed another fabric piece onto her cardboard box. Their current project was creating “treasure” boxes that they would decorate tonight and then fill with cookies the following week.

Alice handed a bottle of glue to Sarah Roberts as she considered her answer. “Well, it’s not actually going to be a hotel, Ashley. If everything works out, it’ll be just a very small inn—a bed and breakfast.”

“Cool,” said Sarah. “My mom said we need something like that in Acorn Hill.”

Alice smiled. It was always such a relief when she heard someone say anything positive about the possibility of developing an inn. It had been more than a week since the word had “leaked” out, and most of the town seemed either somewhat reserved or totally opposed to their business plan. But Alice suspected this was most likely because they were misinformed. And this, she figured, had to do with folks like Lloyd Tynan and, of course, her own aunt.

Jane and Louise’s plans to work on these two had been put slightly on hold when Louise suddenly decided to return to Philadelphia the week before. She felt it was time to get her affairs in order so that she could complete her transition to Acorn Hill. It took her most of a week to finish up her business and pack up her things, but because of
her superior organizational skills, all this turned out to be a relatively easy accomplishment.

In the meantime, Jane had decided it might benefit their cause to write an accurate press release that would help set the town straight on their proposed inn. That piece had appeared in the
Acorn Nutshell
just today, along with a grainy photo of the three sisters standing on the front porch. Louise, just back from Philadelphia, had seen the article and had complained that the shot made her look heavy, but Alice thought it wasn’t too bad. At least, they were all smiling. Carlene Moss, the
Nutshell’s
photographer/reporter/editor/marketer, had even offered to write a story when some of the renovations were actually begun.

“It’ll be interesting for the town to follow the progress of the inn,” she had said. Fortunately Carlene was one of the few who actually supported growth and development in their small municipality. “As long as it’s thoughtful and well planned,” she added quickly, as if they might want to quote her. But the sisters had assured Carlene they were in perfect agreement on this. They had no intention of creating an inn if it couldn’t be something the whole town would be proud of.

Alice opened another box of sequins and poured them out onto the craft table. The ANGELs oohed and aahed as they picked out their favorite colors and continued with their gluing.

“My dad said that one of your sisters is going to start giving piano lessons,” said Jenny Snyder as she glued a silver button onto the lid of her ornate box. “I’ve always wished I could learn to play.”

“Yes, that’s my older sister,” said Alice. “Her name is Mrs. Smith, and she’s a very accomplished pianist. She’s taught piano for years. You should look into it before she gets a waiting list.”

“I want to learn to play too,” said Ashley.

“Me too,” added Sarah quickly.

Alice laughed as other girls chimed in. It seemed that all the ANGELs wanted to learn piano. “Well, if you’re serious, you girls better talk to your parents and get yourselves signed up.” Soon all the ANGELs were discussing what they would do when they became famous concert pianists.

Alice smiled to herself as she went to the kitchen to put out their snack of Jane’s homemade snickerdoodles and fruit punch. Despite the negativity running amuck in Acorn Hill right now, she had known she could count on her ANGELs to lift her spirits tonight. Once again, she thanked God for these girls and she prayed that she would continue to be a worthy leader to them.

“Next week, I’ve invited my sister, Ms. Howard, to join us,” she announced toward the end of their meeting. “She’s
an excellent chef who used to cook for one of San Francisco’s finest restaurants—”

“San Francisco, California?” asked Ashley, obviously impressed.

“That’s right. She made these cookies tonight, but next week she’ll teach us how to make some very special cookies.”

“Do we get to eat any of them?” asked Jenny.

“Of course.” Alice laughed. “You know our rule.”

“Don’t muzzle the ox as he treads the grain,” quoted Sarah with a quick smile.

Finally Alice checked them on last week’s memory verse from Scripture. They all had it nearly word perfect, and she rewarded each of them with a silver angel pencil. Alice had discovered several catalogs over the years from which she’d been able to order lots of inexpensive “angel” treats. Father had offered to have the chapel cover this expense, but Alice had always refused. She didn’t mind purchasing these items, because it made it seem more like these were “her girls.” Even years down the line it wasn’t surprising for a young woman to stop Alice on the street and say, “Hey, remember me, Miss Howard? I used to be an ANGEL.”

As much as Alice loved her ANGELs, she was eager to get back home tonight. Louise had only returned from Philadelphia late this afternoon and the three sisters barely
had time to catch up. So as soon as the last girl said good night, Alice grabbed her jacket and headed for home.

To her surprise, Aunt Ethel was sitting in the kitchen having tea with Jane and Louise. Aunt Ethel had been keeping something of a low profile during the past week, although Jane had been trying to reach out to her. Perhaps she had made some progress after all.

“Hello, Alice,” said Aunt Ethel. “I noticed that Louise was back and thought I should pop in and pay my respects.”

“Yes,” said Louise. “We’ve just been catching up.”

“Would you like a piece of cheesecake, Alice?” offered Jane.

“Maybe just a small one—”

“A small one?” Aunt Ethel made a face. “How can you only have a small one? Do you know anyone who makes better cherry cheesecake than our own Jane?”

Alice smiled. “No, but that’s just the problem. With Jane cooking all this tempting food I’m sure I won’t be able to fit into my uniform before long.”

“Speaking of your uniform,” said Louise, “did you see about cutting back your hours yet?”

“I talked to my administrator yesterday, but I have to admit I’m still not too sure about this idea.”

“But you said yourself that you’re afraid you’ve been getting too busy lately,” reminded Louise.

“And with the ANGELs and the church board and now the inn,” added Jane, “we don’t want you collapsing on us.”

Alice nodded. “Yes, I’m sure you’re probably right. It’s just that not too much is happening with the inn yet.”

“Well, that’s all about to change,” announced Louise. “I have an appointment with the city tomorrow and—”

“Oh!” said Jane. “I completely forgot to tell you. Fred called this afternoon and said that a new contractor has just moved into town. He was picking up some supplies at the hardware store, and he and Fred got talking. Fred said it sounds like he knows everything there is to know about renovating historic homes.” Jane jumped up and went over to the notepad by the telephone. “Let’s see … his name is Jim Sharp, and he and Fred plan to come by tomorrow afternoon to have a look around.”

“Perfect,” said Louise. “We can get the wheels rolling right away.”

“What about getting approval from the city?” asked Aunt Ethel.

“We’re only talking about renovations right now,” said Jane. “While I’m sure we’ll need some building permits, I can’t imagine why the city wouldn’t let us fix up our own home.”

“Well, I suppose you’re right.” Aunt Ethel set down her teacup.

“Is that okay with you, Alice?” asked Jane. “I didn’t mean to jump the gun, but it seemed so providential that this contractor should move to town just when we were about to—”

“Maybe it’s an answer to your prayers, Alice,” said Louise. “You have been keeping up your end in that department, haven’t you, dear?”

“Of course.” Alice frowned. “I just wish I could be here tomorrow to meet him.”

“Can you get off work at two?”

Alice shook her head. “I don’t see how. We’re a little shorthanded as it is right now.”

“Okay then, how about if Louise and I check him out, and if we think he seems all right, then we can arrange for you to meet him later. How’s that?”

Alice nodded. “That sounds fine.”

“Well, I just hope you girls don’t go and get the cart before the horse,” warned Aunt Ethel. “No sense putting good money into this decrepit old place if you can’t get it back again someday. Bad stewardship, if you ask me. Like pouring water down a rat hole.”

Alice studied Aunt Ethel for a moment. She really didn’t want to hurt the older woman’s feelings, but at the same time she felt she needed to make a strong point here. “Aunt Ethel,” she began carefully. “I can understand
why you don’t feel any special emotional attachment to our house, but—”

“Oh, that’s not it, dear. Your father, my beloved brother, made this his home for years. Of course, I have feelings for it.”

“That’s good,” Alice continued. “So maybe you can understand a little bit of what we feel. You need to consider that this house was also our mother’s family home. The Berry family built this house in the 1890s, and because of that connection, it probably has even more meaning to us. You see it was our actual blood relatives—on our mother’s side—who built and first loved this house.” She glanced at her sisters. “I guess I can’t speak for Jane and Louise, but this place is very special to me.”

Louise nodded. “I couldn’t agree more.”

“Count me in too,” added Jane.

“So you see,” said Alice, “renovating our home doesn’t feel like a waste of money to us.” She shook her head vehemently. “Naturally, we hope that we’ll be able move along and that the city will grant us permission to create a nice little inn here, but we’ll just have to take it one day at time.”

“Bravo!” said Jane.

“Here, here!” added Louise.

“Well.” Aunt Ethel stood up. “Thank you for the tea and cheesecake, Jane. It’s getting late. I should be turning in.”

“Goodnight, Aunt Ethel,” they called after her.

The next afternoon, at two o’clock, Alice said a special prayer for Jane and Louise as she replaced old Mrs. Anderson’s IV fluid. The elderly woman was sleeping soundly now, a result of her pain medication. She had tripped over a hose in her front yard and broken her hip just a few days ago. A broken hip was bad news for anyone, but particularly troublesome to someone in Mrs. Anderson’s age bracket. It seemed that more often than not, an elderly person rarely made it out of hospital care after suffering this particular injury. She hoped that dear Mrs. Anderson would fare better. So as soon as she finished praying for her sisters, she gently laid her hand on Mrs. Anderson’s arm and prayed for the little white-haired woman. “Dear heavenly Father, please help Mrs. Anderson to heal quickly and completely. Please protect her from any further complications. And as she’s healing, I pray that You would comfort and encourage her, and remind her of how much You love her. Amen.”

Alice felt more tired than usual when she parked her car in the driveway by the carriage house. Maybe her sisters were right, maybe she should seriously consider cutting back her hours now. Many nurses began looking into retirement at her age, but Alice had envisioned herself continuing full-time nursing for at least another decade. Had she been unrealistic? She headed up the walk and
then stopped and looked up. She noticed that the leaves were turning color now. Their maple tree had various shades of gold and orange and russet illuminated by the late afternoon sun. This colorful sight alone was enough to invigorate her.

“Alice!” called Jane from the porch. “Good news.”

Alice hurried up the steps. “Oh, Jane, did you see the fall colors starting to come on?”

Jane nodded. “Yes, isn’t it glorious! Father always loved this time of year. It makes me want to get out my easel.”

“You should do that, Jane.”

“Is that Alice?” called Louise from the doorway.

“Yes, we’re coming inside now,” yelled Jane as she nearly pulled Alice into the house.

“Did you tell her?” asked Louise.