The Long Way Home (43 page)

“Well, then, I’d love for you to keep me company,” Violet said. “Are you in town for the weekend? Jesse hadn’t mentioned you were coming.”

“I just decided the other day. And I’m here for the week. It’s been so long since I’ve had time to visit Jesse,
and with his wedding coming up, this might be one of my last chances to spend time with him.”

“It’s nice that you’re so close, dear. I’m sure he’s delighted to have you visit. Just don’t let him put you to work unless he puts you on the payroll. That poor boy is working his behind off, now that your uncle Mike has left the firm and turned over all his files. It’s too much for one person to handle.”

“Is there really that much work here?”

“Oh, yes. Enright and Enright handles legal matters for most of the town, has for years. Now that Curtis and Mike have retired, it’s all falling on Jesse. I keep telling him maybe he should advertise for another lawyer, but he’s reluctant to do that.”

Sophie walked along in silence. Her brother wouldn’t bring in someone unknown to the firm because it would no longer be Enright & Enright. She was beginning to feel the weight of his offer with each step she took. It wasn’t something she wanted to think about right now.

On a whim, she said, “Violet, do you know who owns that boarded-up restaurant over on River Road?”

“Yes, of course. It belongs to Enid Walsh, poor soul.”

“Why ‘poor soul’?”

“Enid’s family has owned that restaurant for more years than I can remember. It may not look like much now, but in its day, it was quite nice. Her father, Albert, died when Enid and her twin brother, Leon, were toddlers. They worked in that place alongside Ida, their mother, from the time they were able to stand till Ida passed about eight years ago. Then Enid and Leon ran the place—ran it into the ground some might say, but I try not to judge. When Leon died two years ago, Enid boarded up the place and hasn’t set foot in it since. I hear she’s had offers to sell it, but so far hasn’t been willing to let it go. Don’t know why she’s holding on to it. I
saw her at church a couple of weeks ago and if you ask me, she isn’t long for this world, either.”

“Maybe she just hasn’t gotten the right offer,” Sophie said.

“What are you thinking, child?” Violet slowed her already snail-like pace.

Sophie shrugged. “It just looks like a place that could be really special in the right hands, that’s all.”

“Any particular hands?”

“Well, mine, maybe.”

They walked in silence for an entire block. When they arrived at Violet’s corner, they paused.

“I had an aunt and uncle who owned a restaurant up in Chestertown,” Violet said. “It’s terribly hard work.”

“It is a tough way to make a living,” Sophie replied. “I spent seven summers working in a diner. It was hard, but I loved it.”

Sophie started down the street and Violet fell in step until they reached her house, the third from the corner. It was a handsome American foursquare that sat back a bit from the street and was shaded by an enormous red oak in the middle of the front lawn.

“I should call Enid and see if she needs a ride to church in the morning,” Violet said somewhat absently as she searched in her bag for her house keys. “She hasn’t been getting around too well lately.”

“If you do see her, would you ask her if she’s interested in selling the place?” Sophie tried to sound nonchalant but could tell by the look on Violet’s face that she wasn’t fooling anyone.

“I’ll try to remember to do that.”

“I’d appreciate it. I’d even be happy if she just let me have a key to wander around inside a bit.”

“Oh, we have the key.” Violet pushed open her front door.

“We? Who’s we?”

“We at the office. Curtis—your grandfather, that is—handled all the legal work for the Walsh family. Enid gave us a key so that Mike could keep an eye on the place.”

“So Uncle Mike has the key?”

Violet shook her head. “No, no. Mike brought all the files back to the office. Jesse has the key.…”