Mama Rossi
Tuesday Morning, October 20th, 2014
“Hi Chloe; Dale Walters from Dale’s Curios. That dry sink is ready to go, finally. I apologize for it taking a little longer than I expected but it’s done now and you can come and pick it up any time. We’re open until 5:00 today. Thanks. We look forward to seeing you.”
In all the hubbub over Terry’s death and his funeral and such, I’d completely forgotten about the dry sink. It hadn’t even occurred to me that it was supposed to have been ready on Friday.
I looked outside and saw that Mel’s truck was in the driveway. She must have driven Dana’s car to work...
“Dana?” I called out from the doorway between the kitchen and the future sitting room, then waited for a response.
“Yes mama,” she answered from somewhere upstairs. I heard footsteps moving toward the top of the steps and then down until she made the turn and stood on the landing where she could see me.
“Sorry to pull you away from whatever you’re working on but, while I was running Little Lady out the guy from a shop just up the road called my cell and left me a message. He has a piece of furniture I ordered for the house ready for pickup. Can you drive Mel’s truck?”
“Yeah, sure I can drive the truck but how big a piece of furniture are we talking about here? Do we need to take muscle with us?”
“They can help us load it there. It’s not too big but it might be heavy for you and I to unload. We might want to wait till later for that.”
Ten minutes later, we were pulling into the dusty, rutted little lot at Dale’s shop. The look on Dana’s face was completely skeptical.
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” I told her. “Trust me.”
We wandered inside. The dry sink was sitting near the register area with a little, hand-lettered ‘sold’ sign on it. It looked great.
“This is what we’re here for,” I told my daughter as I ran a hand lovingly across the smooth top. It’s called a dry sink. I thought it would look really nice in the kitchen in that empty corner, under the window.”
Dale appeared from the back while Dana looked it over. She was all smiles as she finished her inspection. “It’s very nice. I think you’ve hit a home run with this one Mama. It will look perfect in that corner.”
Dale introduced himself to Dana while I silently patted myself on the back. I whipped out my bank card to pay the tab but Dana was hearing none of it. She paid for it herself after throwing on another $50 over Dingy’s original quote because she felt, as I did, that the piece and the work he put into it were worth more than what Faye had practically browbeaten out of the man.
Dana helped Dale wrestle the sink onto a dolly then, while she went out to back Mel’s truck up to the loading dock, he and I tried to maneuver it through his jam packed store to the stockroom.
“Whatever made you bring that all the way out into the shop?” I asked him, already frustrated with the effort.
His reply was sheepish, “I actually worked on it out here the night before last because I couldn’t get it back into the back with all the other projects I had to clear out late last week. The wife’s getting a little annoyed with all my mess, you see.”
I can definitely see why... To Dingy, I just nodded.
As we worked the sink through the door into the back area, Dale surprised me with his question, “Was that you and Faye I saw yesterday out the road near the turn off for Knox’s pond?”
“Yesterday? It could have been us out running around. Why do you ask?” My hackles rose but I did my best to keep them in check and to not sound too curious at the same time.
“Oh, I was just out there making a delivery...you know, out that way, and I thought it odd that you ladies were way out there too, is all.”
“I think it odd that you make deliveries and you neglected to tell me that.” I gave him a stern look.
“I wasn’t doing a uh, a shop delivery, see. It was, uh, a personal trip for a, uh friend.” He licked his lips nervously and his eyes darted about, trying to focus anywhere else but on me.
Pam appeared through another door and greeted me. With her present, Dale abruptly stopped talking and started shifting the dry sink toward the loading ramp and the waiting pickup.
“You should have told me we have customers Dale.”
He peered back over his shoulder at his wife, his cheeks tinged red. “It’s no big deal. It’s just a pick-up...already paid for.”
On our way back to the house, Dana remarked, “You really have quite an eye Mama.”
It made me happy to hear her say that and I blushed a little but I tried to be modest, “Thank you sweetie. I try.”
“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something...run it by you.”
“What’s that dear?”
“You can say no and there’ll be no hard feelings...”
“How can I say no when I don’t even know what we’re talking about?”
“I’m getting to that!” She shot me an exasperated look. “I’m just trying to figure out how to ask.”
“Do you need something Dana?”
“No mama, it’s not for me. It’s for a friend of ours. Do you remember Barb, the woman who catered some of the food for the wedding reception?”
“Yes, Mel’s old friend, right?”
“Right. Well, she’s decided to buy a house in the area and move back here to stay. She’s been moving around the country for a while but this is where she’s from.”
“And she wants my help for something?”
“She told Mel and me that she has some furniture from a house she had before but that it’s not a fit for the style of this house. Wait; I’ll show you.”
Dana took a right on a side street a couple of short blocks up from her own house and pulled into the driveway of a home set back off the road a little ways but still plainly visible. “This will be Barb’s new place.”
“Wow! Very nice. Kind of a colonial style outside. What’s it like inside?”
Dana shrugged. “I have no idea. She’s buying it from one of the big shot oil guys around here and I hear it told he’s into the rustic look but, this was never actually his home. It may be completely empty, even.”
“What you’re telling me is Barb wants help decorating?”
“Yes. Would you be interested; once you’re done with our place, that is?”
“I do enjoy it, don’t get me wrong but...well, I feel like I should get back to your father soon. The get-away has been wonderful but he’s been left to fend for himself and then there’s my nail clients, and your brothers, and my granddaughter...”
“Mama, it’s okay. Just a thought, okay? Maybe, if you are actually interested, you could help out part time, sort of consult with her and come up every other weekend or something. She’s not in a big rush or anything.”
“That’s a thought. I would enjoy it Dana.” I was quiet for several long seconds as Dana reversed out of Barb’s driveway and headed back up the street toward the village’s main road. Realizing I should probably say something, I asked, “When does she need an answer?”
Dana glanced at me and then back at the road. “There’s a little time. She’s waiting to close on it. It’s a private sale...just waiting for the lawyers to do their thing...could take a couple of weeks.”
“Well then, that puts us into November. Is she really going to want to decorate over the winter? That could get ugly around here.”
“Good question...I don’t know.”
“Maybe I should just talk to her. Feel her out on the whole thing.” Dana kept her eyes on the road but I could see her smirk plain as day.
It was early so Kris hadn’t headed into work for the afternoon shift at the gas station yet. While Dana went to round her up to help us get the dry sink into the house, I gave Faye a quick call.
In a rush, I told her I only had a minute and I relayed what Dale had told me about being out making a delivery. Faye listened without comment.
When I finished and she’d still said nothing, I asked, “Do you think he might have something to do with Terry’s death after all? I mean, would he really push him in the drink, all over a deer or even over the poker stuff he told us about?”
“It’s doubtful dear. Dingy is capable of a little anger but I don’t think he’d ever be physically violent with another human being.”
“Well what could he be hiding then?”
“I’d think it’s obvious; he’s having an affair. Terry Ford wasn’t the only cheater in town, you know.”