Alice decided to wait until after Christmas to do something about Florence and Clara’s misguided and misinformed little gossip session. She figured a couple of days would prove a good cooling off period for her. But she knew she couldn’t ignore this problem for too long. She had seen too many other incidents where serious damage had been inflicted when thoughtless gossip had spread like wildfire. And Alice had no desire to confront those two busybodies herself. Despite two days to cool off, she wasn’t sure that she could control her temper when it came to someone slandering her beloved father. So on the day after Christmas, Alice walked over to Aunt Ethel’s little carriage house and knocked on the door.
“Good morning, Alice,” said Aunt Ethel in a cheery voice. “You’re just in time for tea.”
“Thank you,” said Alice. “That would be nice.”
After they had sat at Aunt Ethel’s kitchen table and visited for a bit, Alice broached the subject. “Aunt Ethel, I have a problem,” she began.
Her aunt frowned and leaned forward with keen interest. “What is it, dear? Are those two sisters of yours fighting again?”
Alice shook her head. “No, it’s nothing like that. In fact, we had the best evening playing Scrabble with Cynthia last night. Naturally, Louise won.”
“That Louise. She always manages to come up with some obscure word with a Z that she plants right over the triple word score.”
“Yes, that’s about how it went.”
Aunt Ethel refilled Alice’s cup. “But, tell me, Alice, what is troubling you?”
“Well, I accidentally overheard a conversation on Christmas Eve.”
Aunt Ethel’s eyes grew bright. “Accidentally?”
Alice sighed. “I really wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. I was simply cleaning up in the kitchen and I heard Florence Simpson and Clara Horn talking in the dining room. I was about to go in and say something, but their conversation had already gone too far for me to make a graceful interruption.”
Aunt Ethel nodded, eager to hear more. “What were they talking about?”
“It seems that they’ve gotten the crazy idea that Father may have, well, embezzled money from the church.”
Aunt Ethel’s teacup clanged against the saucer. “What on earth?”
“I know. It sounds terrible saying it out loud. But apparently they’re suspicious about the renovations we’ve been doing in the house. They assumed that none of us would have enough money to do these repairs and improvements, and that perhaps Father had squirreled away some church funds that we are currently squandering.”
“Good night alive!” Aunt Ethel blew air through her nostrils. “Of all the idiotic things to say!”
Alice nodded. “I know. Even though it’s totally ridiculous, I just hate the idea of them spreading a vicious rumor like that—”
“Well, certainly! It’s absolute nonsense.”
“But I wasn’t quite sure what to do. I was worried that I might lose my temper with them and only make matters worse. Then I remembered that they’re friends of yours and I hoped maybe you could talk some sense into them.”
“Well, I most definitely will.”
“Without upsetting them?”
“Humph. I think they need to be upset a bit. The nerve of those two! Spreading such complete poppycock about our dear Daniel!”
“I thought about how Father would handle something like this … and then I remembered how he would often bring in a third party to settle a dispute. That’s why I thought of you.”
Aunt Ethel smiled and patted her hand. “You did exactly the right thing. Now, don’t worry, dear, I won’t go getting them all riled up either. I’ll simply set the record straight with them. Perhaps Lloyd would like to join me. We could invite the two of them to meet us at the Coffee Shop—a public place is always the best place for something as potentially volatile as this.” Aunt Ethel stood and patted her hair. “If you’ll excuse me, I should probably get right on this before it gets any further out of hand.”
“Thanks, Aunt Ethel.” Alice smiled with relief. “I thought you’d know what to do.”
“Of course, dear, this is right up my alley.”
Alice knew that was true. Aunt Ethel was an expert when it came to gossip and rumors. Even though she never intended to inflict hurt, it might prove a good reminder to her of how easily these things can get out of hand.
Aunt Ethel chuckled as she reached for her coat and purse. “You know me, Alice, I’ve always enjoyed a juicy piece of gossip as much as anyone, but only when it’s the truth. I do not approve—and never have approved—of out and out falsehoods.”
Alice wanted to ask her aunt how she was able to discern the difference, but decided not to go there today. “Good luck,” she said as she went out the door. “And remember to season your words with grace.”
Aunt Ethel waved. “Yes, of course, dear.”
Alice said a quick prayer for Aunt Ethel as she headed back home. She had decided not to trouble her sisters with this little predicament during the holidays and felt no need to make them feel bad now. She hoped that Aunt Ethel would nip it in the bud before the day was even over.
“Hey,” called Jane as Alice came in the backdoor. “I thought we could work on the Sunrise Room today.”
“I’d love to,” said Alice.
“Well, I promised Cynthia we’d give her a lesson on faux painting.” Jane lowered her voice. “And this way we get some free help too. Who knows, we might even get the painting completed today.”
So Jane and Alice and Cynthia spent most of their day happily spreading and wiping layers of pale blue paint on the walls. The floors were already a pickled finish, giving the room a light and airy feel. Alice wanted the room to feel cheerful. Some weeks ago, she had ordered a pretty patchwork quilt from a catalog—a pinwheel pattern in shades of cornflower blue, sunny yellow and a creamy white. They had used this quilt as a guideline for picking paint colors as well as the accessory fabrics that would be used for pillows, curtains and a dust ruffle.
“This room feels happy,” said Cynthia after they finished the first wall. “Maybe you’ll have a guest who needs to be cheered up and you can put her or him in here.”
“Perhaps we should try to define the personalities of the rooms to match the varying needs of our guests,” said Alice as she held up a paintbrush.
“The Sunset Room is definitely a very artsy and imaginative room,” said Cynthia. “Just staying there makes you want to be more creative.”
“That’s good,” said Jane. “We’ll have to remember to write these things down before we forget them.”
“Did I hear someone say we need to write things down?” called Louise as she came down the hallway. Then she stuck her head in the bedroom. “Oh, my, girls, that looks lovely.”
Cynthia explained their idea to her mother. “Maybe you could put all this in your brochure,” she suggested.
“Yes.” Louise nodded. “I’ve been making some notes for these things, and a brief description of the guest rooms would be a nice addition.”
“And you’ll need a website too,” suggested Cynthia as she attempted to remove a blue splotch from the tip of Jane’s nose.
“Great idea,” said Jane. “I bought the software for creating my own website last year. I wouldn’t mind giving it a shot.”
“I wonder how I would describe my Symphony Room,” said Louise.
“Think about how a symphony makes you feel,” suggested Jane as she carefully blotted the narrow wall space between the windows, artistically twisting her rag from left to right.
“Inspired,” said Louise.
“Then it should look like an inspiring room,” said Cynthia.
Louise frowned. “Well, I hope I picked out the right sort of wallpaper for it then.”
“Was that the paper with the rows of climbing roses?” asked Cynthia.
“Yes. Do you think it will feel inspiring at all?”
The bedroom got quiet. “I think so,” said Alice after a bit.
“How?” asked Louise with a frown.
Alice paused to refill her brush with paint. “Well, the roses are climbing upward, right?”
“Yes,” said Louise. “They are.”
“So it sort of inspires you to look up.”
“That’s right,” said Louise. “I think it will be quite uplifting.”
“There you go,” said Jane.
Louise went back out into the hallway, and then paused. “But what about Mother’s room, Jane? You seem to be keeping your plans for it a secret.”
“Yes, Jane,” urged Alice. “Don’t keep us in suspense.”
“Okay.” Jane set down her rag and stood up straight. “Naturally, I think that Mother’s room will be very gardenlike, with varying shades of green. Very serene and peaceful.”
“Peaceful.” Louise nodded. “That sounds like Mother.”
“Yes,” agreed Alice. “I remember how she could make my troubles melt away just by holding me in her arms and stroking my hair.”
“That’s right,” said Louise. “She could simply walk into a room and an air of peace and dignity seemed to accompany her.”
Jane sighed sadly. “I wish I had known her.”
Alice went over and put an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry, Jane, you already do.”
“I do?”
Alice smiled. “Yes. There is so much of Mother in you, Jane. Of the three of us, you look the most like her.”
“Really? You think so?”
“Oh, everyone knows that, Jane,” said Louise in a slightly impatient tone. “Father always said you looked just like Mother. And you’ve seen the photos.”
“I guess I just didn’t really notice.”
“So, if you’re ever missing Mother, just take a look in the mirror,” said Alice. “You’ll get a little peek of her in there.”
“All right.” Jane straightened her shoulders. “I guess we should get back to work, crew. That is unless we want to be here all night.”
“I thought I could fix dinner tonight,” offered Louise. “After all the fancy Christmas food we’ve been eating, I’ve been hankering after some of my corn chowder.”
“Sounds good,” said Jane as she winked at Alice.
“Sounds good?” repeated Cynthia after her mother was well out of earshot. “Have you guys ever tasted that stuff?”
Alice laughed. “Oh, you’d be surprised, Cynthia. I’m sure it’s not nearly as bad as you remember.”