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Rousing herself from her reverie, Mrs. Sullivan asked, “Would you two like a bite to eat? I have some ham left and could make up a couple of sandwiches. You must be getting hungry, and I haven’t had any supper either.”
“I’m sure the tow truck will be along soon," Maggie said.
“Well, it will still take him time when he does get here."
"Maybe we'd have just a sandwich, and some more of your delicious iced tea, if you don’t mind?” Josh added.
Mrs. Sullivan took her bowl of green beans and the empty pitcher into the kitchen. The dogs followed close at her heels. She put the beans in the refrigerator and took a cold jug of tea out, poured it into the pitcher and added some fresh ice. She turned to the refrigerator and took out the plate of ham. A loaf of bread sat on top, and she took that down as well. In a matter of minutes, ham sandwiches and pickle spears were piled on two plates. She grabbed the pitcher and carried them out to her guests.
"We didn't mean to make such work for you, Mrs. Sullivan," Josh said as he took the plates from her.
“I'm just sorry you have to wait like this,” she said as she filled and passed the glasses of tea.
Inside the phone rang and Katy hurried to answer it. When she returned, she was smiling.
“That was Barry,” she said. “He is on the other call, but he’ll get to yours as soon as he can.
“We really can’t thank you enough,” said Josh.
“It is no problem. I love having visitors. One of the reasons I enjoy selling the honey is that we meet some really interesting people, and I like it when it’s a family with kids. Our own are grown and busy, although they check in from time to time. Now my grandson, Travis, he comes by a lot. He likes bees and takes care of them for us.
They shared the ham sandwiches and were savoring another glass of tea.
"May I use your bathroom?" Maggie asked.
"Of course, dear. It's just off the kitchen, to the left. Maggie set her glass down and left.
"Your Maggie has an eye for antiques, I suspect." She said to Josh.
"Oh yes. She was thrilled when she read that Arcadia had so many shops. It's something like 20, I believe."
"Back at the turn of the century - the 20th, not the last one - there was an awful fire. Jesse's parents remembered it. They said it destroyed just about the whole town. How tragic."
"I can't imagine."
"It happened on Thanksgiving day, too. I heard the accident had to do with the phosphate that was mined and shipped from there at the time."
"Any fire is awful, but they didn't have the equipment to put fires out back then like they do now," Josh added.
"A town the size of Arcadia at that time would still be using horse-drawn wagons."
Josh chuckled. "Maybe horse-drawn wagons weren't so bad. If Maggie and I had been driving one today, we wouldn't have had the accident, and we'd be home by now."
"I'm not so sure about that. Remember, the pace of life was much slower then. How fast could they go and how far?"
Josh chuckled again. "You're probably right, Mrs. Sullivan."
The sound of the phone ringing interrupted him.
“I’ll just see who that is,” Mrs. Sullivan said, getting up from the rocker. Carefully dodging the dogs, she left to answer the phone. She passed Maggie at the door.
“You know, I don’t mind waiting for the tow truck to get our car out of the ditch,” Josh said. “I’m really enjoying her.”
“Me too,” Maggie replied.
“I do wish we had our cell phones, though. How did people ever get along without them?" "You can say that again." She grinned, and added, her tone just above a whisper. "This is a little like it must have been back in the old days, maybe the 50s and 60s. She has all these mid-century modern pieces, and this house, and that shell drive. It's right out of American history!"
“Could be,” Josh said and laughed too.
The screen door squeaked, and Mrs. Sullivan came out the door.
“It’s for you Josh,” she said. “It’s your folks. They got your message and would like to talk with you.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Sullivan,” said Josh as he rose from his chair.
"We’re so sorry to impose on you like this.” Maggie was most sincere. “You must have things to do.”
“Nonsense, this is a treat for me. I'm just waiting for Jesse to come home. I wish you could meet our grandson Travis. He's a little older than you, I imagine." Mrs. Sullivan took her chair and began rocking again. “Travis loves the bees. He went to college and learned how to take care of them like his grandpa. He’s such a good boy. We’re going to leave the farm to him one day. We know he’ll take good care of it.”
The screen door squeaking announced Josh's return. "Dad offered to come to get us, but I thought we’d better wait and see what Barry says after he looks at the car. If it isn't too bad, we might be able to drive back to Sarasota. I told him I’d call later and let him know what’s happening.”
“Don’t you worry,” Mrs. Sullivan assured them. “Things have a way of working out for the best, even if they don’t seem like it at the time. There's no rush, and besides, I like your company."
“Tell us some more of your story, please?” Maggie asked.
Mrs. Sullivan continued rocking as her mind trailed off to a chicken dinner a long time ago.
