Nicole put the phone down and tried to control her beating heart. She couldn’t believe someone was trying to frighten a sweet little lady like Lita Mancini. It was hard to imagine her having an enemy in the world, but somebody certainly had it in for her.
Now Nicole was faced with another dilemma. Should she tell Lita about the phone call? Why should I? Why upset her when there was no answer as to who is creating this nightmare? She decided to be as calm and act as natural as she could.
“Lita,” she called, hoping her voice wasn’t shaking.
“Yes, Dear?”
“I’m going to my room to wash up for dinner. I’ll be back down in a few minutes.”
“That’s fine. I’m putting the rolls in.” The oven door opened. “By the way, who was it on the phone?”
“Just one of those irritating sales calls,” she lied. “I got rid of them.”
“Okay. Don’t be long.”
In a matter of minutes, Nicole reappeared in the kitchen.
With the fish, Lita had prepared a garden salad, oven roasted potatoes, and yeast rolls. For dessert, she’d made a coconut pie.
“I’ll gain ten pounds this week if I keep eating this way,” Nicole tried to keep her voice light.
“Maybe we should take a walk after dinner.”
“The problem is I don’t think I’m able to walk.” There was no way she was going to allow her landlady to leave the house after that phone call. Instead she challenged Lita to a game of gin. They played until almost nine and only stopped because one of Lita’s favorite television programs was scheduled to come on. Nicole excused herself and went upstairs to take a bath and relax in the tub for a while
* * * *
The next morning she dressed in her green pants suit and the multi-colored blouse. She had breakfast with Lita then headed toward her new job feeling good. She had hardly thought of the fact she didn’t know who she was or where she belonged. In fact, she was beginning to feel a little like where she was at the moment was the right place for her.
The same lady was working on the same bed of pansies around her red maple tree as Nicole walked passed. She assumed this garden was one of her prized possessions.
“Good morning.”
The woman looked up and smiled. “And a good morning to you,” she said getting to her feet and heading toward Nicole. “Are you new in the neighborhood?”
“Yes. I’m staying with Lita Mancini.”
“Lita told me she had a new boarder.” She eyed Nicole. “Lita and I are good friends. We play bridge together on Wednesdays. I’m Dora Hildebrand.”
“How do you do, Ms. Hildebrand? I’m Nicole Lynch.”
“I’m delighted to meet you, Nicole. Do you take a walk every morning?”
“Actually, I’m on my way to work at Cottingham Insurance Agency.”
“Oh yes. I know the place. I have my insurance with them. Martin Cottingham and my husband were good friends.”
Nicole smiled.
“Well, I won’t keep you, my dear,” Dora continued. “I just wanted to introduce myself. I don’t want to make you late for work.”
“It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Hildebrand. Maybe we can talk more at another time.”
“That’d be nice.”
Nicole hurried down the street. She knew it wouldn’t look good to be late on her first real day at work.
A tall, stately, gray-haired gentleman who made her think of Sean Connery was unlocking the door to the office as Nicole came up the walk. She almost knew it had to be Martin Cottingham. “Can I help you, young lady?” he asked.
“I’m Nicole Lynch. I started to work here yesterday,” she said as politely as she could.
“Well, well.” He stood back and looked at her. “So, the boys finally broke down and hired a real person?”
Nicole smiled. “Actually it was Connor. He said his brother was in Atlanta on business.”
“Leave it to Connor. He usually makes a good decision whenever he gets the guts to make one.” He held the door open for her. “Sometimes I question him when I shouldn’t because most of the time his decisions come out right in the end. You look like you could be one of his good ones.”
Before Nicole could answer he added, “Yep, this time looks like he did a good job. You look like a bright girl. I’m sure you’ll be just the right person for the job, and I’m always a good judge of character.”
She liked the older man instantly. “Thank you, Sir. I look forward to working here.”
He paused at her desk and looked through the mail laying out for him. Nodding every so often, he stuck some of the letters in each son’s file, a few he tossed in the trashcan beside the desk and the ones getting the nods stayed in his hand.
“I’m going to be in my office for a little while. I’m expecting a call from Wayne Norket. If anyone else calls, just take a message.”
“I’ll be happy to.”
He smiled. “See, I knew you’d be good. You didn’t ask what to do with the insistent callers.”
“I’ll handle them.” She smiled. “By the way, I met a friend of yours today.”
“Oh?”
“Mrs. Dora Hildebrand.”
“Good ole Dora. I guess the old girl is still puttering around in that yard of hers.”
“As a matter of fact, she was working in her flowers this morning.”
“Don used to say he never had to worry about another man taking up with Dora, but he had competition from her flowers.”
“She does have a lovely yard.”
“Don and I were golfing buddies. Poor old guy. About five years ago, he dropped dead right on the fourteenth green. He’d made a near perfect shot, too.”
Nicole almost laughed at his last sentence, but didn’t dare. She simply said, “That’s too bad.”
“Yes it was. If you see Dora again soon, tell her I send my regards.”
“I will.”
He headed down the hall to the last office on the right. For a few minutes, she thought about his statement concerning Connor’s decision making. She wondered if he’d had the authority to hire her or was there some doubt in the older Cottingham’s mind? She didn’t think about it long because the phone rang.
It was a typical morning in an office. Mr. Norket called at nine forty-five and Martin Cottingham left a few minutes later, saying he probably wouldn’t be back today. Three people came in to pay their car insurance. She wrote out a receipt from a pad she found on the desk and tucked the cash in a desk drawer. One man came by wanting to know if his homeowner’s policy covered water damage from a leaky pipe. She pulled up a copy of his policy and pointed out the section where water damage was mentioned.
A phone call came in from a man wanting to cover a pontoon boat; one from a lawyer needing a paid receipt for a loan closing; one from a seventeen year old who wanted collision insurance on a sports car, though he had three speeding tickets; and one from a business man who wanted a quote for a second business he was starting. She ranked them in the order she received them with the exception of the teenager. She put it on the bottom because common sense told her a young man with points and a sports car was going to be hard to insure.
At twelve-thirty, neither of the brothers had come into the office. She didn’t know what to do about lunch. She couldn’t leave and lock the door behind her, because she didn’t have a way back in, and she couldn’t leave the place unlocked. Besides, she didn’t have enough money to waste on what a meal would cost. She went into the small break room in the back and made a fresh pot of coffee. It wasn’t her favorite drink at lunch time, but it would be kind of filling. Anyway, Lita had treated her to a big breakfast. She knew she could make it until dinner.
It was a little past four when Connor arrived. She gave him his messages. He put on his glasses to read them and smiled at her. “Did you meet Paul?”
“He didn’t come in, but I met your father. He let me in this morning.”
He thumbed through his mail and messages. “Yeah. I see he’s been here by the letters he put in my stack.”
“He gave your brother some, too.”
“He gives us more and more then he gets mad if one of his clients doesn’t get the royal treatment.”
She could tell from his tone he wasn’t complaining, just explaining why his father pawned off clients on his sons.
“By the way, when did Dad leave?”
“About a little before ten this morning.”
“So did the machine catch any calls while you were at lunch?”
“I didn’t go to lunch.”
“You need to take your lunch hour, Nicole.” He looked over his glasses at her.
She looked away. “Well, actually I thought about it, but I couldn’t leave and lock up. I didn’t have a way back in.”
For a moment he stared at her. “You mean you’ve been here all day with nothing to eat.”
“I had a big breakfast.”
He shook his head. “How thoughtless of me. I’ll be right back.” In a moment, he returned and laid a key on her desk. “This opens the front door. I don’t want you to skip lunch again because one of us hasn’t shown up. That isn’t healthy and besides, I don’t want you to quit because you’re being mistreated.”
“I’m not mistreated, but thank you for the key.” She smiled at him.
He smiled back. “Since you didn’t get out at noon, why don’t you take the rest of the day off? I feel I owe you that.”
“You don’t have to let me off early, Mr. Cottingham.”
“Please call me Connor. We’re on a first name basis around here.” She nodded and he went on, “I want you to go home. I feel guilty for not giving you a key earlier.” He smiled at her again. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
* * * *
As soon as Nicole closed the door behind her Connor shook his head and headed back to his office. He tossed the mail on his desk and plopped into his chair. “What am I trying to do? Run her off?” he asked himself aloud. “I should have come in this morning and handed her a key instead of running those useless errands just to avoid seeing her again.”
He heard the front door open.
“Anybody here?” Martin called as he came down the hall.
“I’m in my office, Dad.”
Martin stuck his head in the door. “I hope you haven’t run the new secretary off. She seems efficient and I’d like to keep her around a while.”
“I hope I haven’t ruined things.”
“What do you mean?”
“I failed to give her a key and she was stuck here all day with nothing to eat. I apologized and sent her home early.”
“I didn’t know that. I let her in this morning, but I never dreamed she didn’t have a key.” He shook his head. “You’ve given her one now, haven’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Maybe she’ll forgive you this time.” He took a breath. “I didn’t intend to return today, but I left something in my office and had to slip back by to pick it up.”
“I see.”
“Connor,” he started then paused.
“Yes, Dad?”
“I don’t know why you did it, but I think you made the right decision hiring the Lynch woman. I think she’s going to be just what this office needs.”
Connor smiled a crooked, almost cynical smile. “I sure hope so.”
* * * *
Lita wasn’t home when Nicole arrived. The garage door was open and Lita’s Cadillac was gone. Nicole figured she’d either gone shopping or on an outing with friends. She went to her room and changed into jeans and a T-shirt, then headed to the kitchen. She made herself a cheese sandwich and drank a glass of milk. It was good though she did dribble some milk down the front of her shirt. She grabbed a paper towel and cleaned herself up.
She was crossing the hall when she heard footsteps on the porch. She stopped and waited for the bell to ring. It didn’t, so she went to the front door and peeped out. There was no one there. This puzzled her. She was tempted to open the door, but didn’t. In a minute, she heard the steps again. This time they seemed to be coming from the side porch.
She eased into the living room and gently pulled back the side of the green velvet drape. Sure enough, she saw the profile of a young man. He was doing something to the side of the house.
As quietly as she could, she went to the front door and opened it. She eased out and almost tiptoed to the corner of the side porch. She peeped around the edge and saw the young man busy with a paintbrush. For a moment she wasn’t sure what to do, but she felt she had to confront him.
“May I ask what you’re doing?” She tried to keep her voice steady as she asked the question.
Startled, he dropped the brush and stared at her.
She repeated her question.
“Just painting the flowers,” he stammered.
“What flowers?”
He pointed to the edge of the house near the porch. “She told me to paint sunflowers.”
Nicole walked to where he pointed and looked. Sure enough, there was the beginning of a neat row of sunflowers painted on the edge of the siding. “Who told you to paint these?”
“My art teacher. She said someone had contracted the art department to have sunflowers painted on the house. She gave me fifty bucks and said she’d give me another fifty when the job was done.”
Somehow she knew Lita had no idea someone was painting flowers of any kind on her home. “I don’t want any more painting on this house,” she said. “In fact, I want what you’ve already done cleaned off. Do you have the materials to do it?”
“Yes but...”
“Then start cleaning.”
“What about my other fifty dollars?”
“You give me your teacher’s name and I’ll see what’s going on. In the meantime, get this off the house before it dries.”
While he removed his artwork, she went back into the house and made a call to his teacher. The art teacher told her a woman had called and asked her to send her best art student to paint sunflowers on the house.
“She told me to give the student fifty dollars to start with and another fifty when the job was done. She sent me the money in the mail. There was no name, no return address, just two fifty dollar bills wrapped in a piece of white paper and mailed in a business size envelope.”
“You can give him the extra fifty if you like, but we don’t want sunflowers or anything else painted on our house.”
“I’m really sorry if we made a mistake.”
“It wasn’t your mistake. It was just a joke which got out of hand.” Nicole hoped this was a true statement.