After Nick had dropped her off at her house, she decided to get a little more sleep. When she awoke, she lay in bed gazing at the sparkling diamond on her left hand ring finger. I’m so lucky to have found the man of my dreams.
Smiling, she tossed off the covers and swung her legs out of the bed. She stepped right into her slippers and put on her yellow terrycloth robe. After a liberating stretch, she shuffled down the stairs to the kitchen and turned on the coffeemaker. While waiting, she made her way to the patio window. With a quick pull, she opened the drape to view an unexpected sight. The forecasted “dusting of snow” had turned into a promising snowstorm—a white blanket covered the landscape.
This weather would set off a few inconveniences for the restaurant. Fortunately, she had the day off. She took a few minutes to marvel at the beauty of the scene and let her thoughts drift back to her childhood days. The vivid recollection of her and Poppy out in the yard building a snowman or snow fort or having a playful snowball fight made her lips curl at the corners of her mouth. “Those were wonderful times,” she whispered.
Then, as if orchestrated, a family of deer pranced across the back edge of her property line on the way to the large wooded area that separated her land from Ponderosa Estates. She watched them until they had disappeared among the trees. Her thoughts turned to her grandfather and the many timed they had watched the wildlife trek across their property.
I feel your presence, Poppy.
Before turning toward the kitchen and the aromatic brewing coffee wafting through the house, she studied her ring. His mother was right. A Tiffany solitaire diamond said it all. How lucky was she to be coming into this family, the right family.
You knew, Poppy. You knew from the minute I met Nick at the hospital that he was the one. How? I’ll never know or be able to explain. I hope you can see how happy I am.
Amanda poured that first cup of the day and sat to listen to CNN. When she had finished watching the world news, she showered, dabbed on a little makeup, brushed her hair up into a pony tail, dressed in jeans and sweatshirt then proceeded to Poppy’s home office, one he referred to as the Work Zone. Her task for the day, while waiting for Nick, was to go through his files and clean out his desk.
“This is not going to be easy, but I’m going to take the plunge and get it done.”
With a hot cup of coffee in hand, she entered the Work Zone. Starting with the filing cabinet, she plunged into what she thought would be a challenge. But to Poppy’s credit, she discovered he had kept an easy-to-follow, accurate system, all folders labeled and filed in an understandable fashion.
She removed the outdated and unnecessary ones and tossed them into a box ready for disposal on trash pickup day. After a few hours of intense sorting, hunger replaced the need to work. She made some raisin toast with peanut butter and honey and poured yet another cup of coffee.
“Just a short break.”
She had no sooner sat down to eat when the doorbell rang. She opened the door to find Charles standing there in full snowstorm garb and carrying a shovel. She smiled, thinking he looked like one of the neighborhood kids who usually came around to shovel the snow.
“Good morning, Amanda.” He rested his shovel against the porch railing.
“Charlie! What are you doing out here on this fine blizzardy day?” She motioned him into the house.
“Just cleared a path for you.” He removed his hat and gloves and shook the snow off his boots before stepping inside the house.
“Thanks. How about a cup of coffee?”
He nodded and hung the jacket on the hall tree. “I came by to see if you have electricity. That offer of coffee indicates you do.”
“Everything’s fine. Why? Problems?”
He followed her into the kitchen. “I’ll say. Most of Crestview Village is without power. Seems a few lines snapped with this wet heavy snow. Looks like it’ll take a few hours before they get it fixed and before I can open the restaurant.”
“Cell phone, Charlie. Then you wouldn’t have had to drive all the way out here.”
He shrugged. “Didn’t think of that. But it’s just as well. I wanted to check on you and Sarah, make sure you lovely ladies weren’t stranded.”
“All is well, as you can see.”
“After I warm up, I’ll head back to the restaurant. So if you need anything, give me a call. I’ll be available.”
“That’s very reassuring.”
They discussed restaurant business for a few moments than Charles asked, “How was Thanksgiving at Nick’s sister’s?”
“Actually, Charlie, it turned out to be better than I could have ever imagined.”
His eyes widened. “Now that sounds interesting. Fill me in.”
She placed her right hand behind her back and crossed her fingers then extended her left hand and shouted, “Nick and I got engaged.”
Charles’ eyes fixed on the ring. “To be married?”
“Yes, silly. Of course to be married.”
A few seconds of silence followed before he looked at her. “It’s a beauty. He does have good taste.”
She smiled.
“Are you sure about this, Mandy?”
“Never been surer about anything.”
More silence.
“Then congratulations.” He kissed her cheek. “You have my approval, and I truly hope you and Nick will be happy.”
“Thanks, Charlie. Are you just saying that, or do you mean it?”
“Sweetheart, I want nothing more than for you to be happy. Believe me. And if this does it, then yes, I wholeheartedly mean it.”
She sighed. “Charlie, it’s important to me that you understand and support my decision.”
“Of course I do.” He straightened. “After all, Mandy, we are family. Remember?”
“Yes, that’s just it. We are, Charlie. Family.” Her thoughts took her away for an instant.
Charles took her hands in his. “I can hear you wishing Pete were here.”
How right he is.
“Remember, I promised him I’d take care of you, and I will.”
“I know you and Poppy were extremely close, and I do appreciate you want to watch over me, but there’s nothing to worry about here. Nothing.”
He smiled at her. “Okay. You’re right. But you know how I am.”
She nodded. “Yes, Charlie. I know you’re a combination of a mother hen and big brother.” She picked up her coffee cup and raised it high. He followed suit with his. “I think it’s time you take care of you and Sarah, and leave me and Nick to take care of us.”
They clinked cups, symbolizing their unspoken pact.
After visiting for a while, Charles excused himself. “Call if you need anything. Since I’m usually a short jaunt through the woods—” he motioned out her patio door, “—at Sarah’s, I can be here in no time.”
He gave her another congratulatory hug and kiss then headed toward the door. “Guess this means Nick and I will be family, too.” He laughed and added, “What is this world coming to?”
“Deal with it, Charlie. It’s a long time proposition.”
Amanda watched the steam from his SUV exhaust disappear down the driveway and out of sight, then she headed back to the office to finish her clean out project.
Back at Poppy’s desk, she shuffled through the large middle drawer and found two contracts she didn’t know about and several stock and bond certificates. She set them aside, making note that she’d have to call Uncle Jack about these. Next came the three side drawers.
The top drawer contained odds and ends, office supplies and stationary products. The middle one held a checkbook, folders with bank and stock statements and two large unsealed envelopes with a hand written identification. The first envelope Amanda opened read SAVE-IMPORTANT revealed family photos—ones that included her with her parents, her with both grandparents, Charles, one of Uncle Jack standing with two others whom she thought were related, father and young son. She turned the photo over and read: Jack, Big Phil, and Little Phil. Continuing on, she found several scraps of paper with scribbled notes on them:
1. Jack Haliway. gambling project – 2/3 yrs down the road.
2. Silent Partners – deal of lifetime
3. Family money & Govt. Connections
4. Ponderosa Estates & Crestview Village buy-out: see proposal - Harbor Development Corp.
She remembered seeing this the same company up in the Black Hawk area a while back and wondered how Poppy was connected with them.
5. Investigating – Charles???
None of this made sense, but she made a mental note to add this to the “talk-with-Uncle Jack-list.”
The second envelope marked CHARLES WHARLEY aroused her curiosity. When she opened this one, she found an undated, unsigned copy of a partnership contract offering Charles fifty percent ownership in Italian Farmhouse. She noted it had been drawn up by Jack Haliway’s firm.
Wonder why Uncle Jack had told her Poppy had never got around to doing this, when it was right here. All he’d said was that they’d discussed it. I guess he just forgot. It didn’t matter now because it was totally up to her which way this would turn out. However, it was strange. Kind of a mystery.
I think I’ll let Nick look over all these papers. Maybe he could make some sense out of all this stuff and solve her mystery before she’d have to go and bother Uncle Jack.
The bottom drawer contained an alphabetical file folder with a variety of papers—birth, death and marriage certificates, car titles, and insurance policies. She perused further and found family medical records, school report cards and diplomas, and a large hodgepodge of years of miscellaneous paperwork.
Amanda decided she had reached overload and would sort through these files another day. She needed time to digest all these documents and discoveries and try to make sense out of them.