Weeping Willows

Chapter 9

 Surprise Disasters

                  There was a knocking on Elizabeth’s front door that drew her attention away from the awaiting letter.  Placing the missive back into the box with the others she went to answer her door.  Upon opening it she was surprised to find Jenny, Ryan and a few other people on her front porch.  Once they looked at her the bright smiles faltered and morphed into confusion.

                “Is this a bad time hon?”  Elizabeth looked at Jenny curiously noticing the woman was looking her over as well.  It dawned on her then that she was still a complete mess.  She rushed to assure her everything was all right and gave the small group the cliff notes version of her afternoon for an explanation.  By the time she was done there were chuckles and humorous smiles shared among them causing her to blush in embarrassment.  She also realized that there was no hope of making a good second impression on Ryan as this seemed to be it.  Today was just not her day to impress but, she sure was making quite the impression even if it wasn’t the one she had hoped for.  Jenny came up to her side carrying a bowl in her hands.  In fact, they all had some kind of food item in hand.

                “Ryan pointed out that you may not feel quite comfortable enough to spend a whole day with a bunch of strangers.  So, after talking with everyone it was decided that we were going to have a welcome to town s***h get to know everyone barbecue.”  Jenny swept her free hand out to encompass the small group in a ta-da here we are display.

                “I don’t own a grill.”

                “No worries we have that covered.  BOYS go get it out and start setting up.”  Elizabeth jumped slightly at the booming voice that expelled from the mouth of the small, petite, and very obviously pregnant woman.  Two of the biggest guys in the group jumped to at her command hustling out the door to the back of one of the trucks.  She watched in stunned silence as they hauled a beast of a grill out of the bed and lowered it to the ground.  The little woman approached Elizabeth in a no-nonsense manner she was beginning to associate with her.

                “Don’t you worry your dusty head about a thing, we came prepared.  Now if you’ll show us to the kitchen, we’ll get this thing started.”

                “Oh, yes it’s right this way.”  She led the group into the spacious room rushing to the table to retrieve the small box before something happened to it.

                “I’ll just go put this away and get cleaned up.”

                “No worries we have this handled in here.”  Before she could walk away Ryan moved in her way blocking her exit out of the kitchen.

                “Did I hear you correctly earlier?”  Elizabeth quirked a brow at him waiting for him to continue but it was Jenny that filled in the blanks.

                “Ryan is a curator at the museum the next town over.  He also works with the local branch of the historic society.  You had him at dusty antiques hon.”  Ryan half scowled half smiled at the other woman while turning his attention back to her.

                “Not just the antiques but that you might need help bringing stuff down.  While Dan and Elliot man the grill the rest of us guys could give you a hand.”  He rubbed the back of his head blushing a little at the offer he made which Elizabeth found quite endearing

                “As of right now, all I’ve managed to get through are some boxes of art supplies I wanted to take a look at and some old clothing.  I would appreciate help with at least getting the supplies down.”  A man came up draping a friendly arm across Ryan’s shoulders.  Leaning in towards her he smiled widely at her.

                “Consider it done.  Just lead the way and we’ll follow, my names Clayton by the way.  I believe you met my little brother Tyson when you first got here.”

                “Oh no, do I even want to know what he told you?”  At her words his smile only grew as a mischievous twinkle lit his eyes.  Elizabeth groaned in horror. 

                “And of course, he shared the story of the local artist that needed saving from vermin in her house with all of us.  I’m January, but just call me Jan.  My parents are hippies and didn’t see anything wrong with naming their daughter after a month.  I’m a photographer and if you wouldn’t mind, I’d also like to get a look at the antiques.”  The woman was tall and willowy with sleek shoulder length grey hair.  Her skin was olive in color, and she wore her makeup heavy even though she was dressed in a t-shirt and skinny jeans looking casual.  Her yellow amber eyes were heavily lined in kohl and Elizabeth felt a connection with her right away.  She didn’t know if it was because she reminded her of the girls back home or if, like herself, she was an artist too.

                “Sure, let me just put this away and we can head right up.”  Elizabeth quickly ran to her room placing the container on her nightstand by the bed.  She promised she would read them tonight before bed.  At the very least she wanted to read the first one.  Closing the door behind her she led the merry little trio up to the second-floor hallway.  Stopping near the pile of dust she had yet to clean up she picked the hook up preparing to reopen the attic.  Jan stood staring wide eyed at the mess on the floor.

                “It looks like a dirt bomb went off in here.  No offence.”

                “None taken.  In hindsight I should have waited to clean this level until after I had opened the attic up.”  Jan nodded her head in agreement as Clayton came up and gently took the hook from her.  Ryan stood in front of the two women backing them up slightly in case another round of dirt came down.  The four of them headed up into the attic and Clayton turned on an electric lantern Elizabeth hadn’t seen him carrying.  Setting it on the floor they looked around them.  Elizabeth began showing them what she needed moved and what she had found.

                “These two boxes have the supplies, so I wanted to bring them down along with the easel.”

                “This is incredible.  I honestly feel like a kid in a candy store right now.”

                “I would pick on you if I wasn’t in seventh heaven myself.”

                “I don’t get it.”  At Clayton’s words Jan and Ryan stopped ogling the attic to gawk at their friend.  He just shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to pick up the easel to take down.  Ryan went to help him leaving the two women alone in the room.

                “Would you find it terribly offensive if I asked to go get my camera and take pictures?”

                “Not at all.  I even uncovered a trunk belonging to a WWI solider today you can take some pics of.”

                “Brilliant!  I’ll be right back, don’t let Ryan touch anything without me.”  Laughing Elizabeth waited for them to come back up as she wandered aimlessly looking at trinkets.  Ryan startled her when he moved up behind her running his hand along the spines of the books.  He brushed away dust and cobwebs revealing the faded gold lettering just barely legible after all these years. 

                “Listen, I don’t want to seem like I’m trying to take over your fun here, but I would really like to go through this stuff with you, if it isn’t too inconvenient that is.”  Elizabeth turned her face to him noticing that he was staring at the floor in apprehension.  She sniggered a little making him look up and meet her gaze.

                “Honestly, I wouldn’t mind the help at all. When I talked to my friend Nell today, she thought I should go through and figure out if there was anything I wanted to keep and what I didn’t I should donate.  I wouldn’t have the slightest clue what to give to what organizations and it would be a big help to have someone who did.”

                “Hey!  What about me?  I want to help too.”

                “Perfect!  You could photograph and catalog all the pieces to be donated.”  Jan positively beamed at Ryan’s directive turning to follow Elizabeth to the trunk.

                “You know Lizzy, if you find any valuables that you’re wanting to keep I can take photos of those too, in case you want to insure them.”

                “Sounds like a plan.”  They arranged to start helping her sort the next week.  Jan would have her evenings free after her current project and Ryan could get things set up at his office for the incoming inventory.  With a schedule set up and cursory pictures taken that Jan would forward to Ryan they descended the ladder and closed the attic back up.

                The ground floor was a flurry of activity and noise as everyone moved about cooking, talking, and having a general good time.  Elizabeth entered the kitchen to offer her help but was detoured by Addison, the pregnant drill Sargent, with strict instructions not to come back until she was less of a walking health hazard.  She had been completely railroaded without argument which was how she found herself standing in the bathroom, a new set of clothes and towel in hand.  Snickering to herself she set about to clean herself up as quickly as possible.

                Once she reentered the room, she was squeaky clean and ready to assist.  Unfortunately, everything was done but the grilling.  She had been told that Dan was a professional chef with his own restaurant out in California.  He took cooking of any kind very seriously and wouldn’t allow any one near the grill.  The only reason Elliot was out there with him was for company and to run back and forth for him as he needed things.  So, Elizabeth kicked back with the rest of them to visit and wait.  She learned that Dan had come home for a short visit which was why they were all getting together that weekend before he left again.  Elliot, who was a local handyman, was married to Addison, who was a grade school teacher, and this was their first pregnancy.  Mason was a minister at one of the parishes in town but was pretty open minded when it came to his job.  He had initially gone to school to be an archaeologist and in studying old text had found his true calling.  She found him a great conversationalist and a joy to listen to.

               As she sat there listening, she noticed a rather large package sitting in her living room and Jenny informed her it was delivered while she had been in the shower.  Curiosity got the better of her, so she grabbed a pair of shears and opened it up.  In hindsight after seeing the shipping label on it was from Courtney, she should have known better.  And as she sat there laughing away on the floor the inquisitive onlookers all got up to take a peek of their own.

              Laying inside the massive box, nestled among packing peanuts, were three fully inflated blow up dolls complete with naughty outfits.  Each doll had a cutout face of each of her friends back home glued to it so the photo wouldn’t easily come off.  There was a card taped to the hand of the Courtney doll that Elizabeth took off and read.

            Hey Sweet cheeks,

           So, you thought you were going to spend your birthday alone this year.  Well surprise!  I shipped us to you just so we would all still be together this year.  And here you thought you were getting out of all the birthday bash fun too when you ran away.  It’s like you don’t know me at all.  Hope we brought a smile to your face at least.

          Love ya and all that,

         The evil elf

         p.s. we have your doll here and let me tell you, you make a very cute French maid.

          By the time she was done reading the note she was half laughing half crying being held in someone’s arms.  Once she pulled back, she was horrified to find she had not only blubbered on a minister, but she cried all over him next to a box of inappropriate blow up dolls of her friends.  She was mortified.  Damn, Courtney strikes again.  She tried to explain but every time she opened her mouth to speak no words came out.  How does one describe someone like Courtney to a man of the cloth?

          “This is from one of my friend’s back where I use to live.  There are five of us in total in our little group of friends and our birthdays are about a week apart.  Growing up together we decided that instead of having five separate birthdays’, we would just throw one big one each year and celebrate them all at once.  This year I moved before the big annual birthday bash was thrown.  Courtney, the one who sent this, well, she’s a little over the top at times and maybe just slightly dangerous if left to her own devices.  Over recent years instead of the birthday bash getting tamer she took it upon herself to keep things lively.”  After her explanation, which seemed completely inadequate, she handed Mason the card to finish it off.  With her face beat red in mortification she patiently waited to be chastised.  She did not however expect the response he gave.

           “Mikey.”  With that one name hanging in the air the group passed around the card to read as Mason turned back to her.  She remembered too late the postscript when she saw Ryan’s eyebrows raise in surprise.  She placed her face in her hands groaning silently to herself.  Well so far, he now had mental pictures of her as a troll, as someone who’s hygienically challenged, and now a personal French maid blow up doll.  The punches just keep on rolling.  Mason leaned forward placing a gentle hand on her shoulder and lowering his voice so only she could hear.

            “It’s clear you’ve been through something and you’re trying to be okay.  If you ever need someone to listen, my door is always open.”

            “How could you tell?  Was it the mini crying fest?  I’m so sorry about that.”  She was shocked to find him looking at her with sympathy while shaking his head.

            “Five friends but only four dolls.”  With that he squeezed her shoulder in reassurance while standing back up.  Just as the card was handed back to her by a chuckling Addison the screen door swung open as Elliot and Dan came in carrying a plate of the juiciest steaks Elizabeth had ever seen.

           “What did we miss?”  Elliot inquired looking around at everyone in the room.  Before anyone could answer however, Elizabeth had a question of her own.

           “Wait who’s Mikey?”