Page 29 of Grounded (May Hollow Trilogy #1)

After the icu scare was past, Annie confessed her water fiasco to her grandmother.

“We’ll start all over if it is ruined,” Beulah said. “I’ve had to do that before when a late frost took everything I planted one year.”

Woody thought most of the garden would be all right, other than one corner that might not survive the drowning. “Nothing to do but wait and see,” he said.

As frightened as Annie had been at her grandmother’s health scare, the extra days had given the painters more time to work. Another man had shown up on Wednesday to help speed the work along. The priming was finished and they had started the actual painting.

Annie had hoped it would all be done before her grandmother came home over the weekend, but it all depended on the weather, according to Woody, who appointed himself supervisor.

On Friday morning, Annie called Duke at the hardware store and made a request she’d been thinking about all week.

“Sure thing,” Duke said. “I’ll put your name on it. It’ll need a coat of paint, but you should have some left over from the house.”

Still in her pajama pants and a long sleeve shirt over a T-shirt, Annie took her coffee to the back porch.

Curled in a chair with a throw wrapped around her shoulders for extra warmth against the cool morning, she quietly listened to the birds singing in the trees.

It sounded like an enormous orchestra warming up, each playing his or her own song before the conductor approached the podium, and they all quieted in preparation for the musical piece.

Annie tried to remember the last time she heard such a mass of birds singing in New York or even Rome. Had other noise drowned it out or did she not listen? From now on, she vowed, she would listen for the birds no matter where she was in the world.

Nutmeg stood next to the fence, barely moving a muscle.

It was as if she were posing for a sculpture.

Annie sipped her coffee and watched her for several minutes to see if she would move from the spot, but she didn’t.

The mare pawed the ground, but remained motionless as if she were waiting for something to happen.

The whole pasture wasn’t visible from where she sat on the porch, but she could see maybe a third of it. It was the same section where she fell off Nutmeg, which must be how her grandmother knew what had happened.

When Woody brought Nutmeg over, he said, “Horses can get into anything. Best check them once a day.”

Annie looked for Nutmeg once a day, although she didn’t exactly know what she was looking for. She figured as long as a horse was upright, it must be okay. And there was Nutmeg standing next to the fence and looking perfectly content. There seemed to be no need to walk all the way out there.

Woody stopped by to check on her, sometimes twice a day and particularly at mealtime.

She liked Woody and even felt a little sorry for him.

He seemed very devoted to his mother’s care and Annie admired him for that; but Annie wondered if she should come right out and tell him she had no interest in dating, now and maybe ever.

Being that forthright had always been difficult for her.

Janice would come right out and say it: “Woody, I appreciate your help, but if you’ve got anything else on your mind other than friendship, forget about it. ”

The contents of her coffee mug empty and the morning wearing on, she went inside and called the hospital number posted next to the phone.

“I’m tolerable well. Ready for better food, that’s for sure. You can’t imagine what they call sausage and biscuits.”

“Be glad you’re not on the cardiac diet. I’ve heard its worse,” Annie said, smiling. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come today?”

“Law, no. My Sunday school class is coming today. That will keep me entertained. I will be ready to leave in the morning as soon as they sign me out.”

“I’ll be there by nine. Call if you need me.”

Annie had taken over lunch preparations for the painters.

Evelyn was busy straightening up her house, preparing the guest room, and “laying up food” as she called it, for the next couple of weeks.

Annie prepared fresh hummus dip and baked pita chips as well as a large Greek salad with grilled chicken for each man.

“What is this, if you don’t mind me asking?” Jim pointed to the bowl of hummus.

“Garbanzo beans, garlic, olive oil, a little lemon and a touch of sugar,” Annie answered.

“Never heard of garbanzo beans,” he said.

“They are also called chickpeas,” she said, realizing her menu choice might have been a mistake.

“Never heard of that either,” said Elbert. “But it don’t taste bad,” he quickly added.

After the meal, Annie cleaned up the kitchen and made a list of grocery store items before heading out in her grandmother’s Marquis.

Approaching the hardware store, Annie had a pang of fear at the thought of having to parallel park on Main Street.

It had been years and she had never been good at it.

She slowed and searched for two spaces together that she might slide into, but there was only one space.

Scanning both sides of the street, Annie saw this was the only spot available.

With a deep breath, she pulled up next to the car in front of the space, wishing all the while her grandmother had traded for something smaller than a Marquis.

With her arm over the back of the seat and her body twisted in order to see, she backed up, but soon realized she was too far from the curb.

Turning and putting the car in drive, she pulled forward and tried again. This time she cut too sharp and the front end was sticking out in the middle of Main Street.

The car behind her waited patiently while she pulled forward.

She tried again, but was still not close enough to the curb.

A group of men in jeans spilled out of the diner.

By this time, several people had stopped on the sidewalk, faces curious, to watch her effort.

Annie felt her own face flush as she put it in drive once more.

Just as she was about to pull forward, a knock on her window made her jump.

It was Jake, motioning for her to roll down the window.

“Want some help?” he asked.

Annie hesitated, determined to figure the thing out. But the growing spectacle brought her to her senses. “Please!” she said, and scooted over in the seat.

Jake didn’t say a word while he positioned the car, then slid it perfectly into the parking space. When he put it in park, he said, “The space is small. It’s no wonder you had trouble.”

“Thank you,” she said, surprised he didn’t tease her.

“Alright, I gotta go. We’re headed over to Rutherford to look at a farm,” he said, sliding out of the car. “See you later?”

She nodded and he turned to go. Jake was home. Why did that make her feel so happy?

Inside the hardware store, Annie admired the wooden porch swing Duke had set aside for her. “Anything else?” he asked before ringing her up.

“That should do it,” Annie said, pleased with her purchase. “Will it fit in the backseat of the Marquis?”

“Oh yeah. That’s one advantage of a big car,” he said, and winked at her.

After Duke loaded the swing, Annie walked down the street to Wyatt’s Drug Store, where ceiling fans hung low from the ancient tin ceilings.

A massive wooden soda fountain claimed a section of wall.

Round tables with woven iron chairs sat on the hardwood floor near the soda fountain and the film development was in the back, past the dining area and the gift section.

A young woman behind the counter took the pictures after Annie explained the enlargements she wanted.

She was nearly out the door when a nostalgic craving for a chocolate milkshake pulled her like a magnet back to the soda fountain.

Instead of asking for it to go, she sat at the counter and enjoyed every drop.

“We’re almost done,” Elbert said after they helped Annie unload the swing and take it to the front porch. “If you don’t mind us staying late, we’ll try to finish up tonight.”

“You’ve still got hooks up there,” Jim said, pointing to the robin’s-egg-blue beadboard ceiling. “Want us to hang it for you?”

“Sure,” she said, wondering if accepting all this help would serve her well later. Independence was a valuable survival skill in the city.

“I’ll grab the ladder,” said Elbert.

Jim sorted through the chain and as Elbert held the other end of the swing, he looped a link onto the hook. They did the same on the other side, counting the links so the swing would be level.

“Now, see how high you want that seat. I can raise or lower the chain.”

Annie sat down and thought the swing was a few inches high, especially for her grandmother, who would want to sit easily.

“Maybe down a few inches,” she said. “Yes, that looks about right.”

“We can put a coat of paint on it before we go,” Elbert offered.

“No, no. I can do it while you all finish the house,” Annie said.

Jim and Elbert left the porch to go around back where the last bit of painting needed to be done.

Before Annie started on the swing, she decided to sit again just to make sure the height was right.

She sat and swung for a bit, enjoying the feel of it and imagining how pleased her grandmother would be when she saw it.

Just then, a crack sounded above and before she knew it, her side of the swing thumped to the concrete floor and pitched her headlong into the boxwood bush.

Annie rolled and scrambled to stand up as footsteps approached from the side of the house. She did not want to be the center of attention yet again today.

“We should have checked those old hooks,” Elbert said, reaching for the loose chain.

Annie fought back the urge to cry, what with the sudden dump into the bush on top of her mortification at parallel parking. Instead, she brushed herself off.

“Who would have thought,” she said.