Jubilee's Journey (Wyattsville #2)(89)

“Good,” Clara said. “I’m glad you didn’t take the place. It’s too far away, and, besides, you’re rushing things. You don’t even know if Anita is going to let you keep those kids.”

“I think it’s pretty safe to say she doesn’t want them.”

“Wait until you know for sure.”

The conversation went back and forth with Olivia insisting that it was better to be prepared for the inevitable and Clara insisting that the inevitable wasn’t always inevitable. When that subject was worn threadbare, they moved to a discussion of Carmella’s phone call.

“I’ve invited them to dinner tomorrow,” Olivia said. “From the way Carmella was talking, I think Mister Klaussner has some sort of reward for Paul.”

“So you’re going to be busy tomorrow evening, right?”

When Olivia answered yes, Clara sat there with a strange curl pulling at the corners of her lips.





Dinner Guests



In the wee hours of the morning, when a chorus of snores was all a person could hear in the hallways of Wyattsville Arms, Olivia found sleep impossible to come by. When she tried to conjure up the image of something pleasant—taking the children to the zoo, a day at the beach, a picnic in the park—it quickly became a flashback to the dreary house she’d visited. If a place such as that didn’t allow children, what, she wondered, could she expect?

By morning Olivia had come to the conclusion that this dinner party might be the last one she’d have in this apartment, so she vowed to make it special. Once the children had gone off to play she polished the silver, shined her very best crystal glasses, and took out the package of Irish linen napkins she’d been saving for a special occasion.

When the doorbell rang at six o’clock, all three children were dressed as if they were going to church and Olivia was wearing a green dress the exact shade of her eyes. Before the door was fully open, Carmella held out a huge bouquet of peonies. “For you.”

“Oh, my goodness,” Olivia gushed, “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”

With a smile stretched clear across his face, Sidney stood there balancing a stack of giftwrapped boxes. “We’ve also got a few things for the kids.”

“A few things?” Olivia exclaimed. “Why, it looks like Christmas!”

Sidney gave a big, hearty chuckle, the kind of laugh that could make a person feel happy even if they had no idea what he was laughing about.

Once they were seated in the living room, Olivia went in search of a vase large enough for the flowers. She pulled three vases from the kitchen cupboard, but not one was large enough. Surely one of her friends had a good-sized vase. Dialing one number after the other, Olivia first called Clara, then Agnes Shapiro, and finally Jen Hemmings. Not one of them was at home, which was not only annoying but also odd. Stuck with no other alternative Olivia put half of the flowers in one vase and the remainder in the other, then carried the two vases into the living room. By then the floor was covered with shredded bits of wrapping paper.

“Grandma, look at this!” Ethan Allen held up a Dick Tracy Junior Detective Kit. “It’s got a decoder ring!”

“I got a present too.” Jubilee cuddled a Betsy-Wetsy doll that drank and wet its diaper, something that apparently pleased Jubie no end.

Paul, far more reserved than the other two, was wearing a baseball cap from the College of William and Mary.

“There’s more to come,” Sidney said. In a little less than two weeks he’d gone from a nearly-dead man to a man so filled with life it almost burst out of him. In fact, Sidney’s happiness was so contagious that before two minutes had passed Olivia was laughing like a woman with not a care in the world.

In addition to the gifts the children had already opened, there were comic books, paper dolls, and a book on the history of America for Paul.

“All this,” Olivia said. “You really shouldn’t have. There’s no need—”

“Of course there’s no need.” Sidney chuckled. “But not having to do something is what makes doing it fun.”

“You’re going to spoil the children.” Olivia’s mouth curled into a smile that began to resemble Sidney’s.

He laughed even harder.

“There’s no way we could ever really make amends for all we put your family through,” Carmella said softly. “But we were hoping this would be a start.”

Olivia assured them no harm was done, and now that Paul was free to go about life they were looking toward the future. She mentioned nothing about the need for a larger apartment. When the oven timer buzzed, she announced dinner was ready and led everyone to the table. Sidney sat next to Paul. Carmella sat alongside Jubilee.

“I’m glad you like those paper dolls,” Carmella said. “I had ones just like them when I was a girl, and they were my favorite.” Carmella went on to tell how she created a world of flat paper furniture and voices for each of the paper people. Jubilee eyes glistened as she latched on to every word.

“Would you show me how to make flat furniture?”

“I sure will,” Carmella answered. Then she hugged the child to her chest. “As long as your grandma doesn’t think I’m making a pest out of myself coming here.”

“Grandma don’t mind at all.” Jubilee looked for confirmation from Olivia, but by then Olivia had bustled to the kitchen to get the casserole.