Previously Loved Treasures (Serendipity #2)(22)

Ida scrambled the eggs and pulled out a large frying pan. She glanced at the clock and tried to hurry. It was almost nine; there was no telling what time Caroline would arrive and she needed time to dress.

Ida poured the eggs into the skillet, then stretched out slices of bacon on the griddle. She was scooping the pile of eggs onto a platter when Laricka walked into the kitchen.

“I thought maybe I’d lend a hand,” she suggested. “I know you’re saving that fancy chocolate cake for dinner, but if you’ve got any cocoa I can whip up one of my black cakes in no time at all.”

Louie, with his uncanny ability to zero in on anything food-related, heard the comment. “I don’t want cake! I want eggs and biscuits!”

“Oh, dear,” Ida murmured, “I’ve forgotten about the biscuits.”

By the time Ida got breakfast on the table, fed Bobo and Miss Abby, then cleaned up the dishes it was twenty after ten. She had just gone upstairs to dress when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” Max called out. When he opened the door, a lovely young lady stood there.

“Well, hellooooo,” Max crooned.

Expecting Ida and having not been warned about the other residents, an astonished Caroline asked, “Who are you?”

“Max Sweetwater,” he said, relaxing his body into a lumpy looking swagger. “I live here.”

“Live here?” Having heard only the Sweetwater in his name, Caroline blurted out the first thought that came to mind. “Granddaddy?”

“I am most certainly not your granddaddy!” Max replied indignantly. Having an eye for the ladies as he did, he was tempted to tell her he was way too young to be her granddaddy but settled for saying, “I’m a boarder.”

“A boarder?”

“Yes,” Max nodded. “A paying boarder who contributes generously to the financial well-being of this homestead.”

Still a bit confused, Caroline asked, “Isn’t this Ida Sweetwater’s house?”

Before he could answer, Ida came flip-flopping down the staircase in her housecoat and slippers. “Get away from my granddaughter, Max!” she yelled as she scuttled across the foyer. Pushing Max aside, she reached out and folded Caroline into her arms.

“Grandma?” Caroline mumbled, but by then Ida had her squished up against an ample bosom that left little space for words.

After several minutes of near suffocation, Ida released Caroline and held her at arm’s length. “Happy as I am to see you, you’re not what I was expecting.”

An icy cold shiver slid down Caroline’s back.

“Outside of those brown eyes,” Ida said, “you don’t look a thing like your daddy.” She hesitated a moment then added, “Your mama must have been a beautiful woman.”

“She was.” The words were tentative, riddled with fear. Was Missus Sweetwater going to say Nice to see you, stay a day or two, then be on your way? “I’m sorry if I’m a disappointment,” Caroline said, but before she could go any further Ida interrupted.

“Disappointment?” Ida gave a chuckle that filled the foyer with happiness. “Shoot, honey, you’re no disappointment. You’re what I’ve been praying for all these years.”

“Besides having red hair like Mama,” Caroline said, “there’s something else you ought to know. I’ve got Clarence with me.”

“Clarence? Is he that fellow you’ve been—”

It was Caroline’s turn to laugh. “Clarence is my dog.”

“Well, if that’s don’t beat all.” Ida chuckled again. “A dog named Clarence.”

~

Although less than an hour had gone by since Ida finished cleaning up the breakfast dishes, she happily announced they’d be having an early lunch. “After driving all the way from Pennsylvania, Caroline needs some hot food and rest!” She jangled the bell that announced mealtime, and people began emerging from their rooms.

“Oh, my gosh,” Caroline whispered. “Are all these people boarders?”

“They all live here,” Ida replied, “but I don’t think of them as boarders. They’re more like resident friends.”

One by one Ida introduced them to her granddaughter, and they settled around the table. When Max plopped down in the chair next to Caroline, Ida suggested he move to the other side of the table.

“Laricka’s sitting here,” she said.

“Gimme a break,” Max grumbled. He gave Ida a slant-eyed look then moved.

Although Ida had planned a simple lunch of sliced ham and peaches, her happiness carried her away and lunch became grander than a Thanksgiving dinner. Once she’d discovered that Caroline did indeed love chocolate and was not a vegetarian, she brought out the carrot cake and creamy potato casserole alongside the ham, peaches, coleslaw, and biscuits.

The residents had never before seen such a luncheon. Louie filled his plate three times and then decided he had just enough room for another slice of that delicious carrot cake. While everyone heaped on second and third helpings, Caroline told them of herself: her days in New Orleans, the move to Cherry Hill, and then to Philadelphia. She gave voice to the good memories. The time she and Joelle went to the Mardi Gras parade, the Easter James gave her a giant chocolate bunny, the first Christmas she celebrated with Greg.