Part 3 (1/2)
Susan nodded, still trying to catch her breath. They entered into what she a.s.sumed was the living room. It was a fairly large area, with a stone fireplace on one end and the door to the kitchen on the other. The wood floors were old and scarred and dusty. In fact, the whole place was grimy. There were cobwebs in the corners. The white lace curtains were yellowed at the tops and bottoms. The only thing that didn't look as if it might fall apart was the furniture. Rustic, no doubt, but not crumbling. She looked toward Kendra. ”I wasn't expecting the place to be so . . . dirty.”
Kendra touched a yellowed wall and nodded. ”No one has lived in this house in several years. A well-known record producer in Nashville bought it a few months ago, thinking he might do something with the place someday. One of his friends on our production staff knew about it, so when the idea for this particular segment was born it was a win-win. We gain, for free, the perfect place to film, and he gets the benefit of some much-needed maintenance on his place.”
She touched the kitchen table, which was simple and looked as if it had come from a secondhand store. ”We did take out all the old furniture and replaced it with something a bit more Amish looking, but we decided to leave the cleaning to you. Amish people are known for keeping their homes spotless, you know. This will be a good test for your family, to see how well you can actually pull all this off. Our second segment will be about the Amish home, complete with before and after pictures.”
The earlier conversation still rang through Susan's mind. Failure here meant failure at everything she had left. She could almost see the smug expression on her face, could almost hear the ”no wonder he left her” whispered amongst her group of not-yet-thirty friends. That couldn't happen. She would make this a success if it killed her, and if making this place clean was what it took to be the best almost-Amish person possible, then no one in this house would rest until it was spotless. She began mentally forming a to-do list.
Julie walked into the bedroom that Whitney and Angie would share. The two beds were covered with simple quilts, one eggsh.e.l.l blue and the other a soft apricot, and each had an antique-looking cedar chest at the foot. So pretty and quaint. She made her way over to the closet, prepared to calm the situation as quickly as possible.
Whitney held the door open, tapping her foot and waiting. ”See what I mean?”
Julie looked into the closet, giving her eyes a moment to adjust to the dim light. Then, in spite of her best efforts at being the adult, setting the good example, she began to giggle. Then laugh. Then all-out guffaw.
”What's so funny?” Susan came into the room, followed closely by an obviously annoyed Kendra.
”Uh, well . . .” Julie shrugged, and her embarra.s.sment at being caught quickly squelched the laughter. She pulled a skirt and s.h.i.+rt from the closet and held them up to show Susan, ready for her take-charge sister-in-law to handle this situation.
Susan reached out to touch the tan muslin skirt with brown and white flowers and the beige cotton blouse. She cut her eyes nervously toward Kendra, then back at the clothes. ”These certainly are a bit . . . dated . . . but, Kendra, I understand your point.” She stood in place, nodded silently a couple of times, then said, ”I don't really see a problem with these. I'm sure the kids will adjust soon enough.”
Julie looked at her, searching for a trace of the sister-in-law that she'd known for the last eighteen years, the one who never backed down, never placated. ”So you're okay with this?”
Susan nodded crisply, once again cutting her eyes in the general direction of Kendra. ”I think it will be good for the girls.”
Julie looked at the gathered skirt in her hand, knowing how Whitney and Angie felt about them, having at least some clue what it would mean to them in a social sense, then looked back at Susan. Was this really the same woman who when Angie had felt self-conscious about her bunny costume for the fifth-grade play had taken it to a tailor to have it fitted into something more flattering, albeit less bunny-like?
Julie wasn't sure how this would be ”good” for the girls, but could see how it might be embarra.s.sing. Still, it wasn't a stand she wanted to make. Part of this summer was about helping Susan, and it wouldn't hurt the kids to make a few sacrifices to help out their aunt and mother. Still, she hoped this would not go much further.
”Well, I've got collared s.h.i.+rts and blue pants, and you don't hear me whining about it.” Brian walked over and dropped down on the closest twin bed. ”Coolness is a state of mind, not the clothes you wear.”
”And you would know that, how?” Whitney folded her arms and leaned against the wall, glaring at her brother.
”I've got the stuff.” Chris came into the room, leaving a pile of luggage behind in the hallway. ”I believe these two go in here.” He set the girls' duffels inside the room, then went out for another load.
Whitney dove across the room to reach her bag. ”Everybody clear some s.p.a.ce. If we've got a limited timeframe; we need some room to move in here.” She yanked open the zipper and started rummaging.
”Here you go, sport.” Chris brought Brian the telescope case. ”I'll bet you'll see some really sick stars this far out of the city.”
Brian's face lit up at the validation from an older and cooler boy. ”Yeah, I think so, too. You want to check it out sometime?”
”Chris, you know the rules about talking to the families.” Kendra scowled from the doorway. ”Now everyone take out any necessities, then bring your bags back down to the porch and Chris will take them away. You have five minutes, and it started ten seconds ago.” She looked at the silver watch on her wrist, as if to emphasize the point.
”Okay, girls, I'll leave you to pick your things. I've got a few necessities I need to get out of my bag, too.” Julie grabbed her rolling suitcase and made her way to her own room. There was a pine-framed double bed with a green-and-brown quilt, a simple bedside table, a sad, small, worn dresser, and the closet door. Curious as to what her own wardrobe might entail, Julie opened the door to see essentially the same thing she'd seen in the girls' closet, just a few sizes larger. Blah. She didn't relish the thought of walking around looking like Mother Hubbard either, but in some ways, it was less embarra.s.sing than today's clingy styles.
She opened her suitcase, pulled out the framed photos she'd brought with her, a few books, and her stationery. Then she thought about what Whitney had said. She tiptoed to her door, closed it quietly behind her, and emptied her suitcase on the bed. She then quickly began stuffing the dresser drawers and the bottom of the closet with her own things. You never knew when you might need these things, after all. She closed the suitcase and latched it firmly before carrying it back downstairs and setting it on the porch.
Whitney and Angie soon appeared, obviously empty duffels in hand and sheepish smiles on their faces. Julie looked at them and couldn't help but grin. They might have gotten off to a rocky start, but now it was time to slow down. Enjoy each other. A whole summer full of quality time with the family. ”All right, now that we've got that behind us, I think you two should give us all a tour around the barn. We can walk down to the creek”-the screech of the screen door announced Brian's arrival with yet another suspiciously empty-looking duffel-”and we need to go find the shed where they've put Brian's larger telescope. I'm thinking this place will make for perfect star viewing, don't you think, Brian?”
”By the end of this summer, you'll know more about astronomy than you ever dreamed possible.”
”As if we've ever dreamed about astronomy.” Whitney nudged her brother from behind.
”All right, you two-”
Susan pushed through the door and set her suitcase beside the pile. ”Whew.” She tucked her barely long enough hair behind her ear. ”Okay, everyone, I've made a list of ch.o.r.es that we all need to tackle. This place is a mess, so there's no time to waste.”
Julie studied Susan's face, hoping there was some sense of joking in her eyes. She saw none. It looked more like panic. ”Don't you think we ought to look around first? Let the kids show us the barn, check out the creek?”
Susan ran her pointer finger over the top of the front doorjamb and held it up to show a greasy black smudge on her fingertip. ”There's a lot to do to this place before it's halfway livable, and this seems like the best time to tackle it. The crew's caterers are providing our meals for the next couple of days, so we need to get this done while we don't have other responsibilities pressing on us.”
Julie debated telling Susan that the dust would still be there tomorrow, but she didn't say any such thing. The creek would still be there tomorrow, too, she supposed, and the place did need some deep cleaning. She was here to help Susan, and that's what she planned to do. ”Aunt Susan's right. Everyone take a look at the list and get busy on your a.s.signed task.”
”But, Mom, we-”
Julie held up her hand to silence Whitney. ”Let's get a good chunk of our work done now. Perhaps we'll have time to look around later this evening. We want things to look their best for the cameras, and besides, we've got almost three months here. There will be ample time to see everything.” She hoped her words sounded like she meant them in spite of the fact that what she wanted more than anything was to set every single responsibility aside and just explore.
Chapter 6.
Susan went straight to the kitchen. The old farmhouse sink had rust stains at the bottom and the ancient stopper had likely been white once, but that had been a few presidents ago. Like maybe Lincoln. But if the producers wanted the perfect Amish household, then she was going to give them perfection like they'd never imagined.
She opened the cabinets beneath the sink and found an a.s.sortment of bottles, each labeled ”earth friendly.” Dish soap. Window cleaner. Wood polish. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found one that said Mineral Cleaner-for hard water and rust stains. Perfect. She sprayed a little in the sink, then left it to do its work while she turned her attention toward the search for just the right scrub brush.
Footsteps pounded into the room behind her. ”Let's start with the window by the kitchen table.” Whitney was in full-fledged leader mode.
Susan couldn't help but smile. For all of Julie's good qualities, domestic skills were not among them. This summer would be the perfect chance for Whitney and Brian to learn the value of a well-kept home. ”Good job, you three. Way to work as a team.”
Whitney smiled and saluted toward her. ”At your service, ma'am. Okay Brian, you know your a.s.signment.” Brian opened the window next to the kitchen table and unhooked the old triangular-shaped latch and pushed the screen outside. He repeated the process with the window near the cabinets, and finally approached Susan. ”Excuse me, Aunt Susan, could I reach past you for just a minute?”
Susan backed away, pleased with how this was working so far. ”Be my guest.”
”Okay, women of the farm, if you need me, I'll be outside cleaning screens with the menfolk.”
”So, in other words, you'll be outside by yourself?” Angie's voice sounded light. Carefree.
”I guess that's the truth of it.” Brian rubbed his chin. ”It's going to be a lo-ong summer.” He hurried out the kitchen back door before Whitney could swat him, the screen slamming behind him. Susan bit back a reminder to be careful. She didn't want to dampen their enthusiasm.
Across the room, the girls got busy with their work, so Susan headed back to work on those rust spots. The cleaner had actually made a pretty fair start on the stains. She scrubbed at what remained-discoloration embedded for all these years would not be removed without more than a little bit of hard work. Well, hard work was what she was all about.
Some time later, she found a detail brush and began cleaning around the sink's edge. An old toothbrush would probably have worked best, but at this point, she'd make do with what she'd been provided. It wasn't ideal, but that was the point. You could do great work even with less than ideal circ.u.mstances.
”Ick. This is disgusting. I wonder how long it's been since someone wiped these windowsills?” Angie rinsed her sponge in the bucket the girls had between them. ”Or painted them, for that matter. This paint is all cracked and peeling.”
Susan walked over to get a closer look. The sills reminded her of a map, with cracks providing roadways, bubbled-up areas of mountains, and bare wood looking much like a barren desert. ”The outside looks freshly painted. Why didn't they paint the inside, too?” Before the words had even left her mouth, she knew the answer. They wanted to see what she would do with this run-down place-whether or not she had what it took to take a simple lifestyle and make it something beautiful. Well, she was going to show them exactly what she could do. ”I think I'll ask Kendra for some paint and painting supplies.”
”Mom, we're only going to be here for three months. I think it would be a little excessive to repaint the place, don't you?”