Sunlight crawled through Leland’s bedroom and finally reached his right cheek. The warm caress on his face and the fragrance of blooming flowers tantalized his senses. For once in a long while, waking up was easy. Many years separated the last time he left his curtains open, allowing the outside world to peak into his solitude. He wasted no time and rolled out of bed. Age had prohibited him from leaping, but that is what occurred in his mind.
With unbounded energy, he breezed through his morning activity of getting ready for the day. Everything in his home seemed brighter, and the black raspberry preserves on his bagel tasted delectable. He glanced up at the clock on the kitchen wall and realized, for once, he was ready ten minutes early for work. No sense in waiting! Let the day begin. He grabbed his keys and wallet off the kitchen counter and headed out the front door.
“Mr. Thompson?” Nelly Quarly stood at the edge of his sidewalk. Leland continued to lock his front door and turned to see the awkwardly tall woman in her early sixties. Nelly’s glasses dominated her face, making her eyes look like small green pebbles. She was infamous as the HOA enforcer and was seen by most neighbors as a mix of tyrant and busybody.
“Miss Nelly! To what do I owe this honor?” Leland conjured a smile. If there was any sarcasm in his statement, it was undetectable to anyone but his closest friends.
Nelly put her hands on her hips. This pose accentuated her gangly figure as she cocked her head to speak. “Don’t you try to sweet talk me, mister. I couldn’t help but notice that you replaced your row of azaleas with these lavender Rhododendron bushes this weekend. Did you run that by the landscaping committee?”
“Oh, you noticed? The Rhododendrons are magnificent plants. Wouldn’t you agree?” Leland pulled his phone out of his pocket and fiddled with it.
“You didn’t answer my question.” A crooked smile overtook Nelly’s face. Leland equated this look to movies where the lawyer catches a defendant on a technicality.
“Oh, I didn’t, did I. I’m sorry. Here is my permit from the committee.” Leland held his phone for her to see. A brief look of embarrassment crept into her countenance as she studied the document he presented.
“Well, I’ll be.” She snickered.
“Is there anything else, Miss Nelly, or am I free to go to work?” Whoah, that was a little too blatant, old man, he thought as the words helplessly left his mouth unfiltered. The twinkle in his eyes couldn’t make the sarcasm of the statement stealthy enough, and Nelly quickly retorted.
She flung her hands in the air in a defensive posture and blurted out, “I’m not the enemy here. I am just trying to keep the values of our homes up, you know!”
Leland’s lower lip puckered as he raised his eyebrows and shook his head in denial, “I never said you were. If there’s nothing else, I hope you have a wonderful day.” Leland nodded his head and put his phone back in his pocket.
As he turned to leave, Nelly continued, “You are right, you know!”
Leland stopped walking for a moment. “Me? About what?”
“Ummm… the Rhododendron. They are lovely.”
The olive branch was accepted. “Thank you, Miss Nelly. Hopefully, I can keep their growth in check.”
“Nothing is more distracting than an out-of-control Rhododendron bush.” Nelly began to chuckle at the absurdity of her own statement, and Leland willingly joined in.
“I will do my best. Good day to you, Nelly.”
“And you as well, Mr. Thompson.”
The six-block walk to his small shop on this spring day didn’t bother Leland as it had in years gone by. He noticed Mr. Abbot’s barking dog wagging its tail as he passed. For the first time, Leland stopped, knelt, and cautiously extended his hand towards the rescue mutt. To his surprise, the dog sniffed his hand and gave him a brief lick. Leland rewarded the action by rubbing the back of the dog’s neck. The dog’s left leg began to shake.
The rest of the walk was uneventful, but the songs of the birds and the distant sounds of children playing in the park made it pleasant. Why haven’t I noticed those kids playing in the park before? Leland found himself trying to whistle in harmony with birds. It was an effort in futility, but it entertained the three cardinals watching him pass.
Turning the corner, he looked at his shop. The years haven’t been kind to you, old gal. The once-white paint that trimmed the front faded to a dingy gray and a cacophony of aging spiderwebs collected in the dusty corners of the windows. Leland studied the facia and frowned.
He noticed in the window that the lights were already on. Quickly, he reached out to open the door and enter. “Cass? I need to talk to you.” Leland put his keys back in his pocket and walked to the counter. The clean surface had been scrubbed so often that the natural wood was exposed to the elements. The older man empathetically placed his hand on the worn spot, gently rubbing it.
A slender, middle-aged woman emerged from the basement. She carried a large plumber’s wrench in one hand and a small basket of flowers in her other. She wore blue jeans with a flowery blouse, and her hair was in a tight bun. “You wanted to talk to me?”
Leland looked at the peculiar items in Cass’s hands and burst out with a deep belly laugh. “The water heater on the fritz again?”
Cass looked around and raised her left eyebrow. “Umm.. yeah. But I got it working.”
“Were the flowers to make it feel better?” Leland couldn’t contain his laughter, and after a few seconds, Cass realized why and joined in the moment.
Cass shook her head. “Very funny. Maybe the flowers are for you.”
Leland scratched his chin, “What would I do with them?”
“It’s not what you would do with them. It’s what I will put on your tombstone if you don’t get the plumber out here this week. That heater has needed a replacement for four months now.” Cass did her best to look stern, but her ever-positive personality betrayed her.
Leland nodded in agreement, “I will call and get Tom over here after we talk.”
Cass grabbed a towel from the counter and wiped her hands. Rapidly, her demeanor went from jovial to concerned. “Leland? Is everything okay? Are you in trouble?”
Leland tilted his head, “Trouble? Not a chance. But I want to make some changes around here.”
“What kind of changes?” Cass’s concern forced her to pull out a barstool and sit.
“This old place needs some love, and I’ve been thinking. I have my retirement account just sitting there. Margret and I put away enough for both of us.” Leland looked down at his shoes and noticed his socks didn’t match. Too late to matter, old man. You might as well continue. “Well, since Margret passed, I figured I only need half the retirement now.”
Cass started shaking her head. She placed her hand on his forearm and spoke lowly, “I think that is a bad idea. You don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“Thank you for your concern, but I’ve thought a lot about this. This place needs some TLC, and I have money sitting in a bank account. No bank is going to lend us the money to do this, so let’s use some of this retirement capital and get things done… like the water heater.”
Cass’s hand moved from his arm to his forehead, “Are you feeling okay? Who are you, and what have you done with my boss?”
Leland smiled, “It’s me, and I’m fine. There is one more thing I would like to do, but I want you to think about it before you say okay.”
Cass leaned back on the stool and crossed her arms, “Okay, I knew there had to be some more.”
Leland paused momentarily and deeply breathed, “Cass, you and your husband have been the best. You work hard and rarely complain. You put up with me and even look out for me, but I’m sick of you calling me boss.”
Cass’s face turned pale, “Are you firing me?”
Leland closed his eyes and vigorously shook his head. “Firing? No!… Well, yes, kind of.”
Cass regained her composure, “So… yes or no?”
“I’d like you and Lyle to become my partners. I would hold fifty percent, and you and your husband would hold the other fifty. It won’t change much around here, but I want to know that this place will be with people who love it if I go away. It won’t cost you and Lyle anything. It is just some paperwork, but you should talk with him about it. He has a full-time job, and ownership brings some more pressure.”
Cass couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her face, “I don’t know what to say. ‘Thank you’ seems so superficial.” She reached over and hugged Leland, kissing him on the cheek. “Is it okay if I call Lyle right now?”
“Sure! Why don’t you have him come down for lunch? I should have done this years ago.” Leland was sincere. It embarrassed him that it took so long to realize Cass was invaluable to the business and the future was through her.
Cass excitedly nodded as she spun around, pulling her phone out of her pocket. She was about to dial when she came to a complete stop. Slowly, she turned back to Leland, “What’s gotten into you?”
Leland put his hand on his chest, “Me? What do you mean?”
Cass stepped cautiously, “I haven’t seen you this… peaceful since before… well… Margret’s diagnosis.”
It was Leland’s turn to shed a tear, “Let’s just say that I am in a really good place right now. But just you mentioning her name floods me with memories.” He slumped under the burden of his own words.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Upset me? No! I’ve been a plumb fool, and it’s time to try to fix some of that. I owe it to Margret, and I’ve let my grief rob me of loving the people around me. You’re sorry? No! I’m sorry.” Leland battled the darkness in this moment, and love dealt it a mortal wound.
Cass reverently patted him on the shoulder, “Thank you again, Leland. I am going to call Lyle.”
Leland blew his nose into a napkin and then stopped Cass for another moment. “Cass, after you call Lyle and I call Tom, can you help me set up an area for young children?”
“Sure? How old?” Cass waited patiently for a reply.
“They are about this old.” He raised his hand to just over his waist.
“They?” Cass waited for a reply.
“Ummm… yes, it is a boy and a girl. They are siblings.”
Cass put her index finger on her lower lip and furrowed her brow. “I’m guessing they are maybe four to six years old. About the same age as Kayla and Will. I can have Lyle bring some things from the house to occupy them.”
“That would be great. By the way, how are they? I haven’t seen them in a while.”
“They are fine, but you scare them.”
Leland gasped, and his eyes flew wide open, “Me? I’m just an old man. What would be scary about me?”
Cass got bolder, “Have you met you? When Jill would bring them over here, your favorite phrase to them was, ‘don’t touch that,’ with a face to match.”
Leland frowned as he remembered saying that time and time again, “Oh! You know, I was just looking out for their safety.”
“That may be true, but three-year-olds don’t know or understand that, and you weren’t like that a decade ago. Cecelia’s kids loved hanging around here… and you.” Cass studied Leland carefully.
Leland’s cheeks reddened as her words struck home. “Oh my. I’m really sorry about that. I never realized. It’s no excuse, but it has been a hard couple of years for me.” He remorsefully avoided eye contact with Cass.
Cass wasted no time. She put her phone on the table and placed her hands delicately on his shoulders. The action forced Leland to look into her eyes. “I know, and that’s exactly why I never brought it up. I know that under all that grump, there is a good man… Now that I think about it, I’ve seen many more signs of that good man lately. What’s this kid’s visit all about?”
Leland took a deep breath, “Nothing.”
“Nothing? Come on, man. You haven’t talked to a child in years, and now we will be entertaining some this afternoon? Wait a minute, does this have something to do with that student who visited you last month?”
Leland’s eyes brightened, “Julie? As a matter of fact, it does.”
Cass nodded in understanding, “That’s wonderful. This is all starting to make more sense now.”
Leland sputtered at the comment, “More sense. What do you mean?”
“You’re different… no… not different… you’re more like your old self these past couple of weeks. So… This Julie comes and knocks on your door one day.”
Leland’s foot began to tap nervously. It didn’t go unnoticed by Cass. Leland explained, “She was one of my neighbor’s nieces, and he told her she needed to find me. It wasn’t like she just showed up blindly at my door.”
Cass didn’t budge, “Yeah, about that. So she was one of Margret’s students?”
Leland’s eyes shifted around, “Yes. She was a troubled teen and one of Margret’s students.”
Cass pressed further, “How long ago?”
Leland didn’t understand, “How long ago what?”
“Don’t be coy. How long ago was she in Margret’s class?”
Leland divulged more: “About fifteen years ago, she had Margret for two different English classes. You know Julie went on to get a master’s in English Literature, just like Margret? She got married and has two children.”
Cass crossed her arms and continued to listen, “Really? Has she visited you more than that one time?”
Leland sat back down, “Well, yes. She has come by three times now and wanted me to meet her kids today.”
Cass looked suspicious, “Wait a minute, how did you know how tall they were?”
“She showed me some pictures. She also told me that Margret helped her believe in herself.”
Cass smiled broadly, “That doesn’t surprise me. That sounds about par for Margret. I really miss her. I wish she were around to help me with what we went through with Cecilia’s girls. She was always so wise. How did you end up with her?”
“By the grace of God. She was an incredible jewel, and I miss her too.” Leland looked away as memories lovingly flashed through his mind.
Cass returned, “So Julie is bringing her children to meet you today… this afternoon.”
“Yes… around two.”
Cass slowly considered what needed to be done, “I get it now. Everything will be ready. Are we still good to meet Lyle for lunch?”
Leland nodded sharply, “Absolutely, and I will call Tom to get a new heater today.”
“That sounds great. Then I guess I can just take these flowers and use them to liven up the dining tables.” An odd smile came over Cass’s face.
Leland chuckled, “I’m not dying soon, so yeah. That would be a better use for them.”
-=-=-=-
Cass looked across the bar and saw Leland spying out the window, “You know she won’t come any faster with you looking out there.”
Leland continued gazing. He then looked at the items Lyle brought over for the children. “I hope we guessed their ages right.”
Cass smirked, “It will be fine. Nowadays, kids use tablets and phones for entertainment.”
Leland scratched his head, “True.” He paused, then continued, “I haven’t been this happy in a long time.”
Cass enjoyed the admission, “I know, and Lyle is so excited about your offer. He told me he wants to invest as much as you do in fixing up the place.”
“No, don’t be ridiculous. I let things go for too long, so it’s really my fault.”
Cass chuckled, “Nonsense, as partners, we invest together, and then we will reap the rewards. We won’t back down on this.”
Leland was about to answer when he heard the front door open. In walked a young woman with two children in tow. Their clothes were neat and timelessly stylish but far from trendy.
Leland wasted no time making his way to the entry. “Julie! It is so nice to see you.” He extended his hand, inviting her to sit at Cass’s prepared table. Julie nodded in acknowledgment and headed to the seat.
Leland leaned down to speak to the young man. “You must be Deckland.”
The young man looked at his mother and timidly nodded.
“Well, it is a pleasure to get to meet you.”
Leland’s head wobbled left and right as a funny grin came across his face, “Where are my manners? Julie, I would like you to meet one of my business partners, Cass.”
Cass’s eyes brightened at the title that he bestowed on her. “Umm… it is a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard some wonderful stories about you.”
Julie was all smiles, “It is nice to meet you too. Leland told me he would have been bankrupt and destitute if you weren’t here to help.”
Cass’s gaze didn’t budge, “I think he was exaggerating.”
Julie continued, “So, as Leland already pointed out, this is my son Deckland, and this is my daughter, Margret.”
Cass did a double-take, “Margret?”
Leland squatted next to the young girl, “Yes, Margret. Named after someone very special.”
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