In the end, Violet’s aunt was most helpful in helping the girl to have a good attitude about the whole thing. She had to go to the house and meet with the lawyer and the real estate agent. It would be good to actually take the time to go through her uncle’s things and see if there was anything she wanted. She might be able to sell some items for more than an auction brought in. All in all, the whole thing would probably take about two weeks.
When Sue heard, she rejoiced. In fact, she offered to fly over from St. Louis and meet somewhere in Chicago. Violet was touched, but after considering it a moment thought it was really too much trouble. After all, she would only be there for about two weeks.
The day before Violet left, her aunt came home with a surprise. “Violet, we haven’t really needed one of these here in this small town and you’re really not going to be gone all that long, but I thought this might be useful in Chicago.”
Violet wore a puzzled expression as she opened the bag her aunt handed her. “It’s a cellphone! I’ve wanted one of these things for forever.”
“It’s not just a cellphone,” her aunt replied. “It’s a smart phone complete with GPS locator. I also paid for your first three months of service.”
“Ooh,” Violet cooed. “I can’t wait to play with this. I can even check my e-mail, send text messages, and do Facebook and Twitter. Thank-you so much!”
“Just don’t text and drive, okay?”
“Not a chance. I’ve heard too many horror stories about that.”
Aunt Mabel smiled a watery smile as she watched the delight of her niece. Violet was always so much fun to give presents too. She had always loved surprises. Aunt Mabel would miss her dearly, but she was glad the girl was going, especially now. She wouldn’t have to tell her the news until she was absolutely sure. Hopefully, it would all be easier this way. Although Violet had faced down and overcome most of her fears and phobias, (driving to a big city wasn’t really a phobia, it was more just something she didn’t particularly like) she knew the girl still had a terrible fear of losing the people she loved. The news from the doctor had not been good and Mabel just didn’t quite know how to tell her yet.
Aunt Mabel had prayed long and hard about what to say and when to say it. Strangely enough, the Lord had led her to be silent for now. She didn’t understand why, but she had a peace about it that she couldn’t explain. When Violet did find out, she knew she would be devastated. After Mabel died, there would be no family left. Violet’s father had been an only child and both sets of grandparents had died many years ago. Now that her estranged uncle was gone, Violet literally had no relatives left except Mabel. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Mabel turned to prepare one of the last meals they would have together before Violet left.
Chapter 5
When Violet finally pulled into her new driveway late the following night, she wanted only to crawl into a nice warm bed and sleep. The drive had been long and exhausting. She got turned around only once, however. That GPS on her phone truly blessed her.
Instead of going straight into the house, Violet sat in the car gazing. The abode didn’t appear huge but did stand considerably larger than the home she shared with her aunt. The dark revealed little but appeared well kept.
The best thing about the house so far happened to be the coffee shop situated next door. At the top of her to-do list for tomorrow would be trying out The Coffee House, a most appropriate name. Violet loved coffee, espressos, mochas, lattes; she drank any time of the day or night. (She did try for decaf if she wanted to sleep in the next few hours, otherwise, she welcomed coffee anywhere, anytime!)
The key turned easily in the lock. That worry she hadn’t considered on the drive up. When she turned on the light in the entryway, it looked as if the owner had merely stepped out for a few moments.
As she ventured inside further, she noticed her uncle’s good taste in furnishing. Her wandering around on the first floor revealed her great uncle obvious enjoyment of art. Many lovely paintings hung on the walls. The kitchen boasted open space and efficiency with a long bar stretching from the wall almost all the way to the refrigerator, effectively separating the cooking area from the dining area. Yet, the open design enabled the cook to easily converse with any guests. A small step went down from the dining area into the family room. Along the two facing walls, two large, maroon, leather couches sat across from each other and promised comfort. A fireplace flanked on either side by bookshelves encompassed the back wall. She tried to imagine him lying there with a good book enjoying the warmth on a cold winter night.
The main hall led to the kitchen. The pantry contained plenty of dried goods and the refrigerator held various cheeses, milk, and fresh vegetables. Perhaps her uncle enjoyed cooking? After that, she found it difficult to determine where to explore next. Should she go upstairs to check out the bedrooms or see what the basement offered?
In the end, she decided to explore the basement in the light of day. Ever the mystery writer, the idea of checking out a basement all alone at night creeped her out. So, climbing the carpeted steps upstairs, the first door she came to revealed the master bedroom. The carpet flowed in here as well, and the queen sized bed beckoned. Would her exhaustion be enough to sleep in a strange bed though? As she stepped out, she decided to check the other three doors. One opened into a bathroom, (Praise the Lord!) and the other two into bedrooms. Although smaller, they each contained a desk right next to a large window. The one overlooking the side nearest The Coffee House would be a lovely place to set up her computer. Through the window, the view included the parking lot behind it.
Normally, a tall wooden street light, blacktop, and brick would not appeal, but at that moment Violet had one of her ‘crazy writer ideas’ as Sue called them. A large dumpster sat on the side of the parking lot. What if it contained a dead body?
Gleefully, she ran downstairs and out the door. Of course, she didn’t expect to find a real dead body in her neighbor’s dumpster, but she needed to check it out in order to get a sense of the setting for her book. Whenever she wrote, she tried to act out as much or set up as much as possible for authenticity’s sake.
Violet always realized such freedom when in the midst of a book. She liked this phase of writing—the research and planning—almost as much as the writing itself. All her creative energies were suddenly set loose. Her aunt sometimes didn’t like where that led her, but after dealing with years of grief, she gave her niece a little free rein. When Violet researched a book, she forgot about herself. No fears or phobias paralyzed. Only the quest for a story with plenty of interesting details existed.
She wrinkled her nose as she leaned in to inspect the dumpster. She had to pull herself up and balance a bit on the rim in order to see inside. There were times when she wished she were a little taller than five feet. At least the large street light did its job overlooking the parking lot behind The Coffee House. From the look of the nearly empty parking lot, everyone had already gone home and no one would witness her exploits. She knew from experience that some people were less… understanding than others.
She expected the dumpster to be more disgusting although it did stink pretty bad. As she stepped on the lip and pulled herself up to look, the street lamp next to it lit up the interior, thankfully. Inside appeared pretty much as she expected. In fact, it differed little from the dumpster outside the diner back in Butterfield. However, this one had the atmosphere she craved. Perhaps the rumble of traffic she heard in the background did it or the many houses and buildings so close together or the not quite darkness no matter the hour.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
Violet froze at the angry, definitely masculine voice behind her.
“I said, ‘What are you doing!?’”
If anything, the voice sounded even angrier. Slowly Violet set her feet back on the ground and turned around. Her eyes widened when she beheld not one, but two men coming toward her. She reached into her jacket pocket and fingered her pepper
spray, another parting gift from her aunt.
“Hi, there,” she spoke first. “Nice weather we’re having tonight.” What a stupid thing to say! Oh well. At least she had the pepper spray. Holding onto it made her feel a little more brave.
“What were you doing in that dumpster?” The words were slow and measured, even a bit condescending, as if he spoke to someone not quite all there.
Violet experienced a twinge of insult, but fear overruled. “Well, you see, I needed to get ideas for my research. I wanted to get the all the impressions I could, sights, sounds, smells, and touch. I didn’t want to taste anything, though. That would be gross.”
Oh dear, now they must really think I’m loony. She opened her mouth to try to explain further, but the man who had been speaking moved forward suddenly and Violet panicked. She whipped out her pepper spray and sprayed them both, nearly emptying the bottle.
As the two men howled in pain, she ran as fast as her legs would take her back to her uncle’s house, shutting and locking the door behind her.
She squeaked and dropped her keys as her cell phone beeped. Laughing she bent over and picked them up as she answered her phone.
“Hello, Aunty. I’ve had the most exciting adventure.”
“Uh oh. What happened?”
“Well, first off, it wasn’t that bad of a drive. I only got turned around once. I was sooo glad for that GPS on my new smart phone. Thank-you so much! Then, as I was driving up here, I wondered, ‘Why on earth do they call this Chicagoland?’ It sounds like some kind of crazy amusement park. Then, with all of those highways and ramps, I decided that Chicagoland is probably a very good name for this place.”
“So, you got there safely. You’re all right?”
“Oh, I’m fine.”
“Well, I’m glad that’s all the adventure you had. I worried it might be something worse.”
“Oh, the drive wasn’t my adventure. It was merely the lead-up to the adventure I had.”
“Oh no,” her aunt groaned. “What happened?”
“Well, I didn’t have any problems at all getting into the house. The key worked great. I worried about that, but only for a second or two.”
It was good Violet’s aunt didn’t stand there with her niece right then. She might have strangled the girl. “Dear, can you skip ahead and tell me what happened?”
“Sorry.” Violet’s sheepish tones carried through the phone. “I do tend to go on and on when I’m excited about something, don’t I?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” Contrite now, she continued, skipping ahead to the pertinent details. “I was standing upstairs in Uncle’s house when I looked out one of the windows and the perfect dumpster stood in back of The Coffee House next door. By the way, there’s a Coffee House next door! I can’t wait to check it out tomorrow!”
“Violet, focus.”
“Right, well, anyway, as I was looking out the window, I saw a dumpster and I had the best idea for my latest mystery/adventure story.” Violet paused dramatically. “What if a girl found a dead body in a dumpster? Isn’t that great? I simply had to go right away and look inside and smell and even touch some of the trash. Eww, I should probably wash my hands.”
Aunt Mabel heard Violet running water in the sink. “Okay, so you had to go check out a dumpster for your research. How is that an adventure?” The woman really hoped a mere rat or something like that frightened her niece.
“Well, as I was looking inside, two men came up behind me and said, ‘What are you doing?’ I have to remember their voices all deep and scary. Oh yes, only one of them spoke. Well, I have to remember his voice. That would be great to add to my story.”
“Violet what happened? Did you have your pepper spray?”
“Yes. They kept asking what I was doing there. So, I got down and tried to explain, but they came forward and I freaked out and sprayed them both. Then, I ran back here and locked the door behind me and then you called.” She finished all this in one breath.
Aunt Mabel was silent for a few moments. Then, “Violet, do you remember where those two men were coming from?”
“I’m not sure. I think they were coming from the Coffee House.”
“Do you think it possible that they were employees there and didn’t want someone dumping stuff into their dumpster? The owner gets charged extra for that.”
The older woman heard Violet’s intake of breath. “Oh no. I never thought of that. That would explain why that one guy sounded so angry. You know, they were kind of cute, especially the silent one.”
Sometimes Aunt Mabel found it difficult to follow Violet’s train of thought at all, especially when she was in the middle of researching. It was easier once she actually started writing. Then, at least all the worst of the craziness was done. “So, you’re safe and you should probably go and see if those two men are all right.”
“I’ll go right now.”
“NO!” her aunt cried. She took a deep, calming breath before continuing. “Just wait until tomorrow. It’s late. Even though tomorrow is Sunday, the Coffee House will probably be open for a few hours. You can find out if they work there and apologize then.”
Aunt Mabel was glad Violet didn’t argue with her logic. Her niece had to be exhausted. “Okay, I’ll wait. At least I get to go to church before I have to face them.”
“So you found a church near you?”
“Yes. I looked on-line before I left. I even printed out a map to and from. It’s funny. You can’t just back track on your directions here. Sometimes the entrances to certain streets can’t be got from the other direction.”
Aunt Mabel nodded. “That was smart of you to realize that before you got lost. I’m sure after a few days you’ll start to feel your way around better.”
Violet laughed at that. “I doubt it. Some of those folks on the street are crazy!”
They both laughed. Then Violet signed off and got ready for bed. All that excitement had really wiped her out.
As she crawled into bed that night, she prayed thanking the Lord for getting her there safely. It was lonely, but her pastor had preached that lonely times were opportunities to draw closer to the Lord, finding comfort and companionship in Him. During this time, Violet intended to use her time wisely and pray and read her Bible more. The Lord had always been so faithful. She wanted to get closer to Him. He was certainly worth it.
As she drifted off to sleep, she wondered what church would be like...
Chapter 6
Meanwhile, Mrs. Givens, owner of The Coffee House and mother of the two men involved in the recent fiasco by the dumpster, busily nursed them, encouraging them to wash out their eyes in the sink and providing eye drops and cold compresses. Sam Givens (the silent one) took it all in stride, but Jesse, his older brother, seemed to have it the worst of the two.
“You know, if you keep rubbing them, it makes it worse,” said Sam. “My eyes are already better.”
“I’m so happy for you,” Jesse replied sarcastically.
“Sam is right,” said their mother, “but I’ll check if I’ve got any more eye drops in my purse.”
As their mother left to go get her purse from one of the back rooms, Sam gazed around the large open space and breathed in the wonderful scent of coffee. The Coffee House, a home away from home exuded peace and calm. Not merely a place for coffee, it encouraged relaxation, community, and tranquility. It made one feel safe. His mother also cultivated it as a place of ministry. Sam met with friends, taught Bible studies, and prayed with many people here. This place contained a lot of happy as well as sad memories. Life happened. At the Coffee House, people couldn’t help but feel welcomed and loved. If they had a problem, they knew they could freely unburden themselves and find comfort. Here, his mother succeeded in bringing hearts and souls closer together.
The layout of the place was warm and inviting. Several dark, leather couches and chairs with ottomans sat scattered throughout the large, rectangular roo
m, along with tables and booths that sat either two or four people. Along the center of the side wall a large gas fireplace put out the perfect amount of heat to make the room cozy in winter. Presently, he was sitting on a couch and his brother was sitting in a comfortable leather chair in front of it.
As Sam leaned forward to pick up his coffee mug from off of a short, end table, his big brother Jesse reminded him of a puppy dog. He loved having their mom baby him. Sam opened his mouth to tease him about it, but at his brother’s obvious misery face, he decided not to.
Just then, their dad and younger sister, Ivy came in. As their father went to the counter to place their orders, Ivy came over and said, “I picked Dad up from the hospital after he got called in for an emergency surgery. Dad wanted a late decaf so, here we are.” Seeing Jesse’s red, irritated eyes, she asked, “What happened?”
“We got pepper sprayed,” Sam replied in a matter-of-fact voice.
“What?!” said Doctor Givens as he sat down and handed Ivy a large cup of decaf.
“Well, we thought we had found the person who was dumping their trash in Mom’s dumpster behind the Coffee House, but she pepper sprayed us before we got the chance to really question her.”
“You got bested by a girl?” Ivy gleefully took the opportunity to tease her big brothers.
“She was pretty short too,” Sam added helpfully. “Kinda cute.” He wasn’t at all embarrassed.
Jesse looked narrowly at his siblings.
“Did you recognize her at all? Did she wear a uniform or something? Did she say why she might be using your mother’s dumpster?” asked their father.
“No, and no, and she said something about doing research,” answered Jesse.
“If we meet her again, we’ll be sure to ask from a distance,” said Sam, helpfully.
“I hope she’s guilty. Then, we can press charges,” said Jesse.