A Cherry Cola Christmas (6 page)

6

True Confessions

M
aura Beth had practically abandoned all hope of finding even one new qualified front desk clerk. Though she had promised to put out feelers with the members of her church, Emma Frost evidently had nothing positive to report so far from the inquiries she had made.

Then, out of the blue, Marydell Crumpton showed up one morning and plopped herself down in Maura Beth's office. How different the two Crumpton sisters were in every way! Where Marydell was slim, modestly dressed, and all folded in upon herself—at least until now—Mamie was frequently bursting at the seams in her gaudy, sequined gowns and intent on having her status in Cherico duly noted wherever she went and whatever she said.

“I know you're wondering why I'm here,” Marydell began, making strong eye contact with Maura Beth as she never had before. “I told that sweet little Renette Posey that I just had to see you immediately, and I'd show myself in, so here I am.”

Maura Beth managed to cover her puzzlement with a smile. “Well, I'm happy to see you, Miz Crumpton.”

“No, please call me Marydell.”

“Marydell, it is, then.”

There was an awkward pause during which neither woman said anything, but Maura Beth finally resumed the tentative conversation. “Did you have a question about our upcoming book review, perhaps?”

Marydell fidgeted in her chair for a moment and then leaned forward. “Oh, no, I'm ready to go with lots of comments about
The Member of the Wedding
this coming Friday. It's not that. It's just . . . well, I happened to see your ad for new front desk clerks on the bulletin board at The Cherico Market the last time I went shopping, and I'm . . . I'm here to apply.”

Maura Beth tried not to show how flabbergasted she was but failed utterly. This was the last thing in the world she would have expected out of Marydell Crumpton's mouth. “You really want to work here as a front desk clerk?”

“I really do.”

“Well, I must say that I'm surprised,” Maura Beth began, trying her best to recover her poise. “Not that I'm not happy to have your interest, of course. These positions have been much harder to fill than I thought. But do you have any idea what the job entails? You'd be standing on your feet a lot, and I'm just wondering if that would really suit you. You're an independently wealthy woman, after all.”

Marydell raised her chin proudly. “And I'm bored to tears, Maura Beth. All I do is play bridge and eat cocktail peanuts and shuffle around the house putting up with Mamie and her pompous view of the known universe. You have no earthly idea what a trial that is!”

Although Maura Beth wanted to say, “I can well imagine,” she restrained herself and settled for, “Well, I'm an only child, so I really don't know what it's like to deal with a sister or brother.”

Then it all began to pour out of Marydell like storm water from a gutter spout. “Count yourself lucky. Mamie is a tyrant in public, and she's ten times worse in private. The servants are terrified of her—why, they practically run and hide when they hear her coming, shouting one of her blustery ultimatums from the other side of the house. But at least they get paid for putting up with her. You know, she's had me thinking all these years that she was our official spokesperson and that I had no right to do or say anything that didn't back her up. Well, I got sick and tired of it, and when Sheriff Dreyfus came to speak at the book club meeting, something inside of me just snapped. I knew at that point that I'd had enough!”

“Good for you, then!” Maura Beth said, sounding just the right note.

“I'm glad you understand. So, I realize only too well that I don't need to work. That's not the point. The truth is, I need to get away from Mamie at least part of the time, and I think this library position might just do the trick. You show me what to do and I'll do it. I promise you won't be disappointed in me. You can even skip paying me a salary, since I don't need it.”

Maura Beth could not help but appreciate the earnest tone in her voice. “I certainly believe you'd be a quick learner. But I'll have to pay you for your work. There'll be no debate about that.”

“I can accept those terms,” Marydell said, perking up noticeably.

Maura Beth didn't have to think twice. Here at last was someone with the intelligence and maturity necessary to understand the job description of library front desk clerk. Maybe Emma would come through with a decent candidate for that second position, but even if she didn't, there seemed to be no reason not to give Marydell Crumpton a chance at the first one.

“I'll need you to go ahead and fill this out completely,” Maura Beth said, handing over an application. “You can pull your chair up to my desk, and here's a nice pen you can use.”

A few minutes later Maura Beth scanned Marydell's application, took a deep breath, stood up, and extended her hand. “Congratulations. You are now one of the library's new front desk clerks. When can you start?”

After the handshake, Marydell said, “You mean to tell me that's it? I get the job just like that?”

“Just like that. So, when can you begin?”

“Well, Monday, I guess. Would that be okay? I mean, I do intend to show up Friday for the book review, so I'd like to get that out of the way first.”

“Perfect.”

“Yes, it will be. It'll give me the weekend to tell Mamie what I've done all by myself without her permission. She won't approve, you know. And I expect she'll try to intimidate me and tell me it's so beneath me to work at the library for practically nothing. But I'm standing up to her for the first time since we were little girls and she told me that she was always going to be the one to name all my dolls. Can you imagine someone being that bossy?”

“Well, knowing your sister—but don't take this the wrong way—yes, I believe I can. Just don't you let her stop you now.”

Marydell looked fiercely determined as she sat back down. “Don't worry, I'll handle it. I'm long overdue in that department.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“You know, Mamie's gotten out of control with her opinions lately,” Marydell continued as if she and Maura Beth had been confidantes for decades. “You might have noticed that she didn't come to Ardenia Bedloe's funeral.”

“To be honest with you, I most certainly did. And Councilman Sparks wasn't there, either.”

“Well, I can't account for him—I mean, who can?—but I do know why Mamie didn't show up. She's decided that she doesn't approve of what's going on between Mr. Place and Periwinkle Lattimore. She says she's well aware it's a free country, but it still offends her sensibilities.”

Maura Beth felt the irritation building somewhere behind her eyes, causing her to squint dramatically. “And how does she know what's going on between them? Is she a fly on the wall?”

Marydell momentarily averted her gaze, as if ashamed. “It's the black-white thing, of course. She says she's not going to their wedding, either. That is, if they do decide to take it that far and get married.”

“I'm sorry to hear your sister feels that way. But somehow I don't think she'll be missed with that attitude. I know for a fact that Periwinkle wouldn't care one way or another. She's her own woman because of all she's accomplished down there at The Twinkle, and if you don't mind my saying so, you've decided to become one, too. Congratulations!”

Marydell looked exactly like a child who had just been praised by her parents for bringing home a good report card. “Thank you. That means so much to me. And you really need to understand that my joining The Cherry Cola Book Club was the smartest thing I've ever done, even if it was Mamie who made the initial decision. It not only got me out of the house for something more stimulating than Miss Voncille's ‘Who's Who in Cherico?' meetings, but it also made me realize that I didn't have to settle for being one of Mamie's appendages. You've done a world of good by starting up the club, and you should pat yourself on the back.”

Now it was Maura Beth's turn to beam. “Well, I realize it's a cliché, but necessity really is the mother of invention. I had to come up with something quick to keep the library afloat and Councilman Sparks from completely shutting us down. He had me so intimidated those first few years, saying no to everything I proposed, that I didn't think it was going to be possible to improve the library in any way. I was on the verge of giving up.”

“Well, Durden Sparks really is a mixed bag when you get right down to it,” Marydell observed. “He's done some good things for Cherico, but he's always been too full of himself. Our families have been connected for generations, of course, and Mamie continues to give him the benefit of the doubt all the time. And generous contributions to all his campaigns, by the way. I'm just glad that you've been able to handle him, and he didn't run you out of town.”

“Believe me, it wasn't for lack of trying,” Maura Beth told her with a shrug. “But the contribution that you and Mamie made to the new library campaign fund pretty much put it over the top. It enabled us to go ahead with the plans a lot sooner than we'd projected. You came through for us big-time, and I'll always be indebted.”

Marydell suddenly blushed and took a while to find the right words. “I . . . uh, have a confession to make now that's it all over and done with and the new library is going up out at the lake. Mamie . . . didn't want to make the contribution at first. It's true that there's oodles and oodles of money in the trust fund our parents left us, but you'd think we were on welfare the way Mamie nickels and dimes people to death for whatever we order and buy. But I appealed to that ego of hers that's as big as her bosom. I told her that this was our big chance to put our family name on a building that would be around a lot longer than we'd be. We both have used the library all our lives, so for one of the few times in my life I can recall, I won an argument with my big sister—and the rest is history.”

Maura Beth shot her a skeptical glance and giggled. “Don't forget about the slivered almonds on the chocolate pudding argument. I think we'll all remember that as the time you came out of your shell.”

Both women were laughing now, and Marydell said, “I have something else to share with you that's pretty funny. When we got home from the sheriff 's talk that day, Mamie was fit to be tied, just strutting around the room mumbling things. Then the first thing she screamed at me was ‘Nuts!' ”

“As in almonds?”

“Well, that was her opening gambit. From there she went on to say that I was crazy to air our family's dirty laundry out in the open that way in front of all those people. So she repeated, ‘Nuts! You are nuts!' ”

“Slivered almonds are dirty laundry?”

“I know,” Marydell added with a smile. “All I have to say is that it's a good thing Mamie has never had to work a day in her life because she couldn't survive in the real world with her pampered priorities.”

Maura Beth picked up Marydell's application again and gave it a gentle thumping with her finger. “Well, this is proof that you're not afraid to do an honest day's work. I can't wait for you to start working with us here. I'm sure you'll like it. And now that I know the truth, I want to thank you again for making my dream of a new library come true.”

“You're very welcome, and I'm excited to become an integral part of it on a daily basis.”

 

Maura Beth and Emma Frost were getting ready to open up the library the morning of
The Member of the Wedding
potluck and review. There was a biting, late-October chill hanging over Greater Cherico—one that required bringing winter coats out of closets and urgently fumbling with keys at front doors to escape it later on. But once they were inside, Emma spoke up with a noticeable tension in her voice.

“Miz Maura Beth . . . I have somethin' I need to tell ya . . . and give to ya, too. Could we go into your office for just a minute? It's really very important you hear what I have to say.”

As no one had entered the library yet, Maura Beth pointed the way, but Emma did not take a seat, obviously preoccupied by something. Then she pulled $120 in cash from her purse and placed the bills atop the considerable paperwork scattered around Maura Beth's desk.

“There!” she exclaimed, gesturing emphatically toward the money. “Take it off my hands!”

Maura Beth's eyes widened. “What's this?”

“It's the money I stole from The Twinkle.”

“
You
stole?”

“Yes, I was the one who did it. My conscience, well, it wouldn't let me keep it no longer. Not with everybody all over town keepin' an eye out the way they've been. And that's the reason there hasn't been more stealin'. I've learned my lesson, and I've gotta give the money back now.”

“Let's both sit,” Maura Beth said, looking incredulous. She said nothing more at first, trying to take it all in. “First, let me understand this. You're telling me that you sneaked in and out of The Twinkle and stole those tips from Lalie Bevins? You—my loyal, trustworthy, churchgoing Emma Frost—you actually did that? Excuse me if I find that close to being absurd.”

Emma's head was bowed, and she began tearing up. “I know it's hard to believe, but I did it. And even though I'll be givin' it back, I know I'll be punished for it when the time comes for me to meet my Maker. But . . . I was hopin' maybe you could help me out, Miz Maura Beth—you bein' such good friends with Miz Periwinkle and all. Maybe if you could return it for me and ask her to keep the police out of it and not press charges? I know what I did was wrong, but I just cain't be away from my Leonard now. I cain't go to jail. He'd be lost without me, and I don't wanna put it all on my Cissy or some sitter, neither. I have to do my part at home.”