Chapter 23: Heart in a Box

Peter Marchbanks was excited to learn that Callie was working at Beatrice's Diner. He was a frequent customer there, since he worked as a car salesman across the street. But with the slumping economy, he wasn't sure how long he would be able to afford eating out.

When Callie looked up and saw Peter sitting there, she was surprised. "Hey aren't you Collin's dad?" she grinned.

"Guilty," Peter said, shrugging his shoulders. Collin and Harley were good friends and played together nearly every day.

"Good to see you again," Callie smiled.

"Peter," he prompted.

"I remember your name," Callie lied. Something about the way he was looking at her disarmed her. He was nice enough, but she could tell that by the way he was looking at her he was interested in more than friendship. If there was one thing she knew, it was how to read men. "What can I get for you?"

Peter glanced briefly at the menu. "It's good to see you again Callie," Peter smiled warmly, and then he placed his order.

Callie wrote down his order and quickly retreated. "Mr. Marchbanks likes what he sees," Rhonelle teased as she and Callie passed one another on the way to and from the kitchen. Callie blushed. She knew if Cade saw Peter looking at her the way he was, Cade would be angry. This job was beginning to have some drawbacks, first Mr. Pennington, and now Peter.

When Cade got home from work each night, he was exhausted. Lonnie had not been exaggerating when he said he had more business than he could handle. Cade was learning the ropes quickly, and there was never a dull moment. He and Lonnie worked hard. He understood now why Lonnie had chosen to sleep all day when they were at the lake.

Lonnie's wife Angie printed out flyers and delivered them to everyone who received tax increase notices. She also reserved the Presbyterian Church for a meeting, and continued to push Cade in the direction of spearheading the gathering.

Because of his exhausting days, Cade was more irritable than usual, and Callie and the children often felt they were walking on eggshells. Cade wanted a chance to go to the city and do research on his grandmother, but he couldn't seem to find a day to get away. Instead, he retreated to the basement to sort through more old boxes, hoping to find more clues to the past. Most of the boxes contained junk, and he grew discouraged.

Cade sat down on one of the boxes in exasperation one night and leaned his head back to stretch his neck. It was then that he noticed the tip of something, sticking up above the cement ledge, near the ceiling. He blinked several times, and finally stood up and boosted himself so that he could retrieve whatever was up there.

It turned out to be a very old shoebox covered with dust and dirt, and it had obviously been there for quite awhile. Cade brushed the dirt away from the box and slowly lifted the lid. Inside he found countless letters, bundled together with ribbons. He took a flashlight and boosted himself up once again to make sure there wasn't another box hiding up there, but this was the only one he could find.

He sat down, grabbed one of the bundles of letters, and slowly untied it. He looked at the name on the front of the first envelope, "Martha Holmes" he read. He had half been expecting to read the name "Martha Pennington" on the envelope, but it appeared that his grandmother's maiden name had been Holmes, not Pennington. He opened the first envelope and began reading, "Dear Martha, I can't wait to see you again. It's been cold here and I miss your kisses..." Cade scanned the letter until he came to the signature, "Love, B." His grandfather's name was Walt, so this letter was not from his grandfather. There was no return address on the envelope.

Cade continued reading the letters, finally reaching the conclusion that "B" was likely Bill Pennington, Drake's father. It appeared from the letters that Martha had a love affair with Bill Pennington before she married Walt, but Cade couldn't figure out why she had ended up marrying Walt instead of Bill. From the tone of the letters, Bill and Martha had been very close.

Cade opened the next letter and was pleased when it contained a picture of Bill in his military attire. As he looked at Bill, he realized it was possible the picture inside the locket, could be Bill. He opened the locket and examined the two pictures, eventually reaching the conclusion that one of the pictures in the locket was probably Bill as a little boy, and the other picture was probably a young Martha. Why would the locket contain pictures of both of them as children? Cade concluded that perhaps they had been childhood friends. There was enough familiarity in the letters to suggest a long and enduring relationship.

It grew late however, and Cade could barely keep his eyes open. He reluctantly put the box of letters down. He would have to wait until tomorrow to read more letters and explore the issue further. Perhaps he could speak with Roger from the auto parts store, to find out if Roger knew anything. He crept upstairs and climbed in bed next to Callie, and quickly fell asleep.

Ashley's appearance no longer caused her to stick out like a sore thumb. She no longer appeared gaunt, as she once had. She was still petite, and probably always would be, but she also looked healthy and well cared for. She kept her hair neatly combed and it was well trimmed because Callie insisted the kids go to the hairstylist regularly. Ashley's clothing, although not the most stylish, at least fit her now, and with her new eyeglasses, she could see a lot better.

Ashley's budding friendship with Lisa caused her some unexpected stress. Lisa wanted Ashley to hang out with her and her friends after she had gotten to know Ashley at the lake. However, Ashley felt nervous around Lisa and her friends, as if she didn't belong. Lisa continued to pressure her to forsake her old friends and join Lisa and her group. Ashley soon found herself torn between Lisa's group and her two friends from resource class, April and Justin. Ashley didn't fully trust Lisa or her friends, and she feared that somehow she might wind up as the butt of one of Lisa's friends jokes, because it had happened so often to her in the past. But it was also nice to be part of a less obscure group.

"Are you still going to be my friend?" April asked sheepishly during resource class. It had not escaped her attention that Ashley had been hanging around Lisa, and she obviously felt left out.

"I'll always be your friend," Ashley assured her, and then she recalled the way Lisa and her friends had pressured her to stay away from April and Justin.

April looked down. She and Ashley had been friends ever since Ashley had joined the resource class, and even though they lived far apart, and could not play together outside of school, they had become instant friends. Justin was also their friend. The presence of Lisa in Ashley's life was complicating her relationship with April and Justin.

"Then will you hang out with me at recess today?" April asked hopefully.

"OK," Ashley agreed, but she knew that if she did, Lisa and her group might scorn her. Ashley's insides twisted. They were three misfits who had banded together, and now Lisa had come along to break them apart.

Justin listened to their discussion. "You should go hang out with Lisa if you want," Justin finally said. "Forget about us."

Ashley looked at him curiously, "Why would I do that?"

"Because," Justin said slowly, "You want to be normal, don't you?"