As Rebecca, and Vincent arrived at the restoration chamber, she excitedly pointed out a few items she thought may be of some interest to Vincent, and then noted, the old dark pine roll top desk, had been in the chamber he had chosen for Catherine.
As Vincent gently lifted the lid, and rolled it back, he softly said, “Then this would have been Anna’s..."
And because Rebecca couldn't hear what Vincent had said, she curiously, queried, “What was that Vincent? Who’s desk would it have been?”
Snapping out of his thoughts, Vincent relayed what Jacob had revealed to him, which was, Anna used to occupy the chamber he had chosen for Catherine.
Thoughtfully, Vincent ran his hand across the fine wood, and asked, "So no one has chosen this desk yet Rebecca?”
Rebecca shook her head, as she said, “No not yet Vincent! Do you want to put it in Catherine’s chamber?”
To which Vincent looked at Rebecca as he sentimentally said, “No actually, I desire to acquire it for myself. It would mean so much to me, to have something such as this of Anna’s.”
Quizzically, Rebecca then asked, “Wouldn’t you rather have something more personal from her chamber?”
Vincent nodded as he dreamily assured Rebecca, “To imagine Anna sitting here at this desk, constructing correspondence, or perhaps reading…well Rebecca, what could be more personal than that?”
Rebecca looked at Vincent, and agreed, “I see what you mean, when I am alone at my desk, I am in my own world, it is my own intimate personal space. Just me and my thoughts. I understand now what you are saying!"
She then said, "Well …I will definitely make certain Anna’s desk is reserved for you then Vincent.”
Gently rolling the lid closed, Vincent said, “Thank you Rebecca.”
Meantime, Mary entered the chamber, and cheerfully said, “I’m back…I went back to the quilting chamber to get something I had been working on since I heard the glorious news of Catherine’s move here to the tunnels. This is for Catherine.”
As Mary handed Vincent a beautifully crafted homemade quilt, he very emotionally said, “Mary…what can I say? This will look beautiful upon Catherine’s bed!”
Vincent then inquired, “But why give it to me Mary? Wouldn’t you rather present it to Catherine yourself?”
Sweetly, Mary looked at Vincent, as she explained, “I thought if I gave it to you now, then you could have it in place when Catherine first sees her new home.”
As Vincent was about to reply, Mary smiled, and butted in as she continued, “Oh call me silly, but I think it is the fine little touches that help make a chamber a home. We woman love the little extras.”
Again Vincent was about to engage, when Mary excitedly added, “But I don’t need to tell you! I’ve seen the lovely touches you have already added in Catherine’s chamber. Oh my yes, you have made a lovely home for her!”
Upon realizing he had a chance to insert his gratitude, Vincent urgently, and sincerely said, “Thank you Mary.”
Demurely, Mary added, “And well Vincent, my contribution such as this quilt, is such a small part in the big scheme you have accomplished.”
Giddily, she continued, “It is just one of those womanly touches I spoke about that I so enjoy. In fact, I have found many times, all you need to do, is add a little this, or a little that, and it will be homey in no time.”
Mary blushed, as she finally said, “Oh Vincent, you better watch me or I will be poking my nose in, puttering about adding this, adding that! Not to say you won't be adding those special little touches youself...ah, I am sure you will, you seen to be doing a fine job on your own Vincent! You certainly don’t need my help.”
Meantime, Vincent tried to hide his amusement, as he realized, Mary was dying to help with Catherine’s chamber. And Vincent knew it would mean alot to Mary if he were to enlist her help...so he thought he would!
As Vincent hesitated a moment, he tried to look humble as he asked, “Ironic you should say I don't need your help Mary...as I was about to ask if you…Oh please, just disregard what I was about to say.”
And then Vincent looked down modestly, acting as if he could not ask such a favor.
Sensing Vincent was about to ask for her expertise, Mary prodded, “Ask me what Vincent…of course you may ask! Come on now, you were saying…about to ask me if I....if I what?!!!”
After the proper amount of prodding, Vincent timidly continued, “I was about to ask, if you would help me with Catherine’s chamber, you know, adding the final touches you just talked so fondly of. However I know it is a lot to ask of…”
Upon hearing Vincent's request, Mary was over the top with excitement, as she butted in and said, “Oh Glory Be…YES! I would love to help!”
Mary then immediately stepped into action, and started inspecting some of the items they had been cleaning, and said, “We should take this chair, and Oh and what about this candle holder?”
With a determined look on her face, Mary continued sorting other items, and said, “Just leave it to me Vincent…this happens to be my specialty!”
Meanwhile, Rebecca slyly looked at Vincent, to let him know she was aware of his lovely gesture to Mary!
In response, Vincent rocked back on his heels, and with his hands fanned out helplessly at his side, he looked back at Rebecca, in a what are you insinuating manner!
Rebecca continued to smile, and kept nodding, until she received a smile back from him, acknowledging he had been discovered.
And so with a questioning manner, Mary looked at Rebecca, and asked, “Remember those doilies I have been working on, and that beautiful Angel picture we uncovered, well those would be lovely in Catherine’s chamber, don’t you think so Rebecca?”
As Rebecca smiled back at Vincent, she answered Mary, “Yes Mary, just perfect!”
The next morning immediately after breakfast, Vincent was heading back to Catherine’s chamber, when he was stopped by Ronald, who called out, “Wait up Vincent.”
As Ronald caught up with him, he asked, “Will you be joining me in the Community Chamber for our work out this morning?”
Vincent walked along as he placed his arm about Ronald’s shoulder, and asked his friend, “Perhaps tomorrow, I still have things I need to do, to ready Catherine’s chamber for her.”
Ronald asked, “Anything I can help with?”
Nodding Vincent said, “As a matter of fact, yes, I have several pieces of furniture to move, I could use your help.”
Ronald put his hand to his chin, to propose a deal, “You shoot a round of hoops with me, and then we will go hard at completing what you have planned. You need a diversion from your work Vincent. Come take a break. I am missing our routine. You don’t want me to get a gut do you?”
Vincent stopped in his tracks, thinking maybe, he was too single minded in his resolve these past couple of days. So as he looked at Ronald, he conceded, “Thick around the middle…You? Well perhaps you are looking a little soft! Ah yes I will play. I feel I must...it is my duty! OK you have a deal Ronald!”
As the two men headed for the Community Chamber, they began bantering back and forth, who was going to whip who’s butt today, when they saw Mary, who,with her arms full of cute items, cheerfully greeted them, “Good Morning Vincent and Ronald! I am heading for Catherine's chamber!”
To which Vincent asked her, “Mary do you mind if I join you later, Ronald has challenged me this morning, and I must do the honorable thing and take him up on it!”
If truth be told, Mary was happy to have time to herself in Catherine's chamber, and so she laughed and said, “You two boys go on ahead, I will be fine! I have tons of ideas spinning in my head!”
To which Vincent sincerely replied, “Thank you Mary, see you shortly.”
Vincent turned to leave, when he thought he should tell Mary, about Peter coming this morning to the tunnels. “Mary, I neglected to tell you last night, Peter is back home, and he…”
Mary nearly dropped all that she was holding, and as she stepped closer to Vincent, she asked, “He is? Oh my!”
Vincent nodded, and helped her readjust her cargo, and said, “Yes, and he is dropping by this morning after his class.”
Mary expressed, “Oh that is wonderful news…that he had a safe trip I mean.”
Vincent put his hand on Mary’s shoulder, and softly said, “Yes it is, isn’t Mary?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Agnes hung up the phone, after talking to Chief Howard, and turned to Catherine who was at the moment, enjoying a steaming bowl of Cream of Wheat.
And so Agnes relayed, “That was the Chief Howard! And he just told me, Mr. Benson is being released at 1:00, so I am thinking it may be less complicated to retrieve his depo before he leaves the hospital.”
To which Catherine agreed, saying, “Yes Agnes, give me 10 minutes and I will be ready. Oh, this is wonderful, I will be able to catch the 6:00 p.m. flight for home!”
And so luckily, everything went smoothly at St. Luke’s, getting the depo.
And as Catherine said a warm goodbye to Mr. Benson, she thanked him for his bravery. And he in turn, thanked her for her bravery as well, and for giving him a chance to do the right thing.
So as Catherine and Agnes walked to the car garage, Catherine admitted, "What a relief! I was beginning to wonder if getting Mr. Benson's depo, was ever going to happen! And because of the faux guard that showed up, well needless to say, Joe was quite nervous something would still happen to jeopardize the case!"
Catherine then shared, “But thanks to Chief Howard's quick thinking, and thought to check with you about the guard...well this could have all ended so tragically."
To which Agnes calmly said, "We did run into a couple of bumps, didn't we? But alls well, that ends well."
Agnes then cheerfully mentioned, “Oh the kids want us to stop by Loma’s around 4:00, they all fell in love with you, and want to treat you to a delicious Mexican meal before you leave.”
With a smile, Catherine turned to Agnes who was driving, and said, “Sounds fun, and I am so glad I have a chance to say goodbye to everyone. Agnes, you have such a great bunch of kids."
With a humble tone, Agnes replied, "Well thank you dear, I like them too..."
They both shared a smile, and then Catherine inquired, “Do you suppose I could use your office this afternoon?”
To which Agnes generously said, “Of course Dear, my fully operational office is in the Den at home. Fax and all!”
Excitedly, Catherine replied, “Great, then I can type all this up, and fax it over to Joe, and get this into his hands, and out of mine! ”
And then Catherine giggled as she added, "And then I'll be more than ready for that Margarita!”
To be continued
Chapter Ten
| Dreams of Gold! By Sharon Holtz Chapter Nine |
