Crabapple Farm
May 25th, 1984
Dinner was over, the dishes done, and the family had dispersed to various places within Crabapple Farm. Brian Belden sat on the back steps, staring off into the approaching dusk.
“It really isn’t that bad.”
Startled, Brian turned to see Tessa standing behind him, her face a study in sympathy. Forcing a smile, he asked, “What isn’t?
“The money.” Tessa sat down next to her cousin. “It’s okay,” she said. “I know all about the trusts.”
“I...Uncle Andrew said...” Brian shook his head. “How do you know?”
Tessa shrugged. “I know most of what goes on in Uncle Andy’s business, because I’m his partner.” She laughed at Brian’s look of surprise. “My parents were Uncle Andy’s silent partners. They’re gone, so now I’m the not-so-silent partner. He’s been pushing me to take an interest in the businesses for the last several months. I’m supposed to participate fully, once I turn eighteen.”
“It’s a little overwhelming,” Brian admitted. “I’ve never actually seen that much money, let alone thought about owning it. I don’t know what to think.”
“Well,” Tessa said. “You need to get used to it, because it will get bigger each year. When Uncle Andy started the trust, you were five. Back then, the maximum he could give without taxes, was three thousand dollars. Two years ago, that was increased to ten thousand. He plans to keep giving at least until you are twenty-five. That’s another seventy thousand dollars, minimum.”
“I don’t think I can wrap my head around it. I’ve always had to work for the things I wanted.”
“Well, it’s not like you can just take it and become a jet-setting playboy,” Tessa reminded him. “Any money you need now has to be approved by the trustee as a personal loan to yourself, and paid back. You don’t have any control over the trust until you’re thirty.”
“It just doesn’t seem right,” Brian said. “I haven’t done anything to earn this money.”
“That’s true,” Tessa agreed. “But you have to look at it from Uncle Andy’s point of view; he’s made some really good business decisions, and they’ve made him a lot of money. He can’t spend it all, that’s not his way. Instead, he set up trust accounts for all of his nieces and nephews. He wants to share his wealth with his family, but according to him, all of the Beldens are too proud, and too stubborn to accept it.” Tessa thumped her older cousin on the knee.
Brian had to laugh. The statement was too true. “I never really thought of it like that. I mean about Uncle Andrew being wealthy.”
“That’s because money is secondary to Uncle Andy,” Tessa said wisely. “Family always comes first, before everything, including his own needs.” She broke off, biting her lip.
Brian caught something in her tone. Looking at her, he asked, “Is that why you asked to come here?”
Tessa looked away, watching the sun fade behind the trees. “Partly,” she admitted. “Although, I’ll deny it if he asks.” She met Brian’s eyes with her own. “For the last two years, ever since he found out my mother had died, Uncle Andy has put me first. He put me in the best school, he rearranged his schedule to spend time with me. After the accident, he stayed with me, and made sure I had only the best. Brian,” Tessa’s eyes welled. “Uncle Andy finished his business in England nine months ago, but he stayed so I would have a home. He has no social life, and he’s left much of his business to managers, because of me. Eventually, he’s going to go stir crazy.”
“So you decided to take yourself out of the equation?”
Tessa smiled, and shrugged. “I do miss having a family, and your parents did offer to let me live here. Now that I’ve actually met everyone, it really isn’t a difficult decision.”
“Do you think you can be happy here?” Brian asked. “We’re not exactly the Cleavers.”
“No one is the Cleavers,” Tessa said. “My family certainly wasn’t. The important thing is that you love each other. It shows, you know. It really does.”
“I guess you’re right,” Brian admitted. “I think sometimes I take that for granted. The love, I mean. It just is.”
“Don’t take it for granted,” Tessa told him softly. “Never, ever. The money that you’re so worried about, Brian, it’s just money. It won’t ever take the place of your family.”
Brian was silent, absorbing her words. “You know a lot about that, don’t you?”
Tessa nodded. “I have a lot of money. I have half of Uncle Andy’s businesses, I have my parents’ money and property, and I know that there’s even more on my Daddy’s side of the family, even if I haven’t even met them, yet. But I’d give it all away, if I could have them back. My family. No matter how much I have, I don’t have them.” Her voice trailed off, choked with unshed tears.
Brian stared helplessly at his cousin. Gently, he wrapped his arms around her. “Well,” he told her, “you have us,now, and I know we’re glad to have you.”
Monday, May 28, 1984
Sleepyside train station
“I’m going to head over to Josie’s house,” Dan said to Jim, looking at his watch. “I told her I’d pick her up for the parade by seven, and it’s almost six-thirty.”
“Sounds good to me,” Jim said. “We’re supposed to be meeting the rest of the gang in front of the bank. I’ll save you two a spot. Are we still on for Wimpy’s after the parade?”
“Yeah. I’ll have Josie’s sister Katie with me, too. Save us three places, okay?”
“You bet. See you in a few.” Jim headed off toward Main Street, and Dan started toward the Fisher’s.
Standing on the Fisher’s porch, Dan took a moment to tuck in his shirt and run his hand through his hair, before knocking on the door. Duke, the Fisher’s dog, began barking wildly.
Katie answered the knock. Her dark eyes widened at the sight of Dan, but she didn’t utter a word. Holding up a single finger, she closed the door in his face. Dan heard her yelling, “Josie! Dan’s here.”
Somewhat perplexed and amused, Dan leaned against the porch rail. He and Josie had been out on five occasions. Katie had never left him standing outside before. The door opened, and Dan straightened, a smile on his face. “Are you ready for the torchlight parade?”
Josie glared at him, and the smile slowly faded from Dan’s face. He hadn’t known that chocolate brown eyes could look so completely glacial.
“Go away.”
Confused, Dan stepped toward the angry young woman. “Josie, what’s wrong?”
Sparks flared in her eyes, and she stepped out onto the porch, pulling the door closed behind her. “How dare you?” she hissed, her voice low and tight with fury. “How dare you show up, as if nothing happened? It wasn’t your place. You had no right!”
“What are you talking about?” Dan took a step backwards. “What do you think I’ve done?”
“I know what you did!” Josie spat. “ And so do you. You sent my articles to Indiana University, without my permission!”
“What?” Dan felt as if he had been dropped into some surreal parallel universe. “I did what?”
“Don’t play dumb. It had to be you.” Josie paced back and forth. “It wasn’t Mart or Mr. Zimmermann. It wasn’t me or anyone in my family, and I’ve spent the whole weekend ruling out everyone else around here. You’re the only one left.”
Dan just stared at her, dumfounded. He felt anger beginning to bubble up inside him at Josie’s incomprehensible and unjust accusations.
“It’s not enough that my folks are worrying about Mom’s next batch of test results. No. You have to get me a scholarship for the summer internship. In Indiana! Now they want me to go. Who is going to take care of Mom while I’m gone for six weeks, huh? You? Katie can’t do it herself, you know.”
“Just stop!” Dan had finally had enough. Startled, Josie halted her tirade and squared off against him, her rage still evident on her face. Dan took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. “First, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I haven’t sent your articles to anyone. I gave the set you gave me to B.J.” Dan felt his voice growing colder and more precise. “Second, I don’t even know where in Indiana this University is, so why or how I would send anything there, I don’t know. Third, I get here to take you and your sister to the parade, and instead, I get yelled at and accused of...well, I don’t know what I’m being accused of! Finally, this conversation is over, Josie. If you ever decide to be rational, come find me.” Dan turned on his heel, and stormed out to the street. He was six blocks down the road, before his anger began to fade, replaced by a painful feeling that he refused to identify.
“Hey, Trix,” Jim said with a smile. “Is that my place you’re saving?”
Trixie turned, her smile lighting up her whole face. Eyes twinkling, she said, “Maybe. How was your trip?”
“Good. It was very good.” Jim said, moving to stand next to her. “How was your visit with your cousin?”
“It was good.” Trixie grinned at him. “Did you figure out my secret?”
“What secret is that?” Diana asked, as she, Honey and Brian joined them.
“The Secret of the Mysterious Cousin,” Jim intoned. “And I am chagrined to admit, that I was unable to solve the mystery of why I will have lots of opportunities to meet the illustrious Tess.”
“Well, that’s easy,” Diana told him. “Tessa is moving into Crabapple Farm in July.”
“Di!” Trixie wailed in mock despair, “Jim was supposed to solve it himself.”
Diana shrugged. “Well, he already admitted he couldn’t.”
“True,” Trixie conceded. “Where is Mart?”
“He stopped for a hot dog.” Diana rolled her eyes, and Jim chuckled. Looking around, Di asked, “Where’s Dan?”
“He went to pick up Josie and Katie,” Jim answered. “So,” he asked Trixie, “Tessa’s moving in with you?”
“Yes. She and Uncle Andrew flew off to Hawaii today, but when they get back, she’s moving to Sleepyside.” Trixie’s smile grew bigger. “I think you’ll like her, Jim. She is really nice, and smart, too. I can’t wait until you meet her.”
“I’m afraid that’s going to have to wait until the end of summer.”
“Why?” Trixie asked, her eyes widening as she answered her own question. “You got the job?”
“Yes,” Jim replied. “Both of us, actually. Dan and I report on the twenty-fourth of June, for orientation. We won’t get finished until August twelfth.”
“Well,” Trixie said. “That’s great news for you. Brian and Mart are counseling too, this summer, so I guess that we’ll be having a girl power summer.”
Brian, overhearing his sister’s comment, gave a mock groan and slapped his forehead. “Oh no!” he moaned. “I can’t even imagine what kind of trouble four of you will find.”
Honey smacked his arm lightly. “We never look for trouble,” she told him.
“It just seems to find us!” Trixie and Diana chorused.
Shaking his head, Jim changed the subject. “I thought Mother and Dad were coming to the parade,” he said to his sister.
“They’re out there somewhere,” Honey told him, waving her hand. “We got home sooner that expected, but Daddy had a business call, so I rode in with Brian, Mart and Trixie. Tom will take them home after the parade, and then he’ll pick us up at Wimpy’s around nine.”
Mart hurried up to them, a smudge of mustard on his chin. With a pained sigh, Diana fished a tissue out of her pocket and wiped it off for him. He gave her a grateful smile and a wink, and looked around. “Hail, hail!” he said cheerfully, “The gang’s almost all here.”
Honey peered down the street, spying Dan as he fought his way through the crowd. “I thought you said Dan was bringing Josie and Katie,” she said.
“I thought he was.” Jim followed her gaze. Dan was moving toward them, alone. His face was grim, his lips tight and his eyes focused completely on his path.
As he approached the group, Dan, becoming aware of their concerned looks, made his face relax into a deliberately blank mask. Only his eyes showed his discomfiture. Forcing a smile, Dan said, “Change of plans. Did I miss anything?”
Silence. Not sure what to say, the Bob-Whites looked from one to another, before Diana spoke up. “Do you mean besides Mart abandoning me in the middle of Main Street, just for a hot dog loaded with mustard?”
“Hey!” Mart protested. “It had pickle relish, too. Besides, I offered to get you one, too.”
“Or maybe you were talking about the “big brother” conversation you missed,” Honey interjected. “They seem to think that, with all of you big strong men away for the summer, we helpless females are going to get into trouble.”
“Ree-dic-u-lous!” Trixie sniffed. Grinning at Dan, she added, “Congrats, though, on getting the job. I’m jealous that you and Jim get to go someplace I haven’t been.”
Firmly pushing his encounter with Josie to the back of his mind, Dan let himself relax into the easy banter of his friends. His real friends, the devil in his head whispered. Turning his attention to the street, he joined in the laughter and cheers, as the torchlight parade began.
“He was right, you know.”
Josie looked up as Katie spoke. Rolling over in the hammock, she glared at her sister. “Go away, Katie. I want to be alone.”
Katie didn’t leave. Instead, she flopped herself down next to her sister, causing the hammock to rock wildly. Duke, who had been resting under the hammock, gave a doggy groan and moved to a safer location. “You were wrong, Jose. You jumped down his throat for no reason.”
“Get out of the hammock,” Josie spat through gritted teeth. “You’re going to break the trees.”
“These trees have been here longer than I’ve been on the planet,” Katie scoffed, bouncing on the netting in open defiance. “Admit it, Sis. You blew it. If you’d treated me like that, I’d have done more than just walk away.”
Josie said nothing. She clamped shut her lips and stared mutinously at the twilight sky. Katie, was undeterred. “Crikes, Josie. You didn’t even give him a chance. I like Dan, and what he said was right. He doesn’t know anything about Indiana or writing for the paper. Why would he even know about the summer journalism program? ”
Josie groaned. “You were spying again.”
“Of course I was,” came the unrepentant reply. “How else am I supposed to find out what’s going on?”
Josie sat up and the hammock swayed wildly. “But I asked everyone,” she stated. “I called everyone Mom sent the paper to. I thoroughly investigated everyone here in Sleepyside. It had to be Dan; he was the only one left.”
“No, he wasn’t.”
“You?” Josie was incredulous. “But...you lied to me?”
“No!” Katie shook her head in disgust. “You know, for someone so smart, you are incredibly dense sometimes. Think, Josie. It had to be someone who knows you and your goals. Someone who knows about the summer programs at IU. Someone who is interested in journalism, himself? Photojournalism, maybe? Someone who knows our very proud brother and grandparents?” Katie stopped, her hand looking suspiciously ready to smack her sister upside the head.
The light dawned. “No way,” Josie whispered, “He wouldn’t dare!”
Katie gave a relieved sigh, and threw herself backwards against the hammock. Suddenly, Josie jumped to her feet, nearly rolling her sister out of the netting.
“Hey!” Katie called to her sister’s retreating back. “Where are you going?”
“I need to make a phone call,” Josie yelled back. “Long distance.”
Katie stretched out, and muttered to herself, “ When you’re done, you might want to start working on a big apology.”
