Nanci had brought the contract for the refrigerator to school that day. To get the order processed I needed a down payment of $100. Normally I wouldn’t have had money in the bank but Elle had gotten her first full paycheck the previous Friday. So I made a “loan” vowing to repay it as soon as I had access to my trust. After supper we all piled into the station wagon and headed for Nanci’s house. Neither Nanci or her husband, Fritz, would be considered to be what people would call “outgoing”. Reserved would be a better description. However, Fritz greeted us at the door and was the most effusive I’d ever seen him. He stuck out his hand and congratulated us. I wasn’t sure for what but when Nanci appeared she filled us in. By combining their order with ours we’d be able to share shipping costs. My fist thought was “What shipping costs?” I’d never given it a thought. Fritz went on to show me how much money we both were saving. I’d meant to check the prices in the Montgomery Ward catalog but hadn’t. Fritz had them all worked out. Even with shipping we were actually saving about 15% over the catalog store. He also told us that the trucking company would unload and put the new refrigerator in place. I kept glancing at Elle and could see she was really excited. It’s actually funny in writing about it after all these years to realize that a refrigerator could turn a woman on so much.
The next day at work was to be the monthly Board of Trustees meeting which meant all of them would be in. That got me back to worrying about what some of them might have to say about Gina. I can’t tell you just why I still had her application in my briefcase but I did and, more importantly, remembered that I did. I dug it out and called her. She was really surprised to hear from me, immediately thinking there was something wrong. I assured her there wasn’t but I needed her to do me (and the bank as a whole) a big favor. She didn’t hesitate one bit and asked what it was. I actually asked if she’d wear one of her longer skirts the next day. I remember her laughing. She didn’t hesitate at all assuring me that she’d be “presentable”. In my mind she was, very definitely, “presentable”. When I hung up Elle wanted to know what the call had been about. I “fudged” my answer and changed the subject back to the refrigerator and what we were going to do with the one we already had. That got her back on track and, again, very excited. I immediately started plotting my next move and that was to elicit approval for a picture or two.
We were turning off the lights prior to heading upstairs when I broached the subject. She laughed and asked what had taken me so long. The only caveat was that since the refrigerator wasn’t in place I could only have one picture. I hated that because it put a lot of pressure on me to get a good one with my only try. I grabbed the camera and followed her up the stairs. Much to my disappointment she decreed that I could only take her backside. When I complained she said I could “revisit” the request after the refrigerator arrived and was being used. I kept my word and only took one but I can tell you that as I lay in bed that night I was coming up with a whole bunch of scenes that I wanted to take.
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| Note two pair... |
Because I was so interested in the service bureau issue I stayed until the meeting was over. I’d done this in the past and seldom did any of the Trustees even acknowledge my presence when leaving. When I saw two headed my way I figured it had to be about Gina. I was wrong! It was Donna they were asking about. They thought it was a mistake to take her off the teller line. They thought that having a good looking older woman (Donna was only a bit over 40) on the line offered a balance between Letitia (the so-called head teller who was 50 something but looked older) and all the “kids”. I just smiled and told them that Donna possessed skills needed in the mortgage department and also that J J had requested her. Even though it wasn’t the exact truth it was close enough to get them to move on. Hobie was one of the most laid-back people that I knew but when he got back to his desk I knew enough to keep my mouth shut. Normally, after a meeting, he’d get out his pipe and light it up, sit back in his chair and relax. He just dumped the Minutes book on his desk, nodded at me and headed for the coat room. That told me the next day was going to be “interesting”.
Elle, who knew I’d be late, was quiet when I walked in. The kids had been fed and were playing games out in the living room. The look on her face told me there was some bad news coming. It was. Sandy had been taken to the hospital. Phyl, her neighbor, had told Elle that she thought it had to do with her pregnancy. I know women have unique feelings when it comes to having babies but I actually had a bad feeling when Elle told me that. I called her husband, Johnnie, a friend but we really weren’t as close as Elle and Sandy had become. But, I knew from talking casually with him that Sandy’s pregnancy was a big deal for both of them. On a personal level, having Sandy in the hospital affected us too as she was the babysitter for Kaye on Thursdays.
In a small town it doesn’t take bad news to travel fast. Even though Elle knew Ginger had her hands full with her four kids she called to ask her if she could take Kaye in for the day. I really don’t know how long they were on the phone together but it was a fair amount of time. I ended up putting the kids to bed. When she finally took the phone from her ear she couldn’t wait to fill me in with all the “news”.
As far as Sandy was concerned, she’d been “spotting”, not a good thing in a pregnancy, especially in the early stages. However, when she discovered a lot more than just a few spots she called her doctor. He just told her to get off her feet and to go to bed. After a few more days she mentioned it to Nanci who suggested that Sandy call the gynecologist who’d delivered her last child. Elle and I’d grown up with just the one doctor in town who did everything (a general practitioner) from treating colds to fixing broken bones to delivering and caring for babies and that was who Sandy had been going to. But he was getting old and when we moved back into town Elle ended up with a husband and wife doctor team. One treated women and all their problems (a gynecologist) while the other treated pregnant mothers to be during through to birth (an obstetrician). In any case, Sandy had been going to the old timer (the GP) and when she called them and explained the situation she was told to get to the hospital immediately.
To be continued...
1 comment:
Love the pic PM, thanks for sharing it! Gina sounds like a sharp cookie, very on the ball. Hope the baby was OK.
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