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Treasures of Her Heart

By Gail Gaymer Martin

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Nikki Townley stared at the telephone. This was definitely a chicken-noodle-soup situation, but she had made her decision. After soul-searching, prayer and tears, she’d finally come to grips with herself, but how could she tell her best friend?
She’d longed for change. Her life needed purpose, something more meaningful. San Francisco. Milan. Beijing. The travel sounded exciting and impressive to some people, but to her, the routine had become boring and empty. And lately, she’d heard God’s soft voice prodding her to do more with her life.
She ran her fingers over the telephone, trying to form the words aloud, but she couldn’t without crying. That’s exactly what she would do as soon as she heard Rob’s voice.
Nikki drew in a breath. So what? He’d seen her cry before. At times, he’d teased her about being a whiner. He’d even admitted he thought it was cute, and he would bring over cans of chicken noodle soup to make her feel better. But then, what were best friends for?
Just as she suspected tears pooled in her eyes, and she dragged her finger over her wet lashes. Stupid. Get it over with. She grasped the phone, then let her grip slip from the receiver. She’d waited nearly two weeks for him to return from his business trip so she could talk with him and today he would arrive home. The time was now to get the idea into the open. She checked her wristwatch, then grasped the receiver again but punched in his number. Holding her breath, she listened to the line connect and heard his rich, warm hello.
“Rob, it’s me. I’m so glad you’re back.” Only a few words, yet her voice lurched as if she’d swallowed a Mexican jumping bean.
“Nikki-Nack, what’s wrong?” His voice lifted in concern.
Though sometimes Nikki didn’t know if she should cringe or laugh when he called her that silly nickname, today the words warmed her like a comfortable old quilt. “Rob, I-I really need to talk with you.”
“Tell me what’s wrong.”
“I hate when you have to travel. Especially to places like Australia.” Tears dripped to her cheeks. “I thought Saturday would never get here, but it did and you’re back. You always seem to go away when I’m having a major crisis.”
“Crisis? You want me to bring over some chicken noodle soup?”
Silence hung for a moment as if he waited for her to laugh, but she couldn’t.
“Are you joking?”
His concern wrap over her, but she couldn’t respond.
“Nickki. What is it? Something’s really wrong, isn’t it?”
Wrong? A shudder ran down her back. “I hope it’s right, Rob.” She knew he hated her to talk in riddles. “I’ve made a major life decision while you were gone. And I guess I need your validation.”
“You know I’ll listen. But how about giving me a hint. You know I hate surprises.”
Concern coursed through her. She couldn’t tell him this on the phone. “The whole thing’s so complicated, Rob. You know I’ve hated my work lately. Maybe, not hated it, but I’ve been miserable.” She took a deep breath. “I’ve decided to leave Broadman. I’m giving my notice on Monday.” That was only part of it. She closed her eyes. She wanted to tell him the rest in person.
“Leaving Broadman? You mean quit? Resign?”
She nodded at the telephone until a soft yes formed on her tear-salted lips.
“Resign a eighty-thousand dollar a year job? But what will you do? Where can you go and make that kind of money?” His voice lifted with deeper concern.
Nikki drew in a ragged breath. “I can’t, Rob. And that’s part of what I want to talk to you about. But in person, not on the phone. Can you come over later? Soon?” She held her breath, waiting for his answer.
“You know I’ll come as soon as I can get there. I’d hoped to see you today anyway.”
A blast of air escaped her. “Thanks. You’re the dearest friend in the world.”
“I’ll be there in a half-hour. As soon as I can.”
“Okay.” A faint grin pulled at her mouth. “And Rob?”
“Yes?”
“You don’t have to bring the chicken noodle soup. Just bring yourself.” She tried to turn her grin into a smile, but she failed.
She stared at the receiver for a moment before returning it to the cradle, envisioning Rob’s handsome face and his lopsided grin. Yet today she pictured tension in his warm brown eyes and in his strong jaw.
How did people survive without a good friend? She and Rob counted on each other so often for some of the worst things— dating advice, commiserating about boring dates, career advice, and even nursing each other when sick. What would she do without him? Considering it weighted her chest.
When the doorbell rang, sooner than she expected, Nikki calmed herself and opened the door while struggling to keep from throwing herself into his arms. “Aren’t you a sight?” she said, eyeing his welcoming grin. “And prompt as ever.” She forced a halfhearted smile to her face.
He opened his arms, and she stepped into his embrace as firm and secure as he had always been.
“If I could change one thing about you, Nikki-Nack, it would be your cryptic messages. I spent the last half hour trying to imagine what’s going on.” He shook his head and slipped his arm around her shoulders. “So give. I can’t wait another minute.”
She guided him into the living room, aware of his good-looks and great physic and amazed that he’d been her dear friend without ever dropping her for a woman who adored him as a possible husband. Though the thought rarely crossed her mind, today his importance knotted in her chest. The proposed changes in her life could put a hole in their long-term friendship.
He studied her face before sinking beside onto the sofa.
“You know, I’ve been whining about my career.” She settled beside him and raised her eyes to his mouth, hoping she caused a tiny smile with the reference. Though his lips curved faintly upward, she saw the white tension. “You’ve listened to me talk for so long about needing a change, something purposeful, a career with more meaning than what I’ve been doing the past six years.”
“What is it?” His voice edged with impatience. “Spit it out. Decode?”
She swallowed. “I’m moving, Rob.” As she suspected might happen, tears pooled in her eyes and began the slow journey down her cheek.
“Moving?” His pitch shot upward. “What do you mean moving?”
“I’m going up north to Harbor View.”
“What’s Harbor View?” He closed his eyes for a second. “Wait. That’s where your mother’s aunt lives—-the one with that antique shop, The Brass . . . something or other.”
Nikki nodded. “The Copper Lantern. Aunt Winnie’s not doing well. My folks got a letter from her right after you left for Australia, and they hurried up north to see her. She’s been alone since Uncle Jack died, and she’s eighty-five now.”
“She’s in the hospital?”
“No. No, she’s home, but her heart is weak. And she’s getting older, Rob. Someone needs to be with her. Her family. They didn’t have children so there’s no one.” She studied his face, wondering if he understood.
“For how long? How long will you stay?”
She shrugged. “For as long as she needs me, I suppose. I prayed long and hard, Rob. Leaving Broadman’s isn’t that difficult, you know about that from all my grumbling, but my folks. . .and you. That’s the hard part. But I feel as if this is what God wants me to do.” She hesitated, thinking of all the problems that compounded her decision.
“Nikki, how do you know what God wants you to do? I don’t understand. I realize you believe in God, but do you actually hear his voice?”
She’d heard his questions before, and they saddened her that he didn’t share her faith. She prayed for him daily. “I feel it here.” She pressed her hand against her heart.
He shook his head, then traced the line of her face, and his eyes filled with worry. “I don’t know, Nikki, it seems--”
“Before you say anything, Rob, I’ve done a lot of thinking. My whole life has focused on material things. My career, condo, designer clothes. I haven’t had time for things like relationships and spiritual growth. I want to have a family of my own some day and leave something behind that’s more lasting than earthly treasures. Am I talking in riddles again?”
“No. Your job is demanding with all the travel and long hours, and I know you’re worried about your aunt, but--”
“And it’s more complicated than that. So many problems.”
“Problems? What kind of problems?”
“Mom and dad are worried someone’s taking advantage of her. First, she’s having financial problems. Uncle Jack should have left her a tidy sum of money. He owned copper mines years ago. And he was a good businessman, invested well, at least from what my parents knew. But Aunt Winnie says most of the money’s gone.”
Rob shifted in his seat and frowned. “Gone? Where? No lawyer or financial planner?”
“I don’t know and that’s what I need to find out.”
***
The highway rolled beneath Nikki as tension knotted in her chest. Each mile took her further from the familiar and carried her closer to a new life she sensed God had guided her to follow. Rob’s question rose in her thoughts. How did she know it was God’s leading? Honestly, she sensed it, but maybe she’d been wrong. Maybe her desire for a new job overshadowed God’s bidding.
She checked the rearview mirror to assure herself that the U-Haul was still behind her. Rob had insisted coming north with her, but she’d refused his help. He told her she was stubborn, and she agreed. Some things she had to do herself. That was one of them.
To keep her emotions under control, she sang with the radio until the station died away, then eagerly sought a new one, playing upbeat music, anything to drive away her melancholy.
Her feelings astounded her. Putting her condo on the market and packing her belongings occurred without remorse. Saying goodbye to her co-workers came easier than she expected. But saying goodbye to Rob and her parents had been difficult. At thirty-two, she wondered how long it took to escape the tug of proverbial ties to parents. . .and to Rob. She couldn’t imagine those ties ever severing.
Humming along with the radio, she followed the freeway until she turned onto the highway leading toward Harbor View, her aunt’s small town not far from Traverse Bay and Lake Michigan. Green foliage and dark red sumac flashed past the windows. When the Copper Lantern sign appeared along the highway, she made a left off the highway and in a few yards turned into the driveway of the sprawling old, Victorian house. Her car rolled past the quaint carriage house into the parking area.
As she climbed from her car, the fresh scent of sun-baked pines drifted on the air, and the bay breeze made the temperature ten degrees cooler than the Detroit suburbs. She turned her gaze to the carriage house, the place she would call home once Rob arrived on the weekend to help her move her things inside.
Rob. The familiar loneliness crept through her picturing his boyish grin despite his manly looks. Filled with questions, she turned toward the house, hearing a tap-tap sound, and Winnie’s smiling, yet tired, face peeked between the dingy lace curtains covering a side window in the antique shop. Nikki remembered a time when Winnie wouldn’t tolerate the sight of a dirty curtain in her home or the shop. She waved back, then pulled her luggage from the car trunk and headed toward the house.
Aunt Winnie greeted her at the door, her arms open wide. “Come in. Come in.” Her face lit with excitement “I’m so happy you’re here, Nicole.”
“Me too, Auntie.” Nikki kissed her cheek, monitoring the shock that raced through her seeing the change in her aunt.
The older woman clung to her hand, her watery blue eyes searching Nikki’s. “I can’t believe you’ve come to stay.”
“But I have. I’m here.” Hearing the hitch in her voice, Nikki swallowed her emotion.
Winnie released her embrace and beckoned to her. “Come along.” Winnie headed back toward the area she called her apartment. Nikki followed her down the hall, passing rooms filled with old furniture, delicate china dishes, and ornate bric-a-brac. Her eyes saddened as she studied Winnie’s slower gait. In earlier days, she had been a stately woman, but age had rounded her shoulders and her once trim figure looked gaunt. Her white hair lay in a neat bun at the nape of her neck. One thing she hadn’t lost was the amusing twinkle in her eyes and the hint of a delightful Cornish accent.
When they reached the back of the building, Winnie opened a door marked private. “Here, we are.”
Nikki gazed at the nostalgic surroundings. “It’s good to be here, Auntie.” The words rang through her thoughts, and although they were true, she felt sadness in her chest. She set her bags by the staircase, then followed her aunt into the large kitchen with tall oak cupboards and counter tops that gave the room a sense of time-past.
Surveying the familiar room and breakfast alcove, Nikki’s gaze lingered on the stone fireplace with the cozy sitting area. Nestled near the hearth, Winnie’s tabby cat curled on the oval rag rug. “Whimsey’s in her usual sunny spot, I see.”
Winnie gave a knowing chuckle before shuffling to the refrigerator. She opened the door, then paused. “How about a cup of tea or a glass of lemonade?”
“Lemonade sounds good,” Nikki stepped beside her.
“Sit. Sit,” Winnie pointed to the old oak chairs drawn around the table. “Let me do this for you. You’ve had a long drive.”
“Auntie, relax and let me wait on you for a change.” She took the pitcher from her hands and shooed her aunt to the table. “I know you’ve been a little under the weather. How are you feeling now?”
“Old.” Winnie’s eyes twinkled as she chuckled. “It’s my heart, I’m afraid. Eventually it gets tired, same as people do. I have good days and bad, but today the Lord’s blessed me.”
Nikki stopped pouring the lemonade and glanced at her over her shoulder. “How has the Lord blessed you?”
“Knowing you were coming gave me an extra shot of what do they call it? Go power,” she added with a grin.
Though unable to dispel her concern, Nikki grinned while the words sank into her heart. She carried the lemonade to the table, then drew out a chair and sat across from her aunt. She had so many questions but grasped onto wisdom. Why toss them all out the day she arrived? “I’ll stay here with you, Auntie, until I can get the carriage house set up. I hope that’s okay? My friend, Rob, is coming this weekend and he’ll help me get set up and organized.”
“It’s more than okay, my dear. You’re welcome to stay with me for as long as you want, but I know you’d like your privacy. A woman your age doesn’t want to bring her boyfriend home with her doddering old aunt waiting up for her.”
“You’re not doddering, Auntie, and as for dating, I don’t really. . .” Words caught in her throat. Don’t really what? She didn’t date often. Rarely in fact, and that was it.
Winnie tilted her head, question on her face. “But what about Rob?” Isn’t he your--”
“Friend only. We’ve been platonic friends so long.”
Winnie’s eyes twinkled. “You never know. Friends first, then let God be in charge.”
God be in charge. That’s what she wanted to do. Rob had been her escort when she needed one. But she’d never thought of him as anything else except the dearest friend. But today her aunt’s words sent a flutter through her chest. “I’d like my own place so I don’t disturb you with my crazy sleep habits. Sometimes I stay up late. Really late. Living in the cottage next door will be better for both of us, I think.”
Winnie leaned back in the chair with a sigh. “I’ll love seeing the carriage house used again. Remember, I used that small cottage for the shop a long time ago. Your Uncle Jack always called the business my little hobby. I suppose it had been then.” Her eyelids lowered for a moment. “Just a few little things. Pretty dishes—carnival glass and pin trays. And now look what I have.”
Nikki envisioned the house as it was now, full of furniture and bric-a-brac. The business had definitely become more than a hobby.
Winnie stared at her lap as if miles away. “Jack was always so busy with his work, and the shop gave me something to think about. Now it gives me something to get up and dress for. I’m afraid if I sat here without a purpose I’d just wither away. Just wither away.”
“Well, we sure don’t want that.” Nikki studied her, realizing how much her aunt’s words reflected her own feelings of purpose The thought tripped over Winnie’s financial concerns that weighed on her. “Mom said you have people working for you.”
“You can hardly call it work. I pay so little, but they’re dear friends.”
“And trustworthy?”
Her aunt’s eyes widened. “Oh my goodness, my goodness, yes. Why, they’re members of my church. I’ve known Rhonda for years—since before her children were born. She’s a good helper and as trustworthy as can be.”
Guilt washed over Nikki. Her questions had put her aunt on edge and that was the last thing she wanted to do.
“Rhonda comes when I need her.” Winnie shrugged. “Certain times of the year more tourists are in town.” She quieted and then appeared to rouse. “And her husband Earl handles a few things for me. Checks my books, calculates my taxes. I try to do most of the bookkeeping myself.”
Nikki felt her eyes widen. “You do your own bookkeeping?”
“I do the best I can. And then Joel helps me.”
“Joel?”
“He’s a friend. I don’t know how I’d manage without him. He finds estate sales for me and handles those.”
A friend? Nikki searched Winnie’s eyes to see if she could read anything into what she’d just said. A friend could mean a special man in her life. But it could also mean someone who was taking advantage of her or--. She monitored her negative thoughts. Why must she assume her aunt didn’t have enough sense to see a schemer when one appeared?
“You’ll like him.” Winnie flashed her a grin that held the undertone of something more. “My eyes aren’t what they used to be, but with everyone’s help I manage. I keep the books, but either Joel or Earl checks them for me.” Winnie glanced toward the kitchen nook. “Let’s get more comfy. What do you say?” She rose and eased her way to the comfortable alcove.
Nikki sat a moment, wondering how many hands were in her aunt’s till. She finally rose and strode across the room as Whimsey awakened, stretching her front paws beyond the sunlight on the oval rug. The cat rolled over, then rose, sauntered toward the rocker and rubbed against Winnie’s ankles.
Winnie chuckled and lifted Whimsey onto her lap, then caressed the cat’s soft fur. “She’s afraid she’ll miss out on something” Winnie gazed into the cat’s vibrant green eyes. “She’s not nearly as old as me, but she’s getting there.”
“You’re not that old, Auntie.” Nikki sent up a quick prayer that God bless her aunt with many more years. And lots of wisdom.
Winnie leaned back in her rocker. “Now that you’re here, everything will be fine.”
“I hope so.” Nikki sank onto the small sofa.
“Just fine,” Winnie repeated, “and--” She paused in the middle of a sentence, and her face grew pale.
Nikki peered at her in concern. “Are you all right?”
Winnie didn’t respond, then with a burst of strength, she pulled herself back into the conversation. “Don’t go thinking I’m dying every time I keep my mouth shut for a minute.”
Her chuckle didn’t dissuade Nikki from her worry.
Winnie eased forward. “I think I’ll lie down for a bit if you don’t mind. Rhonda’s in the store. If you see her out there, introduce yourself.”
“I will, Auntie. You go ahead and rest. And I’ll handle dinner tonight, so don’t worry about it.”
“You’ll do no such thing. I’ve already taken care of dinner. My day lady comes in when I need her. She’s handled the dinner for us.”
Nikki flinched. A day lady, too. Winnie seemed to be one step ahead of her no matter what she did. Winnie rose, and Nikki took her arm and steadied her.
When they neared her bedroom, Winnie gestured toward the staircase. “Your room is ready for you. I’d walk you up there, but I’m feeling very tired. I’m sure you know the way.” She patted Nikki’s arm. “And don’t you worry about me. I just need a little rest.”
Nikki hovered beside her, and after Winnie stretched out on the bed, she leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I’m here now, Auntie. Don’t worry about a thing.” She closed the door, her mind filled with growing concern and questions.

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