"Hi Lily, sorry its been so long since we've spoken. I don't know what to say on these things, but I'd like to bend your ear on something if you have the time. Give me a call when you can. I mean, if you want to, that is. Ok, bye."
Lily Harris stood staring at the voice mail on her phone, letting the message settle in her brain. She hadn't heard from Grace Brightwater in several months. The curator at the Westhead Historical Museum, Grace was an old friend of Lily's. Four years before, Lily had been able to help solve a puzzle from Grace when a broken spear had appeared in the museum one evening. Since then, they had tried to get together regularly for brunch as a way to keep in touch.
Unfortunately, life found a way to interfere, and the weekly meetings had become monthly, bi-monthly, sporadic, and now... too long ago. Lily sighed, admonishing herself for not being more diligent about staying in touch. She would have to make sure going forward to carve out quality time to spend with her friends, not just for herself.
But the important point at the moment was that Grace had reached out to her. Curious to know more, and wishing she'd gotten the message in mid-afternoon when it had come in rather than after 11:30 pm. She hit the button on the screen and replayed the message. Something triggered for her while listening, so she immediately played it a third time.
The message itself was innocuous, but Lily could hear distress in her friend's voice. She made excuses about not liking voice mail, but who did. Lily picked up a waver in Grace's tone that went deeper than the words. She was worried about something. Now Lily felt more upset over the late hour.
She let the phone message go and busied herself putting away the groceries she had brought home with her. Her life had become suddenly busier again after a long dry spell. Pandemic concerns had nearly completely dried up her business, and while she was able keep going through it, the isolation had proven difficult at times, and she was thrilled to have regular clients again. It came with a cost, though, she thought as she put away prepackaged meals and cans of soup. She needed to find a better balance.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Taking it out, she saw the name of her best friend, Cassie Morrison.
"Hey Cass, what's up?" Lily said, putting the phone to her ear.
"Feed me, Seymour!" Cassie moaned down the line. They both chuckled. "I just got home from Boston and haven't eaten anything," she whined. "Take care of me, Lils!"
"You crack me up, girl. How was the conference?" Lily asked.
Cassie owned Just for ME, a small bookstore in downtown Westhead. She had been away for a four day weekend to attend a conference for New England booksellers. Lily was glad she had made it home safe, but mostly just glad she was home.
"It was fun, but I'm wiped out. Give me ten hours of sleep, and I'll fill you in. I just want to decompress tonight." Lily could hear the exhaustion in Cassie's voice.
"No problem, kiddo, whatever you need," Lily reassured her.
"Me need food!" Cassie shouted in her best Cookie Monster voice. "I already told you..."
Lily was tired herself. She'd spent the day in Augusta running through court records from the early 30s. She just wanted to strip off her clothes and crash on the bed. She couldn't desert Cassie though.
"I just got in myself, give me ten minutes and I'll head over," she tried to sound cheerful. "What is your poison tonight?"
"Anything with Lily and cheese," she cajoled. Lily laughed at her, but promised to pick up a pizza on the way.
Off the phone, her mind turned to the message from Grace. She was willing to drop everything for Cassie, what if Grace needed her more. She thought about the hour, then took out her phone and dialed.
"Hi Grace!," she started when the voice mail picked up. "I was out of town and missed your message earlier, but I'd love to..."
The phone was picked up on the other end.
"Lily, I'm here," Grace answered. She sounded a little husky, like Lily had roused her out of a deep sleep. "I'm glad you called me back."
"Oh no problem, Grace, I didn't realize it had been so long," Lily gathered her thoughts, readjusting to speaking to a person not a voice mail. "I'm sorry about the hour, but you sounded..." She caught herself. Was there something there, or was Lily projecting that.
"It sounded important," she tried again. "I wanted to catch you as soon as I could." She winced at the lie, telling herself it was only a small one.
Grace cleared her throat and answered. "You're a dear to care about me, but I'm worried I might need your help."
"Is there a problem with the museum," Lily asked.
"What? Oh no, its nothing that serious," Grace replied. "More of a personal issue. A friend of mine, well, maybe I'm overthinking it. Listen, Lily, would you have time tomorrow to stop by before 8 so I can get your opinion? I've got a lot scheduled after 9, but if you can give me a few minutes, it would set my mind at ease."
Lily groaned a little at the early hour. It was already pushing on toward midnight, and she still needed to visit with Cassie. She was starting to miss the isolation just a little.
"That sounds perfect, Grace," she replied. "Just send me a text in the morning on where you'll be and we'll talk." Grace thanked her and they hung up.
Weary beyond words, she grabbed a fleece to guard against the overnight chill, and headed to her car. Calling Corner Pizza on the way, she ordered a large pizza, extra cheese, and tried to gather her thoughts.
Grace had sounded a little flustered on the phone as she started talking, but seemed to calm down as she got things off her chest. The burden of her problem lessened as she shifted some of the burden to Lily. She still had no idea what Grace was upset about, but she felt better that it hadn't been any kind of emergency and could wait for the morning.
The drive into town was only about 20 minutes. She picked up the pizza and a couple of beers, and drove the few blocks to Cassie's apartment.
Cassie lived on the second floor of the building her bookstore was in. Lily parked in the back next to Cassie's Outback, got out with the delivery, and rang the bell. This was going to be a long night, she thought, yawning.
Cassie was all smiles as she let Lily in. Food was food, but what she really needed was a friendly shoulder. They settled down on the sofa, using the coffee table to hold the pizza box, and just eating out of the box. Neither said a word for five whole minutes, just eating the slices and taking long draughts on the beer. Eventually, the slices started taking longer to disappear, and Lily leaned back on the sofa just to relax, already feeling the hard steady pull of sleep on her eyelids.
Cassie finished her slice and leaned back as well, lolling her head to look at Lily with apologetic eyes.
"You're the best, Lil," she said with a smile.
Lily gave her a wry grin, then reached out to grab her shoulder and pull her in for a hug.
"You're too much, Cass, but I wouldn't have it any other way." Lily held her tight a moment longer, then let up squeezing the life out of her.
"Grace left me a weird message earlier today," Lily volunteered. It was still weighing on her she realized, and she wanted to get Cassie's impression.
Cassie sat up a little and looked at Lily. "What do you mean?"
"She wanted me to give her a call," Lily responded. "The message itself wasn't odd, but she seemed upset. That was the weird part. I called her back before I came over."
"What's on her mind?" Cassie asked, concern creeping into her voice.
"I'm not sure," Lily continued. "I think I woke her up, to tell the truth. She asked me to meet her first thing in the morning at 8:00 am."
Cassie sat up straight, grabbed a cushion and gave Lily a thump. "You lout! What are you doing here if you need to be somewhere at that hour! It's after one now."
"'Feed me, Seymour!' Or did you forget," Lily teased, grabbing a cushion of her own to use as a shield.
"You know I was kidding you, Lily," Cassie growled. "You should have told me you had somewhere to be. Now I feel guilty for making you come over."
"The hell you do," Lily spat out. "Besides, I didn't know until after I talked to you. That's when I called her back. It's not your fault and you know it, so relax. It'll be ok."
Cassie fell back against the sofa, but sat there stiffly. She looked as tired as Lily felt, the faraway lost look gave it away. Lily reached out and rubbed her on the arm. Cassie leaned away in mock disgust, then fell against Lily's side.
"You know," Lily started with a lilt to her voice, "if I lived closer to town, I could still get a few good hours of sleep..."
Cassie was definitely beyond tired. She'd never miss an opening like that unless she was. Lily tried again, a little more directly.
"You could make it up to me by bringing me a blanket and getting off my bed," she hinted. Cassie stirred and looked her in the eye, a stony blank look on it. Then she did a double take, and that twinkle that made Lily's day every time sparkled in Cassie's eye.
"The only blankets I have are on the bed, now come on," she stated. Cassie stood up, took Lily by the hand and dragged her to her feet. "I don't need any more hints, you're my guest for the night!"
And they headed for the bedroom.
