The Key in the Attic(44)

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Once she had closed up A Stitch in Time for the day, Mary Beth hurried home. She had had another exasperating discussion with that pushy McMillan woman about agreeing to let them go ahead and buy the building.

Not quite yet, Ms. Burly Boy, she thought. My time’s not up until the end of next month, and I’m going to hold on until the last second.

Mary Beth pulled into her garage and sat there for a moment, eyes closed. She was running out of time, and she knew it. Something had to happen quickly, something that would either make it possible for her to buy the building or make it clear what she ought to do instead. She needed a miracle of some kind, but so far she’d seen no answers to her prayers.

She didn’t see any way she would ever be able to afford to buy the shop, especially if she had to buy the theater too. Yet every time she looked at other properties she might move to once it was sold, every time she even thought about going to look, she didn’t feel right about it.

Wait, something inside her said. Exercise some patience.

When she went inside, she flipped through the bills and ads that had come in the mail and found a card from Amy in with them. It was just a sweet “thinking of you” card, and she immediately dialed Amy’s number. Talking to her niece would be a bright spot in an otherwise difficult day.

“Auntie Beth! How great to hear from you. How are you?”

“I’m fine, sweetie. I just had a minute and thought I’d call you up. What have you been doing today?”

“You called to talk about Mother, didn’t you?”

“Um … no, actually. I called to say thank you for your sweet card and to see how you are. What’s going on with your mother?”

“She just got through lecturing me about you.”

“I’m sorry, honey. What did she say?”

“Just that you’re old enough to solve your own problems, and that I should let you.”

Mary Beth chuckled. “She’s right, you know. I’ve been on my own, and I’ve been running a business by myself for quite a while now. I’ll be all right.”

“I know, and I’m not saying you’re not capable or anything like that, but everybody needs a little help from time to time—especially these days. What’s a family for?”

“The best help you can give me is to keep me in your prayers—OK?”

“I do that anyway.” Amy sighed. “But what good does it do to pray about something if you’re not willing to do something to help too?”

“Well, sometimes it’s hard to know what to do or how much to do and when to do it. Sometimes it’s best for a person to work her own way out of her troubles, as much as you hate seeing her struggle. We never know how much we can do if we don’t get the chance to try.”

“I know. But sometimes just a little help will get somebody through a bad time so she doesn’t lose everything she’s worked for her whole life.”

Mary Beth wanted to hug her. “You’re the sweetest person in the whole world, Amy,” she said, a catch in her voice. “I love you more than anything for being the kind of person who would want to help.”

“I wanted to use some of Grandma’s trust money to help you, but I know Mother wouldn’t agree, and she’s the trustee until I’m forty.”

“Oh dear, don’t do that. I would never want you to do that in the first place, and your mother would have a fit if you even mentioned it.”

“I know.”

“And sweetie, you’ve got to stop asking her to help me too. It only makes things worse between us.”

“But she ought to help you. She can afford it.”

“But that’s her money, not mine. It doesn’t matter if she can afford it. She works hard for what she earns, and she should do what she wants with it. Besides, do you really know what she can and can’t afford?”

“Well, she spends enough, I know that.”

Again Mary Beth chuckled. “She does like the good life, I’ll admit it, but it’s still her money. If you don’t give because you want to, you might as well not give. The scripture says that God loves a cheerful giver, not one who is badgered into doing it. And really, honey, I don’t expect her to bail me out. I’ve made my own decisions, even the ones that were mistakes. I like what I do, and where I live. I wouldn’t like having all the pressure she has in the kind of business she’s in. She has to always be worrying about the next new thing and making sure she’s in with all the right people and that she’s seen at all the right places. I would hate that. You know I would.”

“I would too,” Amy admitted.