What would her mother have thought of the Bible lesson that was always on the front page of the Chowan Herald? Anna couldn’t imagine seeing a Bible lesson on the front page of a Northern paper. Miss Myrtle was after Anna to go to her Baptist church with her, but so far, she’d resisted, although she was beginning to think maybe she should go. Church was important here, and she wanted to stay on people’s good side. She and her mother had been Episcopalian, but they only went to church on Christmas and Easter, and sometimes not even then, depending on her mother’s mood. These days, though, Anna was fed up with God. Why had he made her mother’s life so unbearable? Why had he taken such a wonderful woman so young? She hadn’t forgiven him for that and wasn’t sure she could sit through a service that praised him.
She was lifted out of her thoughts by the sound of footsteps heading toward the sunroom, and in a moment, Miss Myrtle appeared in the doorway.
“You have a gentleman caller, dear,” she said. “He’s waiting for you in the front yard.”
A gentleman caller? The only gentlemen she knew were the so-called movers and shakers in town. She knew they were anxious to see what she’d come up with for the mural, but she didn’t think Miss Myrtle would leave one of them standing out in the cold, despite her house rules.
“Who is it?” she asked, setting down the paper and getting to her feet.
“You’ll see,” she said cryptically.
Anna smoothed her skirt and headed through the living room toward the foyer. She opened the front door to see a man leaning against the lamppost, smoking a pipe. He wore a brown suede jacket with a leather collar and a rust-colored woolen scarf. He was a good-looking older man, perhaps late thirties or early forties, and when he tipped his brown cap to her, she was startled by his mop of thick red hair. She didn’t think she’d ever seen such a vivid color on a man’s head. She stepped onto the porch and he smiled up at her. He had a dramatically crooked front tooth, but even that couldn’t detract from his handsomeness.
“I’m Martin Drapple,” he said, standing up straight now. “And you’re the little lady who stole the mural competition out from under me.” He never did lose his smile, but Anna feared she lost hers rather quickly.
“I’m sorry,” she said. She remembered his wife’s fingertips digging into her arm through her coat sleeve. “I know that must have been terribly disappointing.”
“I’m only teasing you.” He grinned, slipping his pipe into his jacket pocket. “I’m actually here to apologize for my wife’s behavior. She told me about bumping into you at the library. I’m afraid she had a frightful headache and took it out on you.”
“Oh, that’s all right,” she said. Her mind scrambled to connect that nasty woman to this charming man. “I’m sorry she wasn’t feeling well.”
“So,” he said, dragging out the word, “have you ever painted a mural before?”
She felt immediately on guard and shivered in the cold, wrapping her arms across her chest. “Yes, in art school,” she said, hoping he didn’t ask the size of the painting. She didn’t want to lie, but there was a huge difference between painting a five-by-four mural and a twelve-by-six.
“I just wanted to let you know that I’d be happy to help you in any way I can,” he said. “No compensation,” he added quickly, his hand in the air in front of him. “As long as I have free time, it’d be my honor to help you with the stretcher or anything else you might need. It’s a huge job. You can’t possibly do it all on your own.”
She was stunned by his generosity. “Thank you,” she said, “but I couldn’t possibly ask you. I’m looking into having a few students help me.” Her fingers were already starting to ache with the cold and she rubbed her hands together. “It’s very kind of you, though. I’ll certainly contact you if I need help.”
Mr. Drapple tilted his head, seeming to appraise her. “My cousin’s taken a shine to you,” he said, in a rapid change of topic.
It took her a moment to remember that Mayor Sykes was his cousin. They certainly looked nothing alike.
“Mayor Sykes has been very helpful,” she said, trying not to think about the rumors of the mayor harming his wife and having an affair. She added with a smile, “Even though he doesn’t approve of me having the Tea Party front and center in the mural.” The mayor had grimaced when she told him her plan. “I hope you’ll reconsider,” he’d said.
“Ah well, that’s why he’s a mayor and not an artist, right?” Mr. Drapple smiled up at her.
Would you have put the Tea Party in the mural? she wanted to ask, but of course, she didn’t. What had his sketch been like? What had he painted to represent Edenton? She wished she could know.
“I saw the Life Magazine spread of the sketches,” he said. “Your Bordentown design was quite nice. You have a lovely style.”
His wife certainly hadn’t thought so, and Anna wondered if he was teasing her. She felt young and inexperienced—and also a bit as if she were on stage, up there on the porch while he stood below. She thought he sounded sincere, though. She would treat the compliment as such.
“Thank you,” she said.
He looked as though he wanted to say more, but then tipped his hat again. “Good day, then,” he said. “My phone number is 47, if you change your mind.” Anna watched him turn and walk toward the street before she stepped inside to warm up. She stood inside the front door, her back against it, thinking about what had just happened. She was touched by Martin Drapple’s generosity and warmth. She hoped she would have been as kind as he was if their fortunes had been reversed.
Chapter 21
MORGAN
June 19, 2018
I was alone in the foyer of the gallery, balancing on the ladder as I cleaned the top square of the fourth row. After my conversation with Lisa, I started timing myself. The twelve-by-six-foot mural was divided by twine into seventy-two squares and it was taking me about forty-five minutes to clean one square. I had to work slowly, nearly holding my breath each time I set the cotton-tipped dowel to the surface of the painting, afraid of missing a speck of flaking paint and scraping it off by accident. To clean the entire mural should take me approximately fifty-four hours. I could only do so many hours at a time, though, before my shoulders and back began to seize up on me. I figured it would take me ten days to do the cleaning alone. Lisa would not be happy about that.
I gave myself a fifteen-minute break between each square, so I was sitting on the bottom rung of the ladder drinking a bottle of water and listening to Post Malone sing “Congratulations” when Oliver walked into the foyer. His mouth moved but I had no idea what he was saying.
I pulled out my earbuds and gave him an apologetic smile. “What did you say?” I asked.
“The conservation paints and other supplies I ordered for you are here,” he said. His own earbuds hung around his neck.
“Oh, cool.” I pointed up at the mural. “It’ll be a while before I need them, though.”
“Well, you’re making progress. It’s looking good.” He stood away from the mural to study it, hands on his hips.