All Alone!

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something you'll be quite a lot.

 

It was still early in October, but it was unmistakably autumn in New York City. The air had a crisp, clear quality that tended to make everyone who walked outside pause a moment and inhale deeply. There were suddenly more people on the streets as everyone decided to walk instead of ride. The leaves on the trees with their touches of pigment were well on their way to building a colorful display by Halloween. Summer’s greens and blues were gone and fall’s yellows and rusts were taking over.

Trixie had walked a few extra blocks at lunch just for the joy of being outdoors in New York at this time of year. Now though, the day was darkening and most reasonable people were leaving the office for an evening of family or friends or fun. Except at the Belden-Wheeler Agency, where one short blonde continued to work furiously on a presentation for a new account. Her brow furrowed momentarily when the phone rang. It was a nuisance to be interrupted at that point.

“Thank you for calling the Belden-Wheeler Agency, this is Beatrix Belden, how may I help you?” Trixie picked up the phone as it rang on her desk, not concentrating on the call as she answered. Most of her attention remained on the final version of the proposal she and Honey were preparing for an insurance account they hoped to land. If they could win it, they would be set to greatly expand their business around the first of the year.

“Beatrix? Sorry I must have the wrong number,” the voice on the other end of the phone teased. “I was looking for Trixie.”

“Bobby Belden, what’s up with you, shouldn’t you be in class?” Trixie glanced up at the clock; slightly shocked when she realized how late it was. Bobby was probably done for the day.

“Do you ever leave that office?” he demanded. “I’m done with class and practice. What are you doing this weekend?”

“Probably working on this new account, why?” She leaned back in her chair finally taking her eyes off the proposal on the screen in front of her.

“I’m starting in the game Saturday. Can you come?”

“You’re what?” she squealed.

“You heard me, will you come?”

“I don’t know Bobby. I don’t have a ticket or a way to get there.”

“Listen Trixie, I’ve already thought about all that. You can call Jim and ask him if you could go with him and the boys from the school. This is the weekend the coach got him tickets for our game. I’m pretty sure they’re taking the train on Friday around lunchtime. And the coach gave him extra tickets for chaperones.” Bobby was desperately trying to sound nonchalant about the entire thing.

Trixie began to waver. She did not want to call Jim Frayne for any reason. It had only been a few months ago that she had started the business with Honey. All the Bob-Whites were living within near distance for the first time since they had left for college; they once again started to do things together as a group on a regular basis. Only this time, everyone was pairing up. Mart and Di had been married for three years and now Brian and Honey were married as well. That just left Jim, Trixie and Dan as the single Bob-Whites. Everyone seemed intent on pushing her and Jim together. Everyone except for Jim , she thought. Trixie had no intention of chasing after Jim Frayne. If he wanted her, he was going to have to make the first move. She knew her heart would not survive if he rejected her.

“Trixie….” Bobby was wheedling now. “I want you here, so do Kev, Moose and Thump. You know what this means. Besides if I do well and we stay undefeated, we could go all the way.”

Trixie had always been Bobby’s biggest fan, in both high school and now college. She made every game she could, but it was a five hour trip to Syracuse from Sleepyside.

“Bobby, I just don’t know. I don’t like calling Jim for favors. Honestly, I don’t like calling him for much of anything.” The paperclip from the presentation on Trixie’s desk suddenly became twisted and bent in her hand.

“Look Trixie, I’ll call him if you can’t. I don’t know why you’re in such denial about your feelings for him.”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she sniffed indignantly. “But if you’ll call him, then yes, I’ll do it so long as he doesn’t object, but no wheedling. If he says it’s not convenient, then back off.”

Bobby promised before he continued his teasing of Trixie. Where Mart had left off several years ago when he married Diana, Bobby had taken over. “So I’m disappointed not to get some kind of pithy comment from the Queen of Denial on her feelings.”

“Look Bobby, just pretend for five minutes that you’ve given me just a modicum of privacy in my life.”

“You know I can’t do that, after all I’m the one that read your diary all these years, I know how you feel about the most wonderful boy in the world!” Bobby told her. “You would probably be with him right now if you would have just told him instead of telling that stupid diary.”

Trixie laughed out loud in spite of herself. Oh, those memories from her teenage years. She closed her eyes as she reminisced out loud. “Do you remember the first time I caught you with my diary?” She asked him. His forthright honesty in this area had flooded her mind with memories.

“I’ll never forget it,” Bobby responded immediately. “I thought you were going to kill me.” Trixie had been so angry she had almost pummeled him into a bloody pulp before their Dad had pulled her off him.

“You know that was the first and only time I ever hit you and then you were the one who got into trouble.” Trixie told him.

“You think I’m going to forget a month’s worth of restriction and dusting for a month?” Bobby demanded. “I missed Larry and Terry’s birthday party. That was total humiliation for a nine year old.”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t enough to cure you.” Trixie reminded him.

“Nope” Bobby was grinning from ear to ear as he remembered. It had taken him until her senior year to find her diary the second time and then to be caught had been disastrous to him.

“How long did you get to do my dusting and dishes that time?” She asked.

Bobby groaned, “Three months! Three very long months!” Peter Belden had been determined for Bobby to learn his lesson. A question occurred to Bobby as he remembered the last time she had caught him.

“How come that last time you found me with it you didn’t say anything to Moms or Dad?” he asked her.

Trixie remembered that first summer when she was home after spending a year away at college. She had busted him again, only that day she decided to keep it between the two of them.

“Because I realized you weren’t trying to find out my secrets or should I say see-cruds’,” Trixie giggled. “It was all about the challenge of discovering where I had hidden the diary. You were just solving a puzzle or a mystery. And you reminded me of me.” Trixie remembered that sudden realization; it had been an epiphany for her.

Somehow they worked it through, she continued to hide her journals and he continued to find them but the roles had changed, the seven year gap had somehow closed. Now that he was at college they were confidants and friends. It had been a huge shift from older sister and babysitter of an annoying, impish and sometimes bothersome younger brother to older sister and friend of a fun, curious and mostly loveable younger brother but they had made that shift. Trixie was now the bridge between the siblings, the mediator between Brian, Mart and Bobby. She was also the glue that kept the four siblings close.

“Trixie, you are the best sister in the world.”

“Yes, I know,” she said flippantly. “See what you’ve done, I’ve completely forgotten what we were talking about.”

“We were talking about you telling Jim Frayne how you felt about him so he can be the luckiest guy in the world” Bobby reminded her.

The line got quiet; the merriment had been sucked out of their telephone connection with Bobby’s reminder.

“I can’t!” Trixie finally whispered

“Why?” Bobby demanded.

“Because …dammit, Bobby! All I ever wanted was to do this job, to be a detective and be a good one. Everyone knew that meant leaving Sleepyside and New York for school and on-the-job experience. Is it my fault that Jim had a problem with that?”

“Trixie, that’s the past I’m talking about now, besides we both know you’re just guessing he had a problem with it. For all you know he didn’t really have a problem with it, he just didn’t say he would wait. Be honest now, you didn’t ask him to wait either, now did you?”

“No, I didn’t. Why are you asking me that, you know you read it in my diary after all? And now that I’m back, even though I’m ex-FBI and everyone thinks I’m some kind of modern new century kind of girl, I don’t intend to chase him. If he’s interested at all, then he’s going to have to make the first move.”

“Trixie, guys don’t operate like that anymore.”

Trixie simply snorted “How many guys do you know carry a handkerchief?” she demanded of her baby brother.

“A few,” he said a little confused.

“Really, who?” Trixie asked in a dangerous kind of voice.

“Well, Jim and Brian, and of course Dad,” Bobby answered honestly.

“Exactly! Old-fashioned, honorable men; men who like to make the first move! Sorry Bobby, but you know I’m right about this. He needs to make the first move and ask me out.”

“Guys don’t do that without a signal,” Bobby told her.

“If I haven’t sent enough signals in the last 14 years then the man is a hopeless goober. If he were interested he would have answered one of them.”

Bobby gave up trying to persuade Trixie to disclose her true feelings to Jim. He already had a plan for the weekend. A plan she didn’t need to know anything about. “I’ll call Jim. But if he say’s okay, you’ll come right?”

“Yes, I’ll be there. But no wheedling, Robert Belden, you have to promise.”

“No wheedling.” He disconnected the call and immediately followed through on his promise to Trixie. He phoned Jim and made sure there was plenty of room for his sister on the field trim. In fact, Marge Trask would be relieved to be let off the hook, Jim told him on the phone. She was no fan of football, always preferring a bad wrestling match over a good football game. Jim even went so far as to offer to call Trixie and let her know of the arrangements. Bobby was delighted.

Phone calls are q quick and easy method of communication. As a result, in no time at all Jim was dialing Trixie in her office. The explanation reassured her that there had not been undue pressure from her younger brother.

Jim called Trixie immediately after speaking with Bobby, reaching her at the office. “You’d actually be doing me a favor,” he explained. “Marge is no fan of football. She always prefers a bad wrestling match over a good football game. It would be relief to be let her off the hook. You would really be helping us out as well if you would go. You don’t mind helping chaperone, do you?”

Jim had put it to her in a way she couldn’t refuse. She was gratified to find out that Mart and Diana would also be going. There would be a total of six adults chaperoning and six students. It looked as though things were shaping up to be a fun weekend outing. The college had already agreed to find a place for them to stay on the university property Friday and Saturday nights. They would return on Sunday after breakfast.

Trixie hung up the phone with Jim and sighed. Throwing her pencil down in disgust, she wrapped things up for the night, shut down her computer, and packed up to leave. She would not be able to concentrate on this presentation again until morning. It drove her crazy how Jim could manage to do that to her in one phone call. James Winthrop Frayne II was still the most wonderful man she knew. Trixie would have given almost anything for him to call her his special girl again. He had worked so hard the last fourteen years to accomplish his goal of opening a school, and not just any school, but one of the foremost resident educational facilities in the country. Even the name, Frayler Academy, gave Trixie chills. Only Jim would think to name the school after both of his fathers, Win Frayne and Matt Wheeler. The men had been close friends in school and the joining of their names for Jim’s school was perfectly perfect. It seemed to Trixie that Jim could demonstrate extraordinary consideration for everyone except her! Trixie sighed. At least she loved her job, even if she had been unlucky in love.

 

 

Unfortunately it was Brian’s weekend to take calls for Dr. Ferris, so he wouldn’t be able to make this trip and Honey had elected to stay home with him. However, Dan Mangan took the other chaperone ticket, much to Trixie’s delight. Together with his uncle, Bill Regan, they would use the other tickets. Dan spent so many of his free weekends helping Mr. Maypenny take care of the Preserve that this weekend the old game keeper had insisted Dan take a weekend off. He could still chop wood by golly; there was no need for Dan to come and mollycoddle him every weekend. Regan was also able to make it so the two single men, uncle and nephew, planned to enjoy a great weekend together scoping out college coeds and watching one of their favorite college teams play football all while helping Jim keep an eye on his charges.

While waiting for the train on Friday afternoon, the atmosphere was lively and merry. The six students wore their hunter green Frayler Academy Polo Shirts and khaki pants. Jim had even provided shirts for the chaperones. Mart and Regan, of course, had shirts already, since both of them worked for Jim at the school, but Diana, Trixie, and Dan had new shirts.

Diana and Trixie shared a look of understanding as they noticed how excited Jim was on this first field trip for the students

“Wow Jim hasn’t been this excited since he was nervously waiting for that first boy to arrive.” Diana asked her.

Trixie nodded, “Yeah, he was so surprised when we threw him a ‘School Warming Party’ at the academy.”

Diana smiled remembering how Jim had acted that day. He was like a six year old boy on Christmas Eve going on and on about the six students who would be showing up, explaining the process with social services.

“Remember when he invited all the Bob-Whites to come meet his students that first weekend?” Mart horned into the conversation. “He was already crazy about all six of those boys but you could tell he had a soft spot for Sam and Harry.” Sam and Harry were the only students of Jim’s who were true orphans and available for adoption. They were brothers and would not be placed unless an adoptive family was willing to take both boys. The other four had come from broken and abusive homes and the social workers had decided a school like Jim’s was more appropriate than foster care.

Trixie and Di nodded. Jim had acted like a proud parent that weekend.

“How many times do you think he explained his philosophy to us about starting small and growing?” Di laughed as she remembered the previous summer. Jim had talked overlong and often about the plan for Frayler Academy.

Regan got into the conversation. “Remember the night Honey started quoting everything Jim was saying in perfect unison with him?”

The group burst out laughing as Trixie mimicked Jim, “You see guys, if I start with just the minimum amount of facilities I need to open, I can preserve more of my capital for more growth and expansion.”

Regan shook his head. “I bet I’ve heard that speech a hundred times now. But I shouldn’t laugh, I’m proud of what Jim’s accomplished with the school.”

“It’s okay,” Di told him. “We all know that Frayler is Jim’s dream coming true.”

Jim had accomplished a lot in his almost thirty years but he was also wise enough to realize how fortunate he was that his Dad had the foresight to purchase all available land around Manor House and Ten Acres over the years. Much of it remained part of Matthew Wheeler’s beloved game preserve. Matthew had made certain that Jim had the minimum necessary acreage for a superior educational facility. The crumbled foundation of the original Ten Acres mansion remained unused and unincorporated into the school property, but Jim hoped to rebuild the mansion and live there with his own family one day.

“This is kind of Catholic school, don’t you think?” Dan muttered to Trixie as he tugged on his new shirt while they waited to board the train.

Her eyes twinkled in amusement, “When did you ever go to Catholic school, Danny?” she laughed in reply. “Jim does it because it’s easier to spot everyone if we’re dressed the same. Besides, I don’t ever remember you complaining about us wearing the same red jackets.”

“That’s not the same thing. Those jackets were the epitome of coolness!” Dan didn’t mind the shirt. He just wasn’t sure it was going to be conducive to his overall mission for the weekend: pick up cute college girls.

Trixie thought about telling him that his shirt still didn’t hide his overall sensual searing brooding personality, but then decided to keep her mouth shut. No sense in encouraging a guy who had more dates than the rest of the group combined!

When they boarded the train, the six chaperones spread out among the train car by unspoken agreement. However, Dan and Di managed to work things so that Trixie ended up sitting with Jim. Diana and Dan exchanged a look of glee as they settled down next to each other.

“Good job, Lady Di!” Dan chortled as they settled down. “Those two are quite a piece of work, aren’t they?”

“Well, if I have anything to do with it, they will be together after this weekend.” Diana responded grinning. “There’s a lot riding on this.”

At least six rows in front of them, Trixie suddenly turned into Miss Fidget. She had no idea what to say or how to act around Jim anymore. She couldn’t seem to settle down. Much to her dismay, Jim finally said, “Trixie, what’s gotten in to you? If I didn’t know any better I would say you were working a mystery. I haven’t seen you like this in years!”

“What’s wrong with me working mysteries?” she demanded. She had always suspected that Jim had a problem with her chosen career and that this was why he had backed off pursuing a relationship with her.

“Nothing. I just didn’t think you would be bringing one with you to Syracuse this weekend,” he answered casually.

“Oh no, I’m not, I mean I haven’t, I mean that business is good but I’m not working on a case on this trip” Trixie babbled.

“Well, I have a mystery for you,” he said seemingly serious. “Guess who got one of those ‘are you single dating’ solicitations in the mail?”

“You?” she asked promptly.

“No, not me! Think of the most unlikely single person in Sleepyside to get one!” he suggested.

Names flew through Trixie’s brain, and she kept processing them. “Regan? Unlikely. Dan? Even more unbelievable. Unlikely, unlikely,” she was thinking hard. Suddenly, it hit her. She gasped, “Mr. Lytell!” Another inspiration overcame her, “That’s why Margery didn’t want to come this weekend!”

“She scores again,” he said with a smile. “You still got it, Trixie.”

“Well, that was a pretty good hint.” She replied smiling back at him.

“Honey told me about your bid on some work with a major insurance company, investigating potential fraud” Jim said.

“Oh yes, we turned it in this week and we’re pretty excited. If we get the work, we’ll be expanding the business at the first of the year, bringing on some extra people.”

As long as Trixie could talk about her work at the agency, she could relax. The atmosphere between them became tranquil and genial as they discussed their careers. When they could talk like this, Trixie was perfectly comfortable. Anyone who looked at them talking would see a beautiful, blond-haired, young woman looking adoringly at a handsome, red-haired, young man who looked back at her with green eyes full of love. What was amazing to their friends was that neither could see it for themselves.

Dan, Di, Mart and Regan exchanged looks as they saw the two old friends animatedly discussing their careers. The plan had been set into motion by Bobby and fine-tuned by Diana and Dan with help from Mart. The unsuspecting couple continued to chat for the duration of the trip; totally clueless to any diabolical plans that had been hatched by their friends.

 

 

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