“That’s fine,” I say, locking up the house behind me as I head to my car. “That’s what I want.”
Francie would be all over that statement.Who are you trying to convince?
I have no illusions. I’m trying to convince me.
Jay is my type. Jay would be another mistake in a line of them who look an awful lot like him. Not alongline, but even a medium line is embarrassing.
I’m not surprised when Jay texts after dinner.
Jay
Saw a package on the front porch when I was coming home.
Phoebe
You can stick it inside the door. Thanks.
Jay
Well …
I squint at it, expanding it to see better.Are those …?
Jay
The box was open and this was on top. It says, “Teeth, six gen Tapperts. Got jumbled but you can do science to get the age.”
Phoebe
Changed my mind. Please do not put inside the door.
Jay
Shed
Phoebe
Yes pls
It looks like a small box, but any size box full of human teeth is too big. I have never thought about it before, but it seems like it should be one of those unwritten rules of society. Apparently, we do need to write it down after all. The policy will definitely be having a "no teeth" clause.
Thursday I spend mostly in the vault, spot-checking Foster’s cataloging to make sure each artifact or document is stored appropriately. It’s no surprise to find that every one of them is both recorded and preserved correctly.
In one drawer, I examine paper dolls from the 1890s, complete with elaborate changes of clothing, all with the delicate paper tabs still intact. I wonder if it was a Martin child who played with these on the property and smile when I check the database to see that the dolls had belonged to one Georgina Martin back then.
Most of the collection isn’t Martin family personal belongings. I check on a couple of high-value landscapes by American masters and a silver flagon smithed by Paul Revere. I admire an antislavery medallion crafted by Wedgwood and a few embroidery samplers, one a map of Massachusetts as it would have been in 1840, another one fifty years older showing the alphabet and decorated with strawberry plants.
I spend another hour auditing before I return to the main house, and I hear music coming through Jay’s open cottage window, but he stays out of sight. I wish this didn’t bum me out, but it does. And because I’m ridiculous, when he still hasn’t made an appearance and it’s time for me to wrap up for the day, I can’t resist connecting one more time.
Phoebe
Whatever weird thing shows up after I leave …
Jay
