MISS ABBY AND THE BIDDING WAR.....by Coralynn

Abby sees Palmer Real Estate emblazoned on the side of the car and walks toward it. Hotspur gets out and opens the passenger door for her. She settles herself in the seat, fastens the safety belt, then hears a now familiar voice from the back seat, "Hi, daughter! Ready to buy a house?"
She turns and sees Jim sitting there in the suit he wore at the house-warming party, looking very respectable and even sober.
"You know, you really don't have to buy me a house!" she reiterates, after having told him that every time he'd called her on the phone in the last 24 hours, all excited about the prospect of buying her a house.
"I want to!" he replies, as he has every single time.
She resigns herself to the fact that he is indeed going to buy her this expensive present. It's not that she wouldn't like to own her own home, of course, it's that procuring one this way seems strange, weird, actually.
"You said you wanted to see the house on Pleasant Valley Lane?" Hotspur asks.
"Yes."
"We can go there first, but I think you ought to see several before you settle on one," he tells her in his best 'real estate man' voice.
"It's situated behind the house where Celeste and Marilyn and those people live," Abby explains, "I think that location would suit me."
"Don't forget, you'd be almost right behind my place, too!" Jim adds with enthusiasm.
Oh yeah, she thinks, I have no problem with that unless Jim decides to play the patriarch and meddle in my affairs. This kind of thought makes her feel guilty, after all, he is buying her an entire house, but she can't help but feel uneasy over the future of their relationship if Jim sits in the cat-bird's seat.

They pull up in the drive at 222 Pleasant Vally Lane.
Abby sees a large house, not as large as the one in which Celeste lives, and certainly not as large as that mansion Jim lives in, but bigger than any house she's ever envisioned owning.
There are two cars parked in the drive, which could mean the owners are still living in the house, Abby notices as they walk to the front door.
"Mr. and Mrs. Stackpole are moving to Florida soon," Hotspur explains as he rings the bell.
The door is opened by a tall woman with hair dyed so black it's almost blue, well, actually it is blue. "Mr. Percy. Come right in!" she greets them nervously.
Abby wonders if the woman is always this nervous or whether there's something about the house she's nervous about anyone discovering.
The interior of the house has spacious rooms, but very outmoded decorating. The deep purple hue on the living room walls clashes with the red couches. Abby tries hard to picture the room with a different color scheme, which taxes her imagination.
They walk through a dining room, painted chartreuse, a kitchen that has modern appliances thank goodness, a den with built-in bookcases in desperate need of repair and a family room replete with orange shag carpeting. Abby tries to envision this room with a more conservative color scheme.
As they walk from room to room Hots points out all the great features of each one, hoping that at last he can unload this masoleum.
The upstairs contains six bedrooms and three full baths. Abby wonders if in the future she'll ever need this many rooms. You never know what the future will bring, she thinks, and mentally places her future family in the rooms. Hmmmm, if I end up having just two children, they can each have a bedroom and a separate play-room, she futurizes.
The attic is a run-of-the-mill affair, and they stay there briefly.
The basement, when they finally walk down there, seems dry. No moldy smell. Abby likes all the shelves lining the walls. Mrs. Stackpole has put up preserves, obviously, and they take up most of the room on the shelves.
"...and if you like to can," Mrs. Stackpole points out, "this basement is a perfect place!"
"Yes," Abby agrees, though she has no intention or desire to can anything. Perhaps old boxes of Christmas decorations would go well down here, she muses.
After the grand tour, Abby, Hots and Jim leave the house and get back into the car.
"Well?" Jim exudes, "What do you think? You like it?"
"I like it, but it needs a lot of work! The orange shag carpeting, for instance....."
"I'll pay for a complete re-decorating!" Jim tells her, as Hots puts the car in gear and they begin to back out of the driveway.
"We're going to look at a couple more houses before you decide," Hots tells Abby, "at least you need to see other places so you can compare them with this one."
"What's the asking price on it anyway?" Abby asks.
"Six hundred fifty thousand," Hots replies as they drive down the road toward the next destination.
"That's cheap!" Jim exclaims, "I want to spend at least a million."
"No need...." Abby begins.
"HEY! I can use the difference between the cost of the house and a million to redecorate!" Jim relaxes now that he's figured out how to blow an entire million on Abby's house.

The next house in untenanted, but Hots has the key with him and unlocks the door. Abby sees rooms even bigger than the ones at the first house, plus she hears dogs barking and asks, "Why do I hear so many dogs barking, Hotspur?"
"This house is next to a kennel. They raise Rotweilers," he answers matter-of-factly.
"No thanks!" she turns to leave.
Hots can see this house is a definite 'no.'

The third house is nestled under huge trees, and they have to duck to reach it. Abby swats mosquitos, which swarm all around her and is glad when they finally get inside.
"Now, this house has historic value," Hots announces proudly, "This is where somebody named Floyd whacked his wife to death with an axe! Happened back around 1850."
Abby looks at him in amazement. Who'd ever want to live in a crime scene, no matter how long along it occurred, and why is Hots telling her about it as if it were a positive?
"No thanks!" she says decisively and walks toward the front door.

Back in the car, Hots is confused, and asks, "What was the matter with that house, Miss Bennett?"
"Livingston!" Jim corrects him.
"NO, it's Bennett," Abby insists, "I'm sorry, Jim, but that's been my name for 24 years and I want to keep it."
"Ohhhhh, I was so sure you'd take my name," Jim sounds depressed.
She turns around and smiles at him, "No offense. If I have a child at some future time, I'll give him or her Livingston as a middle name. How about that?"
"You'd do that? That would so so cool.........let's see, Robert Livingston whatever! I like it!"
"I do too, Jim. Sounds distinguised."
Hots asks again, "What was the matter with that house?"
"It's a crime scene!" Abby tells him, "It may as well have yellow police tape around it."
"It happened a long time ago! It's historic!"
"Sorry, Hotspur, but I can't do it. I like the first house the best, the one on Pleasant Valley Lane. Let's put in a bid on that one."
"OKAY!" Hots brightens and heads the car back to the Palmer Real Estate Company.

MEANWHILE:

Chad Baumgarten sees the recent action on the property at 222 Pleasant Vally Lane and phones his client. "Bad news! A bid has just been put in on the property you want.."
"So we outbid them!"
"They bid 700,000, though, thats a hundred thou over what you bid."
"#$#&*$" the client responds.
"What do you want to do?"
"Put in a bid for 705,000!" the client instructs the broker.
"OK, will do! But really, there are better deals to be had."
"It has to be that location!" the client sounds firm.
Chad Baumgarten sighs, hangs up and follows the instructions, muttering, "All this so he can build a tennis court?"

Abby is back at work by noon. Jeremey hears all about her morning looking at houses and makes appropritae comments like "Rottweilers?" and "Floyd did what?!"
Her cell phone rings. She answers it and hears Hotspur on the other end, "We have to up our bid, Miss Bennett. Seems someone else wants the property pretty badly and raise his or her bid to seven thousand five."
"Shouldn't you be discussing this with Jim?" she asks.
"Yes, and I did. He said keep bidding until we get it. I wanted to keep you appraised of the situation."
"Thank you, I appreciate it. Talk to you later," she clicks off and tells Jeremy, "Someone else wants the property pretty badly. I wonder why."
"Who is it?"
"The real estate agent this person is using doesn't have to divuge the name of his client, so who knows?"
"Then he or she has no idea who he or she is biddding against, either, right?"
"Right. I hope Jim doesn't have to spend a lot more than the house is worth!"
"Not meaning to sound cold, Abby, but he can afford it," Jeremy points out.
"I know, and he's determined to spend as much money on me as he can. I suppose if he ended up paying a full million for the property that would make his day!"
Jeremy laughs, "Why didn't I get a Dad like that?" Abby swats him with a rolled up newspaper and laughs as well.

"Yes, sir, they bid $750,000. I think that puts it out of your range," Chad Baumgarten informs his client.
"We bid 760,000!" comes back over the phone line at him. "I want that property! It's perfect for an Olympic sized pool!"
"I thought you said......."
"After that house is demolished that is."
"You'd have to have the property rezoned, wouldn;t you?"
"No."
"You mean you plan to demolish that lovely house so you can put up a tennis court and a Olympic sized swimming pool? What do you have in mind, a fitness center? If so, you need a zoning variance, which is very hard to come by, especially in an area set aside as residential, and this town is about as residential as they come."
The client sighs loudly, "Bid seven hundred sixty thousand! I'll go higher if I have to, but maybe this will knock the other party out of the ballpark."
Chad hangs up and wonders if the Client is next going to say he wants the place to put in a major league ballpark. Nawwwwww...
The Client is thinking, If Chad Baumgarten really knew why I wanted the property I could be in big trouble.........


GOOD NEWS!.............by Coralynn

Marthy and Jack burst into the house, laughing.
Celeste looks up from her magazine and queries, "You two are sure happy, what's it about?"<> Marthy is breatheless, "Oh Celeste! They accepted our offer on the house and......and.....we close in two weeks and we move in!"
"That was fast," William comments.
"Jerry has to be the best real estate man in the world! He's pushing it through as fast as he can!" Jack tells them, sitting at the kitchen table, picking off a few green grapes.
"I Know!" Marilyn exclaims, "We can have your housewarming the same night we have Rose and John's! It can be a 'traveling' house warming! That will be elegant!"
"And, then, there will just be four of us living in this big rambling house!" Eleanor states, "After having the place packed to the rafters, we'll have so many empty rooms it'll be weird!"
"Think we oughta invite some of the 'guys' back?" Marilyn asks.
"NO!" the other three all say simultaneously.
"You don't miss the wild behavior? You don't miss tripping on dirty sneakers on the staircase?"
"NO!"
William shakes his head, "I shall be the only man in this house. I wouldn't mind having another, reliable man here to help out. I could use a lot of help with my gardens."
"Hey, we can garden! Women garden as well as men, but if you're looking for volunteers, William, you're out of luck!" Marilyn kids him.
"I thought as much," he laughs, "but I still need to extend my gardens. My flower gardens are quite lovely this year, but I have in mind to plant a vegetable garden as well. Tomatoes, corn, cukes, peas, beans....."
"Oooooooooo, my mouth is watering!" Eleanor takes the magazine Celeste is holding, swats William on the head with it, hands it back to Celeste and adds, "You have enough room for a vegetable garden, don't you?"
"No. I want a large one. I want one so extensive that it gets a write-up in the newspaper. I can use the fresh vegetables on my cooking show, too. Maybe I could even market some! Or do what Paul Newman did with his salad dressing: put them in markets all over the country!"
"You intend to donate all the profits to charity?" Celeste asks.
"Of course not."
"Well, that's what Paul Newman does."
"Does he, now?"
"Sure does. So if you want to look like one of the good guys, I suggest you do the same!" Celeste points out.
"But I still have to pay for the new land I'm buying and I can make payments from the profits....."
"What land? You haven't given up the idea of buying Jim's place next door?" Marilyn asks, confused.
"No, I had to give up on that, but there's another place nearby..."
"Henry8's castle? HA! I don't think so!" Eleanor snorts.
"There's this property in back of us............you can see it out the window..........."
"OH NO you don't!" Marilyn is going into attack mode, "Abby Bennett is buying that place."
William looks almost stricken, "Abby Bennett? So she's the one I've been bidding against?"
"Bidding against? Is this house on Ebay?" Eleanor glares at him.
"No, of course not. But I put in a bid, then the other person outbid me, then I put in a higher bid, and that person outbid me again, and so forth and so on. The way things are going this will be the most expensive vegetable garden in Westchester county."
Marilyn fixes him with an evil stare, "You better drop out of this 'bidding' buster, because Abby is getting the house, even if I have to...."
"Go ahead, Marilyn, deck him!" Eleanor glowers.
"Oh, alright, alright! You women! You're impossible when you stick together the way you do. I have to give up my dream of the best vegetable garden in the state because one of your friends wants it?"
"That's the idea, William," Celeste tells him, "and, since you're surrounded by women, I suggest you either adjust to it or go out and find a couple other men to live here, but............we have to vote on whether or not we want them in this house."
William sputters, "A man is supposed to be king in his castle, errr home, and somehow I'm being ganged up on by a bunch of females who think they can call the shots....."
"Females? Are you using that as a prejorative?" Marilyn marches over to him and looks him straight in the eye.
"Sorry. Women! How's that?"
"Better."
William stands, puts his newspapers in a nice neat pile and takes himself and what's left of his dignity outside to mope and maybe do a little weeding.


...AND THE WINNER IS......by Coralynn

Abby and Jeremy have just returned from having responded to a call from a distraught old lady whose cat climbed too high in the tree and couldn't figure out how to get back down.
"Now, that's what I thought I would be doing primarily. When I came here I didn't have any idea there would be murders and mayhem," Jeremy comments.
"Not as much as L.A., though. That place was a nightmare!" Abby responds as she hears her cell phone ring. Taking it out of her pocket she clicks it open and hears Hotspur's voice, "You won! The house is yours!"
"Really? Did the other party give up?"
"Must have, because when I phoned the broker the other person was using, just to make sure, he said that his Client had changed his mind about the property. He was confused about why, because he said his client had been so set on acquiring the place."
"Whatever the reason, this is great news!" Abby says, then clicks off.
"Now all I have to do is redecorate every room in the house. Wanna help? I don't think the Fab Five would be particularly interested in helping out a woman, besides, they were just in our neighborhood. Of course we could say the house was your's.....that might make it a better candidate."
"I don't think so!" Jeremy laughs.
"You know, Jeremy, that place is so big that you could actually live in it with me and we'd seldom see each other.......with 3 full baths upstairs, we could have our very own 'suite' so to speak."
"Why Miss Abby!" he pretends to be shocked, "Are you propositioning me?"
"Maybe, maybe not!" she joins in the kidding, "but you could live rent free! Think about it."
"Oh, I will, believe me, I will!"

THE FASHION SHOW, part 1:........by Coralynn

Bess comes out of her room, her eyes rimmed in red.
"What's the matter?" Marilyn asks.
"Oh, I just spent about an hour on the phone with Slim! He said his father and wife are driving back to Texas tomorrow and want to meet me, but he doesn't think it's a good idea. I asked him if he was ashamed of me, and he said he was proud of me, but ashamed of them. Now, that sounds like a flimsy excuse to me, after all, how bad can they be?"
Marilyn ponders this, then answers as diplomatically as she can, "Well, they raised WandaSue, or at least her Dad did. Look how badly she turned out!"
"But Slim 'turned out' as you put it, just great!"
"Bess........Slim was far from great when he first hit town a couple or so years ago. He was almost as bad as WandaSue, though he's done a complete 180 now. His father could be a nightmare!"
"Well, nightmare or not, I talked Slim into bringing him and his wife to the fashion show this afternoon. I'm modeling Bethiah's newest line. It's sensational too! Since I have to be there, I can't meet them in town here, so I told Slim he just had to bring them to the show!"
"Hope it all goes well," Marilyn says cheerily, though she has reservations, big reservations.
"OH! there's Bethiah now!" Bess sees Beth's car pull into the driveway, then hustles out of the house and gets in.
Marilyn looks out the window, gets Beth's attention, waves, then the car pulls out and heads for Manhattan.

MEANWHILE:

William sits out on the deck, paper and pen spread out in front of him. He scratches his head and writes names in a column, then goes back and crosses out several.
"I can't have Napoleon living here! Why did I put down his name?" he chastises himself.
"I don't want any of my direct progeny here, either. None of those crazy people trapped back at Court in the 12th century. If I'd wanted any of them I would have brought them with me in the first place."
"Hmmm, we already have Beethoven. Composers are good. Let's see, what other composers do I know about? Robert Schumann? No, he went nuts. We have enough mental instability around here without adding him to the mix. Tschaikovsky? He's a possibility, though he was gay and that might bother some of the other guys.......hell, what am I saying? It would bother me!........Puccini? Now there's a guy who knew how to write opera! I'll put him on the short list. Rachmaninoff? I like his stuff, wonder if he was stable. I think so; the only negative thing I've heard about him is that he lacked self-confidence. That's no crime. Do I dare bring a head of state here? Someone who was King or Emperor? Those guys might try to take over and run things, though,.......I don't need the competition. Who do I know from history who was just like me? Someone stable, fair, just, merciful, intelligent, forceful but willing to listen to reason......... This is hard! There just aren't that many people in history as good as I was and am. I know, if I said this out loud, Eleanor would smack me over the head with a rolled up newspaper. Good thing I'm keeping all this a secret for now.
He takes his list inside, puts it in the drawer of his nightstand and gets ready to go into Manhattan to tape his cooking show.


THE FASHION SHOW, pt 2..................by Coralynn

Bess dons the lovely outfit from Bethiah's fall collection and takes a deep breath before she goes out onto the runway.
She pretends confidence as she walk out, turns, walks to the end of the ramp, turns, then hears a strident female voice, "There she is! Oh, she's gorgeous!"
She scans the audience to see who has broken protocol, and, after seeing several well known movie stars and society women, spies Slim sitting with his Dad and.......a very trampy looking woman who keeps yelling out, "Oh my! she's lovely!"
Bess is filled with horror. Trying not to show how she feels, she completes her walk and, once offstage, runs to her dressing room where Beth is waiting ready to help her into her next outfit.
"Beth!" she exclaims as between the two of them they switch to a new outfit, "I think Slim's step-mother, the new one, is yelling when she sees me on the catwalk. I'm so embarrased!"
"Try to ignore her, dear," Beth advises as she zips up the back of the dress and pats Bess on the arm, "Surely no one will know she has any connection to you!"
"Nobody has ever shouted from the audience! And, when the others realize she's only shouting when I am walking down the runway, my career will be over!" Bess moans.
"I'm not going to fire you," Beth tells her.
"Oh, that's right. Whew, that's right." Bess is relieved as she again approaches the runway and is ready to walk out again.
She is only half way down the runway when she is joined by someone who hugs her. She's terrified, then sees the hugger is this same woman, Slim's new step-mom. She has apparently jumped up onto the runway! Bess shakes her off as Slim approaches the runway and grabs at Trix's ankles, yanking her down again.
"HEY!" Trix yells so loudly that several security guards race toward the rucus. Bess finishes her walk, trying not to shake, but barely manages it. She again rushes into the dressing room.
"That's IT!" she yells, "I can't go out there again! Slim's new stepmother jumped right up on the runway and hugged me! Right in front of everyone! Now I understand why Slim was so set against me meeting his so-called parents."
"Oh no!" Beth realizes what a trauma this is for the younger woman. "What are we going to do, though? Who's going to model the other five outfits?"
"You can do it!" Bess suggests.
"Me? I still have 10 pounds to lose after the birth of the twins," Beth explains.
"But you look great! Here, let's try this outfit on you," Bess helps Beth into an ice green cocktail dress, then stands back to appraise it, "You look like a million bucks in this."
"Alright, I guess...." Beth sees her reflection in the large mirror and realizes she doesn't look half bad. She leaves the dressing room and walks down the runway.
By now Slim, red-faced, is trying to talk Lem and Trix into leaving, and Beth hears his voice whispering, "Ya see? Bess is all done......that model is Bethiah, so let's go."
Trix, however, has no concept of voice modulation and says loudly, "You know her? Is she a friend of yours?"
"I never saw her before in my life," Slim whispers, hoping that closes the discussion, as any friend of his is apt to be assaulted by this ditz his dad married.
Oh alright!" Trix says, again loudly, "Let's go!"
The three of them make more than the usual racket as they climb over others in the row and make their way to the exit. Beth is now finishing her walk and glances out to see them go through the doors to the vestibule and then hopefully out of the building altogether.

MEANWHILE:

William sits in the car as his driver proceeds into Manhattan, thinking, still thinking about who he might bring to the 21st century to be 'another stable man in the house.' He takes out a fresh sheet of paper and starts to list a few possibilities.
He thinks, "Movie stars: how about Clark Gable? Nope, too recognizable. John Barrymore? Too much of a drunk and a womanizer, nope we don't need that in the house! James Dean? He died awfully young, surely he deserves a better chance, but he seemed awfully gloomy. Hmmm, I'll put him on the short list, with reservations. Movie stars are tricky, though....people tend to recognize them. Look at the times we had to hide Marilyn from the Papparazzi. OK, how about scientists? Galileo? He was intelligent, he has that going for him, and God knows he didn't deserve to be killed by the Catholic Church! What a travesty that was, but..would he find it difficult to adjust to a century in which the earth being round is a given??.....hmmm..... OK, how about philosophers? Plato was quite a jolly chap, and highly intelligent, but he basically just wrote down what Socrates said. Maybe Socrates should be on the short list. Yes, I'll write him on here. Artists? Not Picasso, he painted weird looking stuff. Van Gogh? His stuff is better, but how stable was he? I know! Michaelangelo! Yes, I'll put him on the list. How about independent thinkers? Anne Hutchinson had the kind of mind I like, but alas, she's a woman! Too bad, but you don't get on the list, Anne. OK, there must be someone else, but who?


TOUCH DOWN......................by Coralynn

William arrives home at the same time two other cars also pull into the drive. He sees Beth and Bess run into the house as the occupants of the other car try to catch up, but make it to the door just as it slams shut.
"Slim! Long time no see! How goes it?" William greets.
"Not so hot, William! This is my Dad, Lem, and his new wife, Trix. We went to the fashion show in Manhattan, you know, where Bess was modeling Bethiah's newest clothing line? Well, Trix here, who has to be the friendliest person on the planet, jumped up on the runway and gave her a hug. Bess is freaked out."
"So that's why she ran into the house and slammed the door, is it?" William smiles, as he takes the measure of Lem and Trix, and finds them scary upon first inspection.
They all go inside, but find no Bess, who has fled to her bedroom. Bethiah says a cheery, "Gotta go now, folks. The twins and all, you know!" and beats a hasty retreat.

Trix immediately goes to the fridge and grabs a couple bottles of beer, tossing one to Lem. "Don't know what all the fuss is about!" she insists, "I only hugged the girl. You'd think I'd hurt her or something. I just want us to be best buds."
Lem adds, "What's the matter with your girlfriend anyway, Slim?"
"There is nothing the matter with her. She's a model and models walk down the runway by themselves. The prospective buyers do not, I repeat do not hop up on it, too. It's just not done."
"Well, I think that's a silly rule! People around here sure are unfriendly! Good thing we're going back to Texas tomorrow, where people know how to be....."
"I think you should leave now," Slim cuts her off.
"Leave?" Lem doesn't understand, "Leave before I've had a chance to meet your fiance?"
Slim herds them toward the door as he says, "Yes. Next thing I know you'll be trying to talk her into investing in your solar-power for Scotland scam."
"I was thinking of telling her about it........" Lem's voice fades as they go outside and the front door is closed behind them.
Celeste laughs and goes to Bess' bedroom door, rapping upon it gently. "The coast is clear, you can come out now." she tells the humiliated young woman hiding in her room.
Bess' face peers out, "Gone? Good! Slim was right, they're a nightmare!"
"Just be glad they don't live locally. It could be worse," Celeste commiserates, then turning to William, asks, "Have you come up with any ideas of which 'stable' man you're going to bring to live here, William?"
"Yes. I certainly have, and I've come to a decision!" he announces happily. "In fact, I'm off to fetch him right now!" he holds his time travel coin and disappears before he gets a chance to hear Celeste remind him, "Remember! We get to vote on it........."