The Empire Page 7

  “There’s been no sneaking. Barrett Holdings—”

  “Yeah, you and your family already own half this town.” Someone else pointed out. Again more voices agreed.

  “You got that right!”

  “What’s goin’ on at Trader’s Point?”

  Darcy couldn’t see who the question came from, but it seemed to pique the interest of many.

  Another voice chimed in. “Christ he already owns a big chunk of waterfront property downtown, if them sales he’s pushin’ the town for go through, he’ll pretty much own the whole goddamn thing!” This statement caused a huge uproar. People were standing up and yelling more questions and accusations at Eddie.

  His staunchest supporter stood up and started defending him. “That’s not true!” He said fending off as many of the accusers as he could.

  There was a loud whistle that brought the bickering to an abrupt stop. “Simmer down, or get the hell out!” Hank said loudly to which he got some applause from tables trying to avoid the fray. Hank went back to work, and after a moment the inquisition continued, but at a lower volume.

  A guy at the counter started the discussion up again, in as civilized a manner as he could. “So, whatcha plannin’ on doing with all that property, bub?”

  “He’s gonna build his own little Freeport, ain’t cha?” another voice answered.

  “He’s gonna tear it down!” The rumblings started to escalate again. Eddie used it as a chance to wrap it up.

  “I am only one member of a large committee. The interests of Shoreton are the only concern, I assure you. Now, if you don’t mind, it’s breakfast time.” And with that Eddie walked over to Darcy’s table.

  “Tough crowd,” he said with a smile as he sat down across from Darcy.

  “I think you handled yourself pretty well.” Darcy looked around. Strange, the place suddenly seemed a lot emptier. Even the old guy had disappeared. There was no one standing anymore, and most seemed to have moved on with their breakfast. There were only a few tables where, based on people’s expression, they might still be grumbling. The sudden quiet felt nice. She relaxed in her booth. Mary came over with glasses of water.

  “Bless you,” Darcy said putting a straw in her water and taking a drink, as Mary refilled her coffee and poured a cup for Eddie.

  “Now that nonsense is over, I’ll get you some breakfast. I’ve got just what you need to cure what ails ya.” She said to Darcy as she headed back to the kitchen.

  “I’ll have what she’s having. Please.” Eddie called after Mary with a chuckle. “She didn’t look pleased.”

  “Tell me about it. My father doesn’t either. It’s like being a teenager all over again.”

  “What did we just order?”

  “I have no idea, but whatever it is, we’re eating it.”

  Mary came back with huge breakfast platters, piled with homemade corned beef hash, scrambled eggs, wheat toast and home fries.”

  “Mary this looks fantastic, thank you!” Eddie said smiling at her. She didn’t seem too impressed, but managed a polite if not a little icy smile and a “Thank you”.

  “Thank you Mary,” Darcy said.

  “This will get you feelin’ back together again,” she said patting Darcy on the shoulder without so much as a look in Eddie’s direction.

  “What have you done to piss Mary off?” Darcy asked as she eyed the breakfast before her. The way she felt at the moment, she wasn’t so sure that this was just what she needed.

  “Who knows? Maybe it was keeping her favorite teenager out past curfew.” He said with a wink, letting Mary’s iciness roll off him like water off a duck’s back.

  Darcy thought it best to test the waters with toast first. She wasn’t so sure her body was going to be that excited about food. Eddie on the other hand dove right into the hash without a second thought. He was halfway through his breakfast by the time she finished her first piece of toast, which proved to be a success. Her appetite was beginning to return.

  “You don’t have to wait for me. I can walk over and pick up the car. I’m gonna be awhile” she said after taking a few bites.

  “I’m in no hurry. It’s Saturday and my day is free and clear. I thought we could take that walk through The Empire if you have time.”

  “I’ve got nothing but time. I’m on vacation, remember?”

  The morning rush was subsiding and Hank took the opportunity to walk over and say hello to Darcy.

  “There she is.”

  “Hey Dad, good morning.”

  “Hello Mr Adams.”

  “Eddie,” he replied with a nod.

  What was up with these one word greetings? Was she missing something?

  “Late night for you, young lady? Is this one responsible for that?” he said motioning to Eddie as if he was an object rather than a person.

  “Dad…” She felt a little embarrassed at being reprimanded by her father in public.

  Eddie’s cell phone rang.“This is Ed.” he answered as he got up, gesturing that he’d be a minute as he walked away from the table. “What?!” Eddie exclaimed a little too loudly. All faces turned to him, but he was oblivious to the attention as he walked outside. “When?” was the last word heard as the cafe door shut. He returned in a few moments and sat down.

  “Is everything okay?” Darcy asked. She could see that he was distracted.

  “Yes...well, no. There’s some issues that I have deal with….” he said taking a sip of coffee. As if remembering where he was, he looked up at Darcy, giving her his full attention. “I’m sorry. Can we reschedule the walk through?”

  “Of course.”

  “Wait.” He fished in his pocket for his keys and took one off the ring. “You don’t need me tagging along. You know your way around the place. Have a look and tell me what you think.”

  “Okay.”

  Eddie looked relieved, and smiled at her. “Good. I’m sorry that I have to run out on you like this,” he said sliding out of the booth and placing money to cover breakfast on the table.

  “It’s okay. I just hope everything is alright.”

  “I’ll pick you up tonight at 7:30 for dinner in the dining room at The Grand.” He turned to leave before she could respond, and added “You can tell me what you think then.” He was gone.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  It was after eleven when Darcy left the cafe. She wasn’t sure when the matinees started, but thought she’d take a quick look around before the staff started arriving. She got the feeling that Eddie wanted to keep it on the down-low, which was understandable since he’d made no decisions about the theater yet. Like he said in the cafe, he was just looking at options. The cafe was just a couple doors down from The Empire. She took a quick peek in the window. All looked quiet inside. She put the key in the door.

  “Ms. Adams,” she heard from behind her. It was a voice she hadn’t heard since high school, but she’d recognize it anywhere. Before turning around, she discreetly put the key in her pocket. A black Lincoln Town Car had rolled up to the curb outside the theater and the window in the back seat was down. This car was from an era when luxury cars went on for miles with room in the trunk for a family of six. If she remembered correctly it was a 1973 Lincoln, already old when she was in high school, but still in pristine shape as if it had just been driven off the showroom floor.

  “Hello, I heard you were in town.” Said a very old man from the back seat of the Lincoln. It was Eddie’s grandfather, Edwin Barrett. Her first employer.

  “Mr Barrett it’s good to see you.” Surprising to see him, was more like it, she thought. He was already really old when she worked for him in high school. He had to be on the north side of ninety now, but his voice was still strong and his eyes were still as clear and full of life as they had been back then.

  “Lovely to see you too, dear. Get in, we have business to discuss.” She knew better than to argue with him. He was already sliding over as his driver opened the back door for her.

  What sort of busines
s did they have to discuss she wondered? Was he going to offer her old job back to her she thought jokingly.

  The driver pulled back out onto Main Street and headed towards the traffic rotary. She wondered where he was taking her. They rode in silence for a few moments. Mr. Barrett seemed to be in his own world as he looked out the window. They followed the rotary around until they were going the opposite direction and got off on Park St. which ran parallel to Main. They passed the library, the police station, the Barrett community center.

  “Ms Adams, my family has been in this town for generations. We helped build this town.”

  “Yes, I know. As did mine,” Darcy replied.

  “What?” he seemed confused by her answer for a moment. “Yes. Adams... Yes, of course.”

  Where was this conversation going? Everyone knew that the Barrett’s were one of the oldest families in town, and if you didn’t, the fact that their name was on the community center, a wing of the local hospital, on a large plaque at the library, not to mention Barrett Block, the old now defunct Barrett Cannery, Barrett dock and shipping buildings, and of course the two Barrett car dealerships on the outskirts of town, was a good indication. Perhaps he was just being nostalgic.

  They passed the courthouse, the old hospital which was now a nursing home, the SHS, turning left onto Harbor to head back to Main St. for a second go around.

  “My family’s history is all around this town. As is yours…”

  But not as prominently. The Adams had been enduring, but not quite as successful.

  “My father came from a family of fishermen. Generations of them.”

  “That’s interesting.” Maybe he’s just lonely. She thought that Mr. Barrett was speaking to her, but he was gazing out the window as if remembering for himself rather than making conversation.

  “But my grandfather, he wanted more.” As if he hadn’t heard Darcy. “So he worked hard and saved every penny and started Shoreton’s first cannery. He was twenty years old.”

  “That’s impressive,” Darcy replied and this time Mr. Barrett turned to look at her. He looked surprised as if he’d forgotten she was there until he heard her voice.

  “Yes it is. It truly is. You know, he didn’t go to school past the sixth grade.” He said now fully engaged in giving her a lesson on his family’s history. “He couldn’t. As soon as he was old enough, he had to help support the family. But that didn’t stop him from wanting to continue to learn. He was different... My mother always said there was a fire in him. He was never satisfied with just doing a job. He had to figure out how to do it better than everyone else.”

  “He sounds like a very ambitious man.”

  “Oh he was. Could never sit still. Always looking ahead. Always pushing himself to learn new skills. To do better…” He went back to looking out the window, as if the scenery was prompting the lesson. “This town was so much smaller back then. We had a lot of raw materials to export, but not a lot of industry. My grandfather was a visionary. He saw the benefit of enhancing the fishing trade, with canning. Soon Shoreton became a major stop on the trade route, not just for the the limestone and granite that was produced, but for fish that didn’t have to be salted to be preserved. His canning business put Shoreton on the map, and soon other businesses followed.”

  There’s that Barrett pride. Eddie didn’t fall from the proverbial Barrett tree. Darcy wondered if this perspective was a bit revisionist. The Barrett’s were a key family, but were they the cornerstone that put the town on the map? She’d have to ask Ali about that. It seemed that Mr. Barrett had drifted back into the past. His gaze shifted back out the window as they approached the intersection onto Main St. Directly before them was the public landing and park. He turned back his gaze to her as if he remembered again that she was there, and he continued.

  “Did you know that it was my mother Lillian’s idea to build The Empire?”

  “No, I didn’t know that, Mr. Barrett.”

  “It was her pride and joy. My father always said he married above his station. The Barrett’s were in good standing with the cannery, but still a working family. My mother, she was from away you know. Her family moved to Shoreton when my mother was eight. They moved up here from Boston so that her father could start a mercantile business with her uncle Joseph McLain. The McLain family already had a couple stores in the Boston area, but they were looking to expand. Lillian’s parents moved here with Joseph and his family to start the McLain-Cooper Mercantile. It used to be right there on the corner up from the docks.” He pointed to the corner where the Wagon Wheel was now, at the top of the hill by the public landing on the corner of Harbor and Main St.

  “I never heard of that store before. What happened to it?” Darcy asked.

  Barrett, Sr. continued as if he didn’t hear her question. “She used to spend part of her summers in Boston when she was a child. Loved the big city. Compared to Boston or New York, Shoreton was still a backwater town in the early 1900’s. She loved the excitement and vibrancy of a big city. The Empire was her way of bringing some elegance, some culture to a simple working town.” Darcy was pretty sure that by 1920, when The Empire was built, Shoreton was thriving with among other things, shipbuilding, timber and lime and granite production. Not to mention, she’d seen old pictures and knew that The Grand had by then been established as the summer resort of New England, but she didn’t mention it. Better to leave Mr. Barrett with his version.

  “It must have been a beautiful theater back then.” Darcy said imagining the theater shiny and new.

  “Ms Adams, you must tell me what my grandson plans to do with mother’s theater?” Mr. Barrett looked anxious.

  “Mr Barrett I—” Darcy didn’t know what to tell him. Her conversation with Eddie about converting the theater to a restaurant was purely speculative at the moment, and she didn’t want to upset him by telling him about it when most likely nothing would come of it. She didn’t know what other options Eddie was exploring, so there wasn’t much she could say. The only thing that she knew was what he had told her, and that was that the theater would be closing it’s doors soon. She feared that news wouldn’t go over well with Mr. Barrett.

  “Mr. Barrett, your grandson, Eddie, I know he’s very proud of his family’s history in this town.”

  “Ms Adams, I’m not some doddering old fool who is out of touch with reality. I know The Empire is not doing well financially.”

  “Well, yes, Eddie told me that the opening of the multi-plex in Weskeag has had a significant impact on the Empire’s business. I’m not sure what his plans are, but I don’t think he would do anything to hurt your family’s legacy in this town.” Darcy hoped that this reassurance would make Mr. Barrett feel better, instead she found him staring at her intently. His piercing gaze bringing back the nervousness she felt as a teenager when she thought she had disappointed him in some way.

  “I am also aware, Ms. Adams, of the business you are in.” He replied watching her intently. How would he know that, she wondered? This was a small town and news traveled fast, but why would her profession be of any interest to him?

  “Yes, well—”

  “So you’ll understand why I find it curious and not just a coincidence that suddenly you are back in town and poking around my theater when it’s closed.” This man had lost no piece of reality. He was just as sharp as ever.

  “Eddie and I have discussed—” Darcy began. Mr. Barrett cut her off again.

  “You will not be converting my theater into some destination restaurant.”

  Busted. He didn’t miss a trick. “Mr. Barrett, I can assure you. There is no definite plan. I told Eddie I would take a look at it. He’s just exploring his options. He wants to save the theater. To preserve the legacy.”

  “And he thinks turning my theater into some sort of tourist trap restaurant is going to preserve the legacy? I will not have it!”

  “I’m sorry…” Darcy said, taken aback at the old man’s outburst.

  “The Empire has been a p
art of this town for generations. Before television it brought us pictures and news from around the world, it was a Saturday afternoon pastime, part of countless courtships, or as you would call them, date nights. It will not become some gaudy sideshow attraction!”

  Darcy stared at him stunned at how incensed he’d become.

  The look on her face must’ve spoken volumes. Mr. Barrett composed himself quickly, and in a much gentler tone. “I apologize Ms. Adams. I didn’t mean to raise my voice. This really has nothing to do with you. I will deal with my grandson.” The Town Car pulled up to the curb in front of the theater. The driver got out and opened up her door. “It was a pleasure seeing you again.”

  Darcy got out. “You too, Mr. Barrett. Take care of yourself.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Darcy got out of the Town Car, and stood there for a moment. What was that? She was starting to feel a little freaked out. The trip was getting weirder by moment. She felt like she was missing something, that she wasn’t quite understanding the big picture. All these dreams with her mother the past few weeks, and last night her dream about the Empire and today she’s spirited away, mafia style, by Barrett, Sr. who seems to know everything, then dumped back on some corner like it never happened. And jolts, and seeing Eddie of all people and actually kind of liking him, then Ali and Will... She’d experienced a lot in the two days she’d been there, and in the back of her brain, she couldn’t help but feel like there was a reason for all of it. Which makes no sense at all, she told herself.

  It was too late to do a walk through of the Empire now. She knew the matinee crew would be coming in soon. She decided to take the trip down Main St. that she started yesterday, and check out some of her old haunts. If she was lucky, maybe she’d spot the kid too. She crossed the street midblock. A lot had changed since she was a kid, but some of her favorite places were still around like the Coffee Talk Coffee Shoppe, an old greasy spoon that was open from six to two Monday through Friday. It was always full of locals. If you wanted unabridged, no holds barred gossip, that was the place to go. On the corner used to be McPherson’s Drug Store. It was one of the old timey drug stores that had the old soda counter. They made the best frappes and vanilla cokes. She remembered how it always felt like she was stepping back in time when she went in. The shelves were full of old timey remedies and products like Goody’s Headache Powder, the original Fisherman’s Friend lozenges, Prell, Jean Nate and Charlie. Along with the actual pharmacy counter they had a perfume and makeup counter, and a penny candy counter. For several generations, McPherson’s was a favorite after school stop for any kid that lived near the downtown area. Sadly it had closed sometime when Darcy was in high school, and since then had been several different shops. As she peered into the window, she was happy to see that the old soda counter with red naugahyde topped chrome stools had been restored, and some vintage decorations had been added to give it the feel of an old time shop. They had also dedicated the corner closest to the soda counter to old fashioned penny candy. It was now called Preston’s Sweet Shoppe. She wandered in to take a look around.