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  Spoiled Fruit

  The Girls Series, Book Three

  Sheila Horgan

  Spoiled Fruit — The Girls Series, Book Three — Copyright © 2014 by Sheila Horgan. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, or distributed without the written permission of the author, with the exception of short quotes for purposes of review.

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, businesses, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. No reference to any real person is intended or implied.

  Special thanks to Darlene Davis MacLean and Deb for all the help and support.

  Christie Giraud at www.eBookEditingPro.com

  Proofreading by J. Jeffers www.JJeffersEditing.com

  Interior Design by CyberWitch Press LLC CyberWitchPress.com

  Cover art by David Avila

  ONE

  THE GIRLS HAD just started their morning video chat.

  Carolyn held up an envelope. “Look what was delivered today.”

  Adeline leaned toward the screen to see if she could decipher the writing on it. “An envelope? Forgive me, Carolyn. I am not certain what it is you have there.”

  “Remember when Molly said that he would make sure that I had all the information I needed to keep Barry away from my Suze and the rest of us? He came through. This morning — I was just getting out of the shower, it couldn’t have been seven thirty — my doorbell rang. There was a young person from a messenger service at my door. He handed me the documents.”

  Anna, as always, was worried for Carolyn’s safety. “You opened your door to a person you didn’t know at seven thirty in the morning?”

  “I’ve seen him around here many times. One of the advantages of living in a place like this is that we all have pretty much the same needs. I know the UPS person, our mail delivery person, the messengers from several services, and you couldn’t imagine how many drug stores deliver now, and all of them deliver here. I can’t imagine how some of these people never get out and do anything; they sit at home and wait for the world to come to their door.”

  Adeline was just a tad defensive. She’d not left her house for most of a year when she had been ill. “You are blessed with good health. Not everyone is.”

  “True, but your health will always be improved by a little movement. Being locked up in the same place, breathing the same air, doing the same things, day after day after day is going to take a terrible toll. You know my neighbors that I had to accompany to the hospital not long ago? They’re back home. One went to a rehab facility for a couple of days, and the other came home straight from the hospital. They are locked up in their condo again, and I’ve seen neither hide nor hair of them. The only reason I know they are there is because I ran into that granddaughter of theirs in the hallway. She at least had the decency to thank me for staying at the hospital for all that time that she couldn’t be bothered.”

  Adeline smiled. “Well, sounds to me like you have a bit of your fire back.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “You had become so…” Adeline thought for a moment. “I shall use the word introverted. You had become so introverted over the last few weeks I was beginning to worry for you.”

  “I was having some issues with depression. I guess I’m just depression prone. When things get overwhelming for me, I get depressed. I would be willing to bet, Anna, that you are the opposite. The harder things get, the spunkier you become.”

  “That has been said about me, although when it was said, I think a word a little less kind than spunky was used. I like to stay positive. Negative never did anything for me.”

  “I can understand that, even if I can’t do it for myself.”

  Anna had to know. “So what is the big difference? Why is the depression gone?”

  “Suze is home with Evelyn, and they are adjusting well. A.J. and Cara are right across the hall, so if my Suze needs anything at all, she has some backup right there. Barry is in prison, and I have an envelope full of information that will keep him there.”

  Anna rubbed her hands together. “What does it say?”

  “I haven’t a clue.”

  Anna’s eyes got round, and she pulled back from the monitor. “You didn’t open it?”

  “I promised not to.”

  “Then how do you know it isn’t just blank pages?”

  “Thanks for pointing that out, but I have faith that Molly was honest with me. Everything that he said has turned out to be the truth. I have no reason to question his veracity.”

  “If it works for you, then it works. I’m happy that you’re happy. One project down, next on the list: Adeline’s.”

  “I appreciate that you girls are so generous, but I would point out that in fact I am not next on the list. Our next project is one of pure pleasure, and that is to bring young Jordan on his adventure. My family issues will be the same when Jordan has ridden every ride.”

  Anna smiled. “About that, if it’s all the same to you girls, Jordan has changed his mind about the trip, and I have to say that I am very proud of his decision.”

  “What happened?”

  “Do you remember that his best friend is a member of a military family?”

  Adeline nodded. “Yes, was it not his mother who was deployed?”

  “Correct. She’s back. When Jordan shared with his friend that we were all going to go on a tour of amusement parks, his friend was happy for him but mentioned that their family had never done anything like that. Jordan called me, and after some prodding on my part, he finally told me that what he wanted for his vacation was to give that family his passes for the amusement parks. I explained to him that many of the amusement parks have special arrangements for military families and that perhaps we could do both. I thought that maybe we could make arrangements for his friends and for us. He was very appreciative but said that he was going to stay home so that he could pet sit. He will be going to their house multiple times each day to walk and play with the dog. He also has responsibility for a hamster and three fish.”

  Adeline smiled with approval. “I must say that he is an amazing young man.”

  “That he is. I told him that our plans are delayed, not canceled, and that I would be happy to help with any expenses the family might incur. Morgan, his mother, has had a long talk with the family. They can afford the trip, barely, and will take nothing from our family.”

  Adeline was already trying to think of ways she might be able to assist the young family. “I’m sure there are other things we can do to make their lives a little easier. Take Jordan’s example, and move forward with it. I just can’t get over what a generous offer that was.”

  “I love my grandnephew, and I rarely have an unkind thought of the child, but let us keep this in perspective. He is well aware that his actions would result in a delay, not a cancelation, of the great amusement park tour. He knew he wasn’t giving up his vacation, only postponing it, but you have to give him points for style.”

  The girls laughed. Jordan was such a charming little boy. They all loved the time they had spent in his company.

  Anna took a deep breath. “Well, that leaves us at loose ends for the next few days — actually, for the next few weeks. Jordan is involved with a special learning experience — that is what the brochure says — and won’t have any weekdays open for three weeks. What is it that we will do while we wait for the child’s schedule to clear? Is it just me, or have things changed dramatically since our youth? The thought of adults scheduling their lives around the commitments of children still rubs at me.”
<
br />   “I am the first to admit that the schedule for each of my children was created and monitored by others, but I contend that children today are kept so busy by events and activities that they are not allowed the magic of a childhood. In an effort to provide them with every opportunity, we have stripped them of the only one available to them for such a short time in their lives, that of being children. Perhaps that is why it seems that some simply do not mature these days. They are in a lifelong pursuit of their inalienable right to be children.”

  Carolyn spoke up. “I suggest that we work on Chris and the whole Adeline situation.”

  “I appreciate that, girls, but I am feeling just a little bit guilty. My life is rather more blessed than that of many I have come to witness in the last several months. Coming out of my gilded domicile, that monstrosity I was holed up in for so long, I’ve finally opened my eyes. My little dancers and their families have true problems. Others Cara has found who need assistance have true problems. Think of A.J. and Cara’s friends Robert and Maria. Think of their beautiful little Grace. They have worked so hard to try to provide for that little one, and everything was against them. I’ve never had to do anything like that. I can’t imagine having to decide which medication I could afford in any given month, but I saw a man on the television news just the other day who was deciding each day if he should take the pill that would likely stop him from having a heart attack or the pill that would likely stop him from having a stroke. He simply could not afford both.”

  “You would think that the government would have some sort of program to help him with that.”

  “You would think so, but the reality is, he is not willing to compromise and sell the home he and his departed wife raised their children in. It is his only asset, and he will not let it go. He wants to have something to pass along to his children. So he makes that terrifying decision each day.”

  Carolyn shook her head. “There has to be a drug program where he can contact the maker of the medication.”

  “I had Cara look into that. Fortunately, the news anchor has taken a personal interest in the elder gentleman, and she assured Cara that she would find a way to assist him. But for every one of these people who finds assistance, there are hundreds, maybe thousands, in our own little corner of the world who go without.”

  “What about the new health care — ”

  There was an edge to Adeline’s voice that took the girls by surprise. “We won’t discuss anything like that. Please. I have very strong opinions. Let me just say that the same government that brings you the post office, the department of motor vehicles, and the internal revenue service might not be the point of contact you wish for your emergent health care needs. Shall we get back to topic? I do not believe that my concerns are particularly relevant with all of the aforementioned taken into consideration.”

  Anna tried not to sound annoyed. “That’s just your fear talking. A way to avoid your issues. Your problems are just as important as anyone else’s. As a matter of fact, it’s those little girls who should be the motivation for you to move forward. If your older children are successful in making your life a living hell, how are you going to help your dancers?”

  “It would take quite some time for them to get me to the point I could not help my dancers, but I see your point, and it is a valid one.”

  Carolyn understood. “It is going to be hard to deal with your family, not so much because of the money, but because of old wounds and emotions that will come to bear. I know how hard that is. I have more than one emotional skeleton rattling around in my heart.”

  “We could address your skeletons first.” Adeline smiled.

  “That is very kind of you, very generous, but I think not. If you truly do not want to move forward, that is your choice, and we can always just try again to take a short vacation.”

  Adeline smiled. “Hawaii is still there, and we have yet to explore it.”

  Anna shrugged. “I was also looking at a cruise. I was thinking maybe to Alaska to watch the glaciers calve. If all this information about climate warming is true, there might not be a lot of glaciers left before long.”

  Carolyn leaned in. “I don’t really understand that whole thing. If they have found fish fossils in the desert, and desert fossils under the sea, what makes anyone think that the world hasn’t flipped on its axis a time or two and that this isn’t just the natural way of things?”

  Anna shook her head. “Because we as a species are an arrogant bunch, and we just can’t allow ourselves to think that anything and everything that happens is not of our doing.”

  Carolyn countered. “Oh, I think we are doing harm. Lots of it. I’m just not sure that cow toots and car emissions should be our primary concern.”

  “What do you believe our primary focus should be?” Adeline was always looking for yet another business opportunity, and environmental issues not only tugged at the heart strings, but were money-makers often subsidized by the government and required no guaranteed outcome.

  Anna shrugged. “Think about the land. We no longer move to the water. We move the water to us. We put a gazillion people in a city and build bigger and heavier buildings to house them. Think of the weight just in that. If we didn’t build skyscrapers, and we were spread out like we used to be, don’t you think that would be better for the land? I think we are literally throwing ourselves off-balance.”

  Carolyn thought for a moment. “That actually makes sense. If I were to take an almost round ball, and I were to glue something on one side of it, perhaps bore into it and put weighted objects here and there, it wouldn’t take much before it was completely off-balance. I understand that the world is a big place, but thinking about it in simple terms, eventually, if things are concentrated in one area, you’re going to have a problem. I’ll have to pull out my globe. Japan has about one hundred and twenty-seven or eight million people and all the stuff that goes with it. They’re in a pretty concentrated area. About a hundred and fifty square miles. The United States is closer to three point eight million square miles with, what, about three hundred and eighteen million people. How many Japans would fit in the US?” Carolyn thought a moment. “Twenty-six? That can’t be right. I’ll look it up later. What is on the opposite side of the globe? Water, I think. I’ll check.”

  Adeline took a deep breath. “I worry for our future. There was a time in this country that we could do it all for ourselves, should the need arise. When our economy had dark moments, we were able to bring it back because we were able to provide what it is that we needed. We built our own cars and all the component parts that we needed. On a daily basis, be it food or housing goods or clothing, we could provide for ourselves. We don’t do any of that now, not in large enough quantity. Nor do we remember the skills or have the facilities. If we were cut off from the rest of the world, through political stupidity or war or whatever the reason, I fear we would not be able to ramp up our endeavors quickly enough to maintain life, never mind our current standard of life.”

  Anna let out a sigh. “I read somewhere just the other day that for the first time in a very long time, perhaps it was since the First World War, our middle class is not the richest middle class. That concerns me.”

  Carolyn grew more intense. “I saw that. It concerned me that people making half a million dollars a year considered themselves middle class. When did that happen?”

  Anna counted off on her fingers. “When I was younger the lines were pretty clear. If you couldn’t pay your bills and feed your family, you were poor. If you could pay your bills, even if they were delayed a bit now and then and you had to make some sacrifices, like pancakes or beans and bread for dinner a few nights a month, you were middle class. If you didn’t have to worry about the beans and bread and put away some money each month, you were upper middle class. If you did better than that, well, you were rich. If you were a Rockefeller or a Kennedy, you were wealthy.”

  Adeline agreed. “I am so grateful I am not raising a child in this day and age. It
seems to me it is so much more difficult.”

  “I have to agree, but it would seem that some children are turning out well in spite of their parenting. Look at my Morgan.” Anna pointed to Carolyn’s image on the screen. “Or your Suzi and A.J.”

  Adeline sounded pensive. “I certainly hope that Christophe is among those. Time will tell, I suppose.”

  “Have you spent any more time with him?”

  “I’ve spoken to him on the telephone but have not spent time with him in private. I am ashamed to say that I have no history with the child and that I am somewhat leery of him and his motivations.”

  Carolyn was quick to take her friend’s side of the problem. “That is to be expected. His parents tried to put you in a home. Or worse. They knew you were sick, and they tried to take advantage. It is human to worry that maybe his nut didn’t fall far from his parents’ tree.”

  “And what does that say about his parents? Perhaps they are much more like me than I am able to admit. Is it not said that a pear tree cannot bear apples? If my children and in turn my grandchildren are spoiled — or worse, rotten at the core — is it not their family tree to blame? Perhaps, ultimately, I am more like his parents than I care to admit.” Adeline sighed.

  Anna was fiercely protective of her friend. “I don’t believe that, and even if there was a hint of that in you long ago, you have grown past it. You are nothing like that now, and now is what we are focused on.”

  “But I must take responsibility for their failings in life. If I, for whatever reason, either caused my children to be the way that they are, or allowed them to become what they are because of lack of skill or ability or desire, is it not my burden to bear? Should I not reap what I have sown?”

  Carolyn chose her words carefully. “Adeline, did you abuse your children?”

  “Not intentionally, no.”

  Anna tried to keep her voice modulated. “What does that mean, exactly?”

  “It means that although my children had everything money could buy, from the best nanny to the best schooling to the very best in not only necessities but in anything that was conceivable, my children were not provided with the warmth and nurturing that every child deserves. Even children like mine.”