On the Road [again] Read online

  “And then what?”

  “We will go to Houston. While we are gone, Roland and company will have enough time to check Christophe completely. If, by the time we return, everything is copasetic, then it will be time to have a conversation with Christophe. I will introduce him to my plans slowly. He is young. It is a risk. But I am confident that he is capable, with the support of those I have in place.”

  “You almost make it sound like you’re going to have him take over the place. What about Genevieve? Shouldn’t you talk to her about all of this? I thought you said you were going to make the house available to her.”

  “The house can accommodate two people.”

  “True. I keep forgetting. That house can accommodate two hundred people.”

  Adeline smiled. “I spoke to Genevieve about all of this. She was about to undertake a pub crawl with her friends. She thinks that it is a splendid idea. As it turns out, Christophe has been busy. He has actually been writing to Genevieve for some time.”

  “Uh, oh. Does that sound suspicious to you?”

  “Not on the face of it. They were close years ago. Genevieve said that the correspondence had been very sporadic.”

  “If he had been writing to Genevieve, why didn’t he mention that he was trying to help you? Or that you were ill?”

  “That is a chicken-and-egg scenario that Genevieve is having difficulty discerning.”

  “What?”

  “She is having a problem remembering if she mentioned to Christophe that she was concerned for my well-being or if he mentioned to her that she should inquire about my well-being.”

  “Great.”

  “Nothing to be done about it now. We will go to Houston, work on that project while Roland and his group work on this one.”

  “It is all getting so complicated.” Carolyn sighed.

  “We will not perish from boredom, that is certain. Shall we go to dinner and plan our trip?”

  “That would be great.”

  When the girls got to the front door of Roland’s office building, there was a limo waiting. The young man, the same one who had driven them to and from the airport when they had gone to Las Vegas, was standing outside the vehicle, waiting to open the door.

  Anna made a mental note to ask Adeline if, perhaps, the young man should be a concern. She was unclear if the young man was here at the request of Adeline, Roland, or perhaps someone else. She said nothing in front of the driver.

  “We can meet you there. I have my car.”

  “Not at all. Roland will have a team member drive your car to your residence, and we will motor together. Just in case we decide on a drink or two.”

  “You must be feeling pretty confident about your meeting. You seem as if you’re already celebrating.”

  “I am. For many reasons. We seem to be ahead of this problem. We are proactive instead of reactive, which generally puts us at an advantage. Further, my daughter agrees with all of my conclusions and is happy to work with me on it, which is what I have wished for. My grandson is on his way to spend time and perhaps to be involved with the running of my companies, and he may well be proven to have my best interests in his heart. And perhaps most importantly, I have friends to share all of this with. It was not long ago I felt I was little more than a burden in the world, waiting out my time on earth. Now I feel as if I have a long and prosperous future and people I care deeply about to share it. I believe that is reason to celebrate.”

  “Me too.”

  “Me three.”

  They got together for lunch the next day.

  Anna got right down to business. “I reserved the car. I know Roland said we could just take one of his, but I wasn’t comfortable with that. I hope that’s okay.”

  “That is wonderful. Once again, you have done all the hard work of organizing our adventure, Anna. Thank you.”

  “I enjoy doing it. I have options for us in Houston, but I didn’t make any reservations because I wasn’t sure just how long we would take for the drive.”

  “I think that is fine. It isn’t exactly high season. We should have no problem finding acceptable accommodations.”

  “The last time I was in Houston was just after the big hurricane. Can’t remember the name of it, but it pretty much destroyed that old pier and that famous restaurant in Galveston, right down the freeway from Houston, as I remember it. Was that Hurricane Ike?” Anna scratched her head. “I don’t recall. The whole bay area was devastated. We took a ferry over to the other side, and it was just as bad. People in their little houses near the beach had everything sitting out on the curb, all their memories and everything from the most practical to the little things that you can never replace. It was so hard to witness.”

  Carolyn said, “I think that was back in two thousand eight, maybe. I hope that the area was able to rebuild. We are so arrogant these days. We think we can overrule Mother Nature. Move water from one end of the state to the other, build over sinkhole-likely areas. Now we have that whole fracking ordeal. I know very little about it, but I saw a video the other day of people holding a flame to their fields, and vapor alighting. Very scary. They say there are problems with the water table as well. People complain on Facebook about pollution and their budgets, then buy another car. A family of three does not require three cars.”

  Adeline argued. “While I agree in concept, I think it a little more complicated than that, Carolyn.”

  Anna countered, “I agree it is complicated. People complain about not getting paid enough, but on the other hand, lifestyle is so different now. I didn’t get my nails done for my own wedding. I did them myself, and I didn’t even wear polish. Now you see little tiny girls at the salon. Little tiny girls with highlights in their hair. A birthday party used to be a cake after Sunday dinner. My niece just emailed me that she was flat broke and still ‘had to rent a party truck’ for her little boy’s birthday. He is seven. They had her daughter’s birthday party at a museum. All kinds of expensive things that are just not necessary. The child is two. That is not a party for a child. That is a party for the parents.”

  Carolyn was confused. “I’m sorry, what is a party truck for a child? I know what they are for bachelor parties and such.”

  “They have every kind of video game on there, and the kids get to play them. Then add the designer cake and the party bags so that the kids attending get more than the birthday boy once got, and you can see why people think they need more money these days. They think they need more stuff. They don’t.”

  Adeline reached out. “Are you alright, Anna? I’ve never heard you this upset.”

  “I guess I just feel guilty. My kids — I know I didn’t give birth to them, but several of my nieces and nephews are like my own, and their kids are just as close to my heart — they call and ask for this or that, and I just can’t see giving it to them, but at the same time I just feel horrible that I have to say no.”

  Adeline knew better than to broach the subject of funds, but Carolyn decided to ask. Gently. “Anna, if there is ever a time that you need a few dollars, you know you only need to ask.”

  “It isn’t that I can’t afford it. I could if I wanted to. The problem is that I can’t be a party to such wastefulness. It just eats at my soul. These young kids should take that money from their nails or their thousand channels on their television and put it in the bank. What are they going to do later? They aren’t going to have a pension, like I have. They aren’t going to have savings. Only the good Lord knows if the government will be in a position to help, if you could call it that. Don’t get me started.”

  Carolyn rubbed Anna’s arm. “There is no reason for you to feel the slightest bit of guilt. Children, even adult children, need boundaries, and it is with love and care that you enforce those boundaries. You are doing a much better job with these children and their children than I have done with my own.”

  “That sounds real good, but it still hurts my heart.”

  Adeline became animated. “Cara was so angry o
ne day when we talked about this subject. One of my little dancers and a number of her siblings live with their great-grandmother. Can you imagine having little ones running about? At any rate, Cara was incensed. She went on and on — several minutes of ranting — about how at a certain age, our elderly — that would include us, girls — are to be cherished and to be catered to. That when you graduate from senior to elder, it is the duty of the family to make life easier. That those younger family members should be asking themselves what they can do for their elder relative, not what the elder relative can do for them. No matter what the circumstance. That middle life is not meant to be made easier by either end. Children are to be cherished and held apart from hardship. There is no reason for a child to know that a parent is having financial difficulties or that there is a budget. There is equally no reason to ever accept assistance from an elder. That both ends of the spectrum are off limits. In her tradition, you are pampered as a child, knowing you will work hard as an adult and will again be pampered as an elder. It all sounds very old-fashioned, but I think it is the right approach.”

  Anna nodded. “I have to say, we were a multigeneration household when I was growing up. My grandmother lived with us and so did her mother for a short time, although I can’t recall it. She died when I was quite young. My grandmother, on the other hand, was full of life, did a lot of the chores around the house. But you can bet when she sat down, we were falling all over ourselves to see what it was we could get for her. Lemonade or the newspaper. Get her favorite channel on the radio or play a song on the piano.”

  Anna was lost in her memories for a moment. “Anyway, I am so far off topic. Please, let’s get back to the matter at hand. The trip. I have the car. I’ve emailed each of you a schedule so that you can let your loved ones know where we will be and approximately when. I’ve gotten us one of those phone chargers that will work in the car and will charge all of our phones at once. I also got a small ice chest so that we will have refreshments in the car. I hope you girls don’t mind that.”

  “Not at all.”

  Carolyn smiled. “I love to munch as we go. Although it will increase my need for stops at rest areas.”

  “I was kind of counting on that. In that way we get out and stretch a bit between gas stops. I got a vehicle with a big tank so that we can go farther. I don’t mind stopping, but I don’t want to have to stop in a bad area simply to get gas.”

  “As always, you’ve thought of everything, Anna.”

  “I got a packing list off the Internet if either of you are interested. I kept it kind of casual. We are just doing a quick trip in and out, and if Roland says any more about us taking one of his cars, you just remind him that if we rent a car, we can fly back without much hassle, but if we bring one of our own or one of his and we need to fly home, then we are stuck.”

  “I do not need to justify my choices to Roland.”

  Carolyn offered a gentle rebuttal. “I think it’s nice that he is feeling protective of you, Adeline.”

  “I am not so certain it is protective that he feels. Perhaps he feels a bit guilty, or fearful that I may decide to take my business elsewhere.”

  It was Anna’s turn. “I don’t think so. Those kids at the office really care about you. They feel horrible that they were so stuck in their own world that they didn’t look outside of it. It isn’t that they don’t care. It’s that the world is a more self-centered place than it used to be. People aren’t less kind than they once were. They are just cut off from other people. They think all their little devices keep them connected, and they do, but it is a connection borne in distance. You can’t really know someone’s mind from reading about it on a computer screen.”

  Adeline raised her hands in surrender. “Enough about all of that. We will address it another day. I think we are in good order. We will go home and pack and meet early tomorrow morning. Is that the plan?”

  “Yes, but I just have to check one more time. Carolyn, are you sure your Suzi is not going to have that little baby while we are gone? She must be very close to delivery by now.”

  “Yes, she is due soon, but she was at the doctor just this morning, and all is well. If she has the baby without me, her brother and Cara are right there across the hall for her. As much as I would hate to miss the birth of my great-grandchild, to be very frank, I am more concerned about the child’s future than I am the delivery. It would be a great birthday gift to bring back confirmation that we don’t have to worry about Barry for years to come.”

  “Okay, and what about that grandson of yours, Adeline? Are you sure that it is okay not to be here when he arrives? I know you were planning on being available when he landed, but with the delays that he has incurred, we could just delay our trip equally, and you could be here when he gets here.”

  “I actually think it is to his advantage that I not be here. When his meddling parents call, he can quite honestly rant about my not even being in town.”

  “But won’t that be suspicious? I don’t mean to be unkind, but you looked like death warmed over on that video, and all of a sudden you are taking off with friends for an adventure in another state. Won’t they question that?”

  “I’m sure that it will be suggested that I am actually receiving some type of medical treatment.”

  “Well, that will explain your miraculous recovery.”

  It was good to laugh.

  Anna took a breath. “One other thing. I want to talk about finances for just a minute.”

  Carolyn tried to sideline the discussion. She didn’t want to give Adeline the opportunity to take over the financial burden of the trip. “Anna — ”

  “No, it’s nothing like that. I’ve gone ahead and opened a new credit card. Very good rate. It is a travel card, so things like rental car insurance and such are covered by the card, some cancellation insurance, things like that. It is just a little extra precaution if we are going to be on the road again. I think that since we do everything together while we are on the road, all of our expenses, like hotels and cars and things of that nature, should all go on this card. Then at the end of the trip we will just split the bill in three and each pay our part. If any of us want to buy a little extra, say a souvenir or clothing or something of that nature, we will do it on our own. Does that sound okay to you girls?”

  “If it is not too much trouble for you to keep track of all of that.”

  “No problem at all. I enjoy the details of this sort of thing. I’ll print out a copy for each of you to review — ”

  Carolyn cut her off. “Don’t be silly. Just give me a number, and I’ll write you a check. There is no reason at all for me to see your handiwork.”

  Adeline simply nodded her head in agreement.

  It made Anna feel good that the girls so easily accepted her plan and trusted her completely, both her honesty and her judgment.

  It was decided that Carolyn would pick up Anna at six thirty, drive her to the car rental place, and pick up the car for the adventure. Anna would then follow Carolyn over to Adeline’s loft, where they would drop off Carolyn’s car and pick up Adeline. When they came home, they would reverse the process when returning the car.

  None of them seemed to notice that Adeline was always treated to just a little bit of deference. None of the girls noticed, anyway.

  More distant observers had taken note.

  FIVE

  CAROLYN WAS IN the back seat, with a pillow next to the small ice chest, and another tucked between her head and the door. She was as comfortable as she had ever been, but worried her hair would look like a chicken’s comb when she got out of the car. If Suzi were there, she would point out that hair isn’t supposed to be perfect. If it is a little tousled, it would make her look younger. She loved the child, but sometimes didn’t understand her at all. She had seen her — more than once — leave the house in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms. What was the world coming to? When she’d asked, Suzi had laughed and said that people liked to be comfortable these days. To Carolyn’s
mind there was a difference between the need for comfort and being just plain lazy about one’s appearance.

  She’d almost dozed off having that conversation with herself, when she bolted upright and said, “The minor,” and scared poor Adeline and Anna nearly to death.

  Anna said, “Oh, dear God, give a person a warning. I almost wrecked the car.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “What did you say, Carolyn? The miner? Were you dreaming? Did you see a sign?”

  “No, I was thinking. Remember when we were talking about Pickles? Anna said that she was talking to someone on a message board about putting the building in a child’s name.”

  “Yes, that can be done, but it is an exhausting process to do it correctly.”

  “That’s not the point. Think about it. A minor. Pickles has a child!”

  “How did we miss that?”

  “Maybe that child is Barry’s, and that’s the whole mystery. Maybe we already have the answer.”

  “In this day and age, no one is going to willingly go to prison for an indeterminable amount of time simply because he has fathered a child, and that is what Barry chose when we mentioned Pickles and his mother. There has to be more to it.”

  “Okay, so maybe the child isn’t enough to cause him to volunteer to stay in prison, but the fact that there is a child changes everything. At least it does for me. I thought Suzi was having Barry’s first child. Now it looks like that isn’t true at all.”

  “Look at the bright side. If you are correct, and the child is a lovely, well-behaved young person, your mind will be put to rest for Suzi’s child. You have shared with us that you are concerned about the gene pool. Perhaps you will see that the gods or the gene pool can be kind.”

  “I wonder how my Suzi will feel knowing that her little one has a sibling.”

  Anna, as always, was the voice of reason. “Let’s not put the cart before the horse. We don’t even know if we found the right person. We don’t know if that person has a child. We don’t know that if she does have a child, it’s Barry’s child. Remember, Molly said that Barry and his friends were into some kinky stuff. Why would we assume that a baby is Barry’s? Let’s just wait and see what happens.”