Heart of Clay (The Tanner Series Book 6)

by Jo Willow

  “What’s the matter buttercup?”

  “My head’s gonna blow up.”

  “Why sweet girl? Do you have a headache?”

  “No, I wanna hug all of ‘em.”

  “Then you shall.”

  Ian looked over and Jem and Alex were in deep discussion, oblivious to the world around them. He picked up Patty and turned to Phil.

  “Follow me Ansel Adams. It’s show time.”

  Phil handed the camera to Scott. It looked huge in his hands, but he held it just as Phil had showed him and the strap was secure around his neck.

  “Get some good shots of your sister and Ian. I need a decent pic of him with Goofy. Got it?”

  “Got it. I won’t let you down Yoda.”

  Phil liked his new nickname and practically preened. He decided that he’d teach Scott the music business and how to use a soundboard when they got back home.

  Rose and Amber watched the interesting parade of two men and their entourage while they coaxed the kids to eat a little more. Amber spoke to Rose while she was feeding Alex fries, one at a time.

  “I’m thinking Mitch is gonna have a problem when we get back.”

  Rose looked at her best friend and kissed her daughter on the top of the head. Jem looked up and grinned at her mother.

  “Why is that?”

  “I think those two are going to petition to adopt those kids themselves.”

  Rose laughed and nodded.

  “None of us are used to grateful children Amber. We’ve been living in our bubble for so long, we’ve forgotten that some kids don’t have it as easy as ours. Those kids will never forget this as long as they live. Ours are eating fries like they’re sitting at their own kitchen table. We need to work on that a little bit more when we get home.”

  Amber winked at her friend and agreed wholeheartedly.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Ian’s cell phone was buzzing on the nightstand. He opened one eye to see the morning light filtering in through the still closed bedroom curtains. If it was Phil on the phone ready to attack the Animal Kingdom, he decided he’d stab him with a toothbrush.

  “It’s Ian.”

  “Ian, would you mind telling me why my daughter’s being eaten by a giraffe?”

  “Mitch? What time is it? What are you talking about?”

  “It’s a little after seven and I just got sent a photo on my cell phone of Patty with a pair of giraffe lips on her head. She was giggling, but I don’t think she knows any better. You’ll have to wash her hair before you take her anywhere.”

  “Slow down Mitch. Patty and Scott are sleeping in the living room. Nobody’s up yet or I’d of heard them.”

  “Not my kids you wouldn’t. They taught the government the art of stealth. You really need to understand the nature of sneaky children.”

  Ian climbed out of bed and Rose barely stirred. He slipped on his sweatpants and eased into the living room, still holding the phone against his ear.

  There was Patty on the balcony with one hand on a giraffe’s nose, a bunch of celery in her other hand. The giraffe was eating contentedly, much as a deer in a flock of tourists. Scott was snapping photos on Rose’s cell phone camera.

  Ian ran his hand through his hair and when he spoke, he startled the children.

  “Scott, how did you lure a giraffe to the balcony?”

  Mitch was sitting up in bed, listening to the exchange with a grin on his face. Scott was so startled he almost dropped the cell phone.

  “We started out with carrots. He liked those, so we tried an apple. He didn’t like peanut butter cups, so we used the spinach in the vegetable bin. We don’t like spinach. That went fast and we had to move on to celery. Are we in trouble?”

  “No son, you’re not. You just scared your father half to death. Don’t teach Phil your trick or he’ll be luring the lions in with Rose’s Sunday roast. Okay?”

  “Yes sir. Can we finish feeding him the celery?”

  “Sure. Why not. We’ll pick up more. After you’re done, come inside.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Patty continued with her petting and feeding and Ian remembered he had Mitch on the line.

  “Your daughter is taming the animal kingdom Mitch. She had a giant mouse eating out of her hand last night. Scott’s becoming a whiz at photography.”

  Mitch laughed and shook his head.

  “So I’ve noticed. Are they behaving?”

  “Better than mine are actually. Where are you?”

  “In St. Pete, listening to the waves on the beach through the bedroom window. Thanks for the honeymoon. I’m gonna wrestle Beth into a bikini after breakfast and show her off.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me. We hit two parks yesterday, but I’ve got a feeling the Animal Kingdom will be an all day affair. We’ve got at least two more parks after that and then there’s an alligator farm not far from here that Phil wants to see, so you two will have four or five more days to yourself.”

  “I appreciate that. Do me a favor?”

  “Of course. Name it.”

  “Don’t let Patty feed the alligators. I don’t think her mother would appreciate that photo.”

  “No worries. I’ll give Phil a shove and let Scott capture that on film.”

  Mitch started laughing in earnest and Beth woke up and looked at him.

  “Don’t go doin’ that Ian. Scott will lose his new best friend.”

  “Ain’t that the truth. I’m thinking he’s putting together a proposal to make Scott his new intern at work. He taught him how to use a Nikon last night and he mumbled something about teaching him to drive when we got back.”

  “He’s only eight Ian.”

  “You and I know that, but you gotta remember that Phil thinks like a twelve year old. They’re a match made in heaven. Look, I gotta go before the littlest ones wake up and want me to buy them a giraffe. We’ll send more pics later.”

  “I’ll be looking forward to it. Thanks again and have fun.”

  “Oh yeah. I’m having a ball.”

  Before he hung up, Mitch heard Ian talking to Patty.

  “Honey, don’t kiss him on the nose...Patty... oh for the love of...”

  Then he was gone.

  Beth leaned over and looked up at Mitch who was still grinning.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Patty’s kissing giraffe’s in her nightgown and Ian’s fit to be tied.”

  Beth sat bolt upright, her eyes huge.

  “What!?”

  “Relax baby. Look at this and tell me they’re not having the time of their lives.”

  Mitch scrolled through the photos on the phone and Beth’s smile grew with every shot. When he got to the one with the giraffe’s lips on the head of a giggling Patty, she sighed.

  “He’s kissing her.”

  “He’s tasting her.”

  “You think so? Is it dangerous?”

  “They’re herbivores. If he were a lion or a hyena, I think I’d be worried.”

  Beth nodded and took the phone from his hands. She put it on the nightstand and then rolled back towards him.

  “Honeymoon time Mitch.”

  Mitch grinned at his wife and temporarily forgot about giraffes and children.

  Rose woke up to the sound of splashing, giggling and Ian mumbling epithets that were inappropriate in front of children. She could’ve sworn he mentioned spinach.

  She got out of bed and stood in the doorway to the bathroom. She leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms.

  There was Ian leaning over a tub, soaked to the skin, washing a giggling Patty’s hair.

  “Ian, what the hell are you doing? It’s eight o’clock in the morning. Have the kids eaten?”

  “No, but this one almost was.”

  “Was what?”

  “Eaten.”

  Patty reached for her the yellow duck and Ian almost fell into the tub.

  “Patty honey, be still please. I’m scrubbing spinach out of your hair.”

/>   He glanced at Rose and continued his chore.

  “I swear Rose. Giraffes are worse than camels. That damned thing drooled spinach all through her hair. It looks like we dyed her green in some misguided attempt to seem cool.”

  Rose stifled her laughter and went into the bathroom.

  “Move over and take a break. Tell me what happened.”

  Ian got up and flipped down the toilet lid. He took a seat and ran his wet hands through his own hair.

  “I don’t know exactly. Mitch called this morning saying something about Patty being eaten by a giraffe. I went into the living room, and there was Scott taking pictures with your phone while this one was feeding a giraffe celery from the balcony.”

  Rose added more baby shampoo and nodded. She didn’t seem at all phased.

  “I thought you said she had spinach in her hair.”

  “I was getting to that. They started with carrots and ran out. Then they went to spinach. When they ran out of that, the giraffe leaned over and wrapped it’s lips around the top of Patty’s head. Scott took the photo, then ran and got the celery. He made sure to send his folks the photo first though. Smart ass kid.”

  “I see. What did you say to them?”

  “Nothin’ until Patty reached up and kissed the damned thing on the nose. It jumped back and she almost fell off the balcony. Rose, I don’t think I’m cut out for older kids. I almost had a heart attack. If it were Jem, I think I’d of fallen over dead.”

  “You wouldn’t of had to worry if it had been Jem.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, as soon as the giraffe messed up her hair, she’d of punched it in the nose and called it a dirty name.”

  “Rose! That’s our daughter you’re talking about.”

  “I realize that. I also realize that those kids need to learn some humility. Tell me something Ian. Did your parents pay for your education?”

  “They paid the tuition but I had to pay my living expenses. I worked my way through college like everyone else. Why?”

  “I did too. It was a good learning experience. Almost as good as college itself. I learned to take care of myself and to be grateful.”

  “What are you sayin’ exactly?”

  “I’m sayin’ that I’ve learned a lot in the last few days. Jem and Alex need to learn how to share and they need to learn some of the same lessons we learned.”

  Rose grabbed the plastic cup that Ian had brought into the bathroom and began to rinse Patty’s hair. When she was finished, Patty’s hair was red once again and she smiled at Rose.

  “Am I bootiful aunt Rose?”

  “You’re stunning Patty. Now let’s get you into your new Minnie shirt and a pair of shorts. You wanna wear your sandals or your sneakers?”

  “Sandals.”

  “Good choice. We might get wet today.”

  Rose helped her out of the tub and wrapped her in a towel. Ian sat on the toilet thinking about what Rose had said. He’d never thought of his kids as spoiled, but they were. Alex wasn’t as bad as Jem, but he was on the road. Charlie was too little to understand privilege, so he thought he had a shot with him. Jem might be tricky. She was stubborn and had the will to enforce it. He leaned back and realized that his life just got complicated.

  The children were all at the table eating cereal and Amber was putting scrambled eggs and toast in front of Phil. Rose made a spot for Patty and poured her cereal as well. Amber looked over and smiled.

  “Why is her hair wet? I thought she took her bath last night.”

  Scott looked up from his breakfast and smiled at Amber.

  “She had spinach drool in her hair.”

  Phil and Amber both looked at him like he’d lost his marbles. Rose closed her eyes and waited for what came next. Phil piped up first.

  “Who was drooling spinach in her hair?”

  “The giraffe.”

  That got a reaction. Amber looked at Rose and she nodded. Phil was focused on Scott.

  “Tell me more Jedi.”

  Scott scrolled through the photos he’d taken until he got to the several of Patty and the giraffe. He slid the phone to Phil and continued eating. Phil picked up the phone and started scrolling. His eyes got huge.

  “Why didn’t you use the Nikon?”

  “I didn’t want to wake you to ask permission. Aunt Rose told me yesterday that I could use her cell phone. I charged it last night.”

  Phil was grinning ear to ear and looking at Patty who was smiling and eating her cereal.

  “No permission needed. Next time, grab the Nikon and do your sister justice. How did you lure it up?”

  Amber put a plate and coffee in front of Rose.

  “Do NOT answer that Scott. That’s a loaded question. If he can’t figure it out, we’re all safe.”

  Scott gave her a ‘thumbs up’ and continued eating. Out of the corner of his mouth he whispered to Phil.

  “Later Yoda.”

  He held out his fist and Phil gave the familiar bump.

  Amber rolled her eyes at Rose and sipped her coffee.

  “This could be trouble when we get home.”

  Rose swallowed her bite of eggs and nodded in agreement.

  “Could be? Scott’ll be the engineer on my next CD if we don’t keep an eye on them.”

  Phil’s attention was momentarily taken from his food.

  “It’s never too early to learn a job skill Rose. If he shows aptitude I’m putting him through college.”

  Scott became serious and he looked at Phil.

  “You think I could go to college?”

  All three adults exchanged the same look. They’d assumed all the kids would go to college, but they’d temporarily forgotten Scott and Patty’s circumstances. Phil addressed the serious question with a serious answer.

  “If you study hard and keep getting good grades, I guarantee you’ll go to college. Ian and I will make sure of it.”

  “Really? I could be like you someday?”

  Phil beamed in pride until Rose shot him down.

  “Aim higher Scott. You could be like Ian someday.”

  Ian chose that moment to walk through the door. He was dressed in a safari shirt with the Disney logo on the pocket and a pair of khaki walking shorts that had more pockets than a billiard table. He was towel drying his hair.

  “I swear I was scrubbing spinach spit out of my hair.”

  Rose looked at Scott.

  “Correction. You could be like your uncle Kevin someday.”

  Amber started howling with laughter and Patty followed suit, although she wasn’t sure what she was laughing about. Ian stopped and looked at all of them. Phil and Scott were watching him as if they were sharing a private joke.

  “What did I miss?”

  Amber got up and made Ian a plate.

  “Phil was just telling Scott that if he studied hard and kept his grades up, the two of you would make sure that he went to college.”

  Ian sat down and smiled at Amber.

  “Thanks for the breakfast. Of course he’ll go to college. Why wouldn’t he go to college?”

  Scott finished his cereal and remained somber.

  “Mom and dad used the college fund to start the business. They don’t think I know, but I heard them talking about it. It’s okay.”

  Ian’s hand trembled as he picked up his coffee cup. This was what Rose had reminded him of earlier and his resolve grew stronger.

  “Scott, listen to me. We’ll get you through college. As much college as you want. You’ll have to pay your living expenses, but your education will be covered. I promise.”

  Scott had the eyes of a person three times his age. He turned them on Ian and he saw everything. The hard life, the difficult decisions his mother had made in her life and the understanding the boy had of his situation. No eight year old child should have the eyes that this little boy had. Ian thought he should be thinking about go carts and a new bike for Christmas. This boy was worrying about a college education and his f
uture.

  Rose watched her husband’s face change. She squeezed his hand and smiled in understanding. He cleared his throat and returned his gaze to Scott.

  “Listen to me. Every Tanner kid has a college fund. It’s set in stone and it’s waiting. You and Patty are Tanner kids now. Right?”

  Scott found his smile and it was genuine.

  “Right.”

  “There then. Quit worrying. When the time comes, we’ve got you sorted. Just think about what you want to be when you grow up and we’ll take care of the rest.”

  Rose finished her eggs and took a sip of coffee.

  “He wants to be like Phil.”

  “No, he doesn’t.”

  “He does, ask him.”

  Phil watched Ian and Scott with no small amount of interest.

  “Scotty, why would you want to be like Phil?”

  “Because he’s smart. You trust him enough to let him run things and he’s a computer whiz. He still knows how to have fun too. Phil’s the bomb.”

  Phil looked at Ian and waited for the insult that was sure to come. Ian looked at his friend and nodded his head.

  “You’re right. He is. You should be like Phil. Hell, all of us should be a little more like Phil.”

  Rose and Amber stared at Ian and wondered if his shorts were too tight. Phil stood and stretched, then took his plate and cup into the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher.

  “Who wants to do the animal park?”

  A cacophony of sound filled the air and people began to move.

  Beth was stretched out in a light green bikini that made her hair and eyes glow. Mitch was trying to think of anything else but his wife in that bikini. She turned her head to him and smiled.

  He took in his surroundings. They were on a beach with a handful of other tourists and a smattering of children having fun in the surf and sand. The breeze off the ocean kept the heat to a deceptive level as the sun beat down.

  He picked up the sunblock and thought twice.

  “Let’s go for a swim.”

  She smiled and stood and Mitch swallowed hard. He stood and took her hand, then led her to the water. When they were waist deep, he turned and kissed her.