by Curry, Edna
The sun was setting as they pulled up to the apartment building where Jodi and Sylvia lived.
As they climbed the stairs to the girls' apartment, they could hear the sounds of various stereos and television sets. Evidently the walls were thin.
Jodi greeted them warily, indicating for them to take a seat on the sofa. The apartment was crowded with furniture. None of the pieces matched, but the eclectic mixture gave the room a homey feel.
“You remember Trace?” Lisa asked by way of introduction.
“Yes, of course. How could I forget?” Jodi tossed Trace a grimace. “It’s not every day I catch Mom making out with a hunk.” She looked at her mother and added, “At least he’s a whole lot better than Harry.”
“Jodi!” Lisa blushed at the realization that she and Trace had been the subject of gossip between Jodi and her friends.
Jodi ignored her mother, and turned to her roommate for vindication. “Didn’t I tell you he was a hunk, Sylvia?”
“You sure did. Nice to meet you, Mr. Marsley.” Sylvia batted her eyes at Trace, and perched on the end of the sofa nearest him.
Trace grinned indulgently.
“Oh, I like the dimple in your chin,” Sylvia gushed.
Lisa frowned, a surge of jealousy raging through her. Then she tried to ignore it, remembering Trace probably dealt with similar situations with girls Sylvia’s age every day in his college classes.
Trace ignored Sylvia. He focused in on what Jodi had said. “Who is Harry?” he asked, a dangerous glint in his eye.
Jodi giggled. “Harry was one of Dad’s coworkers. He took Mom out to dinner before she moved to Mankato. I heard by the grapevine that he ‘doted on her.’ He’s rich, but short, bald, and dull,” she informed Trace.
“Jodi! That’s not very nice.”
Jodi wrinkled her nose. “But true, Mom. Trace is much better looking.”
Trace rewarded Jodi with a satisfied grin for that bit of reassurance.
Annoyed, Lisa turned back to Jodi and asked, “Did you have any luck with Bob’s friends?”
Jodi shook her head. “He evidently didn’t confide in any of them.”
“How about Annette’s friends?”
“I couldn’t reach anyone.”
“What about Annette’s family?” Trace put in.
Lisa and Jodi looked at each other. Lisa shrugged.
“I don’t think she has any,” Jodi said. “She moved here from Sioux Falls, I think, but I never heard her mention any relatives.”
“Do you know where she worked?”
“A doctor’s office downtown. I called and got a recording. It’s closed until tomorrow. I can give you the name and number.”
“There must be some way to find out where Bob has gone.” Lisa looked ready to cry.
Trace covered her hand with his in a comforting gesture. “Calm down, hon. Jodi, let’s make a list of everyone who might know anything. Then find their phone numbers. If we don’t reach them now, Lisa and I will try later from our motel room. We’ll call the businesses in the morning.”
“You’re sharing a motel room?” Jodi asked incredulously.
Lisa blushed. “Jodi, I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
“Not my business? You’re my mother. What about Daddy?”
Lisa blanched. “Your father’s been dead more than two years. Life goes on.”
Jodi raised her chin defiantly. “You’re still wearing your wedding rings.”
Lisa stared at Jodi, then down at her own left hand, a surprised look on her face.
When her mother said nothing, Jodi went on, “Then what about all the stuff you always taught me, about waiting for marriage and all that?”
“Jodi, I’m not a teenager anymore,” Lisa began.
“You mean the rules are only for the young?”
“Jodi!” Lisa looked at Trace helplessly.
“Jodi, please,” Trace said gently. “Let’s just worry about Bob for now, eh? One problem at a time, okay?”
Jodi sniffed, and nodded.
“Good. Sylvia, how about a coke or something? Think you can manage that?” he sent her a high voltage smile, and Sylvia immediately slid off her perch on the sofa and headed for the kitchen to comply.
The next hour went fast, as they wracked their brains, made lists of names and crossed them off. They had reached many of the people on their list by telephone, but knew little more than before.
Finally Trace said, “Let’s quit for tonight, Lisa. Okay?”
As they took their leave, Jodi, now in a better mood, said, “Don’t worry, though, Mom. Whatever Bob’s up to, I’m sure he knows what he’s doing. I know he has plenty of money; he was bragging about how much he’s saved even after paying for his apartment. He said he hadn’t touched the emergency fund you gave him, either.”
“That’s good. I’ll phone you with our local number after we’re checked in. Just in case you think of something or someone calls back.”
They drove to a motel. “Maybe we should get separate rooms,” Lisa ventured.
Trace looked at her. “Just to please Jodi? When she won’t know the difference, anyway?”
She laughed. “It does sound a little foolish when you put it that way.”
“Besides, what would it change? We are lovers, whether she accepts it or not.”
Lisa nodded. Trace registered them and drove around to the door nearest their unit.
An hour and fourteen phone calls later, Trace showered and got into the king sized bed. He coaxed, “Come to bed, Lisa. We’ll try again in the morning. It’ll be easier to get some answers during regular business hours.”
“All right,” she agreed with a sigh, and went to take her shower. Then she stood at the bathroom mirror in her pink satin nightgown, brushing her long dark hair. She caught his eye in the mirror.
”You make a gorgeous picture, Lisa. See what you’re doing to me?” He lifted the blanket to show himself all hardened with desire.
She grinned at him and changed the subject. “Maybe someone at Bob’s office will know something. Do you think we dare go there in person?”
He sighed and covered himself. “Why not? They can’t do any more than throw us out. And we’ll try the post office as soon as it opens tomorrow.”
“All right.” She continued brushing, but her mind was far away. Was she making a terrible mistake having a relationship with Trace? Renee was angry, Jodi was angry, and Bob had disappeared. Here she was, fooling around like a teenager, pleasing herself with no regard for how her family felt about it. On the other hand, when had Bob and Jodi tried to please her? Why did she always have to be the one who cared what others thought? And how she wanted Trace anyway.
“Come to bed, Sweetheart,” he repeated, opening the covers next to him invitingly.
She pushed her disturbing thoughts away with a sigh, put down her hair brush and turned out the lights.
Gathering her close as she got into bed beside him, he began stroking and kissing her. Soon the pink satin gown was off and pushed to the foot of the bed. His pajamas followed as she responded in turn. They made love, in a slow, sensuous fashion, until both were happily satisfied.
She remained quiet and he thought she was asleep.
Trace was almost asleep when he realized she was crying, and trying to hide it from him. “What’s the matter, Sweetheart?”
She turned into his embrace, and wailed, “Oh, Trace, I’ve made such a mess of things!”
Trace laughed and smoothed her hair back from her face. He kissed her gently. “Who hasn’t, at one time or another?” he asked. “I feel that way every time Renee and I argue.”
“But I didn’t want to lose them. I just wanted them to grow up. Don’t I have a right to a life of my own, too?”
“Of course you do. They’ll realize that in time. It will just take a while for them to get used to the idea that you are a person as well as their mother.” He cuddled her close until her sobs subsided and she fell asleep.
>
At breakfast at a little restaurant nearby, Trace noticed she was no longer wearing her wedding rings. The sight of that bare third finger sent a warm wave of hope through him.
They drove to Bob’s office, where a young receptionist succumbed to Trace’s charm. She readily gave them directions to Bob’s department so they could talk to some of Bob’s former coworkers. “But only for a minute, now.”
“You got it,” he said, sending her a high-powered grin.
At first their mission seemed hopeless. No one seemed to know why Bob had abruptly quit his job. They were about to give up, when Lisa remembered that Carol’s niece, Linda, worked there. They were directed to her in another department. There, Linda, a pretty young girl, remembered, “He was always talking about another guy’s great job at IBM. Maybe that’s where he went.”
“But IBM is a world-wide company. Do you know which plant?”
The girl shook her head. “I have no idea.”
"Well, thanks,” Trace said. They walked back out to his car. “It’s a lead anyway.”
“But that’s only a guess, Trace. I don’t believe she knew anything.”
“Maybe not. Let’s try the post office.”
At the post office they went through three layers of red tape and three forms of identification before a stiff necked supervisor would tell them anything. The ice finally broke when Lisa gave the woman her old local address and named a local former employer. But the news wasn’t good. Bob had given up his local box and left only a post office box number in Rochester as his forwarding address.
“Rochester, Minnesota?”
The woman nodded and shrugged. “That’s all we have. Sorry.”
“At least it’s something,” Trace said as they went back outside.
“But how will we ever find him from that? We can’t just go watch his box and hope he’ll come in to pick up his mail,” Lisa wailed. “Knowing Bob, he’ll pick it up about once a week when he happens to remember it.”
“Great!” He unlocked his car and handed her in, then walked around and slid under the wheel. Looking at Lisa, he said, “On the other hand, now we know he went to Rochester. And who is Rochester’s biggest employer?”
“The Mayo Clinic?”
“Well, maybe so. But there’s a big IBM plant there too, Lisa. It can’t be a coincidence.”
“So now what do we do?”
“I have a friend who works at the Rochester IBM office. We ask him to find out if Bob’s working there.”
“So, it’s back home?”
“Yes. Mankato’s right on the way to Rochester, anyway, and I don’t have my friend’s phone number with me.”
“Let’s try Annette at the doctor’s office first. Maybe she can give us his new address.”
But at the doctor’s office a new receptionist was on duty.
“Annette quit,” she informed them. “No, I don’t know her new address. I think she moved out of town.”
Disappointed, they walked back to their car. “Do you suppose that means they’re together?” Lisa ventured.
“Sound’s like it to me.” Trace stopped at a pay phone and Lisa called Jodi. She told her what they had found out and they were leaving town.
The drive back to Mankato was accomplished mostly in silence.
“Let’s go to my house, so I can look up my friend’s telephone number in my Rolodex,” Trace said as he pulled up at the curb in front of their houses. He stepped out and came around over the green grass to help her out.
“I was thinking of fixing something for lunch,” Lisa objected. ”Man, it’s getting hot out.”
“I’m sure there’s something in my refrigerator.” Trace stopped at his mailbox and picked up his mail; then they walked on up the sidewalk to his house. Baby met them at the door with an accusing meow, and a wave of her fluffy tail.
“Oops, I’d better feed her. Even her dry cat food dish is empty,” Trace said as they stepped into the kitchen. He picked up the cat and stroked her dark fur.
“Oh. It’s nice and cool in here.”
“Yes,” Trace agreed. He opened a can of cat food and put it down for her, then refilled her dry food and water dishes. “I had central air put in last week.”
She looked at him in surprise. Central air? She couldn’t imagine Trace spending that much money on something unnecessary. But Trace wasn’t looking at her, and she shrugged away her questions. She had more important things to worry about right now than his hang ups.
Rummaging in his refrigerator, she asked, “How about a chef’s salad? I think there’s enough stuff here for that.”
“Sounds great. I’ll see if I can reach my friend.” Trace went on down the hall to his office.
She made coffee, prepared the salads, and set the table. She had just carried the salads to the table, and found a couple of kinds of dressing, when Trace returned. She looked at him questioningly.
“He’s going to check with personnel and call me back.”
“Is that allowed?”
Trace shrugged. “I don’t know, but why should they object to telling you whether Bob works there? After all, you’re his mother. He probably listed you as his next of kin on his employment application.”
“How could he?” she asked with a sigh. “He didn’t even know my address or phone number.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. Lots of people have unlisted phone numbers, or even no telephone. Besides, he found you, so he knows your street address, now.”
Trace found some rolls while Lisa poured their coffee. They ate in silence.
They had just finished eating when the telephone rang. Lisa listened anxiously while Trace talked to his friend. A sigh of relief escaped her, and a smile spread across her face when he pulled out his notepad and a pen and began repeating and writing down a street address and telephone number.
Trace hung up. “He works there and I have his home street address,” Trace said, handing her the notepad with a satisfied smile. “He works until five today.”
Lisa glanced at her watch. “It’s after three already, and it’s over an hour’s drive. Shall we go down today?”
Trace refilled his coffee cup and sat down across from her. He said cautiously, “Do you really think that’s a good idea, Lisa? I mean, he’s angry right now. You might not be welcome.”
“I know,” Lisa said, looking away.
“It might be better to wait a while and then go down.”
“No. I know Bob. The longer he stews about this, the more stubborn he will be about it.”
Trace noted the determined set to her pointed chin, and sighed. If Bob was stubborn, he must have inherited the trait from his mother, he thought. He considered her pursuit of Bob a mistake, but how could he convince her he was right?
Sighing, he agreed, “All right, I’ll drive you down.”
“You don’t need to do that. I can drive myself. Rochester’s not that big a city. I can find his address all right.”
“I’m sure you could. But I’m not doing anything special for the rest of the day, so if you don’t mind, I’ll go with you.”
She smiled at him. “Of course, I don’t mind, Trace. I appreciate your company. I’ll just pop over and drop off my suitcase and check my house and my mail.”
“I’ll check my answering machine and call Renee. If we leave at, say, four o’clock, Bob should be home from work when we get there.”
“Sound’s great. I’ll be ready.”
Chapter 14
Lisa hardly spoke on the drive down to Rochester. She seemed nervous.
Trace was quiet, too, leaving her to her thoughts.
They found Bob’s street with little trouble, and Lisa anxiously began scanning house numbers.
“It’s over there,” she said, pointing to an older, white duplex. “The two story one with the green shutters.”
“I see it.” Trace waited for a van to go by, then pulled over to the curb and parked.
“Do you suppose he’s home?”
“It’s probably in the garage. Bob always worries about someone stealing it.”
“Yeah. One of the perks of having a car the crooks like,” Trace said with a grin. “Do you want me to come with you?”
Lisa looked at him apologetically. “Would you mind waiting out here? I’m afraid he’ll be less likely to accept my apology if I’m with you.”
“Okay.”
Lisa walked up the sidewalk to the front door and rang the bell. A minute later Bob opened it, staring at her. “Ma!”
Her lips trembled in a nervous smile. “Hello, Bob. How are you?”
He ignored her question and asked belligerently, “What are you doing here? I-I mean, how did you find me?”
Annoyed, she countered, “If you could find me, why is it so hard to believe I could find you?”
Bob shrugged, and ran a large, freckled hand through his red hair. He frowned, as though unable to comprehend her words. “Why did you want to? I mean you said you wanted to be left alone.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I came to apologize.” Lisa shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another, but Bob didn’t invite her in, nor even seem to notice he was having a personal discussion with his mother on his doorstep. His tall body filled the doorway, and he stared at her belligerently.
She tried again, with a vain attempt to keep the nervous tremor out of her voice. “I love you, Bob. I just wanted you to grow up. I didn’t mean I didn’t want to ever see you.”
He lifted his chin. “I’m grown up already, Ma. I’m married now, and I have a good job. I’m even gonna be a father in a few months. Is that grown up enough to suit you?”
“Married? To Annette? But how, when?”
“Yes, to Annette. What do you care when? Annette wanted a big family wedding, so I figured out where you were, just to please her. Then, when I tried to tell you, you just yelled at me. So I figured, ‘the hell with you.’”
Lisa blanched, both at his choice of words, and also hating the reminder of her embarrassed reaction to being caught on the sofa with Trace. She couldn’t blame him for being angry. She had certainly blown it this time. She tried again. “I said I was sorry.”