by Madyson Grey
Victoria sat back in her chair, relieved and happy that her “guinea pigs” liked her cooking. Her time in Seattle was paying off in ways she had never anticipated.
When supper was over, Lena tried to clear the table, but Victoria wouldn’t hear of it. She instructed Rafael to take Lena into the family room and sit her down to wait for her dessert. With only three at the table, it didn’t take Victoria long to carry the dirty dishes to the kitchen, and tidy the dining room.
She had forgotten that the dishwasher was full of clean dishes, so she just set the dirty ones on the counter on top of the dishwasher until later. She dished up pineapple upside down cake onto her mother’s prettiest dessert plates, and topped it with freshly whipped cream. She put the three plates onto a silver serving tray, carried them into the family room, and handed Lena and Rafael each a plate. Then she took the last one and sat down on the sofa beside Rafael.
“You are spoiling me, missy,” Lena scolded cheerfully. “I won’t want to go back to work tomorrow if you keep treating me like company.”
“Enjoy it while you can,” Victoria warned with a smile.
They all busied themselves with eating cake for a couple of minutes. Victoria was the first to speak again.
“So what am I going to do with this house?” she asked no one in particular. “Rafael, you know much more about Daddy’s business than I do. Can I afford to keep this house? Or should I sell it and look for something a little less extravagant? Can I sell it? With it tied up as half Mother’s what can I do? Can someone convicted of a crime inherit what they would have otherwise? Somebody tell me what to do.”
“I wish we could, honey,” Lena said sympathetically.
“I’m sure I don’t have a clue,” Rafael said. “Except for one question—you can afford to keep the house at this point anyway. It’s paid for. All you have to do is keep up the taxes, insurance, utilities, and maintenance. According to your father’s records, that amounts to roughly eight grand a month not counting Lena’s salary. But it did include the gardener and the once-a-week pool maintenance. And since they are gone, it will include Lena. The taxes and insurance alone are over forty-one hundred.”
“Whew! That’s a lot!” Victoria exclaimed. “I had no idea that it cost so much to maintain this house. It seems like the money could be better spent if we downsized. Of course, I can’t do anything until the lawyer tells me what I can do. Meanwhile, if we can afford it, we’ll sit tight.”
“Sounds like your time in Seattle as a ‘starving art student’ made you money-conscious,” Rafael said.
“It certainly did. And I had it a lot better than some of the other people I met,” Victoria said. “There are people out there who love life and are perfectly content living on a lot less than what this house costs.”
“Lena, I hope you don’t mind us talking about this in front of you, but what does my dad pay you? Did he pay you?”
“I don’t mind,” Lena said. “Rafael must know already anyway, being privy to your dad’s books. I get eighteen hundred a month plus my apartment and meals. All I have to pay is my cell phone and my car expenses. Well, and toiletries and clothes. But I am able to save quite a bit of it.”
She paused a second, looked down shyly, then looked back at Victoria.
“I’ve been saving up for my retirement and for a nice vacation someday,” she said. “I’ve always dreamed of going to Egypt to see the pyramids. Isn’t that silly for a mere cook and housekeeper?”
“Not silly at all,” Victoria said. “I’d love to see the pyramids myself.”
“Yeah, no doubt,” Rafael agreed.
“You know, I remember that you have a book about Egypt,” Victoria said. “I used to like to look at it when I was in your apartment. Do you still have that book?”
“Yeah, I still have it, and I still look at it often. I may just have it memorized,” Lena said with a little laugh.
“But you two, you could do it. Go to Egypt, that is. I’ve just been a cook all my adult life. Not that I’ve minded, you understand. I’ve enjoyed it here. I live in a mansion, drive a nice car, eat good food. But I’m still just the cook, not the mistress. But now I’m sounding like a silly, ungrateful old woman. Please forgive me.”
“Victoria got up and went over to the chair where Lena sat. She knelt down in front of her and put her arms around her.
“Lena, you are so much more than just the cook. You are my anchor, my rock, my mama when my own mother was too busy to bother with me. You are the most important person in this household. Never doubt your worth. We all have our insecurities. I grew up knowing that I didn’t fit into my mother’s mold.
“I longed to be just another kid at school instead of David Thornton’s rich daughter. I never knew who my real friends were, because most kids just wanted to be friends with the rich kid. And it’s not like any of the rest of the kids were poor. Shoot, we were all from the same neighborhood. But for some reason, a lot of the kids in my class thought that my dad was the richest one, which made me a target. I was much happier in your little apartment than I was rattling around in this big house. I knew that you loved me for me, not for who you wanted me to be.
“And we all have our dreams. Mine was to go to art school. I was able to do it thanks to Daddy. I was lucky. I know that. But I have other dreams that aren’t fulfilled yet. Just like you. But if we keep working toward our dreams, maybe, just maybe someday they may come true.”
“You are a jewel, Victoria,” Lena said, hugging the girl to her heart. “You’ve been the light of my life.”
“I love you, Lena,” Victoria said, tears shining in her eyes.
“I love you, too, honey,” Lena replied.
Chapter Eleven
Around eight-thirty Lena said she was tired and wanted to go to bed. She still wasn’t nearly up to par, even though she was much better.
“Thank you so much for the good dinner and the great company,” she said, getting up from her chair. “I have really enjoyed myself this evening.”
“Do you want me to walk you to your apartment?” Rafael asked, starting to get up from his seat on the sofa.
“No, you don’t need to,” Lena said. “I’ve been going by myself for many years and I haven’t gotten lost yet.”
“Yeah, but you’ve never had a head injury before, either,” Victoria said. “Go with her, Rafael.”
Rafael took Lena’s hand and tucked it under his arm.
“Come, my princess. Let me escort you to your chambers,” he said with mock formality.
Oh, pshaw,” Lena said, blushing.
“Good night, Queen Victoria,” she said with a giggle.
“Good night, Princess Lena,” Victoria returned, a smile on her face.
Victoria went into the kitchen to empty the dishwasher and put away the clean dishes. Then she put all the dirty ones in it and wiped off the kitchen counters. She washed by hand the big skillet that she’d used for the stroganoff and put it away. When the kitchen was restored to its rightful order, she turned out all the lights except for one so Rafael could see his way through the kitchen to the entry hall and the stairs that led to the second floor.
He must be talking to Lena, Victoria thought. That’s nice. I’m glad they are so comfortable with each other.
She set the alarm and double-checked all the doors, except for the one through which Rafael would come from Lena’s apartment. The alarm system covered all the outside entrances, except for Lena’s private entrance. She had her own alarm on that door. But a person could move freely from the house through the garage and through the inside door that led upstairs to the apartment. The garage door was on the same alarm system as the main house. David Thornton had made his home as safe and secure as he knew how to make it.
Victoria went upstairs and into the hall bathroom. She wanted to check and make sure that there were clean towels in there, and adequate toilet paper and soap. It took a conscious effort on her part to do this, because she had never had to do a thing in th
is house all her growing up years. The only thing she had been expected to do was to keep her room picked up. The housekeeper did the actual cleaning—vacuuming, dusting, cleaning of the bathroom, and so on.
She’d had a bit of culture shock when she moved out on her own and had to do everything for herself. Shoot, she’d never even cleaned a toilet until she went to Seattle. But she learned quickly. She had to because she couldn’t abide living in a dirty house. So being back in her childhood home gave her an odd mixture of old habits and new ones.
Finding the bathroom acceptable, she was about to go into her bedroom when she saw Rafael coming up the stairs.
“Going to bed?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m tired, too. Today certainly wasn’t as bad as some of the others this week, but I think it’s all catching up with me. And I keep having nightmares so that I’m not getting good rest.”
“Nightmares? Again?” Rafael asked. “What this time?”
“Oh, kinda the same thing. Mother waving a gun around at me, Daddy, and Lena and shooting at us. Then she turned the gun on you, but you took it away from her and carried me away to safety,” she told him.
Apparently, she was putting him coming in to hold her as part of her dreams, rather than remembering that he really was there holding her. Well, he wouldn’t say anything for now.
“I hope you sleep well tonight,” he said. “Do you have any sleeping pills? It might help you to sleep more soundly.”
“I thought about looking for some, but I hate to take anything,” she said. “Maybe I’ll be all right tonight.”
“Maybe some warm milk would relax you, or a cup of chamomile tea,” he suggested.
“Didn’t work last night, and I don’t really want to go back downstairs to fix it. I should've thought of it when I was down there, but I didn’t.”
“I’ll go fix you something if you want me to,” Rafael offered.
“No, don’t bother,” she said. “Like I said, it didn’t make any difference last night.”
“OK, but I’ll be glad to get you whatever you want,” he said again.
“Thanks, you’re a sweetheart,” she said, putting her arms around his neck and moving in for a kiss.
Their kiss was long and full of longing, but they stuck to their guns and each went their separate ways for the night. Victoria undressed and put on her sleepwear, and then crawled into bed. It felt good to just lie down and be still for a bit. Then she flipped on the TV and ran the channels until she found something she wanted to watch for a little bit before drifting off to sleep.
When Rafael awoke the next morning, he realized that he hadn’t heard Victoria screaming in the night. He hoped that it meant that she had slept more soundly, not that he had slept through her screaming.
Indeed, Victoria had slept well. When she awakened it was a quarter of six. She couldn’t recall any bad dreams or of even having awakened during the night. She stretched lazily in bed and just lay there for a few minutes enjoying the alone, quiet time. She got up, showered and washed her hair, dressed, made her bed, then did her make-up, and last of all, dried and fixed her hair. Leaving her room, she met Rafael just coming out of his room, too, all ready to face the day. They went downstairs together to find Lena already in the kitchen pouring herself the first cup of fresh coffee.
“Mornin’, Lena,” they said nearly in unison.
“How are you feeling this morning?” Victoria asked.
“Pretty good,” she said. “A little headache, but not bad.”
“No dizziness, or anything?” Rafael wanted to know.
“No, not now anyway,” Lena said. “I was a little dizzy when I first got out of bed this morning, but it didn’t last long.”
“Well, you just take it easy around here,” Victoria told her. “I don’t want to get into trouble with Dr. Stevens.”
“Don’t you worry about me,” Lena said. “What do you two want for breakfast?”
“I just want cereal,” Rafael said.
“Me, too,” added Victoria.
“Now, don’t settle for cereal if you want me to fix something else,” Lena said. “I’m perfectly capable of frying up some eggs and bacon if you want it.”
“No, I really do just want cereal,” Rafael said.
“Me, too,” Victoria agreed. “And a muffin after I finish my cereal.”
“Ditto,” Rafael said.
“OK, if that’s what you really want,” Lena conceded. “But you don’t need to baby me. I’m just fine.”
“Get whatever you want and come sit and eat with us,” Victoria told Lena.
“I’m going to have cereal, too,” she said. “All they let me have in the hospital was slimy cooked oats, poached eggs, toast, and fruit. It was all right for hospital food, but I’m glad to be home. Just a plain bowl of Grape-nuts with raisins sounds good to me.”
The three sat together at the kitchen eating counter eating their cereal and talking about their plans for the day. Of course, Rafael would go to work as usual. Victoria figured she had better go to visit her mother at some point. But first she would start calling around to see if she could find a wedding officiant who was free on Monday to marry them. Lena said she needed to check the house over to see what needed cleaning. Rafael and Victoria both stressed to her not to overdo it.
Breakfast over, the three set about on their own personal tasks for the day. Rafael left for the office, Lena took a tour of the house, making mental notes of what needed to be done, and Victoria sat down with her list and cell phone. She had called half of the names on the list before she found someone who was free and willing to perform the wedding on a major holiday. She made the appointment and was able to check that task off her list.
Next, she made sort of a list of preparations that needed to be done to make the wedding happen. Because the ceremony would be right there at the house, and because there would only be three other people at the ceremony besides Rafael and herself, there really wasn’t much to plan. But she did want it to be special and very nice.
Music. They really hadn’t been together long enough to have an “our song,” so she decided that she would play a recording of “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You,” as it seemed very appropriate for her. Even though Marian had commissioned her to take Rafael down, she had fallen in love with him instead. She texted Rafael to ask him if there was a song that he particularly wanted played. While she was waiting for his reply, she went on with her list. She also wanted a very short version of Lohengrin’s Bridal Chorus played as they stood up together.
Flowers. Definitely flowers. A small bouquet for her to hold, corsages for Lena and Rafael’s mother, and boutonnières for Rafael and the wedding officiant. Maybe one for Mateo, too, if he would come. The ceremony would be held in the living room, so she would have a couple of nice bouquets to place on the end tables in there. She would choose red and white roses for her bouquet, the corsages, and boutonnieres. The larger bouquets could be red and white glads and roses mixed together with greenery.
Food. Since it was the Fourth of July, they had decided to have a backyard barbecue and picnic. There was a nice covered patio out back adjacent to the in-ground swimming pool where they could have everything set up and ready to eat after the ceremony. They’d have barbecued hamburgers, potato salad, coleslaw, chips, watermelon, with the cake and ice cream for dessert. Non-traditional to say the least. Marian would have a coronary if she knew what would be happening in her backyard on the Fourth. Just the thought made Victoria giggle quietly.
Time. They had set the time for the ceremony for noon, with the picnic following. Then they planned to head out for the beach by no later than three o’clock.
Wedding night. Rafael had been given the task of booking them a room for the night of the Fourth. Which was going to be a real trick being a major holiday, and trying to make a reservation so late. He had specified that this was to be his secret until they would arrive at the destination.
Clothing. Victoria’s dress was p
urchased. She would leave Rafael’s clothes up to him. She trusted him to dress appropriately. She would change into pants and blouse after the wedding so she didn’t soil her dress with food. She would pack an overnight case with an extra outfit in it to take with them. She would ask Lena if she’d like to go shopping for a new dress.
Hair. Nothing fancy. Rafael had told her that he loved her hair worn free. So that’s what she would do. Maybe gather the front and sides back into a pretty clip.
That just about did it. Lena and she both would see to it that the downstairs of the house would be spotless. She would call their former gardener to see if he could come over and mow the lawns. If he couldn’t, she’d have to get somebody. Or do it herself. Now there was a novel idea. If she could figure out how to start the lawn mower, there was no reason why she couldn’t mow the lawn herself. The front lawn was pretty good-sized. But the back yard was mostly patio and swimming pool. There wasn’t much grass back there at all to mow.
Rafael had texted her back a little bit ago with his music selection. He wanted Love Me Tender. How sweet! She loved that he had chosen that sweet, simple song sung so wistfully by Elvis.
There. That just about wrapped it up. At least she couldn’t think of anything else to add to the list at this time. Her wedding wouldn’t be the grand affair that she had fantasized about as a young girl, but life hadn’t turned out the way she had expected, either. Her time in Seattle had brought her down to a simpler way of life that she found that she relished. Her wedding would be simple, but beautiful. Her only regret was that her parents wouldn’t be there, especially her daddy. Due to the circumstances, it was a blessing that her mother wouldn’t be there.
On a sudden inspiration, she went to the bookshelves where her mother kept the photo albums. Flipping rapidly through them, she finally found what she was looking for—a fairly recent studio portrait of her dad, an eight by ten, suitable for framing. She would frame it and set it in the living room where she could see it during the ceremony. Then, feeling guilty, she chose one of her mother that was likely taken at the same time as the one of her dad. She would set it up, too. Maybe. It depended on how she was feeling towards her mother by Monday.