SHIPS CompanionSHIP, FriendSHIP, RelationSHIP

by K'Anne Meinel

  Grace came back to the hospital to find that there seemed to be a lot of politics going on while she was gone. Between her absences when Joan was ill and her vacation she was low man on the totem pole. Angry she became even more unhappy at her work. Seeing Joan so excited about her new catalog she tried to hide her own unhappiness. She started looking around for another position. Malibu Medical Center had been interested despite her demeanor during Joans illnesses. She spoke several times with the head of psychiatry there about the possibility of coming to work there. She just didn’t feel right about it though.

  ~ CHAPTER 19 ~

  Joan and Grace went in January to attend Bryan’s graduation. Through hard work and some summer courses he was graduating early. He was anxious to go to work at the foundation with Craig. Joan stood there clapping she was so proud of her son. Her baby was graduating from college. She had stood on this very spot two years ago for Adam. Adam had chosen to work elsewhere but he was content. He was dating a woman he had met through his work who happened to live in LA. He had visited with her and she had helped him through things when Joan was ill the first time. He hinted that marriage might be down the line.

  For a gift Joan gave Bryan a world tour. He would spend 4 months traveling and seeing anything and everything he could. She wouldn’t give him first class accommodations. She insisted that he was young and would enjoy staying at hostels in Europe. On his itinerary was England, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and more. He couldn’t wait to get started and was truly thankful for the gift from his mother.

  Grace gave him a complete luggage set. She had gone with Joan to pick it out. Joan took her to a shop down in Orange County that had nothing but luggage and they had discussed the various merits of different kinds. Hard or soft, large or small, wheels or not. Finally agreeing on what they thought he would like, need, and use they went downtown to LA for the less expensive, right off the ship kind and Grace purchased several pieces. She gave him a backpack for his hostel stays in Europe. Hard luggage for the rest of the trip. All fitted within the largest case.

  Craig and Jane with little three year old Aaron and Janes bulging stomach gave him golf clubs that he laughed about. He always said executives only got to be executives by playing golf. He would now have to learn.

  Adam surprised them all by giving Bryan the key to his townhome. He told him he was welcome to stay there anytime as he himself was buying a house. Bryan could only give him a big hug in thank you. He realized then that he no longer had a place to live. He had lived in the dorms for all these years, never gotten a place off campus, and his mother didn’t even live in the state.

  While in Wausau they stayed with Craig and Jane. Jane disapproved immediately of them staying in the same bedroom but didn’t say a word. Grace went to renew her contacts in Wausau that she had made a couple of years ago. Mentioning her displeasure about working in LA she was offered a position at Wausau Central. Surprised and delighted she told them she would think it over and get back to them. She came in to find Jane and Joan discussing things LOUDLY. Jane immediately stopped in mid sentence but Joan took up the where Jane had left off.

  “Where the hell do you think it all comes from?” Grace had rarely seen Joan in such a temper.

  She dropped her coat and purse on a chair and came into the living room where they were both standing. Concern etched on her face. She stayed quiet though, just observing.

  Jane was reluctant to talk in front of Grace. That became obvious by her silence. Grace finally turned and grabbed her purse and coat and climbed the stairs to the room they had been using.

  “How dare you speak to me in such a manner?” If Grace had any thought that Jane had been the demure, quiet type, that was quickly gone with that screech.

  Joan lowered her voice but Grace could still hear things clearly in the quiet house. Strangely the baby wasn’t crying. “I’ll dare anything I damn well please. It’s my money to do with as I see fit.”

  Words continued to be exchanged for quite some time. Apparently all of this had been building for years. They both vented on each other. Quite loudly at that. Suddenly with a loud bang the door to the garage flew open and Craig came hurrying in with baby Aaron. “What the hell is going on here? I could hear you in the garage with the door SHUT when I drove in!”

  Grace decided to stay in their room but then deciding it was gutless of her she started to come down the stairs. Jane was in tears. Joans tan face was flushed. Her eyes snapped. Grace had never ever seen her so angry.

  “What the HELL is going on here?” He repeated. Aaron began to cry. Craig put him down and he tried to run to his mother but her crying scared him. His grandma’s face scared him. Spotting Grace he ran to her, she picked him up and slowly carried him upstairs to play in his room.

  An hour later Joan joined them. Grace and Aaron had a pretty good Lego and Lincoln Log town made on the floor. Joan sat on the floor with them asking if she could play too. Aaron was suspicious but seeing a pleasant look on Grandma’s face he said yes and proceeded to tell her in a lot of incomplete sentences what they had been doing, what the people were doing, their daily lives. One thing led to another and he had told her the life story of almost everyone in town. She played along and he loved her for it. Grace played too and watched in amusement as Grandma tickled and teased her grandson.

  All too soon Craig came in to announce that it was Aaron’s dinner time and would they all please come down. Grace, Grandma, and Aaron quickly cleaned themselves up leaving the town to play with for another time. Hand in hand Aaron led them downstairs to dinner. Swinging between them off the last step. He climbed into his high chair like a big boy and ate everything set before him. He didn’t even realize some of his most hated foods were on his plate. He had the undivided attention of Grace and Grandma and he was loving every minute of it. He even ate extra just to extend the time before bathtime. Jane took him away and he had a slight temper tantrum at that. Craig lingered at the table talking with Grace and Joan.

  Craig and Grace had worked out a way to get her portfolio going. She basically turned over her savings account to him and he would invest it for her. It was really a huge leap of faith for her but seeing the marvels he worked with Joans money she was certain she could trust him with it. It scared her not to have the money to fall back on but she needed something for retirement other than her IRA and he promised to take care of it for her.

  Joan watched proudly as her son explained options to Grace. What had started as a game as a youth had become a sound business idea to the man. He took risks occasionally but overall he took care of the money. He had a knack for finding weird but profitable deals. She wasn’t always certain she agreed with him and occasionally they butted heads. Overall though she let him have free reign of it all. It was his job.

  They cleaned up the table putting away the leftovers and sitting in the living room drinking wine and listening to music, discussing various things when Aaron came down to say goodnight. He went first to Grandma and gave her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek shyly. Next came Craig, a hug and a tickle there. Then much to her surprise Grace got a bear hug and a squeeze. He told her that she was his favorite Grace. Like one would have a favorite toy. He didn’t realize that the name was Grace and thought it instead as a thing. Jane led him away for his bedtime story.

  That night Grace asked Joan what that afternoon had been about that she had walked in on. Joan explained that Jane had gotten it into her head that all the money in the foundation was the family money and that she should have whatever she wanted whenever she wanted as well as a say in how it was spent and where. Craig had been controlling the purse strings she felt. Joan was sure a lot of Jane’s problem stemmed from the hormonal imbalance of her pregnancy and that had set her off. However, some of the problems had been building for years. They had cleared the air between the three of them though and she was relieved. Craig had explained, probably for the millionth time that the money was his mother’s an
d NOT anyone else’s. He only administered it. He told Jane in no uncertain terms that she was out of line and disrespectful to his mother. Joan had made sure though that Jane knew he wasn’t taking sides.

  Grace told Joan about the job offer of that afternoon. Joan was surprised as she hadn’t known about Graces inquiries of two years prior. Grace told her everything. How bad it had gotten at LA Medical, how much she hated it now. The job offer in Malibu. The job offer here in Wausau. She suggested they think about moving back here. Joan was flabbergasted. She thought Grace would never want to move out of Southern California. She’d been born and raised there. Grace explained how unhappy she was in her work. How frightened she’d been at Joan’s illnesses and that she liked Wausau and it’s small town atmosphere. Dangling it like a carrot she mentioned that Joan would see her boys and grandchildren more often. Joan laughed at that.

  Over the next two days of their stay they discussed the relative merits of moving back. They couldn’t move to the apartment above the gallery there as it was sublet and way too small anyway. Renting out the Malibu apartment would be no problem. Joan borrowed Craig’s four wheel drive Cherokee one afternoon and took Joan out for a drive. Not knowing where they were going Grace commented that it was way too cold in January to be going for a picnic. Joan drove up the 51 freeway and got off on a frontage road, near the city but not populated. Driving awhile she slowed to take a side road. It was rutted and not paved. She shifted the 4-wheel drive on and continued on. Grace hung on for dear life as they bounced along what looked like a logging trail. Into the woods they went and then were stopped by trees and brush. Joan put on her gloves and hat and asked that Grace do the same and button up. It was January in Wisconsin and cold! She headed off down what looked a game trail going East into the woods. After awhile Grace asked where the heck were they going. They’d been hiking a long ways and although she wasn’t frightened she was concerned that they would become lost. Joan said don’t worry, we’re almost there. They came to a hill full of trees that led down to what looked like a lake. Joan stopped on the top of the hill and asked Grace to look around her.

  What Grace saw was trees everywhere she looked. They stood at the top of the hill with it’s slopes and dips down to the frozen waters edge. It was quiet and serene. You couldn’t see anything or anyone. It was a long ways from the road but with the trail that had to of been hard to tell how far they walked. Finally she looked at Joan who had been watching her. Grinning impishly Joan asked her what she thought. “It’s beautiful. Where are we in a park or state forest?”

  “No, we’re home.” With that cryptic statement Joan began carefully climbing down the hill using trees to control her decent.

  Grace said “What?” and followed but Joan wouldn’t answer until they stood along the lake shore. It was actually a river. Wide enough to be a lake at this point. It was wild and primitive and far away from anything. It was beautiful with the snow covered ice. Grace repeated “What?”

  Joan smiled again at her and said “Welcome home” she indicated with her arms spread encompassing everything around them.

  Grace watched this mad woman swing about with her arms raised. She’d seen a lot of strange things in her job but Joan was really amusing her. She waited for Joan to stop. She was breathing hard.

  “What do you think of living here?” Joan asked her.

  “I think we’d freeze out asses out here on the ice” she responded dryly.

  Laughing Joan said “No, no. We could build a house up there on the hill and LIVE here.”

  Grace looked to where Joan was pointing. Looking around she thought she hadn’t ever seen a lovelier setting. “Do you own this?” she asked.

  “Yes” Joan quietly answered with the quiet woods listening.

  “Wow, this is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Would you really want to build a house though here?” Grace was overwhelmed by it all. This woman never ceased to amaze her.

  Joan went to her and took her in her arms. A cold nose nuzzled under her ear. “I want to live here with you if you really want to move back here, let’s build a home for us.”

  Thrilled at the place, excited about Joan accepting the idea of getting out of California, Grace was enthused. All the way back to the Cherokee they discussed what they wanted in a house. The things they wanted inside, outside. Grace had never owned a house must less built one. It was exciting.

  ~ CHAPTER 20 ~

  Over the next few weeks in California they continued to discuss what they would like it to look like. What would go where. Joan sketched out a plan for the house itself from the front view, the back view, the sides. Then each floor. They decided that with the woods surrounding it they didn’t want to cut down too many of the trees. They would build a chalet style of house. It would have three floors including the basement. The upstairs would be for their bedroom, a large bathroom, and a studio for Joan. The ground floor would have a sunken living room. A formal dining room. A kitchen and an alcove for their regular meals. A powder room. A large fireplace. A deck overlooking the river. The basement would have a guest room. A library area with videos, books, and CDs. Joan insisted on a work out area and she confessed that she had always wanted a steam room. They decided on a Jacuzzi as well. Grace was so enthused that she began buying decorating books and watching This Old House on PBS as well as house buying programs on cable.

  Joan arranged through Craig to have a roadway built to the property properly. The old logging road was just too rutted. Since the logging road went across state land it took some maneuvering for Craig to get this authorized. Joan had sketched out where she wanted their road leading up to and onto the property to go. She remembered things like certain trees she wanted cut down and wrote them down specifically. Heads would roll if extra was taken down.

  They sent their plans to an architect who put them in proper order. He told Joan she should give up painting and become an architect. Laughing she thanked him for the compliment. Joan and Grace poured over the plans and Joan secretly arranged for the architect to build a model. It cost a lot for this doll house but seeing Graces delight she was happy to have done it. It was just fabulous. It showed everything they had discussed and more. Seeing it was better than the plans. Joan sent the plans to Craig and he arranged for her to meet with a builder about them.

  Grace accepted the position in Wausau due to start in two months. She gave a months notice to LA Medical. They were surprised but accepted it. She was sorry to see it end but glad to get out while she could.

  One weekend they flew back to Wausau so that they could meet with the builder. They borrowed Craig’s Cherokee again and drove it to the site. Craig had had the roadway improved and they were able to drive right up to the site. The builder was impressed with the spot and enthused over their blueprints. He told them in two years they would have it complete. Shaking her head Joan laughed at him and said no, she would like it in six months. He was astounded and explained that the wheels set in motion took a lot of time and permits. The materials, the workers, the permits and the headaches. It couldn’t possibly be done in six months. Joan told him not to worry, he’d be able to get it done. He looked at Grace like Joan was mad. She laughed silently to herself. He didn’t know Joan. He probably could get it stretched to a year maybe but maybe not.

  By the time they left that weekend Joan and Grace had signed a contract with the builder. If he finished in six months he got a huge bonus. If he finished in a year a smaller bonus but anything after that he started to pay penalties. Surprised to work with these two woman he signed the agreement and got to work.

  Meanwhile Joan and Grace began to pack up the loft in Malibu. The movies that Joan had had in Wisconsin had never been unpacked. Many of her books as well. The ones in the apartment took no time to pack at all. They left all the stereo equipment, the TV, the surround system alone. Joan arranged for someone from Best Buy to come and pack it up for them the day before the movers came. Boxes began to stack up in the garage. Joan packed up her studio.


  The portrait of Grace, which they had never discussed was crated up to return to Wisconsin with them. Grace had never realized that it was of her that Joan had painted it. She had thought it was just the prototype of the one for the hospital. She was the only one who didn’t see it. Madge saw it, all their friends including Joanne saw it, Jack had even commented on it but it went over Graces head. She just didn’t SEE it. Joan thought Grace was just being quiet about it and as they had NEVER discussed it, just never brought it up.

  They decided to take all the appliances, cookware, and dishes. The bed and dresser that had been there when Joan moved in would remain for the next tenant. The couch and recliners would go as well as the shelves.

  Madge had already arranged for a tenant to move in the week after they left for an outrageous sum. This would be handled through the foundation.

  The week before they moved they went out with their friends. One night they went out with everyone, including Simon, from Graces work. One night Jack threw them a going away party and everyone came to that as well. They would be missed. Madge would miss having Joan so close. She had been there two years and her work had never been better. Allan would miss trying to sell her on the idea of the world tour but he would continue handling her conventions, promotions, and catalogs.