“Well, that works both ways.”
“How so?”
“All those divorced parents who remarry have their new spouse’s kids to worry about along with their own. When all those kids have children of their own, it must get crazy.”
“The new extended family in America,” I murmured, thinking about the generational repercussions.
“I’ve decided not to do it,” Emma blurted, and I knew immediately what she was talking about. I was startled by the suddenness of her declaration but not really surprised. I had known all along that, given the time and the information to evaluate the reality of single motherhood, Emma’s infinite good sense would prevail. Still, I knew how much she loved children and how tough that decision must have been to make.
“It’s just too risky,” she elaborated, obviously glad to have an opportunity to explain her reasoning. “If everything went perfectly, I would wind up with a healthy infant and lots of people to help me cope. It would be difficult and exhausting, especially at first, but I know I could do it with the help of my village,” she smiled.
“But?” I prompted.
“But as you’ve already pointed out, everything might not go perfectly. What if the child arrived with a physical or mental handicap? When you bring a child into this world, you have to be prepared to give it all the care and attention it needs, and I just don’t think I have the resources to do it, emotionally or financially,” she concluded.
I weighed my next question carefully before asking it. “Does this mean you’re giving up on finding Mr. Right?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Whatever that means, and who are you to talk? Was Daddy Mr. Right? Is Armando?”
I nodded without hesitation. “Yes to both questions. Michael and I had a wonderful twenty-two years together and two great kids. He was absolutely right for me … well, for the first fifteen or twenty years anyway. But we matured and changed and grew apart. People do. Thank goodness we had the sense to recognize that and give each other the opportunity to be happy with someone else. We wanted to wait until you and Joey were both out of high school, but it didn’t work out that way.” I hugged her shoulders. “That was hard on you, and we’re both sorry about it. It’s natural for kids to want their parents to stay together, even if they’re unhappy.”
Emma was quiet, remembering. “Neither of you was involved with someone else. That’s what Joey and I couldn’t understand then, but I do now.”
“You do?”
She nodded slowly. “I used to think people only broke up so they could be with someone else. Now I understand completely that for some people, being on your own is better than being with anyone at all, at least for a while.”
I chuckled. “One bad boyfriend too many, huh?”
She smiled in agreement. “It’s not just that. I’ve come to realize that I’m perfectly content to be in my own company. I have lots of good friends of both genders, and I could be out every night of the week, if I wanted to be.”
“I’m sure of that.”
“I love my friends, and I enjoy being with people. I just don’t need to be one-half of a couple. I guess that’s one more way I take after my mom. You were alone for a lot of years after the divorce, weren’t you? I don’t remember you ever bringing a man home after Daddy moved into his own apartment.”
I shook my head. “Nope. Didn’t need to and didn’t want to until I met Armando several years later. Now he’s Mister Right for me because I’m a different person. I think that’s what’s down the road a ways for you, too.”
This time she laughed outright. “Oh, don’t you worry, Momma. I’m not planning to enter the convent just yet.”
“It never even crossed my mind,” I assured her. “By the way, have you talked to your brother lately?”
For some reason, my innocuous question seemed to startle her. She got that deer-in-the-headlights look on her face that I remembered so well from her misspent youth.
“Not lately, uh uh,” she answered too quickly. “Have you?” She jumped up and tossed her empty cup into a handy trash can.
“I was wondering how Justine’s feeling,” I said, puzzled. “At least the hot weather is over, so she doesn’t have to deal with that in her final trimester.”
“Good planning,” Emma agreed, “except it looks like poor Allison is going to be one of those kids who gets Christmas and her birthday all lumped together because they’re so close.”
By tacit agreement we started back to our cars, which were parked at the Law Barn.
“Have you decided what to do about the Sandy and Tommy situation?”
“Margo and I are going to have a sit-down with the two of them, and then we’re going to do the same with Ginny Preston. It’s time to put an end to all the rumors and tittle-tattle flying around Vista View with a little open communication.”
“Are you going to wear your vampire mask to these open communication meetings?” Emma asked slyly, then ran for her life down the sidewalk with her aging mother in hot pursuit.
~
As we knew it would, the end-of-month craziness that is a realtor’s fate continued to build to fever pitch on Monday. When Strutter stopped by the office at eight-thirty to pick up the Vista View sales materials, the phone was already ringing.
“Thanks for doin’ this, Sweetie. We owe you,” said Margo before picking up the phone and assuming her professional persona, which was somewhere between Suze Orman and Paula Dean.
“Man, she can turn that drawl on and off at will, can’t she?” Strutter observed.
“The clients do seem to love it,” I agreed, “and we really do owe you big time for doing Vista View duty today. We’ll get back to our usual rotation next week, assuming Ginny doesn’t cancel our contract by then, but we really need a couple of days to get squared away with Tommy Garcia and Sandy before we go back there.”
“Not a problem,” Strutter grinned as my cell phone rang and Emma thundered down our stairs carrying a chin-high stack of file folders. Her foot slid off the bottom step, and she sat down hard as the files spewed all over the floor. “You ladies have a lovely day now.” Strutter stepped delicately around Emma and sashayed up the stairs, waggling her fingers in farewell.
“I’m sorry about your mover, truly I am, but it is absolutely not possible to change the closin’ date,” Margo said into the phone between clenched teeth. “All the documents have been prepared, and every single one of them says October the twenty-fifth.” She was as close to losing her temper with a client as I had ever seen.
Emma’s jaw sagged open in disbelief. “That’s one of today’s packages,” she groaned, looking frantic as she surveyed the spilled files at her feet. I moved to help her pick them up, but she shooed me away. “Please don’t touch anything,” she begged. “I know you want to help, but I have to do this myself.” She got down on her hands and knees and began to sort through the wreckage. I backed off to check the messages on my cell.
By mid-afternoon Emma had run out to the town hall to do yet another title search, and Jimmy and Isabel were at closings in Windsor and Haddam, respectively. Margo and I took advantage of the brief lull to microwave a couple of mugs of soup from the emergency stash we kept for days like this. Just for a change of scene, we carried them up to the lobby level, where we sat on the big sofa and took a deep breath apiece. Before we could savor even a sip, however, the front door of the Law Barn opened, and in walked Tommy Garcia and Sandy.
“Just when you thought this day couldn’t get any more complicated,” Margo said and put down her mug with obvious regret. I did the same.
“Tommy, Sandy, come in.” I waved at the chairs opposite the couch. “Margo and I were going to try to contact you later today. We need to talk.”
The two young people stood uncertainly. Their hands were tightly clasped, I noticed. After exchanging a long look, Tommy nodded, and they sat. I was used to seeing Sandy in her spiffy work clothes with full makeup, and I barely recognized this barefaced waif in jeans and a sweater. Denuded of her pr
ofessional camouflage, she looked hardly old enough to drive. On the other hand, Tommy was nothing like the devil-may-care busboy full of jokes and good humor I had grown accustomed to seeing in the Vista View dining room. This sober young man with a two-day stubble of beard looked tired and careworn beyond his years. My heart went out to him, as I knew Margo’s did. He looked at Sandy and nodded again encouragingly.
“I want to apologize…” she and I began simultaneously and stopped.
“Please let me,” Sandy continued, and I leaned back. Margo sat quietly, her eyes attentive but cold. I might forgive a little paint on the door, her expression seemed to convey, but this girl messed with my Rhett.
“When Tommy heard about what happened at the Vista View party and found out what I’d done to make you so mad at me, he pitched a fit,” she began, her eyes lowered, “but honestly, I had to do something to stop you, and he just wouldn’t.”
“Stop us from what?” I asked.
“Poking around in our private business and accusing Tommy of being some kind of male prostitute with those sweet old ladies he gave massages to. He never was anything but nice and polite to every one of them. Sometimes he didn’t even charge them, if he thought they couldn’t afford it,” she fumed as her anger reignited.
Tommy put a hand on her arm and frowned. “That’s not what we came here to say, Sandy.”
“Oh, like you never got hot and, say, quit your job or something stupid,” she shot back, and he had the grace to look abashed. Theirs must be an interesting relationship, I reflected. Her temper could match his Latino fire degree for degree. Sitting there with their eyes blazing at each other, they reminded me of Armando and me on a few occasions. I glanced at Margo and saw her mouth twitch as she suppressed a grin.
I cleared my throat to regain their attention. “I assume by now you know that Ms. Harkness and I had nothing to do with the rumors circulating about Tommy—quite the opposite, in fact. Margo has been Tommy’s chief defender since she got to know him. But even if she or I had, in fact, been responsible for spreading silly gossip, how was vandalizing our office …”
“… or stealin’ my poor dog,” Margo inserted hotly.
“… going to help the situation?”
It was Sandy’s turn to squirm. “I wasn’t thinking, I guess. I just wanted you to butt out.” She looked at Margo contritely. “I feel really bad about the dog, and I want you to know he was never in any danger. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. In fact, I crouched in the bushes at the side of that old house and watched him the whole time he was tied to the car to make sure somebody found him. There were a lot of thorns in there, too,” she complained. She pushed up her sweater sleeves to display red welts on her forearms. “He’s okay, isn’t he?” she asked anxiously.
I could feel Margo softening after learning that Rhett had never been in real jeopardy, but she wasn’t ready to forgive and forget just yet.
“He’s out in his pen, thank you for askin’, which has a shiny new combination lock on it. It’s a nuisance, but it’s worth it to know he’s not in danger of bein’ stolen again,” she said coolly. She turned to Tommy. “As for you, how could you have let Ginny Preston provoke you into quittin’ your job? A handsome young man and a bunch of old biddies is a surefire recipe for gossip, but walkin’ out just convinced her she was right to pay attention to it, don’t you see?”
I was amused by her motherly tone.
“I do now,” he replied, “but I was just so darned mad when she accused me of inappropriate behavior. That’s one of the first rules of hands-on physical therapy, and I’ve always been extra careful to respect people’s boundaries. So when she laid that on me, I couldn’t think of anything to do but get out of there as quick as I could. I really liked that job, too,” he finished sadly.
Now I felt the prick of conscience. “I think we’ve all had some experience lately with getting angry and dealing with it inappropriately,” I admitted. “Our little scene at the Vista View party Saturday night isn’t something we remember with pride either.” I caught Margo’s eye. “What do you say we all go pay Ms. Preston a visit and see if we can’t get Tommy his job back?”
The two young people looked at each other and back at us.
“Right now?” said Tommy.
“You’d do that for us after everything that’s happened?” asked Sandy. With her lower lip quivering, she looked even younger.
Margo finally cracked a smile as she nodded and stood up. “I’m in.”
“It will be all right,” I told them. “I’m almost sure of it.” I collected our mugs of cold soup and started toward the office to switch the phones over to the answering service. Margo followed to get her purse.
“Ms. Harkness? Thank you very, very much,” Tommy said with obvious sincerity. “I told Sandy you were a terrific lady.”
“He did,” Sandy was quick to agree. “In fact, he said you reminded him a lot of his mother.”
The smile faded from Margo’s face. I muffled my laughter in my sweater sleeve as she stalked across the lobby to the stairs. “You’re quite welcome. Now go home and shave, and meet us at Vista View in half an hour.”
~
By the time we reassembled in the lobby of Building One, Strutter had left for the day, which was probably a good thing. As nervous as Tommy was, he didn’t need one more mother giving him last-minute pointers on how to thaw Ginny Preston’s heart. He’d already had plenty of those from me and Margo.
We left Sandy pacing in the lobby and approached Ginny’s office just as she was shutting down her computer for the day. She wasn’t as surprised to see us as I had expected her to be, nor was her attitude as hostile as it had been at our last meeting. When she saw Margo, she actually blushed, obviously remembering her insulting comment to me.
Ginny invited us to sit and listened without interruption to Tommy’s apology, Margo’s refutation of the rumors of sexual misconduct, and our request that he be allowed to rescind his resignation. Then, most surprisingly of all, she smiled at Tommy.
“I’m very glad you came to see me,” she told him. “In fact, I was hoping you would. I’m afraid I allowed some unfounded rumors to overwhelm my better judgment in this matter, besides which I didn’t make myself clear the other day. It was my intention merely to warn you. Your continuing in your position was never in question, but we both lost our tempers, and things went too far. That’s one of the problems with hot tempers,” she smiled again. “I’m happy to accept your apology if you will accept mine, Mr. Garcia.”
Tommy’s expression was an almost comical mixture of astonishment and relief. “Does this mean I can come back to work?” he asked in a voice tinged with disbelief.
“I’ll notify the kitchen to expect you first thing in the morning, if that’s acceptable, or will you need another day?”
“No, no, I’ll be here tomorrow bright and early,” he assured her, “but what about the fellow who took my place?”
“A temporary solution and not a very good one, as it turned out. We’ll plan on seeing you tomorrow, then.”
She rose and extended her hand to Tommy across her desk, and he leaped to his feet to clasp it. “I’m very grateful,” was all he said, but his glance included Margo and me.
The three of us started for the door, but Ginny said, “Kate, can you give me another minute? I promise not to keep you long.”
“I’ll be in the car,” Margo said and left with Tommy to give Sandy the good news. I looked at Ginny questioningly, hoping she wasn’t about to terminate Mack Realty’s contract for gross interference.
“I just want to apologize to you, as well, for my bad temper and for asking you to look into the circumstances of Margaret Butler’s death. It was entirely inappropriate, and if I had been thinking straight …” She paused to rub her temples. “I’m afraid I haven’t been myself lately.”
“Who could blame you? You’ve been under a lot of stress, I know,” I hastened to help her out.
“No more than usual,
really, except for the retirement decision,” she mused, “but now that Rog and I have decided to go, everything else has fallen back into proper perspective.”
I was taken aback. She had told me she and her husband were considering the move down south, but somehow I’d never believed they would actually do it.
“You’re really moving to North Carolina?” I asked, dumbfounded.
“The Margaret Butler incident has completely thrown me. I can’t help feeling there was something more I could have done, but unless I know the truth, I’ll never know what. I’ve already told central administration that I’m resigning as of the end of December. I finally realized that I was behaving irrationally. The Tommy incident was a glaring example.”
I struggled to find the right words. Did this mean she was finally letting go of Margaret’s death? “We’ll miss you very much,” I said finally. “Everyone here will. You’re the heart and soul of this place, Gin.”
“Thank you for that. Administration has kindly given me a month to reconsider, but it’s time to go,” she said firmly. “On another subject, I’m aware that you and Bert Rosenthal have become friends. I thought you would want to know that he suffered a mild heart attack on Saturday evening, but he is recovering very well at Hartford Hospital. We expect him to return to us tomorrow or the next day.”
My relief was enormous. “That’s so good to know, but Bert lives alone here, doesn’t he? Is that wise?”
Ginny smiled reassuringly. “No one is ever really alone here, Kate. That’s what Vista View is all about. Bert will spend a day or two in our nursing facility but will return to his apartment when his confidence returns, as we fully expect it to. Despite what some people may think, we’re not eager to make invalids out of adults who are still capable of looking after themselves. In fact, we give them the support services they need to do just that, if they want to make use of them.”
If they want to make use of them. I flashed on Margaret lying cold and composed, perhaps for days, in her silent apartment. Had she wanted to make use of those services but been unable to do so? Suddenly I was bone tired. Too many emotions were threatening to overwhelm me.
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