Scrapping Plans

by Rebeca Seitz

  Kendra yawned and sat up in her seat. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, what’s the plan once we land?”

  “I told you this on the way to Nashville. We land, pick up our rental car, and go to Naples. Clay said Zelda used to talk about Wyndemere Country Club, so we’ll check there first.”

  “If you think I remember anything about a crack-ofdawn drive, you’re out of your mind. I’ve blocked everything out, including that manhandling security guy who thought the glitter in my hair products was bomb-making material. Gosh, that guy was on a power trip.”

  Tandy chuckled. “I’m in total agreement, but let’s not talk about bombs while we’re on a plane, okay?”

  Kendra huffed and refastened her seat belt. “Whatever.”

  A few minutes later they filed out of the plane and followed the signs to the rental car counters.

  “Which one is us?”

  “That one.” Tandy pointed three desks down and wheeled her suitcase over to the rental desk. “Hi, you have a reservation for Tandy Kelner?”

  An Asian man with long black hair held in a sleek ponytail, whose nametag identified him as Chuck, tapped on the keyboard in front of him. The diamond in his earlobe sparkled, and Tandy wondered how a rental car salesman could afford such a bauble. “I’m sorry, I do not show a reservation for Klein.”

  “No, Kelner. K-E-L-N-E-R.”

  Make that how an inept rental car salesman could afford that rock. She shared a look with Kendra while Chuck typed again. “No, no reservation for that name either. Do you have a reservation number?”

  “Oh, for the love of Pete. Hang on.” Tandy dug through her big black bag. “A-ha!” She pulled out her reservation and slapped it on the counter. “Here it is.”

  Chuck took the paper, looked at it, then tapped more keys. The confused look on his face gave the sisters a split second of warning. “It says here you reserved the car with a credit card in the name of Tandy Sinclair?”

  “Yes. That’s my maiden name.”

  “We cannot allow a reservation made by someone other than the driver.”

  “But it’s not someone other than the driver. It’s me. I’m Tandy Sinclair.”

  “I thought you were Tandy Kelner?”

  “I am. I was Tandy Sinclair. I got married. Now I’m Tandy Kelner. Surely you’ve heard of women taking their husband’s last name?” Tandy winced as Kendra’s elbow found her side.

  Chuck stiffened. “Yes, ma’am. But you should have made the reservation in your married name.”

  “Well, I’ll be sure to do that next time, when I’ve gotten the new credit card with my married name on it. Thanks for that advice.”

  “You’re welcome.” Chuck handed her back her reservation paper, then walked away.

  “Hey, wait a minute!” Tandy pushed the paper back into her bag. “You didn’t give me my keys and I haven’t signed the paperwork yet.”

  “You wish to rent a car?”

  “Um, yes. That’s why I made a reservation.”

  Chuck walked back over to his computer and tapped keys. “The rate will be $59.95 per day for mid-size.”

  “No, my rate is $39.95. It’s right here on my reservation.” She pulled the paper from her bag again and showed it to him. “See?”

  “I see a reservation there for Tandy Sinclair. You are Tandy Sinclair?”

  “Yes!” Tandy ran a hand through her hair. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

  “I’ll need a driver’s license and credit card.”

  Tandy took out her wallet and handed over her license and credit card.

  “The names on these cards do not match.” He held them out across the counter. “Do you have two forms of ID that are in the same name?”

  “You have got to be kidding me. Are you a moron?” Tandy’s raised voice drew the looks of several bystanders. “I got married. My name changed. I haven’t changed all my credit cards over yet.”

  “I must have two forms of ID to proceed with your rental. That is the policy.”

  “Listen, you dumb—”

  “Chuck,” Kendra stepped in front of Tandy, “we completely understand your policy and think it’s a great one. We’d love to tell your boss what a good job you’ve done in enforcing that policy. Could you get your boss for me, please?” She gave him a full-wattage smile, and Tandy swallowed the anger threatening to spew from her mouth.

  “Certainly.” Chuck walked away again, eager to please the understanding client.

  “That man is about forty-nine cards shy of a deck.”

  “Which is why we’re getting his boss rather than standing here at the counter for an hour arguing with him. What happened to all your lawyerly reconciliation methods?”

  “I left them in Orlando when I moved back to Stars Hill.” Tandy crossed her arms. “But I bet I could make a case for prejudice against newlyweds if I had to.”

  A short woman came through the door where Chuck had escaped moments before. A neat bun of dark brown hair sat at her nape, and a small gold cross hung from her neck. Her nametag read Lucy. “Hello. Chuck tells me you’ve been happy with his service today?”

  “Hi, Lucy. I’m Kendra Sinclair and this is my sister, Tandy Sinclair Kelner. She got married a few months ago and hasn’t managed to get all her credit cards changed over to her married name. She reserved our car in her maiden name, but her license now shows her married name. Chuck was having a little difficulty understanding the situation, and we were hoping you could help us out.”

  Lucy’s smile was so genuine, Tandy found herself smiling back. “Sure, I can help. And I apologize for Chuck. He’s very good at following rules and procedures—that’s why we employ him. But sometimes his disability gets in the way of bending the rules a bit to accommodate the customers.”

  “His disability?” A sense of dread filled Tandy’s chest.

  “Yes.” Lucy tapped keys, glancing back and forth between the screen and the sisters. “He’s part of our Work for the Willing program where we help developmentally disabled people come into the workforce. I try to stay out here with him in case situations like this arise, but I had to go back there and get the copy machine going again, so he was alone. I’m so sorry if he caused any problem.”

  “Oh no, no problem at all.” Tandy didn’t need Kendra’s reproving glare to realize what a moron she’d been.

  “Thank goodness.” Lucy smiled. “Okay, will you be needing rental insurance today?”

  Tandy went through the usual questions with Lucy, eventually taking the keys to the Sebring that would be theirs for however long they were in Florida.

  The sisters walked away from the counter and toward the doors to the parking garage. “I’m a horrible person.”

  “No, you’re not,” Kendra assured her. “You didn’t do anything any normal person wouldn’t have done.”

  “I called him a moron!”

  “Not really. You asked if he was a moron. Not much of a difference, but still.”

  “I can’t believe how mean I was.”

  “Did you have your caffeine this morning?”

  “No, and I’ve got a raging headache as a result. But that’s no excuse.”

  Kendra snagged the keys from Tandy’s hand. “No more talking about Chuck until you’ve had your Dew and are thinking clearly again. Which stall did she say our car was in?”

  “C-3. And I ought to be able to act like a Christian even when I haven’t had my caffeine.”

  “You’re right, you should. But you didn’t. And we’re not talking about this anymore until you have. Ah, there it is.” Kendra came to a stop behind a white Sebring. She pressed a button on the keychain and the trunk popped open. “Toss your bag in and let’s go find a burger joint.”

  Tandy lifted her suitcase in and trudged around the passenger side. “Zelda is going to wipe the floor with my mean self.”

  Kendra rolled her eyes and opened the driver’s door. “No, she’s not. She’ll see how sorry you are and rush back into Daddy’s arms as fast
as her U-Haul truck can go.” She revved the engine. “Any preferences for lunch?”

  “Humble pie?”

  Kendra undid the latches on the convertible top, then pushed the button to open their car to the air. “I think you’ve already had a few helpings of that, sweetie.” She turned and draped a long brown arm across the back of Tandy’s seat as she glanced behind them before backing up.

  Tandy gave a feeble smile. “Whatever you can find on the way to I-75 is fine with me.”

  Kendra nodded and put the car into reverse. “You’ve got it.”

  They circled the garage, finally emerging into daylight. The sun’s rays streamed into the car and thawed their chilly skin in seconds. Tandy closed her eyes and remembered the warmth of the Florida sun she’d left behind a year ago. “Man, that feels good.”

  Kendra slowed and handed their rental agreement to the booth attendant. “How about we stay a couple days and veg out on the beach?”

  “Because my husband is warmer than this sun will ever be and he’s back home in frigid Stars Hill.”

  “Oh, come on. He’ll still be there in a couple of days, and you’ll have a new tan for him to admire.”

  Tandy shook her head. “Nice try, sister.”

  Kendra harrumphed and turned on the radio.

  Tandy reclined her seat and lay back. Closing her eyes, she smiled as she remembered Clay’s good-bye not more than a few hours ago.

  No way would she stay in Florida one second longer than it took to get Zelda back in Stars Hill—where they both belonged.

  * * *

  “SCOTT, TELEPHONE,” JOY spoke into the intercom on the kitchen wall. “It’s Clay.”

  “Thanks, honey,” crackled back through the speaker.

  Joy returned to the pot on her stove and stirred the vegetable soup just beginning to simmer. An apron covered the Sunday clothes she still wore. “Did she say when they’d be coming home?”

  “Hopefully tomorrow.” Meg placed a small square of cheese on a cracker at the kitchen table. “She said they’re staying as long as it takes to change Zelda’s mind about leaving Stars Hill.”

  Joy put the ladle back into a red ceramic spoon rest and faced Meg. “I can’t believe she and Kendra just flew off to Florida without telling us. More than that, I’m astounded that they could have run Zelda off and had a blowup with Daddy without either of us finding out about it.”

  “I think Tandy wanted to fix things before she told us. She didn’t bank on Daddy talking to us at church this morning.”

  “Mommy!” Savannah’s blonde ringlets bounced as the little girl came running into the kitchen. “James is being mean again!”

  “Was not!” James appeared a second after his sister, two bright spots of indignant color on his cheeks. “She is!”

  Savannah placed her small fists on her equally small hips. “Was not either. You took Laura.”

  “Only because you took Larry.”

  “Wait, wait.” Meg held up one hand. “One at a time. Savannah, did you take a toy from James?”

  “He was playing with Laura, Mommy! Everybody knows Laura is a girl!”

  “She’s a carrot, dummy. Not a girl.”

  “James, do not call your sister a dummy.”

  “But she is.”

  “James.” Meg filled her voice with warning. “I don’t care if someone is acting in a certain way. Calling people names is never justified and is certainly not right for a gentleman. Understand?”

  James hung his little head. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “As for you, Savannah. Taking toys from someone isn’t right either. If James wants to play with Laura, then he can play with Laura. You play with Larry, don’t you?”

  “Yes.” Savannah’s voice had become small, deflated of indignation in the face of Meg’s correction.

  “If you can play with Larry the boy cucumber, then James can play with Laura the girl carrot. Now, is the VeggieTales video over?”

  “No.”

  “Then get back in there or I’m going to turn it off.”

  Both children ran back toward the play room. “We’re watching! We’re watching!” Savannah’s tinny voice bounced off the hallway walls.

  “If I could bottle half their energy, I’d be a millionaire,” Joy said.

  “I’d find a million to pay you for it.” Meg cut another slice of cheese. “A four-year-old and seven-year-old would be enough, but as soon as I catch up with those two, Hannah comes toddling along and there goes the last of my energy.”

  “You have been looking a little tired lately. You know I’m happy to watch them anytime, right?”

  “Yeah, it’s just I feel like I shouldn’t need a babysitter when I’m a stay-at-home mom, you know?”

  “Even full-time moms need a break every now and then, Meg.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “Definitely. Why don’t you leave them here for the afternoon and go get some rest? Read a book or take a nap or something. I’ll bring them back sometime tonight.”

  “I don’t think you know what you’re offering.”

  “Of course I do. Besides, I need you rested up enough to deal with me when we get Scott’s test results tomorrow, and hearing little feet running through these halls in the meantime will be nice.”

  “You’ll hear running feet, all right. I’m not kidding, Joy. They don’t slow down. It’s full tilt all day long.”

  “So I’ll take them up to Chuck E. Cheese’s for dinner and wear them out. I’ll get some fun scrapping pictures, and it should give you an easy bedtime tonight.”

  Meg shook her head. “I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but—”

  “Then don’t. Eat your soup and get out of here. Leave those two to me. Jamison’s mom has Hannah all day, right?”

  Meg nodded. “When they get to be about Savannah’s age, she’s not so enamored anymore.”

  Joy’s mouth twisted. “That explains a lot about Jamison.”

  “Yeah, he’s having a hard time figuring out what to do with a seven-year-old son.”

  “He’s smart. He’ll find a solution. Meanwhile, here.” Joy set a steaming bowl of soup on the table in front of Meg. “Eat up and go home.”

  “Why, Joy, that’s the most inhospitable, sweetest thing you’ve said to me in a long time.”

  Joy scooped soup into another bowl and set it on the tray beside the stove. “I’ll just run this up to Scott. Be right back.”

  Meg spooned soup into her mouth and contemplated the few hours of freedom she’d suddenly been given.

  The smart thing would be to take a long, hot bath and a nap. Her neck ached with stress and exhaustion. When was the last time her neck didn’t hurt? When had her energy stopped coming back in the morning?

  The soup warmed her from the inside, and Meg felt her eyelids drooping. She finished within a few minutes and took the bowl over to the sink.

  “All done?” Joy reentered the kitchen.

  “Yep. Last chance to back out of kid duty.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it. Get out of here.”

  “Thanks, Joy.”

  “You know I’m happy to watch my niece and nephew. What are sisters for?”

  Meg scooped up her coat. “I’ll run let them know.”

  Joy nodded and Meg left down the grand hallway. She stopped long enough to give James and Savannah the good news that they were staying at Aunt Joy’s for the day, then practically ran to her van.

  Hot bath, bubbles, and a good book—here I come!

  Eleven

  After a hot lunch and half-hour nap between Fort Myers and Naples, Tandy felt much better. Confident she wouldn’t take Zelda’s head off in the same manner she’d treated poor Chuck, she followed her Google Map directions to Wyndemere with hope in her heart.

  Kendra flipped her phone closed. “Meg says to call when we have an update. I don’t think she and Joy are happy we didn’t tell them what went down with Zelda.”

  “They’ll get over it. We�
�ve got other worries right now. Like how to get past that.”

  They pulled into the country club’s entrance and were immediately greeted by archways covered in mounds of purple bougainvillea, locked gates, and a guard shack—if by shack she meant two-story brick structure with French windows. Tandy pulled up to the “shack” and rolled down her window.

  “Good afternoon.” The guard’s warm smile encouraged her.

  “Hi. I’m surprising a friend of mine who came in yesterday—Zelda Swearingen.”

  “You’re right. Ms. Swearingen got in just yesterday. I was on duty when she came through. So she’s not expecting you?”

  There’s an understatement. “No, I hope not or the surprise would be ruined!”

  “Hmm.” The guard scratched his head, then adjusted his square-framed glasses. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you in. Only announced visitors are allowed. How about I call Ms. Swearingen and see if she’ll let you through?”

  “But then we won’t be able to surprise her!”

  He shrugged and wore a true expression of regret. “I wish I could help you, but you wouldn’t believe the things folks try to get in here when they have no good reason to do it.”

  “Could you maybe just tell her a friend from Stars Hill is here?”

  “Sorry. She’ll have to approve you, and I’ll need to see your ID.”

  Tandy bit her lip and thought. No way would she get through those gates without Zelda knowing first. All she could do was take the chance that curiosity would be enough for Zelda to allow them entry.

  “All right, then. Could you tell her Tandy Kelner and Kendra Sinclair are here?”

  “Sure thing. Can I see your ID, please?”

  Tandy handed it over, and the guard stepped back a couple of steps to a telephone. She waited while he spoke, wondering if Zelda would screech through the phone. When he came back, he wore the same smile as before.

  “Go right on through. Take the first road to your right and keep bearing to the right at every fork until you get to Edgemere. She’s number 254.”

  “Thanks so much.”

  “You’re welcome.” He tipped his hat. “You ladies have a nice day.”

  Tandy waited until the gates parted, then touched the gas. “She knows we’re coming, Ken.”