Getaway - SF7

by Meagher, Susan X

  "That amazes me," Jamie said. "You’ve told me that she was strong willed, but I guess I assumed that she was the force behind all of the love in your family."

  "No, I don’t think so. I think my grandfather was the one who made the girls feel loved and enabled them to express it so well."

  "I would not have guessed that, Ryan," Jamie said thoughtfully. "I picture your grandmother as an older version of Maeve…all cute and sweet and loving."

  "Lord no!" Ryan laughed. "And if you told them both that, I’m not sure who would be more insulted!"

  "Are you serious, Honey?" Jamie gaped. "I’ve never heard Maeve say a bad word about anyone."

  "Oh, she’d never say a bad word about my grandmother, but it’s pretty obvious they have their struggled. It doesn’t take too much intuition to guess why a young woman would leave her home mere moments after she graduated from secondary school. She had no obvious skills, only enough money for the plane fare, and had never been farther from home than Dublin. She had to be as interested in the leaving as she was in the adventure."

  "Did she come alone?" Catherine asked, amazed that a young woman would be so bold.

  "No, she came with a friend from school. My mother stayed in Ireland until she was 18, then she followed her, as every one knew she would—even though she was fairly happy in Ireland." Ryan smiled at Catherine and said, "You’ll really like my aunt. She’s quiet and very loving, but she has an inner strength that I envy. She had the misfortune of choosing the wrong man to marry, and she was in a loveless marriage most of her life, but none of her personal troubles ever seemed to dim her spirits. She’s the epitome of a survivor, Catherine. She just has a pure heart that can’t be dimmed, and I must say we’re all lucky to have her."

  "Is she still married?" Catherine asked.

  "No, her husband died a little less than two years ago. They'd been separated for many years but they never divorced." A shy smile lit up Ryan’s face as she revealed, "She is going to marry again though."

  "Really?" Catherine asked. "You must be very happy for her."

  "Oh I am, but the rest of the family doesn’t know yet. She’s a bit afraid of the reaction she’ll get when she informs everyone of her selection."

  "Why would that be?"

  "Because it’s my father," she said simply.

  Catherine looked puzzled for an instant but the light quickly dawned on the root of the problem. "Are they afraid that it looks odd to marry your deceased sister’s husband?"

  "I think that’s most of it," she conceded. "Plus, it will be odd to get used to the two of them being in love. Da has been single since we were small, and Aunt Maeve has been alone for so long that you just don’t expect that to change. But we all love her like a second mother, so I hope it will go well."

  "Will they live in your house?" Catherine asked, not having any idea of the size of the O’Flaherty manse.

  "That’s a big issue. My cousin Kevin lives with Maeve, and Rory and Conor live with Da. Plus, Jamie and I live there on the weekends. Our house is pretty big," she said, nearly causing Jamie’s eyes to bug out of her head, "but it’s full at this point. Maeve’s house is quite small, so it’s going to be hard to come up with a solution."

  The monorail had reached its destination, and they spent the next few minutes getting through the crowds to reach Main Street and stake out a place in line. Catherine and Ryan sat on the curb to save spaces while Jamie carried Caitlin around in her baby sling to keep her occupied.

  Catherine continued the earlier conversation by asking, "Could your father buy a new house?"

  "He would have to use the proceeds from the sale of the old one, and he swears that he will never throw any of us out. What we need is at least one big house to use as a gathering place for family events. Jamie mentioned that I have 14 male cousins in America, but only Tommy is married. We hardly fit in our house now. When they all start having kids it will be mayhem!"

  Catherine had a hard time imagining what a house full of boisterous young men would be like, but then she remembered her days at Stanford and tried to recall what the fraternity houses had been like, drawing an apt comparison. "What do you two want to do when you graduate? Do you want to stay in the East Bay?"

  "No, I don’t," Ryan said quickly, her face showing her discomfort with the idea. "I can’t imagine living away from my family permanently. I really love Noe Valley and I want to make it our permanent home. I guess buying a house is something for the distant future, now that it looks like Jamie won’t be able to control her money for quite a while."

  "Ahh, now don’t even think like that, Ryan. My husband has more than his share of faults, but he’s not intentionally cruel. Just give him some time."

  "We’ve got that, Catherine. I’d be happy to live in my room until we decide to start our family."

  Catherine looked askance and asked, "Will that be a while, Ryan?"

  "Oh, I think so, Catherine," she assured her. "I know how much work kids are. I want to enjoy being with Jamie for a good long while before we add to our responsibilities."

  "That’s good to hear, Ryan," Catherine said, beaming a smile at her. "Don’t make the same mistake I did in having a child before you’re both fully ready."

  Well, well, I guess she doesn’t mind if I know the family secrets, Ryan mused. Actually, she’s really treating me like a member of the family. Her pleasure was short lived as she added, Now I only have to win Jim over!

  Much to everyone’s pleasure, Caitlin turned out to be a big fan of parades. She sat on Ryan’s shoulders and babbled away as she kicked her little legs so frequently and so enthusiastically that Ryan was sure she would be a mass of bruises. But she gladly suffered for her little cousin, happy beyond measure that the baby was enjoying herself so thoroughly. In truth, it was a tossup as to who was having a better time. Ryan repeatedly turned to Jamie to point out some little tidbit that caught her watchful eye, and Jamie also enjoyed the extravaganza. Catherine was a bit overwhelmed to be surrounded by so many people and so much noise, but she handled it well. She was having so much fun watching her daughter that she eventually ignored all of the noise and just focused on her.

  For the thousandth time, she felt the sting of regret for having missed out on all of the chances to do things like this for Jamie when she was young. Once again she thanked the heavens for providing a second opportunity, even one coming this late in her daughter’s youth.

  When the parade was finished, they strolled along Main Street for a few minutes as Catherine started to get into the experience a little more. Shopping always got her involved, and she would have stayed in the stores a lot longer if Ryan hadn’t finally put her foot down. By the time they started for dinner, Caitlin had a new navy blue swimsuit with little Mickey heads across the chest, a cute little yellow canvas hat to keep the sun from her eyes, 101 Dalmatians pajamas, a white T-shirt with Goofy embroidered on the pocket, and a matching pair of shorts in a blue and white check. But her most adorable gift was a pair of pink mouse ears with her name embroidered on the back. Unbeknownst to her partner, Jamie had purchased a matching pair for Ryan, and she snapped an adorable picture of both cousins with their ears on—Caitlin sitting happily on Ryan’s shoulders. Ryan stared right into the camera with her relaxed, confident smile, and Jamie thought once again that Ryan could have easily made a very good living as a model. She was so completely comfortable with the camera, looking past the device to gaze into the photographer’s eyes when she was photographed, and Jamie knew that was not a skill that was easy to teach.

  Catherine expertly led them over to Adventureland as Jamie and Ryan paced along behind her. More than once Jamie informed her that there weren’t any restaurants listed for that part of the park, but Catherine blithely ignored her warnings with the reply, "Trust me, Dear."

  When they reached the Pirates of the Caribbean she looked around carefully until she spotted a small gift shop called Pieces of Eight. Right next to the shop, an etched glass door bore the legend, ‘
Club 33’. Catherine rang the nearly hidden bell, and moments later a tuxedoed gentleman opened the door.

  "Good evening," he said with a smile. "Have you dinner reservations?"

  "Yes, we do," she answered. "Catherine Evans."

  He scanned his list and quickly found her name. "Very good, Mrs. Evans," he responded. "Come right this way." Jamie and Ryan shared puzzled glances as the man led them up a staircase to a very elegant dining room on the second floor. The room was small, but each of the tables was generously sized. He pulled out chairs for each of them and quickly signaled someone to bring a seat for Caitlin. A large booster chair was brought out and properly secured to the wooden backed chair. Caitlin liked the freedom of the padded chair and didn’t seem to mind having to be strapped in. As the menus were presented she began to babble quite loudly, but Jamie quickly stilled her with one of the biscotti that she still carried in her bag.

  "Mother…" Jamie asked, drawing out the word, "how did we wind up here?"

  "I told you I have some contacts, Dear." Catherine continued to scan the menu, her mouth curled up in a small smile.

  "What is this place? And who did you have to call to get us in?" the younger woman demanded.

  "This is a private club for members and guests of the Disney organization, Dear." Catherine sighed, put her menu down, and came clean. "I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but the new symphony hall is to be named for Walt Disney. His widow Lillian was one of the driving forces behind the idea. Well, Lillian died two years ago, and the hall has been mired in political and financial trouble. I got busy and rallied some support from some of my friends at home, and it looks like construction might finally begin soon. Walt’s daughter Diane and I have become good friends, and when I mentioned once that I had never been to Disneyland she practically had a fit! She made me promise that if I ever wanted to come that I would call her and let her handle the accommodations, and you know how I like to keep my word, Honey," she said sweetly as she batted her eyes at her daughter.

  Jamie just shook her head as she gave her mother an amused smirk. "You are certainly full of surprises today."

  "I like to preserve an air of mystery," she replied archly.

  They glanced over at Ryan, who was eyeing both of them suspiciously. "Please don’t think I’m complaining, but traveling with you two is like being in a foreign country for me. There is nothing about this experience that I am familiar with," she admitted, shaking her head slowly.

  It was 8:45 when they finally reached their room, and Caitlin was drooling down Ryan’s back as her sleeping head poked out of her sling. They got her changed and placed in the crib, with Ryan sitting next to the bed for a long while, making sure that the child didn’t wake.

  Catherine decided to read rather than watch a movie, and she was settled comfortably in her navy blue silk pajamas when they were finally ready to leave. "We’ll be home by midnight," Jamie promised. "If you get tired, please go to bed, okay?"

  "Yes, Dear," Catherine nodded obediently.

  "No, really, Mom. If Caitlin wakes up you’ll hear her, no matter how soundly you sleep."

  "I’m not sure that’s true," Ryan amended. "Jamie can sleep right through a full scale tantrum!"

  "You laugh now, Ryan," Catherine informed her, "but I took her to the doctor because of that when she was small. I thought she was deaf!"

  "You did?" Jamie asked in shock, never having heard this story.

  "I certainly did. We were having some work done on the house in Pebble Beach. You were asleep in your little cradle when one of the workmen dropped an entire pallet of river rocks from a crane. The crane was right outside of your room, and the house shook so hard I thought windows would break. All the car alarms in the neighborhood went off, but when I ran upstairs, my little princess was still sound asleep. I was relieved until the foreman came up to talk to me and said, ‘That’s not normal, lady, you’d better make sure she can hear.’ I, of course, panicked and took her in the next day, but the doctor assured me that she was just a heavy sleeper, so I stopped worrying."

  "Well it looks like I’m going to have to bear all of our children," Ryan decided. "If I’ve got to get up anyway, I might as well be able to nurse them!"

  "You can be my wet nurse," Jamie teased as she stuck out her tongue. Ryan chased her from the room, pausing to wink at Catherine before she took off.

  I’ve never been attracted to a woman before, but that Ryan O’Flaherty could certainly turn my head if circumstances were different. Jamie never had a chance with that one, she smirked to herself. Ryan could likely turn the straightest of women gay if she tried hard enough!

  Three hours later they returned to the room, carrying a four-foot-tall stuffed Pluto that Ryan had won at the shooting gallery in the arcade. Catherine was still up, and she gave them an amused smile when she spied their prize. "Should I call the airline for an extra seat?" she asked.

  "Okay," Ryan agreed, "but I think he can fly coach. No sense in being extravagant."

  She stood the doll up in the corner and informed Catherine, "I tried to give the darn thing away 20 times. But parents look at you like you’re a lunatic when you try to give their kid a toy. I guess I understand their suspicions, but it worries me," she admitted. "I think it’s sad that we’ve over sensitized our kids to potential harm. If I’d tried to give that doll away in Ireland I’d have 20 takers!"

  "I sure think it’s cute," Jamie grinned. "And I think it’s terribly sweet that you won it for me," she said as she gazed up at her lover with admiration. "She won it with one shot," she informed her mother proudly.

  "My Aunt Deirdre’s brother is a police officer," Ryan informed them. "When I was younger, he used to take me to the shooting range on Saturdays. I really enjoyed it. Nice to know I’ve still got the touch,’ she said, acting like she was lining up the sights of an imaginary weapon.

  "So did you have a good time?" Catherine asked.

  "We had a fantastic time," Jamie said with a big smile. "We went on seven different rides, and we saw the big light parade and the fireworks. It was really cool!"

  "Was Caitlin any trouble?" Ryan inquired.

  "Not a bit. She didn’t make a sound."

  "We thought we’d take her over to the park for her breakfast with the characters if you want to sleep in tomorrow," Ryan offered.

  "Okay, I’d like that. I’m not much of a morning person," she admitted. "After breakfast you can leave her with me the rest of the day if you wish. I can take her swimming and I know that will entertain her for a few hours!"

  "Okay. We’ll probably be back here around ten. See you then?"

  "Sounds great. Sleep well, you two," Catherine called as she went into her room.

  Jamie had been teasing her lover with seductive looks and touches all night long, and once Catherine’s door was closed Ryan decided it was payback time. She charged Jamie and scooped her up in her arms, allowing the smaller woman to wrap her legs around her waist. Roughly pushing her up against the door to their room, Ryan began to kiss her deeply, running warm hands all over her body.

  The playful teasing quickly turned serious as Jamie joined in and began to escalate the intensity. Her hands went to Ryan’s face, holding her tight while she kissed her everywhere, her heart starting to beat wildly. Ryan could feel her partner’s pulse throbbing, and she knew that her own beat was racing in tandem. A small, sane part of her told her to stop what was rapidly moving beyond their control, but it felt so compelling—so right—that she couldn’t get her body to listen.

  Their legs grew weak, and slowly but inexorably they began to sink to the floor, having nearly reached it when Catherine started to open her door to clarify a piece of information about their schedule. Luckily, her hearing was quite sharp, and she detected the unmistakable sounds of passion coming from the living room. As quietly as possible, she closed the door without disturbing the young lovers. I will never, ever open a door on those two again without calling out an alarm!

  "Well, that wa
s…interesting," Jamie observed, picking up her discarded shorts from the floor.

  "Too sudden?" Ryan asked solicitously, slightly concerned that her week of abstinence was causing her to push Jamie a little too far. She placed her fingers under her partner’s chin, gently lifting it to be able to look into her eyes.

  "Huh-uh." The smaller woman spared an impish smile for her partner, crinkling her nose. "I wouldn’t like a steady diet of it, though," she decided. "The carpet burns would likely be a major barrier to my long-term happiness."

  Ryan held her at arm’s length and carefully assessed her body. "You have an owie?"

  "No, Babe. You didn’t hurt me—but only because we were quick and quiet and tame…for us, that is. I don’t want to make a habit of any of those things." She gave Ryan a saucy grin accompanied by wildly waggling eyebrows.

  "Lord, I lucked out with you!" Ryan cried, tossing Jamie over her shoulder to carry her into their bedroom. Once there, they quietly checked on the blissfully sleeping baby and got ready for bed.

  While they snuggled in the big bed, Jamie sighed heavily, and Ryan guessed that she was thinking about her parents and the circumstances of her birth. "Want to talk about it?" she asked softly, placing a few light kisses along her partner’s jaw line.

  "How do you know what I’m thinking?" she asked, her voice low and laced with amusement.

  "I know your sighs," Ryan assured her. "That big one you let out meant, ‘I’m worried about my parents.’"

  A small chuckle met that assertion. "Hmm…if you really know me that well, I’m in trouble. I’ll never have a private thought again."

  "It’s true, Babe," Ryan assured her. "I can see the gears grinding away in there." She tilted her head until she could press her eye right into Jamie’s ear. "Yep, there goes another thought." She paused a moment as she deciphered the message. "Hey, I am not crazy!"

  Wrapped her lover in a hug, Jamie murmured, "Well, I’m crazy about you, and I’m appreciative that you’re trying to make me feel better. That means a lot, Hon."