CHAPTER FOUR

 

 

Ida pulled the plug on the griddle and snapped the plastic lid over the dough. “What’s in California?”

Dad didn’t answer.

She dug around in the cupboard and drew out cling wrap she used to cover the cooled rounds. Then she struggled to reach the pull on the door above the refrigerator until my senses returned and I figured out what she was after.

My long arm went over her head and nabbed the bottle of Midleton Ida hid in my cupboard to use for special occasions. She filled three Waterford crystal glasses with ice and poured the amber liquid. I recorked the rare Barry Crockett. She raised her glass. Dad and I did the same.

“To Harry,” she said. We delicately clinked Dad’s glass. He didn’t move. I put my hand on his forearm, and he shook himself.

“Elizabeth said I seemed happier here. I tried to argue with her, told her I was putting on a courageous front, but she said she loves her work and isn’t looking to stop anytime soon. She was offered a great promotion and she took it. She’ll be working out of Los Angeles for six months.”

Ida stuck her head out the doorway and checked left and right. It looked like Elizabeth had left the building. Good, the old witch.

That wasn’t true. She’d been there for me and my stepsiblings, helping us to come into our own with whatever we needed to get there, but I never considered her my mother, just a female personality in Dad’s life who, until now, had made him happy.

Ida and I swished ice cubes in empty glasses. Dad still hadn’t sipped his drink. We each took an arm and dragged him to the table.

“Harry,” Ida said. “I know this is difficult, but we’re here for you.”

He chugged his drink, shuddering as it made its warm way down his throat. “Where am I going to live?”

A laugh erupted from Ida. “Is that all you’re worried about? Katie has plenty of room. Don’t you, Katie?” I nodded, afraid of what I might be agreeing to. “I love your company and so does Katie. Don’t you, Katie?”

I kept nodding. I loved my dad, but I’d have to shift gears to make this temporary arrangement work long term.

“I love having someone to join me for lunch. I can try new recipes.” She sounded sincere. “And Harry, you said you’ve been too busy to attend more than a handful of dance classes, but there’s a bit of accountability if we keep each other motivated.” She turned to me. “He’s really quite a good dancer.”

“My dad?”

“I don’t need much space,” Dad said quietly. “My Murphy bed is comfortable. I don’t like stairs anyway, so you’d have your private bedroom, bathroom, and office to spread out in on the second floor.” He brightened. “Temporarily. I can start looking for my own place.”

We shared cooking space and the living room. I taught all day and worked with my extra-curricular activities after school and on some weekends. My mind tossed and turned, and I began to perspire. And then I thought about how lucky I was that he was here with me.

Dad looked concerned.

“No, you won’t look for anything else,” I said. I folded him in a hug.

Ida put her arms around both of us and hummed, “Family.” When she stumbled and then laughed, I realized Maverick stood on his hind legs and had joined our embrace with one paw on Dad and one on Ida. “Family,” she repeated.

Back to business, Ida said, “What’s next?”

Dad held out his empty glass. Ida put in two fingers. He held out for more. She shook her head. This could work.

Dad sipped and said, “Elizabeth is ten years younger than I am and still has things she wants to do. I like to exercise but I have no desire to accompany her scuba diving, hiking, hang-gliding, or ziplining.” He took a bigger sip. “Project management is her forte and this promotion came with exceptional perks, but also more responsibility and she was afraid she couldn’t be there when I needed her. She was surprised by how well I’m doing. When I came here, I thought if I wasn’t such a bother, she’d get her rest, and when she was ready, we could get back together but that plan backfired. She’s doing well without me and I’m doing well without her. It’s time she had her own space for a while.”

“I’m sorry, Dad. I know how much she means to you.”

“You mean a ton too, kiddo.” He reached into his pocket and extracted the gift box. “Anyone need a diamond necklace?” he said with a devilish glint in his eye.

Ida and I looked at each other and giggled.

“How about a car?” He raised his right hand. A set of keys hung from his forefinger. “It’s parked down the street so we’ll have to move it tonight, but we should have room in the garage since you totaled the van.” The knowing look he gave me would have stopped a freight train.

My Jetta met its demise in October when it collided with a royal buck. I replaced it with an unpretentious twenty-year-old van, purchased from a police impound lot in North Dakota. After an attempt on my life, it disappeared only to be found with the seats sliced open, the radio removed, the wires and hoses cut, and sugar in the gas tank. My insurance company considered it a total loss, but the assigned value wouldn’t have replaced a bicycle tire.

“Elizabeth had it towed here with some of my belongings stowed in the back. There isn’t much of mine left at home … at her home, and she’s going to ship the rest of it over the next few weeks. She didn’t want the car.” His eyes misted. “It’s yours, Katie.”

His pride and joy.

“I couldn’t.” Could I?

His left eyebrow rose. Ida crossed her hands over her tummy and arched her back, a wait-and-see stance.

“Could I?”

“The doctors don’t want me driving …” He paused. “… much. And you can’t expect Ida to do all the chauffeuring around this metropolis.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Elizabeth held on a lot longer than I expected. I’m lucky. I have a great daughter, a super landlady, and my wife doesn’t have to worry about me and can finally spread her wings in the corporate world.” He choked up. “I’ll have to try harder with Austin and Sandra. She said they want to keep me in their lives. And who knows. She’s not giving up. Maybe this will make things right for us.”

Austin was twenty-nine, one year older than me, and I marveled at his transformation from a pudgy, quiet, introverted youth into a brilliant academic with an advanced tech degree. He lived near Elizabeth and helped her get her job in cryogenics. Elizabeth repeatedly informed me that he specialized in marketing small companies, crafting websites, organizing digital media, and performing algorithmic calisthenics on indecipherable metrics to assess the performance of companies’ business practices or something like that. Since the write-up about his firm in the Our Business Weekly regional journal, clients flocked to his office.

We spoiled our youngest sibling, and, as I remembered the times I had to bail Sandra out, or provide phony excuses, the muscles in my neck seized. Her dreadful choices included drugs, alcohol, and sex. She’d had a child when she was sixteen and had given her up for adoption. I never questioned Sandra’s intelligence, but I always questioned her motivation. When she left her teenage years behind, she grew out of her selfish ways. With her bright smile and outgoing personality, I envied the effect she had on everyone who met her. When Sandra and I got together now, which wasn’t often enough, I found her engaging, funny, and dynamic. She made everyone feel important.

Dad’s voice sliced through my reminiscing. “Elizabeth had much of it already figured out.” His head drooped and his shoulders sagged. Reality stomped on his heart, and he sank into the chair. He set one elbow, then the other on the table and dropped his head into his hands, his slender fingers threaded through his more-salt-than-pepper hair.

“I think I’ll just stay here for a while. You two should get some sleep.” He peered at us. “I mean it. I need time to process … alone.”

Ida touched Dad’s shoulder before leaving and when her door clicked, I realized I needed time too. I grabbed a puffy jacket, a hat, gloves, and Maverick’s leash, but for the first time in a long time, Maverick seemed less than ecstatic about a walk. We both looked back as we ventured out into the crisp star-filled evening.

Fifteen minutes passed in a snap. When we returned, the rinsed glasses drained in the sink, and I found Ida’s coveted bottle returned to its secure spot out of Ida’s reach. Dad’s door was closed. Maverick circled his mat twice and curled into a ball. Sleep beckoned, but before I mounted the stairs, I picked up the blue velvet jewelry box and checked the contents. The delicate gold necklace joyously winked from its velvet bed. The lid snapped closed, and I stowed it on the top shelf of the pantry for whenever Dad decided he needed it again.