On the way home from the airport, I reconstructed a severely edited version of my week of architectural highlights for my dad. I told him that Rudee had been an excellent tour guide to a whole other side of Paris. Details of the Hacks’ Bastille Day show brought much laughter. “They’re still playing ‘Stinkbomb Serenade’? And Dizzy’s back in the band. Wow! And I can’t believe you met the legendary Sashay. What a week. Did you get any sleep?”
I was investigating the fridge for non-beet snacks when Dad called out, “Hey, I think that’s your mom.”
Her car door slammed in the drive, and we went to meet her. “Hi honey, how was Twigs and Roots?” my dad asked, hugging her.
“Good, very calming. Mac, I want to hear all about Paris — every last detail. Mmmm, you smell like lavender,” she said with her arms around me. “I missed you two.” She looked at my ankle with concern. “And it looks like all that walking didn’t help your little injury.”
She didn’t look any more blissed out than usual. The phone rang, and my dad headed for his studio. “I don’t want to talk to anybody,” my mom called to him. I could hear him laughing loudly. “I came home a bit early. This afternoon there was going to be a lecture called ‘Paper or Plastic,’ about materialism. I couldn’t do another Triconasana pose if my life depended on it. I want real coffee, now!”
I grabbed her yoga mat and bag from the car as she picked up the stack of unopened mail. “Hey, you’ll never guess who that was,” my dad said, smiling broadly.
“I don’t know, the Pope?” offered my mom.
“Almost as unlikely. Rudee Daroo calling from Paris.”
I tried to mask the panicky feeling that hit me. Surely, he wouldn’t ...
“He asked me to say a special hello you,” he said, looking at me. “Mademoiselle Mac as he called you ... and he and Sashay, the love of his life, are finally getting married! To use his expression, he says he’s happy as pig. I can’t believe it. The wedding’s New Year’s Eve in Paris. How does that sound, honey?”
He gave my mom that romantic grin I’ve seen many times before, and she gave him one right back. “The invitation’s for the three of us. What do you think, Mac, would you like to return to the city of light?”