A Love for All Seasons (10 page)

Hello Goodbye

“I
t
was so nice of you to invite us to dinner, Alicia,” Florence Scott said. She had just given her coat to her husband, Henry, to hang up in the closet and prepared to sit down in the living room. The large room was warm and inviting, courtesy of the fire Todd had going in the fireplace and the scent of roasting turkey that wafted out through the kitchen. “We would have had you over to our home, but Todd said he didn't feel Caroline was up to riding to New Rochelle.”

Alicia had always been fond of her brother-in-law's parents. “No, Mrs. Scott, I'm afraid she isn't.”

“I know it's been hard on all of you, spending your weekends up here all these months. I'm proud of you girls, and my son as well, for being so understanding. A lesser man would have put his foot down after all this time.”

“Yes, Todd's been wonderful, coming up here on the weekends and taking over most of Fletch's care so Daphne can tend to Mom.” Todd worked as assistant prosecutor in the Westchester County jurisdiction, while Daphne's career as an elementary school teacher was on hold as she raised little Fletch. “A rambunctious toddler is a bit much for Mom to take, even if he's her only grandchild and she's crazy about him.”

“Again, I think it's just wonderful how devoted you two girls are to your mother. It's like you never leave her side.”

Alicia nodded politely with a secretive smile. Mrs. Scott's statement was more accurate than she knew. Ever since Sunday morning Daphne had become an extra appendage to Caroline, virtually never leaving her alone. She'd been right there that morning when Alicia went to her mother's room to find out what she thought of Jack. Alicia would have preferred it if she and her mother could speak privately, but since Daphne made no move to leave she had no choice. Part of her couldn't blame her sister. After a short-lived rally, Caroline had become visibly weaker. Her cardiologist had told Alicia that she might not live to the end of the year.

“He's handsome, isn't he?” Caroline had remarked.

“Yes, he certainly is. But it's the strangest thing, Mom. The minute I saw him I felt all shaky and nervous, like I knew him from someplace. I tried and tried to remember, but I couldn't. And from what I've learned about him, he and I have never even been in the same state at the same time.”

“Do you still get that feeling?”

“Not as often.” Alicia didn't want to admit that she usually bolstered herself with three or four glasses of wine before seeing Jack, and that in spite of that she still felt flustered when she knew he was about to kiss her, almost like there was something forbidden about it.

He'd kissed her senseless when he brought her home Saturday night after a movie and a late meal, a deep, tantalizing, openmouthed kiss with her back blissfully up against the wall. She wouldn't have a problem discussing it with her mother if the two of them were alone, but she felt it too personal a matter to discuss in front of Daphne. It pleased her that Caroline, despite rapidly failing health, appeared genuinely interested in knowing all about Jack.

“You're probably thinking of someone else,” Caroline said. “I wouldn't let it bother me if I were you. He seems like a well-mannered, well-educated, well-spoken young man.” She shrugged her shoulders. “What else could any mother hope for her daughter?”

“He probably just reminds you of someone, Alicia,” Daphne said in a dismissive tone.

Alicia found herself annoyed at her sister's breezy attitude toward her inexplicable emotions regarding Jack. On one hand, she was glad to know that Daphne had finally accepted the inevitable, but at the same time she resented Daphne's attaching herself to Caroline's bedside, thus robbing her of any opportunity to have a private conversation with her mother.

At this point, it would be hard for anyone to convince themselves that a recovery was possible. Caroline's longtime cardiologist, during a house call, advised her to try not to leave the house, and LPNs now alternated around the clock seven days a week, each working twelve-hour shifts.

Alicia and Daphne arranged for a catered meal for the family, including Daphne's in-laws, the Scotts, plus Martha, Marvin and their children. Daphne initially balked at sitting down to dinner with the family housekeeper, but Alicia held her ground and Caroline backed her. “You remember what Mom said?” Alicia said. “Martha is almost like another daughter to her. There's no reason why they shouldn't eat with us. They've done it before, when it was just Mom and Pop and me and you were with Todd's family. If anything, it's more befitting now than ever before,” she said meaningfully.

From the way Daphne's face wrinkled like she was about to cry, Alicia knew she understood. This would be their mother's last Thanksgiving.

 

After a leisurely dinner that ran two hours from the carving of the turkey until dessert and coffee, Todd and Daphne slowly walked Caroline to the motorized stair climber and got her upstairs. Alicia helped Martha and Martha's daughter, Melody, clean the kitchen. Daphne, returning from upstairs, simply joined her in-laws in the rec room in the basement. She didn't even offer to help, which surprised neither Alicia nor Martha.

Martha loaded the dishwasher while Melody put away the last of the leftovers. Alicia had put the place mats away and was wiping down the dining room table when her cell phone began vibrating in her pocket.

She pulled it out and sank into an upholstered French Provincial chair. She wondered if it could be Jack. She hadn't talked to him since Sunday, when he called to tell her how much he enjoyed himself Saturday night. The very thought of him calling her from Alabama made her tingle. She took a moment to calm herself, then unfolded the cell and uttered a collected-sounding, “Hello.”

“Happy Thanksgiving, Alicia!”

She broke into a smile at the sound of his voice. “Dev! What a wonderful surprise!” Although she'd been hoping he would call, she really didn't expect he would. This was his time to enjoy his parents and siblings. She'd been a bit disappointed when she didn't hear from him in the days before he flew home for the holiday, even though she knew he was immersed in a major project at work. She didn't understand it. She usually despised it when a man called her every five minutes. It made her feel like someone had placed a pillow over her face while she slept, not tightly, but just enough to cause impairment in her breathing.

When it came to Jack, everything seemed different. It delighted her that he had thought of her during his vacation. “Are you enjoying your holiday?”

“Absolutely. It's always refreshing to be around my family. Nieces and nephews running all over the place, my parents glowing, everybody patting their bellies and saying they ate too much. The usual.”

She laughed. “Here, too. But it's been a wonderful day. Mom came downstairs for dinner.” She paused, then spoke in a near-whisper. “The doctor doesn't think she'll be here for next Thanksgiving.”

His heart ached at the sorrow she clearly felt. “I'm sorry to hear that.”

“I know you are.”

“I thought of you today, off and on all day. I decided to call you after I was certain you were done with dinner.”

“I'm glad you did, Jack.”

He noticed that she called him “Dev” during casual conversation and banter, but when she felt serious she called him by his given name. He wondered if she was aware of making the distinction. Not that he was about to fill her in. It gave him a clear advantage to figuring her out.

“And I'm glad to hear you're having such a good time with your family. I know you miss them.”

“Right now I'm missing you. Will you be spending the rest of the weekend at your mother's?”

“Definitely. And I'd love to see you when you get back Saturday.”

He broke into a grin. He liked it when a woman took the initiative, and even more when that woman was Alicia Timberlake. “Great. My flight gets into LaGuardia at one o'clock. I'm not sure how long it'll take me to get home from there, but why don't you reserve Saturday night for me?”

“Let's make it earlier,” she heard herself saying. “It won't take you an hour to drive to Connecticut. You parked at the airport, didn't you?”

“No, I went to work Tuesday morning and took a cab to the airport from midtown that afternoon. I know they have transport services, or else I'll just get a bus to One Twenty-Fifth Street and I'll catch the train from there. All I have is a duffel bag.”

“You'll do no such thing. I'll come down and pick you up.”

“No, Alicia. It's too far. I can't have you drive all the way from Westport.”

“Give me your flight information.”

He chuckled. “I see there's no stopping you once you've made up your mind.”

“That's right.”

He recited the flight and the arrival time.

She repeated it. “I'll go write it down right now so I don't forget. See you Saturday, Dev. Enjoy the rest of your time with your family. And—” She broke off, suddenly shy.

“What?” he asked curiously.

After a moment's hesitation, she said with the shyness of honesty, “I'm glad you called.”

 

Jack hung up the phone with a satisfied smile on his face. Alicia wanted to pick him up on Saturday. Could it be that she missed him?

“So, Jack, who were you talking to that gave you that smile on your face? Is that the girlfriend?”

“Oh, please.” He kept his tone droll, determined not to let his sister see how pleased he really felt.

Everyone knew that the woman he had a fledgling relationship with in Birmingham dumped him after he relocated, not seeing any future in a long-distance love affair. Most of his siblings and their spouses, and especially his parents, wanted to know if he'd met anyone special. Jack, the middle child, was the only one who hadn't yet married. He told them he'd met someone, but fibbed and said they were still getting to know each other, that it was too soon to know if anything would come of it. Even that morsel of information spurred a barrage of questions. “What does she look like?” “How old is she?” “What kind of work does she do?” “When will we meet her?” “Are you bringing her on the cruise?”

The last question referred to the trip the family took together every three years. With Jack's recent move to the Northeast, only two of Clarence and Melba Devlin's five children remained in greater Birmingham. They decided it was imperative that their children stay in touch and their grandchildren know each other, so six years before they implemented a family reunion. The entire family met in Orlando for a week of socializing, relaxation, fun, and worship. It went so well that Jack and his siblings vowed to get together every third year. They opted for that particular timing to give everyone a chance to budget and to take other vacations on intervening years. They insisted that every member of the family attend, no matter how young. It was as much an obligation as paying one's mortgage. Missing out simply wasn't an option.

Three years before they all went to Phoenix, and this year they booked a five-night cruise to Key West, Mexico, and the Cayman Islands for February.

He good-naturedly answered all the questions. “She's very pretty…She's thirty-four, and she has the same birthday as me…She owns a court stenography service…I don't know when you'll meet her…I'm not sure she's ready to meet all you guys. You might make a bad impression and then she'll quit me.”

That remark met with affable protests, and his mother said, “Seriously, Jack. Have you thought about asking your young lady to join us on the cruise?”

“Mom, I haven't even thought about it,” he said truthfully, managing to keep a straight face. The thought of Alicia at his—or anyone else's, for that matter—family reunion was enough to make him burst out laughing. He could hardly tell his mother that Alicia simply wasn't the type to attend such a function. Melba Devlin would be indignant that Alicia wouldn't jump at the chance to accompany him. Worse, she'd probably comment that she didn't sound very family oriented.

Which, of course, she wasn't.

Right now he looked forward to seeing her on Saturday. He didn't get a chance to say goodbye to her before he left, but when he saw her again he'd certainly give her an ardent hello.

Drive My Car

T
he
moment Jack heard the bell that signified the turning off of the Fasten Seat Belt sign he shot out of his aisle seat and removed his duffel from the overhead rack. He sat in the first row of Coach, springing for business class only on flights longer than three hours. Usually he sat reading while his fellow passengers lined up to disembark, even those folks way in the back who clearly weren't going anywhere anytime soon. This time it was different. In about five minutes he'd see Alicia.

Soon off the plane, he moved with long strides toward the escalators leading to the baggage claim area and the exits. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He probably had time to tell Alicia not to bother to park, that he had no luggage to retrieve at the carousel and was all ready to go.

He held the phone to his ear and said the command, “Call Alicia,” which prompted the voice-activated gadget to dial Alicia's cell number. She'd mentioned to him previously that she had a cell mount in her car so she could take incoming calls without violating New York law.

“Hello,” she said in the low-pitched voice that made his pulse race.

“Alicia, it's Jack. Just wanted to let you know I'm on my way down to the exit, so you don't have to worry about parking when you get here.”

“Already? Your plane must have had good tailwind to get in so early.”

“Actually, we landed on time, but I was near the front and I didn't check my bag.”

“Okay. I'm on the Grand Central Parkway now, probably one exit away. I'll be there in a few minutes.”

Her voice sounded soothing to his ears as an incoming surf. He pictured her zooming down the highway in her red Solara. “I'll be waiting.”

Less than five minutes later he flagged her down as she slowed by the terminal doors of his airline. But she was not alone. A large Irish setter sat perched on the arm rest.

“Hey!” he greeted as he opened the passenger door and tossed his duffel carelessly in the back. He wished her eyes weren't covered by sunglasses, but her broad smile and warm greeting suggested she was happy to see him. “I didn't know you had a dog.” He reached out to gently rub behind the setter's ears. “Hiya, boy. You
are
a boy, aren't you?”

“Yes,” Alicia said. “Jack, this is Lucky. Lucky, this is Jack.”

Lucky barked, a quick bark that suggested a “Hi!”

“You must have practiced that,” he said in disbelief.

“No. We're in tune, Lucky and I. Always have been.” She leaned toward the animal and sang the first few bars of “Luck Be a Lady Tonight,” and the dog made a whimpering sound, as if to say, “I like it!”

“Lucky is actually my parents' dog,” Alicia explained. “He stays in Green's Farms, but he usually comes with me when I go out in the car. He likes to ride. And he doesn't get car sick.”

“Glad to hear it.” He knew she wondered why he still knelt on the passenger seat instead of sitting down. “Um…I don't mind taking the wheel for the ride back, since you drove all the way down here.” He still felt a little guilty about her coming down from Westport. At least if he drove back it wouldn't seem so much like she was serving as his chauffeur.

“Sure, why not?” She clicked her seat belt open. “Sit tight, Lucky. I'm just going to change places with Jack.” She opened the door and stepped out, and Lucky didn't as much as blink. It was as if he understood what she said.

He met her halfway as they walked around the front of the Solara. She smiled up at him, and he took a lingering glance over her figure, dressed in jeans, flats and a pea jacket, before impulsively bending to kiss her mouth briefly. “Thanks for driving down to pick me up.” Then he jauntily stepped aside to let her pass. “We're leaving right now,” he said pleasantly to the security officer who approached, before he could tell them to move on.

Inside the Solara, he slid the seat back a few inches to give him more leg room. Lucky practically jumped in his lap to start sniffing him. “Uh…Lucky, why don't you move back a little, let me drive, and we can get acquainted later,” he suggested.

Alicia patted the center console. “Come on, Lucky. Get back.”

The setter obediently obeyed.

Jack looked on in amazement. “You've really got that animal trained, don't you?”

He guided the car through the airport export and onto the parkway, into typically heavy but moving traffic. Jack felt that people exaggerated the skill needed to drive in New York City. Unfortunately, motorists cut in front of other vehicles on highways all over the country, even in greater Birmingham. Driving on I-65 might even be more dangerous than any roadway in New York. He'd read that a startlingly high percentage of drivers on the interstate in Alabama packed pistols in their glove compartments, and more than one incident of cutting off a fellow motorist had ended in road rage tragedy.

As he drove Jack heard music, what sounded like an untalented male singer warbling a ballad. “I don't know who that is, but he sure sounds awful. Whoever told him he could sing?”

“Oh, that's my cell ringing,” Alicia said easily. She removed it from its holder. “Hello.”

Jack's fingers clenched the steering wheel as he recalled what Pete told him about Alicia's easygoing nature. He didn't want to share her with anyone, especially another man.

His being behind the wheel allowed her to hold the phone to her ear, rather than using the speaker. He might not be able to hear the caller, but he couldn't help overhearing her end of the conversation due to their close proximity. “Hi!” she greeted sincerely.

She certainly sounded happy to hear from whomever was on the other side of the line, he thought suspiciously. He listened as the conversation continued.

“That sounds great, but I'm afraid I won't make it. I just picked up Jack—you remember Jack Devlin, he was at my apartment last month—from LaGuardia, and we're headed back up to Connecticut.”

That dude Derek Taylor would remember him, Jack thought with annoyance. Could she be talking to him? His grip on the steering wheel tightened.

“I don't expect to get back to the city before tomorrow night,” Alicia continued. “But you guys have a good time. Maybe we'll be able to join you next time. Okay. 'Bye, Jenny.”

Jack felt like he'd just been sprayed with fairy dust. Alicia hadn't been speaking with a man, she'd talked with her friend Jenny, whom he remembered from her party. And, better yet, she'd said that “we” might be able to join them another time. He wondered if she realized that she'd referred to them as a couple.

Alicia disconnected the call and replaced her phone in the holder. “That was Jenny Walters. You met her at that little get-together at my place, even if you don't remember her. She said a group is getting together to check out some new place on Columbus Avenue tonight and asked if I wanted to come along. I told her maybe next time.”

Secretly he liked her response, but he felt he ought to say something modest. “I hope I'm not putting you out.”

“No, not at all. I planned to stay at my mother's until tomorrow anyway.”

“Hey, that's some ring tone you've got. I'm thinking I've heard it before, but I can't place it.”

She laughed. “I downloaded it from the Internet. It came from that old Eddie Murphy movie,
Coming to America
.”

He snapped his fingers. “That's it! Now I remember.” He now had a clear memory of the heavyset employee of Eddie Murphy's royal family presenting Eddie with the bride chosen for him by his father, the king. How could he have forgotten the way the man's voice cracked as he strained to hit the high notes? It had been a laugh riot.

“I can always tell when it's my phone ringing because no one else has that ring tone,” Alicia said.

As if on cue, the cell phone began ringing again. “Oh, who is this now,” she said, sounding slightly annoyed.

“It better not be any of your male admirers,” Jack said. The moment the words came out he regretted it. He sounded like a jealous, possessive old poop, and this after he'd vowed to give her space. He'd just put distance between them.

To his surprise, Alicia didn't seem to mind. “Well, if it is I'm giving them the boot,” she said. “This afternoon belongs to us.”

He fixed his eyes on the road ahead of him. Could that mean she'd missed him? He'd had some weak moments on Monday and Tuesday, when he desperately wanted to pick up the phone and call her. He managed to stick to his guns, knowing that he would fare better if he kept her at the same distance she wished to keep him. If he called her daily she never would have said that the afternoon would belong to them. Instead she would have dropped him off at his condo with a kiss and driven away.

Part of him, especially when looking at her lips, which this time were a luscious red, wanted to ask,
What about the evening?
The only thing stopping him was the suspicion that she might accept. He'd rather keep their relationship chaste before becoming just another man she fell into bed with when the mood struck. He wanted intimacy between them to mean as much to her as it would to him.

Once again he listened to her end of the conversation. It really couldn't be called eavesdropping; in the close confines of the vehicle she could have no secrets from him.

“Yes, I'm on my way to Stamford,” she was saying.

Jack became alarmed when he saw her expression change to one of distress. “Oh, no!”

“Alicia, what is it?” he hissed.

“Just a minute, Martha.” She spoke away from the receiver. “It's Mom. Daphne was sitting with her when she suddenly went limp. Martha—she's the live-in housekeeper—got her revived, and Daphne's husband called the paramedics. They should be there any minute.”

Jack immediately sped up. This was no longer a pleasant Saturday afternoon drive, but a mission. “I'll drive as fast as I can without getting pulled over for speeding.” That might be difficult in a red convertible, for even with the top up; the sleek lines of the car practically screamed out, “Arrest me!”

Alicia put the cell phone back to her ear. “Sorry. I needed to fill Jack in on what's going on.” She paused, and Jack could hear Martha's voice, although he couldn't make out what she said.

“Well, I don't know,” Alicia said. “We just left the airport maybe ten minutes ago. We haven't even gotten to the bridge yet. By the time I bring Jack home and then drive up there—”

By the time she brought him home!
“Give me the phone, Alicia,” he commanded.

Surprisingly, she didn't object, ask his intentions, or remind him that talking on a cell phone while driving was illegal in New York. She merely handed him the phone without another word to Martha.

“Hello, Martha,” he said. “This is Jack Devlin. I'm a friend of Alicia's. You and I haven't met, but I want you to know that we won't be making any stops or taking any detours from the straightest route to Westport. I'll get Alicia there as soon as I can.” It shocked him that, under the circumstances, Alicia would even consider bringing him home before going to her mother's home.

“Thank you, Jack. I'd hoped you'd be driving. I was afraid of upsetting Alicia while she was behind the wheel, but she had to be told. I couldn't take the chance of her stopping off someplace for an early dinner.”

“I understand.” Jack glanced over at Alicia, who met his gaze with gratitude in her eyes. “Now I'd better give this phone back to Alicia before I get arrested for violating the law.” He calmly handed the phone back to her.

 

Six hours later he returned her to her mother's front door. Martha called back to inform Alicia that Caroline had been brought to the hospital in Norwalk, and they went directly there. They spent the next two hours waiting, finally learning that Caroline's condition had stabilized. It took another two hours to get her into a room.

Jack met the entire group: Daphne's husband, Todd Scott; the longtime housekeeper Martha Lewis and her husband Marvin, and even Caroline's personal physician, Dr. Ivan Jordan, who had driven up from Stamford. Daphne and Todd's toddler son, Fletch, had been left in the care of Martha and Marvin's teenage children at home.

He'd been surprised to see that Martha appeared to be only in her early forties. She'd sounded relatively young on the telephone, but his own mother also sounded much younger than her actual age. He felt that her retaining a youthful, higher-pitched speaking voice had something to do with her having never been a smoker.

Martha's old-fashioned name had given him the impression she was a woman in her sixties. He liked her immediately, and Marvin, too. They seemed more like family than employees, genuinely worried about Caroline.

He did what he could to comfort Alicia, and she seemed to respond to him, at one point resting her head on his chest. Waiting together gave him the opportunity to observe the family dynamics. At first they seemed like a typical family, united in concern for their hospitalized member, but then he noticed the limited interaction between Daphne and Alicia and a total lack of contact between Daphne and Martha and wondered what it was all about.