A Slight Change of Plan (34 page)

Laura called to tell me that someone wanted to rent out Mom’s house. We had told the manager of the development that Mom would be moving out at some point. We’d been paying her monthly fees as well as her electric bill to keep the lights on. But someone had stopped by the manager’s office and asked if there was anything that could be rented, and he had thought to call Laura.

“It would be a good thing, Kate. She would have additional income every month. These people were willing to pay eight hundred dollars a month on a long-term lease.”

That seemed to me like a lot of money for a two-bedroom house, but the development had some great amenities—swimming pool, tennis courts—and it was only an hour away from Atlantic City.

“When would we have to clear out the house?” I asked.

“By November first. We’d probably have to do it before then, and get the place painted. Is it manageable, do you think?”

“Sure. The unmanageable part is telling Mom. What about that place in Hackettstown?”

Laura sighed. “The room is Mom’s if she wants it. However, the home has to wait until the person who is in it now either goes to a different facility or dies.”

“Oh, Laura, is that what this is going to be about now? A deathwatch?”

“Kate, we’re talking about old people. Someday, we’ll be on the other side of this, flipping a coin between extended care or pulling a plug. I’m going to tell the boys to set me out on an ice floe, rather than put them through this.”

“But if she goes into this home as a Medicare patient, doesn’t she have to sell the house?”

“I was thinking we could help her out. Between what she makes from the rent, plus her Social Security, then Dad’s pension and her pension, she could just about make it every month. Bobby and I could kick in an extra couple of hundred dollars.”

I sighed. “So could I. I can’t believe she’s still getting Dad’s pension.”

“He was in a union, remember? She started collecting when she turned sixty-five, and it will go on until she’s gone. Thank God for that. It’s the only thing that’s kept her afloat all these years.”

“Well, it will be easier for Mom to move if she doesn’t have to sell the house and give all her money away. When can you come over?”

She sighed. “This afternoon.”

When Laura arrived and we went downstairs, Mom had company. Marie was there with another woman whom I recognized from the Widows’ Mafia. I had brought down a pitcher of iced tea and some cookies that I had made, and the three of them were happily munching away. The sliding glass doors were closed, of course, and the air-conditioner was humming loudly. It was so cool down there, I wanted a sweater.

Mom’s eyes narrowed. “The two of you? Together? This can’t be good.”

Marie made clucking noises. “Rose, now behave. You need to talk to them anyway. Don’t be such a bitch,” she said, smiling sweetly.

Mom actually cackled with laughter.

Laura cleared her throat. “As a matter of fact, Mom, we do need to talk to you. Perhaps your friends could come back later?”

“No, they can’t. Because I have to talk to you two, and Marie and Gail are part of it. I need money from you girls so I can move in with Gail here.”

Laura and I looked at each other. I wanted to sit, but the little bentwood chair was stacked high with magazines.

“Move in with Gail where, Mom?” I asked.

“On the other side of the clubhouse. Section seven,” Mom said.

Gail, who looked a bit older than Mom, with bright blue eyes and silver hair wrapped around her head like a crown, smiled gently. “I was one of the first people to move in here, almost twenty years ago,” she said. “My husband and I sold our house in Livingston after the kids moved out. Peter died six years ago. I’m doing pretty well for myself, but things are starting to get tight. My place is paid for, but the taxes are killing me. I don’t want to move at my age. On top of all that, I fell last year and can’t get around the way I used to. I’d like to hire a girl to come in and take care of things, and make sure I don’t accidentally burn the place down. I know that Rose is here with you on a temporary basis, so I thought if she moved in, she could help share some expenses.”

Laura and I looked at each other again. Could it be that the light at the end of the tunnel was actually sunshine? And not an oncoming train?

“How much more money would you need, Mom?” Laura asked.

“Another twelve hundred a month.”

Marie leaned forward. “I know that sounds like a lot. But these ladies can’t just hire anyone, you know. I know of an agency that will send someone over every morning, seven days a week. The ladies will have two or three regular girls to help them out, drive them where they need to go, and do light cooking and cleaning. And at night, well, they can watch over each other.”

I took a deep breath. “Mom, you know that in a few years, it won’t be enough to have somebody during the day. You’re going to have to be someplace where trained people can take care of you.”

My mother scowled. “Kate, do I look stupid to you? Do you really think I don’t know my own body? I’m the one who’s talked to the doctors, not you. I know what to expect. But for the next few years, I can still live my life the way I want to. There are nice people here. I like being around them. I know you want to send me off someplace you think is safe, but for right now, I’d rather be happy. Can you two manage the money or not? It would only be until I get the house sold, and then I’ll pay you back.”

“Mom, I just got a call from Frank at your development. Somebody wants to rent your house. Eight hundred dollars a month,” Laura said.

Mom smiled. “Do it.”

“We’ll have to go down and empty out the house,” Laura continued.

“So? We’ll go down and empty out the house. We’ll have a yard sale.”

“Mom,” I said, “you’ve spent most of the summer telling me you want to go back to your house, and now you’re going to leave it? Just like that?”

Laura shot daggers in my direction. I know—what was I thinking? But I had to know.

My mother shook her head sadly. “I’ll be keeping my house, Kate. I won’t be selling it. And I’ll be living in a place I can call my own again, not in my daughter’s house. If you can’t see the difference, then maybe you should try getting another degree.”

“Okay, then,” Laura said quickly. “That sounds like a plan. Nice meeting you, Gail. I guess I’ll be seeing you soon.”

Laura and I both turned around and went upstairs, not looking at each other. We both went directly outside to the deck and shut the sliding doors tightly behind us. Then Laura threw back her head and gave a loud whoop that shook the leaves off the trees.

“How did that happen?” she yelled. “Oh my God! Saved!”

I sank into a chair and laughed weakly. “Laura, one of us has amazing karma for something like this to happen. Un-freaking-believable.”

“I know. Is it too early to drink? I feel like cracking open a bottle of champagne.”

“This is so good. So, at least for the next few years, we’re off the hook, Mom-wise. Call Frank, before those renters change their minds. “

“Yes. And I’ll call Hackettstown and let somebody else have that bed. Oh, Kate, I feel like such a burden has been lifted.”

I got up and hugged her. “Me too.”

Marie opened the sliding door and came onto the deck, grinning. “Are you girls celebrating out here?”

“Marie, you are such a lifesaver,” I said.

She kissed my cheek. “I happen to like your mother, dear. And I think she and Gail will get along fine. They’re both lonely. Gail knows about your mom’s problems, so she’s not going into this blind. I wouldn’t do that to her. But Gail’s mind is still pretty sharp, even if her body is failing. She’ll make sure Rose doesn’t do too much damage.” She hugged Laura. “You are two good daughters. I’m glad you won’t have to do anything against your mother’s wishes. Not right now, anyway. When Rose is happy, everybody’s happy.”

Laura rolled her eyes. “You are so right. Thank you. Okay—I’ve got to get home and make phone calls. And buy Devon new shoes for this wedding.” She gave me a quick hug and went.

Marie looked around the deck. “Those mums are looking very nice, Kate, but what did you do with all those pot plants?”

“What? I gave them to my friend Cheryl. She’s, ah, drying them out for me.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. I was hoping to score a bag. I found out a long time ago that if I took a few hits before bed, I’d sleep like a baby. Beats anything you can get out of a prescription bottle.”

“Well, Marie, I’ll see what I can do for you.”

“Why, thank you, dear. I’ll let myself out.”

I looked around. There was just a hint of fall in the air, that crisp kind of feeling that reminds you to look for sweaters and warm socks. The leaves were just starting to turn. The air smelled like apples. A little over six months ago, I thought I had myself a nice little life planned out. True, things were not going quite the way I had planned for them
to, but that was okay. Right here, right now, everything was looking pretty good.

Elaine Pendergast did not like the place Regan and Phil had picked out for their wedding. She did not like the menu; she did not like the centerpieces for the tables. She did not like the fact that Regan’s maid of honor and lone bridesmaid had gotten to pick out their own dresses, and that the ushers would be in suits, not tuxedos. Only one limo? How would she get to the church? No band? What was this, a sweet-sixteen party, with a Rastafarian DJ named SallyJ?

She sighed heavily. “Honestly, Kate, I can’t believe that you just sat back and let them create this mess. Didn’t you care enough to give a little advice?”

I was sitting between Regan and Phil when she said this. Both of them, under the discreet white linen tablecloth of the restaurant where we were having dinner, reached over and placed a restraining hand on my knee. The fact was, I had exactly those same reactions, but I did not like thinking about Elaine and I being on the same page about anything.

“Mom, we didn’t ask for any advice. Both Regan and I knew the kind of wedding we wanted. Kate actually had some very strong opinions, and was actively pushing for a more traditional reception, but she was outvoted,” Phil explained calmly.

Elaine raised a thin, bleached eyebrow and shrugged elaborately. “Yes, well. I guess we should all be grateful we won’t be barefoot on a windy beach somewhere with the dogs as ring bearers.”

Regan and Phil had two scruffy rescue mutts, one white and one black. The thought of them wearing little bow ties
and carrying ring boxes in their mouths made me smile for the first time that evening.

I glanced at my watch. I had asked Jake to join us. I wanted to show up with a date, since Elaine was going solo, and asking Edward was out of the question. Even though it was a Friday night, he’d been held up at the office and he had said he’d be late. I looked at the menu again, sipped some more wine, and took deep, cleansing breaths.

I had not seen Elaine since she flew out for Phil’s birthday last February. It appeared she’d had some work done. Some more work done. When I had first met her, three years ago, she admitted to having just recovered from her second boob job. She had actually had a reduction, telling me she felt that 32DD was no longer appropriate at her age. I’d only seen her a handful of times since then. Her alimony payments could have paid for more frequent trips east to visit her only son, but, thankfully, her social schedule kept her in Denver.

This time, I noticed that her jawline was much tighter, and the lines around her mouth had disappeared. For the first time, I was jealous. I had spent lots of time the past few years staring in the mirror, pulling at the skin by my ear and watching the parentheses around my mouth disappear, and thinking that could be a good look for me.

“I must say, Elaine,” I said brightly, “you look great. At least ten years younger.”

She beamed. “Thanks for noticing, Kate. I had my neck done for the wedding.”

“Oh, good for you. Me, I just had my hair done.”

She raised an eyebrow again, and then she sat up a little straighter and turned on her porcelain—and I mean that literally—smile.

“Hello, everyone, sorry I’m late,” Jake said, sitting down across from me.

He was in another one of those killer suits, with a gray silk tie, and Elaine practically purred when they were introduced. At last, something she approved of.

“So, you’re the long-lost boyfriend? How terribly romantic for the two of you,” she said, looking at Jake like he was an oyster she couldn’t wait to crack open and swallow whole.

Jake smiled easily. “Yes, it’s pretty amazing how we managed to find each other again after all these years. And the great thing is, we’ve fallen right back into our old ways.”

I felt something right then, a wrenching in my heart. Our old ways? Was that how he really felt? Our old ways had ended with him leaving me. I had been hoping we had started over fresh, but Jake had obviously never seen it that way.

I looked at Jake. “Although sometimes going back to the old ways is not such a good idea.”

Elaine sighed dramatically. “I don’t know; it sounds good to me. Maybe I should try looking up all of my old college beaus.”

Phil looked puzzled. “Mom, I thought you met Dad your freshman year. When could you have had other college beaux?”

Elaine shrugged her shoulders. “Darling, just because your father and I were a couple doesn’t mean that other men weren’t interested. I could have had my pick.” She leaned over and practically put her whole mouth in Jake’s
ear. “I was voted the most beautiful pledge in my sorority my first year out, you know.”

“No,” Jake said. “I didn’t know. But I’m not surprised.”

She beamed.

After Jake arrived and she was significantly distracted, things went along pretty smoothly until Phil’s father was mentioned again. By Jake. So I’m pretty sure he ended up on Elaine’s list after all.

“So, Elaine, did you know that until recently, Edward was staying in this same hotel?” he said.

Elaine set down her wineglass so hard, it splashed a little bit on the table. I’m sure she could have used even more force, but she was drinking red, and probably didn’t want to risk getting anything on her winter-white suit. “Really.”