Getting Some Of Her Own (23 page)

Calvin Jackson closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair while his lips trembled. “Do you know what you called me?”

He hadn't planned to say it, but it came off his tongue easily, and maybe it was time. “It shocked me when I said it to Mama yesterday. I didn't force it. I think it has something to do with Nana. I fell in love with her. It's as if she's a present you gave me.”

“Thank you. She called me, and I never knew her to talk so fast and so much. She is enchanted with you. Are you going back to see her?”

“Of course. As often as I can. I saw a couple of things I want to do there.”

“She told me. I get a sense that you take good care of your mother.”

“I do, indeed. And you take good care of Nana. It amazed me that she and I have so much in common. My visit with her was a homecoming for me. I'm so glad I went.”

Sitting with his father in the house that he should have called home, looking at the wealth that substituted for happiness, he thought of his own life. He didn't need to be wealthier than he was; he needed a family and time in which to smell the flowers.

He observed his father, strong and with the appearance of a capable man. “You're up and around now, so in a month I should be able to hand the company back to you. What do you say?”

Calvin donned his corporate demeanor and looked hard at Lucas. “Your contract is for a minimum of one year. That aside, I had something else in mind.”

Lucas held up his hand. “Before we get to that, tell me what you think the CEO of your company is worth for a year.”

Calvin let him know that, in business matters, he did not shilly-shally. “In your case, about three hundred thousand more than the contract stipulates. Now, to what I have in mind. I want you to add Hamilton Architectural Designs to Jackson Enterprises, and”—Lucas bolted upright. “Hear me out. You would continue as CEO of Jackson Enterprises as newly formed, and I would retire completely. I want to travel while I still have my health and enough energy. I've dreamed of seeing Europe, Africa, Asia, the world, in fact. I don't want to die without having seen the Taj Mahal, the world's most beautiful edifice. Can you appreciate that?”

Lucas nodded in a perfunctory manner. “Sure I can, but I want to give my architectural business my full attention.”

“Hire an architect whose ideas are similar to yours. Think about it. In five years, you'll double the value of our holdings, something I can't do. You're young, and you have vision and ideas. Old men dream dreams.”

Lucas got up and began walking from one end of the room to the other, and his father remained quiet, as if allowing him the freedom to think. He stopped in front of the man he had called Dad for the first time three minutes earlier. “This is bizarre. I spent all of my professional life working my tail off to equal you in status and accomplishment, and now you're handing it to me. I'm not sure I want to accept. I have to think about it.”

“Fair enough. I'm sure you'll arrive at the right decision. By the way, can you come over Sunday afternoon? My daughters will be here, and I want you to meet them.”

“What about your wife? I assume it was she who opened the door for me. Will this be a family conference?”

Calvin lifted his right shoulder in a lazy, uncaring way. “Who knows? I don't doubt that you can hold your own in any setting. And yes, that was my wife.”

Lucas looked hard at Calvin. “Why are you doing this? You've known me less than six months. How do you know I won't steal the company or worse, destroy it?”

A smile settled around Calvin's eyes. “Do you think I got where I am today by being stupid? I'm a good judge of human beings, and I damn well know the difference between copper and tin. You won't do any such thing. You're too proud, and you're honest. I admire your character, and I know that I am not taking a risk. Hasn't it occurred to you that you're only getting what's due you?”

Lucas held up one hand. “Slow down, Dad. Has it occurred to you that your family may make it impossible for me to run this operation as I see fit?”

“I'll take care of that.” A laugh floated out of him. “You're safe from them as long as they don't have to work. Promise me you'll give this serious thought.”

 

 

The following evening around seven-thirty, Lucas left an old movie,
The Color Purple,
with Susan—having given her seven yards of silk velvet as a bribe for going with him—took her hand and walked with her to the corner ice cream stand. “I've got so much on my mind, Susan. Let's get some ice cream and go sit in the park and eat it. It's too nice an evening to go inside.”

As they sat on a bench in Pine Tree Park eating the ice cream, she wondered about his inattentiveness. “If you want to talk, I'm listening,” she said.

“I don't know where to start.” With apparent effort, he told her of his father's proposition. “Why should I turn my life around for a man who didn't recognize me as his child?”

“Wait a minute. That's not what you told me. Your mother had a hand in that.”

“Oh, all right, but he didn't bust his butt demanding his rights.” His fingers brushed his forehead, as if ridding it of the memory. “Okay. You have a point. His company is solid, and in the six short months that I've run it, I've improved it, but I'm not a business administrator; I'm an architect, and that's the work I love to do.”

She didn't spare him. “If he had married your mother, you would not be complaining; you'd do what you were expected to do. Don't act hastily, Lucas. You're beginning to care for your father, and he obviously admires and respects you. I suspect he loves you, too. Get to know him. You may learn to love him.”

“You're right. He's a warm, decent man, and he's had over a third of a century in which to suffer for his misdeed. Say, would you like to go with me to see my grandmother this weekend? I think I'll drive. Flying is such a hassle these days.”

“You're sweet,” she said in an effort to minimize the pain that his question stoked in her. “But Lucas, a man does not bring a woman to see his grandmother unless he's contemplating permanent ties with her. Your grandmother will get the wrong impression, and I will be embarrassed.”

He looked at her. “You said I'm sweet. So why would it embarrass you to be seen with me?”

She slapped the back of his left hand. “You can be very thick headed when it suits you.”

“I was hoping for company. It's a long drive. You could keep me from falling asleep.”

“Take Willis Carter. Your grandmother won't make any mistakes there.”

His features became animated, and he crossed his knees and leaned against the back of the bench. “You've given me an idea. I'm planning to change some things in her kitchen, and if Willis goes with me, we may be able to do it together. What's wrong?” he asked when she appeared to sulk.

“Oh, nothing. I'm disappointed that Willis can replace me so easily.”

“In your dreams, maybe.” He indicated a desire to leave the park, and she wondered at his sudden shift from light-heartedness to seriousness.

“I really enjoyed sitting there and eating ice cream. Do you like picnicking in remote places? I do, and I took Rudy and Nathan picnicking over near Scenic Gardens. They were so excited and so happy. Oh, Lucas. I love those children so much.”

“I know you do, and I hope it works out well for all of you.”

She had attempted several times recently to ask Lucas about his half sisters, but hadn't followed through for fear that he might not want to talk about them. After all, they had been raised in comparative luxury. She grasped his left hand and knew at once from his reaction that he anticipated an unusual move on her part.

“What's on your mind?”

“I was wondering whether you've met your . . . uh . . . sisters and if you have, what you think of them.”

She was always so sensitive about his feelings. He squeezed her fingers. “Not yet. We're meeting at Dad's house next Sunday. He warned me that the older of the two can be a cuss, but that doesn't bother me.”

She thought for a moment. “You would be in a strong position if your father could tell them that you will be in charge of his business. If you're going to agree to his proposition, why not tell him now? You trust him, don't you?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then why don't you accept his proposition. You'll still have Hamilton Architectural Designs, and you'll gain so much more. You won't get revenge by refusing him; you'll only have to watch someone else, maybe a stranger, get what is rightfully yours. If you want to punish him, this is not the way.”

They reached his car, and after opening the door for her, he went around to the driver's side and got in. “That's just it. I have no desire to punish him. And you're right. I'm going to call him and take him up on his proposal. It isn't what I've envisaged doing with my life, but maybe his plan is better than mine.”

 

 

Susan arrived at Wade School that afternoon simultaneously with Ann Price. She parked the BMW and walked toward Ann's car as the children jumped out of it and raced to meet her. When she knelt to hug them, they launched themselves into her arms.

“You children go on inside,” Ann said. “I want to talk with Ms. Pettiford for a minute.” They kissed Susan's cheek and ran toward the school's front door, holding hands as they went.

Susan stood and faced Ann. “Hi. What do you want to talk to me about?”

“Well . . .” At the woman's hesitancy, Susan experienced a moment of anxiety. “I . . . uh . . . Well, how are your plans for adopting Rudy coming along?”

After remembering that Ann had offered to help in the adoption, she decided to confide in her. “I've signed the papers, but I don't want Rudy to know in case it falls through. She would be as disappointed as I.”

Ann Price nodded. “That's good. I'll be glad to speak for you. You'll need good references. I'll be glad to send an affidavit to the agency.”

“I appreciate that, Ann. I don't know what I'll do if they turn me down.”

“I don't think they will.”

Susan didn't see Rudy and Nathan when she went inside the building, for she was already a few minutes late and, assuming that the children were either in class or with Lucas, she went on to her classroom.

Occasionally, Lucas walked the halls to assure himself that nothing untoward occurred at Wade School while he was in charge. As he stepped out of his office, Rudy and Nathan ran up to him and tugged at his hands, one on either side of him as they usually did.

He put his arms around their shoulders. “Why aren't you in class?”

“We have to ask you something, Mr. Hamilton,” Nathan said. However, it was Rudy who seemed worried.

“Mr. Hamilton,” she began. “Mrs. Price gave us a dollar and fifty cents to give to the tsunami children, but I want to buy Ms. Pettiford a present with mine.”

“Me, too,” Nathan said. “Do the tsunami children need it real bad?”

“You mean the children in Asia who are victims of the tsunami? Yes, they need it badly.”

Rudy hung her head. “Gee, I just gave everything in my piggy bank to the New Orleans children. Now I have to send—”

He hunkered between them. “You have a home, food and clothing, but those children don't.”

“Okay,” they said in unison.

“Tell you what,” Lucas said. “Give your money to the tsunami victims, I'll take you shopping and you may buy something for Ms. Pettiford.” When they hugged and kissed him, the pangs in his heart became almost unbearable.
If I don't hurry, I'll miss the opportunity to have a family.
“We won't mention this to Ms. Pettiford,” he told them. “It will be a surprise.”

At the end of the tutoring session, he walked out of the building in time to see Susan hugging Rudy and Nathan, as if she would never see them again and detaining Ann Price, who looked on, smiling like a benevolent grandmother.

The next afternoon, he waited for Ann Price at the Rose Hill School when she arrived for Rudy and Nathan and told her of his promise to the children. “I'd like to take them shopping now, if it's all right with you. I'll have them at your place within a couple of hours.”