Regina (3 page)

“I’m sorry, what?” I said to the waitress,
bringing myself out it.

“Can I get cha some dessert, sweetie?” She
was asking.

“Oh, no! I think I’m ok.” I said with a
genuine laugh.

“Maybe we could get some dessert to take with
us? I’m not sure if Dad has food at the house.” Mom commented to
dad.

Wait, what? Dad? Did she just call her
father, dad? What happened to calling him George, or not mentioning
him at all?

“You’re not sure if George has food?” Dad
asked mom with concern. My head was wrapping around mom calling her
father, dad. Deep down, I knew this was the first time I felt
something was amiss. Something felt wrong about it. Well, actually
that’s not true. I think it started feeling something was wrong
after the email arrived.

The drive to Lee was long and dark. Night
began a long time ago and the country was quite boring. Reading was
out of the question, the light would bother daddy while he tried to
drive. I tried to become interested in the little towns we passed,
but they were pretty small and we drove thru them quickly. Besides,
there was nothing to see. I didn’t have service on my phone, so I
let the music take over in my ears as I fell asleep.

How am I going to make it out here for two
months? I thought just before I closed my eyes.

I didn’t have a dream and if I did, I don’t
remember. The next thing I knew, I woke up in the car. We made it
to Grandpa’s house. The house sat in a wide clearing, surrounded by
trees. They were thick and tangled together like crazy monsters,
wanting to keep me here forever for their torture and amusement. I
wanted to crawl into a ball and refuse to come out.

I shut my phone angrily, still no service!!
This was impossible! I was going to be miserable, no matter what.
No friends, no shopping, no good food, no New York, no cell phone
service and no Jeff. Maybe if I closed my eyes and wished hard
enough, I would be back home in my room.

Tap, tap, tap.

My dad was tapping on the window glass,
wanting me to get out of the car. I didn’t want to step out. It
would make my situation real if I did. Like I was submitting to the
fate they were leading me to. I could almost picture myself in the
backseat of a cab, off with Jane to some amazing place for dinner.
Our rules weren’t very firm at Will Lawson, my High School, and it
was amazing.

Many nights the girls and I went downtown for
dinner and shopping afterwards. Sometimes we went to a movie or an
actual show. The best times were when our parents were in town.
Cassidy’s dad took us to see a Broadway show a couple of times and
to Serendipity afterwards. Of course we loved it even more because
of the movie! New York was the best place for romance, in my
opinion, and I knew I would fall in love there. I could picture a
winter time romance when the snow is on the ground and romantic. If
only I could get back, out of this place.

But I came out of the clouds and I looked out
the window, at daddy’s anxious face. Nodding to myself, I opened
the door to my new home…..for the summer anyway.

Pleasantly surprised, I widened my eyes to
the house in front of me. It was a beautiful big cottage in the
woods. The outside walls were layered in large, round grey stones.
It was questionably two to three stories high with ivy crawling up
the sides. Only one window faced the rock driveway. It was tiny and
possibly had white lace curtains. The car and I faced a similar
stone wall along the outside patio. There was a door that led
inside, but the patio was large and full of outside plants. As I
walked up, I thought I heard water to my right but it was too dark
to see anything.

As I entered the patio thru the little gate,
I noticed the concrete floor was cracked and old. However, the
patio furniture was newer and looked very comfortable. There were
yellow and white striped cushions tied to white iron chairs.
Similar cushions were on the little ottomans in front of the
chairs. A cute little white iron table was between the chairs. A
book was laying on it with a bookmark keeping place the last page
read.

I was in awe. A little combination of the
stars, the cool breeze and that furniture, I could definitely see
myself out here. Not bad, I thought.

“Not bad out here, eh?”

“Yes.” I said turning to daddy beside me.
“Not bad at all.”

I giggled at him. Daddy certainly knew my
thoughts like they were written on my face. I walked thru the only
door and found myself in a rectangle sized outdoor sunroom. Wood
frame walls held a weatherproof plastic securely into place,
keeping out the hot weather and bugs. A little washer and dryer
were to my right as I walked in along with tiny steps leading to an
old white wood door. The rest of the room was loaded with things
such as a freezer and wood/mechanical stuff. The door leading into
the house stood in the middle of the wall to my right. It was
distinctly red, though time had faded the color terribly. Between
the two doors was a little rectangle sized window, looking over the
sunroom. The front door had 3 tiny steps leading to it just like
the other. At the end of the room was another door. I wondered
where it went.

“You can explore in the morning.” My dad
said, obviously noticing my staring. “Let’s get our things settled
and assess the situation. Maybe we can try to get some sleep soon.
I don’t know about you G., but I’m on New York time!”

He put his arm around me and led me to the
front door.

Mom was already inside putting her things
down. I could feel her taking survey of the house. I’m sure it
feels different being in the house you grew up in. I wondered if
things have changed since she’s been here.

We opened the door and walked into the
kitchen and dining room. Hmm? I’ve never entered the front door
into the kitchen before. I surveyed the room in front of me: the
kitchen was to my right and complete with an old iron stove,
refrigerator, dishwasher and some decent countertop space. Brown
linoleum ran widespread on the floors. Though the décor was old, it
made me feel as if we were in a cabin, a very outdated cabin. The
dining room was to my left and had red walls with red carpet. There
was a window on the far left wall, in the dining area. I giggled at
the feel of the room, it backwards! I felt as if I was on vacation,
like that time we went to Colorado. Yes, that was the way I should
think of my life right now. The thought helped, I began to think
this house wasn’t so bad. Maybe I could live here for a little
while.

I passed the dining room set for eight on my
way to the next room, which ended up being the biggest room of the
house, the living room. It was longer and wider than the first room
and had a tall ceiling. I ran my gaze along the high walls, I was
pretty impressed. The room was covered in dark wood paneling except
for the massive stone fireplace to the right side of the room.

Now this room had windows! Massive windows
ran from floor to ceiling. They were on two sides of the room that
faced outside. Double doors were on the far wall. To the right of
the doors, stairs led the way up, made a 180 degree turn and went
along the top of the double doors. A deer’s head was mounted above
the doors, on the railing.

“That’s your grandfather’s room.” Dad
whispered to me and pointed to the double doors. “The door you saw
outside, on the sun porch, leads out from his room.”

I shook my hand to indicate I understood. I
continued to observe the room while my dad went to get our bags.
The furniture was older; a brown couch with large flowers sat a
couple of feet in front of Grandpa’s room with a large wood coffee
table. A cute tan loveseat was sitting parallel to the couch with a
small matching nightstand. Two comfortable living chairs were on
opposite sides of the room ready to let you curl up in them and
read a good book. Cute little paintings of fruit hung from the
walls. And a microscopic TV was sitting beside the fireplace. Oh
my! Might as well push that poor TV into that fireplace and put it
out of its misery! I thought with a little laugh.

I spun with surprise to hear the large doors
swing inward. My grandfather emerged from the double doors and into
the living room. The couch was in front of him but it couldn’t hide
his massive height. His eyes scanned the room and fell directly
upon me as his smile widened.

An impressive seven feet tall, my grandfather
towered over everyone in the room. His bald head glowed from the
lights over the artwork in the room. He wore a blue and white plaid
button down shirt with tan pants and suspenders. His warm smile
filled the room with sunshine and his blue eyes were watering with
emotion. He held out his arms to me and I rushed to him, my blonde
hair bouncing behind me as I ran. I don’t know why I did this
except that I felt overwhelmed with emotion when he stretched his
arms out.

“My granddaughter.” He whispered and hugged
me tight.

“Dad, this is Regina. Regina this is my dad,
George Underwood” My mother’s voice called with laughter behind
us.

He smelled of wood, like a carpenter and Zest
soap. Those long arms were wrapped around me and picked me up. I
laughed at his exuberance. Age was deep in his face.

“Hello Regina. It’s nice to meet you.” He
said.

“It’s very nice to meet you too,
Grandpa.”

His face was old but handsome. Missing was
his hair and left pinky finger. I later learned he lost his finger
in a tractor accident when Grandpa was in his thirties. I loved his
sweet face and warm hands. His long arms and legs had to conform to
my smaller size, making him look like a giant. This didn’t seem
like the man my mother described.

“And I’m sure you remember Jack.” Mom said
louder. She was obviously a little upset about dad being
excluded.

Remember Jack? How could Grandpa remember dad
if they’d never met before? Didn’t daddy tell me he never met mom’s
parents or been to her hometown? My thoughts wondered for a moment.
My grandfather put me down and reached out to shake my father’s
hand. They exchanged kind words of condolences while my mother
pulled me aside.

“Go up the stairs and go straight till you
see a door. It’s small and I apologize for that but I hope you like
it.” She said with a twinkle in her eye.

My grandfather looked upset when he saw I was
leaving but mom gently explained that we had a long trip and I
wanted to get adjusted in my room first. The stairs were dark and
creaked with every step I took but they were amazingly sturdy.
Light was coming from above and I could see the second floor as I
made the turn on the stairs. There was a door at the end of the
stairway and you could see the living room from second story, it
was pretty cool. The second floor was open, no door, separation
walls or privacy. A king size bed with blue bedding was in the
middle of the room with two bureaus and a nightstand on each side.
I noticed there were only two windows in this large room. I moved
on to my room.

Thru the white wood door, my room was petite
with a white wrought iron, double sized bed with an intricate
Victorian inspired design. The bed filled the room and gave me just
enough space for the nightstand, desk, and a small armoire. There
was not enough room to walk, only maneuver. A cozy looking mattress
and yellow bedspread with white sheets called to me. I couldn’t
resist jumping into the bed and letting the softness take me away.
It was like floating on a cloud.

After my little moment, I sat up on my elbows
and surveyed the room. My dumb phone still didn’t have service so I
couldn’t call Jeff. The tiny window I saw earlier was the one I was
looking at now. I got up and opened the window shade. Sure enough,
I saw the patio below.

For a second time, I surveyed the size of the
room. Maybe this could work. My laptop would fit perfectly on the
desk, not that there was much room in the first place. The desk
would fit perfectly in front of the window, and I moved it with
ease. I opened the window to let the fresh air in. Thank goodness
the window had a screen, mom warned me about the bugs and
mosquitoes. I positioned my laptop in the right spot and put the
chair in. The desk was cute and the change made the room nice. The
desk and chair were painted white and made from iron like the
bed.

There was dust on the floor and probably in
the sheets. I shuddered at the thought of getting in them. Cobwebs
hung in the corners and from the armoire. I was too afraid to open
it. Perhaps I should come back to this one later.

But I had to hang up my clothes!

Turning around, I gave myself a good ole’ New
York City girl pep talk and opened the double doors to the armoire
before I changed my brave mind. It was empty but for a few dead
insects and cobwebs. Nothing I couldn’t handle. I found the drawers
underneath in the same condition. I breathed out a sigh of relief
and realized I couldn’t sleep in this room unless it was clean. But
the room had potential to be such a cozy place for me. Once I
painted and majorly cleaned, it could be something nice.

A knock was at my door and I heard dad’s
voice call out. He must have the rest of my things. I took two
steps to open the door.

“Hey Daddy!” I squealed when I opened the
door.

“Hey sweetie! Like your room?” He asked with
a grin.

My poor father. He tried to hide his surprise
but failed miserably. I started to feel bad. I guess I was giving
my parents too hard of a time about coming here and for a funeral
no less. It certainly wasn’t so bad. My dorm room was enormous
compared to this shoe box, but it would work for a little
while.

“Yes daddy, it’s pretty cool. A little small
but has potential.” I said.

I told myself to remember my dad’s face when
I wanted to open my mouth and complain about this place. Just
because the house wasn’t so bad doesn’t mean the rest of our stay
here would be.