by Judith Keim
“That’s what I have to help her figure out. She was just getting back into her schoolwork. Now I don’t know what will happen. I’m flying up to Boston as soon as I can.”
Rhonda rose and gave me a hug. “You go. Don’t worry about the hotel. I’ll help Bernie get settled in the house and his office. It’s more important for you to be with Liz at this time.”
I tried Vaughn again without success. I hung up and hurried home to pack warm clothes for the trip north.
I’d just slammed my suitcase shut when Vaughn called. Hearing his calm, steady, “Hello,” I burst into tears.
“What’s wrong, Ann?” His obvious concern caused more tears to flood my face. I steadied myself. “It’s Robert and Kandie. They were killed in an auto accident due to icy roads. Liz is now guardian of Robbie, and I need to fly to Boston to help her settle things.”
“My God! What a horrible thing! I’m really sorry to hear this. Is there anything you want me to do? Do you want me to fly to Boston to be with you?” Vaughn’s voice was full of compassion.
“Yes,...no,...oh, I don’t know. Until I get things sorted out, be there for me like you always are. I have no idea how long I’ll be there, but I’ll let you know. I can’t believe something like this has happened.” A sob caught in my throat.
“How’s Liz taking it?” he asked.
“She’s very shaken by the whole thing and overwhelmed by the idea of suddenly being responsible for a toddler. Before Christmas, Robert had her sign papers agreeing to that. Both Robert and Kandie wanted her to have him if anything happened to them.” I paused. “Liz wondered if Robert had any premonitions of something like this happening. I told her I didn’t think so, but I wonder too.”
“It’s hard to know for sure, Ann, but I personally doubt it. I think it’s an unexpected tragedy, a part of life,” Vaughn said, reassuring me. “And I’m truly sorry that it happened.”
“Thanks. I needed to hear that. I love you, Vaughn,” I said. “I’ll be in touch. I’ve got to go now or I’ll miss my plane.”
“Let me know if I can help. Love you too,” Vaughn said.
How lucky I am to have him in my life, I thought and picked up my suitcase.
CHAPTER THREE
Boston’s cold and rainy wind gusts jabbed at me as I stood shivering on a sidewalk outside Logan Airport. I hugged my winter coat closer to me as I waited for Liz to pick me up. Patches of snow and ice were still evident on the sides of the roads within the airport. I was so thankful I’d taken the chance over two years ago to leave Boston and move to Florida and The Beach House Hotel.
I braced myself for greeting Liz. She was hurting so much. At the thought of her taking on the care of Robbie, mixed feelings whirled inside me. I knew it wasn’t Robbie’s fault that his presence had caused me such pain, but I associated him with his obnoxious, young mother and the cruelties of my ex. Robert had used Robbie’s birth to brag to me about finding a new, younger woman to produce the boy he’d always wanted.
My teeth were chattering by the time Liz drove up in a van. Seeing me, she swerved over to the curb, got out of the car, and rushed into my arms, sobbing. I patted her back and stared into the face of the little boy looking at me through the backseat car window. Raindrops streamed down the outside of the window making it seem as if they were his tears.
My heart went out to him. Poor little guy, I thought, giving Liz a last squeeze before urging her toward the van. Drivers stuck in traffic behind her beeped their horns impatiently.
Inside the car, I turned to Robbie, who was staring at me curiously. “Hi, Robbie, I’m...” I stopped, not sure how to call myself.
“I’ve been calling you Grammy,” said Liz, giving me an apologetic look. “Wasn’t sure what else to do.”
I blinked in surprise, uncertain I was ready for such a title. True, my fortieth birthday had come and gone, but I didn’t think of myself as old enough to be a grandmother. I’d been a very young mother.
Liz chuckled. “It suits you fine, Mom.”
I brushed away my concern. After all, Rhonda was about to become both a mother and a grandmother in a matter of weeks. Turning back to Robbie, I smiled and said, “I’m Grammy.”
His serious expression softened. “Gammy.”
I smiled at him. Even with Robert’s features stamped on his face—a permanent reminder of all that had happened between us—Robbie was adorable.
“Mom? I’m so glad you’re here. I need you to help me with everything. There’s so much to do. I’ve set up a meeting with Dad’s lawyer for tomorrow morning. After I drop Robbie off to day care, we’ll go into Boston.”
“Where are we going now?” We were heading west into the suburbs.
“To Dad and Kandie’s house. They’d just moved into a rental. Dad’s business is all but gone. The staff was down to a secretary and himself.” Liz blinked back tears. “It’s all such a mess.”
I reached over and patted her shoulder. “We’ll get it all straightened out.”
We pulled up to a small, colonial-style home in a nice neighborhood. I couldn’t help comparing it to the large home Robert and I had shared for so many years—the same home he’d cheated me out of. Sadness filled me at all he’d lost because he’d been too egotistical to listen to the advice of others.
“Here we are,” Liz said, turning to Robbie with a smile. She got out of the car and lifted him out of the car seat.
“Mommy?” Robbie said.
Liz shook her head. “No, sweetie. Mommy isn’t here. It’s you and me and Gammy.”
My heart broke at the sight of tears rolling down his cheeks. I held out my arms to him. He shook his head and buried his face against Liz’s shoulder.
“He’ll get used to you, Mom,” said Liz.
“I know. I’ll give him time.”
Liz led me inside the house, and I took a look around. Kandie had refused any of the family furniture she’d been offered, opting instead to buy all new things. The modern furniture, jammed into a space much too small for it, didn’t suit the colonial style of the interior.
“Come into the kitchen,” said Liz. “Robbie’s play area is there.” She took off Robbie’s coat and hat, and I followed her. Dirty dishes were piled up everywhere. Used pots were sitting on the stove.
“Oh my! What happened?”
“I just haven’t had time to clean up.” Liz set Robbie down in a corner of the kitchen where a few toys were scattered. Straightening, she shook her head. “Kandie didn’t like housekeeping. I swear she didn’t do a thing to keep things nice. All she did was sit and watch television.”
“Why don’t I work on cleaning up the kitchen? It’ll give me a good chance to keep an eye on Robbie and get to know him a little.”
“Thanks, I’ll change the beds upstairs.” She paused. “Guess I’ll sleep in Dad and Kandie’s room and give you mine. As soon as I get things straightened upstairs, I’ll put Robbie down for a nap and then we can talk.”
“Fine,” I said, appreciating Liz’s sensitivity about the bedrooms.
After I stacked dishes in the dishwasher, I scrubbed countertops and then attacked the stove. It, like the rest of the kitchen, had been sorely neglected. I remembered how fussy Robert had been about having everything tidy in our house and wondered how he could have lived like this.
As I worked, I kept an eye on Robbie. He seemed quite content to sit and play with his blocks and a musical toy. There was something endearing about seeing him like that. I set aside my work and sat down beside him on the rug.
“Hi, there!”
Robbie studied me. “Gammy?”
“Yes, that’s me. And you are Robbie. Can you say your name?”
“Wobbie. Obo Wob.”
Liz walked in at that moment. I gazed up at her. “What’s he saying?
She smiled. “Dad and I sometimes called him Robo-Rob—wind him up and let him go. It used to drive Kandie crazy.” Tears leaked from her eyes. “I can’t believe all this, Mom.” She glanced at Robbie.
“What am I going to do?”
I stood. “Let’s talk after Robo-Rob goes down for a nap.”
Liz picked up Robbie. “Okay, up you go.”
As she left the room, Robbie stared over her shoulder at me.
I gave him a little wave. Then I searched for a paper and pen. Liz and I had a lot to talk about.
###
That night, after Robbie had gone to bed, Liz brought out a red, expandable-wallet, file holder.
“We have to go through this,” she said sadly. “When I signed the documents for him, Dad told me about this. Inside are legal documents and other papers we should know about.”
She handed me the huge file holder. “First, I’m going to pour us another glass of wine. We’re going to need it.”
I sat on the couch in the living room and waited for Liz to return.
She handed me a glass of the red wine we’d sipped at dinner and took a seat beside me. She gazed at me and let out a long sigh. “This is so weird.”
“I would never have expected anything like this,” I said, still shocked by all that had happened.
Liz opened the file and pulled out copies of both Robert’s and Kandie’s wills and some other papers. “See? Here is the agreement about my becoming Robbie’s guardian. I see that Jack Henderson is executor of the will.”
I studied the agreement. It seemed very clear.
“Mom? Dad told me if he could have chosen the perfect person to raise Robbie, it would be you. He said that if I had difficulty with him, I should come to you. Wasn’t that sweet of him?”
I got up and left the room without answering her. In the small powder room off the front hall, I grabbed a tissue and let my tears flow. The man Robert had become in the last couple of years was someone I didn’t even like. He’d made me seem so unlovable when he left me for Kandie, and then he’d railed at me in anger when I succeeded in business and he didn’t. To think he’d trust his precious son to me in any way touched my heart.
Liz knocked on the door. “Mom? Are you all right?”
“I’ll be right out. I just needed a few minutes to myself.”
I emerged and Liz hugged me. “I don’t think Dad ever really loved Kandie. Not after their crazy affair was over. I wish he’d never left you.”
I lifted a hand in protest. “Let’s not go there. As difficult as the divorce was to go through, I’m happier now than I’ve ever been. Vaughn and Rhonda and the hotel are my life now. And you, of course.”
“And Robbie?” she asked.
I hesitated, and then said, “And Robbie. I’ll do whatever I can to help you and him, Liz.”
“Good, because it’s almost spring break, and I want to take Robbie down to Florida and leave him with you until I finish the semester. Then I’ll have just one more year of school to complete for a degree. Maybe I’ll do what Angie is doing and enroll in some online courses.”
“Liz...”
“Don’t say a word. Just think about it. In the meantime, I’ve got to look into getting out of the lease on this house.”
“No, Liz. If Jack Henderson is executor of the will, he will take care of it and everything else. But I think it’s a good idea for us to know the state of things, so we can be sure Jack is doing his job and doesn’t miss anything. What about bills? Did your father have a file for those?”
Liz led me into a small den. A laptop computer was set up on a desk. Beside the desk was a metal file cabinet. The only other thing in the room was a comfortable leather chair I recognized from the company office we’d shared.
“You start there in the file cabinet,” said Liz. “I’ll continue going through other stuff.”
Looking through the metal cabinet, I found files for various household expenses—electricity, water, and the like. It felt strange going through papers that once might have related to me but now related to Robert’s life with Kandie.
Liz brought me a file for a credit card. “Wow! Dad owes a lot of money on this.”
“What about your father’s life insurance? Is there anything in the files about that?”
Liz nodded. “He had a large policy, but I don’t think he’d been paying the premiums. He mentioned something about that.”
Silent, I shook my head. What had happened to Robert’s common sense? Had things been so bad he couldn’t even take care of fixed expenses? I looked around at the furniture. It was expensive. Maybe Jack could get enough money from selling it to take care of some of the debt.
###
Jack Henderson was the lawyer who’d handled the divorce for Robert. After all the tricks he’d tried to pull on me, I detested the man. Nevertheless, I sat quietly beside Liz in his office as we awaited his arrival.
Jack entered the room and smiled at me. “Ann, nice to see you again, although I wish the circumstances were different.”
I didn’t respond, merely nodded.
“And, Elizabeth,” Jack continued. “I’m so sorry about your father and stepmother. Let’s see what we can do to make things easier for all concerned.” He turned back to me. “We’ll put the past behind us and cooperate.”
“Of course,” I said politely. But I’d keep a careful eye on him.
By the time we left his office, we had agreed on most things. As Liz had asked, I would help care for Robbie while she finished school. And his living in Florida with me would be no problem. Liz would also take over Kandie’s car, so she would be able to transport Robbie. Jack would deal with the lease on the house and contact the credit card company. As executor, he would handle settling the estate, which we all agreed was in a sad state. He would go ahead and sell what furniture and other possessions he could to help pay off debt.
Outside Jack’s office, Liz turned to me. “I’m so glad you’re here, Mom. Like Mr. Henderson says, you really are a good businesswoman.”
“Be careful around people like him,” I said. “He’s a chameleon. I don’t know why your father entrusted everything to him. But we’ll keep an eye on him to make sure everything is taken care of.”
Even as I reassured Liz, I hid my worries. With all the work at the hotel and now helping with Robbie, I was going to be more than busy—all at a time when Rhonda would be out of the office for a while.
We were heading back home when Rhonda called. “Annie? I’ve tried to reach you several times. Is everything okay?”
“Liz and I are working out a few things. We just met with Jack Henderson, Robert’s lawyer.”
“Jack Henderson? Isn’t he the asshole who tried to screw ya out of money?” Rhonda said. “How can you trust him?”
“I have to. He’s the one handling Robert’s estate, what little there is of it.”
“Oh my God, Annie! Whaddya mean?”
“He left a lot of debt behind. And the life insurance policy he had has lapsed because of lack of payment. Apparently, he hadn’t been paying on that for a long time. God knows why.”
“And his little boy? And Liz? How are they doing?”
I waited until Liz had walked ahead to get into the car before answering Rhonda. “Robbie is going to be living with me for a while. Liz wants to finish school, and you know how important that is to me. I never got my degree, and I want her to get hers.”
“Oh, Annie. How are you gonna manage him and the hotel with me bein’ out for a while with the baby? Though Bernie is about to start the job, he needs to understand we still run the hotel.”
“That, my dear friend, is something we’re all going to have to work on. Right now, Gammy has to fill in for Liz and his parents.”
“Gammy? Oh, that’s adorable, Annie,” gushed Rhonda.
Adorable? More like exhausting, I thought. Now that he was getting used to me, Robbie was beginning to act like any other two-year-old.
CHAPTER FOUR
Over the next few days, I took over the care of Robbie. As he became more comfortable with me, he turned into a whiny, difficult child who’d apparently never been disciplined. The words “no-no” had little effect.
<
br /> While I babysat him, Liz went to a couple of her classes, so she could take important tests before spring break. In going through things in the house, she’d discovered Kandie’s only things of value were the items of jewelry Robert had bought her. Liz wanted none of it.
As Jack had asked, I called an estate sales expert to come in and look at the furniture. The woman in charge agreed to handle the estate sale through her monthly auction. I called Jack to let him know that all of that could be done after we left for Florida and then gave him the woman’s contact information.
Liz went to the DMV to transfer ownership of Kandie’s van to herself. She hoped to sell it later for something smaller and more suitable to Florida. We sorted through personal, family papers and photographs and loaded the ones Liz wanted to keep into boxes.
I talked to Rhonda every day. Though she didn’t come right out and say it, she needed me back there to handle Bernie. After she reported that Bernie and Jean-Luc had had a screaming match, I knew I couldn’t wait any longer to go back home.
Liz and I packed up some of Robbie’s special toys, clothes, and blankets and prepared to leave for Florida.
###
On the plane, Robbie sat between Liz and me. We’d arranged an afternoon flight to try to coincide with his naptime, but he was too excited by all that was going on around him to settle down. Finally, after going through a bout of crying that irritated everyone around us, he fell asleep.
“He can be so awful,” murmured Liz.
“Remember all he’s going through,” I said. “He’s spoiled for sure, but it’s going to take him a while to get used to new rules and all the many changes taking place in his life. In the meantime, he’s going to need a lot of love, even when you don’t feel like giving it to him.”
She gave me a quizzical look. “Was I ever this bad?”
I chuckled. “No, but you’d been taught ‘no’ meant ‘NO’.”
“Yeah,” said Liz. “Kandie let him get away with murder. I don’t think she really cared about him. She didn’t give him much attention at all.”
My heart clenched. Being a parent was the hardest job around, but all children needed to know they are loved. Though his tantrums were hard to take, I made a silent vow to help Robbie.
