The Tea Series

by Sheila Horgan

  The big conference room is large. Not Jovana’s ballroom large, but definitely big enough to make you wonder if maybe Roland is overcompensating for something. There are a number of different lighting options. They can set it from dark — the setting used most often when the big screen at one end of the room is used so that the company can project images from a sophisticated system hidden behind dark wood at the opposite end of the room — to sunshine bright.

  Roland hit a hidden button at the head of the table, and monitors flipped up from beautifully intricate inlaid wood patterns that hid the screens when they were down. There were no cords or any other indicator. Whoever had designed the table had done a spectacular job.

  Roland invited us to sit at the table. With the monitors about a foot and a half in front of us, he explained that the monitors swiveled, the chairs were adjustable in every conceivable way, and the lighting could be adjusted to a subdued but brighter level. There were also wireless keyboards available in little drawers between the seating area, and other devices and office items as needed.

  Roland brightened the room fully, explaining that the entire space was wired for sound so that each individual could be easily heard without requiring a microphone, even in the case of a videoconference or deposition.

  Truth was probably that we were being recorded right that moment, but I didn’t bring that up.

  I wasn’t sure if he was stalling, but it felt like stalling to me.

  A support person came in and asked if we would like something to drink.

  Again.

  They were making me nervous.

  “Okay, Cara, this is what we know, what we think we know, and what we think it means.”

  “Roland, I’m not comfortable with any of this. I’m not sure I’m supposed to know this much about Adeline’s personal life. I’m not even sure she would want you to include me in anything this personal. Think about what happened when she found out Gaston was mucking around in her personal life. He almost lost — well, he could have lost — a lot more than his job. Why don’t we just tell Adeline what is going on and let her decide how she wants to handle it?”

  “I am, or rather I will. Cara, you are my practice run.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “When everything went south for the girls in Las Vegas, all three of them said, repeatedly, that you would have handled things so differently. That if we didn’t know what Adeline would want us to do, that we should talk to you.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “Well, at the time, you were indisposed. Remember, everything kind of fell apart in Las Vegas about the time that Barry tried to take everything apart here. The girls came rushing back. Then there was Carolyn’s granddaughter…”

  “Suzi.”

  “Thank you. Then Suzi needed their care. I was busy tracking Barry.”

  Teagan couldn’t let it go. “Yeah, about that, why is it that your guys let Barry run around in the neighborhood, with Cara barely able to function?”

  “I wasn’t that bad.”

  “Yes, you were. Cara could barely walk. My dad was running around trying to keep everyone supplied with everything they needed, and my mom was trying to will Cara back to full strength. Why is it that your guys weren’t a little more — what’s the word I’m looking for? — why weren’t your guys a little more proactive?”

  My heart all but skipped a beat when Teagan was looking for a word; her words can be painful. She pulled it back up into the world of the civil. That was good.

  “Ms. O’Flynn.”

  “Teagan, please.”

  “Thank you. Teagan, we were very aware of Barry. Had the neighbor not called the police, a call would have been made. We were approaching him in a very specific way. We wanted to make sure that we had the evidence we needed to ensure there would be no long trial. That was Adeline’s main concern. After she was reassured by several of the specialists that had been in to see Cara, she decided that the next best thing to Barry ceasing to exist — which I cannot condone aloud, no matter how much I would like to — Adeline determined that Cara should not have to endure a trial. The trial process can drag on for months, years, and she did not want Cara to have to relive the ordeal each time there was another measured step in the process. Out of respect for her friend Carolyn, Suzi’s grandmother, she also wanted to save Suzi from that ordeal.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “Adeline was very instrumental in the plan that ensures Barry will be in prison for an extended period of time and that he has no chance at manipulating the court system. Creating a plan and implementing it takes a bit of time, and when you are going for a completely covert operation, it takes a little more effort.”

  “Well, I appreciate that, Roland. When I was at my parents’ house, I was very concerned for their well-being. I would have liked to know that there was someone out there watching their backs, but I appreciate all that was done for me.”

  “We had very specific reasons for doing what we did. I can explain them if you would like.”

  “That isn’t necessary. I’ve thought it was strange that Barry just pretty much gave up. One minute he’s ranting about injustice and how I need to be punished — at least that is what they told me — and the next minute he completely changes course and doesn’t even want a trial.”

  “There are things in his background that he would prefer stay historical. If he were to go to court, there is a good chance some, if not all, of those things would come out.”

  “Well, if he hurt someone else, then I think that person should decide if they want to keep it a secret.”

  “All of that has been addressed and taken care of.”

  “Okay. I’ll trust you on that.” I looked him straight in the eye. “At least for now. I don’t want to get sidetracked and forget why we’re here. All that was done to me and for me is history. I want to know what is in the future. So, what are we doing with Adeline?”

  “As you are aware, when the girls were in Vegas, Gaston had them followed.”

  “Right. Adeline was hot.”

  “Yes, I’m aware of that, and we would have taken care of Gaston. You see it wasn’t Gaston who initiated that service, although he agreed it would be best if he took responsibility publicly. If Adeline were aware that the security team was responsible, not an overzealous lawyer, she might have been much more upset.”

  Teagan is all about transparency. “I might be new to all of this, and I don’t know the people as well as the two of you, but I have to say that if I found out I was being lied to and manipulated and treated with this level of disrespect, you’d all be looking for new jobs. At the very least.”

  “I agree with my sister. I don’t think this sounds right. You don’t hide what you are proud of.”

  “Cara, Teagan, to be very blunt, I really don’t care if this costs me my job. I dropped the ball last time. When Adeline was so sick, I didn’t pay any attention at all, and because of that, we almost lost her. This time, I’m not only going to be proactive. I’m going to be rather assertive about it. If you choose not to be party to it, I fully understand, but first let me give you the facts so you can make an informed decision. One based on logic, not emotion.”

  Teagan didn’t let him have it.

  I was impressed.

  The whole logic-versus-emotion-just-because-you-are-female is one of her buttons.

  One of her big buttons.

  Then Roland surprised both of us. “I will admit, I’ve been running on emotion for a large part of this. I like Adeline. She’s been good to me. My whole company has grown from a two-person operation to what you see now based on services provided for Adeline and her generous support through testimonials and connections. All she’s done for me, and I dropped the ball.” He ran his hand through his hair while shaking his head. He was visibly upset. I’ve never seen Roland like that before.

  It’s a good thing that Teagan didn’t jump on the emotion-versus-logic thing since Roland was talking about hi
mself, not females.

  The next thirty-seven minutes were spent watching a multimedia presentation that was created for Adeline’s benefit.

  I tried to put myself in her shoes.

  Not easy since most of this is about her adult kids and I don’t have adult kids. I also don’t have the same kind of dysfunction. If an O’Flynn goes off the rails, it isn’t going to be in the same direction as Adeline’s family. It’s going to be someone in the family trying too hard to help someone else in the family and stepping on toes. It isn’t going to be someone in the family trying to take advantage of their parent.

  Some people would say that is because my parents don’t have anything worth stealing.

  Some people are idiots.

  They just don’t get it.

  Money doesn’t change who you are. If you’re a jerk, with big money you will be a big jerk. If you are a giving person, money will allow you to be more giving. If you are bad with a little bit of money, you will be bad with a lot of money. Your life skills don’t change with how many zeroes are following the basic numbers in your checking account.

  Money changes the playing field — from a dirt field to a well-manicured lawn — but it doesn’t change the game.

  When all was said and done, I told Roland that while I thought his plan had merit, I didn’t think I could or should get the girls to go on the trip covertly. I thought that Adeline had the right to have the information presented to her and to make her own decisions.

  I told Teagan that it was time to go.

  Then I flexed my backbone for the first time in a long time. That’s the way grandma would phrase it anyway. “Roland, if you haven’t explained all of this to Adeline in twenty-four hours, I will.”

  He started to object, took one look at my face, and stopped.

  The first step back to me being me, and I didn’t fall down.

  TWO

  “SAW THE PERFECT thing for baby showers. Or maybe a christening thing. Kind of depends.”

  Serves me right for not checking the caller ID. Teagan in the morning is an acquired taste.

  “Good morning. Do I have to guess, or are you just going to tell me?”

  “Sorry. Too much coffee.”

  “Since when do you drink coffee?”

  “It’s a figure of speech.”

  “No, it isn’t.”

  “Cara, do you want to hear about this or not?”

  “I’d love to. You just woke me up at — what time is it? Teagan, it is five in the morning.”

  “Yep, I’m up early. Figured since you and A.J. have both mentioned you miss me, I’d give you a call and see if it’s really true.”

  “What are you smoking?”

  “Nothing, but I did read online that they decided that if you have Crohn’s or IBS, smoking a joint will definitely help.”

  “If it’s online, it must be true. Besides, I didn’t know you have stomach problems.”

  “I don’t.”

  “Then why are you smoking a joint?”

  “I’m not.”

  “Teagan, I’m going to get up, go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, put on the kettle, and call you back. Give me three minutes.”

  “I’m going to call back in four minutes if you don’t call me, because you’ll probably just roll over and go back to sleep.”

  “I’ll call you back.”

  “Don’t turn off your phone, Cara.”

  “I won’t turn off my phone!”

  An early-morning needy phone call from Teagan. This cannot be good.

  I told A.J. to go back to sleep.

  I’m pretty sure I heard him snoring while I was still in the bathroom. He has a head cold and isn’t happy about it.

  With the kettle on, I hit the button to call Teagan and pulled out a kitchen chair to sit down.

  “Hi, that was quick.”

  “I try to be a good sister. What’s up with you? You sound, I don’t know, you sound over the top. It’s a theme in my life lately.”

  “I’m happy.”

  “Well, that would be why I didn’t recognize it. You haven’t been happy in a while.”

  “I know. Jessie and I talked all night. I mean all night. He called at about eight thirty last night, and I just hung up the phone.”

  “Wow, hope you have unlimited minutes.”

  “Shut up, dingleberry. Guess what.”

  “Really? You’re going to make me guess this early in the morning?”

  “Yep.”

  “You are happy, so my guess is that he has decided to find a job where he doesn’t have to travel.”

  “Close. He is going to try to cut back on travel.”

  “That’s good.”

  “That’s not all. We are officially moving in together. Gonna find a place that is new to both of us.”

  “I thought he owned a house or something.”

  “A condo, but it doesn’t have any closet space, and he really doesn’t like living there. It’s more for the just-out-of-college-I’m-a-professional-now-gotta-invest-in-something crowd.”

  “So, where you gonna live?”

  “TBD.”

  “Huh?”

  “To be determined.”

  “But you will be local, right?”

  “Yep.”

  “I can understand your happiness, if not your need to call me this early in the morning to share.”

  “There’s more.”

  For some reason — I’m not quite sure why — I stood up.

  Maybe it was the kettle boiling and about to whistle.

  I prefer to think I’m a little bit psychic.

  “Jessie and I are going to get married.”

  I didn’t drop the phone.

  I might have jumped around the kitchen for a little bit.

  “Yes! Oh. My. God. I can’t believe you are engaged.”

  “Well, not officially. We decided that we are getting married, but we also decided that we want to do things right. He is waiting until Mom and Dad get home from Ireland, and then he is going to go over and talk to them.”

  “He’s going to ask for your hand. I love that.”

  “And the rest of me too.”

  “I’m so happy for you, Teagan.”

  I didn’t say that I was also a little concerned. Wasn’t she just talking about walking away from him because she didn’t like the lifestyle that they had with him traveling all the time? He is going to try to cut back. What does that mean? How much is cut back, and can Teagan live with cut back? What about when they have kids? Is she going to be happy that her husband is on the road the whole time she’s pregnant, and what if he misses the birth?

  Getting a little ahead of myself, but these are all questions that should be asked.

  Don’t they have a book of about a million questions you’re supposed to ask your future spouse before you get married? Just to make sure that you’re on the same page.

  Book.

  Page.

  It’s early. Puns are a problem when it is early.

  “So I’m guessing this is one more thing that we aren’t talking about until Mom and Daddy get home?”

  “True. But you and I can talk about it.”

  “Do you have a date picked out?”

  “Not really.”

  “Are we talking sooner or later?”

  “I don’t want anything outrageous. I want a nice wedding in a pretty spot, and I only want the people we love who love us back to be in attendance. I’m not doing the whole thing where you invite business associates once removed.”

  “And Jessie agrees?”

  “He said anything I want.”

  “Guys always say that, but the truth is, planning a wedding is a really stressful time.”

  “I know. We drove cross-country and didn’t have any problems. They say that kind of trip is a big relationship tester. Moving will be too.”

  “They have books out that list all kinds of questions you’re supposed to answer and then talk about. How you are going to raise
kids. How you are going to pay bills. Stuff like that. Would you guys be interested in doing something like that?”

  “Yes. We already decided that we are going to do couples counseling before we get married. Cara, I’m in this for the rest of my life. If Jessie and I are going to get married, we are going to do it for life. If we can’t do it for life, then it is better to know now. Bring on every question you can think of and every book you can find. If we are not right, I want to know now.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “But you know what? I think we really are right. We both want this. We are willing to work at it. We both understand that marriage isn’t the fantasy that modern people build it up to be and then divorce when it turns out to be something different. I love him, and I want to share my life with him. I think we can make it work.”

  “Me too.”

  “I know what you’re thinking.”

  “Do I get to be a bridesmaid?”

  “No, you’re thinking that I was just going to break up with Jessie and now I’m marrying him and those two things seem a little counter-intuitive.”

  “So, I’m not going to be a bridesmaid.”

  “I know you’re looking out for me, and I appreciate it, but we’ll talk about it, and you will see what’s going on. You free today? Please say you’re free today.”

  “I have about an hour of work to do this morning. We are setting up an online thing for Adeline’s new project. She is so amazing. We found a special group she wants to help. Adeline is very much into the whole fish thing, so we have some work to do.”

  “Fish thing?”

  “Feed a man a fish, teach a man to fish.”

  “Oh, Cara-shorthand, got it.”

  “How can you be an O’Flynn and not know what I meant? You’re losing your O’Flynn edge.”

  “True. So, want to meet somewhere in about an hour and a half? We could meet at the bakery.”

  “You could come here.”

  “Why would I want to go there? A.J. will be up. He won’t really want me there, Cara. He’s seen enough of me lately.”

  “Number one, he wouldn’t mind you being here. He loves you. Thinks you’re nuts, but loves you just the same. Besides, he will not be here by then. He has a bunch of work to do with Morgan. They are meeting for breakfast really early, then they’re working, and then they are going to do it all again tomorrow. A.J. is so tired. Anyway, tomorrow after Morgan and A.J. meet with some people from Old Town they are coming back here, and Liam and Jordan are going to come over, and we are going to eat. You want to join us?”