The Tea Series

by Sheila Horgan

  Throughout the morning she tried to be interested and even attempted conversation every now and then, but mostly we listened to music, or she pretended to be asleep.

  I think we were in Louisiana when we crossed this really long bridge or causeway or whatever you call them.

  As I have admitted openly since I started driving, I’m spatially and geographically challenged. Teagan can tell you to turn right in a mile and a half. I tell you that I think there is some kind of fast food place on the corner, turn there, if you get to the nail place, make a u-turn. It could be a mile. It could be six. When God invented the GPS, he had me in mind. Or at least people like me.

  The causeway was long. Miles and miles. Everything was going rather smoothly. People were being polite, at least for the most part.

  The trucks were staying on their side.

  That’s one thing that drives me crazy about truck drivers in Florida. When it rains — and in Florida when it rains it can rain several inches in one hour, so you know it comes down so hard that you can’t see anything — the trucks move over into the fast lane and drown you when you are just trying to keep your car floating in the right direction.

  There should be a law about drowning your fellow driver, and it should be enforced.

  Even before I sounded like a ninety-year-old nun, I felt that way, so it has nothing to do with my current state of crankiness.

  On the current road, each direction of traffic has their own bridge thingy, so I wasn’t really paying a lot of attention to the drivers going the other way.

  You have to watch that in Florida.

  More than once I’ve been driving on my side of the highway, with a huge grassy median between me and the traffic going the other way, when all of a sudden somebody comes flying across.

  Once a car rolled about six times and landed right in front of me. If I hadn’t seen them coming, I would have T-boned their already destroyed car.

  It would have been really bad.

  I know my mom would smack me for thinking about all this while driving a rental car in an area I’m not familiar with. Just asking for the cosmos to teach me a lesson. But I’m not overly worried.

  The bridge-causeway-road was beautiful. Teagan was snapping pictures. She was finally starting to brighten up a little.

  There were treetops to look at, swampy surroundings to feed the imagination, and a beautiful blue sky. There were even some areas where you could still see damage from a hurricane a while back. I’m sure it devastated the area. Not sure which hurricane got the trees. Maybe it was more than one. I don’t think the term devastatingly beautiful is appropriate, more like beautiful devastation, but it sure was pretty.

  Then it dawned on me that there was no traffic going the other way.

  I took my foot off the gas, I have no idea why, but it’s a good thing because that extra tenth of a second or whatever it was probably saved us from a whole lot of paperwork at the car rental place.

  Turns out that on the other side, a semitruck hit another semitruck, and they both burst into flames.

  That caused a mess over on their side, but on our side, people were slamming on brakes and freaking out, and although nobody came in contact, it was close. Really close. When I came to a stop, there were more cars in our lane than there were lanes for our cars. On a two-lane road, there was me, a red sports car, and a minivan full of little kids, squished into the two lanes. In front of us, there were even closer calls. But nobody hit. A minor miracle.

  Teagan didn’t even try to pretend to sleep after that.

  I took a moment to send up a little thank you prayer for us and one for the people on the other side of the bridge thingy. I really hope they got out before everything blew up.

  Everything was calm after that.

  I think we were just entering Texas when we saw a sign for alligator dinners. Weird.

  I’ve lived in alligator territory my whole life, and I’ve never felt the need to eat one.

  We got caught up in traffic in the Houston area. Kept going right through Austin, off the main highway, and onto smaller roads. They were really well maintained, though. Kind of surprised me.

  We found a little mom-and-pop hotel on the side of the road. It was stuck in the fifties, as was the owner, a really nice lady who found a way to put “y’all” or “all y’all” in every sentence.

  We got our stuff in the room, found a local diner to have dinner, and wandered around the streets of the town for a little while.

  But Teagan didn’t seem like she was all that interested, so I suggested we go back to the room.

  “I wonder how those people in the trucks are. We should see if we can find anything in the news.”

  “I can do that. You sure you want to know? You seemed upset enough without adding to it.”

  “I told you, Cara, I’m fine.”

  “Okay, I won’t say anything else. Do you know what time the jewelry store opens tomorrow?”

  “I have an appointment.”

  “What time?”

  “At ten.”

  “Okay, I lied. I’m going to say something more. For someone going to pick out her wedding ring, you really don’t seem very happy.”

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Guess I’ve just finally started to relax, and I’m past lethargic all the way to… I’m not even sure what comes after that. It’s been a long few weeks.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “Sorry. I know you have had more stuff going on than I have, but between Sinead and Maeve and getting engaged and everything, I’m just kind of wiped out.”

  “Getting engaged is a good thing, right? You would think that would energize you.”

  She kind of snapped at me. “It will, once I can talk about it. Once I’m not spending all my time and energy trying to keep it all tamped down.”

  “Okay, sorry. Listen, I’m going to go for a walk and call A.J. You want anything from the convenience store?”

  “Yeah, could you grab me a soda and see if they have any of those cinnamon rolls you like?”

  “I can do that. Be back in a few.”

  When I got back to the room it was obvious that Teagan had been crying. Not because she was all puffy and snot-nosed like I would be — she doesn’t really do that. It was because she had washed off all her makeup. Teagan usually doesn’t do that until twelve seconds before she goes to sleep. Just in case there is an emergency of monumental proportions, she wouldn’t want to get stuck on the news with a naked face.

  I was good.

  I kept my mouth shut.

  I handed her an ice-cold Pepsi and a semi-warm cinnamon roll. The convenience store had a microwave, and the guy was nice enough to throw the cinnamon rolls in there for me.

  We ate in silence while she flipped channels and I tried to find news about the truck accident on my phone.

  Mostly because if anyone was hurt, or worse, I wanted to know about it before she caught it on the news. If I could keep it from her, I would. She’s in that kind of mood.

  We played cards, but Teagan lost, and it annoyed her.

  We played dice, but then Teagan lost, and she got that look on her face that told me to back away quietly, not hold eye contact, and make sure not to turn my back.

  I took my shower, got in bed, and read until I fell asleep

  Next morning Teagan, I’m not sure how to phrase it other than to say, she was determined. She was determined to get her outfit right. Her hair was perfect. Her makeup never better.

  She sat there determinedly eating her breakfast at a little diner that the hotel owner suggested. I’ve never had fluffier scrambled eggs. The 437-year-old cook told me that the secret was water. He added more than most people. A real generous amount. He also cooked his eggs in a saucepan and let them cook for a while before he disturbed them so that the steam from all the water would fluff ‘em out and the curds were a respectable size.

  I’m gonna try it as soon as I get home.

  Best eggs I’ve ever had
.

  Teagan and I had switched roles for the morning. I had the scrambled eggs, some bacon, most of Teagan’s ham steak, and some French toast.

  Teagan had a cup of tea, three bites of her ham steak, and one triangle of toast.

  We got to the jewelry store exactly three minutes early. Thanks to our little tiny GPS woman, we didn’t even get lost.

  It’s a tiny little store. I never would have gone in had I been driving by. It’s amazing what you can find on the Internet.

  As we pulled up out in front, I decided to smack Teagan around a little. It’s a sister thing. It couldn’t be helped.

  “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

  “God bless it, Cara, there is nothing wrong.”

  “Teagan, I know you better than anyone knows you, and I know you’re upset about something. Why don’t you just tell me what it is so I can fix it? And then we can go in and find you the perfect ring, and you and Jessie can start your happily every after.”

  “Let’s just go home.”

  “What?”

  “Cara, I don’t want to do this.”

  “What do you mean? We came all this way.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I just don’t want to do this right now.”

  “You know what, Teagan? The old Cara would just say fine, turn the car around, and drive home. That’s not what the new Cara is going to do. You don’t have to buy a damn ring if you don’t want it, but at least go inside and see if the rings are the quality you want. If you like them, you can always come back later or just order online.”

  “But I can never look the first time again. I just want to go home.”

  “No! You dragged me all the way to Texas; we’re gonna look at rings.”

  Boy, she was mad.

  Slammed the car door.

  Almost broke a nail.

  Stomped all the way to the door of the jewelry store.

  Slammed that door open.

  Ran smack into Jessie’s chest.

  The look on her face was great.

  She went straight to the ugly cry. A very non-Teagan thing to do.

  “I thought you didn’t care about where I got the ring.”

  “I don’t. I care about you. Cara called and said that maybe it was important for me to be here. Important for you. So I’m here.”

  I gave her a hug. “I’ll see you later.”

  “You don’t have to go.”

  “Yes, I do. You love me, I get that, I love you too, but you don’t look for a wedding ring with your sister. Not even if your sister is perfect in every way, like me.”

  “I do love you. Thank you.”

  There are few things more beautiful than a bliss-filled Teagan.

  Made me smile all the way back to the car and then some.

  Teagan was in a much better mood on the way home.

  She didn’t volunteer any information about the ring, and I am proud to note that I didn’t ask.

  Much. At first.

  We stopped at the Tex-Mex she had wanted to try.

  Oh. My. God.

  You know I am not a food person.

  I eat pretty much the same three things no matter where I go, and none of those things were on the menu.

  I’m glad that we had a hotel across the parking lot because although I’ve never been drunk. Even when A.J. gave me that really good screwdriver when I messed up my ankle, and I drank the whole screwdriver, and I fell asleep, I was not drunk. At the Tex-Mex place I was a little tipsy. Not really obnoxious or anything. More like I thought everything was funny.

  Frozen margaritas.

  Never had one before.

  I will be having one again.

  One was enough. Especially since I’m not a drinker, but I gotta say, that drink actually tasted good.

  Then there were tortilla chips, which we added about a ton of extra salt to. Which made me slurp the margarita even more.

  Teagan ordered some seafood platter thing, and I had a side of chicken fajita meat. It was so good. Their butter sauce was all foamy, and there were fresh tortillas that were so good.

  I ate more than I’ve ever eaten.

  I drank more than I ever have before.

  We walked back to the hotel, went up to our room, talked for hours and hours about nothing and everything and being an O’Flynn and getting married and having kids and how much we appreciated the way that Mom forced us to like each other.

  I slept better than I’ve slept in forever.

  I checked in with A.J. again first thing in the morning. His meetings are all going really well. They’ve scheduled several additional meetings, which means there’s a chance I’ll beat him home.

  I wonder how Liam is doing with Jordan. Single parenthood is difficult even if you aren’t really single and it’s only for a short time. They haven’t been together all that long. If I get home first, I’ll have to remember to check in with him and see if he needs a break.

  After I was up walking around for a while, it dawned on me that I don’t have a headache or anything, which actually makes sense. How dehydrated can your brain get from most of one drink? Isn’t that what causes you to get a headache the morning after you’ve been out drinking? Thinking I’d get a headache from one drink is stupid. Still, that was a lot to drink for me personally, so I’m glad we walked.

  While Teagan and I were driving home, I got a few details about the ring from her.

  I’m not sure I can describe it as well as she did.

  She’s so excited.

  She actually drew a sketch. I’m not good at things like that.

  Anyway, the stones are yellow, fancy diamonds. I guess there is some kind of rating from the middle of the alphabet to Z and beyond. She went on and on about it, but the only thing I really absorbed is that her yellow will be intense. She is getting three stones. A cushion cut, pear-shaped, and a princess.

  Somewhere along the line someone told Jessie that anything less than a carat just won’t do. I don’t get it, but then it isn’t my ring.

  When I get married my ring is going to be the thinnest gold band that I can find. I love that look. It looks fragile and strong and classic and modern. All the things a marriage of mine should be. Well, I don’t want my marriage to be fragile; I just want to remember that relationships are fragile and I need to take care of mine.

  Back to Teagan’s ring. The engagement part of it will be the cushion cut and the princess cut, and the wedding ring will have the pear-shaped diamond.

  First, picture in your mind three different rings. They all have split shafts. That’s where the ring is solid on the palm side of your hand, but then as it wraps around to the part that holds the stone, it splits into two parts so that it can wrap around the stone, which is called a halo. I guess there is micropave, which is tiny little diamonds all set into the band. Then there is pave, which is bigger diamonds. Teagan’s band will have something between the two.

  So, now we have three different rings. All have intense yellow diamonds; all are halo set in a pave-type setting.

  The stones are big, and they are set at different angles, not straight up and down like so many you see.

  Now, slip the cushion cut diamond ring on your finger, and spin it so that the stone is closer to your baby finger than the middle. Then put the pear shaped stone ring on and then the princess.

  Imagine that some of the band is gone so that when all is said and done, the cushion stone is closest to your wrist and to the pinky side, and the princess is furthest from your wrist and set at an angle up toward the knuckle of your middle finger with an open space. That’s the engagement ring. Then when Teagan gets married she’ll put on the wedding ring, which is the pear-shaped diamond at an angle that slips the pointed part over the open part of the ring and meshes the whole thing together.

  I didn’t do it justice, but even Teagan’s sketch was beautiful.

  Oh, and the diamonds they are buying man-made. I got an earful about that whole process. Guess there’s a big difference
between man-made and simulant and all manner of other stuff. Man-made is a real diamond in every way; it is just made in a lab. No worker abuse involved.

  I’m not even getting involved in all of that. If she’s happy, I’m happy.

  And I’ve never seen her happier.

  The ring will be ready in about a month.

  Oh, you know what? I was looking at the sketch upside down, flip what I told you.

  I think.

  In a month I’ll see the real thing; then I’ll know for sure.

  Teagan is likely to get real cranky in about three weeks.

  Mark your calendar.

  NINE

  HAVE YOU EVER had your house broken into? Even if there’s an alarm and three armed guys and a big drooling dog, walking back into the house after you’ve been gone a while is scary.

  I didn’t have the armed guys or the dog, so it was really scary.

  Teagan offered to stay with me until A.J. got home. According to his most recent text, he should be home in a couple of hours. We’d given thought to just meeting up with him on the panhandle, but it sounded like more work to coordinate — since we don’t know the area — than it was worth.

  We dumped all my stuff in the living room, and I told her to go ahead and get home. A good shower and some clean clothes and I’d feel like a human again.

  I texted everybody to let them know we got home safe and sound.

  Put the stuff from the trip away.

  I once left a suitcase packed for three days. About had a heart attack when it dawned on me that it was sitting there in the back of my closet, dirty clothes and all. When I whined about it, six different people told me that if you get your bag unpacked in a month you’re golden.

  Really?

  A month?

  What about all the bacteria that is festering and breeding and having its way with your stuff?

  But then I can’t let my clean laundry sit in the dryer or on the couch, and I know lots of people who do that.

  I wonder about myself sometimes.

  I hesitated taking a shower alone in the house, which made me mad. I don’t want to give anyone that kind of power over me.