Catherine nodded, turning back to the bar. "Perhaps a little vodka," she decided. "Maybe Jamie will join me." She spent the next five minutes expertly preparing her drink. To Ryan’s surprise, Catherine had an entire set-up just for chilling the spirit. Taking a foot-high glass container, she filled four tall, leaded crystal shot glasses with Cristall vodka, placed the glasses in the container, and filled it with crushed ice, nestling each little glass in the ice. Placing the container on the table, Catherine idly swirled each of the glasses, gazing at Ryan pensively as she did so.
"Call it a hunch, Ryan, but I have a suspicion that you’ve had some contact with my husband while we were gone."
Her statement was rather matter-of-fact, but Ryan understood that she was waiting for confirmation or denial. She nodded her head, gazing down at the table as she did so. "He came to our house in Berkeley on Sunday morning," she admitted. "It…it wasn’t very pleasant."
"How so?" Catherine asked sharply, narrowing her eyes at Ryan.
Never having seen Catherine’s temper flare, Ryan wasn’t sure if the suspicious glance was for her or Jim. Her face flushed a little as she mumbled, "He uh…he ordered me out of the house. He was really angry when he left, Catherine."
"He didn’t hurt you, did he Ryan?" Her voice was filled with concern, and Ryan was immediately reassured that Catherine was on her side.
"No, he didn’t touch me," she related. "He looked like he wanted to, but he just tried to wound me with his words."
"He’s very skilled at that," Catherine said derisively, grasping a glass of vodka and draining it. She shivered a little as the ice-cold liquid hit her stomach, and Ryan wondered once again why anyone would choose to drink something that caused such a reaction. Catherine shook her head, looking angry at herself as she said, "Forgive me for saying that, Ryan. I find it utterly distasteful when people complain about their spouses behind their backs."
Reaching across the table, Ryan placed a hand on her arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Don’t mention it, Catherine. This must be hard for you."
"It is," she sighed, her shoulders slumping dejectedly. "I never dreamed I’d be caught in the middle between my husband and my child." Looking at Ryan curiously, she asked, "You haven’t told Jamie, have you?"
"No. I didn’t get a chance to on Sunday when it happened, and then with the events in Rhode Island…" she trailed off, knowing that she didn’t have a good excuse for not revealing the happenings to Jamie. Her gut had told her to wait until they were together again, so that’s what she had done.
"He called me in Rhode Island…I’m not sure what day, but it was likely Monday or Tuesday. He didn’t tell me about his visit with you, but he tried to convince me to ask Jamie to stay with my family for the rest of the month." She laughed softly, adding, "I couldn’t stay the entire month, and it was my idea to go."
"Giving Jamie an order doesn’t seem like the best way to get her to agree to something," Ryan observed wryly.
"That would seem all too obvious to me too, Ryan, but Jim apparently hasn’t learned that simple lesson. He continually amazes me," she added, shaking her head.
"I thought I’d go into the whole thing tomorrow," Ryan informed her. "It just seemed like we needed a little time to reconnect before we got into this can of worms." She gave Catherine a shy smile as she said, "Thanks again for letting us have some alone time this afternoon. We really appreciated it."
"My pleasure," Catherine insisted. Hearing Jamie’s key in the lock she said quietly, "You just let me know if you need anything from me, Ryan. I’ll get involved in any way you two wish."
"Thanks, Catherine." Ryan gave her arm another squeeze, getting to her feet to welcome her partner home.
Ryan and Caitlin shared an enormous vegetable salad while Jamie prepared some seared ahi steaks for the adults. "I’ve never seen a baby get so excited about eating her vegetables," Catherine observed, staring at the twosome in fascination.
"Yeah, Caitlin likes them too," Jamie chuckled, getting a smirk from her partner.
"I missed my veggies almost as much as I missed you," Ryan teased, her sentiment very close to the truth.
"Was the food bad, Honey?"
"No, not bad, but they can’t leave well enough alone and serve some raw veggies. Everything has to be cooked to limpness. I just don’t get that." She leaned over with a string bean in her mouth, letting Caitlin try to use her little front teeth to chomp away on it. The baby did a very good job, getting a kiss when she reached Ryan’s lips.
"I think I see the attraction to the vegetables," Catherine mused. "Ryan makes mealtime into playtime."
"Ryan makes every time into playtime," Jamie observed, smiling broadly at her partner.
"Life’s too short to spend your time being serious," Ryan agreed, meaning every word.
When the entrees were ready, Ryan settled Caitlin on her lap, letting her play with tiny pieces of her meal. The babysitters spent as much time gazing at each other as they did at the baby, but Caitlin had a knack for grabbing their attention when it flagged. If she noticed that they were not watching her carefully enough, she would take a piece of food and shove it into the closest face, not caring whether she hit a mouth or not. That usually did the trick, and the focus would return to her, where she believed it rightfully belonged.
Jamie was enormously pleased that her mother seemed as playful and fun loving here at home as she had in Rhode Island, and it slowly dawned on her that part of the reason her mother was so charming was because her father was not here. Thinking about it for a moment, she realized that when her father was present, her mother deferred to him on nearly every subject. It wasn’t that he was a dictator, but he had a presence that drew attention to himself and Catherine did not fight him for the spotlight.
They had just finished with the meal when Ryan’s pager went off. "Is this your number in Pebble Beach?" she asked, showing Jamie the display.
"Yep. It must be Annie and Tommy."
Ryan was directed to the kitchen phone, and she smiled broadly when Annie’s first anxious words were, "How’s my baby?"
"Simply marvelous," Ryan reassured her, "Can’t you hear her?" Caitlin was loudly singing a just-created tune as Jamie bounced her on her knee. "She’s been such an angel today I’m sure we’ll pay for it later," Ryan teased. "She got to go to church and out to lunch. Then she went to the airport and down to Hillsborough for a swim. Now we’re just finishing dinner."
"She went swimming?" Annie squealed with delight. "She must have been in heaven!"
"Yep, the only time she was unhappy today was when we took her out of the pool," she admitted.
"Did she get enough to eat today?" Annie asked. "She hates to eat when there’s much going on."
"Eat? I’m supposed to feed her?" Ryan asked with a shocked tone in her voice.
"Okay, I’m being a pest," Annie admitted. "I’m just amazed by how much I miss her, and I’ve only been gone for ten hours!"
"She’s fine, Annie. You really don’t need to worry. If I get into any trouble Maeve is just minutes away."
"It’s not that, Ryan. I trust you completely. I just don’t know what to do with all of the time on my hands. I’ve forgotten how to read a book or watch a television show straight through. Having a conversation with Tommy is just a distant memory. I think it’ll just take me a while to relax and enjoy myself."
"Is everything okay at the house?"
"Okay? You’re kidding, right? We never imagined that the place could be this wonderful, Ryan. This is like something the Queen would live in. It’s just remarkable!"
"It is nice, isn’t it?" she said fondly. Turning to the wall and lowering her voice, Ryan said, "I did some of my best work in that place."
"Speaking of that, which room should we use? You didn’t mention that in your little checklist."
"Let me ask Catherine, she’s right here."
"Could you put her on? I really want to thank her for her generosity."
"Sure, hold on
a minute, Annie. Feel free to call me tomorrow. I want you to relax and enjoy yourselves, and if you need to check in often to do that, please do."
Ryan walked back to the table and said to Catherine, "My cousin is on the phone. She has a question about the beach house. Would you mind talking to her?"
"Of course, Ryan." She rose and spoke to Annie for quite a while, with Ryan returning to the table to entertain the baby.
"Lovely girl," Catherine said when she returned to the table. "Should we have let Caitlin talk to her mommy?"
Ryan’s eyes grew wide as she shook her head slowly. "For the sake of your sanity, don’t let her near a phone. You’ll spend the rest of the day fighting with her over it."
Catherine’s wide eyes matched Ryan’s, and she dimly recalled that Jamie had been fascinated by the phone as well. "It’s been such a long time," she said softly, gazing fondly at her daughter. "I’ve forgotten most of the lessons Jamie taught me."
"Caitlin is a marvelous teacher," Ryan assured her. "She’d be happy to give you some remedial classes."
"I would love to be able to spend some more time with her," Catherine said, a note of hope in her voice.
"Anytime, Catherine. I’m sure there are days when Annie would put her on the bus and send her to you."
"I’m sorry, Ryan, but that seems impossible." She was leaning over in the chair, playing with Caitlin’s tiny little toes, delighting the happy baby with the game.
"She has her moments, Catherine," Ryan assured her. "Pray that you never have to experience one."
It was after 9:30 when they finally finished the meal, and by the time Ryan got up to clean the kitchen Caitlin was sound asleep in Jamie’s arms.
"Let me help, Honey," Jamie offered.
"I can help, too," Catherine said, not know the first thing about cleaning a kitchen, but willing to learn.
"Why don’t you hold Caitlin, Mom," Jamie suggested. Halfway through the handoff, Caitlin woke with a start, seemingly on the verge of tears. However, when she saw Catherine, she held out her chubby arms and tumbled into her lap, nestling up to her contentedly.
The look of bewilderment on Catherine’s face was both comic and poignant, and Ryan observed, "She must know you’re a good mom, Catherine."
Fighting tears, the older woman wrapped the baby in a snug embrace, bending to kiss her golden head. "I’m trying to learn how to be, Sweetheart," she whispered, just loud enough for Jamie to hear her.
Jamie stood behind her mother’s chair and wrapped her arms around both Catherine and Caitlin. "Caitlin is very intuitive, Mom. She knows the truth."
Caitlin had already reached her capacity for quiet time, and she tried to scamper off Catherine’s lap to join Ryan at the sink. To distract her, Catherine took her into the living room, scooping up delicate knickknacks from low tables as she went. The baby had clearly gotten her second wind, and she crawled around the large room shrieking with delight. It was all Catherine could do to keep an eye on her, and by the time the girls emerged from the kitchen she was ready to relinquish her duties.
"I hope you two know what you’ve gotten yourselves into," Catherine laughed as she sat down to catch her breath.
"I’m not sure we do," Ryan admitted with a worried look. "I’m so tired I could just drop, but we won’t get to sleep until Miss Caitlin allows it."
"What have you planned for the week, girls?" Catherine asked.
"We want to take her to Disneyland tomorrow," Jamie revealed, surprised that she hadn’t mentioned that detail yet.
"Disneyland?" Catherine marveled. "Isn’t she a little young?"
"She is," Jamie admitted with a grin at her partner, "but Ryan’s just the right age."
"Oh, are you a big fan of Disneyland?" Catherine asked.
"I’ve never been," Ryan revealed. "But I love rides and roller coasters so I think it’ll be right up my alley."
"But how will you go on any rides with the baby? Isn’t she too young?"
"We haven’t worked out the logistics," Jamie agreed. "It’ll take us all day Monday to get there, so we thought we’d go to the park on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, then come home Thursday afternoon. I’ll watch her while Ryan goes on the roller coasters, and we’ll go on the kids stuff together."
Catherine’s face lit up as a brilliant scheme dawned on her. "Why don’t you let me go with you?" she suggested excitedly.
Jamie blinked in surprise. "Would you want to do that?"
"Yes! I really would!" she bubbled, showing more excitement than Jamie could ever remember seeing. Her organized mind quickly determined the appropriate logistics. "I could stay at the hotel in the morning with the baby and let her play in the pool before the sun gets too hot. Then you could take her to the park during the afternoon. We could all have dinner together, and then I could stay in the hotel while you went back to go on the rides."
"You’d enjoy that?" Jamie asked in amazement.
"Yes!" Catherine said emphatically. She was nearly giddy with excitement, and Ryan saw such a strong resemblance to Jamie that it made her grin from ear to ear. "I think it would be great fun, and it would let you two have some time alone."
"I’m just worried that she’d be too much for you, Catherine," Ryan said. "You’ve seen how she can wear a person out."
"Ryan," she said dismissively, "I’m 41 years old. You act as though I was ready for the retirement home."
Ryan blushed deeply as she tried to backpedal. "It’s not your age, Catherine. You’re just not used to chasing a baby around."
"No, I’m not," she agreed, "and I wouldn’t volunteer to take her to the park. I think that would be beyond my capacity. But watching her at the pool for a few hours in the morning and putting her to bed at night are certainly things that this poor old body can handle," she said with a twinkle in her deep brown eyes.
Ryan blew out a breath as she said, "Well, I’m sold. How about you, Honey?"
Jamie smiled at her mother and said, "I always wanted you to take me to Disneyland. Better late than never, huh?"
Catherine got up from her chair and went over to give her daughter a hug. "I really regret not doing those things with you, Honey. I know it’s not the same to do them now, but it can still be fun."
Jamie was both pleased and shocked at her mother’s emotional openness in front of Ryan. She gave her a big smile and said, "I really want you to come with us, Mom. I think we’ll have a blast."
"I’ll make some phone calls tomorrow and see if I can get us a room. When do you have to be back?"
"I have practice on Thursday afternoon," Ryan informed her. "I just need to be at the gym by two."
"Marvelous. It will take me some time tomorrow to make the arrangements. Is it all right if we leave on Tuesday?"
"I suppose," Ryan said, even though she recognized that would only leave them one full day at the park. "If we leave on Tuesday by ten or so we’ll be there in time for dinner."
"That’s only an hour flight, Ryan," Catherine informed her. "We’ll be there for lunch!"
"Oh…um…We were going to drive the Lexus."
The senior Evans woman didn’t express displeasure with the plan, but after just a moment to reflect she suggested, "Look, girls, I want to go to enjoy playing with the baby, but I also want both of you to have fun. The only way to have sufficient time there is to fly. I propose that you allow me to plan the trip."
"Oh, Catherine, that really isn’t necessary," Ryan began, but Jamie’s mother gently interrupted.
"I would enjoy myself much more if we flew. Seven or eight hours in a car with a baby is just not something that you should do unless it’s absolutely necessary," she said from no experience whatsoever. "I do want to go, but I’d have a much better time if we did it my way."
Ryan looked at Jamie in question and after just a moment of thought, Jamie smiled at her mother and said, "We’d love to have you come with us. Any way you want to travel is fine. We’ll call Annie and Tommy to make sure they don’t object, of course."
It was after ten by the time they had made tentative plans to begin their trip on Tuesday, and Ryan was fading fast. Giving Jamie a questioning look, Catherine asked, "Honey, do you have to go back home tonight? Why not stay over?"
Jamie shrugged, looking to Ryan for her opinion. The dark woman said, "Well, we could, but where would Caitie sleep?"
"In Jamie’s nursery of course," Catherine smiled, tremendously excited to be able to use the room once again.
"You still have her room set up as a nursery?" Ryan gaped, recalling what she assumed were apocryphal tales of sleeping in the bottom drawer of a bureau because Rory was still in the family crib. Space had always been at a premium in the O’Flaherty house, and baby accoutrements were quickly discarded when they were no longer utilitarian.
"Of course," Catherine said. "I reasoned that one day I’d have a few grandchildren sleeping there."
"Works for me," Ryan decided, enormously pleased to avoid the 45-minute drive home. "If you can stand to see me in the same clothes tomorrow, I’m all in favor."
Jamie had providentially thought to buy a package of disposable diapers when she went to the grocery, so Caitlin was set for the night. Ryan stayed downstairs to warm a bottle while the Evans women escorted the little guest to her room.
When the baby saw the carved mahogany crib, she began to get agitated and started looking around wildly for Ryan. "I think she just figured out that she’s not going home tonight," Jamie observed, steeling herself for the inevitable scream.
Ryan’s foot was on the first stair when it hit. Oh-oh. Somebody’s unhappy. Catherine might get that look at Caitlin’s dark side after all.
The frightened baby fought Jamie, trying to escape her embrace. When Ryan entered, she looked up at her with terror in her big green eyes. It had been a very long day, and as much as the baby loved to be with her big cousin, it was obvious that she was ready to go to her own home now and see her mommy and daddy. To avoid hurting her, Jamie allowed her wish to get on the floor. The baby threw herself flat onto the carpet and began to kick her arms and legs, screaming bloody murder the whole time. Ryan had never seen her have a tantrum before, and she was a bit unsure of what to do, but Jamie’s maternal instincts kicked in immediately. She lifted the baby from the floor and clasped her to her chest, sitting down in the rocker to speak to her in soft tones as she slowly rocked her. The baby tried to fight, and she got in a few good kicks and one painful punch to the side of Jamie’s head, but she held her firmly and allowed her to cry out her fears.
Fidelity - SF6 Page 37
