“I’m not.” Karla prepared Anna’s coffee—a slightly mounded teaspoon of sugar and just enough milk to turn the liquid a creamy brown—and gave it to her. “I didn’t think there was time between now and Sunday with shuffling Grace around and Heather and Bill being here. And I still have to pack.” Somehow she’d managed to say the words without showing how disappointed she felt.
“I’m going to miss you.” She took a sip of the still-steaming liquid. As if purposely trying to keep the conversation light, she added, “And I’m going to miss your coffee.”
“I’ll send you your own supply as soon as I get back to the shop.” She still thought of the shop as hers, but knowing Jim had been living and loving and laughing in her house with his new girlfriend made it hard to think of the house as her home anymore. She should have taken Jim up on his offer to find somewhere else to stay, but at the time, it had been more important to make him think she didn’t care.
“What time does Grace’s plane get in tomorrow?”
“Twelve-thirty. I have a feeling it’s going to be a zoo out there, so I’m going to leave here early enough to find a parking place and wait for her inside the terminal so we don’t miss each other.”
“I’m so glad she’s coming.” Anna’s voice was filled with a mixture of excitement and anticipation, a child waiting for her parents to go to bed on Christmas Eve. “I was worried she might have already made other plans.”
As much as Karla liked seeing Anna happy, she worried about her heart bearing the extra load of having everyone there. Even if Thanksgiving turned out exactly the way she imagined, all the turmoil that went with a house full of people was bound to be hard on her. She might lie down in the afternoons, but Karla doubted that she would get any real rest.
“Grace did have other plans,” Karla said, “but she changed them to be here with us.”
Grace checked her side and rearview mirrors, then glanced overhead for a helicopter. I-5 was notorious for speed traps, and she couldn’t afford a ticket.
“You know, you could slow down a little and you wouldn’t have to worry so much about getting caught,” the woman next to her said. “You’re driving like you’ve got someone chasing you.”
“I hate this road,” Grace told her. “It’s so damn boring that if I don’t drive fast, I fall asleep.”
“Yeah, maybe—but I’d like to get where I’m going, so I’d appreciate it if you took it a little easier.”
Reluctantly, Grace dropped from eighty to seventy. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell Holly that the fifty dollars she was paying for the ride didn’t cover bitching rights, but knew it would only make things even worse between them. They’d already gone at it about the music Grace listened to, the place she wanted to stop to eat, and what kind of gas to buy. Thank God Holly was only going as far as Tracy. Much farther and Grace would have dumped her alongside the road.
It was Karla’s fault Grace found herself stuck in the car with Holly. Her gas credit card was maxed out and she’d been forced to go to the college to look for people who wanted rides north for the holiday. Karla had a knack for picking the worst times to make one of her points, which inevitably left Grace scrambling to work things out. At least, for a small fee, she’d been able to bank the airline ticket for a year. It was comforting knowing she could fly somewhere she really wanted to go, like Mexico or Vail, when she needed a break.
She was so damn tired of being broke all the time.
Too bad there weren’t any career opportunities in juggling money; she’d be head of her own company by now.
“You’re doing it again,” Holly said.
“Oh, fuck off,” Grace snapped. “This is my car, I’ll drive it any way I want.”
“Well, you can damn well do it without me. Anderson’s is at the next off ramp, you can drop me there.”
“You don’t have to do that.” Grace needed the money she was charging Holly. If she didn’t make the minimum payment on her Visa, she couldn’t charge that dress she’d found at Nordstrom. “I’ll slow down.”
“That’s what you’ve been saying since we left L.A. I want out of this car and I want out now.”
“All right, but you still owe me for the trip.”
“If you think I’m going—”
Grace shot her an angry look. “Pay or jump.”
“I can’t believe your family actually wants to see you.” Holly dug for her wallet and threw the money at Grace. “You’re such a bitch.”
The words hit home. “Look, I’m sorry. I’ve been under a lot of pressure lately and you just happened to have the bad luck to be with me when I had to let off a little steam.” She pulled to a stop in the restaurant’s parking lot. “If I could, I’d give you back your money, but it’s all I have to get home.”
“You need to see someone.” Holly opened the door and reached in the back seat for her suitcase. “You’re a real nut case.”
“Thanks, I loved meeting you, too.” She rolled down her window as she drove away. “Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you put on five pounds.”
Chapter
16
Karla heard the knock on the front door from upstairs in her bedroom. She waited to see if Anna would answer but then remembered she’d decided to take her shower that night instead of in the morning. Grabbing her robe, she shoved her arms in the sleeves as she descended the stairs. Another loud knock, the third, sounded before she was halfway down the hall. “I’m coming, I’m coming,” Karla called with equal impatience.
Before opening the door, she turned on the porch light and looked through the curtain. She should have been surprised to see Grace standing there, but it took a lot anymore to surprise her where Grace was concerned.
“You weren’t supposed to be here until tomorrow,” she said as she let Grace in.
“I know, but I couldn’t wait.” She dropped her suitcase and gave Karla a warm hug. “So I decided to drive up today.”
“It’s good to see you, too.” No one hugged her the way Grace did—all out and with an enthusiasm that left Karla feeling special that she was the recipient of something so wonderful.
“This place never changes.” Grace looked around. “Where’s Grandma?”
“In the shower.” Karla was always a little taken aback when she saw Grace after they’d been away from each other for a while. She was so beautiful she was an anomaly. Everyone arrived in the world with the same basic features—hair, eyes, nose, mouth—but with some people they came arranged in a way that left the rest of the world awestruck. She and Heather had the same genetic makeup, but their eyes were either a fraction of an inch too close or too far apart, their lips not as full, their noses not upturned. Whatever the reason, no one turned to look at them when they passed, or singled them out at a party, or hated them on sight for the way they looked the way people did Grace.
“Should she be taking a shower by herself?”
“If you called to check on her once in a while you’d know the answer.” Karla found it harder and harder to make excuses for Grace.
“What’s that all about? I just get here and you’re already on my case? You could at least give me time to get unpacked.”
Just like that, Karla was ready to apologize. “All I’m saying is that you owe her a phone call once in a while. And not just when you need money.”
The confident smile left Grace’s face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re forgetting why I came here. I’ve spent the past five weeks going over Grandma’s finances.”
“She told you I asked her for money? What else did she say?”
“She didn’t say anything. You know her better than that.” But then maybe Grace didn’t. Karla couldn’t remember one time during her and Jim’s breakup and divorce that Grace had called to ask how she was doing or offered a shoulder to lean on. At the time Karla had put it off to Grace’s age and the eight years between them. Now she couldn’t remember why she’d thought that it should make a difference.
If it wo
uld change anything she would tell Grace about the checks she’d found, but the confrontation wasn’t worth the fight that was sure to follow. Anna had never asked for much from them, not even a peaceful Thanksgiving. But Karla would see that she had one if she had to choke on words left unspoken.
“I’m starved,” Grace announced, her smile returning now that the threat of discovery had apparently disappeared. “What’s there to eat?” She started for the kitchen. “I was going to call Grandma and put in my requests—especially for that fresh cranberry stuff she always makes—but I was afraid I’d trip myself up and say something about coming early.”
“You’re surprised Grandma can take a shower by herself and yet you expected her to make your favorite foods?” Karla took out the soup left over from her and Anna’s dinner from the refrigerator and handed it to Grace.
“Jesus, there’s no pleasing you. First you make this big deal about me being here for Thanksgiving, then I bust my butt getting here and now you’re acting like you wish I’d stayed home.”
“Which reminds me, why did you drive when I sent you a plane ticket? The real reason.”
“First criticism and now inquisition?” Grace ladled the soup into a bowl and put it in the microwave.
“Answer me before Grandma gets in here.”
“I told you, I wanted to surprise you. Of course, that was when I thought you’d be happy to see me.” She punched in two minutes and waited.
“What did you do with the ticket?”
“I canceled it.”
“I want it back,” Karla said. “Or I want the money.”
Grace braced her hands behind her and hopped up to sit on the counter. “All right, it’s obvious there’s something going on here, and that you’re not going to stop harassing me until you get it out. But before you say anything, I want you to remember that you screwed up my plans for Thanksgiving by insisting I come up here for this big family get-together. I missed an audition, a really important one, so I could get here early, thinking it would please you. The least you could do is show a little appreciation that I not only did what you asked, I went out of my way to try to make you happy.”
Karla didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. How many times in the past had she actually fallen for one of Grace’s impassioned speeches? She was a master at turning a weak defense into a powerful offense. Had Karla been gullible up to now, or had she heard what she wanted to hear because it was so much easier to travel the road that held no curves or bumps?
“The ticket or the money, Grace,” Karla said evenly. “I want it waiting for me when I get home.”
“When are you going home?”
“Sunday.”
“How am I supposed to get something to you by then?”
“All right, Monday then.”
“You’re being unreasonable, Karla. I’m leaving for Phoenix as soon as I get back on Saturday.”
Anna came to the door wrapped in an oversize terry cloth robe, her face an uncustomary pink from the heat of the shower. “I thought I heard voices out here.”
Grace let out a squeal. “Grandma.” She jumped from the counter and went to Anna, her arms outstretched. Wrapping her in a long, rocking hug, she said, “There aren’t enough words in that big, fat dictionary you gave me for Christmas to tell you how much I’ve missed you.”
Anna took Grace’s face between her hands. “You just keep getting more and more beautiful.”
“You say that because you love me.”
“Yes, I do. But I also say it because it’s true.” The microwave made a beeping sound. “What’s that?”
“Your leftover soup. I didn’t want to chance stopping anywhere for something to eat for fear you’d already be in bed and I wouldn’t get to see you until morning.”
Karla almost gagged.
“There has to be more here than soup for you to eat. Let me see what I can find.”
“I can’t tell you how hungry I am,” Grace told her.
“And I can’t tell you how tired Grandma is after the day she just put in,” Karla said pleasantly. “But then I’m sure you remember where everything is, so if soup isn’t enough, we’ll just sit here and keep you company while you find something else to eat.”
Grace looked at Anna as if expecting her to contradict Karla. “Do you want me to fix you something, too?” she asked.
“I’ll make tea,” Karla said to Anna. They’d missed their tea on the porch that night, caught up in looking at a photo album Karla had found on a back shelf when she was looking for the silver. “Chamomile okay?”
“It is for me. What about you, Grace?”
“I’d rather have coffee—as long as it’s not decaf. I can’t stand the taste of that stuff.”
Karla handed Grace the special decaf blend she’d had Jim make for her and Anna. “How was the trip? Run into any fog?”
“No fog, but the trip itself was pure hell. I made the mistake of bringing someone with me for company. She did nothing but complain from the minute she got in the car.”
“Wouldn’t have been about your driving, would it?” Karla asked innocently.
“That’s mean, Karla. You know I’m a good driver.”
“No you’re not, you’re a lucky driver. There’s a big difference.” Karla reached for the cookies she’d made that afternoon and froze at the soft sounds of Anna trying to catch her breath. “Are you all right?”
She tried to smile a reassurance. “Just . . . give . . . me . . . a minute.”
“Did you take your pill?”
Anna shook her head.
“What’s happening?” Grace demanded.
Karla turned to Grace, keeping her back to Anna, and mouthed, “Shut up.”
Grace ignored her. “Are you okay, Grandma? Should we call an ambulance?”
This time Anna shook her head more forcefully.
“Really . . . I’m fine.” She reached for the pill case in her pocket. “I just need a minute.”
Karla crouched down in front of Anna, gently took the case from her trembling hand, and gave her one of the nitroglycerin tablets. She’d watched Anna go through this a half dozen times and it still left her shaken. The rest of what she’d seen since she’d been there—the slow movements, the easy fatigue, the long naps—she could pass off as reasonable for an eighty-five-year-old woman. This, however, was an in-your-face reminder of the disease that was slowly, relentlessly destroying Anna’s fragile heart.
The microwave beeped, again announcing the soup was finished. Grace tested it and added another thirty seconds. She looked at Karla nervously. “Shouldn’t we be doing something?”
Karla matched her breathing to Anna’s, the one sure way she’d come up with to tell whether or not the pill was working. “Like?”
“Call the doctor, take her to a hospital . . . I don’t know. There has to be something we can do besides just stand around waiting for her to stop breathing.”
“I may not . . . be able to breathe . . . as well as I’d like, but there’s nothing wrong with my hearing,” Anna told her.
Grace teared at Anna’s gentle chiding. “I’m sorry, Grandma, but you scared me. You know I’m not very good with things like this.” She stopped to take a deep breath and then another. “I fall apart when people are sick, especially when they’re people I love.”
Karla frowned, confused. Was Grace making a plea for understanding, or did she expect Anna to feel sorry for her? Either way, she’d skillfully managed to shift the focus from Anna to herself. Satisfied the pill was working, Karla got up to finish the tea. “I think you should go to bed when you finish this, don’t you?” she said to Anna. “We’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”
“What time are Heather and Bill getting here?”
“She said if they didn’t get caught in traffic in San Jose, they should be here around noon.”
“They’ll be hungry when they get here, too,” she said and smiled at Grace. “We should think of something to feed them for lunch.”
/> Grace broke off a corner of one of the piecrust cookies and popped it into her mouth. “I’d almost forgotten about these, Grandma. But I should have known you wouldn’t.”
“Karla made them.”
Grace laughed. “Don’t tell me you’re turning domestic on us.” She took another bite. “Oh, my God, you’ve got a man in your life again. Who is he? Come on now, don’t make me drag it out of you.”
“There is no man,” Karla said. “Grandma thought it was time I learned to make pies, so she had me in the kitchen all afternoon trying to teach me.”
“How disappointing.” She made a pouting face and then laughed out loud again. “I see now why she’s so tired. Teaching you to make pies must be like teaching a man how to ask for directions.”
Anna looked from one to the other granddaughter. “It’s so good to have you home again. I can hardly wait for Heather to get here tomorrow.”
True to her word, Heather arrived at a few minutes past noon the next day. The boys beat her to the house, calling for Anna as Karla opened the front door for them. “Grandma Anna—we’re here.”
“So you are,” she said from her chair in the living room. “I’ve been sitting right here by the window so I could see your car as soon as it pulled into the driveway.”
They tumbled into her lap, each fighting to be the first to get their arms around her.
“Boys—take it easy,” Heather said, following them in. She stopped to give Karla a quick hug.
“Where’s Bill?” Karla asked looking past her to the car.
“Getting the food. I made a casserole for tonight.”
“No wonder Grandma loves you the best.” Karla had meant it as a joke but could see that Heather took her seriously.
“That’s not true. She loves you—” Realizing she’d been had, she lightly punched Karla’s arm. “I’m so damned easy. It’s like I’ve got a sign taped to my back saying ‘You Can Tell This One Anything.’ ”
Karla took Heather’s sweater and hung it in the closet. “How was the drive?”
“Fine. More important, how’s Grandma?”
Things Remembered Page 16
