“You all are a hoot. And you’re also dead wrong. There’s no guy.”
She paused dramatically, then announced, “I’ve just spent my lunch hour with the human resources person at the hospital. I’m going to retire next month.”
I had to admit that, for once in our lives, we were all speechless.
* * *
* * *
Chapter 14
Re-tir-ing: adjective; drawing back from contact with others, from publicity, etc.; reserved; modest; shy.
— Webster’s Dictionary
But we were only quiet for half a second. Then we all started talking at once.
“Mary Alice, my God!” Nancy screamed in her usual restrained way.
“You’re kidding!”
“I can’t believe it,” said Claire. “What are you going to live on? Have you talked to a financial planner? Remember that when I retired Larry was still working. We had to plan our finances very carefully once he decided to retire, too.”
“Never mind what you’re going to live on,” I said. “What are you going to do with your time to keep from going nuts?”
Mary Alice held up her hands in mock surrender.
“Ok, ok. I’ll tell you everything. But first I want a big dish of chocolate ice cream with extra fudge sauce. I know Nancy must have brought some today. It’s one of the basic survival tools for dealing with any crisis we’ve ever had. And I want to hear what’s happening with you and Jim, Carol.”
Nancy obediently headed toward the freezer. “I’ll get it for you, Mary Alice. But when it’s your turn, talk loud. I don’t want to miss a word.”
Since both Claire and Nancy had heard all the details of Jim, Sheila’s television appearance, and my visit from the police, I kept my story short.
That was pretty easy, because Nancy wasn’t interrupting me all the time.
“I’m very worried about Jim,” I admitted, wrapping up my sad tale. “I was so scared when the police came. But maybe they won’t be back, and the autopsy will prove that Rhodes died of natural causes. That’ll be the end of it. I’m praying that Jim doesn’t get fired before all this is straightened out. But there’s nothing I can do about saving his job. He’s on his own with that mess.”
At this point, I was sick and tired of talking about Jim and Davis Rhodes. It was time to change the subject.
“Enough of this. Tell us what’s up with you, Mary Alice,” I said. “This is a pretty momentous decision you’ve made.”
Mary Alice took a bite from the large dish of ice cream Nancy had set in front of her. “Umm. Yummy. I always think better when I have chocolate.”
“Enough of this stalling,” Claire said impatiently. “Details. We want details. When we had lunch a few weeks ago, I remember you talked about retiring. But you didn’t say you were going to do it now. Are you sure this is a good idea? You’re such a terrific nurse.”
“That’s a typical reaction of yours, Claire,” Mary Alice said. “When I decided to go to nursing school, you tried to talk me out of it. You thought I should go to medical school instead.”
Claire started to protest, but Mary Alice cut her off. “Don’t worry. I forgave you a long time ago. If I hadn’t gone into nursing, I wouldn’t have met Brian. Marrying him was the best thing that ever happened to me. When he went into private practice, well,” her voice trailed off, “it was so wonderful to be his office nurse. We were great partners. Then, he died.”
We were all silent, remembering the shock of Brian’s death when he was only 43 from a car accident. Life sure was unfair sometimes.
Mary Alice’s eyes filled with tears.
Then she composed herself and went on. “Not that I’m feeling sorry for myself. Other people have coped with situations more traumatic than mine, and besides, I had the boys to take care of. I couldn’t allow grief to take over my life. Working at the hospital was my salvation during the early years after Brian’s death. But now, on top of all the paperwork I seem to spend my entire time doing, the shift schedule at the hospital is always changing. I just hate working nights, and I’ve had more than my share of them the past year or so. At my age, I’d much rather be vegging out in front of the television at ten o’ clock at night than getting into my uniform and heading off to work.”
She paused, took another bite of ice cream, and savored it.
“Then, I got the form that Social Security sends out every year. We all get one. It’s called ‘Your Social Security Statement.’ It tells your estimated benefits when you decide to retire, broken down by year. Do you know the one I mean?”
“I always throw those things away,” Nancy said. “After all, we’re much too young to begin collecting benefits.”
“You shouldn’t throw those things away,” scolded Claire. “It has all your personal information on it. You have to be very careful about identity theft these days. I hope you at least shredded the form first.”
Mary Alice jumped in before Nancy could defend herself. “I know it’ll be a few years before I’m eligible to apply for benefits, but that form started me thinking. When I really looked at the numbers on the form, I realized that it was financially smart to apply to receive benefits as soon as I could.”
“I just hope the country still has Social Security when we’re all eligible to collect,” Nancy said, wanting to show us that she wasn’t completely ignorant about the system. “You never know what the government’s going to cut these days to save money. Remember how we all used to joke that we were such fun to be with that we should start a business and be paid just for being us? Maybe sitting back and collecting Social Security is that business.”
Mary Alice rolled her eyes at Nancy. “Anyway, that Social Security form inspired me to start crunching some more numbers. I figured out what I need to live on. My mortgage is all paid off, so that’s not a problem. I’m not a spendthrift, and the boys are grown and out of the house.
They only ask me for money occasionally.”
We all laughed. Who couldn’t identify with that?
“I finally decided to talk to the hospital human resources people.
There’s a real shortage of nurses these days, and they don’t want to lose me completely. So we’ve reached an agreement where I’ll officially retire from the hospital nursing staff next month. But I’ll come back as a part-time consultant, and also teach a few courses at the nursing school. I’ll keep all my medical benefits, and I can also do some private-duty nursing.
I can finally get back into direct patient care again, which is what I’ve wanted for a long time.
“My fabulous lunchtime ‘romantic’ interlude was with the head of human resources at the hospital, where I officially signed my retirement papers. So congratulate me, you guys. I’m starting an exciting new adventure! Who knows where it will lead?”
“I am so jealous,” Nancy admitted. “And proud of you for taking the plunge.”
“I’ll tutor you in Retirement 101,” said Claire, “just like I tutored you in conversational French back in sophomore year of high school. Remember, you got an A in that class, thanks to me.”
“You both are the best,” said Mary Alice. “Thanks for the encouragement and the support. What do you think about this, Carol? You’re very quiet, and that’s not at all like you.”
“I guess I don’t know how to react,” I said honestly. “On the one hand, I’m thrilled that you’ve made a decision to do something you obviously want to do. But on the other hand, the word ‘retirement’ is kind of a dirty word around here these days. And I guess I’m afraid that if I tell Jim about your plans, it’ll start him off on his own tangent all over again.”
Mary Alice looked hurt at my lack of enthusiasm for her decision. It was obvious she was hoping for 100 percent support from our group. I knew I had to add something positive.
“I’m also a little disappointed, Mary Alice.” I waited just a beat before I added, “I was hoping you were having an affair so that we all could share in it vicariously!”
>
Everyone whooped and yelled over that one.
“But Carol, don’t you see?” asked Mary Alice. “Now that I’m going to retire from the hospital, I’ll finally have the time to have an affair. I just need to find the man.”
* * *
* * *
Chapter 15
Q: Among retirees what is considered formal attire?
A: Tied shoes.
“I saw Mark Anderson today,” I said to Jenny. She had come home from school earlier than usual, probably because she was worried about her father, and the two of us were preparing dinner together. It was a very cozy domestic scene.
“What do you mean, Mom?” Jenny asked. “Didn’t Daddy say last night that Mark’s a policeman now? What happened?”
“Oh,” I answered casually, “he and his partner dropped by this morning to ask me a few questions about Davis Rhodes. Background stuff. You know. It was no big deal.” Liar, I thought. You were scared to death.
I gave her a big smile to emphasize my point, but Jenny’s look told me she wasn’t buying my feeble attempt at false bravado.
I wanted to head her off before she starting asking me more questions I didn’t want to answer, so I added, “Mark’s certainly grown up to be handsome. He reminded me of Brad Pitt. Down, girls.” Lucy and Ethel, sensing the possibility of my dropping a morsel or two from the vegetables I was chopping, were dancing around my legs.
“Mom, don’t try to change the subject. Weren’t you nervous? Does Dad know the police were here?”
“I haven’t talked to your father since early this morning. I didn’t see the point of calling him at the office and taking the chance of getting him all upset. He should be home in a little while. I’ll tell him then.”
“It sure seems like a long time since Davis Rhodes died,” Jenny said, “even though it was just last night. So much has happened. I was talking about it at school today with Linda Burns.”
“Linda Burns? I hope you didn’t tell her about Dad’s finding the body.”
Jenny patted my hand. “Take it easy, Mom. I’m not that naïve. I’m as anxious as you are to keep Dad’s name out of it. It was just a casual conversation, that’s all. She was naturally curious, because of the story in the newspaper. She knew that you and Dad had gone to see Rhodes, and she wanted to know what your reaction was to Rhodes’s death.”
I swallowed hard, and told myself that my daughter was a grown-up now and mature enough to handle sticky situations. And she wasn’t a gossip. Her conversation with Linda was perfectly innocent.
But speaking of sticky situations, I decided to take the plunge and bring up another subject before Jim got home. I’d had more than enough of thinking and talking about Davis Rhodes right now. There were a few other things going on in the Andrews family that concerned me. Although I knew they were none of my business.
“Jenny, I’ve been meaning to ask you about Jeff. You know that Dad and I have both tried very hard to honor your privacy, but have you been in touch with him since you’ve been home? E-mail, phone, anything?”
“I know you’ve both been walking on eggshells about Jeff and me.”
Jenny looked sad, but resigned. “It’s been very hard for me to talk about this, but he’s finally accepted the fact that our relationship is definitely over. Kaput. Finis. It’s for the best, at least for me. For all I know, he’s already started seeing somebody else.”
I started to interrupt her, but she went on, “What I have to figure out is when I can go back to California for the rest of my things. I have a lot of clothes still in the apartment, and some furniture. I’ll probably sell the furniture, or see if Jeff wants it, but either way, I’ll have to go back there sometime after the summer semester ends. I’m not looking forward to it, though. I tell myself that I can handle it, and that I won’t be emotional, but I’m afraid that when I see Jeff, it’s going to be too hard for me. I guess I’m not quite as grown up as I’d like to think I am.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to this, but being me, I couldn’t keep quiet. And I had, after all, introduced the subject in the first place.
“Oh, sweetie, would you feel better if I went along with you? We could make a vacation out of it, maybe combine it with a trip to Hawaii.”
“Mom, that’s a great offer. Let me think about it, ok?” Jenny patted my cheek. “You really are a doll. You and Dad have made it so easy for me to come back home. But if I decide to stay in Fairport, I’m going to have to get my own place. You understand that, right?”
“Sure I do. But we both really love having you here. And frankly, right now, I’m grateful for your moral support. I hope you don’t think that’s selfish of me. I’m just so concerned about your father.”
The Father-in-Question arrived home from New York about ten minutes later. Fortunately, Jenny and I had moved on to more mundane topics of conversation by that time.
When Jim came through the kitchen door, I gave him a quick hug and whispered in his ear, “How are things?”
He squeezed me back and didn’t answer me. Typical. I wasn’t sure if he was being difficult or he just hadn’t heard me. He’s an expert at selective hearing. I fought the urge to cross-examine him, because Jenny was still in the kitchen and I didn’t want a confrontation. He’ll talk to you in his own time and in his own way, I told myself. But he didn’t look like he’d faced a firing squad at work, which was comforting.
“Something smells good,” Jim said. “I can tell that you two have been preparing another wonderful feast. What are we having?” He headed toward the stove where Jenny was working and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Then he lifted up a pot lid and sniffed the contents.
Two can play at the let’s-just-talk-about-trivial-stuff-and-not-what’s-really-on-our-minds’ game, so I gave him tonight’s menu. “Chicken with broccoli, brown rice, and a tossed salad. Oh, and I got an e-mail from Mike about a new drink he’s come up with for the bar. It’s called the Cosmo Girl’s Cosmopolitan. Do you want to try one before dinner?”
“I’d rather just have a glass of wine, Carol. You know I don’t like those fancy drinks. I have some news, most of it good, but I’d rather change out of this suit and tie first. I will tell you both, though, that everything went fine at work today, and that I talked to Sheila Carney.”
I started to ask a question, but Jim held up his hand to silence me.
“Before you leap to any conclusions, she called me. And I’ve heard nothing from the police, so I think yesterday’s nightmare is over. Thank God.”
Oh, boy, I thought. Wait till he hears the police were here to talk to me.
“That’s great, Dad,” said Jenny, ever the supportive daughter. She flashed me a questioning look and I shook my head slightly.
The phone rang just as Jim was leaving the kitchen to go upstairs and change.
Our caller I.D. announced it was Patrolman Mark Anderson.
Yikes!
“Jim, wait a minute. Mark Anderson is on the phone. Maybe he wants to talk to you.”
Jim froze in the doorway, and his expression reminded me of a deer caught in car headlights right before it gets hit.
Jenny stopped tossing the salad.
I cleared my throat and answered the phone, forcing myself to sound cheerful and upbeat.
After the basic preliminaries were out of the way, I put my hand over the receiver and hissed at Jim, “Relax. Mark’s calling to talk to Jenny, not you.” I handed her the phone. “Why don’t you take the call in the family room so you can have some privacy?” I congratulated myself on being so selfless. I was dying of curiosity but I couldn’t let Jenny know that.
Jim let out a huge sigh of relief and started to leave the kitchen. I grabbed his arm to stop him. He wasn’t getting away from me that easily, and I knew I had to talk fast while Jenny was on the phone.
“Mark and his partner were here to ask me some questions this morning. I didn’t call you at the office and upset you, and I tried very hard to give answers about Rhodes th
at wouldn’t put you in a bad light. But that was difficult for me because I wasn’t clear about what you told the police last night. Since you haven’t bothered to share a lot of it with me.” I glared at him.
Jim’s face had turned to stone. “You should have called and told me the police had been here. What’s the matter with you?”
“What’s the matter with me? What’s the matter with you? Why won’t you tell me what’s going on? I’m your wife, for God’s sake,” I shot back.
“Larry said it wasn’t necessary to get specific with anyone, including you, about what the police asked me,” Jim answered defensively. “I did give the police truthful answers to their questions, but I didn’t mention my doing some P.R. work for Rhodes, or how I’d come to his office yesterday to confront him. I didn’t lie to them. I just didn’t offer any additional information. By the time Larry got to the Center last night, the police were through with their questions. But when I told him how I framed my answers, Larry said I was right to handle the interview that way. He also instructed me that if it comes out that Rhodes was my client, not the other way around, I should just say I didn’t clarify the relationship because I wasn’t asked to.”
“But Rhodes wasn’t really your client. That’s part of the problem, don’t you see that?”
Jim gave me a sharp look, so I shut up.
“What did the police ask you about, Carol?”
“They wanted to confirm how we met Davis Rhodes,” I said. “I tried to give very general answers, but I was nervous. It helped that Mark Anderson was one of the officers who was here, but I sure didn’t like his partner. He did everything he could to shake me up.”
I grabbed Jim’s arm and said, “The only way we’re going to get through this mess is to handle it together. We’ve got to be honest with each other. Please don’t try to shield me or hide things from me. I’ll go crazy if you do.”
“I’m sorry, Carol. It’s just hard for me to admit that I’m not in control of this situation.”
Retirement Can Be Murder Page 10
