Between the jersey and the private plane she was in all her glory. But eventually she ran out of gas and slipped off to sleep somewhere over West Virginia.
She woke upon arrival at Westchester County Airport where they dropped off Chuck and Carolyn, before the plane continued on to Boston. Chuck and John Dobbs shook hands, and he said, “Hope we’ll see you tomorrow, Coach Whitcomb.”
It didn’t sound like very long to make a life-changing decision, but Chuck knew that life with Carolyn meant that a lot could happen in a day.
Chapter 45
Billy met them at the airport and drove them back to New Canaan.
Carolyn was wide-awake, her batteries re-charged. She enthusiastically told Billy about her trip—trolleys, Zamboni machine, Taylor Swift might come to her school—but left out the most important aspect, as to whether Chuck got the job.
When they arrived in the driveway they could no longer hide the surprise. “Why are all these cars here?” she asked, her face practically planted against the window.
“Go and find out,” Chuck said.
You didn’t have to ask her twice. Carolyn’s door flew open and ran to the front door. She dashed through the house and out the back door, where she was met by a chorus of “Surprise!” Followed by an off-key, but spirited rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
When the serenade completed, Carolyn laughed, and said, “My birthday isn’t for six more days, you sillies.”
Chuck swept her into his arms, with less ease than he used to. “Labor Day was the only day we could get everyone together for your party.”
“Does that mean I get two parties this year?”
“Don’t press your luck.”
She viewed the crowd and for the first time she realized, “It’s a Superfriends party! That’s cuh-razy!”
A woman came up to her and gave her a big hug. “Welcome home, birthday girl.”
“Aunt Dana—you’re Wonder Woman.”
“I am, and Billy’s going to be Batman as soon as he gets changed. We thought that might give it away at the airport. Or he might end up on a no-fly list.”
She looked to Chuck. “Who are you going to be, Daddy?”
“Since you’re Supergirl, I think I’m going to be Supergirl’s father—Super Dad.”
Lindsey approached, dressed business attire and glasses. Carolyn looked confused. “How come you didn’t dress up for my party, Lindsey?”
“I did—I’m Lindsey Lane. I’m not a superhero, but I work with Super Dad at the Daily Carolyn, where he hides his identity as Chuck Whitcomb, father and hockey coach.”
Speaking of which, she looked to Chuck who smiled at her to let her know that the trip went very well. It answered Billy’s question—he had been offered the job. Billy could tell she was happy for him, but he sensed mixed emotions.
Carolyn mingled with her classmates who were dressed as assorted superheroes. Hawk and his son Little Hawk were present, and Billy decided that if Hawk were a superhero he’d be Windbag.
Carol Ann Pennington, Beth’s biological mother had made the trip, along with the many children she conceived at Jordan Plantation—Carolyn’s aunts and uncles, who Billy still struggled to remember their names. Carol Ann didn’t need to dress as a superhero because she already was one, having saved Beth, shipping her to Mrs. B, before she could be captured by Operation Anesthesia.
Same went for Miss Rose, who had helped in their attempt to escape from the plantation. She also had been the longtime cook there, and since gaining her freedom she’d opened a restaurant in her native Montreal that she runs with her surviving children. She was catering the party.
Carolyn was approached by one of the many “real” superheroes that were working the party. But she wouldn’t be fooled. “Cassidy you’re Elektra.”
Billy looked to Chuck. “How does she know who Elektra is? Kind of an obscure character.”
Chuck shrugged with a smile. “We watch all Jennifer Garner movies in the Whitcomb house. They’re very educational.”
Carolyn didn’t seem to know who her sister was. She laughed, “You look like a big green frog, Kaylee.”
“I happen to be The Enchantress, and if you’re not nice to me little girl I’ll put a spell on you.”
Carolyn giggled. Not taking the threat very seriously.
“I thought your cute friend Ryan might be here, but I haven’t seen him,” Cassidy said.
“He’s still in the hospital, but he’s getting better. He should be home soon,” Carolyn said, matter of factly.
But Billy noticed a twinge in Chuck’s face when she said it, and wondered how true Carolyn’s prognostication was.
Carolyn received another visitor, this time of the four-legged variety.
“Nails!’ she shouted. She ran to the dog and swept him into her arms like Chuck often does to her.
“I missed you soooo much,” she said and they rubbed noses.
But when she set him down, Nails took off like a flash. Carolyn ran after him. “Where are you going, Nails?”
The crowd followed like a gallery at a golf tournament, until they arrived at the doghouse. Nails stood proudly in front of it, panting like he could drink a river, and showing off his new home to his master.
Carolyn couldn’t hold back her excitement and was hopping up and down.
“It’s a birthday present for both of you,” Chuck said.
Carolyn looked to Nails. “We can stay out and camp all night, catch fireflies, and sleep in the doghouse!”
Not exactly what Chuck had in mind when he first told the idea to Billy. And at the time, he had no idea he might be moving to Nashville. He pointed at the two people standing beside the miniature red barn. “What do you say to Jay and Tilly? They’re the ones who built the house.”
Carolyn went to say thank you, but the words didn’t come out. She was too overwhelmed to speak. Wonders were ceasing once again.
Jay said, “You don’t need to thank me—that big smile on your face is plenty.”
“And we’re so happy that you gave Nails a good home, that we wanted to build him a better house,” Tilly added.
Carolyn remained behind, holding court with Nails and her friends. Billy and Dana took advantage to to corner Chuck in the kitchen, when he went to grab a beer from the fridge.
“So how’d the interview go?” Dana asked.
“I got the job,” he responded nonchalantly.
“So you took it?” Billy asked, not sure how to react.
“Not yet.”
“You’ve always dreamed of making the NHL, it seems like it would be hard to pass up.”
“And think about the financial security it could bring,” Dana added.
Chuck twisted off the cap of the beer bottle and sent a grin her way. “You mean, we can get off your payroll.”
“You know I didn’t mean it that way. I’m going to pay for stuff whether you like it or not. But that’s the thing—you don’t like it. In fact, you hate taking my money. So all I’m saying is you’d hate taking their money a lot less.”
He looked out the kitchen window, “I’m not sure I can leave Carolyn right now.”
But Billy noticed that Carolyn was nowhere to be found in his view. The person Chuck was looking at was Lindsey Lane.
“Are you sure you’re talking about the right girl?” Dana asked.
“I have to sit down and talk to her … both of them … before I make a decision. There’s more to life than a job.”
It sounded cliché—like if you don’t have your health nothing else matters. On that subject, Billy noted, “I saw your look when Cassidy brought up Ryan.”
“It’s not good. He has a really bad infection and doesn’t have the tools to fight it off. The Dobbs family traveled to Boston to see him … they fear it might be their last chance.”
The sobering news left the room momentarily silent, before Dana asked, “Does Carolyn know?”
“Absolutely not, and she’s not going to know until she has to.
” He swigged his beer and let out a frustrated sigh. “As terrible as it sounds, it’s why I didn’t want her to get too close to him. Last thing she needs right now is to lose another person she’s close to. It’s going to crush her.”
They heard the backdoor slam. Billy went to check it out, and returned with a shrug. “Must have been a ghost—nobody’s there.”
A few minutes later they heard the door again. But this time it wasn’t a ghost … or a kid lost on their way to the bathroom. It was Miss Rose.
The fifty-something, heavy-set woman with porcelain-like mocha skin immediately went to Chuck and they embraced. They would always have a tragic bond from that day in Clarksville, which only they could understand.
When they broke the embrace, she stepped back and looked at him. “There’s something different about you.”
“Lost twenty-five pounds … although, think I’ve gained about ten back this summer.”
“That’s not it.” She grinned. “I think it’s that you’re in love.”
“So how’s the restaurant business treating you?” he quickly changed the subject.
She kept grinning at him. “If that’s the way you wanna play it, that’s all right, I got all day. But first I need to get the birthday cake ready.”
“Chocolate?” Billy asked.
“You just keep your grubby hands off it, Harper” Miss Rose warned. “You and Chuck come with me and help me wheel it out.”
“I’ll go round up Carolyn,” Dana said.
Easier said than done, Billy thought.
Chapter 46
“What do you mean she left?” Chuck asked.
“When I talked to the other kids they said she got on her bike and took off,” Billy said.
“All by herself?”
Billy nodded.
Biking was a group project for Carolyn. And would be more so today with a built-in audience. Do you wanna ride bikes? If the answer was no, her retort would be something along the lines of, Do you wanna watch me ride my bike? To just takeoff from her birthday party, alone, was not her M.O.
“She’s not in the cul-de-sac,” Lindsey reported. That was where she’d normally ride her bike.
Billy wasn’t sure where she went, but he thought he knew why she did. That’s what the door slam was—Carolyn had overheard them talking about Ryan.
Dana agreed on the motive, and confidently added, “I know where she is.”
“Then where is she?” Chuck asked, losing patience.
“Just let me handle this,” Dana said, and began walking across the property.
Wonder Woman to the rescue.
She arrived at the area at the far end of the property where a small headstone marked the spot Beth had been buried. Sure enough, Carolyn was sitting in front of it, her bike laying by her side.
Dana slowly made her way to the girl and sat down next to her. “I like your new shirt,” she began.
“It’s not a shirt, it’s a hockey jersey.”
“I still like it. And I’ll bet it’s a lot more comfortable than this Wonder Woman outfit. I have a new respect for Lynda Carter.”
“I was going inside to change into my Supergirl costume.”
“And you overheard us talking.”
She nodded, her eyes never leaving her mother’s headstone.
“We were supposed to stick together.”
“Who was?”
“All of us.”
“But especially your mom, right?”
Tears began leaking down her apple cheeks. “I didn’t want her to go.”
Dana blew out a deep breath and wrapped her arm around her niece. “It really sucks, I know.”
“Everybody lies to me.”
“That’s not true.”
“My mom said she was going to Sesame Street, but she’s not there.”
Dana questioned how she knew that, and received a detailed answer—the most compelling evidence was that there was no way her neat-freak sister could coexist with Oscar the Grouch. She had really put a lot of thought into this. And Dana couldn’t argue the point.
“And now Ryan,” Dana continued.
“He said he’d keep it real. But last time I talked to him he said he was getting better and would go home soon. And now he’s going to die just like Owen.”
She looked at Dana; a look of desperate confusion. “I mean, what’s the point of being as strong as hen’s teeth if you’re just going to die anyway?”
“How do you know Owen died?”
I just know—nobody tells me stuff, so I have to figure it out on my own,” she said, frustrated.
“The adults just want you to worry about being a kid, so you don’t have to deal with stuff like that. That’s different from lying.”
She was not even six years old, for goodness sake, Dana thought. She should be concerned with starting first grade tomorrow, buying a new outfit, seeing her friends, what teacher she’d get this year. Not these type of things.
“But it’s true, isn’t it? Ryan’s going to die.”
“Nobody knows that for sure. But he is really sick.”
She nodded, taking in her words.
“Tomorrow he’s getting something called a white blood cell transfusion to help fight his infection. It’s really important that it goes well,” Because it was pretty much his last chance, and even the optimistic Donovan thought it was a long-shot. “He’s going to need all the good thoughts he can get, okay? So no moping. All positive.”
She looked briefly hopeful.
Dana added, “But no matter what happens, Ryan is really lucky.”
“How could he be lucky if he dies, and then he can never see his friends ever again? That makes no sense.”
“He was lucky because he met you. You helped him live out his dreams. If it wasn’t for you he’d never have gotten to play hockey again. And most of all, you’re a good friend, and good friends make us strong when we’re feeling the weakest.”
She wasn’t buying it. “Next time someone tries to take someone from me, I’m going to beat ’em up like Dalton.”
“Dalton?”
From Roadhouse—it’s my new favorite movie instead of Slap Shot. I’m surprised you didn’t know that.”
“In my defense, you’ve changed your favorites so much that it’s hard to keep up.”
“You can help me beat them up, Aunt Dana.”
“I’m more of a lover than a fighter.” She decided on a different approach. “You know what I hated?”
“What?”
“When my mom died people would say I’m sorry you lost your mom, and I was like; I didn’t lose her. She’s with me every day. Do you know what I mean?”
“Not really.”
“I couldn’t see her anymore, or touch her, but I could still talk to her.”
“Is this the thing where she put instincts in you that teaches you to do the right thing? And I should ask what she would do? Just so ya know, that doesn’t always work.”
“No—I mean I actually talk to her, and she talks back to me. Like when you imagine something hard enough and it becomes real.”
“Like Moko?”
Her imaginary friend back when she was three. “He seemed real, right?”
“Yes.”
“It’s kind of the same thing—I would talk to Mrs. B. And then when your mom started to have a hard time I taught her how to reach her, and it really helped.”
“Is that when she had purple hair?”
Dana laughed. “She’s never going to live that down. What do you say I teach you how to do it?”
“Talk to my mom?”
“Yeah—but remember, it’s like a superpower, so you can only do it when something is really important, or it won’t work.”
“Like whether my dad should move to Nashville?”
“You got it. Now all you have to do is close your eyes and imagine your mom so hard that you can see her.”
Carolyn closed her eyes and went into a brief trance. Her face twisted and contra
cted. At one point, Dana wondered if she was ever going to snap out of it. But then her eyes popped open. “My mom says Daddy should move to Nashville … and oh yeah, she says to say hi, Aunt Dana.”
“See, I told you … but it’s got to be our secret or it won’t work anymore.”
They did a pinkie swear, and then Dana helped Carolyn to her feet. “How about we head back to the party and get some cake?”
Carolyn closed her eyes again and returned to her trance. A few seconds later she came out of it. “My mom says she hopes it’s chocolate.”
“I thought I told you only to do it if it’s really important?”
“What could be more important than cake?”
Good point. Crisis averted.
“Hey Aunt Dana,” Carolyn said as they headed back toward the party. “What do you say I jump off the stairs like Supergirl is flying, but Wonder Woman saves me. That would be cool.”
On to the next crisis.
Chapter 47
Chuck sat on the edge of the bed and lightly shook Carolyn.
She pried her eyes open like they’d been glued together, and then looked around the room with a stupefied look.
“Sorry to wake you, sweetie, but I have something important to tell you.”
“Are we going to the cabin?” Carolyn asked.
“No—why do you say that?”
“Because it’s still dark out, and we go to the cabin when it’s still dark out.”
“We’re not going to the cabin, but I’m on my way to Nashville … I’ve decided to give the job a chance.”
“Did you think it all the way through?”
“All the way. And it wasn’t an easy decision, so you know what I did?”
“No.”
“I made a list of all the reasons to go, and then the ones not to. But it ended in a tie.”
“So it went into overtime?”
“Yep … but it still was tied.”
She was now fully alert. “So you had to have a shootout?”
The Carolyn Chronicles, Volume 1 Page 23
