Chapter 27

I recalled my conversation with my uncle regarding all the things that a woman needs to be able to properly relax in a tub, while we were on the way to the mall. When we arrived, Paige directed me over to the Bath & Body Works store where loofahs, brushes, lotions, scented oils, and candles all got pulled off the shelves and found their way into our basket. I was sent to the front counter once to leave the first basket in the care of the salesgirl there and return with a second, empty one. Paige was in discussion with the assistant at the back of the store, smelling the bath salts and remarking on them. She finally chose one and moved on. I captured the attention of the girl she had been working with.

“Do me a favor,” I requested, pulling a twenty out of my wallet, “and make up a basket with all the things she’ll need as well. And those scents she liked but didn’t choose, could you see that I get them?” The Jackson was plucked from my hand by a willing teenager.

I watched long enough to be confident that she was filling a third basket as I had asked, and then went to find my girlfriend. Paige was lingering at the essential oils, lavender in one hand, and a delicate scent that was all her in the other. She kept the lavender, placing the other back on the shelf, only to have it removed from the display again once her back was turned. My eyes found the girl who was helping me, and I gestured at the little vial in my hand, placing it on a different shelf where she could pick it up and add it to the surprise I was creating.

Finally we arrived at the checkout, where all of Paige’s items were collected and rung up. I distracted her while they also added my purchases to the mix, and then I paid for everything before she could reach into her purse. That stuff was expensive, and I was glad that Dad had given me a household account card to use for groceries and incidentals such as this.

I handed the lightest bag to Paige, ending up with the four she wasn’t carrying. On our way out of the mall, I noticed I wasn’t the only boyfriend, fiancé, or husband that was so weighted down. We beasts of burden shared head bobs of acknowledgement as we passed each other and our female companions. At the truck, the bags got tied down in the bed and covered with the netting I kept there for cargo.

We made one more stop on the way home, this time at the Kroger. I sent Paige in for a couple of pounds of spaghetti, sauce, Italian sausages and a loaf of bread, along with a pecan pie for dessert. She managed to find all of it much more quickly than I would, and was back in ten minutes, meeting me at the vehicle where I stood watch over our other purchases. She surprised me when I saw that there were a couple of the pre-arranged bouquets they sold there in the cart as well.

“Your whole house is a little bit like a man cave,” she told me. “I wanted to do this last week already, but I resisted.”

My smile reassured her that I had no problem with her plan.

When we got back home again, I gave her the first of the bags with items she had selected for her mom. “Go set up the bath the way you want, and in the meantime I’ll unload everything and bring it up to you.”

Paige left with an arm full, and I quickly texted Dad to ask when they’d be here. He replied that he thought around five, it being only four-thirty at the moment. I let Paige know how much time she had when I took the other of her bags up to her. She nodded, concentrating on her task.

Good. That meant I could go and get her bathroom set up too. I was quicker about it, mainly because I didn’t try for perfection. Still, clean towels were laid on, the bathmat got replaced, the scented oil station was set up, candles were strategically sprinkled throughout the room, and all the other bathing accoutrements were unpacked. When I was satisfied, I returned downstairs and to the couch in the living room. That’s where Paige found me. We sat there intimately, discussing the day’s events and what it meant for our week. The sound of the garage door opening brought us back to our feet.

We walked through the kitchen where the flowers lay forgotten on the island. “I’ll go help Dad and your mom, you put those in some water,” I said, pointing at the arrangements. “The vases are in that cabinet.”

Sure enough, they had boxes of records, and even one heavy-duty and lockable filing cabinet that Dad and I manhandled into his downstairs home-office. Paige greeted her mother after dealing with vases and we didn’t see them for a while. Just as we were finishing the unloading of the Tahoe and Audi, Evie made an appearance briefly, hugging both of us, and bestowing kisses upon us, me on the customary cheek, while Dad got a full bussing. She left a bewildered man behind.

“What was that all about?” He wanted to know.

“Let’s just say that your bathroom suite is off-limits until supper.” I told him.

“Ah. Claw-foot tub?”

“Yup.”

Paige came back down after getting her mother situated, and gave us matching hugs and kisses, although the situation was reversed for Dad and me – I got the bussing.

“Now, what can I do to help?” She asked, looking around the kitchen for the supplies I had requested that she pick up at Kroger.

I shook my head, “Nothing. You have an appointment to keep.”

I picked up a soft, warm package in my arms, taking her upstairs to the shared bathroom. When I set her down, she was misty-eyed, looking at the service I had performed for her in the same way she had cared for her mother.

“This is all yours until you decide you’ve had enough and come down to join us for supper.”

She surprised me when she ran out of the bathroom and into my room, after a search, emerging with my portable Bluetooth speaker and holding out her hand for my phone.

“Set this up for me please – the same playlist you had for the gazebo. I deserve some good memories of this day.”

I provided service with a smile, getting the music paired and playing before closing the bathroom door behind me as I left. Dad was in his office.

“What now?”

“Let’s just say that both our bathrooms are off-limits for a while.” I watched a grin lighten his face.

“Good thinking, Tim.” He clapped me on the back. “Now ... here’s how I see this working out this week, but we’ll have to see what Evie wants before we do anything.”

We spent close to an hour talking logistics and proposing to each other the concessions necessary here at home to accommodate the two new household additions. We were only brought back to the moment by two beautiful glowing women dressed primarily in fluffy Hilton bathrobes.

Evie spoke for them, “Thank you both. We just wanted to let you know how much we appreciated everything you’ve done today, particularly this last part. We’re going to go back upstairs and get dressed, and then we’ll come down and help with dinner.”

She linked her arm with Paige’s and turned the both of them down the hall before either Dad or I had a chance to say anything. We exited the office, watching the delightful sight of two shapely bathrobes disappearing around the corner that led to the stairs to the second floor.

“I think I could get used to that,” Dad sighed.

I simply nodded, for the moment two guys enjoying the disappearing view of the women in their lives, rather than father and son.

“Come on, Tim, let’s see about supper.”

Tonight, we weren’t going to let the ladies lift a finger to do any work. They had been through a lot, and this was our way of recognizing that. It reminded me of the evenings Dad would do this for Mom, and I was glad he let me be a part of it. He said much the same thing to me as we were finishing the pasta and sauce.

“Tim, remember nights like this, and all the heartache in the world won’t be able to separate you from this feeling.”

I could only nod and follow him into the dining room with my load of food.

We had a nice meal together, everyone taking pains not to get red sauce on them. When we were finished, I cleared the table, taking everything into the kitchen where Dad was packing leftovers and loading the dishwasher. He had sent the women to the media room, saying theirs was an evening of leisure, and that they should pick a movie from our selection while we took care of the other work.

We joined them for a showing of the original Die Hard once we were done, the aggression on-screen substituting for the deeds they wished they could perpetrate themselves. We were all tired when the movie ended, and so we made our way to our rooms and bed, pausing only to refresh ourselves before sleep. I didn’t even notice that my bathroom was cleaner now than it had been earlier. I just brushed my teeth and then I don’t remember anything more.

In the morning, not being able to sleep much past my normal awakening time of five-thirty, I made my way to the kitchen and opened the fridge. With the events of the weekend having occupied our time, I hadn’t had the chance to do any grocery shopping for the week. I pulled a pad off the fridge and began to make notes.

Orange juice, yogurt, eggs, milk, cheese, broccoli, squash (I had the idea that I could make some soup for lunches), which reminded me – chicken and vegetable stock, all made the list. That reminded me again – have Grandma teach me how to make homemade stocks. No bread, I’d bake that myself, but lunch meats. Cheeses, lettuce, cabbage and the rest of the ingredients to make coleslaw. Pork butt, ribeyes, shrimp, chicken legs, thighs, and breasts, bacon – gots to have me my bacon, tofu I thought, remembering my glance in the fridge at the Goddard’s place, cokes, breakfast bars, and bananas. I started another page. Cereal, cream, coffee beans, sugar, sour cream, hamburger meat – I’d compromise and get the lean stuff, salad fixings...

Dad joined me at the fridge, staring at the list I had compiled. “And cantaloupe, Evie loves fresh cantaloupe.” He blushed when I looked at him, but he was purely unapologetic. “Sue me. I remember things.”

I chuckled, adding fresh cantaloupe to my list. “Anything else you can think of?”

He saw the tofu I had penned on the first page.

“Really?” he pointed.

“Yeah,” I replied, “it was in their fridge when I looked the time that Grandma kicked us out.”

“Oh.”

“I’ll find a way to make it tasty” I promised, not knowing how. Of course, Grandma Edwards or Mrs. Emerson might know. I made another note beside the bean curd. “Anything else, Dad?”

“Snacks. We need snacks. I noticed the other night that there were no chips, or salsa, or snack mix in the house.”

Right. Snacks got added to the list. I looked at it again. “I’m taking the Tahoe, Dad.” And I was off.

I was glad that Kroger opened at six in the morning. It looked like I was the first one through the doors after the store’s employees, and I made the most of the empty aisles, careening my cart around until I had crossed off every item on the list, including fresh cantaloupe and yes, the tofu. The household card came out and the checkout girl had me on my way again in time to get home before eight. Dad helped me unload and put things away reserving the special item I had gotten for him on the counter.

“Are they awake yet?” I checked with Dad, not knowing exactly what to do now.

“I heard water running earlier, but I don’t know when they’ll be down.”

Oh. I grabbed a cup of the coffee Dad had brewed in my absence. “So what do we do now?”

“I’m not sure, Tim. Why don’t we play it by ear? Things usually work out best for me when I’m in the moment.”

Ah, so that’s where it comes from. I flashed him a grateful smile, “Me, too.”

It wasn’t long before first Paige and then her mother appeared in the kitchen. Dad told them that breakfast was a make-your-own-way type of thing, and so we each collected the things we wanted and sat down at the dining room table with the various plates we had assembled. Dad said grace, and when eyes opened again, he vanished into the kitchen. I could hear water, then the sound of a knife on the cutting block. When he joined us again, there were wedges of cantaloupe on a plate he offered to Evie.

Unexpectedly, she burst out crying. Paige shot a curious look at me, but I could only shrug. Thankfully, this wasn’t a crying jag like the one we had witnessed when we built the gazebo. Paige huddled with her mother, eventually coming back to whisper in my ear.

“She’s happy, that’s all. She said it was never like this with Dad, even in the good times.”

Apparently there was a lot of healing left to do on the part of everyone. Paige returned to her chair and the yogurt and crumbled granola in her bowl. Breakfast finished up with everyone but Dad happy, he not knowing what was wrong. Evie caught him later and filled him in, after which he, too, was pleased.

When the table had been cleared and breakfast put away, we gathered in the family room and Dad put the question to us. “So how do we proceed?” He looked at Evie, leaving the decision to her.

She nodded. “I thought about this last night when I was soaking in that wonderful tub of yours. I was serious about not wanting to spend another night under that roof. Were you serious about your offer to let us stay here?”

Dad shot a glance at me, catching my nod. “Yes.”

“Well then, that’s settled. Here’s the next sticky point: what do we do about combining households? I’m willing to put some things in storage, but there are other items that I’m going to want with me here. I’m sure Paige feels the same way.”

Another check with me, another nod, and another, “Yes.”

“You’re sure?”

Dad didn’t answer directly. Instead, he looked at me. “Do you still have color-coded stickers left over from our move?”

I nodded again.

He turned to Evie. “Here’s what I propose: Tim and I will go through the furniture in our house, and we’ll place stickers on the things we absolutely want to keep. You go through and place another color on the things you absolutely can’t stand. When an item has one sticker only, we do what’s appropriate with it. If there are two stickers, we set that aside and talk about it. No stickers means the item stays, but can be relocated anywhere you want. When we finish here, we’ll go over to the other house and do the same thing there. Exceptions: my bedroom, Tim’s bedroom, and yours and Paige’s are off limits. We’re only talking about common rooms here, including the kitchen.”

He cast a stern glance at me when he mentioned that room. I had sense enough to shrug, and he turned back to the women. “Fair enough?”

“Not really,” Evie replied with a smile. “You’re not playing all that fair, since I helped pick out the things here that you didn’t bring with you, so you know I already like most of what’s in your house. Otherwise, yes. Paige?”

Paige nodded. “I’m good with that, Mom.”

Dad directed me to get the stickers from where I had stashed them. He gave one set to me, another to Paige, while he and Evie took the last ones. We were each told to start in a different room, and work our way around the house. Paige and Evie received slightly modified instructions as well.

“The rooms you’re currently in are yours until you decide you don’t want them. I hope that day doesn’t come, but if it does, I trust Tim and I will understand. Start there. Anything you want to put in storage from those rooms is fine with us. All of that furniture is new, so you won’t hurt our feelings. If you want to bring over your bedroom suites intact, we’ll move them for you and get you set up.”

There were smiles as Dad made it clear that he wanted them to consider this to be their home, with all that meant. He turned to me when they had left to do as he had directed.

“Tim, I’m going into town to rent some storage units. I suspect we’ll need to put the bedrooms from the two upstairs and the in-law suite downstairs into storage.”

True. We had Grandma and Grandpa coming to stay with us for a while if things went well with our Christmas surprise.

I couldn’t help myself. “Aren’t you glad you designed so many rooms into the house now, Dad?”

One side of his mouth quirked up. “I think I am, Tim. I think I am.”

He grabbed his keys on his way to the garage.

As expected, when we regrouped later in the day, all of the furniture from the two bedrooms occupied by the ladies had been tagged. There wasn’t much in the house that I found the need to claim, with the exception of the media room and the kitchen. Oddly, neither lady seemed inclined to go into the man cave, and there were very few items in the kitchen that were selected for removal. Evie had chosen for the breakfast nook table and chair set to go into storage. Neither dad nor I felt strongly about that, so it was decided. Other rooms had a piece here or there that were chosen – all of them were approved for removal. Then we went over to the other place.

It’s funny how a simple repudiation of things made a home feel only like a house. Even Paige remarked on it.

“It’s like it’s empty already.”

I knew what she meant, giving her shoulders a squeeze. We split up so we could walk through the house with stickers in hand and I quickly discovered how Paige and Evie must have felt this morning. How could I say I didn’t like something they had clearly chosen that fit their taste? Dad must have felt the same way, as he found me and commented on it.

“What if we left everything up to Evie and her daughter? I don’t feel right telling them that they can’t bring something they really want.”

“Okay. Can you find a way to tell them so they don’t feel guilty about it?”

He nodded, “I can try.”

We waited for the women to finish their inventory of the contents, all of us meeting up in the formal living room by the baby grand. I noticed there were both of Evie’s and Paige’s stickers on the piano, which made me glad.

“So did you boys finish?” Evie inquired of Dad.

“Yes and no,” he responded. “We realized how hard it must have been for the two of you this morning when we asked you to go through our stuff, and we came up with a compromise. We want to you to know that there’s nothing we find objectionable, and want you to feel free to bring anything with you.”

There was a mischievous look on Evie’s face. “Anything?” She pointed at a frilly lamp that I had found monstrously ugly. I couldn’t hide my grimace.

“Anything,” Dad replied.

Paige started laughing, and Evie kept pointing. “Go look,” she commanded.

We did, and I found one of my stickers on it, and one of Dad’s. I know I didn’t put them there, maybe he had? He shook his head in negation before I could ask. We looked back at the ladies. Each of them held up two sheets of differently colored stickers, one being their own, and the other one just like those either Dad or I held in our hands. Evie explained.

“Most of the really hideous things that we have in this house were those that my late husband picked out. After yesterday’s revelations, Paige and I found that we didn’t really want them around anymore, so she put Tim’s sticker on it, and I put yours on, James.” She waved at the living room, “Go check.”

Paige followed me, laughing, as I retraced my steps through the house. Sure enough, as I found something I felt wouldn’t fit our décor, it had both my and dad’s rejections on it. I didn’t need to go through all the rooms.

“You’re pretty amazing,” I told Paige as we finished the dining room and I led her back to where our parents were waiting. She winked back at me.

Dad let Evie have control. “James, do you still have the boxes you used for your move?” He nodded. They had been flattened and stacked, but weren’t put out for recycling yet.

“Good. Can we send Tim and Paige to get them?” This time I nodded. They were piled in the garage and my pickup could bring all of them and the tape that would be needed to reassemble them into usable storage.

“Good. You have that covered trailer, don’t you, James?” He was grinning when he nodded again. She sighed, “Do you plan on saying anything or just keep nodding?”

“You’re doing fine, Queen Evangeline,” he told her, eliciting a smile in return.

“Okay, then. Unless I’ve misjudged you, there are storage units waiting for both our and your things, aren’t there?” She didn’t wait for the nod. “Well? Get moving!”

I pulled out my phone, hitting speed dial for Grandpa.

“Hi, Grandpa, big changes in the wind. Can’t talk right now, but I need you to hook up dad’s 350 to the covered trailer, and then start pulling everything out of it and putting it in your shop. Paige and I will be there in about forty-five minutes to help and I’ll explain then.” My grandpa was the greatest; he didn’t argue, didn’t ask questions, simply told me ‘okay’ and hung up.

There was no need to search for my girlfriend as she was already outside in my truck waiting for me. I ran out, started up, and headed home. It took us more time to load the boxes and tie the cargo netting over them than it did to drive the distance between the two places. I had no idea where Dad and Evie were when we arrived for the second time that day at the mansion, but I had my marching orders so there was no need to check in.

We put the boxes and all else that would be needed to assemble them in the entryway, and then high-tailed it back to the truck to make the slightly longer drive to Grandpa’s. When we got there, the 350 was already hitched up, and the trailer was backed so that things could be easily moved off it and into the shop. He and I let Paige head into the house to talk to Grandma while we unloaded and then swept out the space. I explained what had happened over the last two days while we worked. He took it with the calm of a man who had seen a lot of life in his sixty-five plus years.

“So they’re staying with you now?”

“Separate rooms, Grandpa. All of us.”

“Good, good. And when your grandma and I move in?”

“Still space for all of us, Grandpa.”

“Good, good.” He looked at the now clean trailer. “Your grandma will be happy.”

What he meant was that he was, too, he just couldn’t say it. Manspeak.

Paige wanted to drive the tandem back to her old house.

“No way, little girl,” I told her. I tossed her my keys, “You’ve got my truck. I’ll see you at the house.”

She was happy with that, and I was happy that she was happy. I didn’t see Grandpa’s face or Grandma’s grin. She got in my truck with Paige, while he climbed in the cab with me.

“You have no idea what you just did, do you?” He asked me as I started up the big diesel.

“What? I just told Paige to take my truck and meet us at her old house.”

“No, that’s what you think you just did. I’m sure she knows what you meant, but there are mysteries to the female mind.” He left that statement hanging between us.

“What do you mean?” I made a wide swing onto the frontage road that led away from the old homestead.

He decided to share some wisdom with me. “That young woman heard two things just now. She heard, what’s mine is yours, as well as what you actually meant. Just be prepared for the prospect that your ownership of that Ford 150 isn’t as solid as you once thought it was. I wouldn’t be surprised if she asks you for a set of keys to it by the time the week is over.”

“No!” I said, concentrating on my driving. “No. No?”

“Your father faced the same challenge with the girl’s mother, which is why your grandmother was grinning. She’s seen this before. Your father didn’t believe me – I hope you will.”

I was beginning to believe. “So what do I do?”

“I’ll tell you the same thing I told him. If you’re comfortable having her run your life for you, then let her. Otherwise, set some boundaries. See, as much as women see men as partners who need to be trained up to their standards, they have rough edges that need to be knocked off, too. I think if you talk to your girlfriend when she asks for keys, you both can come to an arrangement that works for you.”

I pondered that. “How did you get to be so wise, Grandpa?”

“I had your dad and grandmother to provide life lessons for me.”

We pulled up in front of the mansion where Paige had parked my truck and was just starting to get out. I honked to get her attention, and then pointed to where I wanted her to park. She hopped back in, started and moved my vehicle.

“You’re getting the hang of things, Tim,” Grandpa told me.

Grandma was waiting for him.

“I had the talk with him,” her husband said.

“Good, I had the talk with her, too,” Grandma replied.

We tied blankets around corners of things that Evie cared about. Less precaution was taken with those that bore my and dad’s stickers of denial. They went on the trailer by themselves. I was surprised to see that they filled up almost a full load. Dad hooked an arm around his woman and told the rest of us to follow them down to the mini-storage place. Paige still had my keys which I repossessed from her, giving them to Grandpa so he and Grandma had a vehicle. We would be taking the Tahoe with us, full of miscellaneous boxes that Evie and Dad had packed.

We drove in silence, the radio our only companion until we were about halfway between home and the nearest mini-storage place.

“Grandma’s a wise woman.” Paige offered.

“So’s Grandpa.”

She smiled at that. “I’m telling him that you said he was a wise old woman.”

“I didn’t say ‘old.’” We grinned at each other. “You knew what I meant.”

Paige nodded, “I did.”

“So if I give you a set of keys to my truck, will you abuse the privilege?”

She was serious. “The Paige of an hour ago might have. I hope the new improved Paige won’t.”

“That’s all I can ask. I’ll get you a set later this week,” I promised.

We were both thinking of that when I pulled in behind Dad and Grandpa. The 350 had the codes to the gate, so we waited while Dad punched them in, and then followed him along the corridors spanned by various sizes of roll-up doors. He eventually pulled up to 317 and 318, a set of side-by-side units each big enough for a household’s worth of storage.

“Goddard,” he said, pointing at 317, “and McKenzie,” his big finger indicated 318 for us. We nodded, opening the trailer and various car doors and hauling things out. Dad directed us and we soon had everything unloaded.

“What next?” I asked.

“We go home and do the same thing there,” he told us.

All three vehicles made their way to our house and back again with another load. We partially filled the second unit by lunch.

Evie looked around at the crew assembled. “Lunch. Subway. I’m buying.”

That worked, so we followed the big tandem back to the mansion, dropped it off as well as my truck, and I drove the six of us over to the nearest sandwich shop. It wasn’t Subway, but rather a small deli I had found earlier in the year by using my foodie app. There was something for everyone, although I got a playful swat from Mrs. Goddard when we pulled up.

“What happened to Subway?”

“Ma’am, when it comes to food, you’re just going to have to trust me.” I told her with a grin.

Dad took over the controls on the way back as I was too stuffed to drive, or really do anything but sit and look contented. Grandpa leaned forward from where he was sitting in the back row and clutched my shoulder. “Can you install that app on my phone too?”

“Sure,” I replied, “just give it here and I’ll take care of it.” I hooked up to the Tahoe’s WiFi, downloading and getting the android app installed before we made our destination. “There, all set.”

I looked around. “Anyone else?”

The ladies all shook their heads while Dad handed his phone back to me. I received an explanation from Grandma.

“We like it when the men in our lives give us nice surprises like that. Don’t spoil it for us, Tim.”

When I returned his phone to Dad we all took that as the signal to unload and get back to work. I don’t know what time Grandma and Grandpa left taking my truck with them, but it was late afternoon. The rest of us kept working until the only things remaining in the old house were the piano and the two bedroom suites. Those, Evie decided, could wait until the next day. We were bushed.

In spite of the lack of energy, Paige’s mother insisted that she would cook dinner for us, making what she told us were crêpes along with various fillings. She wasn’t used to our appetites so there was nothing left at the end of the meal, but neither Dad nor I were going to say anything. Paige cleaned up and we all headed to bed after a relaxing evening drinking tea and coffee and hearing stories from the adults about growing up in Macon.

I waited until I was sure the ladies were asleep on the air mattresses from the garage before finding the kitchen and a sandwich. Dad was already there with the makings on the counter. We laughed quietly, and he thanked me for not saying anything at supper.

“Dad, I learned from the best. There was no way I wanted to embarrass her over the first meal she cooked for everyone.”

We ate in companionable silence, deciding to leave our dirty dishes on the counter to clean up in the morning.