Chapter 22: Holidays

Two weeks later, the Hartwell/Olsen/Renault household was breaking camp. Suitcases and duffel bags were stuffed with clothes, laptops were backed up for security, and last minute arrangements made. Then, on early Saturday, they boarded a regular flight to Missoula, hogging almost the entire business class of the small plane.

Dani was flying high on a cloud. She’d been noticed by talent scouts from USC, UCLA and ASU and offers were coming in. It also helped that she came from a respected prep school. Add to this that she had attended a movie opening wearing an evening dress, and Dani was one happy girl.

At the airport in Missoula, Josh had arranged for a rental Range Rover. They loaded their gear into the rear and piled in. Ten minutes later, Josh stopped the car.

“Guys, I’m not used to driving through snow. One of you take the wheel.”

A chant of “Momma Bear, Momma Bear!” rose from the backseats and a grumbling Judy took over. That was indeed a good idea because the last twenty miles or so were getting tricky with a solid snow cover on the road and quite a few snow drifts of 4 inches and more strewn in. Nothing new for Judy, but even she kicked in the four-wheel drive tackling the final uphill section.

“That’s a neat car,” she grinned when they crested the last incline, disengaging the front wheels again, but staying in low gear for the downhill approach to Clearwater. Looking at the piles of snow everywhere, she sighed. “God, but I’m so sick of snow!”

Somebody had cleared the driveway and the small path to the front door for them, which was helpful since none of them was wearing boots. Josh and David schlepped the luggage into the house while the females opened the shutters and dialed up the heating. The house had sat empty since summer, but Judy had arranged for a neighbor to give it a cleaning every month and it was tidy enough.

Sleeping arrangements were cozy. While Josh shared the small master bedroom with Judy, and Dani had her old room, David and Melanie had to make do with his old bed. It was long enough for David, but only 4 feet wide.

“We’ll snuggle,” Melanie smiled.

Nobody felt like cooking dinner, so they piled into the Ryder again and drove to the Clearwater Diner. Pesky Joe, the owner, fixed them with his famous steak beef burgers. They were busy digging in when the door to the diner opened.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” Judy laughed.

Cliff and Kylie Henson were stomping the snow off their boots, but then made it over quickly.

“Hey! You guys came in today?” Kylie asked, bending over the table to give them brief hugs. “Davy, we saw Lockout. It was amazing to watch you play again. You were really great!”

“Hey! What about me? The force that held the movie together?” Melanie complained.

That’s what one critic had written, that Melanie had held the movie together with her presence, both in her role as Marie and as narrator. The reviews had been great on the whole, with a 78% Fresh rating on the Rotten Tomato aggregator. There had been some friendly jabs at David’s acting, but he’d also been described as a “dreamy hunk” by one female critic.

“You were absolutely great as usual,” Cliff answered Melanie’s question.

“So, how’s music business?” David asked to forestall any further discussion of his acting.

“Not much to talk about recently,” Kylie answered lightly. “I’m studying full time again so I should graduate when Cliff finishes law school. I could transfer some credits from my freshman year.”

“We’ve only played a few weekend gigs since summer,” Cliff added. “It’s enough to keep the rust away. Mind if we sit with you guys?”

David helped Cliff to drag another table over and Pesky Joe asked them for their order. Kylie picked the roast beef sub while Cliff took a burger. The talk around the table was animated as they had not seen each other for some time. Kylie had of course heard about Judy and Josh’s engagement, but the sight of Melanie’s engagement ring surprised her and she shook her head.

“You guys are both the most unlikely and the most ideal couple.”

“Neatly summarized,” David agreed. “You wouldn’t believe the crap we have to hear. ‘David, how come a village idiot like you gets to score a celeb babe like Melanie?’ It’s all I hear.”

“People don’t realize how well we fit together. It’s because they reduce me to being a celebrity. Nobody really gets that I’m a boring nerd girl in real life,” Melanie laughed.

Cliff chuckled. “Oh well, I get some of the same as David. You see, Kylie’s that hot chick singing her heart out on stage, and I’m the dull dude in the rear focusing on his guitar. They don’t get what she sees in me. Well, neither do I.”

Just then the door opened again to let in a late customer.

“Joe, I need three of your big burgers, one with fries and one with wedges and sour cream,” the woman hollered. Looking around she saw the group at the table and her face broke into a smile.

“Why, hello there! Back in town for Christmas?” she asked.

It was Alexandra Greenbaum, a.k.a. Xasha, whom Melanie and David had met in the gym last winter.

“Hi, Miss Greenbaum,” David answered.

“Uh-uh!” She held up her hand sporting a wedding band. “It’s Missus Jorgensen if you please.”

“You and Eric?” Judy asked. “Well, congratulations to both of you!”

“Of course Eric,” Alexandra laughed. “We’re both graduates now. I put up my shingle as a speech therapist in town. You wouldn’t believe how many young boys start to stutter when they see me!”

David blushed a little but he laughed along with the others. Then Alexandra seemed to remember something.

“Oh, you probably haven’t heard, Miss Renault. You remember the stuck-up bitch from the gym? Maxine Jameson?”

“Oh, yes. What? She’s on the warpath again?” Melanie asked remembering the unpleasant encounter with the woman.

“She tried to run over her latest ex-fiancé in her car. Missed him and piled her Mercedes up against a tree. Oh-point-one-eight BAL. She also called that new deputy a “dirty greaser” and took a swing at Chief Running-Elk when they arrested her. Really bad idea. By now she should have mastered the art of license plate making.”

“She’s doing time and I don’t know of it?” Kylie grumped. “Why didn’t my father tell me? Damn it. What’s the use of being the DA’s daughter when you never hear the juicy stories?”

Cliff’s mouth was open. “She took a swing at Chief? And there was enough left of her to send to Billings?”

Judy also shook her head. “He must be getting older.”

“She got two and a half years. Trying to run over a man counts as assault with a deadly weapon, plus DUI and resisting arrest. Her daddy was nearly having a stroke in the court room. He sold his ranch and moved to near Billings to visit his princess as often as possible.”

“Well, good riddance!” Cliff exclaimed. “That family was big time trouble.”

Melanie had been sitting quietly up until then. “It must be funny for you all, but I could have landed in jail too. I mean, you all know what kept me out.”

David took her hand in his. “Yes, but without Brentano you wouldn’t have driven that car in the first place.”

“Still, it’s nothing funny.”

Alexandra blushed a little. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake bad memories. You know, Lori reacted the same as you. When she heard, she even called Maxine to clue her in on prison and how to avoid bad stuff there. I guess Lori is a better person than I am.”

“Well, she was an obnoxious bitch,” David shrugged. “Sure, prison is tough, but who told her to go run over a guy on purpose? Maybe they should get her a shrink?”

“Maybe,” Judy said. “Or maybe somebody should’ve put her over a knee some ten years ago when she started her princess act. Coddling just doesn’t work. So when did you marry?”

“September 15. We did a civil ceremony. With my past and in a church, who knows, we might’ve attracted lightning. I didn’t feel like wearing a white dress either. Let’s say it was a modest affair which I liked just fine.”

“How’s that other girl, the one from the documentary, Charlie Hell’s sister?” Kylie asked.

Alexandra grinned. “She and our buddy Ricky Ryder are verrry close now. With Ricky now in the mainstream and she on the writing staff of the show, there’s talk of a wedding. That’ll be a day! Ricky Ryder marrying!”

Ricky Ryder was a veteran performer in the porn business and he had co-produced a documentary about The Short Life of Charlie Hell, about the adolescence and porn career of the late Charlie Hell who had died on a surgeon’s table while getting breast implants. That documentary was based on the young woman’s diaries and it was conceived, produced and enacted by a motley crew of her colleagues. It had won much acclaim and the upshot was that Ricky Ryder was now co-starring in the cable sitcom Utilities Included. David and Melanie had seen a few episodes, and the guy was funny.

Pesky Joe had Alexandra’s burgers and fries ready now and she wished them a good night. The rest of them were finished with their burgers and Josh called for the check. He marvelled a bit about the low prices – the dinner for seven people had come to less than $80 – but then he discovered that Joe did not accept plastic. Judy chuckled and pulled out her billfold to pay with the required cash.

“This is the backwoods,” Dani chuckled. “Up until two years ago you could pay for your dinner with nuggets or beaver pelts.”

Kylie and Cliff said good night to them and headed for Kylie’s home where they were staying. The rest climbed into the Rover and drove back to the Olsen’s home.

Up in David’s room, Melanie changed into modest PJs while David hogged the bathroom. When he returned, Melanie headed for the bathroom too, but Dani beat her to it. Melanie had to wait her turn, but fortunately Dani was quick. Teeth brushed and face washed, she headed back for David’s room where she found her fiancé already under the covers. She switched off the ceiling light and felt her way through the small room and to the bed. David held the duvet up for her and she snuggled under it and close to David. The bed creaked badly.

“Oh, rats!” she grumped. “I completely forgot that.”

“Shit!” David concurred. “I’ll tighten the bolts tomorrow and get some talcum powder for the slats. Let’s just cuddle. Beany is young and impressionable and she’s next door.”

Melanie giggled. “Can’t get your sister aroused, can we? Okay, betrothed of mine. Snuggle time!”

She turned her back to David and scooted close. With his arm around her and his midsection pressing into her butt, she fell asleep.

Tightening bolts and dusting talcum over the slats of the bed frame did not help. The old fir wood bed frame was simply beyond its use-by date. After waking the ancient Cherokee from hibernation, David and Melanie drove to Missoula to find a furniture outlet. The drive was iffy with the snow on the roads, but the Cherokee was well maintained and a fitting car for the conditions.

The bed they found was wider than a double at 4’8” and it came with a compressed foam mattress. Melanie remembered in time to get sheets as well, plus a second duvet and pillow. While they were at the outlet, they got a few more items for David’s bedroom which had been left unchanged since he left for college, such as a set of duvet covers that did not promote the Laker’s franchise.

It was early afternoon when they returned and it took them another two hours to assemble the bed. In the evening, David and Melanie visited the Clearwater Health Club for old times sakes. Linda Carlisle beamed when she saw them. She would not hear of payment, but she comped them for the use of the gym over the holidays. Melanie made sure to buy two outrageously expensive gymnastics suits in Linda’s sporting goods store, plus a year’s supply of isotonic drinks.

Although there was a rower in the garden mouse in Bel Air, they both had fond memories of the old machine in Linda’s gym. Just for old times’ sake, David spent twenty minutes on it. There were other customers using the facility but nobody they knew, until Dolores Jorgensen entered. She was still in amazingly good shape, and her eyes lit up when she saw David and Melanie.

“Hey! I saw your movie. It was sooo sweeeet!” she enthused.

“David thinks he sucks at acting,” Melanie grinned.

“He does, but isn’t he adorable?” Dolores answered.

“Hey, I’m right here,” David protested.

“We saw your friend Alexandra at the diner yesterday,” Melanie continued, ignoring David’s protest. “I think it was really classy of you to try and help that Maxine woman.

Dolores shrugged. “It’s easy to gloat about somebody going into stir. I’ve been there, and there’s nothing funny about it.”

Melanie nodded. “I was lucky to avoid prison time for my idiocy, so I’m loath to point fingers.”

“Exactly. Through my husband I hear of many cases. He’s a parole officer, you know, and he sees all sorts of people.”

Melanie tilted her head. “You have an amazing story to tell, you know that?”

“Yeah, but there’s more to it than people, even my family, know. It’s best left alone.”

Melanie nodded seriously. “Yeah. I know what you mean. I did some shitty stuff when I was ... traumatized? Well, I was a horrible bitch.”

“I was caught up in revenge fantasies,” Dolores admitted. “I dreamed about hitting back at rapists. It was an obsession, and it landed me in jail.”

“Well, we both had luck,” Melanie summed up. “We met the right guys.”

“Did we ever!” Dolores smiled. “You and Davy are engaged?”

“Oooh! Somebody is watching late night shows!”

“Yeah, well, sometimes I do,” Dolores grinned.

“Yes, he asked me and I said yes, no question really.”

“Good for you! When?”

“We haven’t picked a date yet. Uncle Josh and Judy are first.”

“Judy Olsen and your Uncle? How did that happen?”

“Well, they met when Davy was in the hospital and Josh was sort of acting for me. He’s a big-shot entertainment lawyer, but he made certain I was well represented. He also made certain I met my obligations towards Davy. That meant he had to interact with Davy’s mom. When I took Davy in, she came to visit to make sure he was all right. I s’pose that’s when the two of them hit it off. I mean, Josh had been running pretty loose in the Hollywood scene. Lots of aspiring actresses slash waitresses who’d do anything for a step up in the business. I guess he got tired of fake tits and lips and picked a real woman for a change.”

“Judy is that. Hearing ‘lawyer’ makes my skin crawl a bit, but to each his own,” Dolores laughed. “Are you okay with that, David?”

He stopped the exercise and grinned. “Hell, I’ll be giving her away, and Dani will be bridesmaid together with Mel and Leslie Cramer. We like Josh; he’s cool.”

“Joe and I married here in front of the Judge, on my father’s farm. No Hollywood wedding for us,” Dolores laughed.

“Oh, but Mom and Josh will also be married here in Clearwater, at the courthouse on New Year’s Day,” David answered. “Josh is talking of retiring here in a few years. I s’pose he’s got money to burn already so he won’t work into his sixties.”

“Wow! That’s some news. Well, I wish them luck. You guys too. You make a cute couple! Lemme go punish that sandbag now. I’ll see you at the gløgg bash!”

David and Melanie finished their workout and used the newly built locker rooms to shower and change. It looked like Linda was building up her business – there were definitely more clients working out than the year before. Once done, they drove home over snowy streets.

Supper was waiting when they entered the house. They all watched a show on TV afterwards, but then they retired upstairs to get sleep. The new bed was a vast improvement although it certainly took more space in David’s small bedroom. For the first time, David and Melanie made love in the Olsen home, without hurry and with lots of cuddling and giggling on Melanie’s part.