Chapter 92

2 p.m. Sunday

Regan sat with Joy going over classical literature at a table on the lower deck of the yacht. She wore a gold, strapless bikini with a pleated back that started just at the top of her butt crack and molded itself to her buns.

Joy's bikini was bright red, with bra cups that dipped low and leg holes that rose high. Regan had made it a point to rise up on her knees as often as she could so Andy could see her shapely body if he chose to look - which he did as often as he caught movement in his peripheral vision.

He was sitting on the upper deck with Chris, going over more math equations. He had taken the class the year before and was helping Chris learn a few tricks that had gotten him an A in the course.

Elizabeth was away from both groups, sitting in a chair near the bow as she read the study guide to her Civics class. She had a perfect score in the class and could have netted a zero on the final and still walked away with a B but she wanted to maintain her reputation for wrecking the curve in every class where she was enrolled.

Her bikini was more conservative than the other girls' but still fit her well. Elizabeth's black tube top and high-cut bottoms resembled the ensembles found on beach volleyball courts.

As Andy's phone rang, Regan turned to see who was calling him. She was still waiting on Ruth to arrive but that was the only person missing from the group. She wondered if Paul might be calling to mention something amazing had happened at the baseball game.

Regan watched as Andy's smile faded from his pleasant features. He wore his new sunglasses so she couldn't see his eyes.

"She did what!?" he asked loudly as he stood so quickly the chair where he'd sat almost fell over. "Tell me that you're kidding."

Regan was already on her way to the upper deck when Andy tilted his head back toward the sky. She saw his shoulders tense and his chest expand as he took a deep breath. He exhaled slowly before he spoke.

"No, I understand that you'd have stopped it if you could have," he said. "Trying to stop her from doing anything is usually a fruitless task. I appreciate you calling to let me know but I'm really not interested in doing that right now. OK. I will."

Andy's jaw set in anger for a moment.

"I have absolutely nothing to say to you right now!" he yelled. "And I am not interested in listening to anything you have to tell me either. Goodbye!"

He sat down heavily in the chair and slammed the phone down on the table just as Regan arrived.

"Is everything OK?" she asked.

Andy's head jerked in her direction so quickly she feared he might break his neck.

"How much of this is your idea?" he asked angrily. Regan blinked behind her sunglasses.

"I don't know what happened," she noted.

"Oh, like hell," Andy spat. "Last night, you're telling me all the features I should get in a new car and not 12 hours later my mother and grandmother sell mine without even bothering to ask if I want something new. Now you expect me to believe you didn't have a hand in this?"

"I didn't," Regan said. "I mean, shit. I didn't know she planned to sell your car without talking to you!"

She had never seen such a look of disgust on Andy's face - even when he was talking to people he didn't like. It reminded her of the day he had first faced off with her mother.

"Andy, I didn't know she was going to do this," Regan said in a clear voice. Chris had made a hasty retreat as soon as Andy's voice rose so she took the chair he'd vacated. "Yes, I knew she wanted to buy you a newer car for college. She asked me a week or so ago if I could help her convince you that it would be a good idea. I didn't know she planned to get rid of yours. If I had known, I probably would have bought it from her. I have a lot of good memories in that car."

Andy tried to rub his eyes but forgot he was wearing sunglasses. All he managed to do was smear fingerprints all over the plastic lenses. He took them off and tossed them onto the table with his phone.

"I'm sorry for jumping to a conclusion," he told her.

"I get it," Regan replied. She stood, moved behind Andy's chair and hugged him from the back.

"We have one car in our garage that nobody but Dad drives," Regan continued. "It's not a Bentley or a Rolls. It's 1985 Fiero."

"Fiero?" Andy asked. "It's like a German supercar or something."

Regan laughed.

"Mom calls it that 'Old Bucket of Rust, '" she answered. "It was some little thing that was supposed to be hot when Dad was 16. He insisted that was the car he wanted so Grandpa got it for him. It was made for like a year or two and they were garbage. He took me for a ride in once. We were still in New York so we headed over to Jersey and hit the turnpike. We barely made it across the bridge before it broke down."

Regan shifted around until she could urge Andy to push backward so she could sit on his lap. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed close to him.

"I thought Dad would be furious," she added. "He's always been really selective about who he hired to look after the cars. Instead, he started laughing about it. I asked him why he wasn't pissed off. You know what he said? He told me that the car ran just the same as it did in 1985 - because it was always breaking down on him then, too."

"So your dad and I both have crappy tastes in cars," Andy replied. "Is that what you're saying?"

"I'm saying that I understand guys and cars," Regan told him. "I mean, I don't really understand either one on their own but I know how guys get about cars. That shitty Fiero, that breaks down all the time, is still sitting in our garage because Dad loves it. I used to think that he kept it only because Mom hates it. It's not. He keeps it for the same reason that I still have a stuffed animal at home that I got when I was like four or something. I guess it probably means something to me that it could never mean to anyone else."

"Exactly," Andy agreed.

"But if I told you about how Paulie the Penguin helped me get to sleep at night or how I would talk to him when Mom or Dad was too busy to listen to me, he'd mean the same thing to you as he does to me," Regan countered. "I know that. You are going to like Paulie just because he means a lot to me. That's the way I am with the car. It means a lot to you so it means a lot to me. If you want, I'll find the guy that bought it and get it back for you."

"No," Andy said instantly. "That's silly. The fact it was my car is part of it. The bigger part is that Mom just did it without talking to me first. We've always tried to be considerate of the other's feelings."

"I don't think she meant to hurt you," Regan pointed out.

"No, of course not," Andy answered.

"I think, in her view, she looked at the car as no different than getting rid of a pair of sneakers," she added. "Camille didn't have brothers and, from what you've told me, your grandfather and grandmother weren't sentimental people. She just didn't have a frame of reference."

"Probably," Andy said with a sigh. Despite the amazing amount of old things around the farmhouse when he was a child, Andy didn't consider any of them to be "keepsakes."

"How are you going to get back and forth to school?" Regan wondered. "I can see if one of us can use Dad's car. Joy's little car is too tiny for three of us and Ruth doesn't have a parking permit so we can't use hers."

"Mom planned to go today and buy me another car," Andy said, shaking his head. "Evan said she and grandma are toting around a briefcase full of cash like they're planning to make a drug deal or something."

Regan looked confused.

"Every time Mom has gone to a used car dealer to look for something, they've treated her like crap," Andy explained. "The last time - when the old van broke down - they ran her credit and told her she'd need a huge down payment to get any sort of loan, and that any loan she'd get would have a huge interest rate. She told me she wished that she could just wave a wad of cash in front of the salesman just to watch him grovel for the commission. I'm sure she planned to rub their faces in her newfound wealth for all the times they rubbed her face in her ... poverty. At least Evan talked her into letting me pick out the car.

"I've ... I've never heard him as angry as he sounded on the phone. You know, I always pictured him like Mom described him - this happy-go-lucky beach bum. I could tell he was absolutely furious with Mom and Grandma. His accent gets a lot thicker when he's pissed off. That's probably good information for me to store."

Regan was gratified to see Andy smile - and happy that he no longer seemed intent upon holding her accountable for Camille's decision.

"We can go look at cars this afternoon," she told him.

"Ruth isn't even here yet," Andy pointed out. "We've invited people over - and you still need to study."

Regan offered a grudging nod. She had figured out that Andy's insistence upon study sessions wasn't for his benefit but for hers. She figured that Andy and Elizabeth could have taken their final exams at any point in the past six weeks and still aced them.

"Then you should go," Regan told him. "I'll stay and play the perfect hostess while you attend to things that need to be done."

"I'd rather stay here and check out your butt in your bikini," Andy replied honestly.

"Once you look at cars - and make up with your mom - I'll let you look at it out of my bikini if you want," she giggled, rubbing the aforementioned body part against Andy's groin. "Boobies, too."

Andy drew her down for a light kiss on the lips.

"I'm sorry for taking that out on you," he said again.

"I'm sure I'll do the same to you often enough," she replied. "Now get a good look at Joy and Elizabeth before you go."

"I'll have to call Evan back and have him pick me up," Andy mentioned - making sure to keep his eyes solely on Regan.

"Just take my car," she said off-handedly.

"How will you get around?" Andy asked.

Regan rolled her eyes. She still wore sunglasses so it didn't have the desired effect.

"There are four cars in the lot and another on the way," she said. "If I have to go somewhere, I think I can manage."

Andy nodded - but Regan was certain he was still seething inside.

The adults were already at the car lot when Andy pulled in. He spotted Evan first, standing with a salesman - who appeared to be gesturing toward a group of SUVs parked near the street.

Camille and Anne were off on their own - unbothered and unattended. Evan saw Andy and left the salesman standing there - maybe in mid-sentence. The salesman saw Andy arrive in an Audi convertible and dollar signs flashed in his eyes. Evan gave Andy a sorrowful nod when he approached.

"Cammie has something she wants you to look at," Evan told him. Andy shifted his eyes toward his mother but didn't turn his head. He offered a brief nod. He started to walk away but Evan took his upper arm in a gentle grip.

Andy glanced down at Evan's hand but his father didn't remove it. Andy expected Evan to offer him the same words as Regan: Camille had made a mistake but it wasn't intentional.

"I would recommend that you judge the vehicle on its own merits," Evan told him. "You know what you like. Don't dismiss the vehicle - or accept it - just because your mother likes it. She can purchase it for her own usage if she likes it that much. Are you looking for anything in particular?"