Chapter 44

Their house in Phoenix was palatial, and their place, Ronald’s and Stacey’s, duplex in Douglas was a hovel by comparison. And why a duplex and not a house or a long term lease on a condo? I would learn later that the other unit would be for Pete Grissom and or the occasional other guest. His job description at Carter LLC was way different than the old one. He was now a full time assistant—not just a pilot—to the president of the company. He went everywhere the boss did. If it was by car he drove, if it was by air he flew the plane. He was also the de facto body guard of the Carter clan when they were on the road.

Since Jenn and James had moved down the two other Carters had been coming down more too. I’d gotten to know Pete Grissom a lot better and he was indeed a serious guy. I could see why Ronald had chosen him when he created the new job title for the man.

He and I talked some about his old friend Darnell Driscoll. They’d killed some stinkies in Afghanistan together, though at the time Pete had been junior to the then Captain Driscoll. But, in country relationships could be a little looser depending on the situation and the personnel involved. Pete had flown his chopper to a firefight and pulled the good Captain out along with four other guys all of whom were wounded. He’d gotten the bronze star for his trouble and a cautionary admonition from the company commander, but the way Pete told it, the admonition had been made with a smile.

The primary upshot of all of the happenings of the past months was to be open to better relations with the rest of the clan.

The only question in my mind was which change of position by the principals was of the greater influence in changing my feelings toward the family Carter: Ronald’s new uncle-hood status or Jenn’s change of heart in terms of how she saw me relative to my brother. Regardless of which new reality was the most influential, I determined to be way more in evidence as time passed when it came to being around for things.

As for being around for the family more, I was seeing Jenna almost daily. For one she knew where to find me after work, well most days, and the Mustang had become her hangout too. One thing, a kind of trivial one thing, that I’d learned about my very talented daughter, was the truth that she had developed some skill as a pool player. I still beat her most times, but she was by no means chopped liver.

James I didn’t see as much. He had a lot keeping him on the move. His job as private investigator kept him busy of course, but he had also been tasked by the law firm to do research on this and that subject whenever he wasn’t chasing down witnesses or evidence or some other important detail.

At the moment, as it happened, James was sitting beside me and stirring his drink.

“Mom and Uncle Ron are coming down this weekend or so I’ve been told by Jenna,” said James. I raised an eyebrow.

“Okay,” I said. “The occasion?” I heard the man refer to my brother as uncle, and I’d heard it a lot over the months since they’d arrived and the Phoenix branch of the Carter clan had purchased the plane and all. But it still sounded funny hearing it. Well, one could imagine.

“Nothing special. They’ve got the plane and the interest in visiting I guess. Oh, and I hear that Stacey is learning to fly that plane. Pete’s teaching her,” said James.

I couldn’t see my Stacey as being in the pilot’s seat of a plane, but apparently as incongruous as such might have seemed she was apparently indeed learning to fly.

“Well, good,” I said. “Looking forward to it.” My son-in-law smiled.

“You know Dad, it sounds kinda strange hearing you say that,” said James.

“I’ll bet,” I said. James smiled again.

“But it’s a good kind of strange,” he said, and then he laughed.

“Hmm,” I said.

“To go back to what I was saying. They’re coming down this weekend and I think Missus Driscoll is coming too. Says she likes the environment better down here than in Phoenix,” said James.

“Yeah, well, so do I,” I said. “She and I have something in common there then.”

“Yeah, me too,” he said.

It was Saturday Morning, and James and I made the pick up at the little airstrip just outside of town. We’d taken the Ellison’s SUV; well it accommodated more bodies. Pete had flown the trio down, but he, Pete, had been picked up by a local friend of his and the word was that he’d be staying over at the friend’s place for the weekend.

“Good to see you, Ron, Stacey. You too Jane,” I said. I was smiling and so were they.

The ride to the Phoenix Carters place in Douglas was pleasant and short, ten minutes actually. Ron rode up front with James. I was trapped between the two females in the back; I was betting that that was by design. Well, at least they smelled better than the two guys up front; there’s an upside to everything.

I had been to the Carter duplex once before. It was on their last foray into my bailiwick. But they’d done stuff to it, or had it done, since then; it looked real good. Still, small it was, but very nice: a regular getaway cottage for two rich people. I was actually jealous.

We unloaded and headed inside the place.

It was still early, but Stacey and Jane were already planning lunch. Jenna, for her part, had work to do on some case or other. I guess there was no rest for some people. James said she’d likely be coming around 2:00 P.M. all things being equal.

Anna, Jane’s daughter, was staying with an aunt for the week. They’d planned something sometime before her mom having been at pains to see to her activity schedule since the death of her daddy.

Lunch went on without a hitch and everyone including me had a good time. I kept getting looks from James that told me he was being continually surprised by my apparent stable and contented state of mind.