Chapter 18

Wednesday turned out to be a strangely normal day. I took Dawn for her walk and decided to detour past Tricia’s house to talk to her and Frank about Malibu. Frank was just getting in his car when he saw me and paused.

“Off to work?” I asked lightly.

“Unfortunately,” he said and told me Tricia was awake inside.

“I wanted to talk to you about something if you have a sec,” I told him and he paused, waiting for me to continue. “Emma’s parents are inviting us all out to Malibu for the summer. She told them about all of us and they want to get to know us.”

“You’re asking if Tricia can go with you?” he asked, considering it. “I usually send her to visit her grandparents in Florida for the summer.”

“Actually, the invitation extends to both of you,” I told him. “I’m told there’s plenty of room.”

He shook his head. “I don’t generally take time off in the summer,” he confided. “I mostly break up my vacation into a few days here and there to match Tricia’s school calendar.”

“Think about it at least,” I suggested. “My mother’s almost certainly going.”

He blushed a little, but looked thoughtful. “It WOULD be nice to get to go on vacation with Tricia for once,” he mused. “When would you have to know?”

“Sooner is better,” I admitted. “Once we have everyone confirmed, I’ll start booking flights.”

He nodded. “Alright. She’ll definitely prefer to go with you for vacation than to Florida,” he admitted. “I’ll let you know by next week.”

“I hope you can come out with us,” I told him.

He smiled and said he hoped so too. Then he really did have to go to work. I waved to him and took Dawn up to the door to see what Tricia had to say.

“Hi!” she said, surprised to see me this morning. “Were you waiting in the bushes ‘til Dad left?”

“No,” I laughed. “I was talking to him in the driveway before he had to go.”

“Oh? Trying to get him to ask your mother out again?” she giggled.

“Not far off,” I admitted. “I suggested that he and Mom go on vacation together this summer.”

“You did NOT!” she snorted in laughter.

“Emma’s family wants us all to go out to Malibu this summer,” I told her. “I told him he was invited along with the rest of us.”

“Really?!!?” she asked, her mouth hanging open.

“Really,” I confirmed. “I told her I didn’t feel right going out and leaving everyone else behind here so I suggested to her that we get a rental property for the summer. She said her parents have a twelve bedroom house, so there’s room for everyone.”

“What did Dad say?!!?” she was frantic with excitement now.

“That you’d DEFINITELY prefer California to Florida, but he’d have to see if he could arrange it so he could go too. I think the fact that Mom’s going is what sold it for him.”

“He’s thinking about it? He hasn’t gone on vacation in years. He always just sends me to my grandparents for the summer. They’re okay, but they live in a retirement community so there’s nothing to do except like shuffleboard and horseshoes. I’m bored by the third day.”

“They don’t take you to Disney or anything?” I asked, surprised.

She shrugged. “Once when I was ten,” she admitted.

“We’re gonna be having a much better time this summer,” I promised her with a kiss. “So what’re you doing for the day?”

“Obsessing about everything I want to do out there!” she gushed.

I chuckled. “Come to the house then. We talked about it last night. I have one other piece of news though. I got a call from a surgeon last night about the scars. I fly out to get the surgery done at the end of next month in Beverly Hills. Me, Dad and Emma are going to leave on the 28th and be back on the 2nd of February.”

“Really?” she asked as she was putting on her jacket. “He just called you up and scheduled you like that?”

“Well, he mostly called to consult and said if I was out there, he’d do it. I told him I’d be willing to fly out if the recovery wasn’t too terrible. He said I’d be fine and that I’d be ready to go home by Monday. We’re booking a flight back for Tuesday though, just so we’re not rushed.”

Dawn had been sniffing around curiously while we had been chatting, but was glad to be back outside when I gave her leash a gentle tug to let her know we were ready to go. I let Tricia have the leash since I was still prone to being pulled off-balance when Dawn lunged in a random direction.

Tricia asked a lot of questions about what to pack on the way back to the house for breakfast. That made me laugh. “You fly to Florida almost every year,” I pointed out to her. “I figured you’d have a handle on what to bring with you.”

She frowned, crinkling her nose at me cutely. “That’s different,” she insisted. “They’re my grandparents. I can just tell them I need something and get them to take me out shopping to get it.”

“Emma and Mom will both be there,” I pointed out. “So will your dad, if he can arrange it. Collie, Tabby, Lana and Gina all drive too. We’ll manage.”

“We’re really all going?”

“Even the baby,” I confirmed. “I looked up the airline policy on children and she’ll be fine.”

“That must make Cheryl happy,” she said with a smile.

“I wasn’t going if she was staying behind with the baby,” I confessed. “It didn’t seem right to me to promise to be there for her and then get on a plane and wave goodbye for the summer.”

“She would have had plenty of help for the summer,” Tricia said, but the tone of her voice said she was pleased with the revelation that I wasn’t going without Cheryl. “So has everyone agreed to go yet?”

“Not yet. Dan and your dad need to find out about taking time off. I haven’t talked to Hanna yet and Gina and her family don’t know. I should call her and figure out when I can talk to her folks about it.” I pulled out my phone and tapped her contact, letting it ring.

“Why are you awake so early?!” she complained sleepily. “We’re on vacation!”

I laughed. “Wake up, Sleepyhead,” I told her. “Are your parents home today or are they gone to work?”

“Mama is home,” she said. I always smiled at how she pronounced that in the typically Mexican way, stressing the last symbol instead of the first. It was one of the only traces of her heritage in her speech.

“Good. I’ve got some things to talk to her about. You want to gather her up and come here or want me to catch a ride over to your place?”

“Uh-oh,” she said, sounding more awake. “What’s wrong?”

“Not a thing,” I promised her. “I want to ask her some things and I want to deliver some news in person.”

“Okay,” she said. “Get Lana to bring you over,” she said. “She knows the way.”

“Alright,” I said happily. “I promise that nothing’s wrong and I’ll see you in a little bit. Your parents know about the Sorority, right? You said they knew what was going on when you stayed the night.”

“Yeah. They know the story,” she said, wondering why that was important. “What’s up?”

“Nothing. It’s just that part of the news requires them to know a little bit about our situation.”

“Now I’m really worried,” she said. “You need to tell me. Otherwise I’m gonna be a wreck.”

“Fine,” I grumped a little. “Spoil my surprise. You know how Emma’s family invited me out for the summer?”

“Yeah. I wish I could go too,” she said wistfully. “We have family out there, but airfare is so expensive.”

“Well, I talked to Emma last night and told her I wasn’t comfortable leaving everyone behind while I went on vacation for the summer,” I told her.

“No!” she said. “You should go! California’s amazing in the summer.”

“That’s what Emma keeps telling me,” I said idly. We were getting close to the house now, walking slowly and giving Dawn a chance to investigate to her heart’s content. “Anyway, she said that her parents have the room and that we were all invited. Parents, siblings, all of us. She didn’t mention pets though so we might have to find someone to look after Oscar and Dawn for the summer.”

“Are you SERIOUS!” she shrieked excitedly. “You’re not joking, are you? I’ll never forgive you if you’re joking!”

“I’m not joking,” I told her. “I was going to look into getting a rental property for the summer and she told me not to bother, that there was plenty of room there.”

After that, the conversation degenerated into excited babbling from her and laughter from me.

“We’re gonna have breakfast and then we’ll be over,” I told her. “See you soon. Love you.”

We went inside and settled Dawn with breakfast before we went next door to talk to everyone. I told Lana that I needed a ride to Gina’s to talk to her mother about Malibu and she laughed. “I can’t WAIT to see you explain this to her mother,” she said.

I shrugged. “She knows about the Sorority already,” I said. “Is there something I should know about?”

She shook her head. “Gina misses California a lot. She talks about it all the time. Her mother’s already screwed.”

“Oh,” I said. “I guess that explains the excited chipmunk sounds coming from the phone when I told her about it then.”

That got some amused laughter and we ate quickly, both of us eager to deliver the good news in person. When we left, Tricia, Cheryl, Tabby, Collie and Beck were all talking about different things they’d like to see and things they were excited for. The two of us drove to Gina’s house wrapped in our own thoughts, the silence in the car reflecting our introspection.

When we got out, the house turned out to be a fairly small one, but immaculately kept. I remember Gina offering her hospitality to me if I ever needed it and I smiled at the generosity involved in making space for one more. We went to the door and Lana rang the bell.

Louisa answered with a curious smile. “Good morning,” she said. “I assume one of you is here to tell me why Gina is so hyper today?” she asked as she showed us in.

“That would be my fault, I’m afraid,” I said with a smile. “We’re here to explain and if necessary, take her to get a sedative.”

“She’s not quite that bad,” she laughed and the three of us went into the living room. Like Gina had said, it was small, but as immaculate inside as out. There was a pleasant smell that was a combination of incense, spices and baking in the house and I thought it made the house seem more welcoming as we sat. Gina was already there, dressed and practically vibrating with excitement.

Lana and I took her hands as we settled onto the couch next to her. “Gina tells me that you know that our relationship is unique,” I started delicately.

“Miguel nearly swallowed his tongue when he found out,” she told us. “If it had been any boy but you, he would have called it disrespectful, but he knows you better than that.”

I nodded, appreciating how much faith they had in me. “Disrespecting Gina is one thing I will never do,” I promised her. “I only bring it up because it’s kind of central to the story. Emma’s family is from California and they invited me to come out this summer. They want to know who’s in their daughter’s life. With everything that’s going on, I told her that I didn’t want to leave the girls and go away for the summer and I suggested that we look for a rental property for the summer large enough for us to all go. Emma scoffed and told me to just bring everyone. Her parents invitation extends to everyone involved. That means Gina and Hector and you and Miguel.”

She looked shocked. “That’s a very generous offer,” she said after she’d had a moment, “but I’m afraid we can’t afford to go. I have clients that I clean for and Miguel uses his vacation time to do anything around the house that needs doing.”

Gina’s hand tightened in mine and I gave it a reassuring squeeze. “That’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.” I paused, knowing that I had to handle this carefully. “I came into a lot of money this year,” I said slowly. “When it happened, it was unexpected and in the end, I decided that there was more money than I could really ever use. So I made a decision to use some of that money to make life better for all the people in my life. That includes Gina.”

Louisa nodded in understanding. “She’s already shown us the new computer you got for her,” she said. “She’s very grateful for that.”

“I’m also sending her to college,” I told her. “It doesn’t matter where she wants to go, how much it costs and it doesn’t matter whether she’s still with us or has moved on by the time she’s ready to go. I bring that part up because once upon a time, I was told that people had expected that offer to be withdrawn when the relationship ended. I want to make sure that she and you both know that her college education is paid for already.”

If Louisa looked shocked before, now she was beside herself. “You would do this for her even if things don’t work out between you?” she asked, stunned.

“I would do it especially if things don’t work out. Don’t get me wrong, either of you. I don’t anticipate us breaking up at all. But if Gina decides that her recovery from September requires that she take a different path in life, I would want her to have the best opportunities to make that life successful. If we can’t be around to help her with every step of that life, the least I can do is make sure that she doesn’t have to struggle.”

“I don’t know what to say,” she admitted. “We couldn’t afford to help her until after her brother finishes his schooling. We talked about trying to get a second mortgage, but the house still needs some repair before we can qualify for it.”

“What else can I do to help?” I asked genuinely. “I meant it when I said I intended that money to help my whole family. That includes taking all of you to California this summer and making sure no one has to struggle to make ends meet, get house repairs or pay for college. We can have a contractor here in the spring to do whatever repairs you need for the house and take care of anything nagging like that without Miguel having to lift a finger.”

She shook her head and I could see some stubbornness in her. “I don’t want you to spend your money on us. It’s not right.”

I grimaced. “Lana, I think I need to tell Louisa and Gina just how much money I came into this year. I know you told me to be cautious, but I trust Louisa and Gina both. It’s time they knew the family secret.”

She nodded and Gina looked at me questioningly.

“Louisa, my parents are in the process of getting a divorce,” I told her. “What finally split them up was a woman my father fell in love with. She was an evil, vile woman. She stole a lot of money from businesses she did accounting work for. She convinced my father to hide it for her at our house, intending to get it later. She knew that if the people who she stole from were to notice the loss, they’d come looking for it and the businesses she stole from were the kind that wouldn’t call police. They’d handle it themselves, harshly. When we found out what she’d done, the danger she put us in, we hid the money and when my father realized that she’d intended for us to take the blame if she was ever caught, we quietly made sure the money disappeared somewhere else and turned all the information over to her bosses. When she couldn’t explain where the money had gone, she was handled ... harshly. I still have that money. I also settled a malpractice suit recently and I’ve made $5 million in advertising revenue from YouTube videos. I barely touch any of the money. There’s enough to send us all to college, take care of our families and still live on for the rest of our lives. You’re family and I want to help. Please, let me do that much.”