Chapter 91

You have to have warm dinner rolls with lots of butter when you eat beef stew. If it's not the law, it should be.

We'd stopped at Vons and picked up a tube of the things. I tossed them to Mary when we walked into the house. Sara look kind of wary when she saw the Tupperware.

"What is it?"

"It's beef stew."

"It's not going to be like yesterday's, is it?"

"Nah. This smelled pretty good. And Jill made sure she didn't screw up."

"All right, then."

Jill emptied the stew into a pot and started warming it up while Mary and Sara laid the table.

"I'll go wake up Mom."

"She's not here, Jack."

"Oh, did she go to the store?"

"No. She didn't come home after work. She called this morning and told me she wouldn't be home till dinner time."

"I don't understand. Where was she?"

"She said she'd tell me about it later, not to worry, everything was fine."

"That's weird. Did she sound OK?"

"She sounded fine, Jack."

"I don't know. If she called and said that to me, I think I'd be worried, Mary."

"She told me not to worry. I trust her enough to believe her when she says something like that."

"It just doesn't sound like Mom."

"Yeah, well, she's a big girl now. If she wants to stay out, I'm not going to call her on it."

Jill said, "Mary, it smells like your rolls are burning."

"Oh, shit."

She ran to the stove, went to yank out the cookie sheet, said "Oh, shit" again, grabbed a pot holder and pulled it out of the oven. There were a few that were kind of dark, but they all looked edible.

Sara said "You cook like Wanda."

"Hey, watch it."

We got the food on the table and dug in. The rolls were fine and the stew was great. Not the same as the stuff I was used to, but I imagine there are just about as many ways to make beef stew as there are people who make it. Even though Wanda cooked it, it was Jill's recipe, so I'd better like it.

I'd just gone back for seconds on the stew when Mom came in. She looked tired.

"Are you OK?"

"I'm fine, Jack. I just haven't gotten any sleep since yesterday afternoon. I've got a midnight to eight tonight, so I'm going to go in for a while."

"Where were you?"

"I was out, Jack."

"Mom?"

"I may tell you about it later. Right now I want some sleep."

"Are you sure you're OK?

"I'm fine. Goodnight, everyone."

Just like that, she was gone. I felt confused, like I should do something. But I had no idea what. Or why, for that matter. I felt something on my hand and looked over to see Jill taking it in hers.

"Jack, don't be an old lady. She's fine. She's old enough to do what she wants."

"I just don't know... I wish I knew where she was."

"Probably out getting laid."

I turned to Mary. "Mom?"

"Yes, Mom." Very dramatic. "What, do you think she's too old?"

"No, I guess not, but Mom?"

Jill squeezed. "Hey, if it's good enough for my Daddy, it's good enough for your Mom."

"But she hardly said anything. She just said 'Hi' and then went into bed."

"How about that? Just like Daddy when he got home tonight. Welcome to the club, Jack."

"You're right. I guess it's a little different when it happens to you."

"I guess."

She squeezed again and leaned over, kissing me on the cheek.

Sara and Mary both went "Awwww, how cuuute."

Jill stuck her tongue out at them, turned my head around and gave me a good kiss on the lips. The girls whooped and cheered.

It was almost 9:00 by the time we finished eating and cleaning up after ourselves. Jill and I took care of the dogs while Mary and Sara worked in the kitchen. They put enough stew in the refrigerator for Mom, then we divvied up the rest for the dogs, mixing it in with their dry dog food. Needless to say, dinner was a hit with all three.

"Hey, do you want to see the apartment? They got a lot done today."

She took my hand. "Sure."

We went up the staircase and I told her to wait on the landing while I went inside. There was enough light from the porch light for me to see to turn on the work lights they had set up. It didn't look the same as it would with regular lighting, with the bright spots and shadows, but there was plenty of light to give us an idea of the setup.

I went back to the landing and took Jill by the hand.

"They haven't painted anything yet, but most of the walls are up."

We went inside and I pointed out where they'd started covering the inside of the ceiling. You could see the insulation between the drywall and the plywood if you looked from the right angle.

"Ooh, this is a nice big room."

"Most people don't realize how big a two car garage is. The kitchen and the bathroom only take up about ten feet at the front. That leaves the rest of the garage for our bedroom and the living room and the hallway."

We went through the door. I could see the bedroom door across the hallway and a light coming out of it. There was an extension cord going across the floor from the room we were in to the bedroom and another snaking down the hall toward the front. I could see light from that direction, too.

"Careful. Watch where you step. You never know what might be lying around."

Actually, the site was surprisingly clean and free of debris. Well, not that surprising, knowing Alex.

"Ooh, I like this. The bed can go over there, and some night stands and a chair here and your dresser over here and mine over there. Oh, this will be perfect."