Chapter 26
I Shall Elucidate
On a whim, I invited Dr. Tom Cavendish to join me for dinner at my home. I craved a bit of sanity from all the weirdness, obtuseness, and obfuscation people, who should know better, had confronted me with lately. Thankfully, he quickly accepted. I looked forward to a quiet evening with a man who held common sense in high esteem.
He brought with him a bottle of Pinot Noir and a bouquet of red roses. He wore tight jeans, an untucked shirt, and cowboy boots. I fought off the urge to blush because it had been a long time since a man made this gesture.
“Hope you like roses,” he said.
“Red’s my favorite color, as well as with wine. You’re two for two.”
He grinned. “Guess I got lucky.”
I wouldn’t say I’m a bad cook but living in New York had spoiled me and with the long hours I worked, I typically relied on my favorite neighborhood restaurants, or had meals delivered to my desk. But one of my favorite things to make is burgers on the grill, a treat my Father taught me long ago.
“You’re grilling?” Tom said.
“Yep, and homemade fries to boot. Hope you don’t mind a casual dinner. I thought we could eat on the porch. It’s a lovely evening.”
After Tom opened the wine, we toasted. “I’m handy with a spatula. I can flip if you like.”
I liked. I showed him the grill and bag of charcoal and put him to work. The weather was warm in the golden light of dusk. The neighbor next door, while young, had a large belly and strong arms. He worked in his vegetable garden on bended knee pulling the last of the summer’s weeds.
While Tom managed the grill, I had one piece of important business to take care of. I tip-toed downstairs in the dark hoping I’d find Father there. He surprised me as he bounded up and met me halfway.
“Aack!” I yelled.
“Hello, honey,” he said. Adding to my surprise is that he had cleaned up. He had showered, put on clean clothes, shaved, and combed his hair. I almost didn’t recognize him.
“Father, I was just coming down…”
“I smelled burgers on the grill and hoped I might invite myself to join you,” he said.
“Why, yes, of course. I was just…”
“I know.” His direct brown eyes and gentle smile touched me unexpectedly. He stepped forward and hugged me in the middle of the stairs. The warmth of his arms sent my whole world spinning loose shooting me out beyond the moon on a bungee chord and pulled me back in. I couldn’t explain it but a shudder, like a small earthquake, coursed through my chest. A river of pain and sorrow, grief, and relief broke loose in my heart. A river so forceful, that without warning, or forethought, I sobbed out loud, uncontrollably, and trembled in his arms.
“Shhh, honey. Everything is okay. You’re safe.”
His words touched me. And for the first time since I’d come back home did I, in fact, feel safe in Father’s strong arms. A tug of regret pulled at my heart for all the time I’d missed being with him and even with mother, despite her dispassionate approach to motherhood, and the guilt of not coming home all those times she’d asked me to.
Father coaxed me up the stairs and into the light of the back porch. “Smells mighty fine out here,” he said.
Tom turned from the smoky grill and smiled. His face bright and open. “Hello, Otto,” he said.
I ran inside to the kitchen to wipe my eyes and blow my nose. When I returned to the back porch, Tom and Father were sharing a glass of wine and comparing notes on the temperature of the brwon patties on the grill. That’s when I realized something didn’t add up.
“What’s going on, here?” I said. They both smiled at me conspiratorially.
Tom cleared his throat. “I must confess. This is my doing. Otto was in my office today when you called—”
“Wait,” I said. “Father? Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
He chuckled. “Of course, I”m fine. Tom’s been checking me out once a month.”
“Yep, your father is strong as a horse and his mind is whip sharp.”
“Yeah, but, I—”
“When you called, I took the liberty of inviting your father to join us.”
Father chimed in. “Hell, I live downstairs most of the time, anyway. After all, this still is my house.”
“Yeah, I figured as much, but…you…two…in cahoots? I should slap you both silly for keeping me in the dark.”
“I’m sorry, Sam,” Tom said. “Patient confidentiality, you know.”
“But he’s, he’s, my Father. You could have at least told me.”
Father took my hands in his. “Now, now, honey. Take it easy. It’s for your own good and safety. The less you know about somethings the better, and the more you know about others, that would be a good thing.”
“You’re sounding like the Mad Hatter again.”
Father chuckled. “We have a lot to discuss over dinner, my dear.” He gave a slight gentlemen bow. “I shall elucidate. Don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”
“Oh, for the love, Father.”
Tom handed him a plate full of cooked burgers and followed Father inside.
My throat constricted. I leaned against the porch railing and caught my breath. I hoped against hope my Father would return to his normal self and life. Hoping he would stay the way I always knew him to be. For since I had come home, I had heard the folly of his words and watched with both curiosity and sadness the folly of his public actions, the way he embarrassed himself and others seemingly without fear or care, the way he danced and twirled down the street wearing two colors of sneakers, wild hair, and zipper down. What a sight. I hoped deep down in the recesses of my heart that I was seeing a new version of the old one, the one I loved so much.
The paragraph about the moon and bungee was so well done.