Farewell to Cedar Key (10 page)

18

S
unday evening Orli was helping me wind some skeins of yarn when the phone rang. She draped the yarn across my knee and ran to answer.

“Yes, she is. Could you hold, please?” I heard her say before she walked toward me and passed me the phone.

I raised my eyebrows, asking a silent
Who is it,
but she just smiled.

I said hello and heard Simon say, “I hope I'm not interrupting anything.”

“No. Not at all. My daughter is just helping me wind some yarn.”

“Well, I wanted to let you know I'm coming to Cedar Key in the morning. So I was wondering if maybe you'd like to get a pizza at the Blue Desert tomorrow evening.”

“Sure. That sounds great. What time?”

“Can you meet me there at six?”

“Perfect.”

“Great. Oh, my sisters told me they dropped by the yarn shop and met you the other day. They seemed to like you a lot, and I hear Gloria went overboard purchasing yarn as usual.”

I laughed. “Yeah, she did. They were both very nice, and I enjoyed meeting them. Did they get to see your office?”

“They did. I told the contractor they'd be stopping by. Okay, so I'll see you tomorrow evening. I'm looking forward to it.”

“Same here,” I said before hanging up.

I looked up to see Orli staring at me. “Well?” she questioned, with a grin on her face. “Mom, don't keep me in suspense. Who was that?”

Sometimes I found it difficult to comprehend that this young lady joking with me was my grown-up daughter. Where had that little girl with braids and skinned knees gone to?

“It was Dr. Mancini. His sisters stopped by the yarn shop the other day before going to see his office.”

“Hmm,” was what my daughter said.

I began winding more yarn. “What does that mean?”

“They drove all the way over here to meet you?”

“Of course not. They were coming to see his office and . . . well, one of them, Gloria, is a knitter so she wanted to purchase some yarn.”

“So that was why he just called you?”

“Not exactly. He's coming back to the island tomorrow. So he called to see if I'd like to meet him for a pizza tomorrow evening. And I said yes.”

“Well, good for you. I've been telling you for a while that you need to find somebody in your life, so yeah,
good
for you.”

How is it that sometimes one's own child can sound more like the parent?

I laughed. “Well, thank you, Orli. I'm glad you approve.”

“Oh, I do, but next time you should invite him here for dinner. I'd like to meet him. Uh-oh.”

My head shot up. “What?”

“We're due at Nana's for dinner tomorrow evening. This will be another one you have to cancel.”

Shit. She was right.

“Yeah, I'd forgotten. Well, not to worry. I'll handle Nana.”

I dreaded dealing with my mother, but the next morning I knew I had to bite the bullet and give her a call about skipping out on another dinner.

“Josie, I was just going to call you. What's up?”

“Well, I wanted to apologize, but . . . well . . . I'm not going to be able to make dinner this evening. But Orli will be there,” I hastened to add.

There was a slight pause before she said, “Again? What's going on this time?”

Same thing,
I thought,
dinner with Doctor McDreamy,
but said, “Well . . . Dr. Mancini called last night and wanted to discuss some office stuff with me, so he asked if I could meet him for pizza at six.”

Why on earth did I feel that I had to lie to my mother about this? I was a thirty-five-year-old
woman,
for heaven's sake. Not some silly teenager. But somehow she always managed to make me feel like one.

“Oh, I see,” she said, and I heard that frosty tone.

“I'm really sorry, but this new job is important to me and it's part of my job to help him get settled in.”

“So nothing seems to have changed over the years. Nurses are still the doctor's handmaidens.”

“Mom, for God's sake. It isn't like that at all. I said I'm sorry, and I promise I'll make the next dinner.”

I heard my mother give a nasty chuckle. “Hmm, so you say now.”

I took a sip of coffee and wished it were wine. “So why were you going to call me?” I asked.

“Oh . . . that. It's about CC.”

Here we go again,
I thought. I wondered if CC knew that she was my mother's new obsession. Poor CC.

“Well, I spoke to her on the phone last night. She got back from Tuscany on Friday.”

“So she did go?”

“Yes, of course she went. With that boy toy. You know CC. Once she gets a thought in her head, there's no turning back for her.”

Strange that my mother couldn't see that she had the same trait. “So did she have a good time, or did her companion abscond with all of her money as you predicted?”

“Not funny, Josie. And yes, of course she
says
she had a good time. But who really knows.”

I couldn't suppress a chuckle. “Mom, why the heck would she lie to you?”

“Well, I'm sure she'd never admit that I was right.”

“So she went. She says she had a good time, so now what?”

“Well, she's coming for Christmas like she always does, but this time she's bringing him. And I guess she must think I'm not real fond of this arrangement.”

Gee, I wonder where she ever got that idea.

“So instead of staying here,” my mother continued, “they're booking a room at the Island Hotel. I told her that was downright silly with two perfectly good guest rooms here, but she won't listen.”

I rolled my eyes and smiled.
Two
guest rooms? Two grown adults who were obviously sleeping together and she expected to separate them? No wonder they were booking their own accommodations.

“Well, Mom, just be happy she's still coming. You know damn well you'd be pretty upset if she broke the tradition of coming for Christmas.”

“Yes, yes, I know. Oh, and guess what? It's not definite yet, but Mags thinks she might fly down this year for Christmas also.”

Good old Maggie. She was such an eccentric, but I adored her. She was the aging hippie in their group and lived up to her title with honor. It was impossible to be in Maggie's company and not just plain feel good.

“Oh, that's great! So, see, your Christmas will be just fine. Maggie will really perk things up, and hey, look on the bright side—at least one of your guest rooms will get put to use.”

“Yes, I suppose,” I heard my mother say grudgingly.

 

A few hours later my mother called back. “Listen, Josie,” she said. “I'm not feeling all that great, and I think I'll have to cancel dinner with Orli this evening. I'm really sorry, but I think she'll understand.”

“Of course she will, but what's going on? You're never sick.”

“And I'm not
sick
now. Just a little tummy twinge. I'll be right as rain by tomorrow.”

“Mom, this
tummy twinge
seems to be hanging on. Don't you think you should get in to see the doctor?”

“Don't be silly. I'm sure it's nothing.”

It was times like this that I became more exasperated than usual with my mother. “I know you like controlling all situations, but Mom . . . when it comes to your health and not feeling well, you simply have
no
control over it. At least go get checked out.”

“Right. If it doesn't go away soon, I will. Have Orli call me later and tell her I'm sorry.”

I hung up the phone and shook my head. If I lived to be a hundred, I'd never understand why my mother was such a control freak.

 

Pizza at the Blue Desert called for jeans and a lightweight pullover sweater. I chose the cotton one that I'd finished a few months ago—the yarn was from Kollage and the fiber was 100 percent recycled from blue jeans. I had made it in a shade of terra cotta, and it did go perfectly with denim.

When Orli found out that dinner at my mother's had been canceled, she asked if she could join Laura at the Pickled Pelican for a burger; she had just left. I grabbed my car keys and headed out the door to meet Simon.

On the drive over I'd made up my mind not to mention what I'd learned about his daughter. It was none of my business, and I felt that if he wanted me to know, he'd tell me.

I drove slowly past the restaurant on SR 24, saw that he was already seated at a table outside, and gave a short toot of my horn as I waved my arm out the window. I had to drive farther down the road and found a spot to park across the street.

As I approached the restaurant, Simon stood up with a huge smile on his face. Damn, but he looked good. I'm not sure why it is, but I get a bit fluttery inside when I see a good-looking guy wearing an open collar, long-sleeved white shirt, untucked, with jeans. It suddenly occurred to me that Simon reminded me of an actor that I'd seen in some British series about a Scottish laird. And just like that actor, Simon Mancini exuded a fair amount of sex appeal.

“Josie,” he said, reaching out his hand. “Good to see you again. It's so nice out this evening, I thought we'd sit outside.”

I felt my hand in his and had to admit that his touch had a certain electricity to it. No wonder he had a gift for healing people. “Great idea,” I said, letting go of his hand and sitting down across from him. “I do think autumn is definitely in the air.”

“You probably enjoy wearing all of your knitted items this time of year. That's a nice sweater. Did you make it?”

“I did. Thanks,” I said just as the waitress came out to take our drink order. “I'll have a glass of cabernet. I prefer the red wines in the cooler weather.”

“Same here,” Simon told her.

“So how's the remodeling going?” I asked.

“Right on schedule. Actually, I think my apartment will be ready right after Thanksgiving and I'll be able to move in.”

“Oh, I'm sure you'll enjoy that.”

“I will. I'm getting a bit tired of living here and there out of a suitcase. It'll be nice not to have to leave the island as frequently and to have my own place.”

“And the office is also coming along okay?”

Simon laughed as the wine was placed in front of us. “Yeah, with the help of my sister. Is it okay if we wait a bit before ordering the pizza?” he asked me.

I nodded. “Sure. Fine.”

“I'll be back,” the waitress said.

“Your sister is helping on the renovation?”

“Cheers,” he said, touching my wineglass. “Well, she's helping with the decorating. I'm hopeless when it comes to things like that. So Gloria has given me her input on colors, furniture, that sort of thing. She's pretty good at it, so I always welcome her suggestions.”

I smiled. “Yeah, always good to get a second opinion.”

He caught my meaning and chuckled. “Right. Even with a doctor. So as I'd mentioned, both of my sisters really enjoyed meeting you, and I know Gloria loved the yarn shop. She came back to my mom's house with a bag full. She even got some for Lily, which made her happy. It always amazes me how much yarn can delight a woman.”

I laughed. “Well, if she's a knitter, yes.”

“It's hard to believe that it'll be November already next week. Before we know it, I'll be opening my practice here. Oh, by the way, my daughter is going to move in with me for a few months. We want to spend some quality time together before she heads off to college next summer.”

“How nice for both of you,” I said. “Has she made a choice on a college yet?”

“Not yet, but I think she'll choose somewhere in the southeast so she won't be too far away to visit me and the family.”

“That's really nice. You seem to have a very close relationship with her.”

I noticed that a sad expression briefly crossed his face before he said, “Yeah, we're very close. Lily is everything to me. She's never been all that close to her mother. When she was a kid, I often thought that she looked to my sisters as more of a mother figure than her own mother.”

I couldn't think of anything to say.

Simon took another sip of wine and then said, “We divorced when Lily was around eight, but even before the divorce there was never a special bond between them. Soon after Lily was born, I discovered that Stephanie just wasn't one of those mothers who considered motherhood the focus of her life.” He tapped the table with his palm. “So . . . enough about me. Let's get that pizza ordered.”