A Fine Mess (19 page)

“We’re a little past the dating stage, don’t you think?” That ‘duh’ was going to slip out, he just knew it.

“Granted you guys got it all kind of backwards.
But no.
Dating is something all couples should continue, even if they’ve been married fifty years. It says you matter to me, so I’m going to make the time to show you how special you are.”

“It does?”

“It does.”

“But how do I date her now?”

“Ian, you’re a stockbroker, and presumably a very intelligent man,” Max sighed, patting his arm. “Take her out for supper. Take her to a museum. Take her for a walk in the leaves at a park.
A movie.
There are a million and one things you could do to court her. Just make sure you do the things
she
likes to do, not what you like to do.”

Finally!

Something he could do with confidence. He’d have to study the little notebook he’d taken notes in, but this was something he could really do!

“Thank you, Max!”

“Hey, Ian?”

“What?”
 

“You might pray a little, too.”

“Pray? Why?”

“Because God
can
help you.”

“I thought God only helped people like you.”

“What do you mean?”

“People who are Christian’s.”

“You’re not?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Have you ever accepted Jesus as your Savior?”

“No. I don’t even know how to do that.”

“Do you believe in Him?”

“Yeah, I suppose so.” If he’d thought the beginning of the conversation had been uncomfortable, this was more so.
Much more so.

“Do you believe He was crucified and raised from the dead?”

“Maybe.
I don’t know.”

“Well read your Bible some more. Start praying a little every day. Ask God to show you that it is true.”

“Ask Him for proof, you mean?”

“Pretty much.
Trust
me,
no one wants you saved more than God does. If you seek Him, He will make Himself and His Word real to you.”

~~~~

“Ready for lunch, Mom?” Annie asked cheerfully, carrying a tray laden with homemade vegetable beef soup, fresh out of the oven rolls and a chocolate milkshake.

“Bring it on, Sweetie, because I really am hungry this afternoon.” Maddie reached down and pushed the lever on her recliner so she was sitting in an upright position. Annie placed the tray carefully across her legs,
then
sat in the matching recliner on the other side of the end table.

“What happened to make you work up an appetite today?” she teased. “Did you sneak out to jog while I was in the kitchen?”

“Yeah, right,” her mother said, before biting into a warm buttered roll.
“Mmm.
Does Ian realize how fortunate he is to have a wife that cooks like you do?”

“Actually I think he does, Mom.”

She explained about his attitude about food when they’d first gotten married, and how he practically shadowed her in the kitchen during meal preparation now. That he, more often than not, even helped her with some of the lighter jobs, such as chopping salad fixings and stirring batters.

“Have you gotten him to eat pasta salad yet?”

“Nope.
I feel fairly confident in saying that I never will, either. But that’s okay. Except for macaroni salad, I’m not particularly fond of them myself.”

“I thought you liked them!” Maddie exclaimed.

“”I like you. And it’s not like it’s liver or chop suey.” They both laughed at that. None of the Blake clan cared for either one of those foods. “As far as I’m concerned, anything with the word ‘suey’ in its title should never, ever find its way onto a dinner plate.”

“A lot of people do like it.”

“I refuse to comment on that.”

“On the grounds that it might incriminate you?”

“No. Because God would probably prefer I keep that opinion to myself. Besides, my mother always told me if I can’t say anything nice, I shouldn’t say anything at all.”

“Smart woman, your mother.”

“Yeah she is, isn’t she?”

“Yup.”
Maddie took a few bites of the soup. “Your dad says you did a wonderful job on the website for Ian.”

“It wasn’t that hard. I’m glad I don’t work in that kind of business though. I don’t know how Dad and Ian can stand all those numbers!”

“How’s Ian holding up with the grand opening set for Monday?”

“Pretty good, actually.
The office looks really nice.
Very professional.
All that’s left to do, really, is run an ad in the State Journal, and get the computers programmed with the software he needs. The
guy
who does that will get take care of that this afternoon.”

“I hear Ian’s father had a royal fit when your father and Ian finished out their two week notices.”

Surprised to hear that, Annie looked at her mother.

“Ian didn’t say anything about it to me.”

“I guess Mr. McCann was furious. Apparently he didn’t think Ian would actually quit when the time came. Your dad said he started yelling and cussing and swore that if Ian really left, he was washing his hands of him.”

“Oh no!
Ian never said a word.” Her heart hurt for both the men.
Ian, because he’d never known a father’s love.
And Mr. McCann, because he didn’t have a clue what he was throwing away.

“I feel so bad for him. Paul has told me for years that Ian Senior never took a whole lot of interest in his son. I just can’t imagine a parent being like that.”

Of course she couldn’t. In their world, parents not only loved their children, they
valued
them. At least, from what little he had said, Annie gathered that his mother and grandmother had loved him. She truly hoped it was true.

“Oh. Before I forget, Paul said he thought things were pretty well set at the new office so he’s going to see if it would be okay to take Thursday and Friday off. We thought it would be nice to head up to Tubbs Lake for a four day weekend.”

“But, Mom,” Annie said in surprise. “What about your treatment on Saturday?”

“Actually, I don’t have one scheduled. So we thought we’d go up before the snow falls. This is probably the last decent weekend to get in a little fishing. Plus we need to winterize the trailer.”

“I forgot all about that. Are you sure you should be traveling? Maybe Ian and I could take a day and go up.” Maddie laughed merrily.

“Do you really think that husband of yours knows anything about draining the pipes and getting enough antifreeze in them to prevent them from bursting?” Annie laughingly agreed that he probably did not. “Besides, I’m feeling a little better, and we haven’t been up since last summer.”

“If you’re sure.”
She was not at all comfortable with the thought of her mother being so far from home. But they all knew she loved the property that had been in her family for years. Even though it wasn’t what one might expect a lakefront property to be.

Annie had always called it their own little piece of the Everglades, what with all of the channels and green stuff growing out of the water. Half the time she wouldn’t have been surprised to see an alligator floating around. Fortunately it was far too cold up north for them to survive. At least she hoped so, given the occasional news reports about people setting exotic reptiles loose.

“I’m sure. I love it up there and I really don’t want to have to have this be the first season I haven’t gone up in my whole life.”

“Just please take your cell phone. Have you cleared it with your doctors?”

“Yes, Mommy.
I spoke to Dr. Harmon yesterday while you were at the store. Okay?”

“I suppose it’ll have to be,” Annie said with a grin. “Just be sure that you and Dad behave yourselves.”

“We’ve been married thirty-two years, sweetheart. We’re way past the point of behaving ourselves.”

“And that’s more information than I need to know. Go ahead and finish your lunch. I’ll go put the rest in the fridge so Dad can have a snack when he gets home.”

~~~~

“What are you looking so glum about?” Ian asked Thursday morning as they sat eating breakfast.

“What?”

“You look like you’ve lost your best friend.”

“Oh. No. It’s just that with Mom and Dad heading up north today, I’m kind of at loose ends. I’ve
never
not
done something during the day.”

“Hmm.
So you think you’ll be bored?”

“Well, maybe not bored.
Not exactly.
I guess I’ve just gotten used to taking care of Mom, and now I have a couple of days free.” She grinned at him. “Maybe I’m turning into a workaholic.”

“Well we can’t have that, can we?” he said, realizing that here was a golden opportunity to put some of Max’s advice into practice.

“Want me to come and help at the office then?” she asked hopefully.

“Nope.
Everything is set. In fact I don’t I even need to go in again until we open up for business Monday
morning.
So it looks like we’re both at loose ends.”

“I’m surprised.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I just figured you’d be nervous and spend every second you could there.”

“Not me. I’ve been in the business too long to be nervous.
Or overly excited.
It’ll work out fine.”

“You’re sure?”

“I am. In fact, I already have a few clients that are taking their business to my office.”

“Ones from your dad’s office?”

“I’m afraid so. When they found out I was going they insisted on moving with me.”

“I’ll bet that made your dad mad.”

“That‘s one way to put it,” he said with a shrug. “But to get back to the subject of the two of us being free for the next four days, what do you say we take off, too?”

“Take off for where?”

“I’ve got a cabin cruiser on Lake Michigan. We could do some cruising and visit a few tourist spots.”

“I didn’t know you had a boat,” she exclaimed, seemingly pleased at the idea. “But I’m sure if you have a chance to get away, you don’t want me tagging along.”

“Of course I do. Aren’t we the deliriously happy McCann’s?”