A Life Less Ordinary (10 page)

He
told Jaime’s father, Devon, to man up, and at least acknowledge the baby and
support his child.

Devon
left town that afternoon.

Rebecca
had always thought the Mankowskis could forgive anyone anything.  It turned out
they couldn’t forgive a boy who deserted his child, or parents who disowned
their pregnant daughter. 

Rebecca
had thought she’d gotten over the pain of it all.

Until
now.

She
blinked, and wondered if she looked as green as she suddenly felt.

“All
right,” she said slowly, wondering what Jaime was hoping she’d do or say;
wondering what Jaime
wanted
her to say or do.

“I...I’m
going to go and meet him.” Jaime said, her chin raised, her eyes glittering
defiantly.

Rebecca
stared at her and realized she was looking at a stranger.  Her own daughter –
it had been just the two of them for so long and they’d gone through so much –
and she couldn’t recognize this young woman sitting in front of her, looking at
her like she, Rebecca, was the one who had abandoned Jaime before she was born.

Or
was she simply projecting, she wondered dazedly.

“All
right,” she said again and wondered why this had knocked her so far off
balance.  It wasn’t like she wasn’t expecting it; Max was very good at what he
did, after all, and Devon probably hadn’t been that difficult to find.

Jaime
waited, carefully watching her mother.  She continued speaking after she
realized Rebecca didn’t have anything else to say.

“Can
you look after Tris for me?  I – I just want to meet my dad and get to know him
before introducing him to his granddaughter.”

“All
right,” Rebecca said for the third time.

“Great! 
I’ve got Tris’ stuff in the car.  I’ll go bring it in.  I want to hit the road
early tomorrow.”

“When
will you be back?”

Jaime
shrugged as she stood and picked up her purse.  “However long it takes me to get
to know my dad.”  She grinned, and Rebecca could see the little girl she used
to be.  “I’m going to get to know my dad!”

“Does
he know you’re coming?”

Jaime
rolled her eyes.  “
No
, Mom.  But I’m sure once he sees me, he’ll want to
get to know me – and we have thirty years to catch up on, after all.  I’ll call
and let you know how it’s going.”

Rebecca
nodded and walked Jaime to the door on numb legs.

“Yes. 
I...look forward to hearing all about it.”

Jaime
brought in Tris’ suitcase and then left with an airy wave to her mother. 
Rebecca closed the door and leaned against it.  She wondered how Jaime’s father
would react to the child he’d denied so many years before.  Would he be sorry
about what he’d done?  Would he open his arms and heart to her now?  Rebecca
hoped he would, for Jaime’s sake.  She and Jaime had their conflicts, but she
was still Jaime’s mother, she loved her, and she wanted her to be happy.  If
finding her father would do that, then Rebecca wouldn’t stand in her way.

Not
that Jaime would let her anyway.

Rebecca
took a deep, shuddering breath, squared her shoulders and walked down the hall
to check on Tris.

* * * * *

Daisy
carried the teapot into the living room while Rebecca carried the tray filled
with cups, honey, and spoons.  Daisy watched her thoughtfully as they set
everything on the coffee table and settled themselves comfortably on the
couches.

“What
does Jackson have to say about all this?” Daisy asked with a thoughtful frown
after they’d fixed their tea and Rebecca had filled her in on Jaime’s visit the
night before.

“He
doesn’t know.”

Daisy
stared at her, dismayed.

“Yet,”
Rebecca clarified.  “He’s out of town on business right now, then he’s taking
the kids on a holiday to Mexico. I won’t even see him before he’s gone again.”

Daisy
relaxed.  “Ah.  Well, lucky kids – not even teenagers yet and travelling the
world.”

“Helps
to have a rich dad.”

“Yeah,
well, I wouldn’t know.”

“Me,
neither.  Anyway – would Janika or Jakob – or both – like to stay with Tris
after school?  I mean, I still have to make a living, too -”

“I’m
sure they would.”

“And
I’ll pay them, of course.”

“They’ll
be home in a minute or two – you can talk to them yourself.  They’re more than
old enough to make their own decisions – at least in this particular case.”

Rebecca
chuckled.  “I can’t believe Jakob’s seventeen!”

Daisy
nodded glumly.  “I can’t believe my baby’s fifteen.  Where does the time go?”

Rebecca
shook her head.  “I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure we’re experiencing lost
time on a regular basis.  Tris is ten. 
Ten! 
Closer to eleven,
actually.  Damn!”

They
subsided into depressed silence while they poured more tea and added honey.

Rebecca
sighed as she took a sip of her tea, then asked with a sudden grin.  “What do
you think Manny’s doing right now?”

“I
know what she’s
not
doing,” Daisy replied drily.

“Zeke?”

“Exactly.”

They
snickered.

Rebecca
shook her head and said, “That girl – she has the self-control of a nun.”

“If
she can spend six months with a guy like that and she
doesn’t
make a
pass at him?  She’ll be more than a nun – she’ll be a saint!”

“I
know I’d be tempted – and I’m happy with Jackson.”

“Oh?”
Daisy asked archly.  “
How
happy?”

Rebecca
smirked into her cup.  “Very.  Extremely.  Wonderfully.  Pick one.  Pick them
all.”

They
were laughing conspiratorially when Jakob and Janika walked into the house,
calling greetings to their mother as they opened the door.

“Hey,”
Daisy said when they came into the living room, “how was your day?”

“Okay,”
Jakob shrugged and Janika nodded.  They greeted Rebecca with smiles.

Janika
had her mother’s colouring and her father’s bland good looks, while Jakob was
his grandfather all over again, tall, dark, roguishly handsome with the same
wicked gleam in his eyes.  Who knew that was genetic, Rebecca thought with fond
amusement.

“Hey,”
she said now, “we were just talking about you. Do you guys have a couple of
minutes?”

They
both nodded.

“Great! 
Well, I’m going to be looking after Tris for the next little while, and I was
wondering if one or both of you would be interested in helping me out?”

Jakob
and Janika exchanged glances and shrugs.

“Sure,”
said Jakob.  “What do you have in mind?”

“Well,
definitely after school on those days she isn’t going over to a friend’s
house,” Rebecca said thoughtfully.  “The occasional evening and weekend as
well.”

Jakob
thought about it.  “Between the two of us, we should be able to manage that,
right, Janika?”

“Should,”
she agreed.  “We do have games, though, and practices – but Tris can always
come with us if they overlap and if she’d like.”

“That’s
great!” Rebecca said, rubbing her hands together.  “What’s the going rate for
babysitting these days?”

Jakob
winced.  “Tris is our friend – and you’re...you know,
you
, Auntie. 
I...I don’t feel right getting paid to help you out.”

“Same
here.”  Janika nodded.

“That’s
really sweet, and ordinarily, I’d take your offer and leave it at that.  But
this isn’t a one-hour deal or even a couple of days.  This is on-going for,
well, I don’t even know how long.  Jaime might be back tomorrow, she might be
gone for a couple of weeks.  But during the next few days, I have business
commitments I can’t break or reschedule.  So, how about this:  I’ll give you
each a pre-paid credit card – say, a thousand dollars?  You can use it for
yourself or to do things with Tris and whatever.  Just let me know when the
cards get low, and I’ll put more money on them.”

“That’s
way too much!” Daisy protested.

Rebecca
laughed and waved away Daisy’s objection.  “Nothing’s too much for my
granddaughter!  Besides, I trust you kids.  Plus Tris knows and likes you, and
I’m not going to lie to her about paying you to look after her.  The cards are
also for entertainment costs if you want to go to a movie, or go shopping, or
whatever it is kids do these days for fun.”

“Well,”
Janika said slowly, “I’d prefer to think of it as an expense account then,
rather than you paying us to look after her.”

“That’s
fine,” Rebecca shrugged.  “Whatever you’d prefer.  I’m just glad you can help
me out.”

Jakob
grinned.  “No worries.  Always happy to help you, Auntie.”

Jakob
and Janika went to their respective bedrooms to start their homework.  Rebecca
and Daisy watched them go with fond smiles.

“You
raised good kids,” Rebecca said to Daisy.

“I’m
not sure if I should take any credit,” Daisy said thoughtfully.  “Maybe they
were just born that way.”

“Come
on – take the credit.  Milk it, baby, milk it, and hopefully you’ll be able to
continue to milk it into old age.” 

They
laughed then Daisy sobered as she leaned back and stared thoughtfully at the teacup
cradled in her hands.

“I
may need to milk it sooner than that,” she said softly.

Rebecca’s
eyes widened at Daisy’s tone.  “Why?”

Daisy
glanced down the hall to her children’s closed doors.  “I don’t want to talk
about it now.  Maybe in a few days.  I’ll call you, okay?”

Rebecca
slowly nodded, her eyes wide.  “All right,” she said slowly, curious and
suddenly worried, but she allowed Daisy to change the subject.  Besides, she
knew Daisy would unburden herself soon enough.

* * * * *

The
days were, Manny was told, unusually warm for the time of year. 

She
wasn’t complaining.

She
soaked up the sun as she and Zeke wandered the streets of San Francisco, and
after the first few days, her legs began to get used to the constant workout of
constantly walking both up and downhill.

For
the most part, Zeke accompanied her on her daily excursions, and watched her
with a distantly observant albeit slightly mocking expression.  He held himself
aloof from her excited and wide-eyed enjoyment of the tourist sites and of the
city itself and appeared to be deliberately holding himself back from truly
enjoying himself.  It almost felt like he was taking notes, she thought
ruefully, he watched everything so carefully.  It puzzled her but then again,
she sometimes watched him just as carefully.  They were still strangers to each
other after all and still trying to figure each other out.

On
the few occasions Zeke had begged off from accompanying her, Manny had taken
the opportunity to do more shopping.  During their journey through Alberta,
she’d replaced the baggy sweats and t-shirt with some jeans and new t-shirts,
and now she added shorts and tank tops to her wardrobe.  When she pulled on a
pair of the new jeans and a tank top in her room, she almost didn’t recognize
herself.

Harvey
gave a slow whistle. 
Looks good,
he said.

These
jeans are so...
low
!  And this top clings to my tummy bulge too much.

Stop
worrying.  Nobody’s looking at you anyway.

...aren’t
you supposed to help build my self-esteem?

That
was
meant
to be comforting.  You’re the only one who’s looking for flaws
and therefore you’ll be the only one to see them.

...I’m
not sure that’s actually logical.

You
do realize you’re arguing with yourself, right?

Fine. 
Okay.  Whatever.

Now,
be honest.  Look at this outfit.  You actually have a waist.  And those jeans
make your legs look longer than they are.  You also look ten pounds lighter. 
Come on.  Admit it.  You look really good in this outfit.  And years younger!

Manny
considered Harvey’s words with a frown, and tried to see herself objectively.

Okay. 
I don’t look
horrible
.

It
was as far as she was willing to go.

Her
skin was beginning to turn a golden brown, her mousy,
not-quite-blonde-not-quite-brown hair getting bleached by the sun.  As always,
she ate with a hearty appetite, and her initial physical discomfort had faded
to a pleasant ache brought on by exercise and sun. 

Leila’s
second bed and breakfast was lovely, a large Victorian house nestled in the
heart of San Francisco.  Leila’s grandson managed the place and served not only
breakfast but also supper for those people who wished to eat at the house with
the family.