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When she finished, Shawn said, “Wow. That was good. If you don’t know how to read yet, I could read to you.”
Deborah said, “Her books are in the chest under the window in the den. That’s sweet of you, Shawn. She loves having someone read to her.”
The two disappeared, and after a moment she could hear Shawn reading aloud to her. She peered at them through the crack in the open door, keeping herself out of sight. Rain had climbed up on his lap, leaning her head back against his chest in the same way she did with Patrick. Later she found them stretched out on the floor, with Shawn looking on while Rain formed her letters with a fat red pencil. “B goes the other way,” he was saying. “Here, let me show you.”
“I can do it!”
“Okay. Let me see you, then.”
When Patrick got home Deborah told him what had transpired since she’d spoken to him by phone. “Creed” and “Destiny” (whose names she always said as though surrounded by quotes) had spent the afternoon in the bus. Rain had talked Shawn into a game of Chutes and Ladders. His patience seemed infinite. Meanwhile, Deborah was at a loss. The di
Patrick said, “What do you think they’re up to?”
“I’m sure we’ll find out. Maybe they’ve given up life on the road and they’re ready to move in with us.”
Rain came into the kitchen with Shawn close behind. “We’re hungry.”
“Well, we’ll have to take care of that,” Deborah said. “Shawn, this is Patrick. You remember him?”
Patrick reached over and shook Shawn’s hand. “Hey, Shawn. It’s been a while. Nice seeing you again. I understand you like to be called Sky Dancer.”
“Sometimes.”
“We’d be happy to have you join us for supper, but Deborah’s stumped about what to fix for the two of you.”
“Pasta with olive oil is good. Or tomato sauce,” Shawn said. “And salad. I eat lots of vegetables and fruit.”
“Well, I’m sure we can rustle up something. Thanks for the suggestions.”
Deborah made enough supper for Creed and Destiny as well. She knew she was allowing hospitality to take precedence over hostility, but she couldn’t help herself. People had to eat. This wasn’t a third-world country where starvation was the rule. She sent Shawn out to tell his parents there was food on the table if they were interested. Creed and Destiny appeared, looking as though they’d showered in the interim. Nothing was said about the earlier friction. The six of them sat down to eat, keeping the conversation superficial, which was easier than she’d expected. Aside from dogma, the pair knew little about the world and seemed to care even less.
Deborah noticed Greg making a covert study of his daughter, and once she saw him offer her a tentative smile. Shelly was chilly throughout the meal. She had no interest in Rain and made a point of giving Greg a warning look when she caught him starting to clown around with her. After that he avoided any show of warmth. Fortunately, by then Rain was so enamored of Shawn that she paid no attention to either one.
It was after supper, when Rain had been put to bed and Shawn relegated to the bus, that Creed and Destiny got down to business. Given their agenda, it wasn’t hard to understand why the two had been so patient to this point. Creed explained the project they had in mind. “We saved up a thousand dollars as a down payment on a farm. We’d been thinking about it for a long time before we heard about this place. The problem is, we need to have the rest of the money by the end of the month.”
Patrick said, “A farm. Well, I guess that’s one way to make a living. I didn’t know you were interested in farming. You know much about it?”
“Not right now, but I can learn. That’s the whole point, you know, working the land.”
“And where is this place?”
“Up the coast. Close to Salinas,” Greg said.
Deborah was sitting there wondering if there was a word of truth in anything he’d said.
“Actually, we’re setting up a commune,” Shelly said. “Anyone who joins us will share whatever money they have and we’ll divvy up the chores. We’ll share everything equally. Even child care.”
Patrick nodded. “How many acres are you buying?”
“Maybe a hundred?” Greg said.
“Mind if I take a look at the contract?” Patrick appeared to be taking them seriously, but Deborah knew it was his way of pointing out how ill prepared and ill informed they were.
“We don’t have a contract. This is like a gentlemen’s agreement. We did it on a handshake. We know the guy and he’s really supportive of our idea.”
“Good. I like the sound of it. What do you intend to grow?”
“Mostly vegetables. We’ll plant enough to live on and then put stuff by. We plan to do a lot of ca
“Well,” Patrick said. “That’s a hell of an idea. You have my blessing if that’s what this is about. I wish I had advice to offer you, but farming’s not my bailiwick.”
Greg was grooming his facial hair. He’d taken to spi
“Sure. Forty thousand dollars, but it’s all in trust. The money won’t be available until you turn thirty. I thought I’d made that clear.”
Greg frowned, baffled by the very idea. “Why? That’s five years from now.”
Deborah got the impression they were getting to the heart of the matter. Greg had a point of view he was prepared to argue if he could work his way around to it.
Patiently, Patrick said, “Those were the terms of the will. If you’ll remember he gave you ten thousand dollars when you were eighteen.”
“And that was part of the forty?”
“No, no. He was curious what you’d do with it. If it’s any comfort, he did the same thing with me and I went through mine about as fast as you did.”
“What, that was like a test or something?”
“That’s precisely what it was. Your grandfather was a bit of a pissant. This was his method of teaching money management.”
“That’s not what he told me. He said the money was mine and I could do anything I wanted.”
“He didn’t want to influence your process. If you made a mistake or turned out to be a financial whiz, he wanted it to come from you. Do you remember what you did with it?”
“Some of it, sure. I went to Oregon to see my friend Rick, and ended up lending him a few hundred dollars because the transmission on his truck went out.”
“He pay you back?”
“Not so far, but he said he would. And I mean, you know, I trust the guy. He’s a good dude.”
“You also bought a Harley, if I remember correctly.”
“Well, yeah, a used one. And I paid off some credit cards.”
“That was smart. I remember the credit card companies were really on your case by then.”
“I don’t know what their deal was. If they were going to be such butts about it, why offer me a card in the first place?”
Destiny said, “Creed, would you wise up? Your dad’s a shit-ass. He has no intention of giving you forty thousand dollars. Don’t you get that?”
“I’m not asking him to give it to me. This would be like an advance.”
“Yeah, well he’s not going to do that either. God, you are so dense sometimes. This is all bullshit. He’s having a big laugh at your expense. He thinks you’re an idiot when it comes to money. He won’t give you a dime.”