“That sounds like a good idea, Mother. Be right back.” Ronnie turned and moved through the crowd as quickly as she could. To her unpleasant surprise, she ended up face to face with Michael.
“Ah, fancy meeting you here,” he said, smirking at his own joke.
“Don’t you think the Eddie Haskell routine was a bit much, Michael?”
“Oh please, that’s just my natural charm.”
“Whatever.” As much as she enjoyed a good verbal fight, this was neither the time nor the place for it. “Have you seen Susan?”
“Last time I saw her she was out in the kitchen with that friend of yours.” Raised voices caught both their attention.
“….Bullshit, John. I told you to sell when they were at forty-eight and an eighth. It’s not my fault you didn’t do it.” People quickly moved away from the two angry men, forming a circle.
“You’re my broker. You’re supposed to take care of these things for me. Do you have any idea how much money I lost?”
“You knew they were talking merger.” Ronnie broke through the circle at that moment. “If you don’t act fast, you lose out.”
“Like Sally Ryan?” The executive took a deep breath. Old girlfriend’s names were never a good sign.
“You knew she didn’t have a date for the dance. It’s not my fault I asked her out before you did.”
“You knew I wanted to go out with her. She was all I talked about that year.”
Ronnie knew this was going to escalate quickly into a classic Cartwright scuffle. She stepped between the fighting brothers. “ENOUGH! You are supposed to be here mourning Tommy’s death, not fighting over some girl you lost fifteen years ago.” An intense throbbing began behind her eyes, the sign of a relative headache. “John, you’re not in high school anymore. Get over it.” The men exchanged foul looks and stormed off in different directions. A murmur of words and then everyone else returned to their previous conversations. Ronnie ran her fingers through her hair forcefully.
“You okay?” a soft voice from behind her asked.
“Yeah.” She turned to see familiar green eyes looking up at her with concern. “Really, Rose. I’m fine.”
“Just making sure. I heard you yell.”
“Just a typical Cartwright get-together,” Ronnie sputtered. She caught a flash of orange-red out of the corner of her eye. “Uh oh.” Susan and her mother were approaching fast. “I see Mother found you,” she said once her sister was within earshot.
“I told you she hadn’t left yet,” Beatrice said. The look in Susan’s eyes made it clear she wished she had not been found.Ronnie thought to herself. “I was just telling your sister that I want to go through Tommy’s things. I assume you still have boxes up in the attic?”
“What, from when he lived here? He took what he wanted and I threw out the rest.”
“But there were trophies and ribbons and awards…?”
“If he didn’t take them, they’re gone.”
“And it never occurred to you that I might want those things?” Beatrice stood directly in front of her eldest child. “How could you be so inconsiderate?”
“Mother!” Susan exclaimed. Rose stood there quietly, her attention focused on the twitching muscle in Ronnie’s jaw.
“Tomorrow I’ll go over to his apartment and see if he kept anything.”
“Don’t bother. Your sister will take me over and I’ll look for myself.” The sisters exchanged glances. Susan shrugged her shoulders. This was the first she was hearing of it as well.
“I think you should wait a few days, Mother. His belongings aren’t going anywhere.” Ronnie was worried about what they would find there.
“Nonsense. Tomorrow will be fine.”
“I don’t think tomorrow…”
“Veronica Louise!” The twitching became a solid clench. Rose moved closer to her friend and discreetly placed her fingertips against Ronnie’s back. The muscles were bunched and tight, another indication of Ronnie’s tension. She pressed slightly and began rubbing in small circles.
“Fine, Mother. Susan and I will take you to Tommy’s tomorrow.”She leaned almost imperceptibly into the gentle touch of Rose’s fingers.
“Honestly, I don’t know why you make things so difficult, Ronnie. On this day of all days you have to be stubborn.” Beatrice dabbed at dry eyes with her handkerchief. “I ask a simple thing. I just want something to remember my son by and you have to be difficult.”
“Mother…”
“No Susan. I asked one simple thing of her. Just because she couldn’t get along with her brother is no excuse for upsetting me.”
Ronnie’s back was now a solid band of tension and it took her a moment before she could relax her jaw enough to speak. The gentle circling motion on her back increased in pressure.She cast a sideways glance at her companion. Seeing the look of understanding and support in those green eyes was enough to keep the sharp remark from passing through her lips. Instead she looked at her mother and nodded. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I guess we’re all still in shock.” Ronnie knew she was caving in, but today was not the day to make a stand with her mother. “I had better go check on things. Excuse me.” With her back to her mother, she gave Rose a loving smile and left the room.
Entering the kitchen, Ronnie was pleased to see that the only person there was Maria. She walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water. She took a long swallow before speaking to her housekeeper. “Do you have any aspirin? I have a pounding headache and I really don’t want to go out there again.”
“Been talking to your mother again, haven’t you?” Maria opened a drawer and pulled out her purse. “I’m sure there’s some Tylenol or Motrin in here.”
“Sorry,” Susan said as she entered. “She’s in rare form today.” The two sisters stood near the end of the island. Maria found something to do in the laundry room, allowing the two women their privacy.
“When was the last time you were at his place?” Ronnie asked before tossing three pills into her mouth and taking several gulps of water.
“This one? I’ve never been there. Why would I go to his apartment?”
“We’re going to have to go there, you know. Who knows what it looks like or what things he may have laying out.” She put the bottle back into the fridge. “Can Jack keep an eye on the kids?”
“I’m sure he can.” Susan looked at her watch. “We’re going to be leaving in a few minutes. You want to meet at Tommy’s place around six or seven?”
“Seven would be better. Who knows how long everyone is going to stay.” Ronnie looked out the glass door at the rainbow of cars that littered her driveway. “At least another hour or two.”
“And then there’s Mother.”