I waved off the concern. “Don’t worry, she always has a pot on the Mister Coffee.”
“So, exactly what did you have in mind, Mister Buckman. What kind of dream vacation do you want?”
“Well, several things come to mind. I suppose that at the top of my list is that I can’t stand flying commercial. Even if we travel to the same old places everybody else does, I don’t want to spend the entire day in airports. I did enough hurry-up-and-wait in the Army. I don’t need to keep doing it now.”
“Is that where you got the limp?” she asked.
Marilyn brought back two cups of coffee in one hand, holding them by the handles, and a glass of iced tea for me. “Cream or sugar?” she asked.
“Black is fine, thank you.”
“I take sugar in mine.” She sat down next to me and asked, “What’d I miss?”
“I was just asking if your husband got his limp in the Army.”
I gave a wry shrug. “I made one jump too many with the 82nd Airborne. Now I’m in investments. As I mentioned, this is only temporary. We just bought some property out near Hampstead and are going to build a house. I promised Marilyn to take her on a nice vacation once I was out.”
“Sounds like fun. Well, you already know we can handle flying with charter operators. What did you have in mind?”
I glanced at Marilyn, and then pressed ahead. “Two trips, actually. The first is to her family in Utica. That won’t be any too fancy,” I turned to my wife. “You were saying we need to get Charlie baptized, right? You haven’t even joined a church down here, and all your family is up there. We can fly Suzie up with us, take a weekend, give him the bath, and then leave him with your folks while we fly off on our vacation.”
“You make that sound so simple!” she answered.
“That’s because it is simple,” interjected Taylor smoothly. “Simply give me the dates and I can arrange it. Will you want a car while you’re there? Do you plan to stay with family or will you need a room? Any preferences?”
“That’s what I’ve been saying!” I added. “The only reason I want to fly is because seven hours in the car is going to really bother my knee!”
“Okay, that’s one trip. What did you have in mind for your vacation trip? That will be just the two of you, correct?”
I nodded. “We talked about that. Neither of us have been to the Bahamas. However, I don’t want to just stay in a hotel on the beach. I’m thinking something a little more exotic.”
Both women asked the same thing at the same time, “Just how exotic?” although Marilyn asked it in a much more suspicious tone.
“Okay, I’m thinking a private villa of some sort, on the beach, but private. Not too private, though, since we’ll want to go into town and see the sights or whatever. No desert islands. Is that sort of thing possible?”
Taylor nodded. “Certainly. The only question is how fancy you want to be and when you want to go. Some times of the year are more popular and more expensive, or might already be booked. The Bahamas are actually a bunch of islands, although quite a few have small airstrips that private jets can fly in and out of.”
“How much lead time do we have to give you?”
“Well, I would prefer a few weeks, but I can show you some ideas in a day or two.”
I smiled at Marilyn and nodded. “So I’m not actually as crazy as my wife thinks I am.”
Taylor laughed. “No, not hardly. I think I know of a few places you might like. Private, but not too private. Maybe a place you can work on your tans without any tanlines?”
Marilyn turned bright red, and I just laughed and nodded. “I think you have the general drift.”
“If I call you in two days, will you have figured out when you can do your christening? Maybe we can do the vacation trip the week after that.”
“We’ll figure it out and I’ll call you tomorrow,” I assured her.
We showed Taylor out, and I laughed at Marilyn’s embarrassment. Then I chased her upstairs and showed her my technique for getting her out of her swimsuit. That kept us busy until Charlie woke up.
That afternoon, I had Marilyn call her Mom and see about getting St. Peter’s for a christening. Harriet in turn called St. Peter’s and got the first date available, which was Sunday, April 4. I then called Suzie and checked that April 4 was free for her.
“I guess so. You want me to drive to Utica? Can’t we wait until the summer?” Suzie asked.
“You let me handle that. I’ll let you know. Just be free that weekend, okay?” I assured her.
I turned to Marilyn. “Call your mom back. April 4 it is. I’ll give Taylor the message.” It was after five, so I left a message on her answering machine, and asked Marilyn to remind me to call her the next morning.
Taylor called us by 9:30 the next morning. We gave her the dates, and she said she would have some suggestions by the next day, and asked if she should come out again at the same time. Marilyn and I agreed to that, and Taylor came out at 2:00 just like before.
This time Marilyn had some fresh coffee brewed, and had a sugar and creamer set on the dining room table. I had to take two looks at them. They were a brand new and matching Raggedy Ann and Andy set. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“They’re cute!” protested Marilyn.
“They’re atrocious!” I replied.
“They came with matching salt and pepper shakers, too.”
I stared at her for a second. “Oh my God! My mother really was right about you!”
Marilyn simply stuck her tongue out at me and gave me a long and loud raspberry.
I turned to Taylor. “Wherever we’re going, put me in the Learjet. Put her in a Goony Bird with only one engine!”
“She’s right, they’re cute,” laughed Taylor.
“You can sit with her on the Goony Bird!”
Taylor and Marilyn laughed at me, and Taylor pulled some files from her attaché case. “The first trip is certainly the easiest. You can fly out of Westminster, drop into the nearest airport to — your sister, I believe you said?”
I nodded. “My sister, Suzie. She’s a student at the University of Delaware. I think that’s in Newark.”
Taylor’s eyes unfocused a little as she thought for a second. “Yes, that’s the main campus. I think the nearest airport is actually Philadelphia International. You could fly in there, pick her up, and then fly to the Oneida County airport, which is near Utica. Would that be close?”
Marilyn nodded. “That’s closer than Syracuse.”
“Okay, then. That’s the travel arrangements. I would have a car waiting for you at the airport, and we can put you up for the weekend at the Sheraton. Would you want separate rooms or a nice suite for all of you?”
I grinned at my wife. “Do we keep her in the suite with us, or give her her own room and hope she doesn’t get into trouble?”
“You’re a mean brother! Give her her own room.”
“Okay, but warn her about your brothers. In my family, at least, we don’t think of a family reunion as The Dating Game!”
“Oooh, I’ll get you for that!” Marilyn protested, laughing.
I turned to Taylor. “You’ll notice she didn’t deny that.” Taylor didn’t respond, though her eyes had an amused light to them. “I’d say two rooms at the Sheraton. And a decent sized car at the airport, maybe a Caddy or a Town Car, something that size. We’ll probably bring enough gear to send Charlie into combat.”
Taylor made some notes. “I’ll let you know of the final details and you can let your sister know about the itinerary. That Sunday you simply reverse course. You drop the car off at the airport, fly to Philly and then back home. When will you want to go on your vacation?”
I looked at Marilyn and we shrugged at each other. “Maybe a day or two later?”