That prompted his memory. Mattie had said she would wash his clothes. He grabbed the yellow bathrobe, shrugged his arms into the sleeves, and tied the belt around his waist. He opened the bedroom door and was about to step through the doorway when he saw his clothes lying in a neat pile on the floor outside the room. In addition, there was a Gillette razor and some shaving cream, a toothbrush, and toothpaste.
He placed his clothes on the bed. Then, taking the razor and shaving cream, he walked down the short hallway to the bathroom. He heard noises coming from the direction of the kitchen. Don and Mattie must be up. He shaved for the first time in several days and combed his hair with a comb he found in the cabinet. Returning to the bedroom, he dressed quickly.
An oval mirror hung on the wall over the dresser, in a gilt frame with a carved design that had once been fancy but now was chipped and cracked. He glanced at his reflection. He didn’t look bad, shaved and wearing clean clothes. If he had appealed to Mattie when he was dirty and bearded, he should appeal to her now.
Alfred made his way to the kitchen. There was an odor to the house that he associated with the old houses of New England. It was probably mildew. He put a smile on his face, rounded the corner, and stepped into the kitchen. Mattie was sitting at the small table at the far end of the room, reading a newspaper, and sipping coffee. She was dressed in slacks and a long-sleeved shirt. Don was not in sight.
Mattie looked up when he entered and said, “Well, Sleeping Beauty. I thought you were going to sack out all day.”
“The bed was comfortable.”
“Just about anything is more comfortable than the top bunk of the camper. You’re probably starving. Omelet okay?”
“Sure. Where’s Don.”
“Oh, he left for work hours ago. Sit down and have some coffee. Breakfast will be ready in five minutes.”
Mattie rose from the table, and Alfred sat down.
“I’ve checked the Greyhound schedule. There’s a bus at ten thirty, heading for Los Angeles. I can drive you to the station, although it isn’t far, and you could easily walk it. You don’t have any luggage to weigh you down.” She laughed.
“Thank you.” Now was the time. Alfred swallowed some coffee. It felt hot going down his throat. “I owe you a big apology for what happened the other night. I-I’m really sorry.”
Mattie stopped whisking the eggs and looked at him. “The other night? Oh that? I’ve already forgotten about it.”
“I feel terrible about it.”
“Don’t worry. I was too pushy. A lot of guys don’t like pushy dames. I owe you an apology for insulting you. I don’t know why your wife left you, but I’m sure it wasn’t your fault. You did need clean clothes, though. However, you smell as fresh as a changed and powdered baby now.”
“It was partly my fault. If there’s anything I can do to make up for it…”
She looked at him again. “Like what? Oh, you mean have sex now? I don’t cheat on Don at home. Couldn’t live with myself if I did.”
“But in the camper-”
“That’s different. The camper isn’t home. One reason we travel a lot is to relieve our itches. Both of us. You don’t think his problem bothers him? We have to get away from the burdens of home once in awhile before they get to be too heavy a load to carry.”
Alfred was relieved that she was turning him down. “Does Don drive the camper to work?”
“Naw, he drives the old pickup you saw in the driveway.”
“So you drive the camper.”
“I have another car. It’s in the garage. We reserve the camper for…camping.”
Maybe what he was thinking about was feasible. “This sure is beautiful country you have here. I’ve never been to this part of California before.”
“You should see the redwoods. The tallest tree in the world is close to here.”
“I’d like to. My wife and I were planning to come through here on our way home. Of course, I don’t know which way she went since I haven’t heard from her.”
He had made a show of pretending to try to phone his wife’s parents a couple of times in the last two days, saying that his wife might be in touch with them. When Don and Mattie asked him if he’d reached them, he said no.
“She might be back in L.A. by now. Do you want to try and call her from here?”
“No thanks,” Alfred said quickly. “I…I don’t want to try to talk to her over the phone. I’ll wait until I get back to L.A. and deal with her in person.”
“You never told me your wife’s name.”
“Uh…Penny. Her name is Penny.”
“Nice name, Penny. Shiny new Penny. Or a bad Penny. Sorry, couldn’t resist. If there’s anything I can do to help you two get back together…”
“Thanks. I’m afraid not.” She was transforming into mother mode. “What I was thinking, since I’m here, I might spend a couple of days sightseeing. See the redwoods and the coast and everything. If you’re not using the camper, maybe I could rent it from you. Of course, I’ll pay for the gas and everything. I’ll even get it washed and leave you with a full tank.”
Mattie chuckled. “Well, you were the one who fixed it. It’s running great now. You’re a pretty good driver. I don’t think Don would object. I’ll tell you what; you can take some of the food we had left over from the trip. I’ll even give you a change of underwear and socks. I don’t think you can wear Don’s pants-your waist size is a little larger than his-but his shirts shouldn’t be a problem.”
Now she was definitely acting like a mother. Things were working out just fine.
Gary and Penny reached the coast at Crescent City. They turned south on Route 101 and found themselves almost immediately in a forest of redwood trees. They stopped at Redwood National Park and took a hike along a path with the giants towering above them. The vista reminded Penny of pictures she had seen of the interiors of large European cathedrals, with the ruler-straight tree trunks representing the cathedral columns. This was on a much grander scale than any cathedral.
“ The tallest tree in the world is somewhere in this area.” Penny read from her guidebook. “It’s almost four hundred feet tall.”
“ Taller than a football field is long.”
Penny looked up the trunk of one of the trees, imagining what it would be like to be in the relatively stubby branches at the top. She felt dizzy and almost fell over backward. She quickly looked down and went back to the guidebook.
“ They need a damp climate, with moderate temperatures all year long.”
Tendrils of fog drifted past them, and they were none too warm in their sweatshirts. The place was enchanting, but it was also a place where Penny didn’t want to linger. The canopy of branches high above their heads blocked out most of what sunlight there was, leaving an eerie aura.
A half hour of feeling like Lilliputians was enough for them, and they headed back to the car. Penny said, “Let’s find ourselves a nice sunny beach.”
Alfred stationed the camper in a parking lot facing Route 101, which was also the main street of Crescent City, near the intersection where Route 199 came in from Oregon. That was the route that Mattie, Don, and he had taken last night to get there, and he was positive that Penny and Gary would be coming the same way.
The question was when? He hoped they hadn’t already passed this way. If they didn’t show up by mid-afternoon, he would return the camper to Mattie and take the bus back to Los Angeles. Mattie had provided him with plenty of food so he wouldn’t go hungry as he waited. She had gone from trying to be his lover to being his mother. He was more comfortable with her in that capacity.