security and tell them I saw it?”
“Sure,” Judith said. “They’ll need a witness. Insurance,
and all that.”
Renie picked up the phone, dialed zero, and asked to
be connected to security. She was informed that security was out. “He’s it?” she said after leaving her name
and room number.
“Probably not, at least not at night,” Judith replied.
Renie began hauling food out of the Falstaff ’s bag.
“Let’s eat something before the nurses come around
with all their paraphernalia. I don’t want them confiscating my stash.”
“I might nibble on an apple,” Judith said.
“Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith,
Gala?” Renie offered.
“Red Delicious,” Judith said, gazing at the sack with its
Falstaff logo. “How much stuff have you got in there?”
“Plenty,” Renie replied, using her left hand to toss
Judith a shiny red apple. It was a surprisingly accurate
throw, considering that Renie was normally righthanded. “Hey,” she said with a grin, “maybe I could’ve
been a southpaw pitcher. Cheese? There’s Monterey
jack, Havarti, Brie, and a really nice Gouda.” She produced a small knife and held it up.
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Mary Daheim
“The apple’s fine,” Judith said with a slight shake of
her head. “I don’t see how you got all that stuff in your
purse, big as it is.”
“That’s because I took everything else out and put it
in my overnight bag,” Renie said. “Food first; the rest
is a distant second.”
The phone rang. Judith thought it must be security,
calling Renie back. But Renie gave a brief shake of her
head. It wasn’t her phone. Judith wrestled with the receiver, and finally managed to say hello.
“Hi, Mom,” Mike said, sounding vaguely apprehensive. “How are you getting along? Joe told me the surgery went fine.”
“It did,” Judith replied with a big smile on her face.
“I’m getting along just great.”
“That’s a huge relief,” Mike said, and Judith knew he
meant it. Her son was a worrier. “Kristin and Mac and I’d
like to come into town tonight to see you, but it’s snowing like crazy up here at the pass. I think they’re going to
close the highway pretty soon. It’s a regular blizzard.”
In her mind’s eye, Judith could picture the U.S. Forest Service cabin that Mike and Kristin called home. It
was small but cozy, and with a magnificent view of the
surrounding mountains and forest. At least when they
could see through the snow.
“Don’t even think of coming down until I get home,”
Judith said. “I’m not going to be here forever.”
“I know, but I’d still like to pay a visit before the
weekend,” Mike said. “Didn’t they figure you’d be
home about Saturday?”
“They didn’t make any promises,” Judith said.
“How’s Kristin? What’s little Mac up to?”
“They’re fine,” Mike said. “Kristin still has the
queasies sometimes, but basically, she feels strong.”
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77
Like a fifty-foot Douglas fir, Judith thought, picturing her daughter-in-law.
“Mac wants to go back outside to play in the snow,”
Mike went on, “but it’s blowing too hard. Kristin took
him out there a while ago, and the wind knocked him
over. He made a perfect snow angel when he fell,
though. Thanks again for the snowsuit you gave him
for Christmas.” He paused, and Judith could hear Mac
jabbering in the background. “Tomorrow, little fella,
okay? Say,” Mike said into the phone again, “I wasn’t
going to mention this until I saw you, but now that I
think about it, you’re probably pretty bored, huh?”
“Well . . .” Judith glanced at Renie, who was gobbling cheese and pear slices. “Not exactly, but I may be
later.”
“We’re going to put Mac in preschool this fall,”
Mike said, sounding like a typical proud papa.
“There’s a really good one about twenty miles down
the highway. Kristin’s been filling out the forms, and
one thing they’d like to have is a family tree. Then,
when the kid enters on the first day, there’s his picture
on this cutout of a tree, with information about all of
his ancestors. Cute, huh?”
“Cute,” Judith agreed, though her voice had gone
flat. “So you want me to put together a family tree.”
She caught Renie’s gaze; Renie choked on her pear.
“If you could,” Mike said. “Nothing fancy; I gather
the teachers do the artwork and arranging. No real
rush, either, though they’d like to have all this stuff by
the end of the month.”
“The end of the month?” Judith frowned into the
phone. “Why so soon? Mac won’t start school until
fall.”
“The teachers have to make the trees for about sixty
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Mary Daheim
kids,” Mike said reasonably. “Of course, they have to
decide if they’ll accept Mac in the first place. But the
earlier we get all this stuff done, the more likely he’ll
get into Little Einsteins.”
“That’s the name of the school?” Judith gulped.
“Right. They don’t take just any kid,” Mike said,
pride still evident in his voice. “Of course, it’s not
cheap, but we can swing it. Education’s so important
these days. I mean, it’s not like when I was a kid, and
you sent me to Ethel Bump’s place. All we did was
string beads and finger-paint her furniture and roll
around on our rugs.”
“That was day care, Mike,” Judith said over Renie’s
loud coughing fit . You were there so I could work two
jobs while Dan laid on the couch, starting his day with
an entire bottle of blackberry brandy and working his
way up to his first vodka at eleven in the morning.
“You did more than just play at Ethel’s,” Judith continued. “You learned your numbers.”
“Not all of them,” Mike responded. “I always left
out nine.”
“True.” Judith hung her head. “Okay, I’ll see what I
can do.”
“Great, Mom. Got to go. There’s a message coming
in on my fax. Love you.” He hung up.
“Family tree, huh?” Renie said, having conquered
her choking.
Judith grimaced. “I’ve dreaded this for years.”
Renie offered her cousin a sympathetic smile.
“Don’t you think Mike knows that Dan wasn’t his real
father?”
“Define ‘real,’ ” Judith said with a frown.
“I meant natural father,” Renie responded, eating a
piece of Havarti cheese. “Yes, I certainly know that
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79
Dan raised Mike, that in spite of being a lousy husband, he was a pretty good dad. I also know that Mike
has always felt that Dan really was his dad. But a year
or so ago, I got the impression that Mike had figured it
out. Do you remember? We were all having our pictures taken with little Mac, and Mike suddenly looked
from the baby’s red hair to Joe’s, and since Mike himself has red hair and Dan was very dark, I got the impression that Mike finally realized the truth.”
“He’s never said a word,” Judith asserted. “Not to
me, not to Joe. But you’re right, I think he must know,