Chapter 12 An Old Flame?
Greg helped Janet into the Pimico mini-limo in the arrivals lane outside of Kansas City International Airport as Harry loaded the luggage into the trunk.
He turned and noticed that two bags remained, so he moved to help Harry with the last of the luggage.
He handed the last bag to Harry, giving him a nod and smile.
Harry smiled back, whistling a tune as he positioned the last bag into the trunk. “I hope you had a good trip, boss.”
“Harry, my friend, it was an excellent weekend. Aunt Janet had a great time getting to watch her daughter perform in concert for the first time.”
“What?” Harry replied, his chin dropping as the statement hit him hard. “Did you just say Aunt Janet watched her daughter performing in concert?”
“I did indeed, my friend.” Greg smiled happily.
“I’m sorry, Greg. I didn’t realize that Aunt Janet ever had any children,” he said as he recovered from the dumbfounded look he’d had on his face. “I didn’t mean to react like that.”
“It’s okay, Harry. Nobody knew that Veronica LaFayette was actually Janet Reed’s daughter,” Greg said steadily, watching the reaction on Harry’s face.
“Veronica,,,,” Harry muttered slowly. “Veronica LaFayette,,,,” he continued as his mind raced to understand what he’d just heard. “Aunt Janet is Veronica’s mother?”
“Yes she is. It’s a long story, and I’ll tell you all about it later.
Right now, I’m hungry. I know you missed church to pick us up, so I’ll treat for the meal.
Would you take us to the New China Town restaurant in Mission?
I’ll get a meal for you and your mom to take home for the inconvenience of this morning. ”
“Sure thing, boss. They open at eleven, so we should get there right as they open up.” Harry closed the trunk. “Do you want me to close your door?”
“No, Harry. I’ll get the door. Thanks again,” Greg said and moved back to the right side of the mini-limo to get in the back beside Aunt Janet. Harry moved to the drivers seat, got in and buckled up. Greg adjusted his seat belt, then gave the wave.
Harry shifted the mini-limo into drive as he gave his good, bad and ugly whistle while checking his mirrors one final time before carefully pulling out from the pick-up lane into regular traffic.
He took the corner smoothly as he slowly accelerated on the gentle turning climb away from the terminal.
Greg leaned back into the plush rear seat, letting his head fall back on top of the backrest. Janet shifted slightly, then reached over to grab a bottle of water.
She opened the cap and took a long slow drink from the bottle, returning the cap and setting it into one of the open holder slots on the left side door.
She looked around as they passed Paris street and the exit to the rental car locations.
It wasn’t long before Harry was taking the ramp onto I-29 South towards Kansas City.
Janet leaned forward then tapped on the glass separator.
Harry lowered the divider and responded, “May I help you Aunt Janet?”
“You were always a bright one, Harry. I heard Greg tell you that Veronica is my daughter, so you don’t have to pretend.”
“Thank you,” he said with a brightness in his voice. “What can I do for you?”
“Can you play one of my daughter’s songs for me?” Janet asked.
“Which one?” Harry asked politely.
“I’d like to hear Together Forever, if I could,” she said, pensively.
“Certainly,” Harry brightly replied. “Greg purchased the CD on Black Friday when it released. I’ll queue it up,” Harry selected the disc from the player stack, then selected the song. The music began to play, slow and steady.
“That’s the one,” Janet said, leaning back. “I thought this was one of the best songs she sang on Saturday night.”
“Indeed. I remember hearing that one at the Erronts and Reed reception the first time she performed it.”
“I knew I’d heard it somewhere before,” Janet replied. “How could I forget that?”
“Maybe because shortly after that performance, both her and I were shot in that terrible drive by out in front of the club,” Greg mused, still listening to the song playing softly in the background. “Seems like forever since that day,” he mused.
“That was one of the worst days of my life, Greg,” Janet admitted trembling.
“I can’t even begin to imagine,” Greg replied in a soft conciliatory voice.
“I’d already lost her at birth to my best friend Vanessa,” Janet said with soft tears forming in her eyes.
“How can I ever thank you for giving me back my daughter?” She had pleading in her eyes.
“I missed out on so much, even though I was right there. I didn’t realize how much it meant to hear her call me mom in front of others,” she slowly let out.
“I can’t even begin to tell you what that means for me. ”
“After our chat over my issues,” Greg solemnly replied, “I owed you. I didn’t realize how much I was hurting myself and everyone else by trying to keep it all inside me. I thought I was protecting everyone, not hurting them and myself.”
“At least you’ve listened to me, and the pain that I went through.
You’ve learned how bottling things up inside eat at you, and can make you bitter.
” She smiled softly. “Greg, you allowed me to process my own pain, and give you the benefits of my experiences to keep you from making the mistakes I made.” She paused as the song was coming to the end.
“Maybe if I’d learned those lessons myself, then James Emory would have stood a chance with me. ”
“Did I miss something?” Greg asked.
“You don’t think James wanted this only for Veronica, did you my child?” Janet asked.
“Until right now, um,” Greg was answering slowly. “Yeah, I did think that.”
“He tried to get me to go out with him for years.” She paused. “He was the one who called me about Quinton. He hoped that I would come to Oslo to help Veronica recover. He didn’t realize how Covid affected travel.”
“Nobody saw that coming.” Greg looked up as Harry was exiting off I-29 South onto I-635 South. “About fifteen minutes down to Mission,” Greg mused then looked at his watch. “It’s already 10:50 AM. Harry was right about getting there right as they open.”
“I’d like to have the General Tso’s Chicken,” Janet said. “That so called ‘continental breakfast’ this morning was nearly pathetic.”
“It’s not their fault that we were up at 5 AM to get to the airport,” Greg responded. “I was glad that they had the coffee, toast and fruit already.”
Janet chucked softly, “I guess we can cut them some slack then, my child.” She leaned forward and called up front to Harry, “Can you play ‘The Best Is With Me’ please?”
“Of course, Aunt Janet,” Harry replied. “You know that I did everything you instructed me to do in your classes back at Christian Academy Prep. Why would I stop doing that now?”
“You were probably one of the easiest students I ever taught, Harry. I hear that your mom is getting home health care now?”
“Yes, she is, thanks to Greg,” he replied. “We got a professional nurse who’s able to spend most days with mom at home now, a Frieda Nowak.”
“Frieda Nowak?” Janet asked a little puzzled. “Are you sure that isn’t Frieda Williamson?”
“She does kind of look like Nurse Greta and Nurse Tilde,” Harry replied.
“She was an exceptional student of mine at KU my first year. I know she wanted to be a home health nurse eventually because of her grandmother.” Janet saw how stunned Greg looked. “Exceptional students always stuck out and stayed with me.”
“Are you saying that Greta has an older sister?” Greg asked.
“Yes, she does. Frieda, Greta, Tilde and Hilda, if I remember right,” Janet said as she searched her mind to recall the facts. “All of them were exceptionally gifted in Biology and Chemistry.”
“You taught all of them?” Greg asked.
“Over at KU, I did indeed. Have you forgotten how old I am, Greg?” She gave him an intense look which made him wince, then she laughed.
“Oh, not funny, Aunt Janet,” Greg said sourly. “You know men get in trouble if they have to ask a woman her age.”
“You should have seen the look on your face,” she laughed harder.
“I bet it was kind of funny looking,” he admitted then loosened up and joined her in laughing about it.
“We’re almost there, boss. You might want to sit back as this exit ramp to Johnson Drive is a little tricky,” Harry warned.
“Alright, Harry.” Greg and Janet sat back firmly in the seat as Harry navigated the tight turn exit ramp, then slowly stopped before continuing left on Johnson Drive. “I’m looking forward to having good Chinese food.”
“Same here, boss,” Harry replied, signaling left to turn into the small shopping center where the restaurant was.
He made the turn then turned right into the parking lot, maneuvering into a double-parking spot just a row away from New China Town.
“Here we are,” he said, shifting into park and turning the car off.
They got out of the car, headed into the store, and started perusing the menu hanging from the ceiling over the counter.
Harry pointed out what he wanted for himself and for his mother.
Janet pointed out the General Tso’s Chicken.
Greg noted that, then directed them to find a table to sit at while he made the order.
Harry and Janet sat at a table on the entry side, with Harry having his back to the door.
Greg was placing the order when the main door opened with another customer entering the establishment.
“Aunt Janet?!” Erica exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
“Getting Chinese food, Erica. I would have thought that was obvious,” Janet replied with a small amount of vitriol in her voice.
“I’m sorry,” Erica said quickly, taken aback. “I was just surprised to see you here.”
“So, an old lady can’t enjoy a meal with friends?” Janet snarked back.
“I didn’t say that,” Erica said apologizing and bringing her hands up in a defensive posture. Greg turned around having heard the commotion behind him. “GREG?!”
“Hello Erica,” Greg said. “How are you?”