Chapter 9
9
“ I t’ll be an adult amusement park. What you see right now—” Dean pointed. “—is the Ferris wheel and a parachute jump.”
“Is that the one with all the metal flowers on it?”
“It’s not a parachute drop, Dad,” Cynthia said. “You get into a harness at the top and jump off the edge. No parachute.”
“It’s a controlled drop,” Lisa described. “You don’t bounce like a bungee jump. You start off fast and then slow down close to the bottom so you don’t hit with a big splat .” She enunciated the last word harshly.
Greer didn’t react, even though being a splat on the concrete unnerved her.
The two girls laughed together, and just when Greer thought they were laughing at her, Dean smiled. “Too bad it’s not open now. I’d do it.”
Cynthia tucked her chin, slightly taken aback. “You would?”
“Absolutely. And I wouldn’t miss the Ferris wheel either.” Hand on Greer’s knee, he asked, “Have you been on one of those big Ferris wheels like the SkyStar Wheel in San Francisco? You get amazing views of the bay, Alcatraz, the Golden Gate, and the city.” His question rescued her from answering the girls’ subtle challenge about the jump.
“I’ve never tried it.” Greer rarely made it up to San Francisco. She hadn’t been to dinner in the city since she’d moved in with Conrad. And he’d changed…
“They’ll have roller coasters here too,” Cynthia said, as if she’d forgotten to remain standoffish. “And one of their shows will be like Cirque du Soleil.” She laughed. “Nana wants to do the drop.”
Her father snorted a laugh. “Over my dead body.”
Lisa got into the action. “You’ll totally have to fight her on that.”
“She’s ninety. We don’t want her to break her head. Or any of her bones, for that matter.”
“She’s only eighty-nine right now,” Lisa said, being very literal.
“I didn’t hear her say she wanted to go zip-lining,” Dean said dryly.
But Cynthia laughed again. “If you don’t want her on the drop, then you better not bring her back here. Ever.”
Greer felt the tension between all of them melting away, and she kept the conversation going. “If that’s the adult park, do they have a kids’ park too?”
It was Cynthia who answered. “If you take the gondola all the way to the end, it crosses over the highway to where they’re building the kids’ park, including a water park.”
Lisa went on, “Phillip isn’t in charge over there. He’ll only manage the existing hotel. At least for now. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to manage a theme park.”
Cynthia nudged her sister with an elbow. “Bet you he’ll eventually be CEO over the entire resort.”
Dean nodded. “Your cousin is certainly a go-getter.”
From above, Greer took in the extent of the resort. Hotel accommodations were in five different buildings, all with differing levels of cost and luxury, hers being a moderate level and also closest to the pool complex. Beneath them lay the vast man-made jungle crisscrossed by the boardwalk, the convention center, the golf course to the right, and the cranes surrounding the new luxury hotel. And beyond that, the growing theme park.
“Are you saying that the moment we got off the highway when we arrived, we were actually on resort property?” It had taken fifteen minutes for the bus to drive the winding road.
Dean nodded. “The guy who owns it bought the land in the early seventies, always planning to expand.” He pointed to a tall structure with penthouse views. “That was the original hotel, and they’ve been expanding ever since.”
“That’s astonishing.” Especially that Phillip was the manager. What an overwhelming responsibility.
They passed through another gondola station, stopping momentarily as other guests stepped into the car behind them. Once they were on their way again, Greer concentrated on the girls. “I know you’re both at university. What are you studying?” She left it open-ended so that either of them could answer.
Cynthia, the eldest, spoke first. “Software engineering. “
Just like her dad. Greer almost said it aloud, but held herself back. His daughter’s choice of major might be a spark of hope for Dean’s ability to fix things with his girls. “That’s what we all need these days.”
“I can take several paths,” Cynthia said, a gleam in her brown eyes not unlike Dean’s. “Hard-core programming of new enterprise systems. Or gaming. Or apps. Graphic design, if that’s what I like.”
“She’s already got her own website,” Dean said, pride warm in his voice. “You used it for your college applications and essays. I’m sure that’s what got you in.”
Cynthia shrugged. “It’s just a website, Dad. Anyone can set one up.”
She made it sound so easy, neither taking credit nor making it a slam against her father. But Dean didn’t back down. “It’s incredible, and that’s what they recognized.”
A ghost of a smile crossed Cynthia’s lips. “I didn’t know you’d even seen it.”
Dean blinked and raised his hand in a what’s-up-with-that gesture. “You sent me the link. Of course I looked.”
“But you didn’t say anything.”
“I texted you.”
“I never saw it.”
Silence descended. There was only the whir of the gondola and shouts of children in another car.
Dean finally said, “I would’ve called you. But I know you girls like texting better.”
The sudden tension seemed to warp the wood walls of the gondola.
Greer stepped into the void. “Lisa, are you doing software engineering as well?” The moment the words were out, she wished she’d made the question more open-ended.
But Lisa answered. “I’m studying languages. I want to be a translator or interpreter and do a lot of traveling. Maybe even work for the United Nations or the World Health Organization.”
“That sounds marvelous and so interesting.”
Lisa shrugged. “I’m pretty good at German. But I’d like to learn French, Spanish, Italian, and Chinese as well.”
As with Cynthia, Dean said proudly, “You were always good at languages. I wish we’d started you in the first grade. Young children absorb new languages much more easily.”
Lisa seemed to have found her element, saying, “Careers opportunities open up all over the place when you know more than one language.” Then she huffed out a breath, looking at her father. “I’ve applied to a program in Heidelberg. I want to do my last two years over there. Total German immersion.”
“That’s fantastic, honey,” Dean enthused. Greer thought he winced at the endearment, as if he regretted using it. But he added, “I didn’t know about that. It’ll be great for you.” That might have been the reason for the wince, because he’d had no idea about her plans.
“I’ve got a scholarship,” Lisa said.
Dean maintained his enthusiasm. “You’ll do so well over there.”
Lisa paused a long moment, then finally added, “It’s just partial, though. I have to come up with the rest, including the dorm fee.”
Without a pause, Dean asked, “How much more do you need?”
Lisa’s face crumpled then, as if she were turning in on herself. “I knew that was the first thing you’d ask,” she snapped. “How much does it cost?” she mimicked snidely.
Dean held up a hand. “That’s not what I meant. I’m willing to help. I just don’t know how much.”
“That’s how you always are. How much does this cost and how much does that cost and whether we actually need it or we just want it.”
Cynthia put her arm around Lisa’s shoulders, and looked at Greer. “We can talk about this later.”
Lisa drew in a deep, calming breath. “Yeah, sure, later,” she finally said.
Dean’s question hadn’t been out of line. It hadn’t even seemed divisive. The problem was the baggage the question dragged along with it. Greer suddenly understood how terribly fractured this family was.
Her seemingly innocuous inquiry had only made everything worse.
Dean’s blood surged loudly through his veins. It was part embarrassment with how they’d sniped at each other in front of Greer. But it was also that he’d meant no criticism with the question. He was glad to help; he just needed to know how much. And to figure out what he could do for Cynthia to make things fair.
Even as Cynthia tried to defuse the situation, he couldn’t let it go. He might never get another opportunity. Lisa could walk away from him for the last time.
Despite Greer sitting beside him, probably feeling uncomfortable, no, absolutely feeling uncomfortable, he spoke anyway. “I’ll help you. There’s no question about that.”
He looked at Cynthia. “And anything you need too. Your education is the most important thing in the world to me. If you want to go abroad to study German, Lisa, I’m totally onboard. No questions asked.”
Of course he recognized his mistake. Instead of saying he’d help, he’d talked about money first.
Bernice would knock him on the head later. He’d been stupid. And he added, “Total immersion is incredibly important, and I’m sure Heidelberg will be a great opportunity. While we’re here, we can sit down and talk about the logistics and everything you need me to do.” He hoped he’d said the right thing this time.
With her sister’s arm around her shoulders, Lisa finally said, “Okay.” Then, after what seemed like an agonizing full minute, she added, “Thank you.”
When would he ever learn to say the right things to his girls?
Fortuitously, the gondola pulled in to the amusement park station only a moment later.
He hadn’t wanted Greer to see any of that. She wouldn’t understand the history, how years of miscommunication built to where a simple sentence created a major flareup.
The girls got out first, heading hand in hand down the wooden walkway, moving fast, leaving Dean behind as he helped Greer out of the car. When they pushed through the turnstiles, his daughters were almost at the bottom. He’d have to talk to them later. And he’d need Bernice’s help.
His sister loved being needed.
But now he needed to concentrate on Greer. Her hand in his, he linked their fingers. “I’m sorry about that. We don’t have the best relationship, as you can tell.”
She squeezed his hand. “I understand. When people get upset so quickly—” She gave him a gentle smile. “—it’s never about what you just said. It’s about all the things that happened before that.”
He looked at her, as if he could search inside her. “How do know that?”
“That’s how it goes with anyone you’ve known for years. There’s all that unspoken history.”
He started, “Yes, but how can you possibly,” and cut himself off.
She finished for him. “You mean because I don’t have kids or siblings that I can’t understand how resentment builds up over years? Or how our mutual history plays a role in everything we say and do?”
“I’m sorry.” His heart hurt with yet another mistake. “That sounded totally patronizing.”
“Not patronizing. You just have a different background. But I’ve been married and the same thing happens in a marriage too.”
Bernice had told him she was divorced. And yeah, Greer was right. “I shouldn’t have asked her how much it would cost before I told her I’d support everything she wanted to do.”
Greer pulled him to the side of the walkway so others could pass. “Don’t we always see what we should’ve said after we’ve already said the wrong thing?”
He laughed softly, without an ounce of humor, an ache around his heart. “Yeah. We always do.”
“I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve rewritten in my head. I should’ve said this. I should’ve said that.” He nodded and she went on. “But you understand that’s why she reacted the way she did, and that’s halfway to fixing it.”
He could only shake his head. “It’s been going on for way too long. Maybe it’s past the point of fixing.”
She put her hand to his cheek, the warmth of her palm flooding him. “It’s never too late if you really want to fix it.”
Was that true for his marriage? Or had he just not wanted to fix it?