17. Dallas #2
Greta’s German father had met Lillian in New York and proposed only three months later.
The newlyweds moved to a suburb of Berlin, even though Lillian didn’t speak a single word of German and didn’t know anyone there.
It can’t have been easy, and even now she used the wrong articles and pronouns from time to time and sounded very much like a foreigner.
But her German was good, and after twenty-five years, she was fully embedded in German culture and in her social life.
And yet she still had moments when she would itemize for Greta and Bettina all the things that were better in her homeland.
“Why don’t you come visit us?” Greta said. “I’d love the company, especially after Emmi leaves—”
“I can’t,” Lillian said. “Tobias is cooking up other plans for me.”
“Plans?” Greta said, slightly alarmed. “What plans is Tobias cooking up? Now that you’ve moved, you don’t really need him anymore, do you?”
“Oh, I do,” said Lillian. “He’s a godsend. There isn’t a single thing that man can’t do. He got my television working and my internet hooked up in no time. Remember those Bauhaus sconces? He’s hanging them on either side of my bed as we speak.”
Greta was glad to hear the sconces hadn’t been sold along with the house, but she wasn’t enjoying the image of Tobias in her mother’s bedroom. “I’m glad he’s helping, but—”
“And he set up all my bills on autopay.”
At that, Greta put her mother on speaker and texted Bettina: Urgent—We need to look into Tobias.
“He’s so handy,” her mother was saying.
“Mom, why don’t you pack a bag and come to Dallas?” Greta said. “We have loads of extra space and more ice water than you’ll know what to do with.”
She could hear her mother talking to someone in the background. And then she laughed. “Mom?”
“Sorry,” Lillian said. “There’s still a lot to do to settle in here.”
“Has Bettina come over to see your apartment?”
“She’s very busy,” her mother said. “Tobias needs me, Greta. Must run.” And she hung up.
Greta immediately got her laptop, went to the kitchen island, and googled Tobias to see whether there was anything newsworthy about him, any stories about arrests or drug use or what exactly he’d done to get kicked out of his father’s company.
The search proved useless because his name was too common.
She was about to call Bettina when her phone pinged with a message from Adam:
Hey you. Just wondering how you are. Hope this finds you at a pool checking out hot lifeguard ;) All great with Lucy. She’s at my place every day for wifi and quiet. I’m going to NYC for 2 weeks in July. Don’t suppose you’re planning to visit your daughter there? If yes, wine? Dinner?
Greta read the message again. What was Lucy doing in Adam’s apartment? Greta’s Wi-Fi was perfectly adequate, especially if you stood in the hall close to the router by the laundry machines.
Hi Adam, she replied. I’m sorry Lucy is a bother. How are her children? Not loud, I hope.
She stared at her phone, waiting for him to respond.
No, no—Love the kids! And Lucy is great. So much fun! as her mother often reminded her, Americans, unlike Germans, had an irrepressible love of small talk. But she decided to indulge her.
“It’s very nice,” she said. “My daughter is coming to visit tomorrow, and I can’t wait to see her. She’s studying law in college—the system is different in Germany because you specialize in professional education earlier. She’s going to New York this summer to intern at a law firm.”
Sylvie smiled, warmth and kindness in her eyes. “Well, you must be so proud of her.”
“Do you have children?” Greta said.
“Two,” said Sylvie, “all grown up. Such is life.” She blinked and added, “I was thinking this fall I might take one of those walking or biking tours in Europe. Backroads or Butterfield and Robinson. I’ve got the time.
I just need a friend to go with me, but every last one of them is either married or doesn’t like to travel. ”
“You could go on your own,” said Greta.
“Yes, I guess I could,” Sylvie said, sounding reluctant.
Sylvie seemed nice, and the American side of Greta wanted to ask her a string of personal questions, starting with what happened to her marriage. But her German side prevailed, and she kept her curiosity to herself.
“Anyway, I’m so happy you’ll come to my little shindig,” Sylvie said, “seeing as we’re both new here. I don’t know that it will be very well attended, but…”
“Thank you for inviting me,” said Greta, holding up the envelope. “I’ll definitely be there.”
“I better get back to unpacking,” Sylvie said. And she walked away down the front path, her skirt flowing behind her, her sandals making slapping sounds on the flagstones.
Greta went inside and put the pink invitation under a magnet on the refrigerator. If some other neighbors attended this party, she might find out what kind of people the Holts really were.
Otto came in through the back door after his outing with Rex, carrying shopping bags in one hand and a small Texas flag in the other. She could tell in a glance that he was in high spirits.
“I have learned today so much interesting informations,” he said as the dogs circled him, “about the Kennedy assassination, and Bonnie and Clyde, oil wells, the neon Pegasus, Big Tex, and the frozen margarita machine! We should take a long drive tomorrow to see the Landschaft outside of the city limits.”
Greta noted his slightly mischievous smile and asked, “How many frozen margaritas did you have?”
“Only one,” said Otto, his cheeks flushed, “but it was quite strong. And after our tour, Rex has showed me Costco, a most unbelievable, very large store.” He held his arms out.
“There is everything you can think of, Greta. They sell potatoes and car tires and computers and refrigerators and Lachsfilet . I am not believing my eyes.”
Greta pointed to his shopping bags. “So did you buy salmon or car tires?”
“No, this is from a different shop named Cavender’s. Warte mal . Go to nowhere. I want to show you.”
He took his bags and went upstairs. To her disappointment, Otto had never made the move to the downstairs bedroom to be with her, saying he preferred the higher floor and didn’t want to sleep with the dogs on the bed.
Greta hadn’t pushed. She liked having her own space.
Not only did Otto snore, but he got up to use the bathroom several times at night, and Greta had a hard time falling back to sleep.
And yet—it made her sad. She did not want Emmi arriving to find her parents sleeping in separate rooms. Tonight, they would move his things downstairs.
While she waited for him to return, she checked her email and saw that Sebastian Schultz had already replied with two pithy sentences in German, telling her that he’d spoken to the curator at the museum in Berlin, who dismissed Binstock’s email as “ volliger Blodsinn .” He instructed her not to reply to Binstock or to any requests for comment from the press on such baseless theories.
Greta thought “utter nonsense” was a little strong, but she was relieved. She answered, saying she understood and would ignore any inquiries on the subject.
Then she texted Emmi:
So excited to see you, Schatz! Please don’t be late for your flight.
Emmi texted back:
Me? I’m never late haha
She sent a picture of herself then with Karl and Monika, sitting outside at a café.
Emmi looked very happy but also tired. She was such a hard worker, and Greta zoomed in on the dark circles under her eyes, hoping the visit to Dallas would give her daughter a chance to catch up on sleep.
Emmi had always been a mature, sensible girl, born with a strong sense of right and wrong, and she was quick to become outraged in the face of injustice.
Studying law was the perfect fit for her.
Greta could hear Otto whistling. He entered the kitchen, and Greta gasped at the sight of him.
“I will wear this to pick up Emmi at the airport tomorrow,” he said. “What do you think?”
Otto was… she could not say whether it was the red embroidered shirt, the tall cowboy hat, the big, rectangular belt buckle, or the pointy boots that shocked her most.
“Who… are you?” she said.
“Look at this,” he said, smiling as he opened and closed a shirt button. “Rex says they’re called ‘pearl snaps.’ Genuine pearl snaps!”
“ Mein Gott ,” said Greta.
“Nice, or? I am fitting in here like a fish in water.” He turned this way and that so Greta could admire him. Otto, as it turned out, was the fun one.
She remembered again what Adam had said about a grizzled cowboy. That he would seduce her under the stars. Well, here he was. At least she and Otto would share a bed again tonight, and maybe that would lead to something more. She could only hope.