Chapter 4
Otto and Oscar were passed out on their adjacent beds on the back porch.
It was a covered area with ample comfortable seating.
Heaters made it usable year-round, though they were rarely needed in such a temperate climate.
A sweater and an occasional fire in the pit were necessary if the temperature dipped below fifty.
The lighting and sound system made it easy to program for any mood or time of day.
Janet had a desk in the corner that didn't look like it was used much.
Sofia decided to set up her laptop and check emails while taking in the view.
At home in Pacifica, she did her best work outdoors.
Leaving her phone inside made her doubly productive when time was at a premium.
She thought about doing it but figured it was summer, and she didn't need to be hyper-focused.
Sofia had a surge of emails from future-hopeful and former students.
The former students were mostly looking for ways to turn a B into an A, a C into a B, and so on.
She was already generous with grades, and their requests were too little, too late.
Occasionally, a student came to her in person, and they stood a much better chance of having a grade changed, if for no other reason than they had put in the extra effort.
Sofia needed a pen, so she opened a drawer and found a file labeled Kenny.
Janet was involved in the trial because she was paying for it, and she wondered what the damage had been.
What she found surprised her—pages of reports regarding Derrik and Kitty Wiles.
Derrik was Kenny's partner at the hedge fund, and Kitty was his wife.
It always surprised Sofia that Kenny was running a scheme, and Derrik had no clue what was happening.
It seemed that Janet thought the same thing, so she did some checking.
She had gone so far as to hire a private investigator.
He concluded that Derrik and Kitty were not involved in the Ponzi scheme.
He also found out a lot about them that they didn't share. Kitty said she was an actress on the brink of stardom when she met Derrik at a yoga class. That was a lie. She was a secretary for an agent and a part-time waitress at a diner. Derrik met her there when he was still married to his first wife. He received his MBA online from a school that had since ceased to exist. They both had police records for minor crimes, and he also had a couple of DUIs in his twenties. The couple was plastered in red flags. It was too bad that the crimes for which Kenny was in prison couldn't be traced back to Derrik and Kitty. Their backgrounds raised suspicions in Sofia’s mind that weren’t there before.
Janet put in a lot of effort, so she probably sensed something.
Sofia might have sensed it, too, if she had known who they really were; unfortunately, she was focused on dealing with her husband, Vince, during his illness and after he passed away.
Kenny did not choose a good business partner.
She wondered if her brother realized who Derrik truly was.
Kitty and Derrik were always checking in to make sure Kenny's sister and daughter were okay.
To Sofia's knowledge, they never went to see him in prison, which was odd given how concerned they seemed.
She looked into the distance and, for a moment, thought she could have done more for her brother, then she remembered a promise she made him.
Kenny asked her not to think of him in prison but to focus on Amanda instead.
He believed he had no future, but she did, and he wanted it to be a good one.
Under the papers, Sofia discovered old photographs of Kenny, Vince, and Arch.
They were a very good-looking trio who seemed to have no cares in the world.
They didn't have much to worry about at that time.
Kenny was making good money and had just hired a second assistant.
Derrik was coming on as a partner, and he had a lovely girlfriend who adored his little girl.
Vince and Sofia had just gotten married, and he opened the small firm with Arch.
They all went to Zihuatanejo, Mexico, where they rented a villa to celebrate their good fortune.
Now Kenny was in prison, and Vince was dead.
Sofia didn't blame Arch for keeping his distance.
Reminders of his friends were probably too painful to face.
“Hello, Sofia. We’re home,” Amanda called out.
Amanda pushed Miss Lillian out onto the porch. She had been to the salon, and it was pretty clear how much influence Amanda had on her new look. Her hair was lavender, with a streak of a deeper shade on the tips. Miss Lillian wore a wide smile, which was what mattered most.
“Your hair is chic and quite beautiful. I’d wager that you never had that hair color,” Sofia said.
"No, and I love it. It was sweet, Amanda's idea, and I think it's beautiful. I've been grey for forty years, and a change feels wonderful," Miss Lillian said.
"We had tongues wagging in the salon. A woman just a bit younger than Miss Lillian liked it so much that she decided to go with pink.
She wondered why fun colors weren't seen on the elderly more often," Amanda said.
"I had to draw the line when Miss Lillian wanted her nose pierced.
I asked Chat, and her skin is too delicate to pierce or tattoo.
There's a chance it wouldn't heal properly, and that's not a risk worth taking. "
“I’m surprised you were out so long. Are you exhausted, Miss Lillian?” Sofia asked.
"No, I managed to close my eyes under the shade of an oak tree.
Amanda wheeled me down to the bay, and it was mesmerizing.
No one at the facility took me for such outings, and you can't imagine what it means to me.
I'd rather recall my past with the salt air blowing past my ears than inside a stuffy room. "
Amanda and Sofia looked at one another and smiled.
Miss Lillian was becoming one of the nicest things about Morro Bay.
Not a day went by without them learning a lesson.
Amanda wheeled her back to her room for a rest. The window was cracked open so the breeze would come in and be a pleasant backdrop to her dreams.
After Miss Lillian had left to dream her dreams, Amanda joined Sofia on the deck. “How’d you do without the car today?” Amanda asked.
"It was fine. I didn't have much to do other than walk the dogs, which is actually quite fun.
We ended up all the way down at the beach, so I got my steps in for the day.
No use joining a gym down here when I have Oscar and Otto to help keep me in shape.
I mostly need it when I need something from the store, but in a pinch, I can have my groceries delivered.
However, that seems like the height of laziness and entitlement.
At home, if I'm super busy, I can order and pick up my groceries. "
“I was just asking because Miss Lillian offered to buy me a car for all the help I’ve been providing,” Amanda said. “What are your thoughts?”
Sofia was mad that Miss Lillian went against her wishes but couldn't really blame her. With a spotty memory, she quickly forgot that request because it was something she would rather not hear in the first place. When the elderly developed age-related dementia, the brain acted like a protector. If something was unpleasant or they didn’t like hearing it, they forgot it almost immediately.
“That’s not going to happen since it’s one of your father’s rules that I’m not going to break.
You aren't going through life having people buy your vehicles.
It's not like she offered to buy you something worth two or three hundred dollars.
A car is an investment, and you have to earn your own money to buy it," Sofia said.
She knew how unpopular her decision would be but also knew she was right.
Her privilege to care for Amanda came with rules set by her father, and Sofia was not about to break them.
“I could just say yes, and you couldn’t do a thing about it,” Amanda said.
"You know better than that. My house, my rules, and don't even say that I'm not your mother, so you don't have to listen to me. I'm your legal guardian, and I love you like a daughter."
Amanda huffed and walked outside. She slammed the door on the way out, and Sofia saw her walking down the street.
She knew better than to take the car. Six months ago, she would have followed Amanda down the street, and their argument would have continued.
They both would have said things they'd regret.
Luckily, she and Amanda went to therapy, and Dr. Eileen told them to allow for time and space.
Sophia knew that Amanda would return, and by then, they would have reassessed what had happened.
As Sophia watched Amanda grow smaller and smaller, she took a moment to breathe in the early-summer blooms. Black sage and lavender were planted a few years ago when Sophia was visiting. They had matured and perfumed all of Landing Lane.
A couple walked down the street, both looking to be in their early sixties.
They were holding hands, which Sofia considered the height of romanticism.
It was especially sweet when they were their age.
She liked to think they had been together through triumph and tragedy and that they loved each other more than the day they met.
Maybe they were retired and finally living the chapter that ended with “happily ever after.”
She sighed. If she were to have a chance at something like that, she’d better start making it happen. Daydreaming about it wasn’t doing much good. Sofia opened the list of local bachelors that Aunt Janet sent her.