“I wish you didn't live so far away,” Sabrina said to Tammy sadly.
“So do I,” Tammy said. “I miss you guys so much. It comes back to me in a rush every time I see you. But there's no decent work for me here. All the big shows are done out of L.A.”
“I know,” Sabrina said, nodding. “I should come out to see you more often. I get so bogged down here,” she said with regret.
“We all do,” Tammy said, nodding. “It all goes by so fast. I hate waiting six months to see you. Sometimes I wish we all still lived here, with Mom and Dad, and we weren't all grown up.”
“Yeah, me too,” Sabrina said, and hugged her again. “I'm glad we still come home like this. At least that's something. Maybe we should organize a trip and all go over to see Annie in Florence. That would be fun. Maybe Mom and Dad would come too.”
“I'm not sure he would, but Mom might. He always thinks they won't survive without him in the office.” And then Tammy laughed. “I guess I think that too, about myself, and so do you. We really ought to try and spend more time together. Right now we're all free, we're not married, we don't have kids. Later it will be even harder to get together. We should try to do it while we still can.”
“I agree,” Sabrina said seriously, as Juanita popped her head out from under the covers and growled at her. She jumped, surprised by the threatened attack from a dog that was barely bigger than a hamster. The basset was sound asleep in her room. “Why don't we organize some kind of trip before we leave here this time? I can take a week off, if I plan it far enough ahead.”
“Me too,” Tammy said, wanting to do it, though not sure how easily she could get away. During the season, her life was insane.
“Let's talk about it tomorrow,” Sabrina said, and left the room again. She was so happy to be with her sisters. They all were.
And in her room, their mother could hear them moving around, visiting each other's bedrooms. She smiled as she turned over next to Jim. It reminded her of the old days, when she knew that all was well because all four of them were home at night. She reveled in the comforting sounds of having her whole family under one roof. She counted her blessings, as she always did, as she fell asleep, thinking how lucky she was to have them, and that they would all be there for three more days. For her, they were life's greatest gift.
Chapter 5
Sabrina was always an early riser and was the first to get up. She came downstairs, found her mother in the kitchen, and offered to help her cook breakfast for the others. Jane insisted that she loved doing it herself. Sabrina noticed how happy her mother seemed that morning, and knew how much it meant to her that they were all at home, even for a brief time. She had put a pot of coffee on, and Sabrina helped herself to a cup of the steaming brew, and sat down at the kitchen table to chat with her mother while waiting for the others. She had only taken two sips when Tammy walked in with Annie right behind her. Candy was still the latest riser. Some things never changed even after all these years. She was still sound asleep upstairs in her bedroom, although her Yorkie had wandered downstairs and was playing in the kitchen with Juanita. Sabrina had let the basset out to check things out for herself, and hopefully she would find something to chase.
“Good morning, girls,” Jane said brightly. She was wearing white shorts with a pink top and low-heeled sandals. Sabrina couldn't help noticing that she still had great legs. All three older sisters had been blessed and got their legs from her. Candy's were endless and were more like their dad's. “What can I make you?” They all started out by muttering that they didn't normally eat breakfast, no one was hungry, and coffee was fine. They were on a wide variety of time zones. It was already nearly dinnertime for Candy, who was still sleeping, and for Annie, who didn't want to admit it but was starving. She grabbed an orange from a bowl of fruit on the counter, and started unwinding the rind, as her mother poured coffee for Annie and Tammy. For Tammy it still felt like the middle of the night, but she was wide awake. They all were. In spite of the late night the night before, they all were energetic. Jane suggested scrambled eggs, and put a plate of muffins on the table, with butter and jam. All three girls helped themselves while chatting. Sabrina suggested that one of them should wake Candy, so she didn't get up in the middle of the afternoon. Annie silently disappeared from the room and went to rouse her, and ten minutes later they both came down. By then, their mother was making scrambled eggs and bacon. They all insisted they weren't hungry, but as soon as the eggs were ready, they helped themselves to generous portions, including several strips of bacon. Sabrina was pleased to see that Candy took some of the eggs too, half a muffin, and a single strip of bacon. It was probably the most she'd eaten for breakfast in several years.
Jane even sat down with them and had a plate of eggs herself. “What do you all want to do this morning?” she asked with interest. There wasn't much to do, since it was the holiday and everything was closed. But she thought they might want to call some of their friends who still lived in town. Many had moved away, gotten married, or had jobs in other cities, but the girls still stayed in touch with some.
“I just want to hang around with you guys and Mom,” Annie said, echoing what they all felt. “And Dad, if he doesn't feel too outnumbered.” They knew he enjoyed having them home too, but he had always been someone who needed his own space. When they were younger, he had spent a lot of time playing tennis and golf with friends, and they knew from their mother that he still did.
At fifty-nine, he still acted and moved like a young man, and hadn't changed much. There was more gray in his hair, but still the same spring in his step. And they all agreed that their mother looked better than ever. Her face was still beautiful and hardly lined. She could easily have lied and taken ten years off her age. It was hard for all of them to believe that she was old enough to have children their age, despite the fact that she had started young. She had almost no wrinkles at all, and took fairly good care of herself. She went to an exercise class three times a week, and had mentioned taking ballet to stay in shape. Whatever she was doing had paid off. Her figure was even better than it had been when she was young.
“Mom, what do we need to do to get ready for the party tonight?” Annie asked.
Her mother said that the caterers would be arriving at four o'clock. Guests were invited for seven. “But I need to go to the store at some point,” Jane announced. “There's a supermarket open today on the other side of the highway. I forgot to get pickles for your father.” They were having hot dogs, hamburgers, fried chicken, and everything that went with them. The caterers were doing a full buffet, with salads, french fries, onion rings, several platters of sushi, and an assortment of ice creams and pies. “You know how your father is if he doesn't have pickles, and I think we're almost out of mayonnaise. I didn't think of it till last night. I can do it after lunch,” she said, not wanting to tear herself away from them for even a minute. Annie looked over and smiled at her and understood.
“I can go with you, Mom. Why don't we go after breakfast and get it done? It won't take long.” It was a ten- minute trip to the market their mother was referring to. “I can do it for you, if you want.”
“I'll come with you,” Jane said, rinsing off their dishes and putting them in the dishwasher, as Sabrina helped. It was times like this when Jane was glad she still had two machines. They still had two washing machines and two dryers as well. There had been a time when they couldn't have managed with anything less. But now, most of the time, when she and Jim were alone, it took days to fill the machines. Normally, she turned them on long before they were full. But with all the girls home, everything would be in use again.
With so many hands at work, it took them only a few minutes to clean up the kitchen, and their mother ran upstairs to get her car keys and purse. She was back a minute later, as the three other girls headed toward the pool to check on their father, while she and Annie went out the back door to the car.
Jane started the engine in her Mercedes station wagon, and they drove off, as she and Annie chatted. She told her mother about the classes she was taking in Florence and the new techniques she had learned. They were all based on ancient principles, and she was even learning how to mix her own paints, in some cases with egg.
