Thirteen Diamonds

CHAPTER 10

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to see Carol Grant's Mercedes when I arrived at Albert's farm for Sunday dinner. I should have expected that she would be the flavor of the week. It had become obvious the night before as they took turns chewing me out, their voices blending together in beautiful harmony.

The only thing I could think of while they conducted their tirade was that it reminded me of the times I had bawled Albert out when, as a youngster he had done something naughty. Now the positions were reversed. I felt like a bad little girl.

I had admitted to looking into Gerald's folder (Carol would have discovered that anyway since I had replaced it out of sequence and the contents were messed up) and contritely promised not to break into her office again, but I had not admitted to taking notes. I walked carefully so that the paper in my slacks wouldn't rustle. And after thinking about my disgrace during a sleepless night, I felt now that I should have put up a better defense.

Sandra and Winston came out to greet me. I gave them both hugs and Sandra said, “Gogi, you must have been really bad last night. I've never seen Dad so upset. And you know that Carol Grant is here?”

I nodded.

“Dad told me before she came that if he and she weren't such good friends, Carol would kick you out of Silver Acres.”

“So he's taking the credit for saving me, eh? I'd like to see her try it.”

Sandra put a restraining hand on my arm. “If I may offer a word of advice, I think it would be a good idea if you were sweet to both of them.”

I reluctantly agreed that she gave good counsel, although I didn't say so. We got my baked goods out of the car and walked toward the house.

Sandra said, casually, “By the way, Mark called me yesterday.”

“Mark?” The name sounded familiar. “Oh, you mean the guy at the bar. How did he get your number?”

“Well, somewhere in our conversation I must have mentioned that I went to UNC because he looked me up in the alumni directory.”

“Very enterprising. But of course you don't go out with bartenders.”

Sandra had the decency to blush. “Gogi, he isn't just a bartender. But…but I did apologize to him for my behavior. And he did ask me out.”

As we went into the house I put on my best smile and my humblest demeanor. I kissed Albert, shook hands with Carol and immediately busied myself helping with dinner. They made no mention of my sins of the night before.

Albert and Carol acted as if they'd known each other for a long time, with intimate smiles and touches and shared little jokes. I liked Carol better than Maria, even if she did think I was a few bricks shy of a full load and a potential danger to the community. For one thing, she wore more clothes than Maria and kept her shirt buttoned.

At dinner, I tried to appear witty and intelligent, and above all, rational. I complimented Carol on her management of Silver Acres and her choice of cars, since we both drove Mercedes. She, in turn, praised my rolls and my apple pie.

And my dog, King. She said, “He's such a beautiful dog. And I wouldn't expect him to be so gentle.” King lay quietly near the dining table.

“Oh, she has her urges. If I let her I'm sure she'd gobble up some of the bunnies at Silver Acres.”

“You know, that's not a bad idea. Excuse my French, but those damn bunnies have been eating our plants. One of these days I'm going to declare open season on them.”

“And I was going to ship all my rabbits over to Silver Acres,” Albert said, “thinking they'd have a good home there. Better they munch on your plants than my garden.”

While she was eating a piece of my pie, Carol said, “Lillian, I've been talking to Albert about you.”

Uh oh, I thought, here it comes.

“Albert told me something about your life. You have led such an adventurous life, with all your travel and everything, it's no wonder you find Silver Acres boring. He said you have thousands of slides from your trips. That gave me an idea. Why don't you put together a series of slide lectures for the residents. They would love it.”

And it would keep me busy so that I couldn't get into trouble. But anything to stay on Carol's good side. Actually, I did have some great slides. And they were already well organized. It wouldn't take much work. I told her I'd be glad to give travel lectures.

I had been meaning to ask Carol a question and this seemed to be a good opportunity, while everything was sweetness and light. “You mentioned that Gerald's will left most of his money to charity. Do you know which ones?”

“I only know one,” Carol said, smiling. “He left some of his money to Silver Acres. After all, we are a nonprofit organization and since we pledged never to evict a resident for financial reasons we can always use donations.”

But apparently they could evict residents for unruly behavior. I had better reread the rules and regulations.

“It wasn't meant to be a nonprofit organization,” Albert said. “It just turned out that way.”

I snorted. I had heard that old joke before. I asked, “How much did Gerald leave to Silver Acres?”

“I'm not sure, but I think it's about $100,000.”

“That's better than catching the plague,” Albert said. “I wish I could find a few donors like that for the UNC History Department. We need to endow a chair for me so I don't have to worry about where the money to pay my salary is coming from.”

Gerald was a generous man. I wondered what organizations or persons were the beneficiaries of the rest of his estate.