The morning had been a bit of a disaster. She'd BARELY made it in time. The final station announcement rang out just as she stumbled awkwardly onto the train. For a moment she'd worried she was going to miss it & Emma would have to ride the full 12 hours to Seattle alone & Alistair (Ally) would look up to see only his aunty cheering him on. Not that it wasn't wonderful of Emma to attend, just that she felt at least one of his parents should also be supporting him from the bleachers.
She was still feeling pretty fed up with Trevor. He'd waited until the last possible moment to inform her that he wouldn't be able to attend his oldest son's big game. Something about the new Tacoma franchise location of Doyle's Furniture needing 'the big boss'. She'd given up even asking. He worked so many late nights, so many weekends.
She felt like she hardly saw him anymore. It wasn't even that she missed his company (she got used to him not being there), it was just, with them both working full-time it was hard to coordinate their children's needs & commitments. Hard to run the household & look after the rest of their family too. She felt like so often, all the parenting stuff fell on her shoulders alone. & this time was precious, Ally had just turned 18, he'd be leaving for college soon, the house would feel different without him.
Trev was meant to be the one going to Ally's game in Seattle, he & his brother Liam had both played basketball as kids too. Char was going to handle the younger two's commitment in Spokane. The middle child Callum had won an essay competition that along with the small financial prize, included a meet & greet lunch with Elliot Wagner.
Cal had been bursting with anticipation for getting one-on-one time with his favorite author. Wagner was the closest thing Spokane had to its own Stephen King. There would be no way to postpone the event, they had been contacted several times in the lead-up by Wagner's personal assistant just to make sure the date, time & place were absolutely set in stone. The bestseller had a book tour to get to after-all.
Ruby was almost as excited as Cal, she loved that her two youngest were so close. So many of her friend's kids fought all the time. But Cal had invited his little sister to go with him to the lunch & they'd happily re-read several of Wagner's novels together, in preparation for the day. They'd been inseparable, trading questions, ideas & lore about the interconnected books.
When the Wildcats made it to the State finals & were set to play the Panthers on the same day, Trev had insisted on attending his son's game, which left Mom to handle the rest. Then suddenly, less than 48 hours before the busy day, he'd phoned her saying he'd been called to Tacoma & wouldn't be able to get back until Thursday or Friday. He'd been apologetic, as usual, but even Char couldn't keep the annoyance from creeping into her voice.
She softened a little when she noticed he was breathing a bit heavily. He'd been rushing around the new location all day, he explained, launching into details about messed up delivery dates, orders that had arrived with the wrong fabric samples, multiple IT issues. He'd only just managed to find a moment to call her. She reminded him to take his heart-healthy aspirin, & told him she'd take care of the family stuff.
Five hours later, while she was trying to pack, there'd been a knock at the door & she'd signed for an apology gift from her husband (his love language seemed to be primarily 'apology gifts'). This time it turned out to be a gorgeous, if not well-thought-out giant bouquet of flawless white tulips. She shook her head, it was nice but she barely had time to arrange train tickets, accommodation in Seattle, organising Cal & Ruby, emailing her boss to warn her that she'd be away for a couple of days, trying to eat & shower & everything else... she'd need to find a large enough vase for the flowers & she wouldn't even be home to enjoy their best days. She decided that when Rosemary came by to collect her grandkids later that afternoon, she'd give her mother-in-law the flowers to thank her. She thought for a minute & grabbed a bottle of chardonnay from the pantry to add to it.
Char had a bit of a complicated relationship with her own mother, Yua Harada was a stern, traditional woman, made a little harder by grief. Her husband, Char's father, whom Yua had moved to the States to be with, had died 11 years after she'd been born. Cancer. Yua had still been adjusting to American life & had always leaned on her husband, but Char, born & raised in Bozeman, MT, was far more like her dad had been.
Sometimes Yua looked at her confident only child & wondered at how different they were to each other. She wished Char had been more interested in her culture, had retained some of the Japanese she'd learned as a toddler, & had more in common with herself. But Char was popular at school, was getting excellent grades, it would have been a larger adjustment to move her to Japan then to stay in Bozeman, & whatever the emotional distance between them, Yua loved her daughter & put her first.
Char felt that distance & still found it hard to connect with her mother, although as she'd grown older she'd also wished she had more of a connection to her Japanese heritage. She'd been making small efforts to learn more about her mother's culture. She'd even been flirting with the idea to surprise Yua with a family holiday to Japan, with Ally, Cal & Ruby (she ADORED the kids & they did her). But their relationship had always felt a little stilted, a little as though they needed their own emotional translator.
When Char married Trev, Rosemary had been so instantly warm & inviting that she'd been amazed. There were so many nightmare stories about mother-in-laws making the lives of the poor women who married their sons a living hell. But from that first dinner to meet the parents, when she was still dating Trev, Rosemary (& Jack too), but especially Rosemary, had been open-hearted & accepting. Sometimes she wondered if their marriage would have survived without the support of Trev's parents.
Thank God for them, especially Rosemary. When she'd called them out of the blue, grandma had been delighted to get Cal & Ruby for a night (& to look after Minion, the dog) & take them to the Wagner lunch. She'd even offered that they go to Ally's game (they were big supporters of his basketball games too, it would have usually been ideal) & for Char to go to the lunch she'd planned with Cal & Ruby. But this was Ally's big moment, the last big game before he went to college. If Trev couldn't go, she wanted to be there herself. Besides, if Trev had his hands full at the Tacoma location, Jack would be holding down the fort at the flagship store & probably couldn't take off for a couple of days in Seattle.
Rosemary seemed a little surprised about the business issues but that didn't mean anything, the little grandmother was usually juggling SO MANY social, charitable & church commitments that it was amazing how on top of things she always seemed. She was the busiest retired person she'd ever met. It had been she who'd raised the idea to ask if Aunty Emma would want to join her. Emma had been staying at a friend's place after a relationship breakup had meant she'd be looking for a new apartment in Portland. She'd decided to take some time off & stay with her friend & visit her family a little.
The distraction would be good for her & Char would also be grateful for her company. She thanked Rosemary for taking the kids & immediately texted Emma, who'd responded saying 'YES! Let's go!" At least the long train ride wouldn't be alone. Although, thank God Ally was already in Seattle, he'd gone there a few days early with some of his teammates. It was a bit of a last hurrah before they dispersed to separate colleges (but also, she suspected, an excuse for Ally to have some time away from the parents with his current girlfriend). Rosemary had collected Cal & Ruby & been touched by the flowers & wine & seeing how busy Char was, had said they'd have a glass together when she returned & things were more quiet.
