“Someone phoned here for you,”she said.
“Who?”
“He didn’t say who it was.”
“Who did it sound like?” he asked. “Was it one of my friends?”
“I don’t know who it sounded like. How would I know that? But he asked for you, and when I said you were away, he said he remembered you saying something about going to Connecticut.”
“What?”
“You shouldn’t have told anyone where you were going!”
“I didn’t!”
“Then how did he know? You must have told someone. I can’t believe you could be that stupid.” She sounded very annoyed with him.
“I’m telling you I didn’t!” He felt about six years old when she spoke to him this way.
“Well, if you didn’t, how would he know?”
“I don’t know. Did it say on the phone where the call was from? Was there a number?”
“No. He said he knew you from golfing.”
“Golfing? I don’t golf.”
“That’s what I told him,” she said. “I told him you don’t golf.”
“You know what, Mom? It was probably just a wrong number or something.”
“He asked for you. He said Jeremy. Plain as day. Maybe you just mentioned it to somebody in passing, that you were going.”
“Look, Mom, even if I did, which I didn’t, you don’t have to make such a big deal about it.”
“It just upset me.”
“Don’t be upset. Besides, I’m coming home.”
“You are?” Her whole tone changed.
“Yeah. Today, I think. I’ve done everything I can do here, the only thing left is…you know.”
“I don’t want to miss that. You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for this.”
“If I get out of here soon,” he said, “I guess I’ll be home pretty late tonight. It’s already after lunch, and sometimes I get kind of tired, so I might stop awhile around Utica or something, but I’ll still make it in one day.”
“That’ll give me time to make you a carrot cake,” she said brightly. “I’ll make it this afternoon.”
“Okay.”
“You drive safely. I don’t want you falling asleep at the wheel. You’ve never had the same kind of driving stamina your father had.”
“How is he?”
“I think, if we get things done this week, he’ll last at least that long. I’ll be glad when this is finally over. You know what it costs to take a taxi down to see him?”
“It won’t matter soon, Mom.”
“It’s about more than the money, you know,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about how it’ll be done. We’re going to need some rope, you know. Or some of that tape. And I guess it makes sense to do the mother first. The little one’ll be no trouble after that. I can help you with her. I’m not completely useless, you know.”