23 Through the Gateway
I was happy. I was terrified. When we got back to the camper, we cuddled in our bed. Fatigue from the long drive finally got to me. I fell asleep in Mac’s arms. Two hours later, I woke up thinking about Kathryn Grandstaff, Bing Crosby’s second wife. I didn’t know a lot about her. Most of the good stuff took place before I was born. But Kathy Crosby managed to stay in the news while I was growing up, and I felt a connection because we were both Kathys.
I was about to share one of her life experiences. I was just days away from meeting Mac’s adult children. Stories about the second Mrs. Crosby and Bing’s adult children suddenly took on new meaning. I didn’t know a lot, but I was pretty sure she was about the same age as her step kids. Don Junior and Ann were both 10 years older than me. In my nightmare, I had waltzed in and said, “Hi. I’m your new mom.”
It didn’t go well.
I went forward to the Captain’s chair and sat thinking about Kathy Crosby and our bottle of scotch. Drowning my anxiety in booze was a non-starter. I couldn’t stay up all night. I had a long day behind the wheel ahead of me. The compromise solution was an audiobook that droned on endlessly. Stephen King’s eight-volume Dark Tower series seemed to fit the bill. I downloaded book one and climbed into the bunk.
##
When I came to, Mac was shaking me. The sun was up. He grumbled, “I tried to take my medicine, but I couldn’t.”
My first day as his wife, and I had already screwed up. I swung my feet over the edge of the bed and sat up. Pills were scattered along the floor. Pill bottles lay on their sides on the counter by the sink. Mac had been unable to get one pill out of a bottle and put it in his mouth. But he didn’t stop after the first failure. He tried with every one of his medicines.
“Okay, honey. It’s my fault. I slept through my alarm.” The earbuds I used to listen to my audiobook probably had something to do with that.
“You’ve been killing yourself. You need a day off. I should be able to take my medicine without dragging you out of bed.”
“Were you able to take any of the pills?”
“I took all of them, but I spilled some,” he said ruefully.
“Did you get the right doses?”
“I think so.”
I put my arms around his neck and squeezed his cheek against mine. I kissed him. “Okay. We’ll write this one off. It won’t kill you. We’ll get some pill organizers so you can do it yourself.”
He gave me a grim look and shook his head. He had spent a lifetime taking care of everything and everybody. Now he couldn’t do the simplest things for himself. I slid off the bed. “Are you ready for some breakfast?”
He pulled me in for a hug and a kiss.
I cleaned up the pills and cooked eggs while the bread was toasting. A call to Junior was overdue. I wasn’t ready for that conversation. He wasn’t going to be happy with what I had to say. We left Fairbanks a week ago, and we wouldn’t make it to Melbourne for another couple of days. I wasn’t going to kill myself driving straight through. If we drove half-way today, we could reach his house around noon tomorrow.
Mac’s meds couldn’t be recovered. He would need a new batch. That meant a trip to St. Elizabeth’s. There was no point in calling Junior before I had worked out all the details. A call from Jimmy interrupted me. He wanted to know how we were doing. I gave him a quick rundown. He said, “Why don’t you take the day off? You haven’t visited the Gateway Arch, have you?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head for emphasis. “We rushed out of town the last time we were here.”
“Okay. I’ll clear my calendar and pick you up in an hour.”
##
The day was grand. When Mac and I were alone again in the RV, I told him Junior had left several messages. I was going to have to call him and let him know what was going on. Mac nodded. “I think you would rather stay here.”
“I’m happy here, but I would spend the rest of my life regretting a bad decision if I suggested we settle in St. Louis.”
“Why? This is as good a place as any. And you’ve got friends here.”
“What about Ann?”
He stared at me with his hands folded in his lap. “I suppose you’re right. We have to go to Melbourne.”
I placed the call. “Hi, Don. This is Kate.”
“Where are you?”
“St. Louis…”
He cut me off. “What the fuck are you doing there?” He demanded. “You’re supposed to be bringing my dad to Melbourne.”
“That’s what I’m doing,” I assured him. “We were ahead of schedule, so I stopped to see some friends.”
“You were supposed to be here a week ago.”
“Your father was bedridden. I couldn’t put him on an airplane.”
“How did you get to St. Louis?”
“I drove the RV. He has a bed where he can rest comfortably, and I’m able to give him physical therapy every day.”
“But you’re in St. Louis. Isn’t that where you wanted to take him in the first place?”
“We stopped over on our way to Melbourne. We’ll be there the day after tomorrow.”
“Why don’t you fly down?”
“That would save a day at most, and it’s expensive. I promise we’ll be there the day after tomorrow.”
“What is it? An Hour? Two hours?” He howled. “You could get down here tonight.”
“I don’t think so. We don’t have tickets. We don’t even have reservations,” I objected. “If we did manage to get seats, it would be on a late flight. That’s too much stress for your father. The best we could do is mid-day tomorrow.”
“Well, get him down here tomorrow,” he insisted.
I shook my head in frustration. Mac beckoned for the phone. I said, “I’m going to use my best judgment. Your father is anxious to see Ann, but I need to keep him on schedule. We’ll be there the day after tomorrow.”
“Shit,” Junior growled. “I’m going to have somebody look into how you’ve been handling things.”
“Your father wants to talk to you. I’m turning the phone over to him.”
“Hi, son. How are you?” Mac’s voice sounded almost normal. That had to help.
I didn’t hear what Junior said, but Mac responded, “Well, I was in bad shape last week. The doctors told me I almost died.”
Mac kept his eyes on me while he listened. He was smiling. “I’m doing much better now. We were able to do some sightseeing today.”
His expression became serious. “I wanted to stop here,” he explained. “It’s been a rough trip. We’ve covered about four thousand miles, and Kate has had to do all the driving. She needed a break.”
He shook his head as his lips pressed into a thin line. “I don’t want to mess with airports, son. If Kate says we’ll be in Melbourne the day after tomorrow, that’s when we’ll drive up to your front door. I’ve never known her to be late for anything.”
He continued scowling and shaking his head. “How’s Ann doing?”
The answer brought a smile to his face. “Good. I’ll make Kate promise to get me there in time to drop by and see her as soon as we get to town.”
Mac looked down at the floor and nodded as he listened to Junior. He looked up at me and bit his lower lip. “There is just one thing I need to tell you.” He paused for a beat or two. “We got married yesterday.”
His head jerked back at the response. He studied the ceiling as he waited for the rant to finish.
“She makes me happy, ” He growled. “I got my life to live, boy. As we used to say, ’I may be old, but I’m not dead.’ At least not yet.”
##
We were back on schedule in the morning. Meds and breakfast at four. We shoved off at five.
Mac got his meds and we stretched our legs at a rest stop just north of Nashville. We arrived at an RV camp outside of Macon just before four.