“Wait a minute.” Nate turned in the act of leaving the kitchen. “Her son was Damon Perez?”
“Is. Yes, his name is right here. He’d be about your age, I guess, Nat, maybe a little older, given the date of her defection.”
“I served with a guy named Damon Perez.” Nate returned to his mom’s side and took another look at the paper.
“I would think it’s a common name.”
“Yeah, but he was from Queens and his mom was a dancer. I think he said a ballet dancer. His dad had been a carpenter, but he was dead.”
“Really?” His mom handed him the paper and Nathan stood at the counter, so intent upon reading it that he forgot his bagel. “‘Survived by her son, Damon.’” He tapped the paper. “I bet this is him.”
“Don’t you know? I mean you keep in touch with a lot of your friends from the service.”
“Perez wasn’t pals with many people. He was kind of a loner.” Nathan waved his artificial hand. “He was there that day, my commanding officer actually.”
“Well, then, why didn’t you keep in touch?”
“He never answered me.”
His mom’s eyes brightened. “Do you think he blamed himself for the other young man’s death?”
“I don’t know. When he didn’t respond, I thought maybe he’d moved on to other things. I know he left the service.” Nate shrugged. “I thought maybe he got married or went back to school. I remember he’d signed up without finishing his degree.” He frowned. “I forget what it was, though.”
“Well, it doesn’t look like he got married. There’s no daughter-in-law or grandchildren mentioned, and I think there would be.”
Nate nodded agreement and read the end of the article again. “Next Thursday afternoon is the service. I think I’m going to go, just in case it is him. We weren’t buddies but I knew him, and if this is Perez, he might be glad of some company.” He glanced at the clock and knew he had to get moving. “I’ll ask for the afternoon off. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
“I’ll press your white shirt, dear, and make sure your dark suit is clean.”
“Thanks, Mom.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Now how could I go and fall in love with anyone who isn’t as wonderful as you?”
“You should fall in love with someone, and soon.”
“You’ve got to wait for the good ones, Mom. That’s what you always taught me.”
“Oh, don’t be throwing my words back at me over this!” his mom protested with a laugh. “Hurry up or you’ll be late.”
It was strange to be in Illinois in the wintertime again. Haley was never there for her dad’s birthday. When she came for Christmas, it wasn’t the same. There was all the bustle of the holidays distracting from his absence. But in the winter, with the decorations gone and the snow piling up, it was hard to forget that her family were there because he was gone.
Her big brother, Brad, picked her up at the airport. “I’ll give you advance warning,” he said, after she’d admired his new full size pick-up truck and they were on their way. “The house is in chaos.”
“You said you were going to buy it from Mom, since you needed the space and she didn’t.” Haley had heard about this plan in the fall and thought it was a good one. “And that you were going to convert that huge room over the garage into a separate apartment for her.”
“Right. That’s the plan. The renovation will happen in the spring. For the moment, she’s moved from the master bedroom to another bedroom.” He winced. “That’s fine. The issue is everything else.”
Haley smiled. “Two sets of dishes.”
“We should be so lucky. I think there are four sets of dishes, maybe five, plus at least two of everything else. I’m calling it the change of regimes.” His frustration was clear and Haley sympathized. It would be like Brad to think only of the logistics and practicalities of buying Mom’s house.
“I guess some things have to go,” she suggested.
“But sentimentality is high. I feel stupid that I never expected it.”
“Can’t you put some stuff in the basement for a while? Out of sight and out of mind, so it’s easier for them to eventually leave.”
“Great minds think alike,” Brad said with a grin. “That’s exactly what I’ve been doing. Still, it’s taking a lot longer than I expected.”
Haley bit back a smile. That was one thing she and her brothers had in common: their interest in achievement and not possessions. Her sister, Tiffany, wanted all the things and was often teased about that. “You probably just thought you’d keep the ones that fit best or were most useful. That’s what I would have expected.”
“I can believe it!” Brad laughed. “I can’t imagine you fighting to the death over keeping your fancy china that you never use instead of someone else’s fancy china that she never uses. I need to remember that I married someone more like Tiff.”
“Mom and Katie will work it out.”
“Well, I hope they do it soon. We can’t renovate when the house is jammed to the rafters with stuff.” He paused for a moment, and his tone was hopeful when he continued. “You could take some of it, you know.”
Haley laughed. “Not a chance! Taking it would mean I’d have to keep it, so Katie or Mom could come to visit it, just to make sure it was okay. No, thanks.”
“See? We’re just the same.” Brad sounded rueful but there was a twinkle in his eyes. “This might finish me.”
“I think you should just stay out of it,” Haley advised. “You can’t pick a side and win.”
“Don’t I know it.” He took the exit, heading toward the house. They rode in silence for a few minutes.
“There’s another warning, too,” he said when he turned into the subdivision. “One just for you.”
“Me? Why?” Haley had a bad feeling, but she’d been trying to dismiss it.
“Mom is over the moon about you moving home. I’m wondering if she thinks she’ll be able to move in with you and bring her stuff, since we all know that you don’t have any.”
Haley was surprised, although she knew she shouldn’t have been.
“Don’t look so astonished,” Brad said. “You have to have seen this coming.”
“I knew she wanted me to apply for the job, but that’s not quite the same as setting up house here together. I thought you were making her an apartment over the garage.”
“I am, but she might see your coming home as a better opportunity.”
“The stuff.” Haley made a face.
“The stuff.” Brad smiled. “Well, you always said you weren’t going to get married. Not our career girl Haley.”
Haley felt as if Garrett was sitting in the back seat, waiting for a gap in the conversation. Who was she kidding? Garrett didn’t wait for anything. He made his opportunities. His confidence that the world was his oyster was one of the things she’d most admired about him. He’d believed he could do anything he wanted and it seemed that the world shared his conviction. Everything had come his way so easily.