Wishing for Wonderful (Serendipity #3)(24)

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Clever, right? A bit of memory adjustment, but it worked out quite well this time. I seldom use this tactic, because the placement can be rather tricky. In nineteen thirty-nine there was a situation in Philadelphia where I was replacing three months of leading-up-to-divorce memories with some considerably better ones, but instead of going back in time I jumped forward. As soon as that woman realized she knew the outcome of events before they happened she convinced herself she was a psychic. She bought a deck of tarot cards and started a fortune-telling business in the living room of her new apartment. Of course a few weeks down the road she ran out of memories, and that was the end of her predicting things to come. Not only did the business fail, but she was evicted from the apartment for operating a non-authorized business on the premises.

Individual thoughts are no problem; they’re much more specific and easier to handle. But don’t expect to see another memory replacement anytime soon. Once a decade is more than enough for me.





Eleanor





I was pretty apprehensive about the Labor Day cookout, but things went better than I’d expected. I heard Lindsay laughing out loud several times, which really surprised me. Up until then I hadn’t seen her so much as crack a smile.

John said the day they went to the baseball game he and Lindsay had a long talk and now she’s okay with us getting married. As much as I’d like to believe that’s true, I have a sneaky suspicion he simply heard what he wanted to hear. Men are like that. I know, because Raymond was like that and Ray Junior is just like his daddy.

I remember when Ray was not much more than a teenager, he had a friend visiting him at the house. When it got close to suppertime Ray came into the kitchen and asked if he could invite his friend to stay for dinner. I’d only defrosted three pork chops that evening so I told him I’d prefer he didn’t. I didn’t feel guilty about saying no, because the boy lived three doors down and I knew he wasn’t about to go hungry. Anyway, I finished up cooking and when I carried the food to the table, big as life there sits Ray’s friend. I handed the boy my plate and said I wasn’t in the mood for pork, but inside I was seething.

After the boy went home I asked Ray why he’d deliberately gone against my wishes. He gave me this wide-eyed look of surprise and said, I didn’t. You most certainly did, I told him. I reminded him how I’d expressly told him not to invite his friend to stay. Before I could even finish my thought he says, You never told me he couldn’t stay, you just said you’d prefer he didn’t.

That, in a nutshell, sums up the difference between men and women. A man hears what he wants to hear, and a woman tries to soften anything unpleasant she’s got to say.

There are times when I get the feeling Lindsay will come around. She loves her daddy so much that she at least is willing to try. But as far as Ray goes, I’m beginning to have my doubts. That boy didn’t say ten words the whole time he was at the cookout. He didn’t eat either. I made the potato salad with lots of mayonnaise just the way he likes it, but he wouldn’t even sample a taste.

When they first got here he nodded hello to a few people, then he plopped down in the lawn chair and sat there like an ice cube all day long. When Traci and Lindsay started laughing, he saw how they were having a good time and I guess it aggravated him. He was none too happy to start with, but once the girls began enjoying themselves he got crankier than ever. When I walked over to ask if he’d like me to fix him something special, he was squeezing the arms of that lawn chair so hard his knuckles had turned white.

A lot goes into raising a child. You do everything you can for them. You scrimp on things you want so they won’t have to do without, you worry about them, watch them grow up, get married and move on with their life. After all of that you’d think they’d be glad if you took a small bit of happiness for yourself, but that’s not necessarily what happens.

Knowing you’ve done everything you could to give your child a good life should enable you to shrug your shoulders and walk away when they act like this, but you don’t. Even when they’re full grown and married, your baby is still your baby. For better or worse, Ray is my child and I know John feels the same about Lindsay.

I’m praying they’ll both see this can be a good thing; not just for John and me but for all of us. If Ray doesn’t come around to accepting that, I don’t know what I’ll do. What can I do? It’s an impossible situation.

I’d like to believe love can overcome all obstacles, but when it comes to breaking away from your child that’s something no mother can do.





Cupid

Resume Repair





This is not an easy job. Setting up the matches is never a problem, but dealing with the ancillary people—the sons, daughters, parents and in-laws—can be a nightmare. In-laws are by far the worse. They pick at the most mundane thing imaginable. I’ve had perfect matches where the in-laws all but caused a break-up. In poor Melanie Henderson’s case it got so bad I had to ask for help. Luckily I got it. Her motherin-law came down with the flu and was unable to make the wedding. A month later Melanie and Tom moved to California, which worked out perfectly since his mother’s fearful of flying. They can thank Life Management for that.

Now, back to Lindsay Gray. I think I’ve got a lead on finding her next perfect match, but the girl is hopeless when it comes to landing a job. It always comes back to the same old problem: a confidence deficiency. Lindsay’s job history mirrors her love story. Time and again she’s settled for less than what she wanted, so she’s got little to show for those years of college and working.