A Turn in the Road (Blossom Street #8)(19)

“When you’re ready, give me the phone number.”

Ruth rattled it off. Annie got through right away and made the arrangements. She disconnected, saying, “Done. The manager told me it wasn’t a problem.”

“That’s great,” Bethanne said, pleased her daughter was so technologically savvy. She had the same phone as Annie and Grant but couldn’t do nearly as much with it. The problem was that she hadn’t made the effort to learn. It seemed that whenever she got comfortable with her phone, it was time to upgrade and she’d have to learn a whole new process.

“I wonder what Marie’s doing these days,” Ruth said thoughtfully.

“Well, we’ll find out,” Annie responded.

“We can have a light lunch when we hit the Tri-cities,” Bethanne suggested, “and once we reach Pendleton we can look for the café your friend’s family owned.”

“I’d like that,” Ruth said, “but we all know there’s no guarantee the café will still be there.”

“Right, but we can look, can’t we?” Annie said. “Then, after we eat, can you show me the house you lived in when Dad was born?”

“Sure thing,” Ruth said, “but again you have to remember that was a long time ago.”

Bethanne didn’t understand Annie’s sudden interest in her father’s birthplace. Ruth, however, seemed happy to stroll down memory lane. Annie was encouraging her, and this exchange of questions and anecdotes was probably good for both of them.

Annie’s cell phone rang when they stopped for lunch in Richland. They found a chain restaurant off the freeway and each ordered soup.

“Oh, hi, Dad,” Annie said, and her gaze immediately went to Bethanne. “Yeah, we’re in Richland.” She smiled and added, “We made good time. Mom’s driving—and guess what?”

Bethanne was determined not to listen, but she couldn’t avoid hearing Annie’s side of the conversation.

“Mom’s right here. Do you want to talk to her?”

Bethanne shook her head vigorously. Annie ignored her reaction and handed over the cell.

Reluctantly, Bethanne accepted it. “Hello, Grant,” she said without enthusiasm.

“You turned your cell phone off,” he said, although his words lacked any real censure.

“I’m driving,” she pointed out. The rental car didn’t have a Bluetooth connection.

“That’s what Annie said.”

Silence.

“How’s it going so far?”

“Fine.” She resisted telling him that they’d left just that morning and were only about two hundred miles from Seattle.

“What’s this I hear about you spending the night in Pendleton? Did you know I was born there?”

If she’d forgotten, she’d received plenty of reminders in the past few hours. “Annie mentioned it.” Bethanne wondered if Grant had put their daughter up to this. She was well aware that Annie had her own agenda. But then, perhaps she was becoming paranoid.

“I hoped you’d call and check in every now and then,” he said in a hurt-little-boy voice that was meant to elicit sympathy.

“You should talk to Annie or your mother,” she told him. “If you’d like, I’ll remind Ruth to check in with you or Robin every day so you can rest assured that all is well.”

“Yes, please do.”

“Here’s your mother.” She passed the phone across the booth to her mother-in-law.

Annie waited until their soup arrived before she spoke. “Honestly, Mom, you could be a bit friendlier to Dad.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. You know how he feels.”

Bethanne did. “This is about more than feelings, Annie.”

“At least let him prove himself. You don’t need to be so…” She couldn’t seem to find the right word. “Unfriendly,” she said, repeating herself.

“Did I sound short with your father?” she asked.

“A little.”

Bethanne looked at Ruth, who shrugged. “Just a tad, honey.”

Bethanne exhaled and forced herself to remember that she was traveling with two of his staunchest advocates.

“Is there any possibility the two of you might reconcile?” her ex-mother-in-law asked, eyes wide and hopeful.

“Of course there’s a chance,” Annie answered on Bethanne’s behalf. “There’s always a chance, right, Mom?”

Bethanne took her time answering, apparently longer than Annie liked, because both her daughter and Ruth stopped eating and stared at her intently. “Yes, I suppose there is,” she finally agreed.

Seven

“Look, the café’s still there!” Ruth called from the backseat. Annie had been driving since Richland, with Bethanne knitting beside her. Ruth leaned forward, thrilled about the opportunity to see her old friend again. When she’d met Marie, she’d been pregnant, away from family and friends, and in a marriage that hadn’t started out in the most positive way.

They’d moved to Pendleton because that was where Richard’s first job was. He’d wanted to make a good impression on his employer; he’d been young, ambitious and eager to prove his worth. Her husband of less than a year had worked long days, abandoning Ruth to countless hours alone in a rental house in this town where she didn’t know a single soul. Meeting her neighbor, Marie, had been a lifesaver. Ruth had needed a friend, a connection with someone. She hadn’t really been prepared for the pregnancy, and she suffered from violent bouts of nausea that lasted through most of the day.