Wildest Dreams (Thunder Point #9)(64)

“I can’t think of anything that could make him more of a grump than that,” Seth said.

“But your mom will be so happy! I’m sure even if Norm was a pain in the butt, she probably had a wonderful time.”

“I wouldn’t count on that. They push each other’s buttons pretty well.”

When Iris got home from work on Friday afternoon, her in-laws’ car was in the drive. She ran into her house, dropped off her briefcase and some files she brought home and rushed over to the Sileski house. And to her thrilled surprise, Norm answered the door wearing one of his handsome new sweaters and a big smile.

“Welcome home!” Iris said.

“Come in, come in. Gwen is lying down but come in!”

“I hope she’s not too tired for a welcome-home dinner at our house tomorrow night,” Iris said. “I invited the boys. Your sons may not be interested but your daughters-in-law definitely are.”

“She’s not too tired,” he said. “It was a great cruise. Look at this boat,” he said, pulling out his phone. “There’s everything on it. Restaurants, movie theaters, everything. They even have a nursery or something for younger people with smaller kids. They never had anything like that when we were young. Not that we ever went anywhere. We took the boys to Yellowstone, you know. And Mount Rushmore. But no one gave us a hand babysitting so we could go out dancing...”

“You went out dancing?”

“I’m not that much of a dancer. That shouldn’t surprise you.”

Iris took the phone and began scrolling through the pictures while Norm talked. There was Norm practicing with his life vest, sitting around a fancy dinner table, on the deck of the boat in front of a huge glacier. There was Norm with Gwen and a bunch of other women of a certain age. “Aw, she made friends,” Iris said.

“Nice ladies,” Norm said. “Have you ever seen food like that in your life?”

Indeed, Norm was infatuated with the food, both the lavish buffets and those formal meals served in the dining room. He also took pictures of the group at their table for ten—he was the only man. He sat in the center of nine women, many dressed to the nines in their formal and semiformal attire. The women, their new friends, looked to be having a wonderful, raucous time.

Gwen looked miserable.

“Gwen doesn’t look very happy,” Iris observed.

“I think she mighta had a little seasickness. That boat’s so big, hardly anybody got seasick. Or maybe she just don’t like food made by someone else. Gwen’s a good cook, you know.”

“I know,” Iris said. “Did it ever occur to you to ask her if she was having a good time?”

“I asked her. She said yes. Look at this, Iris—look at this picture. We went on this salmon dinner thing, great place—set up like an outdoor picnic place with picnic tables and fresh-caught salmon cooked on grills right outside. More my speed than the whole fancy dining room part. But there were bears right there, right at the river! I think you have to fight ’em for the fish.”

“You had fun,” she said, scrolling through picture after picture. There was Norm, grinning like a boy, surrounded by smiling women, frowning wife, picture after picture.

“It was better than I give it credit,” he said. “I’m ready to sign up for another one. Maybe Mexico. There’s one to Greece, but it might be more than we should spend. I’ll have to see. Gwen’s not sure. She wants to think about it.”

And then Gwen appeared in the doorway, a sour look on her face, pulling her sweater tighter around her.

“Oh, good, you and Iris can talk about the cruise,” Norm said. “I want to run over to the station and make sure they’re getting by all right. I’ll, um, need to take that phone, Iris. But I’ll give it back to you next time I see you and you can look at the rest of the pictures. I have to get us a decent camera, a real camera.” He pocketed the phone. “You probably don’t want to cook after all we ate,” he said to Gwen. “Want me to pick up something from the diner? A couple of good old-fashioned hamburgers?”

“I’ll cook,” she said evenly, arms crossed over her ample chest.

“I’ll be back then,” he said. “You just about over that little seasickness?”

“I’m over it.”

Norm was out the door and Iris sank onto the couch, bewildered.

“You’re upset about something,” she said. “Wasn’t it a nice cruise?”

Gwen went to the chair, Norm’s favorite chair. She took a deep breath. “The scenery was very nice. Colder than you think.”

“Gwen, what’s wrong? You’re angry.”

“Did you see the pictures?” she asked.

“I saw a lot of his pictures. He was pretty taken with the food.”

“The food? He was taken with the widows!”

“The widows?”

“That boat was full of widows! They loved Norm! They couldn’t shut up, comparing him to their dead husbands, asking him questions about his company. It wasn’t a company—it was a gas station! Helping him fill his plate. I thought one of ’em was going to cut his meat! It was disgusting!”

“Those women?” Iris asked.

“Widows,” she said.