Chapter 45

July came to Arlington, bringing more hot, muggy weather. On Friday the 11th, the Davis family, the Stetsons and Phillip went down to Fort Monroe for Matt Davis's military retirement ceremony. Matt's retirement orders had come through very quickly by army standards; he suspected that Harry V. Thornton, who still had a great many friends in high places, had used his influence to expedite the process. Harry wasn't at the retirement ceremony, having returned to his home in the Florida Keys, but Matt was sure he'd influenced the process. After the ceremony, conducted with the usual military pomp and protocol, the group adjourned to the Officers' Club for a celebration dinner, and then they all drove back to Arlington. Matt had given up his apartment a week before and had been living in the Chamberlin, the famous resort hotel on Fort Monroe, until his last day in uniform; now, he loaded up the last of his possessions in the family minivan and drove himself and his wife home.

On Saturday, Matt took Bob and Sue Davis to the airport to catch their flight back to Tucson; on Monday, he started work at the Thornton Foundation. Each person employed by the foundation, either permanent or temporary, like the interns, had a personal interview with the new executive director, and Phillip, for all that he talked to Matt almost every day because of his relationship with Kendra, was no exception. His interview was on Wednesday. He was five minutes early; when he arrived, Matt's secretary reached for the phone and told her boss that he'd arrived.

"Go right in, Phillip," she said.

Matt chose to conduct the interview in the conversation area rather than across his rather imposing desk; he offered Phillip a choice of beverage, Phillip accepted a bottle of water, and they sat down. "We see each other often, obviously, but we try to leave the office at the office," Matt said. "Your performance reports are very complimentary, and I think you have a promising future with the foundation. Where do you see yourself in five years?"

"In five years I'll be twenty-nine, and although I'm not sure I'd have the seniority to oversee the internship program, I'd like to work with whoever is overseeing it. I'd like to see it expand from the six interns we have now – well, we started with eight, so let's say eight – to ten, and I'd like to bring in more people from the Midwest and the Southwest. As it is, Abigail Kozal is the only intern from west of the Mississippi River. I think we risk getting a reputation as being a foundation that only draws from Eastern schools unless we expand our recruiting. I've talked to Abby to find out how she knew about us, and she told me it was because one of her profs at UNL, who had come from Ohio State, suggested it; she'd never heard of us before then."

"I agree. I want you to compile a list of major universities in the heartland - Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, the Dakotas and Minnesota – and we'll put together an information packet and send it out to their political science departments, inviting them to request more information with the option of a personal campus visit, which I'd like you to make. I'm going to assume that Nebraska is already covered, or that we can ask Abby to represent us once she goes back next month. In fact, let's get her up here right now and ask her about it. I was going to talk to the interns later, but Abby isn't the usual sort of intern."

"No, she's not. I should tell you, though, that she's not planning to continue with the foundation after this summer. She's enjoyed the time here, but her focus has changed."

"And would your brother have anything to do with that?" Matt asked with a smile.

"It's entirely possible," Phillip replied. "Jamie tells me that she wants to write children's books, but to pay the bills, she's planning to get a degree in library science from UN Omaha."

"Interesting. I still think that she'd be a good ambassador for us, even if she chooses not to continue in the field."

"Oh, I agree; I just wanted you to know the situation."

"I appreciate that."

Abby, when asked, readily agreed to do anything she could to promote the internship and fellowship programs. "Most of the colleges and universities in the state are concentrated in or near Lincoln or Omaha," she explained. "It will be very easy for me to meet with their department heads in person, that is if you think I'd be a good representative. I am only an UNL undergrad, after all."

"You are now, Abigail, but in less than a year you'll be a graduate student, and I would hope that the department heads you talk to would see that having someone with experience in the program is the best possible person to talk to prospective interns," Matt said. "You can answer their questions in a way that an information packet simply can't. Of course, you'll be compensated for your time and your expenses will be paid."

"That's very generous, Matt."

"No, that's just the right way to do things, Abigail. Phillip has told me about your dream of writing children's books. Someday before you go back next month, I'd like to look at one of them, if you have them with you."

"Oh, I do; I just finished one, in fact. I work on them at night and during my lunch hours, you see. Well, with Jamie gone I don't have a lot to do at night, so…" She turned slightly pink and Matt smiled.

"Yes, there's only so much time you can spent writing letters, and phone calls get very expensive."

"Yes, they can, although he usually calls me; I shudder to think what his phone bill is going to look like this month. When would you like to see the books?"

"It's not really foundation business, so what if you come over for dinner some evening and bring what you have. I know Deb would love to see them too."

"Oh, I'd like that! Just tell me when."

Phillip told Kendra all about the meeting in her father's office when she came over to eat supper with him and Dotty that evening. Dotty loved to cook, and she loved talking to Kendra, so she would have been happy if Kendra had eaten with them every night. "It's just as easy to cook for three as for two," she pointed out. "When the boys were little and Amanda was working all the time on what I thought were film projects - though of course they weren't, she was off fighting spies and terrorists with Lee - I cooked for us most of the time, and I always cooked for four so when she did come home, there would be a good meal waiting for her, even if she had to reheat it. And besides, Kendra, your parents are newlyweds, so leaving them alone is just the tactful thing to do."

"I agree, Dotty, and I think I'll take you up on the offer of eating here several times a week. Not every night, I don't want my parents to think I don't want to spend time with them too, but two or three nights a week."

"That would be just fine."

"We'll take care of the dishes, Grandma," Phillip said. " I know you like to watch your classic movies."

"Yes, I do, although I do like that show about the Navy lawyers. That Commander Rabb is really cute. Curt was in the navy, you know; he flew Tomcats off a carrier just like they do in the show. When they start throwing that Navy talk around it reminds me of Curt; he talked that way too – deck for floor, overhead for ceiling, bulkhead for wall – I had to learn a whole new language just to understand him."

"I'm sorry you had such a short time with him, Dotty," Kendra said.

"It was his heart, you know. It just gave out. Oh, but we had such wonderful times together…."

Phillip and Kendra hugged her and she went off to the den where she had her television; they knew that she'd fall asleep in her recliner before the movie was over, but rather than disturb her, Phillip would just cover her with a light sheet blanket.

"Mom and Lee and I have talked about what will happen when she can't climb the stairs anymore," Phillip said as they took care of the dishes. "Converting one of the rooms down here into a bedroom won't really work, because there's no full bath. The best option would be a retirement community, but she doesn't want to leave this house."

"That's understandable; there are a lot of good memories here, going all the way back to when she first came here after your mom and Joe divorced."

"Yes. Well, I'm glad I don't have to make that decision. As long as she's living here, I'll be here to help out."