Chapter 58
If he hadn't witnessed it, Jamie would have never believed it was possible to get so much done on so many fronts in such a short time, but by the time the evening of August 7th, the day before Abby's twenty-first birthday, came, everything had come together perfectly. The motel was completely renovated and ready to reopen, thanks to a team of workers from the high school that Eddie had hired to rip out the old carpet and vinyl, paint the rooms, landscape the grounds under Dotty's direction, and, once the new carpet and vinyl were installed, move the furniture he'd bought in Hay Springs into the rooms. The women in his extended family sewed new curtains for all the windows, Dotty made another trip to Scottsbluff to buy new bedspreads, sheets and towels at the warehouse club where Eddie bought his wholesale supplies, and Joe Klatka supplied enough original paintings, works he'd had on consignment at various shops in the area or just stored at his house, to decorate all the rooms. The construction crew had even built a pavilion over an old ten by twelve concrete pad that had once been the foundation for a storage building near the pool that had long since been torn down. It was open and airy and had a gazebo top, and once it was strung with little white lights, it would make a perfect dance floor.
The university had written to inform Abby that all nine of her credit hours from George Mason would transfer, and she'd applied for permission to take the twenty-one hours she'd need to finish her degree in December. That hadn't come back yet, but she was hopeful that it would come through in time for her to register for one more class for the fall semester.
Rob Duffy had offered Jamie a fair price for the BMW, and as soon as Jamie could get back to Kansas City, Rob said he'd fly out from D.C. so they could close the deal. With the promise of that money, Jamie bought the Dodge Ram truck from Ray Kozal and arranged for Abby's brother Larry to bring it to the hospital when Jamie was finally discharged so Jamie could drive it away.
Best of all, from Jamie's perspective, Frank Duffy had come through in stellar fashion. One of his contacts in the state government in Lincoln had responded with the news that the man had been looking for a responsible young woman to live in the house with his eighty-year-old mother so she wouldn't be alone in the house, especially at night. "She loves the house, has lived there for forty years, Frank, and she's not ready to leave, but I just don't like the idea of her being by herself in case there's an emergency. If James King's young lady would be willing to live there, do light housekeeping, and take Mother to the occasional doctor's appointment or shopping trip, I'd pay her to do that, and of course she'd get her room and partial board. James could come to visit as long as he understands that he couldn't stay overnight; Mother is very old-fashioned in that respect."
His mother, Mrs. Frances Mallory, had written a lovely letter extending an invitation to Abby to come and live in the basement apartment of her house, which was only about ten minutes from the UNL main campus; her son had written a more businesslike letter outlining the terms of the agreement.
"Everything is falling into place," Jamie told his mother when she called on Thursday night to tell him that the family had returned safely to Arlington. "Now all we have to do is keep her from finding out that the party isn't really for me, it's for her."
"I have confidence in you, Jamie; you are Agency, after all," Amanda replied. "But a truck, Jamie? I never thought you'd part with that BMW, or one like it."
"When in Nebraska – or Missouri –" he said. "There's no way we can get all of Abby's stuff into a Camaro, so we'll need it to move her back to Lincoln, and besides, I really like that truck. The room she's moving into isn't furnished, so she's taking bedroom furniture as well as a desk and chair and all the other things she'd need to live in the dorms."
"How are you going to pull off the grand entrance?" Amanda asked.
"Oh, we're going to tell her that I'm staying with Larry and Kathy after I leave the hospital; they have an extra room, well, it's the nursery, but there's a twin bed in there, and it's all on one level so I don't have to strain my leg to get up the stairs. The Camaro is in the garage behind their house, out of sight, so all I have to do is change into the tux, get the flowers I ordered for her, and drive over to the motel."
"I would love to have a video of that."
"Their photographer will be shooting stills, but his assistant will be shooting video, so you'll get your wish."
"Wonderful!"
It all went off exactly as planned. Larry Kozal came to the hospital to pick Jamie up in the Dodge truck just before noon on Friday the 8th; as Jamie got into the truck after thanking the nursing staff for two weeks of wonderful care and they drove away, Larry said, "She has no idea. About an hour ago, she was so busy getting ready for the party that when I offered to come and get you, she looked relieved."
After a pizza lunch, Larry drove to his house and Jamie unloaded his luggage into what would become the first Kozal grandchild's nursery. Larry left to return to the motel to help with party preparations, and Jamie drove to the Box Butte County courthouse to re-register the truck in his name and apply for a Nebraska driver's license, giving the Kozal home as his mailing address. The clerk he dealt with knew who he was, of course; everybody in Alliance knew who he was. "Did you decide you wanted to be a Nebraskan, James?" she asked.
"I can't think of a better place to be from, can you?"
"No, I can't. Welcome to your new home."
"Thanks."
With new plates on his truck and a new temporary license in his pocket, he went back to the house and took a nap. At five o'clock, the florist delivered the bouquet he'd ordered for Abby's birthday; he answered the door in his tuxedo pants and shirt and the young delivery driver, the florist's teenage daughter, said," Golly, Mr. King, are you wearing a tux tonight?"
"You bet I am. Abby Kozal only turns twenty-one once in her life, and we're pulling out all the stops."
"Oh, wow. Did you have to go to Scottsbluff to rent it? That's what our guys have to do for prom."
"No, this is mine. The job I had in New York required me to wear one fairly often, so it was cheaper to just buy one and have it tailored to fit me."
"Gosh. Well, I hope you have a wonderful evening, and that Abby likes the flowers."
"Thanks. I hope so too."
As six o'clock approached, Abby got more and more nervous. She'd been to a cousin's hair salon to get her hair put up in an elegant style, put on the gown she'd sewn for the welcome banquet in Washington back in May, a gown Jamie hadn't seen before, and tried to stay calm, but it was an uphill battle. Finally, Dotty Weller took her into Dotty's newly remodeled room at the motel, handed her a glass of warm milk with a dash of Galliano, Dotty's favorite nightcap, and ordered her to relax.
It worked. By the time the polka band the family had hired for the party started playing, Abby had calmed down sufficiently to enjoy the evening. She went out to where the family was gathering under the pavilion to wait for the guest of honor to arrive, never realizing that she was the real guest of honor. Oh, she knew it was her birthday, of course, but Jamie's big day had taken precedence over hers, or so she thought. "He'll probably take me out to dinner tomorrow night," she thought, "and Mom and Dad will have a cake and ice cream for us when we get back to the house."
At five minutes past six, a blue Camaro she didn't recognize pulled into the motel parking lot. "Oh, dear, I hope whoever that is doesn't want a room for the night," she said.
"I don't think that's going to be a problem," Uncle Eddie, dressed in his best coat and tie, said. "Look closer, Abbygirl."
"Oh, my gosh, is that…. Oh, my gosh, it is Jamie! Jamie, in a tuxedo! But …. Whose car is that?"
"Well, honey, I guess you're about to find out," Ray told her.
Jamie came over, presented her with the flowers, kissed her, and said, "Happy 21st, Princess."
When he stepped back, the band struck up the 'Happy Birthday' song and everyone sang to her, ending with "Surprise!"
"Abigail, my princess, on behalf of your loving family, it's my great honor to present you with your new car,' Jamie said, handing her the keys with a flourish. "Resurrected from a wrecked hulk by your father and brother, restored to its former glory, this 1976 Camaro is your sweet ride, Sweet Girl."
"Oh, my. Oh, my…. Daddy?"
"Happy Birthday, Abbygirl."
"You all planned this and … oh, wow. Jamie, you knew?"
"Of course. You didn't think we were really going to let your big day go by without a big party, did you, Princess? Not a chance."
"I thought maybe… never mind. Oh, wow."
Gifts from other family and friends, hidden away under buffet tables and in the trunks of cars, began to appear. Someone brought out a special chair for her and she started opening gifts. She came to an envelope addressed to 'Miss Abigail Kozal' at the motel, noted the Lincoln address, and said, "Jamie? Who is Mrs. Frances Mallory?"
"Open it and see, Princess."
She opened the letter and her eyes grew wide. "She's inviting me to live in her house for the semester? I get my own basement apartment and I don't have to live in the dorms?"
"There's more. Check out the letter from her son."
If possible, her eyes grew even wider. "Attorney General Mallory? Her son is our state attorney general?"
"That's right, and as you can see, AG Mallory is offering to pay you to live in the house and look after his mother."
"Oh, my gosh. How did you do this?"
"We have our ways."
The impish grin on his face prompted her to jump up, throw her arms around his neck, and kiss him as their audience applauded.
"James King, SuperSpy, I love you."
"I love you too, Princess. Stick with me; the best is yet to be."
Thanks for sticking with me through a very long story. I hope you enjoyed reading it.