AN: Gotta love prewritten chapters…Damn thing's been waiting for two months to be posted. Thanks for reading!
Chapter 57
Families of the Past
Car ride (mid-conversation):
"Tell me about your parents" she said lowering herself back into her seat after turning to check on Cale who dozed in the back.
"My parents?"
"Yea you know those people who raised you." She said with a smile.
"Why are you asking about them now?"
"Because you mentioned them. You normally don't. I never wanted to push."
He sighed and wondered about her words, Max not push? "They're dead, what's left to say?"
She laughed, "Who they were they were when they were alive? All I know is your dad didn't approve of poetry and your mom loved to cook." Okay slight understatement, but not by much.
He pondered that for a moment, had that really been all he'd ever told the woman he loved about his parents? Why had he ever kept so much in? "They were really in love. Once I was able to get past the fact they were gone, I was glad they went together."
"What happened?" she asked gently, he barely talked about them alive, let alone them dying.
"A car accident, during my summer break. I was 16 at the time; I was going to be a senior in high school. They were in Portland visiting my mom's sister, I was supposed to go, but there was a party I didn't want to miss, eventually they gave in and let me stay." He turned and smiled "With the promise that the party wouldn't somehow end up at our house."
"Had that happened before?" Max gave a teasing grin
He laughed and nodded, "A few times, cops actually came once, didn't turn out well, I was grounded for 6 weeks I think." He sighed again "It was a car accident, pile up two days after they arrived. My mom lived 4 hours longer than my dad. My dad died in surgery, my mom in the ICU. I didn't see either of them until the wake. It was hard to see them like that…I mean I'd seen them five days earlier. My dad banged on my door and told me to go grab some of my mother's bags…"
" Logan" he banged on the door, his father had soft brown hair, just beginning to gray at the temples, the faintest lines around his green eyes, he was wearing jeans and a blue polo.
"Aww jesus, what Dad?" the 16 year old version of Logan asked, no glasses because of contacts, his hair golden from the sun as was his skin, khaki shorts and a blue Surf Naked tee shirt.
"Grab your mother's suitcases." he called walking down the hall with his own.
He groaned walking down to his parents room, "Mom" he sighed as he saw his mother putting in a diamond stud, the perfect image of a socialite wife, her hair almost platinum from the highlights, her eyes a vivid blue, dressed in a patterned black wrap dress.
" Logan" she turned and sighed back, mocking her son.
"You're going away for a week. How many bags do you need?" he looked at the pile awaiting him on the floor. 5 he counted.
She laughed, "I'm old; it takes a lot of work to look this good."
He didn't bother to try to fight with her, remind her that all of his friends were in love with her, she'd have known she was beautiful even if her son's friends didn't drool over her, even if all the heads didn't turn when she walked into a room, she'd know from how her husband was looking at from the doorway, how he'd been looking at her for the past 23 years.
"Logan don't try reasoning with your mother, it's pointless. Just grab some bags."
Elise Cale picked up her purse and laughed at her son and husband who each grabbed two bags, she lifted her cosmetics case.
"Gee thanks for the help Mom. Make sure you don't strain yourself." Logan rolled his eyes.
She continued to smile as she followed them down the stairs and through the door to the waiting forest green Aston Martin, she held out her case politely as they loaded the bags in the trunk.
"Thanks for all your help honey" Logan Cale Sr. teased, leaning in to kiss his wife.
She smiled, "So is that everything?"
He nodded, "All that remains is the lecture."
Logan groaned, "No parties I know."
"No parties, Bennett and Jason can stay over if they want, but that's it." His mother tapped him on the nose. "Anything else darling?" she turned to her husband.
His father's eyes narrowed, "The Jacuzzi is for adults only."
"Yes sir."
His father, managed to keep his grin inside as he saw the corners of Logan's mouth going up.
"Good, now that we have all that settled. Give me a hug and promise you'll pick up your cell phone when I call you tonight."
"Oh for heaven's sake Elise, stop babying him."
"Never," she laughed pulling Logan in close, "You're always going to be my baby, you know that right?" she kissed the tip of his nose.
His father groaned once more, "Just try not to burn down the house Logan and remember no driving after 9. You and Bennett take a cab to the party and don't get in the car with anyone that's been at that party." His father uncharacteristically showed his concern.
"Don't worry Dad; I'll probably just stay over."
His father couldn't decide if he was pleased with that or not, but he accepted it, "Okay" he quickly pulled his son in for a brief pat on the back, his version of a hug, walked to the driver's side and got in.
Logan walked to the passenger's side and opened the door for his mom, she turned before she got into the car and kissed his cheek one final time, "I love you baby, be good. Call me if anything happens, we'll come home immediately."
"I'll be fine Mom." He reassured
She slid into the seat and he closed the door, she waved as they pulled away and then they were gone.
" Logan are you okay?" Max whispered a moment after he stopped speaking
"Yea" he shook his head, "just remembering them. They were pretty good parents."
"Couldn't have been half bad if they raised you."
He laughed, "I don't know, you turned out pretty well for having Lydecker as a father."
Max rolled her eyes, "Please don't ever use the words Lydecker and father in the same sentence." She turned and looked at him, "So is that all you're going to say about your parents?"
He laughed and glanced over at her, "Didn't get out of that one did I?"
She shook her head
His eyes completely turned back to the road, "Okay so what do you want to know?"
-o-o-o-o-
Max arrived at the cabin knowing a lot more about the little boy whose pictures were scattered about walls. She found out about little league and soccer and how he used to feel when his dad would miss his games, but also how proud he would be when he'd done something right and his father would praise him for it. He didn't mention what it felt like to fail his father though.
He told her how his mom would cheer endlessly, sometimes at the wrong times. How she went to everything PTSA and all the field trips, how he always had the best snacks to bring in. How his mother was a writer, an unpublished one, but still a writer, she'd tapered off a little more each year of her marriage, she was an executive's wife, she'd had parties to not only attend, but plan and her days were filled with the charity events she was organizing.
His father nowhere near as cold as his uncle, but a firm believer in the family business and manly pursuits as Logan had termed it, he expected Logan to live up to his name and follow in his footsteps.
There was still love though in Logan's voice as he talked about his father, talked about the trips the two of them would sometime take to the cabin. Logan could barely see the road through the tears as he was laughing so hard about the time when he was little. He'd fallen off the dock while fishing, his father had just dived in after him without a moment's hesitation, and they just stayed in the water splashing around. When they finally returned to the cabin soaking wet, fishless and one rod short his mother had fallen to the floor laughing at them.
She started walking to the trunk once the car stopped, but Logan just gave her a look, Let me be the guy it said and handed her the keys. She was laughing to herself as she undid the buckles on Cale's seat and lifted him onto her hip and walked on to the cabin.
She entered the cabin and looked around nothing had changed. Well physically that is, she'd been here over two years ago with Zack, thinking she had just said goodbye to Logan forever and now she was here with him and their son saying a final goodbye to their love. She pushed that out of her mind, she'd grieve come Sunday afternoon. Not now.