Chapter 53

Thursday, July 16, 1987

Waking before nine the next morning to the sound of Sean's electric guitar, Donovan wondered, Why can't he sleep in late like normal kids his age? He scrambled out of bed to Sean's closed bedroom door.

Donovan thrust the door open, yelling, "Wanna cool it with that racket? It's awfully damn early to be—"

Sean turned the amplifier down screaming, "What? I can't hear you!"

Setting his jaw, Donovan turned on his heel and slammed the door shut. The amp's volume increased as the phone started to ring.

Now who in the hell would call this early? Anyone of significant importance to Donovan knew due to his work schedule, that he didn't enjoy being disturbed before ten.

It must be Cathy. He lifted the receiver and forced enthusiasm. "Good morning!"

"Good morning to you too, Mike." It was Maggie Blodgett's cheery voice on the other end. She laughed. "What's with the music?"

"It's my morning wake up call," he explained.

"Sean?"

"Yeah. What's new?"

"Julie stopped by yesterday afternoon."

When Maggie didn't continue, he asked the obvious. "Is she all right?"

"I don't know. She seems kind of down. I'm worried about her."

"She probably just needs a few days to adjust," he said. "I will say one thing; she's not supposed to be working."

"I know."

"When I dropped her car off at Metzgar yesterday, she'd been sleeping."

"Her bosses understand."

"I don't think she should be working at all, but that's just my opinion."

"You know how stubborn Julie is."

"Yeah." Donovan smiled as the first few bars of Jimmi Hendrix "Purple Haze" resonated through his house. At least he's playing a more favorable decade.

"Would you call and check up on her?" Maggie asked. "I'm sure it'd mean something to her."

Donovan wondered if Julie had confided in Maggie, and Maggie was playing matchmaker.

"Eventually… She needs space."

"From you?"

"To adjust," he said. "Look, I've already had this discussion with her and I don't particularly care to repeat it with you."

"What is with you?" Maggie snapped. "What happened to the lovable hero who always goes out of his way to help?"

"Julie's going to be fine."

"Okay. Forget about helping Julie. I do have another huge favor to ask you though."

"Yeah?"

"You're off on Saturday, the twenty-fifth, right?"

Weekend after this…

"Yeah."

"I'm having a surprise welcome home party for Julie at my place. It starts at noon. I plan to invite all her old Resistance buddies. It'd be nice if the guy who nursed her back to health showed up."

With Sean? He doubted his son's ability to cooperate. "I don't know. I'll see."

"What do you mean, you don't know. You'll see?"

"I need to see how Sean does."

"Is he that bad?"

"Dunno yet."

"Well, will you call me and let me know? It'd be nice if I had a confirmation to plan—"

"Yeah, I'll call you."

"It's potluck," she added. "And bring your own beer."

Playing it cheap, is she? He wondered.