"Come here, children! I want to get a photograph of us all over here!" Max said, as he waved the children over. He and Fran stood near a large, rusty anchor tipped over on its side. "Niles? Would you do a favor and take a photo of us by this, somewhere?"
"Absolutely, sir! Let me take the camera. Do you want the anchor next to you all? You know what, let me just take a few different ones and see how they come out." Niles reached for the camera as Max handed it to him, and they all gathered beside the anchor and tried to sort themselves out. Max insisted on being next to Fran, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she wrapped hers around his waist, then Maggie stood next to her father, and Brighton next to Fran, then Gracie stood in front of Fran and Max, grinning from ear to ear. "Alright now, everyone! Look at the camera and think of how happy we all are to be here!" Everyone smiled and leaned in close and Niles took a photo, then moved to another angle to get a close up, took another one, then had them step just behind the anchor and took another photo. "Fantastic!" He said.
"Thank you, Niles. Now we need to get one of you- here, hand me the camera." Max took the camera from him, and Niles nervously went over to the others and tried to find a comfortable way to pose with them.
"Aw, don't be shy now, Niles! Come here!" Fran pulled him over to her by the arm, then hooked her arm through his. Fran put her other arm over Brighton's shoulders and Maggie stood next to Niles with a hand on Gracie's shoulder. Right as they posed and as Max snapped the photo, Brighton whipped a hand up and made bunny ears behind Gracie's head.
"I caught that, Brighton…" Max warned, but with a grin.
"You did?! Awesome!" He laughed.
"Caught what?" Gracie asked.
"He made ears behind your head right before daddy took the picture," Maggie told her.
"Brighton!" Gracie tried to slug him but he took off running, so she chased after him. Max was about to scold them when he caught Fran's eye, and she gave him a look to let him know it was fine, let them be kids for a while. He let out a frustrated breath, then chuckled, and reached for Fran's hand. They continued walking down the side of the road not far from the beaches at the docks and came to a small shopping district that led up to a long pier. They carefully crossed the road and got onto the brick sidewalk, and walked slowly past each shop to see what each one held.
"Daddy, can we go shopping before ewe get lunch?" Maggie asked.
"Of course we can. But just remember you have to carry whatever you buy, and it has to fit in your suitcase or carry-on on the way back."
"No problem! That's why I didn't put much in my carry-on bag. There's lots of room for goodies!" Fran chuckled as Maggie ran ahead of them with Brighton and Gracie, and all three peeked in the windows and doors of each shop. Fran and Max walked hand-in-hand behind them, and Niles followed behind, happily peeking in the windows of the shops, then hurrying to catch up with them.
"Niles, if you see some place you want to look at, just let us know, okay? You're here to have fount too. We can stop any place you want to see," Fran turned back to tell him.
"Oh, I'm fine. I'll let you know. It's just nice to see places like this, all the small shops and the wonderful view. If we come back this way after lunch, I might peek in a few places if you all don't mind."
"Absolutely, Niles. We'll come back this way," Max said. The kids were skipping along quickly ahead of them, then suddenly stopped in their tracks.
"Dad! Fran!" They all yelled together, then pointed at a shop they had stopped in front of.
"Looks like they found something," Max said. He squeezed Fran's hand, and they picked up their pace to catch up with them. "What is it children?"
"Toys!" Gracie squealed. "Can we go in? Please?" Fran and Max, and Niles, all looked into the window of the shop the children were pointing at, then they looked at each other and smiled.
"Yes, let's go inside. But mind your manners, alright? I mean it," Max said. The kids all nodded and Maggie opened the door, and everyone followed her in.
It was a small toy store, but stretched far back, and was very neatly organized. The toys were all lined up in an orderly fashion from floor to ceiling, and other toys hung from the ceiling with strings, kites draped their tails across the length of the store, and tables full of more toys were set up all across the floor space. Gracie's eyes went wide. No one knew where to start looking first, they all just stopped in their tracks and took it all in.
"Oh, wow!" Fran said. "Gracie, they have stuffed animals over there! Maybe you'll find a doggie you like."
"Oh yeah! I need to find one!" She saw the section of stuffed animals halfway back and hurried over to it, and Brighton found the display of die cast cars and made a beeline straight for it. The others began a slow trek through the narrow aisles and looked at everything. The shop owner came out of the back room when he heard them come in, and welcomed them in French. Max said hello, and told the man how amazing his shop was. The man motioned towards the front counter and told him that there were baskets to carry things in if they needed one. Max elbowed Fran and pointed the baskets out to her.
"Oh yeah, mister, you're gonna need one! Maybe even two!" Fran went back to the counter and grabbed a basket, then rejoined Max to check out the shop. "I need to keep an eye out for gifts, too. For Val and my parents," she told Max, and reached for his hand.
The kids latched on to their favorite areas and went through everything meticulously. Niles joined Brighton in looking at the toy cars, and soon, Max joined them as well. Fran wandered over to the girls to see what they were looking at.
"You girls find anything you like?" She asked.
"Look Fran! I'm getting this one" Gracie squealed, holding out a stuffed dog for Fran to see.
"Aw, sweetie! That's cute! Does that look like those doggies those people have?"
"Yes! Almost exactly!" She hugged the stuffed animal tightly and Fran smiled and stroked her hair.
"What about you, Mags?"
"Oh, I don't know. This stuff is really cute, but I don't know if I need any of it at my age. If I was Gracie's age I'd want all of it."
"Hey, you're never too old to be a kid, Maggie. See if you can find something that reminds you of when you were younger, or maybe something you would have wanted that you never had. There's more than toys here, some of this stuff is really nice."
"Yeah, it is. I'll keep looking. "Okay but don't take too long, there are a lot more stores we might want to go in, and we still need lunch before we go back."
"Okay."
"Fran? Come have a look at this," Max called, from the back of the store. Fran hurried over to him, basket held firmly in front of her.
"What'd you find?" She asked, and grasped his upper arm.
"Would your father like something like this? You said you wanted to get him a gift. It's one of those tabletop pub games, a bit like bowling, only see this piece? It's on a string, and you pull it back and let it go, and try to knock the pins down that way."
"Oh! You know, that is kind of neat. Those pins are funny looking. But you know, he really does love bowling. And if he had this, he'd be able to bowl right from his easy chair! That would keep him at home. Ma would like that. You know what, put that in here, in the basket. That's one gift down! And what are those?" She asked, looking over at an arrangement of pretty wooden boxes on a shelf. Max watched as she reached for one and opened it. A song began to play, and two small figures inside began to dance in a circle. Her face melted and she looked over at Max.
"A music box! That's really sweet. And that box is really nice."
"It is! Let me see what the others do." She set the first box back and picked up another one, a lighter white color with detailed red decoration on it. She opened it and as the song began to play, a little ballerina danced. She smiled. Max watched her expressions as she went through each box. Some had little dancing figures, some were just boxes with velvet lined interiors. "Aw, Max, I just love these! I bet Val would like one, too. She used to have one when we were kids, but it wasn't as nice as this. I think one of her sisters broke hers when they got in a fight. How much are these?" She looked over them for the prices. "Sweetie, how much does this translate to in dollars?" She showed Max the price.
"You want that for Val?" He asked.
"Yeah, I was thinking this one for Val, and -" She turned around to see where Gracie was, "And that pretty wood one with the dancer inside for Gracie. Do you think she'd like that for her birthday?" Max smiled.
"I think she would love it, Fran. Let's put them both in this basket," he said, carefully reaching for one of the boxes.
"But Max, how much are they?"
"Don't worry, darling. You haven't gotten your big paychecks yet. Let me get them for you." Fran's eyes went wide.
"They're that expensive?"
"They're very well made. Just make sure you tell Val that."
"Oh, Max, you don't have to do that! I want to pay for them myself!"
"Are you sure?" She nodded. "Fran, that converts to about seventy-five dollars each. Are you sure you want to spend that?" Fran mouthed the words seventy-five. Max nodded. "Let me get them for you. And. Maybe once the money starts rolling in from your new job, you can take me out somewhere."
"Aw, Max! You're such a sweetheart! Are you sure? Because I'll absolutely take you out someplace, I will! That'll make me feel good that I can finally do that!"
"Alright then, now be careful with them. Here, let me help. And I need to put a few things in the basket myself. Here, come with me." Max pulled her back down a narrow aisle back to the die cast cars, which Niles and Brighton had just left. "I think I want to get these two," he reached over to some boxes set on the end of a wooden display cabinet. "I set these here to come back and get them. "See this one? It's a Triumph. That was the first car I ever owned. I picked it out myself. It was white, just like this one." He grinned as he looked over the toy car in its box.
"Really? That' a very pretty car. What happened to it?"
"Oh, well… I sort of went off the road in it, scared myself a bit. I was preparing for the move over here, and trying to tie up loose ends. I'd asked my father if I could keep the car stored in the old stables for a while, until I found a place here and could figure out if I would be able to have it shipped over. Well, he said no. We got into a pretty heated argument, and I drove off in it. It was raining out and I was pretty steamed, so I was driving bit too fast. I rushed around a blind curve too fast and the car just slid and slid across the road and off the shoulder, down the slope. I was lucky I didn't roll it over. And in those days, they didn't have roll bars or anything. It was a convertible, so that could have ended badly. I scared myself to death, and buried the wheels in about eight inches of mud. I just sat there, shaking, for a long time. When I came to my senses, I tried to see if I could get it back up on the road, and I couldn't. I didn't want to get out and get all muddy, so I just sat there in the rain until a local farmer happened by on his tractor. I guess he thought it was pretty funny, and not such an unusual sight. He hooked up to the back of the car somehow and pulled me out the way I went in. I thanked him, and tried to drive away, but the wheels were bogged in the mud, I just messed them all up. So he hooked up to me again, and I put the car in neutral, and he pulled me back into the village where there was an auto shop. They had a high pressure hose there, and they pushed the car behind the shop and lifted it up with their old forklift, and one of the guys set about spraying out the wheels and the underside, and got it all cleaned out. I was so embarrassed. Everyone just thought I slid off the road from the rain, they didn't know about the fight I had with my father. I guess the whole experience just got to me, and scared me, so I just decided to sell the car. Then I wouldn't have to sort out storage, or trying to ship it across the ocean later. And I just washed my hands of it. But I really liked the car. A lot. I always regretted selling it."
"Aw, Max, I'm sorry. But I'm really glad you weren't hurt. That could have turned out a lot different. Those little convertibles aren't safe. But what about the other one you have there? What's that one?"
"Oh- this one!" Max set the Triumph in the basket Fran held, and showed her the other box in his hand. "This is the first sportscar I remember seeing when Niles and I got to New York. A Datsun 240Z. The hotel Niles and I stayed at, they had a garage with a valet service. We were walking down the sidewalk to head back to the hotel, and this car drives past us and turns into he garage entrance, and both of us were like- what is that?! We hurried over to see if we could see it again, and the man was getting out and the valet gave him his ticket. And I just stood there looking over the whole car, trying to remember everything about it. It was beautiful. It had a lot of extras on it, and I'm not even sure it was a factory color. It was this gorgeous silver with black trim, and it just shined! I wish I had a camera on me at the time, I'd have taken a picture of it. So I got a bit obsessed with that car for a while, buying magazines that feature it inside, and trying to find all the advertisements and photos I could find. I just told myself that someday, I'd get one."
"But- did you ever get one? You don't have one now."
"No. No, I never got one," Max sounded sad, and Fran squeezed his arm.
"You still like it, don't you? Why didn't you get one?"
"I love it. I guess it sort of gave me hope, you know? Something to look forward to. But things got busy, and I wasn't ready to drive my own car around the city yet. Not back then. Things weren't that nice in a lot of places. And I got busy, too. So the only car we had for a while was the first town car, and a driver. Then I was able to do the limo. And, well, once the children came along, I wasn't focused on that too much. If I got a car, I wanted to be able to take the children in it. So the idea of a two-seater just went by the wayside. And I hadn't even thought about that Datsun for ages, not until I saw this. And it's silver, too!"
Fran loved seeing this side of Max- it was like he was a boy again. Or at least a very young man. She could see how it took him back in tine to where he was when he had his whole future in front of him, and he was trying to figure things out. She liked the gleam in his eyes as he looked at the toy cars.
"Well, here, put that in here. Do you know where you're going to put them?" She asked.
"In the office! Maybe right behind my chair, on one of the shelves, so I can see them." He was still grinning.
"I'm glad you found something, sweetie! And I liked hearing the stories, too." She rubbed his back, then clutched his hand and they continued looking around the rest of the store.
Brighton had finished looking around, and was up at the register paying for his purchases. Maggie went next, and paid for a small doll with a stand. It was a smaller version of one she had wanted when she was younger, and she liked that it came with its own stand. Max and Fran worked their way towards the front, and found Gracie on the way there.
"Hey, sweetie!" Fran said. "You have everything you want? We need to get moving so we can see some other stores, too."
"Yes! Daddy, can I get this dog, and look at this, Fran- it's a picture book."
"A picture book? Aren't you a bit old for those, Gracie?"
"Just look at it, Fran!" She held the hardcover book out for Fran, and Fran took it, then opened it.
"Oh! That's so beautiful! It does have some words, though. Are you okay that it's in French?"
"Yes! I'll learn what all of it says. But aren't those picture pretty! There's so much going on!"
"There is! You should save this to look at when we fly home."
"Okay, I will. So I can get it?" She looked at Fran, then at her father.
"Yes, darling, you may. It's a very nice book, so I want you to promise you'll take care of it, alright?"
"I will, daddy! And thank you!"
"You're welcome. What about you, Niles? Did you find anything you have to have? I know I still owe you for all the money you spent on groceries, and I intend to pay you back for that. So if we pass a bank, we should stop in so I can get you some cash."
"Oh, don't worry about that, sir. I did find one thing I quite like. Did you see these?" He reached his hand out and showed Max two small boxes with decks of cards in them.
"Oh, Niles! Those are nice! Really nice! Are you really going to use them, or just keep them in the boxes?"
"Oh, I'll use them. I can assure you. But I'll reserve them for special games. Or poker night, that sort of thing. They are quite stunning, aren't they?"
"Yes! Well, once you crack them open, I'd be honored to play a round or two of something, if you'd like."
"Yes, sir." Max reached for the cards and set them in the basket Fran carried.
"Oh, sir, you really don't need to do that-" Niles protested.
"I want to, Niles. My gift to you. You've been a big help."
"Well, sir, I don't know what to say…"
"Just say thank you, Niles," Fran smiled, and patted his arm.
"Thank you," Niles said, modestly.
"Okay, let's go get this all paid for, and we can head down the street and see what else there is!" Max took the basket from Fran and headed to the front of the shop, handing the basket to the shop owner. He paid for everything, and the man meticulously wrapped things up and put them all in two shopping bags, and handed them to Max.
"Here, sir, why don't you let me carry those for you?"
"Well, alright. I suppose I can let you do that." He handed Niles the bags, and they said thank you to the shop owner, then headed back out to the street. The children led the way again, followed by Niles, and then Fran and Max, hand in hand.
They wandered in and out of a number of shops, working their way toward the pier in the distance. Everyone managed to find multiple treasures to take back home with them, and found all the gifts they were looking for, too. All except one. Fran still hadn't found something to bring back to her mother.
"Max, I'm really struggling to find something for Ma. A lot of the things she would like, we'd be able to get them back in New York. You know, like perfume or something. Can you help me look around?" Fran asked Max.
"Sure, I'll help you look. Are you sure she wouldn't like one of those music boxes that you got?"
"Well, she might think it was cute, but I can't see her actually using one or appreciating it, you know? I think maybe I want to find something really unique for her, you know? So she might feel like she's the only one in the world who has it, and then she can go brag to all her friends in the neighborhood."
"Oh, I get what you mean. Yes, I can see her doing that. But that might be a difficult order to fill."
"Yeah, I know. If we can't find anything, then we'll just get her something else. But I think she'd really like something special."
"Alright, I'll keep an eye out."
"Thank you, sweetie!" Fran smiled, and squeezed his arm.
As they meandered down the streets, Niles got to a corner and had a look down the road. There was another small shop one building down, off the beaten path. He looked up at the sign hanging over the store entrance and translated it in his head.
"Oh!" He turned back to the other and waved to get their attention. "Mr. Sheffield! Could we stop in this one over here, too? I believe it's some kind of stationers, like stationery and other office items. Maybe they have something you'd like for your office."
"Certainly, Niles, we can stop in any place you like. We still have some time before we should get lunch," Max replied. Niles smiled and hurried to the shop, and the children followed him to see why he was so excited about it.
"Niles is into stationery?" Fran asked.
"Well, not necessarily to use for himself. He likes the finer things in life, too, even if it's just to set up in a room for a certain effect."
"Oh… I get it. Yeah. Kind of like setting the table for a fancy dinner, huh?"
"Exactly." They headed around the corner and followed everyone into the shop, shutting the door behind them. The second they went inside, they were stunned. "Oh, well, my goodness!" Max said, looking over the shelves and displays in front of them. The girls had made a beeline straight for a section with cute Japanese stationery and writing implements, and Niles and Brighton headed for the back of the store where there were leather goods for the office and the professional of every sort. "Do you smell that?" Max asked Fran.
"Smell? You mean, all the paper and stuff?"
"And leather, and whatever else that is in here. Gosh, it reminds me of England. Of my father's library and office, and the old stationer's down in the village. Gosh, I'd forgotten about that. My office doesn't have that smell, it's not big enough. Not enough paper in there." Fran looked over at him. She really loved it when he reminisced. It gave her an even bigger picture of him.
"Well, then, you better find something you like in here to take back with you!"
Max grinned. "Maybe I will. And you know, now that you're a professional yourself, maybe you should look for something too. Maybe something you can use for your new job."
"Oh! I didn't even think of that! Oh, goodie!" She let go of his hand and hurried down a narrow aisle, and Max headed back to where Brighton and Niles were looking through briefcases and courier bags.
"Hey, Brighton!" Maggie called. "Come look at these!" The girls were going through all the lovely erasers and pencil sharpeners, and Brighton walked over to see what they were so excited about, and found himself starting a collection, too. Fran wandered past them and patted Gracie's shoulders and smiled, then continued past and went to look through the fancy mechanical pencils and pens.
Max turned around from a shelf of wallets and checkbook covers to see what Niles was looking at. Niles was happily looking through one ornately designed cigar holder after another, along with desktop cigar box humidors.
"Oh, my," Max said. "You looking for a new humidor, Niles?" He teased.
"Oh, no sir. But aren't they just magnificent? And quite expensive, too." Max leaned over to check a few prices.
"Well, now. I suppose they're probably worth it, with the amount of work that went into them. Hey, Niles, can I ask you something?" Max looked over to see where Fran was, to make sure she was out of earshot.
"Of course, sir."
"I might want to find Fran some kind of gift for the new job, but I'm not certain what might be useful. I don't know that she would need a desk set, and it should be something that would be easy enough to get back home. I imagine she may not be sitting at a desk the way that I do. But surely she may need to write things down, maybe take notes? Or keep some kind of records? Would she need a bag to carry things back and forth? I'm not exactly certain what to look at."
"Well, let's see. I would think if she needs some kind of bag, she may want to find that herself, especially if it's some kind of fashion statement, or needs to be coordinated somehow. But maybe something she could put in that bag? As you were saying, something she would write things down on? If she needs to take notes on inventory, or write down information on designers, that sort of thing? She may be having meetings where she would need to take notes."
"Hmm…" Max thought. "She's always going through magazines, and folding the corners over to mark pages. Maybe a folder to put the magazines in? Or… a folio, perhaps? Nothing too large, but…"
"A folio? You know, that's not a bad idea." Niles leaned his head to look around a large bank of shelves to see where Fran was. "Have a look over here, sir. These deeper shelves here- there are artist's portfolios here on the lower shelves, much larger than she would need. But maybe-"
"Oh! That! Right here-" Max reached out for a smaller, almost legal-pad sized leather covered folio. He took it off the shelf and took a look at it, then opened it up. It had a space for a legal pad in it, as well as for pens and pencils, and a section of divided pockets that might indeed fit magazines in them. He looked Niles and smiled.
"I think you're onto something there, sir!"
"Yes! And thank you for the help! I never would have thought of that. Now, just to find one that looks like her…" Max set the folio back in with the others, and began to check each and every one on the shelf until he was certain he found the perfect one. Niles smiled, and went back to wander through all the beautiful items.
Fran looked through everything she could find in the shop that might be something her mother would like, but came up empty handed. She picked up a few cute items for Val from the Japanese section the children were having fun looking through, and then wandered over to a corner of the store that was filled with all manner of journals and diaries and notebooks. Some were covered in leather, some hard cover, and some soft covers with beautiful artwork on them. Fran thought that maybe she should start a new diary- since she felt like she was starting a new life. She smiled as she went through all the soft covered diaries and journals until she found one with a gorgeous pattern. It looked like a water color painting, with gold fleur-de-lis and lush blue ribbons criss-crossing over it, and in the center, a sort of a circular medallion with white iris flowers on it. It was beautiful. She opened it up and found soft blue pages with lines, perfect for a diary. She checked the price on the back and had to think a moment about the exchange rate. It was a little pricey, but she thought it was worth it. She clutched it to her chest and smiled. She looked over the rest of the diaries and journals. And then looked over next to them, and found stacks and packs of mini-journals, similar to the Moleskin journals she had seen in the bookstores back in New York. But these were different. There were some with plain covers, but many of them were embossed with designs or illustrations. She looked through each stack, one by one, and remembered that she told Max he should carry something to write down ideas in. She grinned, and knew she was going to look for something for him. She found several designs she thought were very smart-looking, and they were the perfect size for Max to slip into his inner jacket pocket, or even the back pocket of a pair of jeans, if he wanted. She picked them up in her hands, comparing them, and then she spied it- off to the side, just catching a bit of sunlight coming in from a window. It was a cellophane-wrapped pack of mini-notebooks, and embossed in the lower right corner were the comedy/drama masks they were all so familiar with. Her eyes went wide, and she dropped the other notebooks back into their piles, then reach for the wrapped stack her eyes were locked on. She held it close, and flipped them back and forth. She couldn't open the notebooks up, but after comparing them to others nearby that weren't wrapped, she thought they had to be lined inside. But even if they weren't, would it really matter? If it was for jotting down ideas, maybe it didn't need lines. Maybe he could put little drawings in it, too, if he needed to. She checked the price and looked to see how thick the notebooks were. They were perfect. She turned around to see where Max was, so he wouldn't see what she found. Her heart was racing, and she was so happy!
She needed to pay for everything quick, and get it all into a bag before Max saw what she had gotten. She hurried over to the counter where an older woman sat on a stool near the register, reading through a paperback novel. As she approached the counter, she saw a display of mini-pens and pencils- little metal ones, that could take replacement ink and lead. They all had clips on them, too, and she thought that would be perfect for Max to clip to one of the little notebooks. She grabbed one of each and set her things down on the counter, and the woman smiled at her and set her book down, then began to ring everything up. She asked Fran something in French, and Fran was nervous for a moment, then remembered a phrase Max taught her in case she was paying for things and someone asked her if she needed anything else. She said "This is all," in broken French, but the woman still understood, and realized Fran wasn't a native speaker so she didn't push it. Fran took out her francs from her wallet and paid for everything, and was relieved when the woman took out a paper shopping bag, then wrapped Fran's finds in tissue paper and put them in the bag. She handed Fran her change, and the woman said Merci to her, and Fran responded with an exuberant Merci beaucoup!
Fran walked over to the children to see if they were done looking for everything, and as she did that, Max sneaked down the aisle with the folio he found for her, and made it to the register without her seeming to notice. He paid for it quickly, and was relieved himself when the woman quickly wrapped it in tissue paper and put it in a bag for him.
"Children? Have you found everything you want? We really should get moving now. I want to go down to the pier before we find a place for lunch. Oh, that reminds me…" he turned to speak with the woman at the register about if there were restaurants nearby as the children gathered their handfuls of goodies and brought them to the register. The woman rang up each child separately, and then Niles appeared with his prized find- a gorgeous fountain pen in it's own box. He was beaming.
"Whatcha got there, Niles?" Fran asked.
"The most beautiful fountain pen I think I've ever seen! It's lovely! And perfect for writing thank you notes and cards. It'll be the star of my collection!" He brought it over to the register and paid for it with his credit card.
"Oh, that reminds me, Niles- there's a bank up the road, we'll go there next, and then we can go to the pier and maybe take some photos. The restaurants are up at this end,I was just talking to the lady- so I think we should go back and get the van so we can leave our things in there, and drive back up this way and park at a restaurant, that way we can keep an eye on it and not have to carry all these bags with us."
"Oh, that's a good idea," Niles agreed. Fran led the children out the door as Niles paid for his pen, and then they said goodbye to the woman at the register and headed back up the street. Max reached for Fran's hand as they walked.
"You find something?" Max asked.
"I sure did! But not for Ma, so still need to get that off my list."
"Well, good. And I'll help you keep looking. Oh, Fran, would you mind taking the children to the pier while Niles and I run into the bank up here? I need to pay him back for the groceries, and get a bit more cash myself, and I'm not sure how long that might take. The children might get restless."
"Sure, I can do that. You want me to hang on to your bag?"
"Um, oh, no, that's alright. There's a surprise in there I don't want you peeking at." He grinned.
"What? A surprise? For me?" He nodded. "Well, whaddya know, I've got a surprise for you in my bag!" She smiled back at him.
"Well, now. So how are we going to handle that? Wait until we get home to give them to each other?"
"Not on your life! I can't wait that long!" Max laughed.
"Alright. I don't think I could wait that long to give you yours, anyway. Maybe later tonight?"
"Maybe…" she bumped his hip with hers. "Hey, kids, wait up a second. I'm going with you over to the pier, your father and Niles have to run in the bank real quick."
"Okay." Max let go of her hand after giving it a squeeze, and Gracie ran over to take over the holding of Fran's hand. Niles and Max turned to go to the bank, and Fran and the kids turned to walk across the street and head down to the entrance of the long pier that stretched out into the water.
"Oh, this is so pretty! We need to get some pictures out here. Can we, Fran?" Maggie asked.
"Of course! It is really pretty, isn't it?" Fran agreed. "Brighton, you want to do the honors and take some pictures of us out here?"
"Sure, I can do that I guess." They walked out onto the pier and slowly made their way down. Brighton snapped a few pictures from the railing of the boats in the water and the beaches and green hillsides in the distance. He was smiling as he looked at everything, and Maggie smiled, too. Gracie skipped as she held Fran's hand. Fran was feeling so good, she couldn't remember the last time she had really felt this level of happiness. She couldn't stop smiling. Fran and the girls leaned against the railing and posed for a photo, and Brighton checked all the settings and lined up his shot, then took the picture. He did individual photos of each of them, then Fran took over so she could get a picture of Brighton, and one of him with his sisters. There was a slight breeze, but it didn't seem to mess up anyone's hair. It was just enough to push bangs out of eyes.
Max and Niles appeared at the other end of the pier and walked towards them, and Fran waited until they got closer and snapped a photo. When they got closer, Niles offered to take a photo of the whole family, so they gathered together and let him. Then Max wanted a picture with Fran. The children got out of the way, and Niles directed them to move to where he could get the beautiful sailboats in the background behind them. Max stood behind Fran and wrapped his arms around her, and she clutched his arms. Niles took several photos, and was almost clutching his heart afterwards, he was so moved by how they looked together.
"Those photos better come out, or I will just be beside myself!" Niles handed the camera to Brighton. They stood on the pier for a while, looking out over the water and along the coastline, then turned around to see the beautiful village behind them. Fran wrapped her arms around Max and spent a moment taking it all in. Max rubbed her back, and did the same.
"It's so nice here, Max! I'll never forget this trip. I'm so glad we're here." She looked up at him, and they both had a twinkle in their eyes.
"I'm very glad we're here, too, Fran. This is turning out to be a very special vacation." He smiled as he looked into her eyes. She hugged him tightly, then rested her head against his chest and watched the children as they leaned on the rails to look down into the water. Niles was pointing something out to Gracie, and Gracie had to lean down on a lower rail to see what he was looking at, then she squealed and got excited, and Maggie and Brighton rushed over to see.
A few minutes more, and they were all sufficiently hungry and ready to get lunch, so they walked back down the pier and began he trek back to where they had parked the van.
"Hey I was just thinking…" Max said.
"About what?" Fran asked.
"About how you said your mother would want something she could brag about. That might help a lot with deciding on what to get her. What do you think would be the biggest thing she would want to brag to everyone about?" Fran looked at him, then looked ahead at the kids and Niles walking in front of them, and thought a moment. Then a smile crept across her face. She looked back at him, and he was grinning at her, trying to see if she figured it out.
"I do think I know what Ma would want to shout from the rooftops, but what kind of gift were you thinking of?"
"Well, I know how she pushes you about not being single… and now that we- that we've been reevaluating our relationship…"
"Yeah…"
"Well, maybe if she had something to show that you, um, aren't available now…"
"Mmm hmm…?"
"What if- if some of these photos we've been taking on this trip… the ones of the two of us… if they come out nice… Do you think maybe she would like one of them? Maybe we can find a frame here, so she has something from France, and put one of the pictures in it, and surprise her with it? Would she like that?"
"Oh my god, Max! She would have a total cow! And I'm not just saying that! That's a great idea! I'm sure we can find a nice frame somewhere around here. And even if the pictures don't come out so great, we'll just take some more until we have some good ones. But I'm sure these will come out nice." Fran swung his arm back and forth with hers as they walked, happy that she now knew what to look for. "Oh, Max, thank you! That makes me feel so much better! I really thought I wasn't gonna be able to find her anything. Oh my gosh, she's gonna freak!" Max chuckled.
"Well, good. So we'll keep an eye out for a nice frame for her. Maybe something really fancy, too, not just a regular frame. Something French-looking."
"Yes! You know she's gonna make it into a shrine, right there in the living room!" They both laughed, picturing Sylvia doing just that.
They made it back to the van, and all hopped in and set their bags down. Max turned the key and started it up, and they headed back towards where they just were, and began to look for a nice restaurant with nearby parking. They drove past a beautiful courtyard, surrounded by flowers and vines, and realized there were tables out there and a number of diners enjoying a meal. They rounded a corner and found a small parking lot, and saw the sign for the restaurant.
"Is this alright with everyone? Shall we see what they have on the menu?" Max asked, as he began pull into a parking space.
"Yes! I'm starving! I'm sure they have something we can all eat!" Brighton Yelled out, looking out the window behind them so he could see the restaurant.
"Well, alright then!" Max said, smiling. "Oh, Brighton, be sure to bring the camera, won't you."
"And everybody, try to put your bags under the seats or something, so they aren't obvious. I'm sure it'll be safe, but just in case," Fran said. She tucked her bag under her seat, and Niles took his and Max's bags and hid them under his. The children followed suit, and then they opened the doors and got out of the van. Max joined Fran around the back of the van and took her hand, then they led everyone into the front door of the quaint French restaurant, spoke to the maitre d', and then were quickly escorted out into the courtyard to the largest table. Max pulled a chair out for Fran to sit in, and then helped the girls with their chairs. Gracie made sure she got to sit next to Fran, but made sure her father sat on the other side of Fran, too. She didn't want them to sit apart from each other at all.
The maitre d' set the menus in front of everyone, spoke to Max, and then excused himself.
"Well, children, think about what you want to drink first. If anyone needs help with translations, let me know, unless Niles can figure it out, too. We can both help you order. Gracie, darling, do you remember some of the words for different foods?" Max asked.
"Um, yes, I think I do. I'll see if I can figure anything out." She lifted the large-for-her menu up in front of her face and began trying to read it. Fran smiled at her, then turned to look at Max, who was also smiling. She patted his hand, and they both picked up their menus to see what they could find.
"Fran, see at the bottom there? You might recognize some of those beverages." Fran looked down at the bottom of the menu and read through the list of sodas, juices, water, and beers and wines.
"Oh, yum! They have my soda! Did you guys see that? At the bottom? They have those sodas here! I think I'll be having one of those, Max. I can't pronounce it, though."
"That's alright. I think I'll have one, too. Does anyone else want one?"
"I do!" Gracie piped up, and Brighton and Maggie joined in.
"How about you, Niles? Will it be a round of sodas for the whole table?"
"Oh, well actually, I was going to ask you if you would mind if I had one of these beers? They sound perfect to go with a nice sandwich or something."
"Get whatever you like, Niles. A beer is fine."
"Thank you, sir."
They all went back to the menus and decided what they wanted, and soon a waitress came up to the table, unaware that most of them couldn't speak the language. Max ordered their drinks, and then the waitress went around the table and the children ordered by pointing at the menu item they couldn't pronounce. Niles ordered his meal nearly flawlessly, and then the waitress came back to Max and Fran. Max ordered for the both of them, and then they all handed the menus back to the waitress, and she left to get their drinks.
"I should have taken French in high school. There's no way I could pronounce all of that! I was wondering if you were ordering the wrong thing, because what you said sure didn't sound like what was written on that menu!" Fran said, and everyone laughed.
"That's alright, Fran. French isn't an easy language to learn. A lot of different sounds, too."
"You got that right. But get a load of this place! It's so beautiful here- look at all the flowers!" Fran turned around in her chair to get a better look at everything, and the others had a look around, too. Brighton fiddled with the camera in his lap, getting it ready for some candid shots. He made sure he had extra rolls of film tucked into the bands on the camera strap.
"It smells like the flowers, too, doesn't it, Fran?" Gracie asked, and Fran inhaled deeply.
"Mmm! It sure does, sweetie! Oh, I could stay here all day!"
Niles looked across the table at Max and caught his eye, then raised his eyebrow. He glanced quickly around at everything, then back at Max, and cocked his head. He hoped Max was getting what he was trying to get across. Max squinted at him, then looked around, then looked back at Niles, a little confused. Niles looked over at Fran and them back at Max, then raised an eyebrow again. Max looked at Fran, and she leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes a moment, then opened them and looked up and around at all the flowers and decor again. Then Max understood. He smiled and gave Niles a careful nod, so Fran wouldn't see, then Niles nodded back at Max. Max reached over for Fran's hand and moved his chair a little closer to her. Fran smiled at him, and just then- Brighton sneakily snapped a picture. Everyone looked over at him.
"Gotcha!" He grinned.
"Sneak!" Fran said, but she was glad he was taking candid photos. She wanted all the pictures they could get from this vacation.