Folly Beach - Dorothea Benton Frank [106]
While I was cruising along I-26 in my car, I wondered then if there was anything in Aunt Daisy’s rental properties that required immediate attention. I would ask Ella tomorrow when I went to pick her up if I could help her sort things out. That way, we could go through the mail, the voice mail, check her books, and try to keep things moving along. Patti would help, too. She ran her own business. She would know what to do as well. I couldn’t wait to see my sister. There was no greater gift on this earth than a good sister.
I wasn’t comfortable with Ella’s plan to spend all of her time at Aunt Daisy’s bedside. At her age it couldn’t be good for her. We all knew how much she loved our aunt. She surely didn’t need to prove it. I would talk to that nice nurse and see what she said. Tolli Rosol. Sounds a little like the name of a Swiss village! Musical!
I gave John a ring and he picked up.
“Hey,” he said. “How’s it going? Any news?”
“Not a peep,” I said. “I’m on my way to the airport to get my sister.”
“Oh! I thought she wasn’t coming until next week. But I guess when she got the news . . .”
“Exactly. She changed her ticket the minute she heard. So, how was your day?”
“I’m going to bed early. I’m pooped!”
“That sounds like heaven but I’m afraid I’m in for another long night.”
“You poor girl. You and Patti want to have dinner tomorrow night?”
“Absolutely. I’m dying for you to meet her.”
“And tell her I can’t wait to meet her, too.”
“I will. So, I’ll call you tomorrow when we get free?”
“You know, I’m so used to spending the nights with you I don’t know what to do with myself this evening.”
“Well, if you want to meet my precious son, his pregnant disagreeable wife, and my wonderful sister all in one fell swoop you know where to find us!”
“I’ll see y’all tomorrow!”
We hung up; I pulled into the airport parking deck and found a spot. I told Patti I could meet her in baggage claim and when I got inside she had already arrived, and was there shooting the breeze with an ancient skycap.
“Patti! You’re early!”
“Hey, you! Yep! We landed twenty minutes earlier than we were supposed to.”
We hugged like we hadn’t seen each other in a year.
“Who lands early? Musta caught a tailwind! Is this all your stuff?”
She had a roll-on bag and a tote bag, her overcoat, and her purse. Her roll-on and tote bags were lime green canvas with bright red yarn pigtails hanging from the name tags.
“What’s this?” I said and gave the pigtails a flip with my finger.
“I want to be able to distinguish my bags from other people’s bags. Why?”
“You’re kidding, right?”
We hurried out to the car, threw her bags in the back, and got in.
“Wow, the temperature’s so nice. This is like spring. I don’t even need my coat. It’s been under twenty in New Jersey all week.”
“I don’t miss that,” I said and started the car.
“I’ll bet. So, tell me the truth,” she said, closing her door. “How’s Aunt Daisy?”
“She’s going to get better but right now, she’s still pretty sick.”
“Tetanus? Talk about scaring the crap out of me. Even Mark said I should get on the plane today. He sends you a smooch, by the way.”
“And send him one for me. Look, if you wanted to get scared, you should’ve been here last night. Patti, holy hell. I hear those ambulances coming and all I can think about is Addison swinging from the rafters. It’s been a very dramatic twenty-four hours.”
“You poor thing. I’ll bet it was awful.”
“Yeah, it really was. But you know, as much as I hate seeing her in that bed and knowing what I know now, I am so relieved. She could’ve died, you know.”
“That’s what Mark said.”
All the way downtown we talked and talked. I told her about my little tiff with Sara and that Russ and Alice would probably be at the hospital when we got there and that John was taking us out to dinner the next night. She was as worried as I was about Aunt Daisy but looking forward to seeing everyone just the same.
“So, you think it’s okay if I rub Alice’s stomach for good luck?”
“Oh yeah, Patti. You know Alice. She