Nov 20
4
In The Beginning (21)
ELEVEN
I called Auntie Em as soon as I came in the door and asked her if I needed to call Sid for permission to use the other bungalows for guests, or is that something she could take care of. She assured me that Sid had already told her to accommodate me in whatever way I wanted or needed.
I heard, “Leapfrog part two has been launched,” and was musing about that and then I heard the word, “Finally” …Then a very clear picture of Darlene Adams formed in my mind …and I immediately knew it was important to call her.
“Hello,” a familiar, cheerful voice answered.
“Well,” I said thinking what a coincidence that Darlene would be the one to answer out of all the other people that might have answered the phone, “this sounds like Darlene,” I said, confidently, sure that it was she who had answered the phone.
“Well,” said the voice, mimicking my tone, “I get that a lot, but this is her youngest daughter, Debbie, who’s this?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Debbie, this is Jeanne Stockwell, I saw you upstairs in the building the other day with your brother and sister, but you guys disappeared before I got the chance to meet you.”
“Aha, the other woman who is stealing our Brad from us,” she giggled.
“Oh it’s nothing like that,” I stammered, totally taken off-stride.
“Hey, don’t be so sure,” she said cheerily, “and you could both certainly do worse, Jeanne and I’m just messing with you. I’m the clown of the house, you know,” …she hesitated and then spoke very seriously, “Jeanne, I think you better be open to anything – is what I’m getting …uh let me go get mom, nice meeting you.”
“Nice meeting you too,” I said, and realized I was talking to a phone that had already been set down; thoroughly unsettled by what she had said, that is, that I “had better be open to anything” …Brad and me? Surely not, I thought with a force that shook me. Oh my, something isn’t going on there, is it? …I prayed, almost in desperation and the words struck me again from this self-admitted tease, “Jeanne, I think you better be open to anything is what I am getting.” She had said these words with authority and meaning.
“Hi Jeanne, so glad you were able to call me,” Darlene interrupted my other troubling thoughts.
I immediately told her I had just got back from a whirlwind, round trip to Honolulu, and had just walked in the door and had heard the words, “Leapfrog part two has been launched,” and a pause …then I heard the word “Finally” and that I had then seen her face in my mind and knew I was supposed to call.
“Well that is interesting because we had quite an experience here a few nights ago and after it was all over Debbie said those very words, ‘Leapfrog, part two, has been launched’ and that was followed by Rachel saying, ‘Finally’. Jeanne, what makes it doubly interesting is that the meeting had begun with Brad showing us a copy of the book offer from the publisher, that you had forwarded to him He wanted to get confirmation from all of us as to whether he should accept it.
“Rachel said something like “It is finally starting” …which precipitated some of the weirdest stuff from Spirit we’ve seen around here for quite awhile as a group. I’ll try to piece it all together and put it in an e-mail to you, so you’ll have an idea of what I’m talking about.
Abruptly switching topics, Darlene continued, “Debbie just told me she thought she had upset you, Jeanne, what was that all about? My daughter can be a strange mixture of spirit and just plain impish humor at times.”
“She’s a delight,” I responded immediately, “but she is also very perceptive. And what she said troubled me. It is something I prefer to get clarity from Spirit about before I talk about it …I hope you don’t mind.” Now I was the one to quickly change the subject, “I want to apologize for not keeping my word to call you earlier …”
Darlene cut me off and assured me that everything was perfect and not to worry – “We are, of course, upset a bit that our man Brad is running off to be with some woman for a year,” she stopped herself with an almost identical giggle to Debbie’s. I got the go ahead from Spirit to talk to her about what was bothering me.
“Okay, Darlene, I was just given the freedom to talk to you. That is exactly what troubled me …and let me tell you exactly what and how Debbie said it. She made the flippant remark just as you did right now about my being the other woman stealing Brad away and I, not knowing Debbie, said: ‘Oh it’s nothing like that’ – the troubling part was she hesitated and then said in absolute seriousness, ‘Jeanne, I think you better be open to anything, is what I’m getting’ – and put the phone down to go get you.
“What I almost said aloud was: ‘Brad and me? Surely not’ and something clicked that it is almost surely to be …Darlene, I have not even had the mildest romantic interest in any man for twenty-five years and I’m certainly not interested now. I just told some people last night that I never use the word prophetic just after I used it and …well, there was something definitely prophetic about what Debbie said and now you …and frankly it scares me.”
“Here’s what I’m getting, Jeanne, it is the Liar who is giving you a fright. There is nothing to be frightened about. Brad has been celibate ever since his wife left him, twenty plus years ago. He, Colin, Bob and Vic are all celibate, but none of them are committed to it except they all know they want nothing to do with a relationship unless it is ordained …now there’s a strange word, only in that I never use it” …she interrupted herself, “if something happens between you and Brad, you are both mature adults and you are both committed to following SPIRIT, but if it is ordained by Spirit, then it will be perfect. By the way, my lips are sealed, unless I am led to say something.” She giggled just like Debbie again.
“So, go in peace, woman,” she said lightly and we exchanged a few more pleasantries and rang off.
“It is ordained,” I heard loudly and clearly – there were those words again.
“Are you telling me something,” I asked aloud.
“Do not refuse what I have arranged which will be perfect and for my purposes and for your joy.”
______
Auntie Em called saying that she was going off island for the next several days and she wanted to bring the keys over for the other “hales” She would do a quick dusting and vacuuming so whenever my guests arrived the units would be ready. She brought the keys and showed me how to identify which key went to which bungalow and then led me out to a large bank of storage cabinets along the left side, in the garage where the Lexus was parked. The cabinets were full of extra linens, extra towels and other supplies if needed. There was also a washer and dryer at the back of the garage next to a cabinet loaded with laundry supplies. She did laundry every Wednesday, including any personal things. “There they are, when and if you need to wash something out,” she said, pointing to the washer and dryer.
She told me that Milton (the caretaker) had been alerted that she would be gone and she assured me that he would be ready and anxious to help out if I needed anything or had any questions.
After she left, I had that feeling of absolute gratitude that everything had been worked out so perfectly by my SPIRIT-PARENT.
I settled down to get organized for Brad’s coming and made some notes about some suggestions that were coming to me how we might want to structure the interview and how to join the two parts of the manuscript together for the book and knew I had to wait for him to arrive before I got too far involved in my thinking.
I turned my thoughts to writing the series of articles for the magazine and fired off an e-mail to Al to let him know I was beginning the series, “On a Spiritual High/Change Your Focus”. I requested some time-line guidance so that I could fit it all in with doing the interview and writing the book with Brad.
Brad …there it was again. I remembered the conversation with Debbie and then her mother… the “other woman” bit and SPIRIT’s exact words. “Do not refuse what I have arranged, which will be perfect and for my purposes and for your joy.”
“Well,” I said out loud, “whatever YOU are going to work out, YOU are going to have to work it all out.”
All of a sudden a giddy feeling came over me. I thought back to when I was sixteen and had a crush on a very good looking boy who was a senior in high school – he had called me, a sophomore, to invite me to the senior prom. He also asked me to dinner and a movie that coming Friday. Why would I be feeling like that? I didn’t even know what Brad looked like. This is ridiculous, but I couldn’t shake the feeling and we both had just turned fifty (somebody had mentioned this back in Jacksonville) this year. Surely, I thought, he won’t have any feelings like I’m experiencing.
He would be arriving on a non-stop from Dallas/Fort Worth directly into the Kona airport on the following Tuesday afternoon. I forced myself back to writing the first article in the series for Destiny.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the bell signaling an e-mail:
Subject Line: READY OR NOT
Scheduled Arrival: Friday, 11/16 on Hawaiian Air #158 at 2:03 p.m. …The four of us will be raiding you — booked on the noon flight back to Honolulu on the following Monday.
Are we ever stoked! Call me or I’ll call you. For now, gotta go.
Love you, Sis,
Rob
I could see her in my mind’s eye. Roberta-the-delight …such a lovable little package; I felt not an ounce of anxiety about their coming, Spirit will arrange it all perfectly. What, though, was to be arranged, ahead of their coming, between me and Brad, I wondered …I had to remind myself several times to quit being like a dog chewing on a bone, Spirit would arrange that perfectly too …I realized then, that I didn’t want to relax about it …I’m starting to hope for something to spark. Sheeeesh, I’m fifty years old, I reminded myself. My internal argument began: “Well, maybe it’s high time for something to happen to this old bird. Then, stop expecting too much or expecting anything, whatever will be, will be …and so on, the eternal, internal babble.
In an e-mail Brad had “warned” me that he would be dressed in his usual Florida casual attire, so he’d be easy to pick out of the crowd. White (he’d hoped wouldn’t be stained by then) “t” shirt, faded blue Levi’s, a dark blue, woven, cloth belt and leather sandals. He was six foot, two, short cropped and thinning, salt and pepper (mostly salt) hair and no other distinguishing marks.
I had written back that I’d find him and that I would wear beige walking shorts, white sneakers and a green and white short-sleeved, Hawaiian blouse. At five foot ten inches, I would most likely be the tallest, gangliest looking female around.
I hope he won’t be too disappointed with the way I look, I thought, then practically yelled at myself to stop it!