bored already. This year they had something marvelous brewing; Mary took charge of crossing out the days on the calendar.
Weeks before the vacation, Addy started to iron and pack. Her petite figure ballooned in recent years, and one thing she dreaded was shopping for a new swimsuit. God knows she would never fit into the relics she had saved in case she lost weight. Food was Addy’s drug. She turned to it when she was nervous, stressed, or depressed, which was most of the time. Lionel and the children loved dessert after dinner (and she did, too) so she continued to bake. Lionel golfed and lifted barbells in the basement, and he hadn’t blown up with age like Addy. He criticized her weight, but that did not keep him from wanting sex nearly every night.
One morning, Addy reached up to the closet shelf to take down a suitcase Lionel no longer used for his business trips. He had recently purchased a new set of expensive leather luggage for his travels. Addy had no need for suitcases because she and the kids never went anywhere. Inside the suitcase was a piece of paper that looked like a receipt of some kind. Before discarding it, Addy noticed it was a voucher for Mr. and Mrs. Roberge for two nights at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs.
As much as Addy despised Lionel, her heart sank. So he had a woman in Colorado. That must be where he was going. What infuriated Addy was imagining how he probably treated this woman. Broadmoor was a luxury hotel featured in one of Addy’s magazines. Lionel, in his warped sense of morality, might think one woman outside “the holy sacrament of marriage” was not as bad as having several, particularly if he were “in love” with this person. Addy doubted if this lady was his only lover. Over the years, he traveled to several cities for business meetings, and his drinking escalated. He must have picked up his share of bar flies.
I wonder if this woman knows Lionel is married with children? Addy mused. She was undoubtedly married and did not give a hoot. On the other hand, maybe she was attracted to his charm and lavish spending habits, thought Addy sarcastically.
“What a joke,” Addy laughed, crumbling up the receipt, and then rushing to the bathroom to flush it down the toilet. If Lionel suspected Addy knew something about his conniving to go to Colorado, he might explode and cancel her vacation with the kids. Their first real vacation…she just could not believe that James, Peter, Mary, and she were about to share two whole weeks together without Lionel. Could it really be possible?
Chapter IV
Wells, Maine
Early on the morning of August 14, they loaded the car for the long ride to Maine. Lionel’s blood boiled as he watched the kids putting their bags helter-skelter into the back of the station wagon. True to his militaristic form, Lionel made the kids remove their belongings, and he rearranged everything like a perfect puzzle.
Addy had never learned to drive. She longed to get her license, and Lionel had once encouraged her to do so. Although she passed the written portion of the driving test, she was just too nervous to use the car, fearing Lionel’s wrath if she ever had an accident. It was maddening to have to rely upon Lionel to transport the kids and her everywhere. He was a rude and impatient driver.
Before getting on the road towards Maine, they stopped at First National Market to pick up provisions for the vacation. Addy had made a shopping list so that she and the kids could zip through the aisles and not keep Lionel waiting. It was pathetic how automatically Addy responded to every situation that might spark Lionel’s temper. What a way to live.
Because the cottage was actually a summer home, where the owners planned to retire one day, it had a fully equipped modern kitchen and other amenities. Lionel said the beach was only a few minutes’ walk, and there was a small grocery store nearby. The children, well trained by Addy not to get on their father’s nerves, were quiet during the endless trip to Maine. They amused themselves looking out the windows as they whizzed past parts of New England they had never seen. When they finally pulled into Beach Plum Lane, then the driveway of a lovely home, Addy was suddenly overwhelmed with feelings of nervous anticipation and joy. Fighting back the tears, she excitedly asked Lionel, “Is this it?”
“Yep,” he grunted. “Charlie has a gorgeous place here, and he never rents it out to strangers. He did it as a favor to me so you’re darned lucky.”
The house was actually two cottages joined together in a U-shape. It looked as if there had once been a freestanding garage between the bungalows, but a large part of the garage had been redesigned to increase the size of the O’Malley’s place and add the master suite. There was still an attached garage for the O’Malleys with a door leading directly into the other residence. Lionel said that portion of the U-shaped configuration was still very much a beach cottage. Charlie had the “luck of the Irish;” an old woman sold him the two houses for a song, with the stipulation that she could use the cottage side for two weeks a year for the rest of her life. Apart from those two weeks, Charlie rented out the cottage side as an income property.
Once again, Lionel emphasized how fortunate Addy and the kids were to be able to stay in Charlie’s side of the property and warned the kids not to mess anything up. Addy wondered if Charlie knew that Lionel wanted to spend these two weeks with his woman in Colorado. After all, Charlie was often on the road with Lionel.
When Lionel turned the key to open the door to this beautiful home, Addy was speechless. The house was something Addy may have seen in one of her magazines. Light streamed into the many windows, illuminating the space with a happy glow. Darker hues were popular when Addy and Lionel’s house was constructed several years ago, but now their home seemed gloomy and dated. Lionel never wanted to spend any money on improvements. As Addy walked through Charlie’s house, one space after another entranced her. The floor plan was very open with living room, dining room, and kitchen flowing into one another. The kitchen contained white cabinets with glass doors, a white tiled floor, and a counter that looked out into the living room. There were stools on one side of the counter, and a large dining area extended from the kitchen. Off the dining room was the huge master suite with its own bath. On the nightstand, Addy spied a photograph of Charlie O’Malley and his wife. Charlie was a tall, handsome, athletic-looking Irishman whose eyes seemed to twinkle with warmth. He looked like a mischief-maker, holding back a good laugh. Charlie’s wife on the other hand, was plain and serious-looking, almost homely. Not that Addy was any beauty, mind you, but she often wondered how some unattractive women won the hearts of gorgeous men. Just how Charlie’s wife, Kathy--Addy thought that was her name--held her head, Addy knew that if Charlie ever dared stray from her, she would raise holy hell. With her sixth sense about people, Addy knew immediately that Charlie loved his wife, and he was not a cheater. She had to turn away from the photo quickly. Pictures of happily married couples stirred up a mixture of envy and sadness in Addy’s heart. She knew that envy was one of the seven deadly sins. Although she held such disdain for the Catholic Church, Addy still tried to be a good person and avoid the worst offenses: Pride, Envy, Anger, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, and Lust.
The children shouted with delight as they discovered that the sliding glass doors on one side of the dining room led to a sun porch, the brightest space of all. The white wicker furniture sported new blue, yellow, and white printed cushions. Adorning the sofa and chairs were hand-hooked throw pillows with images of shells, starfish, and seahorses. There were huge jalousie windows on three sides and a ceiling fan overhead.
The fireplace mantel in the living room held numerous photos of Charlie’s family and friends. Addy glanced at them briefly and decided they represented a slice of a very happy existence: beachside barbeques and lobster roasts; Charlie, his wife, and another couple smiling
