The Girl in Hemingway's Studio Page 9
“Okay, wifey,” Marcus said as he nudged Alexis. “We are in San Diego, and we are going swimming.”
“What?” Alexis looked up at this handsome man who was now her husband, “Did I marry a crazy person? It’s cold here on the sand, can you just imagine what the water temperature is like?”
“Doesn’t matter, we are going swimming.” Marcus said as he scooped up his bride and carried her to the edge of the ocean. “Are you going in willingly or do I have to throw you in?”
“Okay, okay,” screamed Alexis. “Put me down, I’ll go swimming with you.”
They didn’t last long in the cold water and even colder air temperature. They both jumped a few waves and ran out of the water, grabbing their towels and headed across the sand to their hotel room. They were shivering so uncontrollably their teeth were chattering.
Finally they reached their room and ran into the bathroom, pulled off their cold and wet bathing suits, turning the shower on full blast, they sighed as they stood together, naked, holding on to each other. The warm water brought such pleasure as they started to kiss and their bodies responded with contentment.
Alexis smiled again and thought, Such a perfect day, after the warm shower we ordered up room service and ate lunch in our room, wrapped snugly in the thick hotel robes. I looked out of the window and saw the gloom had turned to rain.
“Marcus, look it’s raining.” I shouted.
Marcus walked over to the window, looked out, closed the drapes, and started kissing me. He then untied my robe as he coaxed me back to our bed.
Alexis sat down on her bed and smiled as she remembered those marvelous, glorious feeling as she thought about those precious days they shared as newlyweds.
We would fill the rest of our afternoons either renting roller skates to explore the grounds of the hotel and the adjoining neighborhoods, strolling through the alluring small town of Coronado, eating ice cream cones purchased from Moo Time Creamery while sitting on the beach watching the waves roll in. One afternoon we rented bikes from Little Sam’s and rode the Bayside Bikeway past the Coronado Golf Course and under the San Diego-Coronado Bridge. But we never attempted to swim in the ocean again. We bought matching sweatshirts that had Coronado printed on the front. In the evenings we would wander through the hotel’s gift shops window shopping in the delightful, expensive stores or learning about the history of the hotel by studying the photo gallery and storyboards in the basement. The wedding was perfect, the honeymoon was perfect, and my new husband was perfect. Or, so I thought.
When Marcus and Alexis were living together, they split the house payment, groceries, utilities, and chores. They each had their own checkbook. When they came home from their honeymoon, Alexis took over paying the bills and for the first time she realized that her new husband was deeply in debt. Actually, they were both in debt; being married means you share the responsibility for each other’s financial obligations. This was something new for her. Alexis had never been in debt before and had never seen an overdue bill. To top everything off, Marcus quit his job the week after they returned from Coronado. He was bored and believed he could do better. He had reassured her, he would get a more suitable job quickly. It took six months to find a new job and after eight months, he quit that one too.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The Sister
Alexis stopped daydreaming and called her dad to tell him that Julie and Cathy couldn’t go with her and promised to ask Charlotte if she would like to join her in Florida. She assured him she would call Charlotte the following day.
When Arthur hung up the phone, he thought of his two girls. How different they were both in personality and how they approached living their lives. Alexis was the perfect combination of himself and Nora—responsible, caring, dedicated, and hardworking; Arthur wasn’t sure whom Charlotte took after.
Arthur sighed as he agonized about asking Judith if it would be okay to invite Ashley to stay with them for the few days Charlotte would be gone. He thought back to how perfect things had been when Christopher and Charlotte had first gotten married. Christopher and Charlotte purchased a cute townhouse. Charlotte seemed to settle down to being a wife and homemaker. She seemed to find a sense of tranquility in her new life. She enjoyed her home and was content and happy to spend time cleaning and decorating. Arthur was surprised that she had a real flair for design. Everyone was thrilled when Charlotte found out she was pregnant and started preparing the nursery for their new baby. Arthur breathed a sigh of relief that Charlotte had stepped back from the abyss and found happiness with her husband and new baby.
Ashley was born a few days before Christmas in 2009. Shortly after that exultant day, the relationship between Charlotte and Christopher began to change. They started bickering and disagreeing. Arthur noticed it at family dinners and on visits to see his new granddaughter. Charlotte was overwhelmed with working, caring for a small child, and running the household. Christopher reworked their budget based on one salary—his salary. It would be tough, but it was doable. He showed his wife the new restricted budget and he agreed she should stop working if it would make it easier for her to deal with her increased responsibilities. They had built up a nice savings account with their two incomes and Christopher’s tight rein on their budget. Charlotte quit her job, but things didn’t improve. She started seeing old girlfriends for lunch and coffee. Twice a month, she would meet former coworkers for dinner to hear the latest gossip. Then she enrolled Ashley in nursery school for three afternoons each week and started spending those afternoons at the mall buying new clothes for herself and her daughter. Every month Charlotte’s reckless spending played havoc with their budget, spiraling them into debt, and eradicated their savings. Christopher, the financial planner, was upset with his wife’s foolish behavior; he was trying to balance their budget on one paycheck and Charlotte’s increased spending on their credit cards enraged him. They fought, they stopped talking, and then they separated. Christopher moved back to his mother’s house, a broken man. He tried to talk to Charlotte and begged her to go to marriage counseling with him; she refused. The marriage was over the summer of 2012.
Christopher told Charlotte she could keep the house, as he didn’t want his daughter to grow up in an apartment, not when their townhouse had a backyard with a swing set and slide. He eventually found an apartment for himself with a small bedroom for Ashley. Charlotte would have custody and Christopher would have liberal visitation. Christopher seemed more upset with the dissolution of their marriage than Charlotte. It wasn’t long before Charlotte was dating, going out with friends, and living a carefree life. She was able to get her job back with Bank of America, enrolled Ashley in daycare, and moved on. Poor little Ashley, after spending long days at the childcare center, she would spend her weekends with her dad or with Arthur and Judith. Every weekend Charlotte had an excuse and a desperate need for a babysitter. Judith was not thrilled with her new role as a caring, loving grandmother.
The more Arthur thought about Judith, the more he wondered if he had rushed in too soon to his own second marriage. After all, Judith was the only woman he dated after his beloved Nora died. She was fun, caring, and seemed to love him, but now he questioned some of her values, especially loving his cherished only granddaughter.
Arthur did admit that being married to a very rich woman had its advantages. Before the wedding, Arthur had insisted on a prenuptial agreement. Judith was surprised and pleased by his request. Arthur’s architecture firm provided him with a nice, healthy income and he never wanted anyone to accuse him of being a gold digger. Even though Arthur carried his own weight by sharing the household bills and expenses, some of the extravagant trips they had taken would have been totally out of the question on only his earnings. Their trips to Paris, Hong Kong, and Italy were spectacular—staying in the best hotels, traveling in limousines rather than taxis, and eating only in the finest restaurants. Arthur smiled as he remembered his favorite trip with Judith a couple of years ago. It was an exquisite safari to
Kenya. They visited Amboseli where they observed the snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro and ventured north to the region of the Great Rift Valley where they saw the secretive black rhino, lions, cheetahs, and leopards, all while staying in lovely tents with proper beds and flushing toilets. Their days were spent taking photos of the beautiful wild animals in their natural habitat and their evening they lived like a king and queen in luxury under the stars in the middle of the jungle.
Living with Judith, money was never an issue unlike the early days of his first marriage, but Arthur missed the relevant conversations about politics, the news of the day, and the connection that he had with Nora. Of course, he missed Nora’s wisdom in dealing with their daughters. He felt guilty when the girls had problems he couldn’t fix, like Charlotte’s marriage. He honestly believed if Nora were still alive, she could have fixed Charlotte and Christopher’s problems.
Judith was more into frivolous topics such as local gossip, the newest restaurants, decorating trends, and hosting social parties. He thought back to his first date with Judith, how she talked about so many topics, things that really interested him. Now, he smiled and wondered if she had “crammed” on those topics before their dinner date. They had really connected on so many levels. What happened to that charming, lovely woman he fell in love with at The House of Tricks?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Exploring the Facts
Alexis called her sister to discuss accompanying her to Florida. She explained in detail the facts about the trip, the accommodations at The Studios of Key West, the free airline ticket, and the dates. Alexis had already decided she would cut the trip short from twenty-one to seventeen days. She suggested that she and Charlotte would leave Phoenix on July 9, and Charlotte would fly home on July 16. That would give Alexis a few peaceful days alone without worrying about her sister.
“I don’t understand why I have to leave after only one week,” whined her sister. “That cute cottage will be empty all day while you are writing your fabulous bestseller.”
“Charlotte, how can you use all of your vacation time on this trip? Don’t you want to spend some time with Ashley over the summer and take her somewhere special?”
“Okay, you win. Book the airline tickets. This is your contest-winning prize. I’ll do whatever you want. Thanks for at least including me.”
Alexis booked the tickets, made reservations at Key West Studios, and contacted the people at the Florida Keys Fiction Contest to give them her dates to reserve Hemingway’s Studio. The secretary congratulated Alexis on winning the contest and informed her that she would be the first author to write in the studio since Hemingway. A chill ran through Alexis’s soul as she digested that fact. The secretary also gave Alexis the name and telephone number of her contact person who would organize her stay in Key West. She explained that the house was open for tours daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The area where Alexis would be working had a locked gate across the entrance to the room, and she would be given a key, but she should expect people peering through the grill and taking photos of the room while she wrote. She asked if she could work before or after the tours but was told that was not possible. She agreed to the terms, still disappointed she wouldn’t be writing in a more private setting. Alexis wrote down the name and telephone number of her contact person, Lexie Murphy.
Marcus and Eric couldn’t stop talking about their upcoming trip to St. Louis. They Googled information about hotels in St. Louis, information about mining and the extraction of valuable minerals and how to best determine if their mine contained those rare-earth metals. The surveying tests sounded expensive. They both hoped their uncle had already paid for some of those necessary tests.
Eric reserved a rental car at the airport and a room at a Drury Hotel for four days. Eric chose that hotel because it was close to the office of Fred’s attorney and the Drury provided a free breakfast in the morning, and free beers in the late afternoon. They were ready.
Alexis helped Marcus pack, making sure his favorite shirts and jeans were freshly washed and ironed.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Marcus said as he put his arms around his wife. “Eric and Betsy are on a budget too. We will make this trip as inexpensively as possible. Eric and I are sharing a room, ugh, I hope he doesn’t keep me up all night with his snoring.”
“Just remember,” levelheaded Alexis reminded him. “Just because there are valuable minerals in mines close by doesn’t mean your uncle’s mine contain them too.”
A car horn honked, and Marcus and Alexis walked out of their house. Betsy was driving, and Eric was sitting next to her. “Hi, Alexis,” Betsy smiled a greeting. “Do you really think our men are going to come back with lots of money?”
“Hi, Betsy. No, but I think they may come back with a few good stories.” Alexis opened the back door, and Marcus threw his overnight bag on the seat, kissed his wife, and got in the car.
“If you aren’t doing anything tomorrow night, would you like to go out to dinner?” asked Betsy.
“Sure, but why don’t you come over here? I can barbeque, and we can talk. How does 5:30 sound?”
“Great, it’s a date. See you tomorrow.”
Marcus and Eric’s plane landed at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport at one-thirty on Friday morning. The airport was uncrowded and quiet. Since they both carried-on a small duffel bag, they didn’t have to wait for the baggage to be unloaded. Instead they walked over to the Budget Car Rental counter. At first they were afraid the office was closed, but there was a young man waiting for them. He had his head on his desk and looked like he had been sleeping.
“Hello. Are you the Caldwell brothers?” The young man’s head popped up when he heard footsteps approaching the counter.
“Yes, we are.” answered Eric.
“Good, I was waiting for your plane to arrive. Let’s fill out these forms, get your car keys, and you can be on your way.”
By the time they got to the hotel, checked in, and got to their room, it was two-thirty in the morning. They opened the door to the room, threw their suitcases on a couple of chairs, and crashed on the beds.
“What time do we see Uncle Fred’s attorney?” asked Marcus.
“Nine-thirty. Sorry, but he’s leaving for a long weekend after he sees us. Short night, huh?”
The alarm woke them up at seven-thirty in the morning. Marcus jumped into the shower while Eric covered his head with his pillow and tried to go back to sleep. At nine-thirty, they were knocking on the door of Roger Bond, Attorney-at-Law. Roger answered the door looking like he, too, had just gotten up.
“You must be Marcus and Eric?” Roger stepped back and ushered them into his office. He shook both of their hands. “So sorry, about poor Fred. He was a good man, and I was hoping he would finally get a break out of life.”
“Do you know if he had a chance to have his mine surveyed before he died?” Eric asked not wasting any time.
“Well, he contacted a local geologist and had a basic survey done. They found traces of monazite, zeolite, and mica. That encouraged the geologist that Fred’s mine was part of the Middle Proterozoic, volcano-plutonic complex of the St. Francois terrene—the same as Pea Ridge Mine.”
“What would be our next step?” asked Eric as he sat up straight in his chair trying to absorb all this information.
“Hold on,” Roger said as he sat back in his chair. “There are several steps you need to take before you can order an extensive mineral survey of the mine. First you need to find a specialized attorney who will act as a claimant in the patent proceedings. You or your attorney will need to contact the Bureau of Land Management in D.C. to provide proof of validation of title and show evidence of mineral validity, fill out the mineral lease applications, prospecting permits, and bonding documentation. Then you can order an extensive survey of the mine, which is very expensive.”
“How expensive?”
“I’m not sure, but I think between $50,000 and $250,000. Plus paying fees for all the other require
d applications, permits, and documentations I mentioned.” Roger opened his desk drawer and took out a map and a set of keys. “Before you start counting your money, I think you need to go to Fred’s house and check things out. I drew you a map to the house, and I included the location of the Pea Ridge mine in case you are interested in stopping by on your way. The extensive survey proved that Pea Ridge has all the rare-earth minerals, but it has had lots of other problems and it is still not fully operational. The owners keep promising hundreds of jobs, but nothing has materialized.”
Eric reached over the desk to grab the keys and map. “Thanks, Mr. Bond. I agree we need to take this adventure one step at a time. Oh, by the way, you seem to know a lot about the necessary forms for the Land Management, could you act as our attorney?”
“No, Eric, I know what forms are necessary, but I’m not knowledgeable enough to act as a competent attorney for the whole process. But what I can do is transfer the deed for Fred’s property over to the both of you. That will provide the proof of validation of title, and I can provide you a list of good specialty attorneys.”
“Thanks, we would appreciate that,” Marcus said. “And if you could give us the name and address of the geologist who did the basic survey that may be very helpful.”
“His name is Gary Freeman, and I included his business card with the map to Fred’s abode. I talked to him last week, and he will be in his office tomorrow, but only until noon. He’s going fishing over the Fourth.”
Roger reached over to shake their hands, when he remembered something else. “Oh wait, a good friend of Fred’s would like to visit with you if you have time. His name is George Rhodes, and he and your uncle were quite close. He now lives in the same assistant living facility as my mother, and I mentioned to him that you boys were coming to St. Louis.” Roger opened his desk drawer, pulled out a business card, wrote George’s name and address on it, and handed it to Eric. “If you have time, it might be worth your while to talk to George. He helped your uncle in the mine when they were younger and he was the one who suggested that Fred get a survey done. This facility is only about ten miles from your hotel.”