Tuesday 30 July Jen visits.

Bobbie decided she could finally be seen in public and went down to check on things in person. The motel restaurant was pretty quiet. A few people were there for breakfast and she grabbed a coffee pot and went to each of the tables. Two people wanted a selfie with her and one was a business traveller. She went back into the kitchen and said hi to Mark. “I wanted to let you know that I am no longer associating with the politician.”

“He seemed like a nice guy Bobbie, that’s too bad.”

“He wants different things in life than I do and we really have very little in common.”

Rose joined the conversation. “I hope you are not too sad. It looked like he made you happy.”

“I just romanticized the idea that we had been girlfriend and boyfriend a long time ago. It wasn’t really fair to him. I still miss my husband. Well, I should go over to reception and see how it’s going. Thanks for looking after things when I was gone.”

“We’ve been having busy afternoons. It was fun.”

“Oh Mark, I wanted to check with you about an Idea I had to skip tea on Sundays and have a fancy Sunday brunch instead.”

“That sounds good… I’ll think about it a bit and we can talk later.”

She finished her morning rounds, posed for selfies and went inside to waited for her daughter in law Jen.

The elevator dinged and soon Jen appeared. “I really like that elevator Bobbie, it’s like I’m coming to visit a movie star or something.”

“Florence likes it too; I think it makes her feel like a movie star.”

“Eddie and I were so worried about you last Saturday with the anthrax scare and everything. We didn’t want to freak the kids out. And what’s going on with the internet stuff Bobbie? The entertainment news says you have a new boyfriend.”

“I guess I’m having my 15 minutes of fame. Right now, it’s making it hard for me to be out in public. I’m sorry I didn’t let you know things were OK Saturday. And I don’t have a new boyfriend.”

 “Florence called us and said it was fine and she was going to her gala and we felt better. I expect you had your hands full. I wouldn’t want to be in charge of holding an official event that satisfied your mother.”

“Your right about that. The event went well but the interview I gave to the press was the start of some trouble for me.”

“The boys came home and showed us the hashtag site dedicated to you. I think that made Eddie feel left out of things.”

“I can’t do anything about that. I should have talked to Eddy and Charlie more but I really needed to see Trixie…”  Just then Bobbie realized she had left her kids completely out of things and relied on her old friends instead. Maybe she wasn’t being fair to her family; she really had to think about this more. “Let’s go have lunch.”

Jen admired the view. Bobbie was surprised she had not been out there before.

“No, I haven’t had a chance. We don’t visit too often.”

Bobbie sensed that something was off with Jen. “Is there something on your mind?”

Jen looked like she was going to say something. She seemed to change track. “Well, I’m a little worried about Eddie. I don’t think he’s over Alex’s death. Maybe it was too close to losing his grandfather. I don’t know. He’s just so checked out and joyless. You left Cit City and moved on so quickly. You were so involved with the motel project that you spent all your time with Trixie and Johnny and your staff and we feel a little marginalized. Eddie still misses his dad and can’t figure out why you don’t.”

“I’m beginning to realize why you guys feel that way.”

“We are so proud of what you accomplished here but we feel left out.”

“You’re my kids. It’s hard for me not to reflexively want to shield you from my troubles. Eddie and Charlie had doubts; they didn’t really want me to fix up the motel. So, I avoided them. When I am excited about something I tell Lorne or Trixie; they have been so positive. Maybe a little part of me had doubts too. I have to remember you’re not kids anymore and I can depend on you too. If I needed anything, I had my staff or Rocco or someone to lean on. I’m sorry Jen, I moved on the only way I could but it seems I’ve left you all behind in the process. I can’t blame Eddie for being resentful when I date people. To be honest, I got involved with Brose too soon. I may have been trying fill the space left by Alex. It was never going to work. I just ended it with Brose on Saturday and almost immediately, I started to miss Alex again.”

“I’m so sorry Bobbie. I just know Eddie is not himself and I need your help. Maybe you can help each other.”

“I’ve really only ever had one boyfriend and that was Alex. Now that he’s gone, I just wanted to go on some dates, like I missed when I was young. I had the kids in my early 20’s. I didn’t really bargain for how serious it could get.”

“I had my kids a little later but I’ve really only ever had Eddie, and my career of course. If I was in your shoes, I’d want to explore dating and stuff too.” She looked a little uncomfortable.

“Oh, Jen I know we can change all this. I’ll have a nice lunch with Eddy and Charlie and explain everything to them. How are the kids doing?”

“Laura is getting ready for grade 1 and the boys are going into grade 3. They’ve had a busy summer. The boys are paddling “minnows” and Laura is a daycare pro at this point.”

“Will she and Niko be in the same school?”

“Yes, I think they might even be in the same class. We’ve decided to split the cost of a nanny and have them at Charlie’s because the kids are close enough to walk there and the nanny can help June when the baby comes.” We just pick them up at Charlie’s.

“I can take the kids once in a while; it’s too bad I’m so out of the way. Better yet, I can come over and stay with them if you guys want to go out.”

“That sounds good. Eddie and I might have to go out one night his week as I just got a promotion. I’m head of the anesthesiology department now.”

“Oh my God that’s wonderful, you have worked so hard, I’m so proud of you. Should we celebrate with a little cheesecake I was told there was a delivery of fresh raspberry cheesecake this morning.”

“I’ll have to do another hour on the treadmill but count me in.”

“I’ll text Mark to bring it up.”

‘Mark delivered the cheesecake and Jenny and Bobbie continued to chat.

“Do you think the kids might like to come over and pick some raspberries sometime?”

“If it’s not too sudden I was going to get them and take them home early because I have the rest of the day off. We should bring them here.”

“That’s a great idea, we have some spinach and carrots and I saw some zucchini we could pick too. You could take it home for supper.”

They carried the dirty dishes in and left them on the island. Bobbie put on dark glasses and a large hat joking that she had to keep a low profile and Jen and Bobbie jumped in the car. They picked up Laura first. She was excited to see Bobbie and jumped into her arms.

Bobbie wobbled. “You are getting too big for me to carry Miss. When did this happen?” Jen opened the car door and Bobbie buckled her in the booster seat.”

“Let’s go get Clay and Wally at the lake.”

They drove to the paddling club and Bobbie remembered when her kids paddled, she smiled at all the kids running around. Clay and Walt Jr. were on the lake trying to paddle their 2-man kayak. They were doing well and the teenager who coached them said. “They are pretty good; we’re having a regatta this weekend and we wanted to have them race. Clay saw them on the shore and waved his paddle. That made the tippy kayak almost capsize so the boys steadied it and paddled back to the little dock. They jumped out of the kayak without getting wet and looked very proud.

“Hi guys, you are so good at this. Are you having fun?”

“Yes, we love it. I could paddle all day and be happy.” Said Clay.

Walter looked at Bobbie. “Are you famous Gramma? We saw on the news that everyone wants to take your picture and the guys here at paddling don’t believe that You are my grandma.”

“We’ve come to whisk you away. How’d you like to come to Grandmas and pick something for supper from the garden? There, we can have a nice talk about why I was in the news.”

“I would love that Gramma, I love your motel!”

Well thank you Lara, Let’s go!