Get as many girls as are available. I think having our group around will lift her spirits. You and Fergus will be here. Friday. Eight o’clock. Unless the two of you want to show up early. Fergus can help Charles in the kitchen, and you and I can sample the champagne. We wouldn’t want anyone getting sick, now would we?” Myra giggled at her own words.
“That’s an invitation I cannot refuse. Shall we come by at, say, six?”
“Six is perfect. If Charles needs Fergus here sooner, I’ll let you know.” After she got off the phone, Myra looked up at Charles, who nodded in agreement. He set down the tray of scones and poured his beloved her favorite tea.
“So, my dear. What exactly do you have in mind?” Charles took the seat across from Myra. “I can almost see those wheels turning.”
Myra reached for her pearls again. “I’m not quite sure. I think the dinner party and a few relaxing days here will cheer Charlotte up, raise her spirits, but I am definitely not happy about this large number of medications she referred to in her letter.”
“What did she say exactly, when you called her?” Charles leaned in closer to read the expression on Myra’s face.
“I’m not clear on it yet. The treatment hasn’t been approved by the FDA, but she is enrolled in some sort of trial. It’s like the Wild West of medicine. No rules to speak of.”
“Yes, apparently, one signs a waiver in those cases,” Charles chimed in.
“And, I’m willing to bet, all their money,” Myra snapped back.
“Now, love, before you get your vigilante pants in a knot, let’s see what else Charlotte has to say. Maybe she’s just feeling a little blue.”
“I do hope so, Charles. I really do. But something isn’t sitting right with me.”
Charles rolled his eyes.... He could feel a mission coming on.
Chapter 3
London
After three days of arguing with her daughter, Maryann, Charlotte snapped her suitcases closed and eyed the collection of medicine bottles on the vanity. She had secretly stopped taking them after mailing her letter to Myra. It had been almost a week. Everything had been happening so fast, but she felt much better. Maybe it was the anticipation of visiting her friends, or maybe it was the absence of “supplements” coursing through her body. Either way, she hadn’t felt this lighthearted and alert in a long time.
She thought a moment. How long has it been? She could not recall. Darn it, Charlotte. Get a grip, she whispered to herself. You’re going on an adventure. Let’s not think about any of it. At least not for now. Feeling good was very welcome after all the months—yes, it had been months—of being in a fog. Even though she wasn’t sure how many months, she was certain it had been much too long. She also knew that she had to stop talking to herself. Or, at the very least, not get caught doing it! If she was caught, they would really put her in a loony bin.
There was a slight rap on her door. “Mother, I wish you would reconsider.” When Maryann came into Charlotte’s room, she was finally being gentle instead of the screeching banshee she had become when Charlotte told her she was cutting her visit short.
“What is going on? And what is Dr. Marcus going to say about your leaving so soon?” Those had been the talking, or shouting, points, day after day.
Finally, quoting Clark Gable as Rhett Butler, Charlotte had replied, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Charlotte had said it with calm determination, her way of letting Maryann know that the conversation was over. That had been two days ago, and neither had spoken to the other until now.
Charlotte was hoping that she would not be leaving on bad terms with her daughter. “Maryann, I do so appreciate your hospitality and concern for me, but I cannot change my plans now. Myra and Charles, as well as Annie and Fergus, have made a lot of arrangements.”
“But what about my arrangements?” Maryann was getting a little heated again, realizing that she was probably not going to convince her mother to stay. “And Dr. Marcus?”
Darn it. Maryann wished she hadn’t mentioned the doctor. His name seemed to be the “Niagara Falls” catalyst—the old comic routine when some guy goes berserk anytime he hears the words Niagara Falls. Yes, the mere reference to him almost always set her mother off.
But why? And why so suddenly? Maryann backed off her