the boys, keeper of the traditions that make a family.
Can I lure Russ away from her? Can I make him feel his family is here? I can try.
In the new year, I decided, I’m going to introduce him to Maia.
February 11, 2016
I told Maia she was going to meet a friend of mine but that it was a secret and she wasn’t to talk about this friend to anyone, including Huck.
Then I hated myself.
But I can’t have it both ways. I can let Maia meet Russ and make sure she keeps it quiet, or I can not introduce them at all.
Maia said she understood. She looked at me with her wise-child eyes and repeated what I’d told her: Russ was a friend of mine but I didn’t want the whole island talking about it and I didn’t want Huck to know because he wouldn’t like it.
Why wouldn’t he like it? Maia wanted to know. I could see her backing away from any situation that Huck might not approve of. Maia is devoted to Huck. He is God, Santa Claus, and Justin Bieber rolled into one.
“He would like it,” I said. “He wants me to be happy. But I’m not ready to tell Huck about it, only you. Russ is a person for just you and me, okay?”
“Okay,” she said.
We visited Russ at the villa in Little Cinnamon. When he shook Maia’s hand, he slipped her a cherry lollipop, which she accepted only after I said it was okay. He asked her if she wanted to play Chutes and Ladders. She said yes, then added, “But just so you know, I always win.”
I won’t go so far as to say it was an instant success. Maia didn’t care about any old white guy except for Huck. But I will say they got along fine. Russ was charmed, maybe even smitten, and as I watched them play their game—Maia won handily, landing on only ladders while Russ’s rolls put him on only chutes—it struck me how much they looked alike, how their mannerisms were similar, their earnest, goofy enthusiasm matched.
She is his daughter. No doubt about it.
April 8, 2016
Maia and I went back to the villa in Little Cinnamon last week.
Russ asked Maia if there was anything he could add for her at the villa and she said a shuffleboard court.
Russ said, “I will tell the architects tomorrow to add a shuffleboard court, as long as you promise to play with me.”
Maia said, “I’ll play with you, but just so you know, I always win.”
May 23, 2016
Love is messy and complicated and unfair.
Russ’s grandson, Floyd, is getting baptized in Iowa City, which is something of an issue because Baker’s wife, Anna, isn’t religious and has only grudgingly agreed to the ceremony.
“Anna is a doctor,” Russ said. “A real smart cookie.”
“Smart cookie?” I said. “Please promise me never to use that term in front of her.”
“I already did,” he admitted. “It didn’t go over well.”
I don’t know anything about the baptism except that it is happening. I imagine a church full of people with Russ and Irene sitting up front, holding hands. Everyone gazes on them with admiration, not one soul guessing that Russ has a mistress and a daughter in the Caribbean.
Does he think about us? I wonder. Or does he have a vault in his brain where he locks us, and all the feelings he has for us, away?
May 30, 2016
The villa needs some sprucing up, and Russ asked me to make the decorating decisions.
“I have no taste,” he said. “At home, Irene handles these things.” As soon as he said this, he knew it was a mistake.
The at home bothered me more than Irene. His home is in Iowa. This is…well, I’m not even sure what to call it. His second place, I guess. I live in second place.
I told Russ I want no part of any decorating decisions. It’s his villa, not mine. In truth, I don’t want to pick things and then have him compare my taste to Irene’s. Russ asks Paulette Vickers to handle the decorating. It’s Paulette and Douglas from Welcome to Paradise Real Estate who built the villa in the first place, and just as they were about to lose it to the bank, Todd Croft and Russ swung in on a vine; Russ bought the villa and Ascension the hillside. They asked Paulette and Douglas to stay on as property managers. I know them both but I’m not worried about Huck finding out because