“You are so smart, Emma. Exactly. We found something we could do together and the other things became easier. He didn’t mind taking me shopping for school clothes or out for ice cream because we always had something to talk about, business and finance. From there, we found other things we had in common.”
“What does this have to do with Shelly being my mother?”
“Well, Miss Smarty Pants, you’re just too smart for me. You know I’m leading up to something, don’t you?”
“Daddy sometimes takes forever to get to the point, too.”
Marti glanced at Cameron with a smirk. “You’ve raised a remarkable woman. She can’t be five.”
“She’s eighty in a five-year-old body.”
“If only it were true for us all. Wisdom is gained too late for some.” She hoped Cameron would wise up to Shelly before it was too late.
“My point, Sugar Bug, is that my grandfather didn’t know how to be a father to me. He learned by finding something we had in common and building on it. Give Shelly a chance to find something in common with you and you can build on that. She might turn out to be the kind of mom the other kid’s moms are.”
The last sentence was wrong on more than one level. The structure was wrong, but so was the part about Shelly being the kind of mom Emma wanted. Probably would never happen. Her grandfather wanted to connect with her. Shelly had no desire to connect with Emma. Perhaps Emma giving Shelly a chance would help. That’s all anyone can do.
“See, sweetheart, it’s like I told you. Just give Shelly a chance. We’ll spend some time together and the two of you can find things you have in common.” Cameron hoped.
“I don’t like business. You bore me enough with business stuff when you talk on the phone all the time,” she said and rolled her eyes.
“Maybe Shelly will like fishing and sailing as much as you do.” Cameron hoped to find something the two of them had in common.
“You like to sail, Sugar Bug?”
“Yes. We’re going tomorrow on Daddy’s boat.”
Marti turned to Cameron. “What kind of boat?”
“A sailboat. Nothing fancy, just a thirty-two-foot Catalina.”
“Just,” she said with admiration. “I love sailing.”
“Tell Emma about your grandmother’s request and what she gave you.” George thought it would be a good lesson to Emma about keeping a promise and it would show Cameron the kind of woman Marti was.
“Well, as you know I was raised by my grandparents. My grandfather was in business, like George, and my grandmother was a painter. My grandfather died when I was sixteen and my grandmother became ill and was sick and weak for several years. I took care of her. I wasn’t able to go anywhere in her final years, and so I attended college from home. Sometimes I went to the University of San Francisco and Stanford when she was feeling well. That wasn’t very often. Anyway, my grandmother wanted me to see the world, but I couldn’t even leave the house for more than a few hours for fear she would take a fall or become ill. When she died, she had a final request. She made me promise to go and see all the places I ever dreamed of seeing. Then she gave me something so I could.”
“What did she give you?” Emma sat up on Marti’s lap, intent on listening to her tell the story.
“She gave me The World.”
“Huh? The planet?”
Marti laughed. “No, Sugar Bug. She gave me a sailboat. It’s named The World.
“For the last year, I played pirate and fulfilled her last request. I spent exactly one year sailing around the world. I gave her my promise, and three days ago I arrived home on day three hundred and sixty-six of my trip. When I met you in the restaurant, I’d just come from signing the final papers for my grandmother’s estate.”
“So cool. I have some books where the girl, Tina, goes around the world. They’re my favorite.”
“They are?” Marti held back a prideful smile. She knew the books. In fact, she’d written them. It pleased her Emma knew the stories and liked them. She’d never actually met a little girl who liked her stories.
“She makes me read one every night at bedtime,” Cameron confirmed.
“Where did you go? Maybe you’ve been to some of the places we read about in the Tina’s Travels books.”
“I’ve been to all kinds of places: Italy, Greece, Egypt, France, England, Ireland, and just about everywhere