Wish You Well(2)

grin riding on full lips that, aside from the memorable flicker of his gray eyes, were her

husband's most attractive physical feature, Amanda thought.

"Take a breath, work on a story," said Jack.

"A prisoner of your own devices," replied Amanda softly, and she stopped rubbing his

arm.

As her husband drifted back to work, Amanda watched as Lou labored with her own

story. Mother saw the potential for much happiness and some inevitable pain in her

daughter. She could not live Lou's life for her, and Amanda knew she would have to

watch her little girl fall at times. Still, Amanda would never hold out her hand, for Lou

being Lou would certainly refuse it. But if her daughter's fingers sought out her mother's,

she would be there. It was a situation burdened with pitfalls, yet it seemed the one

destined for mother and daughter.

"How's the story coming, Lou?"

Head down, hand moving with the flourishing thrust of youthful penmanship, Lou said,

"Fine." Amanda could easily sense her daughter's underlying message: that writing was a

task not to be discussed with nonwriters. Amanda took it as good-naturedly as she did

most things having to do with her volatile daughter. But even a mother sometimes needed

a comforting pillow on which to lay her head, so Amanda reached out and tousled her

son's blondish hair. Sons were not nearly so complex, and as much as Lou wore her out,

Oz rejuvenated his mother.

"How're you doing, Oz?" asked Amanda.

The little boy answered by letting out a crowing sound that banged off all sides of the

car's interior, startling even the inattentive Jack.

"Miss English said I'm the best rooster she's ever heard," said Oz, and crowed again,

flapping his arms. Amanda laughed and even Jack turned and smiled at his son.

Lou smirked at her brother, but then reached over and tenderly patted Oz on the hand.

"And you are too, Oz. A lot better than me when I was your age," said Lou.

Amanda smiled at Lou's remark and then said, "Jack, you're coming to Oz's school play,

aren't you?"

Lou said, "Mom, you know he's working on a story. He doesn't have time to watch Oz

playing a rooster."

"I'll try, Amanda. I really will this time," Jack said. However, Amanda knew that the

level of doubt in his tone heralded another disappointment for Oz. For her.

Amanda turned back and stared out the windshield. Her thoughts showed through so

clearly on her features. Life married to Jack Cardinal: I'll try.

Oz's enthusiasm, however, was undiminished. "And next I'm going to be the Easter

Bunny. You'll be there, won't you, Mom?"

Amanda looked at him, her smile wide and easing her eyes to pleasing angles.

"You know Mom wouldn't miss it," she said, giving his head another gentle rub.

But Mom did miss it. They all missed it.



CHAPTER TWO

AMANDA LOOKED OUT THE CAR WINDOW. HER prayers had been answered, and the storm

had passed with little more than annoying patches of drizzle and an occasional gust of

wind that failed to motivate the park trees to much more than a skimming of limbs.

Everyone's lungs had been pressed hard from running the long, curvy strips of park grass

end to end. And to his credit, Jack had played with as much abandon as any of them. Like

a child, he had hurtled down the cob- *• blestone paths with Lou or Oz on his back

laughing riotously. Once he had even run right out of his loafers and then let the children

chase him down and put mem back on after a spirited struggle. Later, to the delight of all,

he hung upside down while he performed on the swings. It was exactly what the Cardinal

family needed. At day's end the children had collapsed on their parents, and they all had

napped right there, a huge ball of wild-angled limbs, deep breathing, and the contented

sighs of tired, happy people at rest. A part of Amanda could have lain there the rest of her

life, and felt as though she had accomplished all the world could ever reasonably demand

of her.

Now, as they returned to the city, to a very small but cherished home that would not be

theirs much longer, Amanda felt a growing uneasiness. She did not particularly care for

confrontation, but Amanda also knew it was sometimes necessary when the cause was

important. She checked the backseat. Oz was sleeping. Lou's face was turned to the

window; she also appeared to be dozing. Since she rarely had her husband all to herself,

Amanda decided now was the time.

She said softly to Jack, "We really need to talk about California."

Her husband squinted although there was no sun; in fact the darkness was almost

complete around them. "The movie studio already has writing assignments lined up," he

said.

She noted that he stated this without a trace of enthusiasm. Emboldened by this, Amanda