Carol knew that her dalliance with the Frenchman could not be kept a secret forever. Her face read like an open book and her eldest daughter was a master at reading between the lines.
“What did you do in Ottawa?” Lauren asked.
Carol countered with another question. “Have you been talking to Heather?”
“Just in a message last week when I texted her at work to see how you were doing. Heather said you were going to the Ottawa Summer Exhibition and I was just wondering if you had a good time.”
“Carol: Chapter Two” is a follow-up to “A Frenchman, A Canal and a Woman Past Her Prime” written by Carolyn MacArthur.
“Oh. I did. I had a lovely afternoon. The walk along the canal was so relaxing. I met a lovely young couple who stopped to ask for directions; and I even visited a vintage wine shop on the way to…,” Carol’s rambling came to a sudden stop. She had backed herself into a corner leaving only two choices: an outright lie or a watered down version of the truth.
“Truthfully, I didn’t make it to the exhibition. I met a gentleman on the way and spent the afternoon with him.” Feeling relief in having told the truth, Carol hoped her sketchy answer would satisfy her daughter’s curiosity.
Heather, who had just returned home from Ottawa, and Leeann, Carol’s middle daughter, came into the kitchen just in time to hear Lauren ask, “What man? Where did you go with him? Was there wine involved?
Carol told her three daughters all about her afternoon spent with the Frenchman—about the café, about his paintings, and how they had so much in common. She left out the part about the caressing and the kiss at the front door.
Lauren questioned her mother’s sanity and wondered if Carol had any idea of the danger she could have been in. Leeann took a more liberal view saying that she loved that her mother, at her age, had an adventure of any kind and wished she had called the number and met the man for lunch the next day. They all agreed that they were relieved nothing untoward happened to their mother.
With the story of her ‘almost affair’ done and dusted, life for Carol returned to normal. She never spoke of the Frenchman again and only thought of him briefly when she came across his business card and the postcard he gave her of a flamed haired violinist he had painted, as she pasted yet another clipping or item that related to France in her scrapbook.
With her milestone birthday fast approaching, Carol wondered what surprise her daughters had in store for her. They always made such a fuss every year, and for her last milestone birthday, they rented a Cessna plane so her son-in-law could fly her over her neighbourhood for a thrilling aerial view. All she knew about her pending birthday was that she was supposed to be at Heather’s house at 6:30 pm.
Carol knocked on the front door of Heather and Darren’s townhouse. She could hear the excited voices of her three youngest grandchildren shouting, “She’s here! She’s here! Let’s hide!”
As Heather opened the front door, Carol could hear the dulcet sounds of French music playing in the background. She was intrigued.
Heather, Leeann, and Lauren, dressed in black outfits, were wearing pink aprons that they had made especially for the occasion. Set out on Heather’s dining table was an array of French cuisine that they had prepared from scratch, bottles of the finest French wine, a variety of specialty cheeses, baguettes, croissants, colourful macarons and other delectable pâtisseries. In the centre of the table, a candle burned brightly in a mini Eiffel Tower. Carol was speechless.
“You are always talking about going to Paris, so we brought Paris to you,” Lauren explained with a smile.
“I cannot believe this. This is so amazing!” Carol said examining each and every item before her eyes wanting to take in every single French inspired detail. Just when she was about to thank her daughters, her three youngest grandchildren, wearing berets and neckerchiefs, came running from their hiding places. “Bon jour, grand-mère,” they repeated over and over.
“Ok, kids. That was great.” Heather turned to her mother and said laughingly, “It took forever to teach them to say that. Now they won’t stop!”
“It was beautiful! I am overwhelmed by everything. Thank you all so much. This is the best birthday surprise I could have ever wished for.”
“And it’s not over,” chimed in Leeann. “Check out the backyard.”
More than just surprised, Carol was puzzled by the variety of guests gathered in the backyard: a friend from high school who was a mutual friend of Carol’s cousin, but no sign of her cousin, one of her best friends from her neighbourhood with a man Carol had never seen before, two cousins and their husbands, their sister, but not their brother nor his wife, a former friend and her sister, Darren’s parents, Heather’s best friend, two more sons-in-law, and one more grandchild.
After greeting every guest, and finding out that the stranger in the crowd was Janice’s new boyfriend and learning that Julie was not well enough to attend, Carol took the seat of honour on the patio. Family and friends were exceedingly generous with their gifts. Some kept within the theme of the party and brought bottles of French wine. Others brought gifts of flowers and plants. And Darren’s parents gave Carol a digital camera. By the time Carol was presented the gift from her three daughters, her sons-in-law and four grandchildren, the sun had gone down. Someone handed Carol a flashlight so she could read the card and clearly see the contents of a box in the guise of a big book. With her three youngest grandchildren crowded around her, Carol opened the box and with minor difficulty balancing the box and the flashlight, read the small print on the paper tucked in the box, “Destination: Charles de Gaulle Airport, October 5th, 2008.” In disbelief, Carol read it again and asked, “Paris?” Carol said with a shaky voice. With great emotion she confirmed, “Paris? I’m going to Paris, France?”
Not really comprehending the overwhelming emotion Carol was feeling, the eldest of the three smallest grandchildren asked, “Why is Gran crying?”
Yes, indeed, Gran was crying; and so were her three daughters and every guest who was there to witness a dream come true.
“You are going to Paris for twelve nights and thirteen days, Mom. We booked an apartment in the heart of Paris. Surprise!” exclaimed Lauren who was riding high on all the excitement and a few glasses of fine wine.
“And there is one more gift from Tish and Wanda,” Leeann added. “You will see why they waited until you opened your present from us to give you their gift.”
From a phone call to Lauren weeks before the party to ask what Carol might like as a gift, Tish and Wanda, upon learning about the Paris trip, decided a tour book of the City of Lights and a big, shiny, black, catchall bag would be the perfect gift. Carol was delighted by their thoughtful gift--especially the book that held on its pages many of the sites she would be seeing, which until now, were only visited in her dreams.
In the following nine weeks between her surprise birthday party and her departure to Paris, Carol talked about her pending trip to anyone who would listen. She was surprised at how many people had been to Paris, some having been there several times. Each person offered suggestions of what of she should add to her must-see list.
Carol spent countless hours scanning her tour book from Tish and Wendy and earmarked dozen of pages describing more places than she could ever hope to see in thirteen days. Carol searched her computer for help brushing up on the French she learned so many years ago in high school as she knew that a few select phrases would prove invaluable. And still not satisfied that she had enough knowledge, she purchased two more travel books at Indigo’s.
As the day of the flight drew closer, Carol’s anxiety about flying across the ocean alone increased to the point that she took time away from her daily planning to research everything listed under “fear of flying and how to conquer it”. Nothing was going to stop her from travelling to Paris. It was a welcomed relief, therefore, when Lauren, who was celebrating a milestone birthday herself the following month, was given a ticket to Paris by her generous husband, Connor. With levelled headed Lauren as her travelling companion Carol could metaphorically keep her feet on the ground while flying high in the sky.
Let the fun continue…