Caleb 34 - An Ex

Nana Babi turned her gaze on me. "So, who are you?" she asked. I understood the question.

"I am a friend of Josh and Louise's," I said, "and these three ladies are my fiancés."

She cackled at that.

"Good for you," she said. "I hope you are, all four, very happy together."

I didn't correct her about Ness. It was becoming exhausting, and the visit most certainly wasn't about the five of us.

She turned her gaze to Josh. "And this is..." she began.

Louise, who had been sitting by Nana Babi, extended her hand to Josh, inviting him over from where he sat.

"This is my Josh," she said, "the man I love."

Josh held out his hand. "I'm pleased to meet you Ms. -"

"Pah! None of that," spat the old lady. "Call me Nana Babi, like everyone else." She took his hand and stared up at him. "Are you a good man?"

"I try to be," he replied.

"That's all anyone can ask," she mused. "Do you love my Louise?"

He looked at Louise and then opened his mouth to answer.

"Never mind," said Nana Babi. "I already saw your answer. Look after her. She is a precious soul and I love her dearly. It would make me sad for her to be hurt."

"I will," he said.

"I will speak to Keenan," she said. "I will tell him that if he contacts you again, or in any way causes you distress, I will write him out of my will. I'm almost tempted to do it anyway." She gave a little grin. "Still, I think it'll be more fun for him to try to atone for his misdeeds. Apparently, my money is the only effective motivator, so he'll be dealing with me."

I'd already judged Keenan to be a little shit, so I wasn't going to whisper a word in his defense. Still, I considered it ironic that his lust for his grandmother's money stemmed in large part from his desire to be free of his own parents. In my mind, that it made it all the more egregious that he'd drafted Louise's parents to put such pressure on her. Then again, since he'd clearly given up the game to them, it was hard to see how he would've avoided Louise getting access to the money too, had she succumbed. Maybe, in a twisted way, he'd justified the whole debacle by convincing himself that he was freeing them both from similar prisons. Louise's parents' willingness to play along was certainly some evidence in support.

I saw Nana's blue eyes regarding me with shocking clarity and intensity. "You're thinking about the money, aren't you?" she asked me.

Louise gasped. "Nana, no, Caleb isn't like -"

Nana waved her off. "Not like that, dear. No. He's thinking about how rotten the family tree seems, and how it all seems to stem from that one shade of green." She sighed. "I wish it weren't so. I tried so hard to raise them right. Grandmothers aren't supposed to have to discipline their grandchildren, either. They're supposed to be allowed to spoil them."

"Adults have to take some responsibility," I offered.

She seemed grateful for that. "Mmm, and Keenan's right on the line. That's why I'm giving him one last chance."

She looked at Louise. Her clarity didn't fade, necessarily, but the strength behind it did. "Will you come see me sometimes?" she asked a little wistfully. "I've missed you."

"Of course," said Louise. "Now that I know you aren't angry with me, I'd love to come and see you. We're only a couple of hours' drive away. Maybe you could come to see us too. You should come and stay for the weekend sometime. Caleb is a really good cook." She blushed. "I mean, if that's okay with you, Caleb. Sorry, Nana Babi. We all live in Caleb's house."

"Of course it's okay," I said. "You would be welcome."

Nana Babi reached into a bag that was sitting on the floor next to her.

"What Keenan did, has potentially damaged your relationship with your parents," she said. She pulled out a checkbook and a pen. She scribbled on it for a moment and then tore out a check and handed it to Louise. "If your parents do stop supporting you, then this should take care of your expenses for the next year."

Louise looked at the paper in her hand. Her eyes went as wide as dinner plates. "Nana Babi, I can't..." she began.

The old lady held up her hand. "You can and you will," she said. "I'll take it out of Keenan's inheritance." She cackled again. Louise smiled at that.

"Be happy with your new young man," she said, "but don't forget this old lady?"

Louise hugged her. "Nana Babi," she said, "I'll come and see you again soon, I promise. Think about coming and spending some time with us too, please?"

Nana Babi shook her head. "I'm too old to travel," she said. "It hurts me to drive even to the local store. But I'll be content to see you and your young man whenever you are able. Please don't forget about me."

The old lady looked tired. She was obviously in some pain. I surreptitiously went in and blocked some of her pain signals, easing it a little. She sighed. We visited for nearly three hours. Nana Babi told stories about when she was younger, and Louise caught her up on what had been going on in her life since they'd last spoken. The girls and I got drawn into the conversation, but I could see that Nana Babi was starting to flag. Louise noticed too.

"You look tired, Nana," said Louise. "I think it's time we were going. You need to rest."

"I'm sorry," Nana Babi said. "I'm not as young as I was. Claire will show you out, but please come back, Louise. I missed you."

"I missed you too," Louise said, gently embracing the old lady once more.

Nana Babi grasped Josh's hand. "Look after her," she said.

"I will," he promised.

Claire showed us to the door.

"I haven't seen her that happy for some time," she said as we walked through the lobby. "Thanks for coming, Louise. Please do come back." Her face darkened a little. "You'd better make it soon. Nana Babi is ill and probably hasn't long left - six months, maybe a year."

Louise's eyes filled with tears. "Two weeks?" she asked. "Not next weekend; the weekend after. We'll come to see her then."

Claire smiled. "I'll tell her closer to the time," she said. "Take my number and call me to confirm."

"Okay," said Louise.

"And don't forget to bank that check," said Claire. "She will be really upset if you don't."

Louise looked at the check in her hand. "But..."

"Just bank it, and use it wisely," said Claire.

Louise nodded.

We all wanted to know, but nobody wanted to ask. Eventually, it was Amanda who couldn't hold out any longer. We had been driving about twenty minutes before she broke.

"How much?" she asked simply.

Louise, who had been clutching the check in her hand, held it out to Amanda, who took it and stared.

"One hundred thousand dollars?" she said wonderingly.

"I can't..." began Louise, but I interrupted.

"You will upset and insult that old lady if you don't deposit that," I said. "She was going to give Keenan twenty million. One hundred thousand, while a lot of money to you, is not a lot to her. She can afford it, and she wants you to have it. Make an old lady happy and make your own life easier. Now you don't need to worry about rent, car insurance or working for a cranky, lecherous boss like me. You can enjoy the last year of college, whether your parents cut you off or not."

Louise took the check back when Amanda offered it to her, folded it carefully, and put it in her purse.

"Caleb," she said a few minutes later.

"Hmm?" I asked. I had begun to doze. Long car journeys where I wasn't driving did that to me.

"Thank you," she said. "I seem to be saying that a lot, but I really don't know what we would have done without you. You made everything better. I don't know what's going to happen between me and my parents. I guess we'll sort it out eventually, but you really did save me - save us."

"Yeah," said Josh. "Thanks. I don't know where we would be without your help. I don't know how we are ever going to be able to repay you."

"I have a few ideas where we can start though," said Louise, with a glint in her eye.