| General Fiction posted April 6, 2024 | Chapters: |
...31 32 -33- 34... 
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A trip to Saugatuck
A chapter in the book What We See
What We See - Chapter 29
by Jim Wile
| Background A high school teacher wrongly accused of sexual assault reinvents his life. |
Recap of Chapter 28: After two weeks, although Alan can find no fault with Warren’s work, he strikes Ginnie as somewhat creepy from the few times she has met him, making her feel uncomfortable in his presence. He’s also rather brusque with Tommy.
Alan is paid a visit one afternoon by Callie Lyons and her older cousin, Abby St. Claire. Alan finds out that Abby has a mechanical engineering background and has worked with miniaturization, and he asks her if she wouldn’t mind if he called her to talk over ideas this summer. They exchange phone numbers.
Alan introduces Warren to Abby and Callie, and he immediately makes Abby feel uncomfortable. When the girls leave, Warren makes crude remarks about Abby’s good looks, which Alan does not approve of. He later tells Ginnie about the meeting with Abby and about how creepy Warren was with her.
Chapter 29
5 months later
Early October, 1986
Throughout the summer, business continued to be brisk. Tommy had joined Warren and me, working 28 hours per week this summer, and was becoming much more independent in his work. I could turn over certain repairs to him with complete confidence that he would do them right. I still checked over his work, but he rarely made a mistake anymore.
Warren had even asked if he could put in some overtime hours. Apparently, he had suffered a couple of major losses at the poker table and needed the extra cash to make up for it. This suited me just fine, because there was plenty of work to do. Plus, it afforded me more time to work on my invention.
Abby and I had spoken on the phone quite a few times during the summer. She proved to be an excellent brainstormer. I eventually told her what the components she was helping me with were for, and she was very excited about the project. Complete miniaturization was probably still a ways off, but I was near to completing my first prototype with larger parts, which I hoped to finish in another couple of months.
In early summer, I followed up my first programming class with a second advanced programming concepts class for my four middle schoolers. These four had breezed through the first class and had been bugging me for a couple of months to start up a second one. They had all bought refurbished computers from me and were champing at the bit to learn more. In addition, they had all become fast friends and hung out together quite often this summer.
I took advantage of this friendship last month when Miss Ida paid me a visit. She had brought a portable space heater with her that quit working and wondered if I could fix it.
“It start gettin’ cold at night now that autumn almos’ here. I keep this goin’ at night in my bedroom, ‘cause I ain’t got enough blankets to do the job.”
“I think I’ll be able to fix this, Miss Ida. Since you’re here, I wanted to ask you something. I’ve got big plans for a short trip next month with Tommy’s mom up to Saugatuck, Michigan. I plan to ask her something, and I’d prefer it just be the two of us.”
“Oh, I think I know what that be, Mr. Alan. You know’d her what now, ‘bout a year? Tha's enough time. I s’pose you want Leroy to invite Tommy to stay with us. That right?”
“That’s right. So, what do you think? Would you and your son and daughter-in-law mind?”
“Oh, we’d love to have Tommy for a few days. He an’ Leroy good friends now. I’ll talk to my son, but I’m sure they be okay with it. I’ll have ‘em call you tonight.”
“Thank you so much, Miss Ida. I want this to be a very special weekend. I haven’t told Ginnie about it yet. She has no idea what I’m planning.”
“Well, that sound very special awright. You buy her a ring?”
“Shhh.”
“Don’t chu worry. I ‘on’t tell nobody.” She gave me a big smile and a hug then. “Okay, den. I have my son call you tonight. You take care now,” and she left smiling.
Later that night, Leroy’s mother called, saying they would be glad to have Tommy stay with them for a few days. I thanked her very much and said I would be in touch with them later with more details and exact dates.
Now it was time to ask Ginnie about it. The next night, after dinner, Tommy went into the living room to watch a playoff baseball game while Ginnie and I cleared the table. Before starting to do the dishes, I took her in my arms and said, “How about you and I take a little vacation for a few days up in Michigan in a few weeks? I was thinking of Saugatuck. It will be peak leaf season then, and it ought to be very pretty.”
“Mmm! Just the two of us?”
“Yep. I’ve already asked the Beemans if they’d mind keeping Tommy for a few days. It was no problem for them. So, what do you think?”
“I love the idea. What days do you have in mind? I may have to take some time off work.”
“I was thinking of going up on a Thursday and coming back that Sunday. Three nights away.”
“That sounds wonderful. I’m sure I’ll be able to get those days off.”
“I’ll also plan on giving Warren that Thursday and Friday off as well.”
“Good idea.”
“Mmm. I hope there will be plenty of that,” she murmured.
“I’m counting on it,” I said, kissing her again. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
That was three weeks ago. This afternoon, we checked into the Hotel Saugatuck, which was a beautiful, recently renovated hotel right on Kalamazoo Lake and only a mile or two from the Lake Michigan shore. Saugatuck itself was a lovely, quaint little town known as an art center for the many art studios and shops in the downtown area, which was a couple of miles from our hotel. We decided to spend the first night having dinner at the hotel, and on subsequent days we would explore the town and its fine restaurants. After checking in at 3:00, we made a reservation for 7:00 tonight.
We were shown to our own separate cottage apart from the main building, and it was beautifully appointed. It overlooked the lake and had a fireplace, a king-size bed, a large, jetted tub, and its own private patio. It was built for a romantic getaway, and we planned to take full advantage of that.
To set the mood properly, after unpacking, I presented Ginnie with a small box wrapped in silver paper with a white bow.
“What is this?” she asked me, smiling broadly.
“Open it and find out.”
She was not one to save wrapping paper and ripped it off in short order. She opened up the box, and I reached inside and removed its contents. I got down on one knee and said, “Virginia Boardman, I love you with all of my heart, and I can no longer picture my life without you and Tommy being a part of it. Will you please do me the great honor of being my wife and marrying me?” I said this, looking right into her eyes, which began watering.
“It would put rather a damper on the weekend if I said no, wouldn’t it?”
“I would think so, yes.”
“Well, I’d better say yes then. David Alan Phelps, I will gladly become your wife. Now get up here, where I can thank you properly.”
I rose then and placed the ring on the ring finger of her left hand, after which we embraced and shared a gentle kiss. This led to a more passionate kiss, and we spent the rest of the afternoon until dinnertime doing what we’d mainly come here to do.
 Recognized |
CHARACTERS
Alan Phelps: The narrator of the story. He is a 28-year-old high school physics and natural science teacher in Grantham, Indiana in 1985.
Archie: David's orange tabby cat
Tommy Boardman: Alan's 12-year-old next door neighbor. He is dyslexic like Alan.
Ginnie Boardman: Tommy's mother. She is 30 years old and is an ICU nurse.
Artie Intintoli: Tommy's friend who also lives on Loser St.
Ida Beeman: Alan's first customer. She is a nice old lady who lives on Loser Street.
Leroy Beeman: Miss Ida's grandson and Tommy's friend.
Callie Lyons: A nice girl in Tommy's class at school.
Warren Meyers: Alan's assistant in the repair shop.
Abby St. Claire: Callie's cousin who is a math major with an engineering minor at Penn State University.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. Alan Phelps: The narrator of the story. He is a 28-year-old high school physics and natural science teacher in Grantham, Indiana in 1985.
Archie: David's orange tabby cat
Tommy Boardman: Alan's 12-year-old next door neighbor. He is dyslexic like Alan.
Ginnie Boardman: Tommy's mother. She is 30 years old and is an ICU nurse.
Artie Intintoli: Tommy's friend who also lives on Loser St.
Ida Beeman: Alan's first customer. She is a nice old lady who lives on Loser Street.
Leroy Beeman: Miss Ida's grandson and Tommy's friend.
Callie Lyons: A nice girl in Tommy's class at school.
Warren Meyers: Alan's assistant in the repair shop.
Abby St. Claire: Callie's cousin who is a math major with an engineering minor at Penn State University.
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