Chapter 8
Roger opened his eyes; instinctively knowing that someone was watching him. He turned and looked at Janice. She was lying on her side watching him.
She put her hand on his arm, "Thanks for listening to me last night. I guess the Margaritas loosened up my tongue. I haven't talked to anyone about what happened. I don't like reliving that weekend."
Roger started to answer her but she gently put her hand over his mouth, "I'm sorry that I couldn't have sex with you last night; I'm just not ready for that. Thanks for not trying. One of these days I'll get the demons out of my head and be able to have a relationship."
Roger changed the subject and they lay in bed talking for a long time about whatever came into their heads. Janice talked for a long while about her experiences growing up in San Diego and he saw that sparkle in her eyes when she told him about her parents and particularly about her father. He saw that there was a special relationship with her father. He remembered hearing somewhere that all girls thought that their father was a God.
Janice started monopolizing the conversation and he found out that, when she and Bart had left San Diego, that she only had one year to go before she got her nursing degree. From the look on her face when she told him that he was sure that she still would love being a nurse.
Roger looked at his watch and was surprised to see that it was ten-thirty. They had been talking for almost three hours.
"How about getting some breakfast?" he asked.
She looked under the covers, "Is this all that I wore last night? I hope no one saw me walking in the hallway. How am I going to get back to my room?"
Roger flipped the covers back and got out of bed, "I'll go and get your clothes. You stay here and get ready in this bathroom and I'll get ready in your room.
Without waiting for an answer he grabbed her key and went to her room. He found all of her clothes and carefully carried them back to his room. He told her to hurry up and left to get ready himself. He hung a "do-not-disturb" sign on each door and started to take a shower.
After he had finished washing, he let the water run over him for a while trying to wake up. He began to think about Janice and her troubles in Scranton. A plan came to him as he stepped out of the shower. He hurriedly shaved, brushed his teeth and got dressed. He checked the yellow pages in the phone book that the hotel had provided for their guests and saw that there was a travel agent in Clark Summit, just a few blocks from the hotel. He called the number and made an appointment with a travel agent for the early afternoon.
Roger dialed the phone in his room and Janice answered right away, "Are you ready yet?"
Janice assured him that it was Ok to come back to his own room and he stepped into the hallway. He knocked on the door and Janice opened it and smiled.
He stepped into the room and turned to her, "Janice, sit on the bed. I'd like to talk to you about something."
Janice looked at him strangely, trying to figure out if something was wrong. He stood in front of her, afraid that she might feel that that he was going to make a pass at her or something.
"Janice, I've listened to you and watched you as you talked about San Diego. I think that it's time for you to go back home. That's where your heart is. If you want to go back home, I'll pay for your airfare."
Tears welled up in her eyes, "I can't let you do that. Besides, I don't even know if I can go back home. My father was ready to murder Bart when we left. He told me that he never wanted to see me again."
"Well two things, Janice. First, I told you that I made a lot of money when I sold my company. My parents also left me a nice bank account. Second, you'll never know if you can go back home unless you ask."
He handed her his cell phone. Janice looked at the phone for a long time before she took it from him. She held the phone in her lap for a while, trying to get up her courage, and then raised her head and looked at him as if seeking his Ok.
"Call them. If they say it's Ok to come home, tell them that you'll be home tomorrow. Now call them."
Janice dialed the phone. He stood next to her in case the phone call didn't go as well as he hoped it would. Roger knew he would only be able to hear her side of the conversation.
Janice paused for a few seconds as the phone rang, "Hello Mom this is Janice."
"I'm Ok Mom. Bart's dead. He got killed in a motorcycle accident a couple of months ago."
"I don't know why, I guess that I felt that you wouldn't want to know."
"I know Mom. I guess I've just been too ashamed to admit that you were right and that I was a fool."
"No Mom, things aren't going too well for me here. Mom, do you think you could talk to Daddy and ask him if it would be Ok for me to come back home? I'm so homesick."
"Oh Daddy. I didn't know that you were on the phone too. Can I come home Daddy? I love the both of you so much and I miss you so much."
The tears started flowing and she got a big grin on her face and started nodding her head vigorously. Roger made a motion with his hand telling her that he would be in the hallway. He knew that she would want a little privacy.
He stood in the hallway for about ten minutes before she opened the door and motioned for him to come back inside. As soon as he closed the door she threw her arms around his neck and started crying loudly. She held his neck so tight that she was hurting him. He finally pulled her off of his neck and sat her on the bed.
"What are you going to do when you get back home?" he asked.
She shrugged her shoulders and Roger sat on the bed next to her. You told me that you only have one more year to get your nursing degree. You're going to go back and get that degree. I'll pay for all of your expenses for the year. I'll call my lawyer and you can tell him what college and give him your home address and phone number so that he can check to see if you need anything else that we haven't thought of."
She started shaking her head, "I can't let you do that. It's enough that you're willing to pay my airfare. I'll get a job when I get back."
"Look Janice, I told you that I could afford it. Besides, in my senior years I might need a nurse to take care of me. I'll call you and you'd better come right away."
Roger dialed Hal Iverson's phone number and spoke with him for a while. He told Hal what he was doing and then handed the cell phone to Janice so that Hal could get the information that he would need. After she hung up the phone she sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the floor as if she was in shock.
Roger reached for her hand and pulled her off of the bed, "Come on we've got a lot to do today."
When she looked at him quizzically he replied, "We have to get you some clothes. If you go back home with just the clothes on your back it will look like you were run out of Scranton. Now come on. That Boscov's looked like it had a good selection."
Before she could answer he pulled her toward the door and into the hall. In the hallway he let go of her hand and she followed him to the truck. He drove to the closest restaurant and they had brunch. Janice talked about San Diego and thanked him several times for his help. He watched as she talked and he smiled. The sparkle in her eyes and the smile on her lips was worth what it was going to cost him.
After they had finished eating he asked the waitress were the travel agent's office was and found that they were only about a block from the office. He drove to the travel agent's office and took her inside and purchased a ticket for the next afternoon. The plane was to leave from the Wilkes Barr-Scranton International Airport.
In the car she looked at the ticket, "Why did you get a first class ticket? I can fly coach. Just as long as I get back home."
He smiled at her, "A first class ticket for a first class woman."
He drove to Steamtown Mall and found a space in a parking lot close to the store. Boscovs was crowded and Roger told Janice that he insisted she buy enough clothes to get her started in San Diego. He reminded her that the climate was much different than in Scranton. When she finally began to relax and began to pick out some clothes he excused himself and told her that he had to make a stop at the bank across the street. He left her mulling over a suit and walked out the door and crossed the street to the bank. When he got back about forty-five minutes later she was still trying on clothes.
It was just starting to get dark when they finished shopping. Roger had kept pressuring her to buy enough clothes so that she wouldn't have buy clothes when she got back home. When he paid the bill he saw that she was self-conscious about him buying clothes.
It took several trips for him to get the bags stashed in his truck. On the last trip Janice took his arm and walked back to the truck with him. He unlocked the door for her and helped her into the truck. As he slid into the truck she turned and thanked him sheepishly for buying the clothes.
"How are we going to get all of this to San Diego?" She asked with a big grin.
"You decide what you're going to wear tomorrow for the trip back and I'll have the rest of it packed and shipped by FedEx. It will be there the day after you get back."
Roger turned the key and started the truck.