Worth

Chapter 12 (cont.)

"We're at Buttermilk Baby. It's that plaza with the Portrait Studio on Driscoll Street."

"Give me twenty minutes and keep your phone on."

With her knight coming to her rescue, Olivia's mood improved quickly. The stranded threesome decided to kill some time in a tacky wedding gift shop where they cracked themselves up over items such as full length satin gloves for babies, 'Your-Face-Here!' dining ware sets and a number of money boxes depicting embarrassed angels looking for handouts. When Lee called to say he'd been idling for five minutes at the wrong strip mall Olivia offered to buy him a sculpture of a dove/bald eagle hybrid that had been given large black eyebrows by some joker on the assembly line. He declined. Course corrected, the women soon returned to the parking lot all patience and good humour. At last, the healthy put-putting of a familiar car rounding a corner curb caused them all to look in the same direction.

"What?" Olivia's jaw dropped.

There was Lee with his big reassuring smile, (or depending on perspective, his idiotic grin,) sitting in the driver's seat with his father, Carl, beside him and the sisters' father, Byron, in the backseat next to Lee's friend, Mike, making the rescue squad a four member team. Olivia exploded.

"WHAT?!"

Lee honked merrily.

"Are you kidding?! Why did you all come?"

"Nice thank you," Lee said, reddening as he rolled the window down further. "I told you we finished the game early."

"Yes, but what are you all doing here? How are we all supposed to fit in the car?"

"We can sit on each other's laps. It would've taken too long to drop everyone off. How long did you want to wait?"

"We're going to get pulled over. How are you even going to see over me?" Lee gaped at his wife, incredulous at her overreaction.

"Livvie," their father said, "just get in the car. Lee pop the trunk."

"Dad," Violet complained, not too happy about the prospect of having to park it on some Mike character's lap.

Byron chuckled unashamedly. "What? Don't everyone stand around looking miserable."

"It doesn't make much sense, that's all," said Violet.

"Your father did it on purpose, I'm sure," Evelyn said. "If I'm going to sit on his lap I need to do it in the front seat." She had a resentful circulatory system.

"Dad, you drive," said Lee. "Olivia sits on my lap in the back."

"Is that going to be all right?" Violet asked her sister who had an infrequent tendency towards violent motion sickness.

"If I keep the window rolled down I should be okay," she snarled.  

Mike seemed to have second thoughts then about carpooling. Lee directed his friend to stay put and told Violet to crawl in back next to him, which she did reluctantly, careful of her cupcakes.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Lee asked.

"Looking for my glasses," said Carl.

"Check your coat pocket. Olivia, come on."

With a punishing glance, Olivia climbed on top of her husband and swatted away his tickling hand, annoyed.

"Sooo," said Violet while everyone shifted uncomfortably. "Who won?"

Carl stepped on the gas.

"We did, of course," said Lee, squeezing Olivia's arm and kissing her shoulder despite coat lint.