"Good," she said. "Now let's talk about something else. Have you heard from Laura?"
"As a matter of fact, she called last night," said Jack.
"How's the play?"
"It seems to be going very well, judging from the way she was gushing. You know how she gets when she's excited about something. She's having fun, anyway."
Sara smiled. "I'm glad. I'd love to see her in it."
"I'm sure she'll be willing to give you a command performance when she gets back. By the way, she sends her love and says please don't have the baby before the 20th."
"I'll take that under advisement. Hey, why don't you go to New York and surprise her? You could on a weekend and take Mark."
"You wouldn't be trying to get rid of me, would you?"
"Of course not. I just think you could use a little fun in your own life right now."
"I don't know. This doesn't seem like a good time for a trip."
"It would only be for a couple of days."
"We'll see."
"I'm serious, Dad. It would be great for you and Mark, and it would mean so much to Laura."
"I'll think about it."
"Well don't take too long. There's not much time."
"Mark might not want to go."
"Will you stop with the excuses? He loves New York almost as much as I do." She leaned back against her pillow. "Remember when you took me?"
"How could I forget? You got airsick when we took off. I thought I was going to have to ask the pilot to turn the plane around."
"It was just the excitement. And it was everything I could have imagined and more -- Times Square, Radio City, Rockefeller Center, Delmonico's, not the mention the Plaza Hotel. It must have cost you a fortune."
He smiled at the memory. It certainly wasn't cheap, but he wouldn't have traded their time for all the money in the world. Her wide-eyed enchantment over Gigi was something he couldn't put a price on. Thank heaven for little girls... "Worth every penny."
"I turned fourteen that week," she said softly, almost as if she were speaking more to herself. "It's been thirty years and I still remember it like it was yesterday. It was the best gift you could have given me."
"It was really more your mother's gift to me. She knew how much I needed to be with you." It was their first Christmas after the divorce, and the only time the three of them didn't spend the holiday together.
Sara squeezed his hand. "I want you to go and take Mark. Do it for me, please?"
"You make it hard to say no when you look like that," he chided her gently. "I'll talk to Mark and see what he says."
That seemed to satisfy her. "I only wish he could have seen you on the stage. He really has no idea how wonderful you were."
"You were always my favorite critic."
"I wasn't the only one who thought so," she reminded him. "Do you ever miss it?"
"Acting? That was another lifetime. As good as it was to me, I certainly don't miss television."
"There are movies, good roles for men your age -- I hear James Garner is doing The Notebook. That role would have been perfect for you."
"Honey, I'm retired. There are things I miss, but that business isn't one of them."
"You miss Mavis, don't you?"
He met her sympathetic eyes with a grudging smile. "I knew I would. After four years you get used to a person." Mavis had surprised them all by marrying a man she met in Las Vegas and moving to Fresno. "I'm happy for her, though. Dan's a terrific guy."
"I know, and I'm happy for her too. I'm just sorry about the timing."
"Like I told her, you gotta grab for the brass ring whenever it comes around."
"That's right," she said earnestly. "And don't you forget it."
tbc
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