After dinner, her parents decided to retire early in their room so Veronica was left to clean up for the night. It was also later that evening when she decided to call her friend, April. She sat on the swing hanging on their front porch with a steaming cup of dark chocolate in one hand while her phone is on the other.
A light drizzle came earlier in the afternoon so the smell of damp earth lingered. Frogs continued to croak from under a tree somewhere while the chimes hanging by their front door started to ring when a gush of cold wind passed. She hugged her knees closer to her chest in an attempt to keep herself warm while waiting for her call to be answered.
It took a couple of rings before the other line responded. "Roni! I've been waiting for your call." April greeted, her voice in a high-pitched tone. A combination of electric music and laughter mixed with her voice.
"Hey," she began, "-I thought about what you said and-"
"Hold on, let me move to a quieter place," April said and the noise from before slowly died down. "Okay, go on. Sorry for that, I went out with a couple of friends."
Veronica let out a sigh, "That's fine. Anyway, as I was saying, I'll do it-"
April squealed in delight before she even get to finish and she can almost picture the smile on her friend's face that she hasn't personally seen in years.
"You won't regret it, I promise. I'm going to treat you right forever and ever."
She can't help but laugh at her reaction, "I haven't found a place to stay yet so is it okay if I crash in yours for a couple of days?"
"Absolutely! God, I'm so excited. We're going to catch up on so many things." April started to ramble, "-you owe me days' worth of chat by the way. I mean, you suddenly went MIA. If my mom didn't tell me that you decided to become a farmer back home, I wouldn't have known."
A chuckle escaped Veronica after hearing April's speech. "I've been gardening and sorry. I'll make it up to you. I'll bring beer and snacks. My treat."
"That's a promise."
The two chatted for a few more minutes before April got called by her friends so they decided to end the call with April saying she'd send her an email about work.
The week flew by fast and Veronica is now sending her parents off. She loaded her mother's luggage on the backseat of their pickup truck and handed her the basket of snacks she prepared that morning so they can eat anytime while on the road.
"You didn't forget anything?" she asked.
"We're good." her mother gently smiled at her before squeezing her hand affectionately.
"-And I already asked Aunt Penny next door to take care of the garden while you're gone," Veronica added pertaining to April's mother whose house is right next to them.
"Thanks for helping us get everything ready, sweety." she replied with a grateful tone.
Lucia looked a bit haggard as she and her husband had to make last-minute arrangements to go on a trip. Still, a part of her felt relieved to finally be able to go on vacation after what happened to Benjamin. She knew that they both needed this vacation. Now, she's kind of glad that Benjamin's made-up vacation plans turned out to be for the better. It might not be so bad after all.
Meanwhile, Veronica watched her dad who was busy loading the last of their things at the back of the truck. He then walked over to the driver's seat to try swiping the side mirror with a hand in an attempt to clear the fog that formed there. "You guys sure don't want me to come?"
Benjamin looked at her before letting out a small chuckle while he gave his daughter a tight hug. "You should go ahead of us, Roni. You'll be driving a few hours to get to the city too."
Veronica shook her head and hugged her father a bit more tighter. "Be careful, alright? Don't forget to take your meds."
Benjamin stroke the back of his daughter's head before landing a quick kiss on top of it just like what he always did ever since she was a kid.
"We'll be careful, I promise."
She let go of her dad and gave her mom the same hug. Lucia kissed her daughter's cheek before hopping inside the passenger seat of the vehicle.
At the same time, Veronica also got inside her car. She rolled down her windows, "Call me when you get there, okay?" she shouted one last time before finally waving them goodbye. Gravel and rocks crunched under the tires of her parents' truck as they move to cross the driveway and towards the road.
With a sigh, she too started her own car, made one last look at their family home, and prepared to drive throughout the day.
A few hours on the road later, she finally reached April's apartment by dinner time. Parking by the curb in front of the three-story building, she observes the place once more and nothing really changed. Everything surprisingly looked the same except for the convenience store on the first floor of the apartment building. With an exhausted sigh, Veronica went out of the driver's side, unlocked the backseat of the car, and started to grab her bags.
****
Beatrice made sure that the news of her constant headaches reached her grandson's office. And just as she predicted, he visited her one day to tell her to have it checked right away with Dr. Fritz, their family doctor.
She dismissed him at first telling him she's fine but he insisted and even threatened to bring the old doctor personally in her office. Beatrice, of course, disagreed and told him that even if he's Ford's exclusive physician, Allan Fritz is an important family friend of his grandparents so she respects him to not be the type to be drag around by someone younger than him no matter how wealthy and powerful.
In the end, both agreed to just set an appointment and personally come to the doctor's clinic after following Cedric's schedule to visit the site to check if the building progress of Edward Ford Academy is coming along in time for the annual charity event.
Beatrice glanced at her grandson who's talking with the person in charge of the academy's building progress. Truth be told, she wanted to stay in the comfort of her office. Unlike before, fieldwork and inspection are not someone of her age enjoyed anymore. Sure, she's very hands-on before but that was when she was young and training to be her mother's successor. Now, she has Cedric to replace her, retirement sounded a lot more appealing to her more than ever.
But as much as she wanted to stay behind the comfort of her office, Beatrice had to do what she has to. And this is the perfect time to kick start her plan in the guise of overwork under the sun.
Beneath the heat of the sun, she carefully walked towards the grassy quad surrounded by several buildings made for the academy. She remembered how her husband, Ed, always talked about building a school for children who couldn't afford to get into one. He would have loved to see all these in person. Beatrice fought a smile as the side of her lips started to curve upward.
She imagined how he'd react if he knew of her plan to trick their grandson. How she'd give everything up to see his face again. Her Edward.
And then Beatrice slowly closed her eyes and let herself fall limp on the grass.
_to be continued_