Different Circles

“That’s okay,” Laura said. “I do. And it’s Ziggy. I have no doubt about it. She really is in there!”

“Did you doubt that?” Jake asked.

“Not really,” she said. “But until now ... well ... it’s hard to describe. It didn’t really feel real.”

“But now it does?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said happily. “Now it does.”

The Bests had the time of their lives during their trip to California.

The morning after the fish-fry, Jake flew Celia back to Los Angeles. Chase and Grace tagged along for that ride, as Celia and the shy seventeen-year-old had bonded a bit during their time together—they had had a lengthy, in-depth discussion about what it was like to be brought up in a religious family and then to later harbor doubts about the religion in question—and both girls received warm hugs and kisses on the cheeks from the famous singer. The next day Jake, Laura, and the two teens left everyone else to fend for themselves and flew to Hayward Airport just south of Oakland in the San Francisco Bay area. They drove a rental car into The City where Jake had booked them rooms at the Ritz-Carlton. They spent that day and the next exploring San Francisco, doing all the touristy things that people did there, like riding the cable cars, walking across the Golden Gate Bridge, taking in the Haight-Ashbury District and Chinatown, and visiting the wharf and Alcatraz. They dined in fancy restaurants and ate clam chowder out of bread bowls.

The four of them returned to Oceano and two days later the entire group climbed into the plane and flew to Gibbs Field just north of San Diego. Since Laura was along for this trip they had to utilize the toilet as a seat for takeoff and landing—though the door could be secured in the open position when the little room was used for this purpose. Grace and Chase were the two smallest people other than Everett so they were designated to this undignified position—Grace on the way out, Chase on the way back—but once the plane was at cruising altitude, the toilet-seater was allowed to emerge back into the main cabin and sit where Everett’s car seat had been strapped into one of the rear-facing seats (Jake prudently did not mention that if they crashed during landing or takeoff, Everett would stand a decent chance of being the sole survivor due to the seat and his positioning) while someone held the toddler in his or her lap.

In San Diego, the Kingsleys put everyone up in suites in the Sheraton hotel (Jake lied and told Joey that the rooms had been gratis thanks to yet another advertising deal—Joey did not even question that at this point) and the next day they went as a group to the world-famous San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park, Sea World, and rounded out the evening with a fancy dinner at a restaurant atop one of the high-rise hotels. The entire restaurant slowly rotated around, offering views of the harbor and the city during the course of the meal.

The final three days of the Best vacation were spent in Los Angeles. They flew once again to Whiteman Airport and then settled into the Granada Hills house. Though Chase and Grace were once again forced to share a room (and a bed, though it was a big bed), this minor inconvenience was offset by the fact that the house had a swimming pool. The two teens spent a good portion of their mornings and evenings in that pool, and the rest of the Best clan made judicious use of it as well (even Everett). While in LA, they did all the LA things. Jake took them to Hollywood, took them on a limo ride up into the Hollywood Hills, took them to Disneyland, and they had dinner at Pauline’s house and got to meet Obie II, their country music idol. Tabby enjoyed playing with Everett during the visit and Joey and Brian even choked down a few glasses of bourbon on the rocks after Obie informed them, in a voice that implied he was speaking the Word of God Himself, that that was what real men drank.

There was one sour note to the Best’s visit. It came during the LA portion. Joey, feeling an intense sense of family love and appreciation after hanging out with his sister and brother-in-law the last twelve days, decided to call his estranged parents and try to reconnect with them despite his sister Laura’s stern warning that it was a bad idea. He did manage to make contact, but the conversation did not go as he had envisioned.

“Well?” Laura asked gently when she found him sitting by himself on the couch shortly after the phone call. Apparently taking Obie’s words to heart, he was sipping from a glass of Jim Beam Black Label on the rocks.

“Mom answered the phone,” he said, taking a sip.

“Yeah?” she asked, turning and making a careful descent onto the couch to sit next to him. Ziggy had certainly thrown her balance and grace for a loop and she was still trying to adjust to it. “What did she say?”

“You don’t want to hear,” he said sourly.

“No, I really don’t,” she agreed, “but I think I should.”