That One Summer

"That One Summer" - Chapter Four

For the next 2 weeks, life at the Dale family was a repeating cycle. Mr. Dale came home drunk, went to work the next morning, and came home drunk again. Rachel and Paul started helping out around the house more often after Mr. Dale started to become more violent. But one day in late June, the person who was soon destined to change the lives of the Dale family came for a visit.

    Mrs. Dale, Rachel, and Paul were all eating dinner silently when the phone rang. Barely no one called the family during the night, so that night's phone call caused them to look up in confusion. But nonetheless, Mrs. Dale went to pick up the phone since it kept ringing for a long time.

    As soon as Mrs. Dale heard the speaker's voice, she gasped aloud and ran upstairs, leaving the children confused. While finishing up their dinner, Rachel and Paul discussed who the mysterious caller might be. They occasionally heard their mother's voice saying things like, "It's too sudden!" or "No, I don't think now is the best time." But before they knew it, it was already eight o'clock, and Mrs. Dale never came back to the dining table; leaving her dish cold and unfinished.

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    The next morning, Rachel and Paul woke up with a slightly joyful feeling since they knew that their father was gone on his business trip, and was not coming home until late at night. However, when they reached the kitchen, their bubbles were popped when they saw their mother's grave expression. They both quietly decided that they should wait until their mother decided to come out and talk to them from herself.

    Breakfast was quiet again, with the occasional short questions and answers. Finally, however, Mrs. Dale cleared her throat and the children glanced at her, waiting for her to go on.

    "I have...exciting news for you."

    The children waited a bit while Mrs. Dale cleared her throat again. It was as if she didn't think the news was good at all, and it was quite obvious she was trying to take as long as she could to actually finish telling them the "exciting" news.

    "Your Grandma Jean is coming to visit for a while today."

    Rachel and Paul didn't know how to respond to that. They haven't seen or heard from her since Rachel was 8, and Paul 6. 

    "W-what time is she coming?" Rachel finally asked. 

    "She told me around lunch time, but knowing her, I'm guessing she'll be coming earlier than that. Way earlier...." 

    The rest of the morning was spent cleaning up the house inside and out. They never had much visitors, let alone even their own relatives. By twelve o'clock the house was still somewhat messy, but way neater than before. 

    "There. Now all we have to do is wait for Grandma Jean to arrive." Mrs. Dale smiled as she looked around the house, proud of the work they had accomplished. 

    Just then, there was the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway, and soon enough, the door bell rang across the house. Taking her time to the door, Mrs. Dale slowly opened the door. 

    There stood an old woman, around her mid 60's, with a radiant smile and lots of resemblance with Mrs. Dale. She had the same blue eyes and wavy blond hair as Mrs. Dale, although with a few streaks of white hair here and there.

    A few seconds seemed to pass while Mrs. Dale held the door open, and the kids just stared at Grandma Jean.

    "Well? Aren't you going to invite me in? What kind of manners do you teach around this house?" Grandma Jean finally said with a chuckle.

    Mrs. Dale didn't reply, but turned to look at the children, and beckoned them to come over from where they were standing. 

    As soon as the children came near to their mother, Mrs. Dale introduced them to her own mother. "Mom, this is Rachel and Paul. Rachel and Paul, this is your grandma. I know you don't remember her that much. I think the last time you met was a little more than 10 years ago...."