“That’s a good plan. I can give it to them on our guys’ weekend,” I said, approving of her purchases.
“For Beth, Suzanne, Cindy, Tami, and Angie I bought silver tea sets with bone-china cups,” Mom told me.
“Good call on getting something for Angie,” I told her.
She showed me a large package next to the table.
“This is what your dad and I are giving them for their wedding present.”
I pulled it out of the bag; it was a hand-carved walnut box with the design of an English hunt. I opened the box and it was lined with red velvet and had a set of silver flatware inside. The handles had images of stags, foxes and hounds. It was formal but whimsical. Greg and Angie would love it.
“When we go to London, I have the address of a china shop. I think you should get them a nice set of china as your gift,” Mom suggested.
“That’s a great idea, and something they can use the rest of their lives,” I said, agreeing with my mom.
“I found cases of chocolate, tins of tea, marmalades and some knickknacks. I got silver salt and pepper shakers, napkin rings, tea cups and tea diffusers. I left all that in the car. I’ll show you when we get to the hotel.”
“Did you get Eve anything?” I asked.
She handed me another bag. It was from a jewelry store. I opened it to find a silver earring, necklace and bracelet set. Eve wasn’t one for overdone jewelry. This was perfect for her.
“That’s great, Mom. What about Tracy?”
She handed me another bag. It had a musical jewelry box in it. Tracy was much more a girly-girl and would love it.
“Perfect,” I told Mom.
“I figured we could pick up some other stuff when we go to London. I want to get a set of china for myself. The prices here are great and I really don’t have a good set.”
In the back of my mind, I figured on buying three sets of china: one set for Greg and Angie as a wedding gift; one set for Mom and Dad; and one for Tami.
“I’d like to go with you when you buy china. We need something for when we throw formal dinner parties,” Sandy told us.
I looked at the menu and blanched. Today’s special was half a pig’s head. While I prided myself on trying new dishes, that made me a little queasy. I looked at Kendal.
“Are you getting the special?” I asked her.
“Are you crazy? I dare you to get it,” she said with a smirk.
That evil woman, she knew she could talk me into it.
“You do and I’m not eating at this table,” Sandy threatened me.
“Chicken,” Mom goaded me under her breath.
“You better see if someone will trade with you,” I told Sandy.
She got up and sent Devin over. He was excited.
“Are you really getting it? I wanted to, but I was nervous.”
“The big-game hunter is scared of a pig’s head,” Mom teased Devin.
The waitress came over, saving Devin from any further embarrassment. Devin asked her about it.
“We’re thinking of getting the special,” he told her.
“You’ll like it. I would suggest it’s enough for two. I’ll bring an extra side if you order one for the two of you.”
We agreed and then waited for porky. It turned out that once you got past the creep factor, pork head was good. The brain was not my favorite, but I tried it. The cheek and jowls were to die for. I even enjoyed the tongue. I let Devin eat the eye. I give him huge props for doing that. When he bit into it, it exploded in his mouth. He said that, besides the unpleasant first bite, it wasn’t bad. I’ll take his word for it.
WE DROVE BACK TO THE park after lunch. Colin was ready for us at the base of what he said was one of the taller fells. They’d hired a special team just for safety for this activity. We were taught the important points of riding a zip line, most especially how to use the brakes.
They’d set up side-by-side zip lines so that Kat and I could go down at the same time. Mom watched me like a hawk as they put on the harness. She wasn’t going to let them kill her baby. I just put up with her double-checking everything and asking them a bunch of questions. She about had a cow when they made us sign waivers that said something about we couldn’t sue them if we died. That had the reverse effect on Devin and me. We really wanted to do it now.
I thought Kat was going to bail until Lana said she’d do it. I was imagining her humongous breasts in the harness. I think Kat caught me envisioning that and got a determined look on her face and agreed to go. We put our gloves and helmets on and they hooked us up. Colin was both running video and doing stills. He had a walkie-talkie and let everyone know to move back so they wouldn’t be in the shot. Then he did a countdown.
When he said go, Kat and I lifted our feet and let gravity take over. I was going faster and needed to apply the brake to let her catch up. I was impressed with Kat. She screamed the whole way down. Who thought that anyone could scream that long? I had a blast. It was almost like flying as we plummeted down the hill. When we finally got to the bottom platform, the guys quickly unhooked me, and I went and checked on Kat and found her shaking like a leaf.
When they finally unhooked her, she collapsed into my arms. Colin was still shooting. To distract her I kissed her. She suddenly put me into a death grip and kissed me back, hard. Colin told us he wanted us to do it again, so we climbed down and were loaded into a jeep and taken back up the hill. While we did that, Sandy and Devin took a turn.
Kat and I ended up going six times before Colin was satisfied. About the third time down, Kat went from being terrified to having fun. Devin took my mom down in a tandem hookup. She was all smiles when she got to the bottom. She wasn’t brave enough to go alone, but she talked Devin into taking her again.
Today was by far the best day I’ve ever had doing modeling. Riding four-wheelers and doing a zip line was much better than doing catalog work. I don’t know who had the bigger smile on his face, Devin or me. We’d done guy things and were able to call it work.
Before we left, Colin told us what was on the schedule for tomorrow. In the morning, we were going to a hunt club. The afternoon would involve rock climbing and hiking. Then we would drive down to London. He also told Devin that the photos of me dropping Harry would be in the tabloids tomorrow.
MOM, KENDAL, CLARE and Sandy joined me for dinner so Devin and Lana could have some alone time. Kat had gone back home. I found out that she wasn’t going to London. Devin had arranged with Ford to have other models do those sessions.
Clare picked a curry place and we had a nice dinner. Sandy talked Kendal and me into going with her to a dance club. Mom and Clare decided to go back to the hotel. I hadn’t been running or exercising, so dancing sounded good to me. We had a great time and danced until almost midnight.
WHEN I GOT BACK, I found Mom in my room, and could tell something was wrong.
“Your granddad fell right after he got home and Mom took him to the hospital. It’s a broken hip, and they’re doing surgery tomorrow.”
I got onto my tablet to see if I could get her a flight. One was leaving early in the morning from Manchester. She’d be in Chicago by 2:00 p.m. tomorrow. I booked it, then called our driver and hired him to take her to the airport. I checked the time and it was only six at home, so I called Greg and he agreed to go pick up Mom and take her to her parents’ house.
I took a shower and when I came back, Mom was sound asleep in my bed. I took the other side, figuring she didn’t want to be alone. She’d slept with Dad for nearly twenty years. I was sure it was hard on her not having someone in bed with her. I woke up at five in the morning to my room phone ringing. It was a wake-up call for Mom. I woke her and sent her to the shower. I went to her room and packed her bags. When she got out of the shower, she checked her bags and gave me a funny look.