CHAPTER 46

  GETTING BACK ON TRACK

  It had been a year since I was last with Mimi. So much had happened, and I wasn't sure how Mimi would take any of it. I wondered how she would react. The mistakes I made in Iowa were brutal for both of us. She had longed for us to settle into our jobs at the university, get a bigger house, and have a family.

  I threw all that away to pursue my giants. I lost her and everything she wanted for us together. I needed to call her and tell her about the opportunity in California. It was an opportunity for both of us. I rationalized that it was exactly what she had wanted back when we were leaving Europe. The only problem was that so much had changed since that time. She went to live with her sister and had the baby.

  Fitch and I stayed in a motel in Williams waiting for our train the next day. I went over to my suitcase in my motel room. I pulled out the photo of Mimi and the baby that she had sent me. Mimi sent me two photos recently. One was the baby. He was lying on a blanket on a lawn. He had a bunch of hair and wore a big smile for the photo. Mimi’s inscription on the border of the black and white photo was – JD happy – six months old. It was the first time I'd seen my son. It was an odd feeling. I didn’t feel anything toward him. He was just a baby in a photo. I didn’t even know him.

  From his smile, he looked happy. The inscription seemed to fit. From Mimi’s letters, she always said he was a good and happy baby. He was not much trouble. That was good. I was glad to hear that he was easy-going. It made me feel better to know that. She was raising him alone while I was thousands of miles away.

  The other photo Mimi sent was a picture of the two of them. Mimi was sitting on a porch with the baby in her arms. It was during the summer. Mimi was wearing a sleeveless shirt and sunglasses. The baby was a little older and wore a funny-looking sailor’s outfit. Mimi was looking directly at the camera, and the baby turned his head toward the camera, but he wasn’t exactly looking at the camera. It seemed to me that he was looking off at something else there that was making him smile. Mimi looked incredibly the same in the photo as I had remembered her the last time I saw her. I looked in the mirror at myself and realized I had aged quite a bit in the year. The summer months out in White Sands had taken their toll on me the most. The bright desert sun was intense, and I noticed my tanned face seemed more weathered than when I had arrived.

  The creases and lines in my face were much more defined. My hair was lighter, and shoots of gray were present. I knew we weren't the same two people anymore. Too much had happened. I mostly worried about whether she would accept my invitation to California.

  In all our letters, I never mentioned the size of the footprints. She still had no idea about the true scope of the projects. I was afraid that by not telling when I could have, it would now be too much of a shock for her to handle. In her letters, life seemed to be normal for Mimi and the baby. She and May were doing great together. The checks I'd been sending gave her the chance to take the summer months off. She had been asked to come back in the fall and teach at a high school. She was sure she would do that. She explained to me how much JD had grown and how she wanted to spend the summer with him. How fast he was growing was something she repeated often.

  To make ends meet, she was helping May in her beauty shop in the afternoons. She said there was a small room in the back that she used to put the baby down for a nap. She could then check on him while she was there. She helped out by making appointments, running the register, suggesting sales, and sweeping the floors. In her most recent letters, she talked on and on about the beauty shop; about the girls who worked there, and how they all got along so well. The world that she was involved in was so different from what she had with me. She acknowledged the difference. She said she was enjoying her girl time at the shop. I wondered how she would feel now about coming out west to teach at a university again. I wondered whether she would want to come out west and be with me.

  I knew the news I had now was not something I could tell or ask her in a letter or even by telegram. I decided to call her and tell her I was coming to Iowa. I knew I would wait until I got to Iowa to give her all the details. At a pay phone at the motel, I dialed the number, fearful of her reaction. I knew that by calling instead of writing, she would instantly know something was wrong or that what I had to say was important. I debated whether to tell her on the phone about the true nature of the position at the university or to wait until I was in Iowa. I was fearful that if she knew the truth, she would not wish for me to return to Iowa. I knew I was taking a chance, but that it was better to wait until I was there in person than to tell her now and have her build a case against me when I arrived. I would have hated that.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  The phone rang a couple of times, and then, “Hello.” It was Mimi. It had been months since I had last heard it. It was reassuring and at the same time unsettling. I thought she sounded different.

  “Mimi, it’s me, Jack.”

  “Jack? Is everything okay?” she asked.

  “Everything is fine. In fact, it is better than fine.” I reassured her.

  “Are you coming home?” she cheerfully asked. I realized then that she considered May’s house, her and the baby’s home.

  “Yes. I wanted to let you know I should be back in Iowa in about four days. I have been offered a position at a university, full-time.”

  There was a pause, then, “Oh, that is wonderful. Where is it?”

  “In California,” I answered and waited to hear her reaction. At first there wasn’t one. There was just silence. In my nervousness, I filled the silence.

  “It’s at the Lang Institute. They are the ones who sponsored the projects here in New Mexico and one in Arizona. They have offered me a research position at their institute. The offer includes housing. They have also offered you a teaching position. They want you to come out, too.”

  I had laid a lot on the table at this point and now wanted to wait to get her reaction. Again, there was silence followed by “In California?”

  “Yes, in the northern part of the state. Just above Sacramento and the Bay Area. It is a private research institute. It really is a good offer for both of us. We can finally be together again, and both be working at the same university again.”

  She asked, “What do they want me to teach?”

  “It seems like that is open for discussion. I gave them a rundown of your credentials and your background in history and sociology. They were very interested.”

  “And, your position,” she said. “What is your position there?”

  I answered her quickly, “The Institute is private. It is mostly a research university, and I will be continuing with the research I did here in the Southwest.”

  She listened. I could tell she was thinking before she said, “And your research is about what?”

  I chose my words carefully, “It’s about the history of the tribal people who have lived in this region for centuries. We are trying to put a date to their beginning and how it relates to other native tribes in the region and around the country. It is based upon disproving the isolationism of the Native American tribes that history has saddled them with. It has been quite interesting.”

  Again, there was a pause as she listened. I could tell she was already wondering whether this was giant-related. Her composure on the call assured me that I had made the right decision not to share this with her. I was waiting for her further questions or a response. There wasn’t any immediately, so I asked, “So what do you think? Now, we can all be together again. Things seem to be working out now, don’t they?”

  “I guess this is taking me all by surprise. I was just getting back into teaching at high school again. I have commitments here. I guess I had assumed that when you wrapped things up in New Mexico, you would be coming back here to Iowa. I just didn’t expect this.”

  “Mimi, you and I both knew the chances of me coming back to Iowa to teach would have been slim to none.” The hoax in Emmett County had been well published in the state. Mimi, herself, was finding it impossible to get a teaching position at the university level for the same reason. It should have been no surprise that we would have to move out of state to start over. I knew that my call and offer were coming out of the blue. It was not what she was expecting. I was also sure that California was a bigger surprise.

  “Tell me about Lang Institute,” she asked.

  “The Lang Institute runs its private university and research center in Windsor, California. Ian Lang of Lang Publishing founded the Lang Institute. It is a private college, which he subsidizes for himself. It is a great opportunity for both of us,” I said, trying to convince her.

  There was a pause. “Mimi?”

  “I’m here,” she said.

  “What are you thinking?”

  “I just don’t know. I worry about May,” she said.

  In the background, I could hear May. May was saying, “Don’t you dare worry about me! I was fine before ya and I’ll be fine after you leave.” I could then hear May as she grabbed the phone from Mimi and said, “Jack, where do I pick you up? At the bus terminal or train station?”

  I told her I would be coming back by train.

  May added, “Fine. Let me know the time, and we will all be there to see you when you arrive. I will also see to it that Mimi and the baby are packed. They will be ready and waiting.” There was a pause, and I didn’t know what to say. “And, Jack, don’t worry about a thing. She has been waiting for you to get back here so you two can get on with your lives.”