The first call was from her mother, wanting to know when Gin would be able to come over for a family dinner.
"Soon, Mama, " she said aloud. "Soon." Her schedule didn't leave her much free time, but she made a point of getting back to the old homestead in Arlington at least twice a month.
The next voice was Gerry's.
"Hi, Gin. It's Gerry. Look, uh, things aren't working out quite the way I'd hoped for dinner." Oh, great. What's the excse?
"But I'd like to try to get together with you tonight. It's just that we'll have to eat a bit more down market than I'd planned. Can we meet at a, uh, Taco Bell? There's one up your way on Connecticut, near Veazey, I think. It's a long story and I'll explain it all when you get there. 6 you get there. Which I hope you do. But if you can't make it I'll understand. Just let me know if you're not gonna show, otherwise, see you there at six. Hasta la vista." Gin pressed the repeat button. Yes, she'd heard it right, Taco Bell.
Truth was, she liked Taco Bell, but it didn't quite make her short list of restaurants for a rendezvous with an old high school crush.
On the bright side, at least he hadn't stood her up.
But Taco Bell?
Gin hunted for a parking space amid the flow of D. C. workers heading home to Maryland. Connecticut Avenue was mostly residential at its northern end, strips of street-front shops interspersed with low-rise apartments and an occasional office building, all flanked by magnificent oaks and elms. Only three or four miles from Capitol Hill but like another country.
She found a spot up the street from the Taco Bell and turned off the engine.
Now what?
She scanned the curb and sidewalk around the storefronr. No sign of Gerry. She didn't know what his car looked like. She didn't feel like going inside just to stand around, waiting. In fact, she didn't like any of this. Where was his wife, if he still had one? Why Taco Bell?
Why had she even come?
Lighten up, Panzella.
Five minutes of watching a steady stream of bodies of all races and ages in and out of the door and no Gerry.
All right. Let's get this over with.
She went inside and looked around. This storefront Taco Bell wasn't as heavy on the southwestern motif as its freestanding kin she'd seen in Louisiana, it sported a few adobe touches, but the service counter, the soft drink machine, the booths and tables were all generic fast-food decor. Nothing generic about the aromas, though. The air was redolent of onions and spices. Gin realized how hungry she was.
She heard her name, turned, and saw Gerry waving from the other side of a partition. He stood as she approached but when she reached his booth she saw that he wasn't alone. Another female occupied the opposite bench. She was adorable, with short, wavy blond hair and huge blue eyes.
She looked to be about five and was working on a burrito half the length of her arm.
"I'm really sorry about this, " Gerry said. "My sitter had unbreakable plans for this evening. This is my daughter Martha. Martha, say hello to Gina, I mean, Dr. Panzella." Martha waved and smiled around a mouthful of burrito.
'"Martha's a vegetarian, " he said.
Gin stared at her. "Get out." He raised his right hand, palm out.
"True. I swear. I could put you on and say it's an ethical position but the fact is she just doesn't like meat. Never did. Even as a baby she used to spit out her junior foods if they were so much as flavored with meat."
"But she'll eat tacos? " "Bean burritos. Loves bean burritos, with green sauce and extra cheese.
Right, Martha? " The little blonde looked up and nodded vigorously.
Obviously she'd been following every word. "And hold the onions, " she added in a squeaky voice.
Gerry beamed at her. "Right. Always hold the onions. So that's why we're here. Miss Fussytummy has a very limited palate, so there was no point in bringing her anywhere else. I il hope you don't mind. I'll make it up to you, I promise." Gin had been taken completely by surprise by Martha but was charmed and touched by the warm father-daughter bond she sensed.
"Don't be silly. I'm glad you brought her. In fact, I'm honored to meet her."
"Great. What can I get you? " "How about two bean burritos with extra cheese . . . " She winked at Martha. "And hold the onions. ' Martha grinned and scrinched up one side of her face in a grotesque attempt to return the wink. Gin laughed and sat down opposite her.
"Are you a real doctor? " Martha said, cocking her head and looking up at her. Her cheeks were pink roses, her skin flawless.
'"Yes, I am."
"Do you give shots? " "Sometimes."
"I don't like shots." She held up a pair of fingers. "I had to get two shots before they let me into kinnergarden." What a darling. So relaxed, so comfortable with a stranger. Obviously she liked people, and that spoke volumes about her home life.
"Shots keep you from getting sick." She gave a Jackie Mason shrug.
"I still get sick! " Gin was saved by Gerry's return.
'"I brought you a Mountain Dew. Through extensive research and experimentation, Martha and I have determined that Taco Bell food goes best with a Dew."
"Mountain Deeeew! " Martha said and raised her cup. Gerry clicked his own against it, then Martha waited, eyeing Gin expectantly. She clicked her own cup against Martha's, then they all sipped.
"Sorry there's nothing higher octane available, " Gerry said.
"Since I have to play doctor in less than two hours, Mountain Dew has all the octane I need." Gin watched across the table as Gerry slid in next to his daughter.
She saw the resemblance between the two, same blond hair, same blue eyes, same nose and smile. And the way that little smile flashed for Gerry .
. . here was a little girl who loved her daddy.
Gin was intrigued, maybe even fascinated. She'd been looking forward to this time with Gerry as a way of tying up one of her life's loose ends. A date, if you could call it that, with the big man on campus, something she'd dreamed of all through high school. But Gerry was so much more than she'd expected. He was warm, he was open, and he was a doting father. She liked that. Liked it a lot. She wanted to know more about him. The closure she'd sought here was opening to something new.
Between bites and sips they caught up on the decade or so since high school. Gerry told her about joining the PBI after graduating U.V.A with a criminology degree but never mentioned marriage or where Martha came from. It took all her will to keep from asking. He nodded encouragingly as Gina took her turn and skimmed through her education, but his head snapped up when she mentioned Duncan Lathram.
"You work for Lathram? The celebrity surgeon? " "He's not the celebrity, just his patients."
"Yeah, " Gerry said sourly. "And you've got to be a celebrity to be treated by him." Gin wondered at the sudden note of hostility in his voice.
"Every day he treats people no one's ever heard of." Gerry leaned forward and pointed to the hairline scars on his face. "He wouldn't take me."
"How . . . ? " "M.V.A." He glanced quickly at Martha.
"Tell you about it sometime." Motor vehicle accident. So that explained the scars.
"Whoever worked on you did a nice job."
"Dr. Hernandez is tops. But I requested Lathram first and he wouldn't even give me a consultation.
" '"Duncan takes only certain kinds of cases."
"The insurance company was footing the bill, so it wasn't a question of money. Why wouldn't he help me? " She was tempted to say, Because he wonnt operate on anyone who needs him, just people who want him. just vanity surgery, the more famous and narcissistic, the better. No trauma repair. But how could Gin explain what she herself didn't understand? Better not to get into it.