Part Thirty-Three

Peggy landed at Washington National Airport at ten o'clock Thursday evening. The first sensation she experienced when she walked out of the terminal was intense heat and humidity; it shocked her with its heaviness.

"What's going on here?" she said to the Sikh taxi driver who loaded her bags into the trunk.

"What do you mean?"

"This heat, and humidity. It feels like a blanket."

"Welcome to Washington. What is your destination madam?"

"Tabard Inn."

Raoul was more sympathetic when he greeted her upon her arrival at the hotel. "I know. We're totally spoiled living in the northwest. You picked a great room, by the way."

Peggy collapsed into a chair in a quirky room with furniture that looked like it came from her grandmother's house. In one corner stood an old piano. "I'm going to become a slave to air conditioning."

"Everyone here is a slave to air conditioning. I don't know how government functioned a hundred years ago."

"Maybe it wasn't this hot and humid a hundred years ago," Peggy said.

"From all accounts I gather it has always been something of a reclaimed swamp."

"I called Marjorie. She invited us for dinner tomorrow night."

The next afternoon they drove out of the city in Raoul's rented car and entered Arlington, Virginia, via the 14th Street Bridge. Peggy was amazed at the size of the Pentagon as they passed it. Moments later, Peggy had a pleasant reunion with her daughter, who lived in an old neighborhood of wood frame houses south of the Pentagon. She was not yet starting to show, but to Peggy's eye Marjorie had the glow of motherhood.

"You're about the age I was when I was pregnant with you," said Peggy, remembering perfectly how it felt to be twenty-nine. She also thought that Marjorie, with her full head of thick, dark hair and creamy skin, bore a strong resemblance to Peggy as a young woman.

Introductions were made all around. Raoul was a perfect gentleman as he shook hands with Marjorie and congratulated her on her impending motherhood.

"I want him to meet Stan," said Peggy, referring to Marjorie's husband.

"He'll be with us for dinner tonight. We're going to take you to our favorite Korean restaurant, just a few blocks from here."

"I understand you're a mathematician," said Raoul.

"I do statistics for D.O.L."

"That would be…?"

"Sorry. Department of Labor. In fact, I'm working at home today and there are some numbers I have to crunch."

"That's fine," said Peggy. "We thought we'd look around Alexandria. Raoul knows about a tea shop there. We both love tea."

"It's one of the many things we have in common," said Raoul with a wink.

They parked on a street made of rounded stones in a very old neighborhood in Alexandria, just a block from the Potomac River. In spite of the oppressive heat, Peggy enjoyed the whimsical detail on the well-preserved 19th-century row houses.

  

She welcomed the coolness of the Old Town Coffee, Tea and Spice shop, with its walls lined with jars of loose tea and coffee beans.



"This is one of my regular stops when I come to town," said Raoul.

Afterwards they walked up King St. and Raoul pointed out a jazz club that he had frequented in the past.

"I didn't know you were so familiar with the area," said Peggy.

"We had clients with offices here that we needed to visit. It's a beautiful place in the Spring and Fall. Summers can be wicked."

For dinner Peggy and Raoul walked with Stan and Marjorie to Woo Lae Oak, a large, bustling restaurant where they cooked their own food on a hot grill set into the table at which they sat. Peggy avoided the marinated pork and beef, but enjoyed the variety of vegetables, including kimchi, set before them.

Raoul and Stan talked politics and drank Korean beer from tall bottles. Stan was a lobbyist for a media organization, and about the only thing he and Raoul had in common was a fascination with the political process. It was exactly the kind of tedious detail that bored Peggy, so she discussed baby names with Marjorie.

By the end of the meal Raoul was saying, "You know that Stan is pretty sharp for a liberal."

Stan laughed and said, "Raoul is a perfect fit for this family; he has opinions and he doesn't mind sharing them."

Peggy's immediate thought was 'wait a minute, I believe I get to decide whether Raoul belongs in this family or not.' On the other hand, she was glad to see him enjoying himself. She noticed Marjorie appraising him throughout the meal.

Then Stan said, "We have a treat for you guys. This is going to be an awful weekend in the city with all this heat and humidity. It so happens some friends of ours have said we can use their cabin in West Virginia this weekend. It's much cooler, and it's quiet. And you will still have the week ahead of you to do sightseeing in D.C."

Peggy and Raoul looked at each other. Raoul shrugged. "I'm game if you are."

The next day they were in a car whizzing past miles of green Virginia horse country. "I hope you kids didn't stay up too late," said Marjorie from the front seat.

"We had a note from our parents," said Raoul.

"We decided to go and listen to a bit of jazz music and we were stampeded by a crowd of Harry Potter fans waiting to buy the latest book," said Peggy.

"That must've been exciting," said Marjorie.

"At least it's got kids reading," said Peggy.



The cabin was a few miles from Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, on a section of the Cacapon River that was peaceful and slow-moving.

"It looks like a pond, it's so still," said Peggy.

"I can't believe how quiet this is," said Raoul.

In the afternoon, Peggy and Marjorie floated lazily on the river.



"I like him," said Marjorie.

"So do I, but I'm worried," said Peggy. "I'm not sure I really want to be involved again. It's so much work. But at times it's nice to have a companion."

"You're not good at being alone, Mom," said Marjorie.

"So where's the balance? How do I find the right mix of having someone and not having someone?"

"What I see is you guys having a great time. Just enjoy it."

"You young people are so optimistic. Somewhere along the way the pessimism sets in and makes us grouchy."

"If you were grouchy Raoul wouldn't be spending time with you."

"You mean, I'm the life of the party?"

"Absolutely."