Into the Woods (DeBeers 4)

"No. Grace has always attended public schools," Mommy said.

"You're going to love it. honey," Dallas said, reaching out to touch my hand. "I'll make sure Phoebe shows you around and helps you get settled in when the school year starts. She's a senior, and you know that seniors are biz deals."

"Where is she? I haven't seen her in so long I can't imagine what she looks like," Mommy said.

"She's at the beach with her friends. They went to Singer Island today. You'll love the beaches here. Grace. There is so much for a young person to do."

"She never lacked for that," Mommy said.

"I imagine not." Dallas said. "Living on naval bases among all those sailors and ships and planes. Come on," she said, seizing my hand and pulling me ahead of Mommy. "Let's disturb Warren."

I looked back at Mommy, who laughed and followed us to the door in the rear simply marked Office. Dallas knocked and then opened it before anyone inside could have time to say, "Come in."

Behind a desk that was far too big for the small room sat a man with curly dark hair and two black pearls for eves. He was round-faced, cleanly shaven, with a nose a little long and a strong pair of lips that sliced sharply above his slightly protruding jaw. When he saw us and stood up. I saw he was stout, leaning toward pear-shaped. His smile settled in his face like a strawberry in cream, pulling his lips in and bringing out the glimmer in his ebony eyes.

"Jackie!" he cried, and came around his desk as quickly as he could. Mommy stepped forward, and he hugged her. "We're so sorry for your trouble. What a horror," he said.

Mommy just nodded. "It's nice to see you, Warren. It's been too long."

"Yes, but how I wish it was far different reasons." he replied.

"Not any more than I do." Mommy turned toward me. "This is my daughter. Grace."

"Hi," Warren said. "I only knew you from the pictures your mother sent us from time to time, but I can see you've got a lot of your daddy in you."

Hearing that brought tears of happiness and sadness to my eyes.

"Pretty girl," he told Mommy. "We're going to have to teach her the martial arts."

"Oh, she can take care of herself." Mommy said proudly. "Sit down, sit down. There's so much to tell you," he said.

"I want to get them right to their place. Warren." Dallas said."Get them settled in and let them get some days of rest before you start converting Jackie Lee to the restaurant business."

He laughed. "Hey, this is far from a walk in the park. You build up a clientele, and then some novelty restaurant starts down the street and you lose everyone for a while. or at least until they realize what quality means. Peaks and valleys, that's the business. The trick is how to smooth it all out."

"Wonderful." Dallas said dryly, and turned to Mommy. "Don't be shocked when he comes to you and complains about the rise in the price of butter."

"It's all the bottom line. Jackie. Someone has to watch it, and there's no one better than you, yourself, to watch your own affairs. Everyone I know who has a manager running his affairs is either out of business or well on his way to it."

"Oh, please." Dallas said. "Give the woman a

chance to get a tan." -Warren laughed and retreated behind his desk. Okay, okay. I'm here if you need anything, anything whatsoever, Jackie."

"Thank you, Warren." "You just let me know when you're ready." "I will." Mommy said.

"Are we excused now?" Dallas asked him. "See? See the abuse I take?"

We laughed again and followed Dallas out. She paused to introduce us to some of the kitchen help. including their chef. Christian Von De Stagen, who was from Belgium and had been a chef in Napa Valley in California before Warren enticed him to come to live and work in West Palm Beach. Dallas revealed that Warren had given him a piece of the business.

We got into our cars, and we followed her to Palm Beach Gardens. Our condo was in a small development off Holly Drive on a street called Fuchsia. There was a small pond in the center of the complex and, as Dallas painted out, a nice walking path around the area It was far enough off the major highway to be quiet. Both Mommy and I were pleasantly surprised by the condo, which was a ground-floor unit. It had two bedrooms, a nice-size kitchen and living room, and a small dining area that had a patio door facing the pond.

We had a garage and a small storage room as well. Dallas explained that we had no maintenance to worry about because it was taken care of by the home owners' association. We were subletting from the condo owner, so it was stocked with kitchenware, dishes, and silverware.

"I did same basic shopping for you." Dallas revealed. She had bought bedding for the two beds, stocked the kitchen cabinets with some basic foods, and had even bought us soap, detergents, sponges, and bathroom tissue, "I just tried to think of anything and everything I would want the day I moved into a place."

"This is so nice of you, Dallas." Mommy said. "It's lovely. Thank you so much for making these arrangements."

"It's the least I could do. Jackie. It's a nice little place," she said.