Left Behind – The Sequel

Rachel Cory dropped her suitcases just inside the door of the Cory Mansion.

"I’m home!" she said, taking off her coat and draping it over the newel-post.

Matthew stood up as she entered the living room.

"Hi, Mom." he said, giving her a peck on the cheek.

"Mother." said Amanda, by way of greeting.

"Well, I was hoping for a little more enthusiasm from my children when I got back from my business trip!" said Rachel. "Why the long faces?"

Matthew looked surprised: "You don’t know?"

"Know what, Matthew? I’ve spent the last six weeks going to endless meetings in New York, Paris and Los Angeles. The media in those places don’t usually bother reporting what’s new in Bay City. So, what IS new?"

"It happened about two weeks ago," said Matthew, "Donna, Michael, Ryan and Vicky were heading up to Michael’s cabin in the mountains for a ski weekend. The roads are very narrow and twisted, it was snowing; I guess the driver of the other car didn’t even see them until it was too late –"

Rachel knew what was coming. "Oh no!"

Matthew nodded. "Both cars were totalled. Donna died on the way to the hospital. The other three were killed instantly."

"Oh, how terrible!"

"Tell Mom the rest of it, Matt!" said Amanda, "Tell her the worst part!"

"There’s more?" Rachel was horrified; what could be worse than the sudden, tragic ending of four lives?

"It seems that Ryan and Vicky left a will giving sole custody of their children to – Carl Hutchins."

CARL! Rachel had not thought of him – had not LET herself think of him – in years. Not since New York.

"Can you imagine?" said Amanda, "Carl Hutchins having custody of five innocent children! Goodness only knows what their parents can have been thinking!"

"Carl IS the childrens’ grandfather, after all," Rachel pointed out.

"Well, Steven is YOUR grandson," said Matthew.

"ALL of them are my grandchildren." said Rachel, "I don’t make any distinction between Steven and his brothers and sister. I love them all."

"Yeah, Mom, but as far as the law is concerned, Steven is the only one you have any claim on."

"Claim?"

"Oh Mother, isn’t is obvious?" said Amanda, "YOU ought to have custody of Steven!"

"I don’t know if Jamie would see it that way." said Rachel.

"Well of course he would!"

"Have you asked his opinion? Have you even Told him that Vicky is dead?"

"Yes Mom, I called him as soon as we heard the news." said Matthew, "I thought we should wait for you to get home before we got into custody issues."

"I still say we should have gotten an injunction or whatever it’s called right away!" said Amanda, "The sooner we get poor little Steven away from Carl’s influence, the better!"

"Is Carl here in Bay City?"

"Yes, he was babysitting. He’s living out at the cottage with the children."

***

It seemed only logical to Rachel to phone Jamie in London, and ask what he thought.

"I want what’s best for Steven." said Jamie, "Up to now, that’s been for him to live with his mother and brothers."

"Brothers and sister." said Rachel, "Victoria had a baby girl about six months ago."

"Oh yes, of course she did! Clara. They named her after Vicky’s grandmother."

"Well, Darling, Matthew and Amanda don’t think Carl is a fit guardian for Steven – for any of the children."

"Vicky obviously thought he was." said Jamie, "You know what a loving mother Vicky was; she would never have signed that will giving Carl custody if she didn’t believe that he’s a reformed character."

"I’m sure she never thought it would actually come to that." Rachel pointed out, "Nobody expects to die young."

"Look, Mom, I trust your judgement. If you think Carl is a proper guardian, then that’s good enough for me."

"All right, Jamie, I’ll look into it, and get back to you."

"Thanks, Mom. I love you."

Obviously, the next thing to do was to pay an impromptu visit to Vicky’s – to the cottage.

As she went to get her coat, Rachel caught sight of herself in the mirror and frowned; she had thought that her grey business suit made her look professional, but it was really pretty drab and unbecoming.

Rachel was heading upstairs to change when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi Rachel! So you’re home at last!"

"Loretta! It’s good to hear your voice."

"Are you okay? You sound a little down."

"I just found out that something terrible happened while I was away." She explained the situation as simply as she could.

"So Carl is back in Bay City!" said Loretta, when she finished, "What are you going to do about it?"

"Well, Jamie wants me to decide if Carl is a suitable guardian for my grandson Steven." said Rachel.

"I mean, are you going to let Carl get away, like you did in New York?"

"That’s ancient history, Loretta!"

"Is it? That man was crazy about you; he did everything he could think of to make you love him, and I really thought you did!"

"I’m not the one who broke it off!" Rachel pointed out, "Carl left town, remember?"

"He made sure you knew what ship he’d be on!" said Loretta, "He was obviously hoping you’d ask him to stay!"

"He was trying to force me into making some sort of a committment!" said Rachel, "I wasn’t ready for that."

"Well, aren’t you ready by now? You must be awfully tired of being the Widow Cory. Isn’t it time you started being Rachel again?"

Rachel felt like she was being pushed into a corner.

"Loretta, I don’t understand why you’re saying these things!"

"Because I’m your friend." Said Loretta, "I want you to be happy! And you haven’t been, these last five years. When is the last time you had any fun?"

"Fun?" said Rachel, "I’m CEO of a multinational corporation! I don’t have time for fun!"

"You used to have fun with Carl, back before you started screwing your hair into that tight-assed bun!"

Instinctively, Rachel reached up to touch her hair.

"What’s wrong with it?"

"Speaking as a professional hair stylist, it makes you look horse-faced." Said Loretta, "You looked younger and prettier when you wore it loose."

Horse-faced?

"Give my love to Carl, next time you see him." Said Loretta, "You ARE planning to see him, aren’t you?"

"Uh, yes, I am." said Rachel, "Bye Loretta!"

"Bye!"

Horse-faced? Rachel went to the nearest mirror and took a good, long look at herself.

***

Half an hour later, she came downstairs.

"I’m going over to see the children" she said.

Amanda frowned. "You changed your hair!" she said accusingly.

"I decided to liberate it from its bun." said Rachel, "I decided it made me look – matronly."

"But Mother, you Are a matron!"

"Should I have asked your permission before I changed it?"

"Of course not! It’s just – I’m used to my mother looking a certain way."

"Maybe it’s time for a change." said Rachel.