Episode 13: Family Meeting
Welcome to MOONDAY CAFE a podcast that’s posted every month on the day of the full moon.
MOONDAY CAFE is devoted to the mind-expanding, mind-bending magical power of story.
After meeting the wealthy aunt and discovering that woman’s torturing secret about the loss of Dovey’s mother, she continues with her new job and finally decides to meet with her father in Ft. Worth, but several things get in the way.
Our guide is author, inspired performer, and barefoot cowgirl, Dovey Conlee.
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Episode 13: Family Meeting
Six fast weeks after starting her new job in commercial building management and leasing, Dovey makes a call to her father inviting him to come into town to meet with her. Knowing how vital Ft. Worth is to the family history, Dovey decides that they should meet there and see each other for the first time in almost 5 years. Her letters to him have been kind and informative. She certainly did not want him to wonder about her life, and she certainly wanted a connection; she just wanted and needed the relationship to be on her terms now.
When she called his number at the ranch office, she hoped that either he would answer quickly or one of the helpers there would answer and run fetch him or give him the message. Clearly, any conversation with the stepmother would not go well, so Dovey lit a candle and sat still, falling into a vortex of good memories of their life together when she was very young; getting her first horse, learning to ride a bike, learning to build a fire, being taught so many things and having basic shelter.
Her curiosity about the aunt she had been told about, but never knew, would continue to burn and she questioned the option to tell her father, if they did meet in Ft. Worth.
When she was young and Lupe, the nanny that cared for her and gave her the name Dovey, would often tell her how beautiful her mother was and that her mother had a beautiful sister that was as rich as a queen, Lupe made her sound mythical and magical and powerful.
Once, with the innocence of a child, while feeding horses together, Dovey asked her father about her aunt Beverly. He reacted as if all the clocks in the entire world had stopped and his expression turned the darkest she had ever seen in her young life, so dark that it terrified her.
The only other time she saw this darkness in his expression was when an old buddy from the Army dropped by the ranch to share sad news that a WWII friend had committed suicide after a long bout with alcohol. She saw the same fury in her father that first time as he moved from the barn and then with such , rage he boke a shovel across the side of a pecan tree, sending the head of the broken shovel up into the air and across the compound. He fell to his knees as he screamed in grief.
She would learn later that this was a dear friend that studied with her father in college, trained in tandem with him to become an officer in the US Army and then, in the midst of the Pacific battles, was saved by Dovey’s father’s bravery. And now, he had taken his own life.
Watching the candle flame flicker and recalling the moment she asked about the mystical aunt, she remembered his words. Who told you about her? he said, with a smoldering so deeply that Dovey could actually feel his heat.
A friend. Dovey said in honesty, while trying to protect Lupe’s kindness. Lupe did her best to share as much magic as she could to lift Dovey’s daily life. Lupe had a foot in both worlds and understood the value of hope and the value of fantasy that is anchored in a thread of truth.
You kick that friend out of your life right now! he said firmly. And, never, ever say her name again, do you understand me? he barked and tossed a bucket back into the feed bin, then left the barn in a huff, leaving Dovey frightened and confused.
Lupe was back in Mexico a month later after her father married a woman from Ft. Worth that she brought her own ideas of household order and mocked care. It would take years before Dovey realized that this ‘divide and conquer’ method of controlling relationships was actually a method, as well as an example, of her controlling personality.
That is all that Dovey knew about the aunt before meeting her. All she knew is what Lupe gifted her and what her father was still furious about. The mystery was never solved until the bizarre dinner at the French restaurant, which left Dovey tortured on so many levels. The layers were making a slight amount of sense now; it had been somewhat exciting to meet her and so sad to see her wounds exposed in such an embarrassing way.
The candle flickered as Dovey stared at the flame. She was alone in this world since birth and she felt it more than ever at the moment. She decided she couldn’t make the call and blew out the candle, leaving her apartment for the day to head to work.
On the drive to her office, at a stop light, she watched a woman cross the street, carrying an umbrella up over her head to shield the early morning mist. It was a drab and dreary day, but the woman wore a splash of color and an enormous smile as she looked right through the windshield at Dovey. It was the most tender gesture she had felt from another woman in months. Sure, her work offered exposure to many women in many ways, but this woman’s warmth was palpable and penetrating. It was kind and radiant and it touched Dovey’s heart like a meteor. When the light changed and she put her car in first gear, the woman turned after she crossed the street and turned to wave at Dovey as if she knew her.
That, that moment of kindness broke her and she felt the first tear roll down her left cheek. She wiped it away with the back of her wrist and changed gears, not watching traffic and veering into the path of another car before overcorrecting and riding up over a curb in the turn of the slick road, leaving the small convertible resting in the landscape of a flowerbed. The car ‘high centered’ on the top of a scarlet rosebush.
Crap, Dovey said out loud as she tried to reverse, the pull forward only to find that her tiny wheels were now stuck in the muddy flowerbed. She pounded the steering wheel and then banged her forehead on the top of it. Now, she would be late for work and would need a wrecker or, at the very least, help from another, which made her angry as the morning rain picked up.
Pondering her options, she grabbed her handbag and an umbrella and left her car for the nearest office in hopes of using their phone. At the end of the block, she saw a sign for an investment firm and its lights were on and she could see someone entering the building, so she set her sights for that business and briskly made her way to that door.
Once inside, a receptionist was just getting settled at the front desk as Dovey approached and asked to use the phone for an emergency. The young woman was adorable and professional and accommodating, placing the clunky phone up on the top of the counter and instructing her to dial 9 before dialing the number she wished to call, then, almost shockingly, the woman asked if she could get Dovey a cup of hot coffee. Unable to really speak, she just nodded as she lifted the receiver. The receptionist said, Good. It should be ready and I really need it!
As she turned to walk away from the front desk, the receptionist stopped and looked towards the door, shouting over her shoulder, Good Morning! as a tall man entered the front door and waved, parked his umbrella and entered a side office just off the lobby and turned on the lights in that room. Dovey finished her call to her employer. When the woman returned with two mugs of black coffee, she thanked her for her kindness and asked if she could use a phone book to find a tow truck to help her with her car.
No need, she said. Just up near the freeway is a full service shop and they have a wrecker. I’m happy to call them for you. Have a seat while you wait. Do you need the restroom?
Dovey accepted the directions to the ladies room and entered, staring at herself in the mirror. She had prided herself as having a lot of spirit and a strong backbone, but today she wondered about that. In all her journeys, for whatever reason, this moment made her feel foolish. Out of the corner of her eye, Indian appeared.
What’s happening? she spoke to him through thought.
There was along silence, then he spoke back to Dovey in thought as well. The message she got said Pay attention.
And then, he dissolved into the thin air of the restroom.
When she returned to the lobby, she offered her thanks again and took her coffee. The receptionist advised her that the wrecker would be about 45 minutes, but they were on their way. Rainy days are good for business, Dovey thought.
After a few moments of casual chatter, the man that had entered the office earlier, called out for coffee. The receptionist offered Dovey a half-grin, then said Part of my job! and left to fetch it for him, leaving Dovey alone in the lobby. She took a seat and watched the endless traffic outside the windows after checking to see that her car was still in sight. It was. She glanced at her watch.
When the receptionist came through with the steaming cup, she spoke to Dovey and the man responded by asking if a client was waiting for him. When he learned that it was a stranded woman waiting for a wrecker to help pull her car out of a flowerbed, he stood from his desk and entered the lobby. When he looked through the door, he spoke to Dovey and said with amusement, How interesting that we meet again and in my office, of all places?
When she looked up, it was Don, the former son-in-law of the mysterious rich aunt that drank too much the night she met him at the French restaurant where he was holding court.
Within the hour, he had Dovey’s number and Dovey had refused to have lunch with him, but that would change. If anything, the man would prove to be persistent and he made pursuing Dovey his primary challenge.
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Dovey finally arranges the meeting with her father. She has visions that their icy moments could melt like snowflakes, but she is prepared for serious reprimands. Breaking the bonds of his tight control over her would certainly come with a price. She shored herself; it was time to reconnect. She hoped.
The initial phone call was not that hard for Dovey. And, it did not seem that hard for her father, either. The chat was brief. He wasn’t a man of many words when he was not in control. They agreed on a date and Dovey thought it best if they met at the same hotel where they had stayed for years when coming to Ft. Worth. Both of them knew the terrain, some of the staff and certainly the location.
On the day they agreed to meet, he left the ranch and arrived before her. He checked in early and met with friends, headed to the cattle auction house to check the sale and returned to the hotel and waited at the bar for Dovey to arrive after work and traffic.
On the drive Dovey thought about how to tell him about the mysterious visit and how to feather in the details of that conversation. She played the radio loud as she made the half-hour drive, shoring her resolve and feeling more nervous than ever, for some reason.
As she entered the hotel, she took the familiar stairs up to the second level lobby bar that was brimming with cattlemen and glamorous women. Cigar smoke was thick and the talk was loud and boisterous, but civilized. On approach, it sounded like a party, and for some it certainly was.
She wondered how much he had aged, then as she rounded the corner of the stairway and the bar came into view, he saw her first. He motioned to the piano player and his music shifted from gentle background notes to a rousing version of The Yellow Rose of Texas, that hypnotized the bar crowd to sing along. So much for an unnoticed entrance.
Her father stood and pulled his cigar out of his mouth, exhaling smoke and holding the stogie with a bent elbow of his right arm, then switching it to his left hand while slowly extending his palm for what looked like a cold handshake. Then, when Dovey moved closer, he put the cigar in an ashtray and opened his rugged arms to embrace her with such a force that it took the breath out of her and she struggled to find a way to breathe at all.
After the song ended, her father turned to the room and addressed the crowd. Folks, this is my long lost daughter!
The people in the room applauded, some laughed and poked fun at the moment, then Dovey’s first words to her father were Not all of us that wander are lost, Dad. How are you?
And, just like that, time collapsed. For both of them.
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It was good to see that the meanness of his wife had not crept inside of him while Dovey had been away. Maybe it was because he was away from the ranch and not with her, but it could have been that stepmother really didn’t matter that much to him anymore. Dovey was not about to ask. Yet.
The talked through the niceties as they waited for their dinner table, pausing every now and then to just stare at each other. This man is her biology and studying him was more important now than ever in her life.
A few folks he knew dropped by their chairs to say hello and the ones that knew Dovey when she was young offered their eternal best and marveled at the woman she had become. One beloved had the kindness to say, You have become as beautiful as your mother! to which her father quickly changed the subject to the cattle prices and weather generalities that pasture owners say when they cannot think of what to say.
Finally, their table was ready and after ordering steaks, the real meat of the visit began. And, it was red meat.
One thing Dovey promised herself is that she would not allow herself to be scolded for her decision to run from Texas. She promised herself that she would only share proud moments, if asked, and current updates of her new life in Dallas. And she held to that promise, pivoting on an occasional mock snarl from her dad as he cut his ribeye into bites and scoffed at life in California. You’ve always been such a dreamer I kind of thought they’d keep you out there on that left coast!
Cute, she thought. If he only knew how dangerous the world was becoming with the newly formed cartels that were aggressively distributing cocaine throughout the state of California. His own mind would explode if he knew how the cocaine taking over the minds and lives of good types of people in that beautiful state. Let it go, she thought to herself. And, she did.
After dinner, while they waited for dessert, she dropped the bomb.
I had an interesting experience on a job interview a couple of months ago when I first came to Dallas, Dovey said. There was a reception at the TV station where I interviewed and I ran into an interesting relative of ours.
Her father froze and stared straight into her eyes. After deliberate silence, he finally spoke.
Who?, he almost bellowed.
Beverly Beal, Dovey said.
With that, her father wiped his lips with his cloth napkin and threw it onto the table. What did that old cow have to say to you? He turned dark, dark enough to let Dovey know that some of what she heard was true.
There was silence on both their parts as the chocolate cake was set before them.
She tried not to crowd her answer. For starters, it appears she is still very wealthy, now divorced, and she also appears to have some regrets, Dovey said as she picked up her fork.
I hope she cries every towel in her house soaking wet with tears, her father said as he reached for another cigar, pushing the dessert away from him. I hope she cries until the day she dies.
Dovey stopped in mid-bite, realizing that some of what this woman said was likely as true as she said it was.
Tell me what she said to you. I mean it. Tell me what she said to you, Dovey! he went on, dragging deeply on his fresh LaVera Delux.
And, in that moment, she knew. She knew he knew what the aunt, Beverly Bell, had confessed to her on the couch.
The aunt had psychically murdered Dovey's mother by telling a lie out of jealousy.
Something her father could never defend, because his wife was gone forever and only Dovey knew the reason.
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