Welcome To My Family

Her brothers Matt, Mark and Josh—good biblical names as solid as the men themselves—hoisted her off the floor and tossed her from one to the other. She’d always loved this when she was a kid. She hugged each man in turn.

Her poor dog barked and jumped at them until Kat’s mother demanded order.

Mary, Kat’s most thoughtful sister-in-law, Joshua’s wife, relieved her of the wet slicker and thrust a mug of hot coffee into Kat’s chilly hands. The other two women, Erin and Shannon, were married to Mark and Matt respectively. All talking at once, the women exclaimed over Kat’s new, shorter haircut and how trim she looked. Preliminaries over, the family settled down to ask about her trip.

“Long and boring,” Kat replied. “Uneventful outside of a flat tire in Montana. Where’s Pop? Did he go to bed?” Kat knew how much flak she’d take if she mentioned her attempted roadside rescue. So she didn’t bring it up.

Still, her mom acted uneasy, and Mark scowled as he turned away to pick up the coffeepot.

“It’s poker night at Spud Mallory’s,” Josh explained.

“Ah.” Kat nodded. “Well, that’s okay, isn’t it? Pop and Spud go back a long way. I can remember begging them to teach me how to play poker.”

“They never played for money before,” Mrs. O’Halloran said, digging for a tissue to hide a sniffle. “I tell you, Katie, your father has taken leave of his senses.”

“How much money’s involved?” Kat asked warily. “Not high stakes.” She looked to her brothers for answers.

Matt squeezed her shoulder as he led her to the table and pulled out a chair for her. “Mom can’t get a handle on how much. Pop’s gotten secretive about money since he retired. Before, she took care of all the finances. Now he races her to the mailbox for his retirement check and does the banking. Claims he finally has the time to deal with it…”

Kat studied the grain in the old oak table. It had been in the O’Halloran family for generations and had a feeling of permanence. “So, have any of you asked Pop outright what all this means?”

“You know Pop,” Josh answered. “He’s closemouthed as a clam, unless he wants you to know something. No one in the family had an inkling he planned to retire early. We had to read it in the Motorman’s News, for crying out loud.”

Erin tugged the lid off the cookie canister and passed it around. “It’s that Louie Kowalski. He’s to blame for everything.”

“I know that’s what you said when you phoned,” Kat acknowledged around a big bite of cookie, “but who is he? Where did he come from? That’s an important name on the ridge. Is he a car man?”

Mrs. O’Halloran patted Kat’s hand. “Apparently. We didn’t want to worry you, Katie. About a year ago, Dr. Shelby told Tim his cholesterol and blood pressure were up—in the danger range for another heart attack—and that he needed to lose weight. Doc suggested an exercise program over at the health club. That’s where he met Louie, who was apparently recovering from a recent heart attack.”

Matt broke in. “For weeks we heard Louie quotes. You know, Louie this, Louie that—then next thing we know, Pop and Louie both up and retire. Before the ‘good life’ passed them by was what Pop claimed.”

Shannon patted Kat’s hand. “It was like a whole male club followed suit. Buzz Moran, Luke Sheehan, Spud Mallory. They’ve all lost their marbles, if you ask me.”

“Well, maybe it’s a phase,” Kat said, glancing around at the worried faces of her family. “Have any of you run it by the psychologist at work? Maybe it’s a syndrome or something. I mean if they all worked at Motorhill…” She stopped as they exchanged sharp glances. “What now?”

Mark, the eldest son, a Rhodes scholar—a man Kat was convinced knew all there was to know about chemical combustion but often let the real world pass by without notice—tilted back his chair and frowned. “Louie worked at Flintridge Motors. Frankly, sis, that’s something else that worries us, Pop’s fraternizing with the competition.”

“Great. So, tell me why Mary sent me a Flintridge job ad and an application. I thought the old animosity between the two companies had died.”

Josh leaned forward. “We got to talking one night. Pop’s a whale of an electrical engineer. Retirement doesn’t change what he carries in his head, if you know what I mean. Rumor has it Flintridge is having problems with a new prototype. Big problems.”

“Come on, Josh. You think Flintridge is trying to appropriate some of Motorhill’s technical data? Before I left town, Motorhill tooled down to make only compact cars. Flintridge does luxury stuff, right?” An image of the sleek car she’d seen out on the road flashed briefly through Kat’s mind. That car definitely had problems.

“Electronics is electronics,” Matt said, polishing off the last cookie. “We’ve been working on some futuristic stuff at Motorhill. Dad was involved.”

“Well, Matt, you moonlight out in the community building headers for the race car set. Do you actually think Flintridge would resort to stealing Motorhill’s information?”

“Dragsters tend not to know what day it is, sis.”

Mark turned serious eyes toward Kat. “We may be shooting in the dark, kitten. I hope so. But Pop’s behavior’s shaken us. With you working at Flintridge, keeping your eyes and ears open, you might be able to assess them. We spend so much time cooped up in laboratories, we’re like three blind mice.”

Mrs. O’Halloran wagged a finger. “Grandbabies. That would keep Pop home. But no. You’re all too busy building better mousetraps or whatever to have babies.”

All the younger family members grimaced. It was an old, ongoing argument and one that went unheeded as usual.

Kat laughed. “Everything sounds exactly the same around here. Did you ever stop to think you’re reading too much into Pop’s actions? Flintridge and Motorhill have coexisted for generations. Why steal each other’s ideas at this late date?”

Matt laced his hands behind his head. “As Mark said, we stay in our cocoons on the hill. For the record, I wasn’t in favor of sending you that job application. But Josh and Mark convinced me that the way Louie’s hanging out with Pop is more than a coincidence. And about the time they met, according to the newspaper, there was a change in management at Flintridge. Transfer of power from rich daddy to privileged son. Truth is, we don’t know much about folks from the Ridge.”

Kat sipped her coffee. She thought back to high school—to the fierce competition between the Ridgers and the Hillites. The Ridge was largely Polish in origin, and the Hill mostly Irish. The city’s business center and a river divided the two communities. Both sides were predominately Catholic, but they maintained separate churches, schools and social activities. Kat wondered why that had never made an impression on her before. In essence they were like two towns in one. Their estrangement was aided and abetted in large part by the two major employers, Motorhill and Flintridge Motors.

Monday, she would cross the bridge and start a new job in foreign territory. The way things sounded, she didn’t know whether to consider herself a pioneer or a sacrificial lamb.

“Kathleen looks tired,” Shannon said, rising. “Perhaps we shouldn’t burden her with everything tonight.”

“There’s more?” Kat stood as the others began to collect jackets in preparation for leaving. Poseidon perked up his ears. Kat told him to stay. He did, but kept everyone in sight all the same.

Mary pulled Kat aside. “Something I didn’t tell you, Kat. It’s rumored that there’s worker unrest at Flintridge. The job you’re taking is a direct result of pressure put on the new CEO. We hear he’s opposed to an on-site recreation program.”

“G-r-r-reat!”

Josh kissed his mother’s still-smooth cheek, then turned and enfolded his little sister in a bear hug. “If anyone gives you a hard time, kid…quit. We’ll put our heads together and figure out some other way to get our questions answered. I hope you know we’re damn glad to have you home.”

Tears sprang to Kat’s eyes. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed her brothers until now. Especially as they were also the reason she’d left home. Largely the reason, anyway. “This job sounds like a piece of cake compared to the mess you almost got me into with the infamous Daniel O’Brien,” she said, punching her brother lightly on the arm.

The exodus toward the door stopped. Erin snapped her fingers. “I told you birdbrains to quit shoving Danny down Kat’s throat. He was too slick to suit me.”

Mark dropped a kiss on his wife’s nose. “Lord, but she’s impossible to live with when she’s right.” He cleared his throat. “We, uh…do owe you an apology, kitten. Danny-boy is doing hard time now. I think it’s safe to say…when you bag a husband, you’re on your own.”

Kat grinned. “Hallelujah! You know, this family can be…well…intense is a good word. I forgive you for the Danny fiasco. Just remember it, though, before any of you go overboard with this thing regarding Pop. I know you mean well, but—”

Everyone chimed in with opinions at once, the way they always did. Mark caught her chin and shushed the others. “Believe me Kat, not even the people who worked with Danny knew he had light fingers. And as far as Pop’s concerned…he’s acting funny. You’ll see.”

“All I’m saying,” she urged, “is let’s not jump to conclusions.”

Her mother stiffened. “Whose side are you on, Katie?”

“I’m not on any side.” She opened the door for her brothers and their wives. After another round of goodbyes, Kat was left alone with her mother. Reluctant to continue the subject they’d been discussing, Kat fed Poseidon, then busied herself fixing another pot of coffee. When her mother’s silence seemed too overpowering, Kat finally said, “I love you, Mama, and I love Pop. I can’t believe the man I remember, pillar of the family, church and community, would jeopardize everything he’s worked his whole life for. I’d like some time to make my own assessments.”

Maureen O’Halloran dabbed at her watery eyes. “Tim and I began dating in eighth grade. We married the day after he received his engineering degree. I don’t know where the years have gone. But lately, I’m not sure I even know him.”

“How’s that?” Kat asked.

“I thought we were growing old together. All this sudden youthful energy of his…well, Sheila Murphy suggested he may be seeing a younger woman.” Her tears spilled over and followed the faint lines that bracketed her mouth.

Kat bristled. “Sheila Murphy is a busybody who loves to stir up trouble. Pop’s not like that. And you’re not old. You’re still beautiful, Mama.”

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re home, Katie. I love your brothers’ wives, but I couldn’t have confided in them. They’re so…so…organized. They don’t seem to believe that women should be allowed human weaknesses.”