While Karen didn't apologize outright, her tone was conciliatory. "I guess, as long as we don't talk about mothers."
We pulled off at the next exit into a small town and spotted an old country inn with, hopefully, a reasonably priced menu. I hesitated stopping; it was fifty-fifty my credit card could handle it. Karen sensed my concern, reached in her pocket and dropped several hundred dollar bills on the seat. "I got these from Dad's wallet, just in case."
"You stole them?" I counted seven hundred dollars.
"Not exactly. I was going to ask him but he was shaving. Then I forgot; honest. He'd have given them to me anyway."
"What if he needs the money and it's missing?"
"I only took a few of them. There was a lot more." I took one bill, just in case and handed the rest back to her. She stuffed them in her pocket.
We sipped ice tea while perusing the bill of fare. While Karen was a rudderless ship shopping at the mall and uncomfortable ordering fast food, in this more elegant setting she was perfectly at ease.
"The roast chicken looks good. I think I'll have a cup of soup as well. I hope it doesn't have too much salt," she announced. I ordered the same.
Karen called her father to tell him we were delayed. She asked about Timmy and her smiles told me he was back to his old self. I pointed to her pocket.
"Tell him you ripped him off," I said.
She grimaced but mentioned to her father that she'd taken some money from his pocket, just in case. It was obviously no big deal to either of them. I didn't ask to speak to Paul, nor apparently did he ask to speak to me.
As we settled into our meal, I asked, "If, by chance, I'm still in the picture and visit you again, what would you like to do?"
She pondered the question. "I don't like 'if' questions. They're usually make believe but I'd have to think about it. Maybe I'll let you know when I write you the thank you note for my clothes and books." Then she asked, "Do you want to come back?"
I couldn't meet her eyes. "Yes, I do, very, very much. Do you want me to come back?"
"I won't answer that. I don't know." Then, out of the blue, she asked if I went to movies.
"Sure. I've been living alone for quite some time, and I like to get out once in a while. Do you enjoy them?"
"We don't go out but we have a movie room, and we watch a lot of them. There was one I wanted to see but Sister Rose said it was bad for me and told Dad I shouldn't see that kind of stuff. She picks out all of the titles and they're more for Timmy than my age. He likes to see some of the same ones over and over and it gets boring." She named the forbidden movie. I'd seen it and would have thought nothing of taking her though I didn't say so.