Chapter 1

The Vacation Surprise

Scott Fischer looked at his watch as he left the hospital and headed for the doctors parking lot. The last surgery had been a grueling one lasting three hours and they’d nearly lost the patient. It had been a full-on week and with his partners in the practice away attending continuing education events overseas there’d been an unusual number of emergencies that required his attention and as he was the ranking heart surgeon in the city, he’d had to push himself and was sleep deprived. That was a dangerous situation and he realized it was not in his or his patients interests for him to continue under these conditions. Fortunately, one of his partners had returned from overseas yesterday and the other one would return in a couple of days. He was overdue for a holiday and conscious as a parent he’d been neglecting his responsibilities as a father.

This was the time of life when his daughter Gina and son Brett needed parental input and his wife Amelia had been dead now for several years. Cancer had taken Amelia from the family when the young adults needed to have a mother’s guidance. He was lucky his daughter aged eighteen was level-headed and had taken over much of the responsibility of the home while maintaining her school grades and extracurricular activities admirably. There’d been some resentment to Gina’s takeover from his son Brett aged sixteen and Scott had had to have a family conference with both to sort out the pecking order and assign responsibilities.

Fortunately, the senior Fischer’s lived close by and while still engaged in managing their industrial empire grandmother Veronica Fischer made sure she made herself available in the home to greet her grandchildren when they returned from school and needed someone to unload on. Considering the trauma suffered by the children losing their mother at an early age they’d slowly allowed their grandma to fill some of that gap from the loss of their mother.

But Scott realized his work inhibited a normal family relationship as he was called to emergencies when he needed to be giving his children the support they needed. He looked forward to vacations when they could get away from the city in their recreation vehicle for the mountains or seaside to just enjoy quality time together with maternal grandparents Lee and Brenda Parks and his own parents. Scott’s brother-in-law son of the Parks family and sister were settled in Europe, so they rarely saw them.

The Parks family were members of the political elite and equally valued this time with their grandchildren on those trips together. There was always a tussle between the Fischer and Parks families as to which family saw the most likeness in their grandchildren, but it was all in good fun. Understanding the situation with Scott’s important work they arranged their program so they could visit and stay with their grandchildren as often as possible. They were indebted to Scott for coming to their aid quickly when Lee Parks had a mild heart attack managing to keep it all secret so it would not give their political opposition a reason to attack Lee’s continuing competence in the political arena.

Scott was surprised and grateful to find his two teenagers had already packed the RV when he got home ready for their current adventure this time to the mountains where they had cabins by a lake jointly owned by the senior Fischer and Parks families. All Scott had to do was pack his own personal things and they’d be off early next morning. They were looking forward to hiking, swimming, net games and water skiing during the vacation and the joint family meals of an evening often sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows while grandparents and Scott swapped the same old jokes and memories. The Fischer children’s cousins on the Parks side rarely joined in these holiday events as they were older and pursuing careers or higher studies abroad. But when able to do so they had a great bonding experience.

Brett sat with his father up front in the RV as they sped through the various freeways headed for the mountains and Gina sat in the back messaging on her phone to find out where the Parks family were as they headed to their cabins from the capital city. She was surprised to find they’d been in the mountains for a day and were anxiously waiting for the Fischer’s to arrive. Through messaging they said they had a surprise for them this year. Gina went to the front to communicate this to Scott and Brett, and they speculated for the rest of the journey over what that surprise was.

Several hours went by and they began the climb into the foothills and breathed in the crispness of the air becoming more excited as they anticipated a happy reunion with their relatives. An hour later they arrived and turned into the gravel road leading to the lake and their family property and cabins. It was just beginning to have shadows arrive over their camp site as they arrived as the sun began to move slowly over the horizon. They pulled into the parking slot and carefully maneuvered into place so that they could connect to electric outlets, water supply and sewerage connections. Considerable improvements had been made to the site to care for RVs over the twenty years this site had been in the hands of the Parks and Fischer families. They employed an old couple to care for the property in their absence from an adjacent property.

Ted and Veronica Fischer had arrived by car, and it was customary they’d occupy Scott’s RV during their time together. The teenager cousins used one of the cabins so they wouldn’t disturb the older ones as they chatted late into the night and Scott occupied a smaller cabin and Parks another. There was another cabin but that was rarely used. Brett was out to inspect first and noted the senior Parks had bought an RV this year and he wondered why. He moved over to greet his grandparents on both sides in turn and then asked what the surprise was and why the Parks had bought an RV. He was told all would be revealed at supper time. The mention of supper time made Brett feel hungry so he raced back to get their luggage out of the RV so his grandparents could move their things in for the duration of their stay.

Cousin Trevor Parks had already moved into the teenage cabin, and they hugged. Trevor was temporarily visiting from Europe where he was doing an internship and he bought news of his siblings and what they were doing in other parts of the world. So, Brett was glad he’d have some teenage male company this year. His cousin Rita was also there this year and would be staying in their cabin. He’d noted her working on supper preparations. So, Gina would have someone to hang out with too. There was someone else working on supper preparations with her who was not familiar in the gathering shadows, so he was curious about that. Could that be the surprise? It was quite common for the Parks and Fischer kids to invite their friends to visit during their time there. Some came for weekends and some for longer. There was plenty of bunks in the cabin where the teenagers and young adults resided so the more the merrier.

There was a loud clanging coming from the area where there were wooden outside tables and benches. The strip of metal hanging down attached to a chain was the primary means of alerting those out on the lake or hiking around the lake that it was time to make way back to camp for a meal or deal with some issue that required all to be present and it was loud enough to be heard all the way across the lake. Gina appeared at the door panting from the load she was carrying in from the RV and spying the nearest unoccupied bed dumped her load and hurried out to join the extended family for the evening meal. She raced to see if there was anything to do to help and stopped in surprise to see Cousin Rita with a stranger she’d not met before placing food on the table. She moved toward her cousin and gave her a greeting hug then turned to face the stranger who smiled winningly.  

“Hi, my name is Daniela. I’m a friend of your cousin and my mom Carmen will be joining us soon. We are from Venezuela. Mom and I have been offered the use of the RV this year.”

Gina had been surprised at the accented English but soon recovered.

“Oh hi, I’m glad you were able to join us this year. My name is Gina.

“Yes, I know, your cousin has told me a lot about you. Will you please excuse me as I must go and get mom to join us for the meal. I don’t think she knows what the noise is all about.”

Rita watched Daniela go. Then turned to face her cousin.

“Why don’t you ask her to join us in our cabin. She’s feeling a bit reticent wondering how she’d be accepted by people who don’t know her. They are going through some traumatic experiences now. Carmen’s husband Jose Garcia was prominent in the political opposition in Venezuela and a great friend of the American Ambassador there, but politics is volatile in that country, and he was hunted down for political purposes and accused of spying for America which he wasn’t but as he was an effective political opponent well supported by the public, they wanted him out of the way. He was killed but of course the ruling party protested they know nothing about the assassination. The Garcia family was well off in Venezuela, but their properties were confiscated by the state. Fortunately, Daniela’s father managed to get their personal wealth out of the country before he became a marked man as he’d had warnings. Carmen and Daniela took refuge in the American Embassy and dad facilitated getting her to the US. She is staying with us while Carmen decides what she’s going to do. Obviously, they can’t go back, and they have the necessary visas to stay here.

Daniela’s brother was urged to flee with his mother to the embassy to be safe, but he left home and joined the resistance fighting for democracy in that country. So, they are mourning the loss of husband and father and the anxiety of knowing what is to happen to Luis Daniela’s brother. They need moral support.”

Gina was appalled.

“Of course, we should ask her to join us. But perhaps her mom needs her support currently too. But we should ask.”

Daniela returned with her arm around her mother Carmen and stood by the tables ready to serve the families now emerging from their quarters. Rita and Gina carried the remaining food dishes from the kitchen and joined Daniela and her mother waiting to serve their elders and siblings. Brenda Parks joined them and embraced Carmen.

“Have you met everyone Carmen?”

Carmen looked over the advancing hungry people and shook her head, so Brenda called each in turn and introduced them then steered her friend to a seat with the elders while Lee Parker who had arrived first welcomed everyone and directed the women to line up to select from the food prepared by Rita and Daniela while the men present shouted discrimination to the laughter of all present. It was a wonderful start to the vacation and there were sympathies expressed to Carmen and her daughter for the situation they found themselves in. Carmen and Daniela relaxed as they found acceptance by all present.

Gina urged Daniela to join them with the other young adults in the noise cabin as the elders described it and she politely declined saying her mother needed her for support in their circumstances but Carmen overhearing the offer insisted her daughter join with the other young adults and after the meal carried her daughter’s personal things to the noise cabin followed by a protesting daughter. Carmen kissed her on both cheeks and commanded her to have fun with those of her age. Daniela was secretly concerned that her English would not be well understood but no one seemed to notice, and she slowly began to enjoy herself in this new environment. Life had been tough for the family, and she missed her father terribly and was worried about her brother. There had been no word from him at all and given what had happened to her father she wondered if he were still alive.

Daniela was familiar with Trevor and Rita and their siblings as the Parks family had been guests of the Garcia family in Venezuela in more peaceful times when Parks had been attached to the embassy there before choosing a political career, so she felt comfortable with them as they were reasonably proficient in Spanish, and she and her mother were temporarily staying in the Parks home while they thought through their future in the US. They had ample funds to support themselves but had to get through their mourning period before they could think about that future. Carmen had trained in the US as a general practitioner and had her hospital internship before marrying her husband Jose on return to Venezuela. That was a long time ago and she was deciding whether to return to medical practice but would probably have to go through a refresher course. Daniela had attended an English-speaking school as a child as her father had said English as a second language would always be useful in any course of studies she should choose for the future. She was now deciding what her profession would be before returning to school now she was living in the US.

Rita had told Daniela Gina was aged eighteen but had not mentioned how old Brett was, so she asked Rita as they sat on the bed talking in Spanish while the others sang some of the current songs on the hit parade with Trevor expertly playing the guitar. She was asking because she’d noted Scott casting an eye in her direction from the moment she moved into the cabin and felt pleased because she was feeling like a fish out of water in this new country and it felt nice to be noticed. Immigration had not made them feel welcome although Lee Parks had used his political connections to ensure they were whizzed through with minimal drama. Their papers had been facilitated quickly by the American Embassy but immigration on home soil had been more difficult until pressure had been brought to bear. But it was all sorted out now. She was told Brett was sixteen and Rita smiled as she saw Daniela showing an interest in her cousin Brett. She took note to encourage that. Rita mentioned Brett tended to be a little introverted and this had happened after the loss of his mother. Daniela studied Brett more closely. She had lost her father and Brett his mother. They shared that sense of loss and that made him more interesting. Rita watched her friend closely then spoke.

“Daniela perhaps you could help my cousin become the fun person he used to be before Aunt Amelia passed away. You are very spontaneous and could perhaps coax him into being the cousin I used to know as a child. He was quite mischievous then.”

Daniela studied Brett more closely and he caught her eye as he sang then turned away and slowly turned to look at her again. This time he didn’t turn away as she continued to study him. Rita smiled.

“I think my cousin is smitten by you Daniela!”

Daniela gave her a playful slap and the two of them wrestled on the bed. Trevor stopped playing the guitar to watch and the boys cheered. Finally, Rita extricated herself as both teenagers laughed. Daniela spoke.

“Do you think Trevor would let me use his guitar?”

Rita marched over to the boys and took the guitar from her surprised brother returning to the bed and handing it to Daniela. Daniela tested the strings and when satisfied began to play a passionate Spanish song which Trevor and Rita remembered from their time staying with the Garcia’s. The music became louder, and Daniela burst into a spirited song. It was a song of her homeland, and she gave the rendition all she had. The rest sat spellbound at her command of the guitar and talent.

Carmen who was thinking of preparing for bed in the RV caught the sound from the noise cabin and rushed to open the door. She felt the passion of Venezuela in that song and involuntarily ran to the cabin where the teenagers were gathered. She stood entranced at the door as she watched and listened to her daughter play this song of their homeland then on impulse entered the cabin and began to dance. She had not felt this energized since her husband had died and they spent months confined to the embassy waiting for a way to escape the country. Her husband and she had danced to that song as the family celebrated each evening. The rest of the cabin occupants sat enthralled during the performance and at the end as Daniela finished the song with a flourish there was silence then everyone began to clap shouting for more. Daniela held out the guitar for Trevor to retrieve but he waved it back to her.

To be continued.

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