Estelle, however, was something else.
I started to dial her number and, to my surprise and chagrin, I felt a nervous knot in my stomach. Oh, for crying out loud. You’re a woman of 30! I really didn’t like having to ask her for help.
Irritated, I dialed the number.
“Hunter residence. May I help you?”
Sebastian’s voice was cool and polite. I was so surprised, I couldn’t speak immediately. I’d assumed he’d be at school.
“Hello?” he said again.
“Hi, Sebastian… it’s Caroline,” I stuttered.
Over the phone I heard him take a sudden, sharp breath.
“Caroline, hi! How are you?”
“Good, thanks. I was expecting to reach your mother…”
“I had a free period – and I’m graduating on Thursday anyway,” he reminded me.
“Oh, well, as luck would have it… I wondered if you could help me – with an article I’m writing?”
“Sure, anything!”
I tried to ignore the obvious delight in his voice.
“Well, when we were talking at the barbeque the other day, you mentioned that your friend’s dad surfed – I think you said his name was Ches? Well, I wondered if you could give me his number; I’d like to speak to him.”
There was a short pause.
“You want to speak to Ches?”
He sounded hurt.
“Well, I really wanted to talk to Ches’s dad,” I said hurriedly. “I’m writing an article about Base personnel who go surfing. I thought it would make a great piece for City Beat.”
“Oh, right.” He sounded ridiculously relieved. “Sure, I can get you that. We were going to hang out at the beach this afternoon. There’s a swell coming in off the Pacific that looks awesome. Mitch was going to ride with us. You want to come, too?”
“Mitch?”
“That’s Ches’s dad. He’s a Staff Sergeant.”
“Well, that would be great. What time were you going to go?”
“About 3.45 PM. We could pick you up?”
“Um… are you going to Point Loma again?”
“Maybe… We were going to sort of drive around till we found the best break.”
Oh, well…
“In that case, yes, I’d love a lift. Are you sure it’ll be okay with Mitch and your friends?”
“Sure!”
He answered so quickly I couldn’t help a small chuckle escaping. “Well, okay, but I’d feel happier if I could talk to Mitch first.”
With some reluctance that had me smiling to myself, Sebastian gave me his friend’s number and confirmed three times that he’d see me after school at 3.45 PM.
I hung up, still smiling. Then I redialed for Sergeant Peters. A woman answered.
“Hi there, Peters’ residence.”
“Oh, good morning. My name is Caroline Wilson – I’m Commander David Wilson’s wife. I was wondering if I could talk to Sergeant Peters.”
“Oh. Good morning, Mrs. Wilson. This is Shirley Peters. I’m afraid Mitch isn’t available at present: may I take a message?”
“Yes, thank you. This will probably sound a little odd, but I understand Mitch is taking the boys surfing this afternoon and I wondered if I could tag along.”
She hesitated just long enough to let me know that this sounded more than just a little odd. I rushed to fill in the blanks for her.
“It’s just that I used to write some stories for the local paper back East,” I said, exaggerating slightly, “and I hoped to try and do the same here – I thought an article on Base personnel who go surfing would be interesting. I was hoping your husband could fill me in.”
“Oh, I see. Well, I’m sure that Mitch will be just fine about that, Mrs Wilson.”
She still sounded surprised and I knew why: officers’ wives didn’t have much to do with the families of the enlisted ranks. A distinction that had always rather offended me.
In the end we agreed that Mitch would call me if there was a problem, otherwise I was to be ready to go at 3.45 PM.
“Um, Mrs Wilson, that van is pretty old; the boys use it for all their surf stuff. It’s got half the beach in there. Well, I wouldn’t want you to ruin any of your clothes.”