Soon after the breakfast dishes were done, Matt, Chris, Charlotte and me piled into the Cayenne to find another car.
Julia stayed behind with Barbara and promised to have my laundry washed and dried by the time we returned.
The dealership looked like many others I had seen, all white and chrome. A young man met us at the door and asked how he could help after introducing himself. I told him I wanted to see the 2018 Eclipse Cross and they had one in the showroom. The salesman went over all the features of the car and I felt like I would need a degree in engineering just to drive the thing.
The five of us got into the car, my family plus the salesman, and went for a test drive. It handled much easier than the Cayenne and I said as much to Chris. He took over the test drive and agreed.
Back in the showroom, we started negotiating for the best price. Lillian gave us enough money to buy the car four times over, but there was no need to be frivolous.
The salesman gave us a price, ran back and forth to the manager and we still didn’t get much of a deal. Finally, I told him that we would be back the next morning and we walked out of the dealership with the salesman looking like he had just lost the sale.
“Why did you do that?” Chris demanded once we were back in the Cayenne.
“The guy was been a hard ass and wouldn’t deal. Now, because he thinks he has lost the sale, he will be more reasonable the next time we come in,” I said.
“Really? We won’t have to start the negotiations over?”
“No, we won’t. You never take the first offer or the second. I went back three times before I bought my CRV. I ended up with over $7,500 off the MSRP.”
“You can negotiate for my next car, then,” Matt said.
I told him, “Your next car is the Cayenne. Now, what will you give me for it?”
“No way I am negotiating with you,” Matt said. “I will end up giving you all my money plus the deed to my house for a car I have inherited.” We all laughed.
Back at the house, we ate sandwiches for lunch and then I helped Julia fold my laundry.
She was thrilled we were staying one more night. In fact, I would have loved to stay for a lifetime. Maybe Santa Fe would be a good place for Chris and me to retire. Ernesto arrived in time to help Matt and Chris make dinner. Charlotte, Julia, Barbara and I looked over the wedding plans. Charlotte had a wedding book with pictures of everything she wanted for the wedding.
Her cake looked like it was covered in paper Mexican flowers in bright blue, pink, yellow, orange, and purple. The fondant was exquisite.
The reception area beside the chapel where the wedding was, would be lavishly decorated with bright Mexican flowers and two bridesmaids were going to wear cotton fiesta skirts with lace trimmed peasant blouses and sandals. Traditional Mexican food was on the menu and Sangria and tequila would freely flow.
Ernesto intended wear a black suit with silver conchos down the sides of the pant legs, a jacket trimmed in silver conchos, a bright blue sash and bright blue bow around his neck. He would wear a black sombrero and white guayabera shirt trimmed in white lace.
After seeing her wedding plans, I looked forward to the fiesta more than ever.
Charlotte’s eyes danced as she described the wedding. “You and Uncle Chris have to wear Mexican clothes. I can give you the name of my dressmaker and she can make a shirt for Uncle Chris and a dress for you. It will be fabulous fun.”
We gathered at the table for dinner, adding an additional chair for Julia. We ate quesadillas and enchiladas, and Matt produced a flan for dessert. After dinner, we played what Matt called Monopoly-To-The-Death followed by lively charades after Matt soundly beat all of us.
This was not a family to gather around a TV set and just watch. We talked, interacted, had fun. Even Chris joined the fun and played charades like a champ. At midnight, we all headed for bed.
Karen Writes More Than Karen Crochets 