Chapter 25

I didn’t have much to do with the Hansons. At least not the elders of the group. I did start seeing Sarah a lot more, her and her David. She was technically a Baker now not a Hanson, but that argued the point that she’d nevertheless been adopted by the man fifteen years gone, and so to my mind she was still a Hanson on one level if not legally speaking so much anymore.

And then we were invited to dinner over at the Hansons. It was supposedly to recognize our engagement, mine and Anna’s. It was a command performance so we committed to attend.

It seemed strange to me how things had evolved since Sarah’s little conspiracy to reacquaint herself with me, I guess it was a case of reacquaintance, seeing as how I did know her for almost a year before I went to prison. Now she was married. I had been part of the wedding, a fairly important part. I had negotiated all of that with my enemy. Was he still my enemy? I would have to say that he no longer was. And then there was the woman, his woman: that was a totally different matter, which I truly had not realized until just now.

We had arrived for dinner at 6:00 p.m. We’d been greeted enthusiastically, and apparently sincerely happy for us, by the group; and then, we’d eaten. Boy had we. The food, roast beef mainly, was truly great. The booze, only the finest. And now we were relaxing.

“Okay, so when?” said Lea.

“We haven’t exactly set a date yet. I was hoping for a June wedding, but that would be almost a year off, ten months, so we’re still talking,” said Anna. “Maybe January.”

“Okay,” said Lea. “But whenever, you have to let us be involved with the ceremony and the reception. Okay?” she was aiming the question at me. I shrugged.

“That’s fine with me. But you’ll have to clear it with the boss,” I said, nodding toward Anna.

“That’s fine,” said Anna. “We’d love you to.”

‘Well, good,” said Carlton, entering the lists.

The talking and laughing went on for some time, but eventually it was time to call it a night. We said our goodbyes and were on the road back toward Anna’s place where the two of us had recently set up shop. And then I heard a desperate, “Oh no!” from my new woman.

“What?” I said glancing over at her. She was driving; well it was her car. She wheeled it around and back toward the Hansons’ place.

“What are you doing,” I said, even though it was obvious what she was doing.

“I left my purse on the couch in the receiving room. Gotta get it,” she said. I sighed.

“Okay,” I said. I knew better than to come between a woman and her purse.

We pulled into the drive in no more than ten minutes from having left.

I waved her off, Anna, and said I would go get it.

I headed up to the door and was about to buzz the buzzer, but I noticed it was open, and just entered I was going to grab her purse yell an apology and leave. But I heard my name. They were talking about me, or maybe us.

I grabbed the purse and stood stock still by the couch where I’d found it.

“Yes, he seems very content with her?” said Carlton.

“Yes, and I am so glad. He’s needed a woman since well since,” she said. “I am just so glad it’s her and not me. I needed you. He just didn’t measure up not even back in the day. Yes, I owe him more than I can ever pay, but be married to the man? No, that would not have been good. And that name thing with Kari; I mean him insisting on calling her Sarah, as if that actually makes him her daddy even part time,” she said.

“Sarah seems okay with it. And so am I actually,” said Carlton.

“Yes, and so am I. Letting him believe that he could ever actually believe he was her father, sperm donorship notwithstanding. It’s kinda tough for me; but like I said, I do owe the man, and so does Kari,” she said. “But all said and done, you’re her daddy, her only daddy. That will never be a question as far as I’m concerned, never.”