Chapter 1

It was the Thursday before Thanksgiving week. I was changing out a couple of things on my car, engrossed in the task.

That's why I was surprised when I heard, "Edward, do you have a moment?"

I heard the voice behind me and recognized it. Mrs. Leland Sommers, widow, retired school teacher. My former English teacher, retired ten years ago, the year after she saw me graduate from high school, and now, through some twist of fate, my neighbor in the little apartment complex.

"Of course, Mizz Lee," I said, carefully pulling my torso from under the hood of my SUV. I stood up and smiled at her. I was twenty-eight, she was seventy-two, tall, completely grey-headed, still carrying herself with the regal assurance with which she commanded a classroom full of high school students who were seldom interested in literature, language or grammar.

"Edward, I have a situation." Her cool grey eyes were missing the laughter we sometimes shared over book discussions and the occasional friendly joint venture to the local university for some minor cultural event.

Yeah, forty years of time separated our ages, but she'd honed in me an interest in culture in the short year she'd been before me in a classroom, and now this geographical quirk meant that occasionally I'd end up joining her for a recital or a reading. That is, those times where her constant companion was not available (not too often) and I couldn't find an interested female my age (all too much more often) to go.

I was also the "Edward, can you help me with this computer thing" guy for her and several other people in the complex, by dint of my technological astuteness. I was an IT guy. Like in "information technology". Ergo, I knew THINGS, especially things that the more elderly neighbors needed support with. So I was figuring this was another "reset the router" task.

I was wrong.

She saw my questioning expression. "This isn't the normal thing, Edward." I was still "Edward, former student and younger friend" to Mizz Lee. To my friends and co-workers, I was Ed in polite conversation. She continued. "You know about my daughter..."

Yes, I did know. Mizz Lee was the epitome of conservative and strait-laced demeanor and her daughter, almost twenty years my senior, was of similar temperament. In the same year, cancer had claimed both Sally and Mizz Lee's husband.

"Yes, ma'am," I answered.

"You do know she had a daughter, right?"

I did know that fact. "Wild" was the most polite term used to describe her granddaughter. There were several legal terms, too, the language one usually finds on police blotters. "I remember you talking about her," I said.

"Well, she's finally done it. Jail. I find myself getting ready to raise my great-granddaughter." Mizz Lee's lips did not smile as she said this. Her shoulders heaved. "Dana's fourteen, and right now she's at a shelter." Mizz Lee named the city eighty miles away. "I was wondering if you'd mind going with me to collect her. I do not relish making the drive alone."

"Jerry can't make it?" I asked. Jerry was her, well, at sixty-eight himself, a little old to be described as "boyfriend".

"He's headed off to speak at a conference for prosecuting attorneys," she said. "I need to go as soon as possible."

"Today?" I asked.

"Yes," she sighed. "She doesn't need to spend another night in the shelter. I'm going to go. I wish you'd drive."

"I'll drive," I said. "Let me stick this stuff back together and then go clean up."

"Thank you, Edward," she smiled.

I wrapped up the changing of a little under the hood doohickey, went inside, washed up my hands and face and then called Mizz Lee.

The drive over was uneventful. Mizz Lee caught me up on the goings on with her granddaughter and great granddaughter. It wasn't the happiest of stories.

"Her dad isn't going to take her?" I asked.

"Hah! Her mom doesn't have the slightest idea who the father is."

"Ouch!" I said. "What about Sally's husband?"

"Nobody knows where he is." Sally had divorced him ten years before her death. He hadn't been a part of his daughter's life before that, traveling for months on end. "Granddaughter told the authorities that I was the next of kin. I hate to ruin your vacation, Edward."

"That's no problem, Mizz Lee. I was just staying in town taking care of loose ends. It's not like you interrupted my Everest expedition."

She laughed. "You need a life!" she said.

"It just hasn't worked out for me yet, Mizz Lee," I said. I knew that Mizz Lee knew the rudiments of my situation, mateless, still hopelessly socially inept. That explained why I was the youngest occupant of a little six-unit apartment building and the only one single besides her, and that for me, weekends were spent on various dead end pursuits with minor technology angles, playing with model rocketry, nature photography, remote control vehicles, amateur radio ... I always had something new to play with. Except people.

And then I met Dana. Fourteen year old Dana. Five feet four, a hundred and ten pounds, honey-colored hair cut in a practical, low-maintenance Dutch boy bob, complete with bangs hovering just above grey eyes, a smattering of prominent freckles like confetti over her nose and cheeks. Baggy slacks, a sweatshirt in the cool autumn air, and red tennis shoes. That was the person that a staff lady brought us as we waited in the child protective services office.

She recognized her great grandmother. "Hi, Grandma," she said shyly.

"Oh, Dana, baby!" Mizz Lee cooed, gathering her great-granddaughter in her arms.

"I'm so glad you came for me, Grandma," Dana cried, wrapping her arms around her last family member.

The administrator lady smiled. "I'm glad to see a happy ending to this one." Twenty minutes were spent signing various forms. I sat in the waiting room patiently. And we left. Me carrying two plastic bags of belongings, Dana holding her grandmother's hand, we walked out to the car.

"Who's he, Grandma?" Dana asked.

"That's Edward. He's my, uh, OUR neighbor. I asked him to drive me here," Mizz Lee answered.

"Hi, Dana," I said.

"Hi," Dana said, smiling shyly. "Are you Grandma's boyfriend?"

I turned red and my tongue didn't work.

Mizz Lee rescued me. "Oh, no, baby! Edward was one of my students, and now he's a neighbor and a good friend who helps me on things like this. You'll meet my boyfriend soon."

Dana didn't miss a beat. "So, Mister Edward, do you, like, HAVE a girlfriend?"

"Not right now, Dana," I answered honestly.

"D'ya want one?" She smiled sweetly.

And that's when my troubles began.

"Uh, you might be some horrible person, Dana. How about we try being friends first?" I was trying to dodge and be flippant and stay gentle at the same time.

We got in the car, Mizz Lee and I in the two front seats, Dana in the back. I checked the rear-view mirror and saw a smiling face, grey eyes meeting mine in the mirror.

Now when I and Mizz Lee traveled, the radio stayed on the classical music station. I started the car and the strains of a sprightly concerto came dancing out. I expected a teen-aged "yuck!" I didn't get that.

"Grandma, why is it that I like your music so much?" Dana asked.

"I don't know, sweetie. I'm glad you do." Mizz Lee answered. "Are you going to have enough clothes for this evening, or do we need to go shop for some right now?"

"I'm good," Dana chirped. "But in a day or two..." she paused. "Edward, stop listening. Girl stuff!"

"I'm not listening. And your grandma is the only person on the planet who calls me Edward."

"Okay, Ed, Eddie? Which one?" Dana questioned.

"Ed," I said.

"Okay, Ed," she giggled. "Don't listen."

"I'm not listening."

"Grandma, I'm gonna need some tampons. In a couple of days. It's that time..."

Mizz Lee sighed. "Yes, dear. I've been through it all before. We'll do that, too."

The ride home was uneventful. I had questions running through my head, though. Young Dana was in the middle of major upsets in life, and I would have figured her demeanor would be, shall we say, a bit morose. She wasn't. She had all the markings of somebody who'd hit the lottery.

On the interstate, she unbuckled her seatbelt and scooted between the seats so the conversation was easier. I felt a finger touch my shoulder. I glanced sideways and saw a smiling face. And a wink. 'Oh, well, ' I thought to myself. 'Just go with it. She's happy and playful.' And cute. I definitely added cute in that thought.

We pulled off in the middle of the trip back and had dinner at a chain restaurant. Mizz Lee gently reminded Dana of a few etiquette niceties. The meal went well. Dana and Mizz Lee went to the ladies' room, I paid the bill over Mizz Lee's objections, and we finished the drive home.

I was reminded that Dana had previously visited her great-grandmother's home because she didn't seem too curious as we pulled into the parking lot. I grabbed Dana's two sad little bags of clothing and we all walked to the doors of our apartments. Mizz Lee and I shared a common alcove for our doors. She unlocked her front door and led the two of us inside. I put the bags on the sofa and turned to leave.

"I'll see you two later," I said, turning.

"Thank you, Edward," Mizz Lee said.

"Yeah, thanks, Ed!" Dana squeaked, and she bounced up and hugged me. "Where do YOU live?"

"Right across from your grandmother," I said.

"That's convenient," she said. "I know where my friend lives!"

So I went to my own apartment, said "Hi" to my cat, hit the shower, shaved, and then settled in for the evening, computer on my lap, cat on the back of my recliner, the TV on something mindless in the background. I ran through the email, checked into a couple of on-line groups in which I share interests, and then eased back against the headrest of the chair. And I thought about the day. And a finger brushing my shoulder, and a wink.

My cellphone rang. I looked at the display. Mizz Lee. "Hi, Mizz Lee," I said.

"Hello, Edward," she said. "Are you busy? Do you have plans for the evening?"

"No, ma'am," I answered. "What's up?"

"Dana's in the shower right now. I just got a phone call. An old friend of mine is in the hospital and I need to go see her. Would you mind if Dana visited you for a couple of hours?"

"Sure, not a problem at all. I need to put on some company clothes, though. Give me a few minutes."

"Oh, it will be a few minutes. Are you sure it's okay?"

"Mizz Lee, you know how my evenings usually go. If you're okay with her being here, then I'm okay with it."

"Why would I possibly be less than okay with it, Edward?" she questioned.

"Uh, I'm twenty-eight. She's fourteen." I could see that headline: "Man Convicted of Molestation".

"Oh, Edward, I trust you. And her."

And I'm thinking Grandma didn't see the wink. Or maybe I was reading more into things than I needed to.

I pulled on a pair of trousers and belted them up, then topped off the ensemble with a pocket t-shirt. That's what I was wearing when I heard the knock on the door.

I opened it. Mizz Lee stood there with Dana wrapped in a towel. Dana looked at me with a self-confident smirk. Mizz Lee spoke. "Edward, can Dana borrow one of your t-shirts? She didn't have any night clothes."

"Oh, sure," I said. "Hang on!" I dashed off to my bedroom and returned with a clean t-shirt. I handed it to Dana. "Here, babe," I said. "Bathroom's first door on the right in the hall."

Dana took it from me. "Just a mirror of Grandma's apartment, then, huh?" she countered, heading up the hall. The door closed.

Mizz Lee said, "She's a good young lady, Edward." She smiled. "I'll be back in a couple of hours."

Dana returned, my t-shirt doing yeoman service as a young teen's nightshirt on her young frame, its hem stopping just above mid-thigh. It was an alarming thing, revealing legs long in proportion to her perfectly weighted frame. The drape of the white knit fabric pushed ever so slightly outward, twin points above smallish titties.

I forced myself not to stare.

"Okay, Grandma, how's this?" Dana smiled and twirled. I hoped it was for her grandma's benefit. It did uncomfortably startling things inside my head.

"That's good enough until we get you proper pajamas tomorrow, I think, Dana." Mizz Lee looked at me. "Is that okay? My nightgown's long enough to drag the floor on her, and she doesn't need to look like an old lady."

I'd never seen Mizz Lee in a nightgown, so I had no sense of scale. Such a thing was beyond the pale. I was thinking, however, that picture of young Dana in a t-shirt was a pleasant image. Perhaps too pleasant. "No, that's fine. I'd offer her an old pair of hospital scrubs, but compared to me, she's tiny. They'd be a poor choice."

"Okay," Mizz Lee said. "I'll be back in a couple of hours. Dana, be nice to Edward."

"I will, Grandma," Dana chirped. She slid beside me as Mizz Lee closed the door.

The click of the door lock made me look down. My eyes met cool grey, with honeyed bangs hovering at her eyebrows. And a smile.

"What's on TV?" she asked.

"I don't have any idea. Let's see." As she slid onto the sofa, I handed her the remote.

"What do YOU watch?" she asked.

"Me? Nothing. Everything. Every now and then there's a show that I stop to watch, but usually the TV's just on."

The cat sauntered into the room, looked at me with disinterest, then he spotted Dana.

"Who's this?" Dana asked.

"That's DC," I said. "Short for 'Damned Cat'. He doesn't like humans, except on HIS terms." And DC instantly made a liar out of me by bouncing up onto the sofa and pushing his gourd head under her hand.

Dana giggled.

"Apparently that means you're not human," I said.

"That's what my teachers say," Dana smiled. She petted DC and cooed in his ear. I could hear his purring from six feet away.

I sat in my recliner and kicked it back. I expected Dana to immediately click the TV to one of the "kid" channels or MTV or VH1. Instead, she ran through the whole list and settled on a nature show.

"I love these," she said. "You don't mind, do you?"

"No, that's a good choice, actually," I said.

"Good!" she giggled. "I like this stuff."

"What?" I asked, "No Disney or MTV or VH1?"

"Nah! Not MY thing! You like this, too?" She turned her gaze to me.

"Actually, of all the channels, I'm usually on history or science or nature. Or an occasional movie, but half the time I just have it on for the background noise," I restated. That was the truth. I reached beside my chair and retrieved my laptop, flipping it open. This was MY norm, an evening with the TV in the background, the world open to me through the internet. And NO! no porn.

The laptop caught Dana's eye. "Oh, you have a laptop?!?"

"Yep!" I said.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Her eyes questioned as much as her words.

"I'm checking email, then I have some favorite websites."

"Nothin' nasty, huh?" Her face was a smirk.

"Nooooo, nothing nasty! And what do YOU know about nasty on the internet, anyway?"

"I know it's on there. They warned us about it at school. A policeman talked to us about it an' everything."

"Really?" I said.

"Really. He said there are places where you can talk to people and you have to be real careful because adults try to talk kids into meeting them for all kinds of stuff." She breathed. "And he said that there are places where you can see pictures of people doing things that are not proper for kids to look at."