Chapter 5

Sunday, September 27th

Sunday morning I was going to go for a paddle but my arms were sorer than I could remember. A combination of a hard paddle on Friday night and wrestling with a shark Saturday afternoon, I suppose. My legs felt good though so I ran out to the connector and then out to Rifle Range Road and back, about ten miles. For some reason, ten miles running seemed further than ten miles paddling. I put in a reasonable but not great time and by 8:30 both my arms and legs were shot. Any chores I had in mind were put off indefinitely. I cleaned up the kitchen and that's it.

I was ready to call it a day and veg in front of the TV and then I got an inspiration. I made a phone call and got the stamp of approval. Then I took the top off the Ferrari, put on my jungle bird Hawaiian shirt and headed down to Elsa's. I picked up an excited Maja and we headed up the coast to spend the day together, sort of an un-father, un-daughter day out. We took a two hour drive up to Myrtle Beach. We went straight to Broadway at the Beach for lunch at Jimmy Buffet's restaurant, Margaritaville. Lots of colors, the hurricane machine and decorations from a lot of famous songs Maja knew. Is it possible to enjoy a better lunch than a cheeseburger in paradise? I think not.

We took in the aquarium to see what the fish we caught would look like from underwater. Again, another hit. The aquarium has a shark tank that you walk through, with fish and sharks swimming all around you. No toadfish though. Having fished the day before made this especially fun.

Then, shopping. Maja found a floral print that was every bit as fashionable as my jungle bird shirt. Well, almost as fashionable. We bought kites for later use at the beach and at Lids, Maja insisted I get a Detroit Tigers hat. I had the car and the shirt. I needed that hat too. What I really needed was another six inches in height and a cool mustache. I spoiled her and she had fun being spoiled. Broadway at the Beach is designed to get all of a tourist's money in one afternoon. Before I went completely broke we took a helicopter tour. Anyone who's been to Myrtle Beach knows that tourists in helicopters circle overhead from nearly dawn till dusk. But rarely does a tourist show up in Magnum's car, wearing a jungle bird shirt and take a ride in TC's helicopter. Well, it wasn't TC but it was close enough for Maja. We had packed a lot into a little time and both had fun doing it. If word got out about this at school, I'd have a class of kids that would want to take a field trip to Myrtle Beach.

On the way back I asked Maja to tell me some stories. She's heard so many of mine and I wanted to hear some about her and her mom. I wished I hadn't. She had never met her grandparents on her father's side. After all, her mother had killed their son. On the other side of the family, Elsa was ostracized because of it. Her family didn't know the abusive side of her first husband. Only the prince charming side. She told me about living in Virginia in a small apartment with her aunt sharing mom duties. Maja had been to six different schools by the time she ended up at our little school. They had moved to IOP to get away from a scam artist who was still trying to ruin their lives. It was the life she knew and she wasn't sad about it at all. In fact she shared all this in a cheery, upbeat manner. She might not have been sad about it but I was and I knew Elsa was too. Maja had missed out on a lot.

We got home right at dinner time. Maja recounted the day and I went to the back deck while Elsa put together a quick dinner. Maja dominated the conversation and Elsa encouraged her for all the details. It was Maja's turn to do dishes and Elsa and I went to the deck to watch the sunset. This was quickly becoming my favorite place.

"That was serious bonus points, Mister."

"Yeah. I figured it would be." I wasn't really talkative and would have been happy just to watch the sunset.

"What's wrong? Maja had a great time and I so appreciate it. She needed that."

I didn't really want to say. I didn't want to say that I was sorry for how much Maja had missed out on. I didn't want to because it made me sad and I didn't want to because it might sound critical. And that was something that I had earned points for. I didn't want to lose those and didn't see any reason to. Especially when I wasn't being critical. Just sad.

"I know. This has been a fun weekend. It's been fun watching Maja have fun. I don't get that enough. Kids are on the clock when they're with me and I don't get to see them just be kids enough."

"Ok. So why so blue?'

"That obvious?"

"Danny, never, ever play poker. So, tell."

"I asked Maja to tell me stories. It wasn't what I expected, that's all."

"Ah. No, I don't suppose it would be."

"It's been tough, huh?"

"It's been tough. Tougher on Maja than me."

"I don't think she thinks so. You know, I'm not so observant. Not like I think I am."

"No? The Magnum shirt doesn't help your powers of observation?"

"Fraid not. I'll tell you. I saw a beautiful woman and a nice house, nice car, polite and smart little girl and I came to conclusions that aren't even close."

"Second thoughts?"

"Second thoughts. About what?"

"Me. Us. You know, us with a future."

"No. That's not what I mean at all. I just meant that I saw things far more simply than they are."

"And now you're thinking? What? How does that change things?"

"It makes me want to hang on tighter. It certainly doesn't drive me away if that's what you were thinking."

"Good. Baggage in the open. Well, that's good. Any secrets you need to come clean on?"

"No. Not really. I had good parents that had me late in life and they're both gone. The rest of my family, brother and sister live in Atlanta. Been here for ten years and don't plan to leave. No arrests, don't smoke, drink but don't get drunk. I might make an exception tonight, though."

"I guess. I feel bad for Maja but it sounds rotten in my head when I think it."

"Why's that? Why would it feel rotten? I know what she's missed and I think you probably have a good clue about it by now. So why doesn't it sound right to you?"

"Because I keep thinking that if I said it, it would sound like I thought poorly of you and I don't. But it seems like it would sound that way. I don't want it to sound that way. I just want it not to be so." I was honestly on the point of tears and was hoping the sun would go down soon.

"I believe you. I've done my best and I think you think that. You do, don't you?"

"Yeah. I do. I do think that. I just think it's shitty that it hasn't been better and that you deserve better."

"Yeah. Me too. Maja and me? We have each other and we love our time together. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for her. But you were right last night. We both know that the past is what it is. We can't relive it, can't change it, can't fix it."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"No. You're a good man, Danny. You've done right by us. You've given Maja a weekend she'll remember for a long time. Me too. Celebrate that. I am. I got past the past last night."

"Well, I said a lot of what I said without understanding the context as well as I do now."

"And now?"

"I think I might go home and talk it over with my friend Jack."

"You mean Marco?"

"No, Jack. Mr. Jack Daniels. We haven't talked in a while."

"I'm ok with that. You want to pick Maja up for school in the morning?"

"Yeah. I'll be by at 7, if that's ok."

"That's fine. Before you leave, when you walk through you need to have a smile on your face. You gave my little girl a great weekend. If you walk out sad and she sees that she'll think it's her fault."

"Ok. I know you're right. Let me think happy thoughts for a minute or something."

"Let me help." She stepped behind me and started massaging my sore and aching shoulders. I don't know how she knew but I needed that so badly. I sat down in a chair and she kept going. Shoulders, traps and especially my delts. They were so tight and needed that so much. She finished by working her way up my neck and then rubbed her fingers vigorously on my scalp. If that wasn't enough, when she finished with my scalp she leaned into me and massaged my chest down to my abs. Every time she reached down to my abs my face got a special treat. After her talk the night before I was not going to say a word about her breasts pressing into me. I think I was drooling by the time she finished.

"Better?"

"You have no idea."

On my way out, Maja came running down the stairs and gave me a huge crush hug and then ran back upstairs without saying a word. When I got home I left Jack in the cabinet and went to bed happy that night.

The week of September 28th

That week seemed like a normal week although it was anything but. I picked Maja up every morning. Three times Elsa walked her out to the car and I got a kiss goodbye. Twice, some woman who looked vaguely like Elsa, but with a robe and wet hair waved from the doorway. I motioned her to come down to the car but she would have none of that. Maja and I let the principal, vice principal and Maja's French teacher know about the situation and encouraged them to call Elsa to verify. French was Maja's last class of the day so Mrs. Barbier needed to know. I cooked dinner one night and Elsa twice. It seemed like a business week and I guess it was. Elsa planned dinner Friday night with the Krupps. While we had talked about how we would handle the public face of our relationship it didn't seem like we needed a plan for that.

I arrived right at 7 to find the Krupps already there. I greeted them, Maria and Maja then walked into the kitchen to greet Elsa. I leaned forward to give her a peck on the cheek but she turned from her preparation and gave me a quick one on the lips. The Krupps already knew me, knew they liked me because Maria did. That I was involved with another parent made no difference to them and that was good. Jayson Krupp was an orthopedic surgeon who specialized in joint replacements; knees, hips and the like. I told Jayson that although I had used the services of many parents I hoped I wouldn't need his.

We had a relaxing dinner. The girls ate out on the deck and we ate indoors. I learned more about golf than I thought there was to know. I know a lot of people enjoy golf but I agree with Mark Twain, who said, "Golf is a good walk, ruined." I see no point in chasing a little white ball that I just hit. I kept that sentiment to myself. We learned from Kathi Krupp just what it takes to put on Charleston's Piccolo Spoleto Festival every year, in case we cared. We didn't and we still don't. Elsa and I also discovered we both have a reasonable tolerance for meaningless conversation. When they left, we looked at each other, sighed and laughed. I asked if Maja or Maria had any idea what bores her parents were. I was asked, "Why do you think they wanted to eat on the deck?" They could have given us a heads up.

October through Thanksgiving - a routine develops

Over the next month we fell into something of a routine. I took Maja to school in the morning and home in the evenings. Sometimes we would go back to my place where Bonkers got way more attention than he deserved. Other times, I would take her back to their place and I'd wait. I didn't like the idea of leaving her alone even though they had done this in the past. It seemed that every other Friday, Maja would go home with the Krupps and or I'd bring both girls back to the Lundquist home. The Ferrari is not made for three people. I would have to rethink that. On top of that my Fatboy wasn't getting a lot of miles.

I discovered that Elsa was a superb cook. Her Virginia cousin ran a catering business and she had learned much from her. I, on the other hand, taught her how to clean fish and a dozen ways to cook them. Elsa gave me a tennis lesson and I learned far more about humility than I did about playing tennis. Maybe if she'd played left handed. No. I don't think that would have helped. I was pouring sweat and she looked like she might have walked a block at a leisurely pace. So I did the only intelligent thing I could think of. I started getting lessons from her every Thursday night. If tennis was such a big part of her life, I wanted to be a part of that. She was a good teacher but I had my work cut out for me. It was a good thing the SUP season was about over because serving practice was killing my arm. She could effortlessly send rockets over the net and on target. I could do one or the other. I could hit a rocket or I could put it in the service box but doing both at the same time consistently was outside my capability.

I returned the favor by teaching her some martial arts. I taught her some simple self-defense moves taken mostly from Aikido and Small Circle Jujitsu. She picked up on it much quicker than I picked up tennis. After a few lessons, she decided that Maja should learn some self-defense also. By the end of the month Maria had joined us and I worked with the three of them to teach them moves that they could use on someone much bigger and more powerful. Maria and Maja were simply too small to be effective against a determined attacker but I thought Elsa might do well. We also talked about pepper spray and handguns. While Elsa knew guns, she no longer owned one. Trading tennis for martial arts was a great idea and we both enjoyed learning not just about each other's passion but how to enjoy performing those arts.

We were quickly developing a set of shared experiences and found that it was fun and easy to do. Maja fell into this easily. She wanted to be a part of everything we did but Elsa let her know that we needed our space too and she was pretty quick to figure that out. The three of us walked a lot of miles on the beach that month. The weather had been with us and as long as it would last we would take advantage of it. Elsa hadn't talked much about Alex since our first dinner together but I knew their marriage was down to the last few weeks and on one walk on the beach I asked her about it.

She told me that Alex Djouski, aka Alex Herndon, aka Alex Michaels, aka Michael Herndon had never graduated from high school and certainly never gone to college. He had been arrested nine or ten times but he never stayed in jail for long. He was a confidence man who specialized in rich widows. Elsa was the youngest and least wealthy of his victims. He had developed so much experience with other women that he knew how to tell Elsa just what she wanted to hear. He knew her net worth or at least had an idea of what it was and he wasn't interested. Elsa thought his own wealth and disinterest in hers was one of the key factors in gaining her trust. As a potential investor through Goldwater, Price, he had a reasonable curiosity about other investors. His went beyond the general and into specifics but by then Elsa's guard was down. He pulled Maja in as well and made promises about the future to both of them. He became what they needed; a knight in shining armor. The more she told me the easier it was to understand and the more I disliked Alex Whoeverhewas.