Chapter 32

For propriety Miranda and I were wearing robes as we sat at the table eating the Greek chicken dish Cheyenne had prepared before she left. I had found it in one of the refrigerators and microwaved it according to the directions on the plastic reusable container before dishing it up into two plates. When I placed the used container in the dishwasher I noted one already there. Obviously Emily had already taken lunch and returned to the workshop.

“Wow. She’s really a good cook,” Miranda said.

“Yeah. I’m afraid hiring her was self preservation. None of the three of us is better than marginal as far as cooking is concerned.”

“I’ve seen her other talents too.”

I laughed. “Believe it or not we resisted her charms as long as we could.”

“If Emily is just downstairs shouldn’t we call her?”

We were close to finished so I collected our plates and put them in the dishwasher. Using the display on the island I called out, “Call Workshop. Emily can you come up here?”

“Sure. Give me a minute,” the pixie girl’s voice came back.

Miranda stood up to meet Emily so that when her head appeared in the stairwell the pregnant girl only had to take a few steps before she was in Miranda’s arms.

“You’ve been here for a while,” Emily said after kissing her. Miranda’s hair was still damp, as was mine. “Shame on you both for not inviting me to play.”

“You were busy,” I said.

“I am so going to make you regret that,” Emily said. “And you,” she said hugging Miranda more tightly.

“Guilty,” the cougar admitted. “I can’t help it. He’s too hot.”

“Isn’t he ever.”

“I’m right here ladies,” I said getting a little put off about being talked about like I was not there.

After they hugged, Miranda stood back. “Let me look at you,” she said.

Emily was dressed in a loose overblouse that hung below the stretchy panel of the jeans she was wearing. She was wearing trainers rather than her heavy work boots which revealed the chain around her left ankle.

“Oh that brings back so many memories,” the cougar said. “I wore one of those for years, until...”

“Does Darla know you’re here?” Emily asked quickly.

“Not yet. I called after we texted last week and told her I was coming sometime this week. Wait until you see what I brought.”

That resulted in Miranda and I going down to her car and bring up no less than four suitcases and what seemed like a dozen shopping bags.

“Baby Stuff!” Emily cried when she saw the items poking out of the bags.

The baby stuff went in the nursery and the suitcases in the guest bedroom, though I did not know how many times Miranda would be sleeping there.

I texted Darla and immediately heard Miranda’s phone ring.
“I wanted to surprise you ... Well yes we did ... We planned on Italian ... Yes I did. I love you too darling.”

“Darla says she should be home in about an hour.”

“We should wait for her before digging into the bags,” Emily said. “Would you like to see what I’m working on?”

“That would be wonderful dear,” Miranda said.

“We’ll see you later, Danny,” Emily said taking the older woman’s hand and leading her downstairs.

Knowing when I was dismissed I made my way to the office to pay some bills and catch up on my email, most of which concerned town business in one form of another.

Among the mail I found a message from Stephanie to Martin on which I was cc’ed. In it she told us both that she expected to close on the sale of her house in a couple of weeks and would be relocating to Lesserton as planned.

I also had a missive from Jenn Lou, Martin and my previous partner, who seemed to have dropped off the face of the Earth after the sale. I had heard disturbing news about her from our now discredited college friend Connie Hurley. The email indicate that she had emigrated to Europe. The non-competitive clause in the buyout agreement prevented her from working in app development in the U.S for the foreseeable future, though like Martin and me she should not have to worry about working for awhile. It appeared that she desired to continue working in programming and so moved to a jurisdiction where the non-competitive clause was unenforceable.

The office was one of the few rooms in the loft that contained neither a display unit nor a smart speaker, I suspected primarily because it contained the entrance to the secret room. So I was surprised when Darla came walking through the door, as I had no idea she was home.

“I wondered what you were up to,” she said bending to kiss me. “Do you have any idea where Mother is?”

“She was in the workshop with Emily.”

“I checked. They must have went out. Not far though. Both Mom and Emily’s cars are out front.”

“So how’s the Trebeck sale going?”

“Very well. The Clairmont’s have agreed to the offer price. Grant, Portia and Estrella want some work done on the house before they move in. I was hoping that Stephanie might take a look at it.”

“It might be too small a job for her if they aren’t doing a total reno.”

“Maybe so, but it can’t hurt to ask.”

Darla went back into the bedroom and I followed her. At that point we heard the chime for the front door go off. That was a feature that let us know the door had been opened by someone with the lock code. I had activated that feature after Miranda’s arrival had surprised me and Cheyenne.

“That must be them,” Darla said. But when I looked at the display all it showed was Cheyenne returning to the loft with some bags.

When we entered the great room we saw that Cheyenne had deposited her bags on the island. We noted the powder room light on as we passed and were unsurprised to see her re-enter the great room in a black and white maid’s uniform that was almost decent enough to be seen in public even though it boosted her breasts and had a flirty skirt that almost hid the tops of her fishnet stockings.

“Where do you suppose they are?” Darla asked.

“Who?” Cheyenne asked.

“Emily and Miranda.”

“I saw them next door talking to Carly, as I passed by.” Cheyenne said starting to stow her purchases.

“Oh by the way. We’ll be taking dinner out tonight.”

“Okay. There’s some stuff I can do this evening if you’re going to be out.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Darla said. “Remember we’re having some folks over Friday evening.”

“I’ve got extra food and drink coming in on Thursday. Sure you won’t need extra help?”

“We should be fine,” Darla said. “Besides you should find something to do on Friday night.”

“We’ll there’s always the Highland Sports Bar,” Cheyenne joked.

“Yeah Lesserton is not known for it’s nightlife,” I agreed.

“You could always go up to Bruton,” Darla said.

“Pass,” Cheyenne said. “That’s a choice of biker bar, shit kicker bar or the bar at the Holiday Inn.”

“I hope you don’t mind walking,” Darla said.

“Well, It’s a little chilly tonight,” Miranda said. “But it’s not really that cold. When I think of the snow in Boston...”

Darla and Miranda were walking together with Emily and I behind them. I was holding Emily’s hand and she was silent next to me.

“I’m surprised you haven’t headed for Florida already.”

“I’m thinking of skipping Florida this year.”

“Really? What about that crowd you usually play with down there?”

“It’s not as much fun without your father. Plus I don’t want to be gone all winter.”

“Oh.”

“Lesserton really is a beautiful little town. I really like how most of the old downtown buildings have been repurposed.”

She stopped before a curio shop window. In earlier days it had been a five and dine store. The display window was well lite and contained a complex display.

“I wish they were open.”

“We can come by tomorrow, Mother,” Darla said.

“That would be nice,” she answered and started walking again.

“This place looks nice,” Miranda commented as we approached the restaurant.

“Good evening Marla,” I said to the hostess.

“Good evening Danny. Hello Emily. Darla.”

“This is my mother Miranda,” Darla said.

“Welcome to Pipo’s,” Marla said grabbing a stack of menus and leading us into one of the rooms. There were ten or so tables in the room and Marla led us to one with four chairs. I remembered that this was the room where Kathryn, Carly and I had dinner shortly after I moved to Lesserton. On the wall were the crossed Italian and Poly flags. Miranda gave them a look and then started searching through her menu.

“Good Evening Sarina,” Darla said.

“Darla, how nice to see you,” the girl lit up at seeing my wife. Another of her conquests no doubt.

“What can I get you’all to drink?”

“How does Chianti Classico sound?” I asked the ladies.

They all nodded, including Emily.

I shook my head. “None for you Mama. Ice Tea.”

“You wouldn’t want me to have to card you,” Sarina playfully admonished the teen.

“Ice tea it is,” Emily admitted in defeat.

“Dessert?” Sarina asked.

“Oh I couldn’t,” Darla said. Miranda shook her head no and even Emily had eaten her fill.
“Just the check please,” I said.

After paying the check I helped all three ladies into their coats and we started for home. The temperature had dropped a little and I found myself bracketed by Miranda and Darla while Emily danced around us.

“That’s quite a fetching anklet you’re wearing.”

“Thank you Mother,” Darla answered.

“I knew you and Danny had come to an understanding. I see it’s gone farther than Emily and me.”

“Yes it has.”

“Good. I’m glad.”

When we got back to the loft it was almost nine o’clock. We stowed our jackets in the closet near the top of the stairs. No sooner were we finished with that task than I found Miranda in my arms. She thoroughly kissed me.

“I hope you don’t mind, Danny, but I’d like to spend tonight in the guest room with Emily.” She looked me in the eye. I had no idea what kind of response she expected. “I want to spend a night with each of you, at least once while I’m here. Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll all make it to that giant bed of yours some night.”

“You are welcome to spend the night where you please, Miranda,” I said, kissing her once before releasing her.

She reached out to take Emily’s hand. Together they crossed the great room heading for the guest room.

“Well that was surprising,” Darla said.

The next day Emily, Darla and Miranda finally got around to going through the many bags Miranda had brought with her. They contained a multitude of baby items, including clothing, toys, and another three dozen items totally necessary for the modern perspective parent. Emily gushed over all of them and Darla seemed excited that Miranda had accepted my and Emily’s baby as a grandchild.

That night Miranda asked Darla to join her and Emily and I made a vigorous re-acquaintance.

On Thursday morning Emily took Miranda to visit a number of Lesserton shops. The town was dearth of chain stores of all types, but relatively ripe with antique, second hand and curio shops.

Cheyenne was in the front part of the house cleaning the bathrooms.

“Danny,” Darla said over coffee. “Mother is talking about wanting to move here.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“I don’t know. Most of the friction between you and her seems to have disappeared.”

“I think she had an unrequited lust for me that exposure has pretty much put to rest.”

“I think that present circumstances simply managed to turn it to a requited lust.”

“Perhaps.” Darla sipped her coffee. “Well this place, at least, is too small to have a mother-in-law suite, so she’ll be looking for a place. She asked me to find her something.”

“How soon?”

“We discussed her plans. She’s going to Florida despite what she said a few days ago. She’s got that house out on the keys. She won’t be staying long though. She want’s to be here for Emily’s delivery.”