Chapter 1

In the middle of my niece Stormi’s high school graduation, it began to sprinkle. As usual, the ceremony was held outdoors at the football field. I’d received my own diploma there a decade and a half earlier. There was only a slight drizzle at first and I felt just a drop or two per minute.

I was sitting quite a distance from my relatives. My two older brothers and I still got along fine. They were happy I’d babysit their kids for free, and I enjoyed doing it since I’d never married or had any children of my own. Neither of my snobby sisters-in-law wanted anything to do with me, though. I’d dated a dozen or so ladies on and off through the years, including all five of their younger sisters. Regrettably, I never found a woman I wanted to be with for long.

Despite a few raindrops here and there, the ceremony continued with the principal calling students’ names, giving them a handshake, and passing them their reward for a dozen or more years of schooling. I felt pride swelling in my chest as he called, “Stormi Davis” and she took her turn walking across the stage in her cap and gown. I stood and clapped vigorously, then whistled as loudly as I could. As the slow drizzle changed to light rain, he called the names and handed out diplomas at a speedier pace.

Near the end, the precipitation suddenly increased to a downpour and strong winds started blowing. The principal tried to salvage the last bit by waving the 20 or so remaining graduates onto the temporary stage as he shouted in the mic, “The rest of you come get your diplomas, quick!” The small crowd rushed him and grabbed their certificates as nearly everyone else ran for the parking lot. I held my umbrella up and casually walked to my truck. I smiled in self-satisfaction, seeing only four or five other umbrellas in the crowd of a thousand or more.

The thunderstorm kept going all afternoon and didn’t show any signs of abating. Through my living room windows I had seen horizontal rain, watched leaves and trash flying in the strong wind, and heard multitudes of thunderclaps. I turned off the TV when the movie ended, then walked upstairs. When I reached the top the doorbell rang and there was rapid pounding on my front door. I sighed and went to answer it.

When I opened the door rain pelted me and a strong blast of wind pushed me away. In addition to the storm; an empty plastic bag, several leaves, and my oldest niece Stormi blew into the entryway. I shoved the door closed and locked it, then asked in surprise, “It’s after ten o’clock and raining like crazy! Why did you run all the way over here? It’s nine blocks.”

She panted briefly. Once she caught her breath she complained, “My parents SUCK! I HATE them! My asshole ex-boyfriend too!” I detected hurt and sadness in her voice instead of real anger. She hugged me tightly and her waterlogged jacket soaked the front of my shirt as she sobbed and shivered. Much of her wet red hair clung to her face and neck.

I patted her back to calm her, then kissed her forehead and said, “Take it easy. It’ll be okay, sweetness. You’re sopping wet. You must be freezing.” I instructed, “Go upstairs and get a hot shower to warm up. I’ll make us some cocoa and we’ll talk.”

She smiled a little and hopefully asked, “Irish cocoa?”

She wasn’t even close to 21 but my compassion and her pretty face inspired me to reply, “Okay. Anything for my favorite new graduate. Go warm up and I’ll meet you in the living room.” Since she and her cousins didn’t have any grandparents left, I’d taken over the task of spoiling them rotten.

She pushed her request even further, “How about in the rec room?”

I wasn’t a fan of smoking but I let her in my basement bar and recreation room, to avoid stinking up the rest of the house. “I guess a cigarette would help you relax. All right, sweetie.”

She told me, “Thanks, Uncle Pete! You’re the best!” Her pretty brown eyes sparkled a bit as she smiled, then she kissed my cheek. I told her, “I’m wet too, so I’m going to change quick. Meet you in the basement.” I glanced at the shape of her backside filling out her jeans when she turned and briskly climbed the stairs. I smiled realizing she really wasn’t a kid anymore.

His wife Helen and I didn’t get along at all, but after I swapped my wet clothes for slippers and a bath robe, I called my brother Frank. “Stormi is upset again, so I’m letting her stay here tonight.”

“Good! She’s impossible these days! It would be great if you could keep her a while. Maybe you can calm her down, so she won’t be such a bitch at home.”

I sighed. “Frank, you and Helen just don’t understand her the way I do. She has trouble sometimes, but she’s not a bad girl.”

He dubiously asked, “You’ve been drinking, right?” I hadn’t had a drop in weeks, so I laughed. He finished with, “Good night and good luck.”

“Night, bro.”

I thought a moment and looked in the jewelry box I’d inherited from my parents. I opened the top drawer and removed a very special piece; a thick, wide, and heavy gold necklace. I figured I should give it to Stormi, since she was a woman now. I put it in my pocket and walked downstairs to the kitchen. She loved cocoa and usually drank two cups, so I started making four cups of Irish cocoa on the stove.

As I was pouring Irish crème into the sauce pan, the dispenser top fell off and into the milk. Instead of four shots like I had intended, maybe ten or twelve poured out by the time I noticed. I grumbled in annoyance as I fished out the bottle top with a spoon. I figured it being boozier than usual would be fine, since I didn’t want to throw it out and start over. I poured our chocolatey sweet drinks into two large beer mugs, so we wouldn’t need to run up and down the stairs for refills.

Instead of just sitting on the sofa and waiting for her in the basement rec room, I did a few things I thought she’d like. I noticed a candy cane leftover from Christmas by the bar and remembered she loved them. Since they were nearly pure sugar and wouldn’t go bad for years, I put it on the table next to her mug. I lit two candelabras at the bar, then brought three candles to the coffee table and lit them. I turned down the lights, put wood in the fireplace, and started a fire to drive away the chill and give the room a more relaxed atmosphere.

As I closed the glass doors in front of the fire I heard, “Eek! The floor down here is really cold!” Stormi was standing on the bottom step. I could see her smooth pretty legs from her toes to the bottom of the pink bath robe she wore, just above her knees.

I commented, “If you’re cold, there’s a longer robe in the hall bathroom upstairs.”

“I know, but I like pink better than gray.”

I walked over and said, “I have something very special for you, your grandmother’s favorite necklace. I think she would want you to have it, since it’s beautiful like you.”

“Awhh! Thanks, Uncle Pete! You’re so sweet.” I put it on her and she commented, “Cool! Pretty, but it’s so heavy!”

I mentioned, “Your gramps told me it cost him three month’s pay. It’s four whole ounces, a quarter a pound of gold. Take good care of it.”

“Wow!”

“Hop on, I’ll give you a piggyback ride.” I leaned forward a bit and she climbed on my back. Her arms wrapped around me and some of her damp hair brushed the side of my face. I asked, “Do you remember the first time you stayed over here and I gave you a ride?”

“A long, long time ago. I think I was eight?” She climbed off, stepping onto the thick shag carpet covering a third of the room, then sat on the couch.