Chapter 8

I got a letter from Leesha a few weeks after the final divorce decree had been sent to me. She wanted to know how Sally was doing, and holding up, and how I was doing. I didn't answer the letter. Sally and I went on about our daily lives. I went to work, leaving Sally at home during the day, and because of some of the time off, and the startup of a new product line at the plant, I usually didn't get home until late. I had slowly slipped into a bout with depression. I worked more than I should, didn't have any recreation, or release to speak of, and for the most part ignored Sally. Sure, I made sure that there was food in the house, and that her needs were taken care of, but we didn't really talk about anything. I'd ask how her day went when I got home, and she'd ask me about mine. Both answers were usually the same. The pat answer was either fine, or nothing, and it had become so much of a habit that it really didn't matter what the question was. The question could have been How did the Ravens play today, and the answer might be nothing, but neither one of us would have noticed. I think Sally was depressed also, and looking back on the situation, I should have been more supportive of her. After all, she'd lost her parents a short time before all of my problems started. The poor kid was going through just as much if not more than I was. It was actually Don, from the office, that pointed out the fact that I was looking a little rough. I was unshaven, and my clothes were a little wrinkled. He first made a comment on the condition of my truck. I was a tinkerer, and although my pickup was a few years old, I had always kept it extremely clean, and in good shape. It was true, it hadn't been washed in weeks, and the inside was full of trash, and was dusty. "Why don't you take a break boss?" Don commented after a meeting. "The new project is running fine, and we can handle it for a little while. "I don't know. I've got the trip to China for the new robots, and..." I was cut off. "Oh horse shit!" Don interrupted. "Alan can handle all of that, and you already had a football team of engineers going there too." Don put his hand on my shoulder. "You and Sally need to get out of here for a while." He looked concerned. "Lord knows, both of you have been through the ringer the last few months." "Don, I appreciate your concern, but." "No buts." He interrupted again. "Brenda and I have a cabin up by Lake Fulton. It's quiet, and secluded, but there's still some night life in town, and plenty for a kid Sally's age to do." He handed me the keys to the cabin. "You guys take it for a week. You guys need some father daughter time right now." I started to say that Sally wasn't my daughter. But, I guess for all intents and purposes, she was. I was her legal guardian until she turned eighteen a few weeks earlier. "Maybe some away time will be good for us." I conceded. "On one condition." I added. "You name it." "I'll be away for a week, but you call me if anything happens. I'll have my cell phone, and my laptop. Agreed?" I ordered. "I'm serious, if somebody farts loud, you need to call me." "Don't worry about a thing." Don tried to assure me. "If anything happens, I'll dial your number, I promise." He put his right hand over his heart. "Now go home and pack up. I called the cleaning crew, and they're cleaning it up right now." I finished up the e-mail I was working on, and picked up the phone to call Sally. I let the phone ring four times, but there was no answer. "Must be out by the pool." I thought to my self. I packed up my laptop, and my phone charger, and headed out the door. It was around two o'clock, so if I hurried, we may be able to beat rush hour traffic. I headed out of the parking lot with a small squeal of my tires. On the way home, I had to pass through the center of town. I stopped at a flower shop. I selected an arrangement that had a cute little teddy bear included, and a small box of candy. I tried to make sure that it wasn't any thing romantic, but it needed to be girly. I wanted to say I was sorry for falling apart the last few weeks, and to promise to be more of a father, and more of a friend. I got back into my pickup, and out of my rearview mirror, I thought I saw the Cadillac go behind me on the street. I pulled my cell phone out of my suit coat pocket, and dialed the home number. Once again, there was no answer. "I'm gonna kill that kid." I muttered under my breath. I drove straight home. I pulled the pickup into the driveway, and into the garage. I noticed that the garage door behind the Cadillac was closed. I got out of the truck, and walked over to the car. It was making sounds that a car makes after you just shut it off, and the hood was warm. I, admittedly, got angry right away, and stormed back to the truck to get my briefcase. I opened up the door to the truck, and saw the flowers I'd bought. I slumped my shoulders. "How can I get mad at her after all she's been through?" I asked my self. I decided then that I'd talk to her about it, and that it may be time for her to get her own car anyway. She'll be starting college soon and needed a way back and forth anyway. I grabbed the flowers, and headed into the house. I got past the kitchen, and noticed that the place was quiet. No lights on, and the only noise was some music coming from the back deck. I put the flowers down on a bureau in the living room, and headed to the back yard, loosening up my tie. I saw Sally behind the bar. She it looked like she was getting it set up for something. She had a bag of stuff sitting on a stool and she was pulling out decoration of some sort. Quietly, I retreated back to the bureau and got the flowers. I slid open the door, and stepped out onto the deck, holding the flowers in front of my face. "Boo!" I said. Her head snapped up to look at me, obviously startled. "Dad, uh, I mean Uncle Mark. What are you doing home?" I walked towards her, and handed her the flowers. "These are for you." I announced. She took them from me, and smelled them. "Oh they're beautiful, but..." "Sort of an apology, and a promise" I interrupted. I took the flowers from her hands, and set them on the bar. I moved close, and hugged her. "I'm sorry Sally. I've been a wreck for the last few weeks. "She pulled away from me and looked up at me. "No, It's been me. I've been depressed and feeling sorry for myself. I was going to cook dinner, and I thought we'd watch a movie, and just unwind tonight." I pulled her back in close to me. "I've got a better Idea." I released my hold on her, and backed up slightly. I reached into my pocket and retrieved the keys to Don's cabin, and tossed them on the bar. "What are those?" she asked. "Well, they aren't the keys to the Cadillac." I looked at her sternly. "But we'll talk about that later. Those are keys to a cabin on Lake Fulton, about 3 hours from here. We're going on a little vacation, so get packed." I smiled at her. She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me close for what seemed like a long time. "What do I need to pack? What are we going to do?" She asked me, breaking our embrace. "Well, pack your bathing suit, and lots of shorts, and something nice just in case we go out for dinner or something. Get started, I want to be outta here A.S.A.P." I shooed her back into the house, and we both went up stairs. I reached into the closet, and grabbed my military style rucksack off the shelf. I was pulling shorts out of my drawer when I realized that she had called me dad. "Dad Huh?" I mused to myself. I didn't have any children biologically, so the concept was a little foreign to me. I got the rucksack packed, and I got changed into something more comfortable. I went by Sally's room on my way down stairs. "I'm ready, are you?" "Almost." She groaned trying to stuff one more, something or other into her backpack. "There, got it." She said. "Ok, last one to the truck cooks breakfast tomorrow." I announced. I started running down the hallway towards the stairs. I felt her grab a hold of my belt, and pull me backwards, and then watched her pass me. She flew down the stairs with me right on her heels. Through the kitchen, and out to the garage we went. She passed the hood of the Cadillac, and tossed her bag. It landed with a thud in the back of the truck. With a dive, she put her hands on the hood, just before mine. Out of breath, but seemingly pleased with herself, "Eggs benedict I think." She stated matter of factly. "Yea, I like eggs benedict." She laughed. "You cheated." I stated. "You grabbed my belt." "You could have grabbed mine." She protested. "Oh yea." She corrected. "I'm not wearing one." She laughed again. "Ok, eggs benedict." I conceded. "Now lets get going. The lake, and peace and quiet await." We both got into the truck, and headed out to the lake. The drive took almost three hours. We stopped about midway for dinner and then about six thirty, we arrived.