Chapter 2

I arrived in Montana. The airport was near the city. I did rent a car to get around in rather than take the shuttle. I found the street where Seiena's husband had his women's apparel store. It had the single name of "Dribbles," and was within walking distance of Main Street. I went on by and checked into a hotel. Ordinarily I would have preferred a motel, but this put me closer to Dribbles clothing store. I did not have any idea what Seiena's home address was, but I was sure I could find it out easily. It was late, so I went into the dining room, had dinner, and then went to my room.

I called Kat telling her of my arrival and that I loved and missed her. She had been in bed an hour already. Then I remembered the time difference. I promised she would hear from me tomorrow somewhere around two o'clock I thought. I slept well and was awake by six. I had an early breakfast at a diner that was on the same street as the store. I had walked by to see what time the store opened. That happened at nine-thirty and I planned on going in about ten.

When I entered there were two salesladies moving around straightening the racks. One of them had to be Seiena, but I drew the other one. I was asked how I could be helped. "I'm connected with a store much like this one. I'm in town on other business and I just stopped by to see what was stocked in this part of the country. I'm from the east. Near New York to be exact."

"That's nice. The lady by the desk is the owner. Maybe you would like to talk to her. Seiena, this gentleman is in our line of work."

I explained to Seiena as I had done to the saleslady. "My name is Robert Anderson. Do you mind if I look at your labels?" I was given the okay to look all I pleased. I watched Seiena. She was a younger version of her mother. She didn't have the same grace, though. She also didn't look too happy. I waited until Seiena was free after making a sale to a patron and then went over to her.

"You handle much the same lines as I'm familiar with. The only one missing that does well for us is 'The House of Kat.' That house has gained much recognition in the last three or four years. Have you ever heard of them?"

"Of course. However, I'm barred from having any contact with that establishment. I made a mistake many years ago and I have paid for it by being barred as I just stated."

"Have you tried to contact the House of Kat to see if that bar could be lifted?"

"No, actually it was a criminal act and I was threatened with exposure if I didn't leave and cease all contact. I have wanted to call, but I didn't want to open old wounds. How did we get on this subject anyway? I don't know you."

"No we have never met, but I know quite a bit about you. I know your mother intimately. I'm here as an envoy to straighten out the past if possible. Would you talk to her if I got her on the phone for you?" Seiena sat down behind her desk looking stunned. I waited for her to say something.

"It has been twenty years since I have heard her voice. The last time I did, it wasn't pleasant. You're sure she would talk to me?"

"I think she might." I rang, and even though it was earlier than I had said I would call, Kat picked up immediately. "Seiena is here. I'm handing the phone to her now."

"Mom?" Seiena was using my cell. She went into the office not saying much. She closed the door. A half hour later she opened it and stared at me. I couldn't read her expression. I assumed Kat was telling her I was her handyman. Then after much more time, she came out and handed the phone to me.

Kat was still on the line. I asked, "Hi, did you patch things up?"

"Yes Robby, Seiena wants you to stay with them until you come home. Will you?"

"I can do that. Did you tell her about our relationship?"

"No, I haven't yet. We just talked about what each of our lives are about. I think she is holding something back. I wish I could see her."

"We aren't too busy now. Why don't you catch a plane and come out?"

"Do you think I should?"

Seiena called in another saleslady and I followed her to the outskirts of the city. Her husband wasn't home, but her three kids were. I was only twelve years older than her oldest. This was Brandy, then came Sarah, and then the youngest, Bridget. They spanned six years, being two years between them.

I guess Seiena had never told her children about them having a grandmother and that she was still alive. By this time it was time for lunch, and they made sandwiches for me and themselves. The girls were interested in learning about their grandmother. I kept up a running account of her, and telling them about her having the label the "House of Kat."

I explained a little of how I met her. "I've known her since I was a child of twelve when I delivered papers to her. As I got older I did yard and handy work for her. I'm still there working. She is one of the finest people I know and I love her dearly. You will too when you meet her."

Brandy asked if I was married and if my wife didn't mind me traveling. "I was married shortly after I graduated from high school. It only lasted three years and I was divorced. I married again about four years ago. My wife knows I am here." I glanced at Seiena and then back at the girls. "I'll tell you more about my marriage when your grandmother arrives."

I delved more into the designing of women's apparel. I did say that I worked part-time doing sketches for their grandmother. "Do you sketch people? My boyfriend would love a sketch of me."

"I don't usually, but if you have some paper I could try to get a likeness." Paper was produced and I did a credible job which led to all four women having a likeness. I worked hardest on Seiena's, knowing that Kat would want it. Then I made one for her husband, Steven, although she made the comment that he wouldn't appreciate it. Kat called and said she had made arrangements to fly out late tonight and I was to pick her up at the airport in the morning.

I met Steven that evening and I immediately took a dislike to him. When he came in, everyone tensed up and the chill stayed in the room as Seiena explained why I was there. He knew all about Seiena's trouble with her mother in the past and wondered why Kat had made an overture to her daughter about resolving old differences. He wasn't happy at all that Seiena had invited me to stay the night or that the mother was flying in to meet his family. I could hear a conversation going on and it still continued when I fell asleep on the couch that was my bed.

The girls wanted to look nice when meeting their new grandmother. Steven grudgingly gave them permission to go in and get new outfits off the sales racks in the store. They immediately went into town. Seiena drove them in, leaving me alone with Steven. I had a half hour before I had to leave for the airport. Seiena might not get back in time before Kat arrived, but that was fine. They would dress at the store.

"What is your connection to the old lady? What does she want after all of these years?"

"I'm her handyman. I've been with her for several years. She is getting old and wants to get to know her daughter again--her granddaughters as well."

"Well, she must want something more than that. I hope she doesn't expect anything from us. With three daughters to raise, things are always pretty tight. I've tried to train the kids to be salesclerks, but it is a thankless task. Seiena has to fill in all the time now. It is damned hard to get good help."

"I have never been in retail. Mrs. Castleman is on the other end of women's clothing."

"Is she doing well? I hear that the House of Kat is a pretty good label. A few years ago I did hear that she lost the studio where she worked, so she is probably just hanging on. She most likely has to hire castoff designers from other studios. Where is her studio now?"

"Some of it is in her home. She has converted the top floor."

"Cheap bitch, isn't she. Well, we will put up with her for a day or so."

I thought to myself that Steven didn't read the trade magazines much. The House of Kat was often in the news. I left for the airport. Kat came in just over an hour late. We kissed and as we got into the car she asked what I thought of her daughter and family.

"Seiena and the girls I like very much. Putting it plainly, your son-in-law is a cheap, pompous asshole. I think if you planned on doing anything for them, it will disappear down a rat hole if he can get his hands on it. I had a very nice time with your granddaughters until their father came home. I could hear him and Seiena arguing after I laid down last night. I swear I heard him strike her. I looked for some evidence on her this morning, but didn't see anything. I'll try to get him away so you can have a heart-to-heart with your daughter. Maybe I can take him out to a bar or something."

"He is that bad? I should have made contact before this. Seiena was wrong, but I was just as bad. Have you told any of them that we are husband and wife?"

"No. If they give you a bed, I was going to crawl in with you and let them find me there in the morning."

"That's an option. Maybe the only one." Kat went into gales of laughter imagining what a stir that would cause.

When we arrived at the Dribbles' residence, everyone was there. Seiena came toward her mother as we stepped from the car. "Mom, forgive me?"

"Of course I have dear. Oh I am so glad to see you. I'm going to see more of you from now on. And these are my granddaughters. Introduce me." They were shy around this older person who was their grandmother.

Steven was standing back and now came forward. "Mrs. Castleman. Seiena has told me about you. I suppose we had to meet someday." There was no how are you, or, I'm pleased to meet you.

Kat just smiled. "I'm sure we will get to know each other. I can stay for several days if I'm invited."

"I don't know if that will be possible. We are terribly busy in the store and Seiena is needed."

"Well, I'll just go in with her. I'm pretty familiar with women's clothes."

"We'll see." We had soup and a sandwich for lunch.

Kat questioned if there was room for her to stay at the house. Steven said there wasn't, but there was a motel not too far down the road. Seiena looked shocked that her mother wasn't going to be able to stay with her.

I stepped in. "Steven, why don't you and I stay in the motel and Kat can bunk in with Seiena. They can have an old-fashioned hen party. Maybe you and I can find a bar. It will all be on me. What do you say?"

"Umm, it has been a long time since I have had a night out. Seiena, you okay with that?" Seiena looked surprised he would even ask. Kat was smiling. She and I had a little conference before Steven and I checked into a motel.

Steven took me to a strip bar and proceeded to get well inebriated. He got too frisky with some of the girls and propositioned several. Finally one said she would go with him to the motel room, but he had to wait until she was off work. He turned to me. "Maybe she can dig up a friend. The wife you said you had is back east and she will never know."

"Sure, we'll ask her." A plan was formulating in my mind. I kept the drinks coming and when it was time to leave, I almost had to carry Steven. The woman he had made a date with knew he wouldn't be much good, but I promised her whatever she asked to come back with us.

When we got to the room, he flopped down on one of the beds. I then made a deal with the hooker. "Pictures of you playing with him. Sleep all night in bed with him. If he wakes up in the morning and wants sex, an extra two hundred. I have a camera and I want pictures. You can show your face or not, I don't care. He beats his wife and she needs to get free of him. This will help."

She went for it. The first pictures I took might not be too realistic, but Steven was definitely in bed with a woman. In the morning, Steven was hung over, but hey, his night out wasn't costing him anything. The hooker got him going and I think Steven enjoyed himself. There was no regret about what he was doing, at least none that showed on his face.

He caught me holding the camera, but I just said I would send him pictures of the hooker so he could remember this night. He bought it. We made it back to his house before lunch. "Steven and I went to a quiet little bistro and had a few and went to bed." This was the story I told. I was looking at Kat and she knew I was lying like hell. Steven laid down for the afternoon and slept until it was time to go back to the motel.

This night I said, "Let's go get a fine meal tonight? Last night was a bit much for me. That woman did have a friend, but she only stayed for a quickie. Boy you sure know how to live it up."

"Yeah, I get to let my hair down once in awhile. Seiena thinks I'm out on a trip sometimes, but I'm across town at a place I know. My wife is getting old and ain't much good in bed anymore." I about choked when he said this. What would he say if he knew Kat and I were intimate? I found Kat to be fully satisfactory in every way and I was young enough to keep up with her.

It was Steven's day to work in the store. Seiena had to work with him for the morning, getting out just after lunch. Kat and I took the three girls out. We cornered a booth at McDonalds and Kat started questioning. "Okay girls, tell me about your home life? I know I'm prying, but you all seem uneasy around your father."

Forthcoming was a tale of a manipulative son-of-a-bitch. He was so cheap he examined under the couch seat for change after he had company. He did hit their Mom, but she was so afraid of him, she wouldn't call 911 or the police. She knew he cheated, but didn't dare confront him. There was no solid evidence so that she could sue for divorce.

"How does he treat you girls?" There were glances passed between them.

"Let's just say we make sure the bathroom door is locked when we use it. We also make sure that there is always two of us at home at the same time. So far he has never touched any of us. He watches us all the time and we are all old enough to know what he is thinking. That is why we refuse to go to work in the store. He could send the other salesperson out and that would leave one of us alone."

"Does your mother know this?"

"It is Mom who helps us avoid him."

"Before Robby and I leave, we will come up with some plan so your mother can start divorce proceedings. You shouldn't have to live in fear of anyone, especially your own father."

We were nearly finished with our lunch. Everyone wanted a sundae and I volunteered to get them. While I was paying for them, I glanced back to the table. Kat had her head close to the three girls. Then they suddenly glanced at me where I was standing at the counter. I turned back and finished paying. There was shock and disbelief on their faces as I sat down.

"You sleep with Robby, Grandma?"

"I'll answer that. Kat is my wife in all respects. We live together, work together, and yes, we love together. We have been married four years now and there is absolutely no regret for either of us." I reached over and squeezed Kat's hand.

"Robby is right. I was married twice before, your mother coming from the second marriage. Robby has been married once, just for a short time. There is a child, Bobby, named for him even though he didn't sire him. The boy is just a little younger than you, Bridget. He comes over and follows Robby around while he works. When Robby is upstairs in the studio, the boy is now allowed to come in and watch us work."

"What happened to your wife?"

"She and Bobby live with my mother. Her name is Allison and she made a mistake and that is why we are divorced. We are civil to each other and Mom thinks of her as if we are still married and still her daughter-in-law. She has accepted that I am married to Katrina although she wishes it was otherwise."

Brandy asked, "Do you sleep with Allison as well as Grandma?"

Kat laughed, "No he doesn't. When you get to know Robby better, you will understand why he doesn't. He has had many chances to take Allison to bed, because she is willing, but there are two reasons why he doesn't. I keep him happy and Robby's morals won't let him."

"I thought men wanted young women?" This was Sarah.

"I suppose men do, but they don't have your Grandma to love. When Kat goes on to heaven someday, I will most likely find a younger woman. It might even be Allison again, who is my age."

"You talk as if Grandma is going to die."

"She is. I am too. There is just a greater chance that she will die before me. Be assured as long as I have her, I'm going to love her to the fullest. That is what happiness is all about." The girls were looking from me to Kat and back to me.

Brandy expressed her feelings. "That is so sweet!"

"That is the way it is. Look, your Mom must be home by this time. Let's talk to her and see if there isn't something Kat and I can do to help you guys out with your father."

I guess Steven thought he had his family so cowed that they wouldn't talk about him to us. Seiena wasn't so fully accepting of me being her step-dad as the girls were of me being their grandfather. They did decide no one was going to tell Steven about what we had shared. They thought it best to keep it their secret.

I disappeared into town the next morning. I made some arrangements with a private investigator who was recommended by the desk sergeant in one of the police precincts. This precinct was the one closest to where the Dribbles lived. I just said I was the children's grandfather and if a call came in, it should be taken seriously. He made note. I went over to the PI and left a retainer and told him to send a bill if it was more to Mrs. Katrina Castleman of New York. The pictures I had on my camera were downloaded to his computer to start a file on Steven Dribbles, to be used by Seiena when needed.

Steven wanted to hit the town again for drinks and partying that evening, but I dissuaded him, saying I was flying out tomorrow and wanted a clear head. I did pony up for an upscale restaurant, which he had to be satisfied with. What a distasteful asshole, my step-son!

Home again. Mom said she didn't like me traveling so far away. I told her all about my step-family. She, of course, immediately shared it with Allison. I knew this when ten-year-old Bobby wanted to know if I was going to forget him because I had new kids to be interested in. I decided it was time to share some facts with this boy.

"Bobby, do you know what screwing up is?" He nodded. "Well your mother screwed up one time. She forgot to be true to someone who loved her. I mean he really loved her. You might as well know that you are the result of that screw-up. I wasn't aware when it happened and what your mother was doing. That came later. By that time you were named after me the same as I was named after my father. When I found out about what she had done, I hated both of you.

"That's because of trust. When you trust someone, they should be true to that trust. Your mother wasn't." Tears were in Bobby's eyes. I was hurting him by telling him about his mother. "Let me finish, Bobby, before you start hating me for what I'm saying. So I made your mother leave me and take you with her. But the man she went to wasn't true to her just as she hadn't been true to me. So now we have two people hurting. One is your mother and the other is me.

"Your Grandma Anderson knows more about life than your mother and I do. She knows how a little boy feels, so she asked you to stay with her. She says it was because of your mother, but it was really you she wanted to be happy. In a way, Mrs. Castleman has done the same for me. It took awhile for that to change. Three years to be exact. We found that we were more than friends and could be happy together.

"We became man and wife at that time. We have love and trust, and more importantly, we are true to each other just as a man and wife were meant to be."

"But she is so old. How can you love someone who is that old?"

"Turn it around, Bobby. Ask how can she love someone as young as I am? Who knows, but we do. That's a fact. Now you asked if I was going to forget you. No I'm not. I don't have to love you, but I do love you now just as much as if your mother had always been true to me. It certainly isn't your fault. I forgot that for years, but I remember it now."

"Do you love Mom at all even though she doesn't deserve it?"

"Hard to say. She has proven that she loves me, I guess, by not looking for someone else. I'm hoping Mrs. Castleman won't leave me for a long time. When she does, then I will have to sort out my feelings about your mother. So right now I don't think about your mother at all. It isn't fair for a boy not to have a father, so if you want me to do everything that a father does, I'd like to. That is so you won't think I'm going to forget you."

"I guess I don't have to worry then and I guess I can't call you dad, but that is okay. I know in my heart that you love me as if you were. I'm going home now. I'm glad you told me about why you and Mom aren't together. I'm also glad you have Mrs. Castleman. It is awful lonely when no one but your mother loves you." I decided that I had done right to talk to Bobby. I also decided that I never would do anything to hurt him.