Chapter 8

I was a bit surprised that it was Teri that found me. The time it took, a whole seven minutes, gave me a chance for a little reflection ... not that I hadn't been doing that all along. I had been looking back, concentrating on Melody's and my life. To be fair, I had been looking at that relationship, and not the present real life one.

"Didn't expect you," I said when she was close enough to have a conversation.

"You didn't expect me to send Cynthia to get you, did you?" she asked with a slightly amused expression on her face.

"No," I simply said. Then took a breath and started before she had a chance to. "Teri, I met Melody when she was still in high school. She was fifteen at the time, and I was a big man of eighteen."

I sat down on the edge of a car, and she took a place across from me as I continued.

"We had to hide our feelings that first year. Her parents wouldn't let her date until she was sixteen."

"Really?" Teri said in stunned disbelief.

"Yes, really. Oh, course by then, we were already head over heels in love with one another. Her parents weren't so warm to the idea of their daughter dating a man who was in college."

"I see."

"Do you?"

"Well, I guess if they had wanted her to wait, then they figured she would start out learning about guys at that point and ... well, an older college man would be so much more likely to get her in trouble."

I shook my head.

"Do they teach this shit somewhere? That pretty much sums up the very lengthy conversation I had with her father the second time I took her out."

"Just an understanding of fear, from a mother's point of view. Now you know we didn't make Cynthia wait till she was sixteen to date, because we think that is a very old fashioned idea. They need to make mistakes long before they get that age."

"Her parents thought I was a mistake, that's for sure. Melody and I kept things going for the next two years. It was hard at times. Her parents thought she should explore and have fun dating. She didn't want any part of their fantasies, and she didn't want to lose me. So we toughed it out."

"'Til she was eighteen?" Teri asked.

"Her parents didn't let up until she was off at college. They didn't know, until it was too late, that I had transferred. They assumed we would be in different states and different colleges. The next summer we married. Melody wasn't even sure they would come to the wedding."

"That must have been hard."

I had been keeping my emotions in check ... up until then. I had to clear my throat several times.

"Melody was pregnant. Her mother found out and they didn't show up."

"Oh, Brad," Teri said, empathetically.

In a voice that sounded rough, because that's the only way I could get it out, I said, "They blame me."

"It takes two," she answered, knowing the reality of a relationship.

It was silent for a second, while I got myself under enough control to say, "For her death. They've never even seen Kim."

The look on Teri's face said enough for me to understand that she felt my pain about that. Neither of us said anything for several minutes.

"Teri, I haven't dated anyone for so long I don't know what to do. What I did with Melody had its good and bad points. I'm going to make some very poor choices, not thinking about things. This whole car thing..." I said waving my arms around, "was a disaster from the start. Now other things, like Cyn's family ... I have been trying real hard at not making the same mistakes. Not that I'm doing such a good job of it, but I'm trying."

"I understand, Brad."

"Oh?"

"I think so. Cynthia told me you were concerned about what Tim thought."

"Yeah."

"You really didn't think about how giving Cynthia a gift as big as a car could change things, did you?"

"No. I never had that opportunity when I was in college with Melody. Then we were married and ... well..."

"You had no reason to think about it. I'm beginning to understand where your thinking was."

"That's scary."

Teri laughed, then said, "Yes, I guess it is."

"Now what the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Good question."

"I figured you would have a good answer," I said in a hopeful voice.

"Sorry."

"Is there any way I can..."

"Do what you want to do and get away with it?" Teri said finishing my sentence, not quite how I would have, but with a lot more truth in it than I was willing to say.

"Ok, sure. Is there?"

Teri shook her head, gave a big sigh, and sort of laughed.

"Probably not like you'd want."

"How about, what will it take to give Cyn the trade in value of a car that I can't have around me?"

"Not sure."

I groaned. She apparently took pity on me.

"I was originally sent out here to get you to come back in. Cynthia was rather demanding that you stop running away." She paused for a moment and then said, "From what you told me just now, I can understand why. Have you told Cynthia any of this?"

"No."

"Try not to dump it on her all at once. She might not be able to handle that emotional overload as well as I tried to do. Now, let's get back."

"But ... what am I doing?"

"You need to talk with your girlfriend's father about that," Teri said with a satisfied smile.

Tim greeted me at the front door with a shy smile. It took me a moment. A lot had gone on since I left the house. Then it hit me.

"Going to tell me, or email me?"

"Can I email?" he said sounding like talking would embarrass the hell out of him.

"Sure."

Going on the next subject, he asked, "What did she get?"

"Nothing, yet."

"Then she found something she liked?"

I smiled as I said, "Oh yeah."

"Well?"

I could tell he was dying from suspense. I, on the other hand, was walking through the living room to check on my kids. I could hear them playing. Tim was following me.

"It was a ... I should really let your sister tell you. She's pretty excited about it."

"Then ... what's wrong?" he asked. Then his shoulders dropped as he said, "She doesn't have enough money, does she. I know Dad's stand on that."

"Tell me."

"She had a friend that turned sixteen, got her license, a new car, and a trip to the hospital for almost a year ... all on the same day."

"Oh, that sucks. No wonder..."

"What?" Tim asked.

"He said 'No' to me."

"You were going to pay the difference, weren't you," Tim said in disbelief.

"Well, sort of, I guess. I was putting in a trade in."

"Trade in?"

"Melody's old car."

"But that's got to be worth ... Holy shit! What kind of car did she pick out?"

"One her father wouldn't let her have, yet." I pulled out some money, handed it to him, and said, "Go talk to your sister."

Tim was out of the house just as fast as he'd left the last time he babysat for me, but for a much different reason.

"It's not fair," Tim said to his sister.

"It's only two weeks, and they're holding the car for me."

"Will you let me drive it?" Tim asked with an impish grin on his face.

"You've got to be kidding?"

"Come on..."

"Tim ... Look, it's going to be weird for me and I'm sure I'm going to be possessive as anything about it. I mean ... God, you should see it."

"You don't want me to wreck it. I understand."

"Yeah, well that and..."

"What?"

"I don't want the seats all sticky from you and whoever either."

Tim's mouth dropped open, as he couldn't believe what he'd just heard his sister say.

"Cindy!"

"It's Cyn and it's also true. If you drove that car over to Clark's drive in, you'd have several takers for a drive."

Tim turned red. Cynthia laughed.

Getting his voice back, Tim said, "If it's that hot, why does Brad want you to have it?"

Cynthia frowned at that thought.

"He didn't choose the car. He wasn't even out on the lot when I was looking. The whole trade in with Melody's car was done as sneakily as could be. We didn't even know that it was part of the deal until it came time to look over the contract."

"So he doesn't know what you're getting?"

"I don't know," she said, perturbed at the thought. "Can we talk later?"

Tim got the idea.

"Sure. Going to call, or walk over and talk?"

"Call, smart ass."

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Cyn came over after I got home from work. She would take either Kim or Brian out of the car and walk in the house with me. We just chatted for a few minutes and then she left to go home. It felt nice.

Thursday she wasn't there. I also noticed a car across the street I didn't recognize. Friend, I supposed and got the kids out myself.

It wasn't till eight that Cyn called me.

"My friend Beck came over, sorry," Cyn said as soon as I answered.

"It's ok. I missed you, but I don't want you to feel obligated."

"Thanks ... but ... uhm..."

"Yes?" I said amused.

"I told Beck about our date."

"We haven't had it yet. If I remember, that's tomorrow night."

"Well yeah, but I said I was going out and that led to who was taking me and that led to her coming over 'cause we didn't have enough time to talk about it in school and she just left."

I kind of closed my eyes while thinking about what she had just said in a very long sentence.

"Don't you get out of school at three thirty?"

"Yeah, I know, that's like ... four and a half hours ago, but I did have to help with dinner and stuff. So we only got to talk for about, well maybe three hours."

"About a date that hasn't happened yet?" I said in panicked disbelief.

"No, silly. We only talked about the actual date for maybe thirty minute. Well maybe more but not a lot."

I was afraid to ask anything more, so said, "Ok."

She volunteered.

"The rest of the time we talked about you."

I groaned. She giggled.

"I even showed her that picture..."

"What picture?" I said alarmed, not remembering what picture she had.

Cyn laughed, knowing she was driving me crazy.

"You were holding Kim and I took it, remember?"

I had to smile, as I said, "Yes, I do." Then added, "So she knows I have kids?"

"Well, duh."

"And?"

"She didn't know what to think about that, but I said she had to meet them, 'cause they were adorable."

I couldn't say anything for a moment. I was smiling and there was a lump in my throat. Did Cyn know how hearing those things made me love her more?

"Cyn," I croaked out.

"I know," she said softly. Then changing the subject, she asked, "Are you going to tell me where we're going now? How am I supposed to know what to wear?"

"A bikini, a very small one," I said trying to keep my voice level.

"Very funny," she replied. "Really now, what is it?"

"Unless something changes," I said with as honest a voice as I could make it out to be, "just wear blue jeans and a nice top. That will do fine."

"Oh," she responded, sounding sort of let down.

"I think those people don't dress up as much as they used to."