Chapter 12

You know, back to the funeral ... Jennifer's mom and dad. I saw them there. They were cordial, as always was the case, and they hugged on Sandy and stood with her between themselves and me during the service.

After the graveside service, Jennifer's mom, Glenda Garrett, bent over to speak to Sandy as we were leaving. "Sandy," she said. "We love you, child. We want ... Well, keep in touch." Glenda stood and looked at me, unsmiling, her expression something I couldn't parse. "Dan, we'd like to see a lot of Sandy."

"I think that's a good idea, Mizz Glenda. My parents are gone. Grandparents are good for kids." I was being honest. Yes, Glenda was one of those 'difficult' personalities. I can't help but believe that it was her influence, her strange idea of status and entitlement that screwed up Jennifer in the first place. But that wasn't enough to keep a little girl from visiting her grandma.

Andrew Garrett, Sandy's grandfather, he was probably the most hen-pecked guy in the state. However, I do know how he survived. He and Glenda used to do a mixed drink every evening when he came in from work, or after dinner, now that he was retired. She thought it somehow genteel and sophisticated. He saw it as an excuse for the smell of alcohol on his breath. He kept a half-gallon of bourbon in his workshop, replenished frequently.

Jennifer had a sister, too, but she was out of the picture. Actually, the sister was out of her freakin' mind, living with some sort of spiritual guru or guide or whatever on a farm or ashram or whatever scam he was running. She didn't even come in for her sister's funeral, and I'd seen her exactly twice in the years I was married to Jennifer.

So that's where we were. Me. Nina. Sandy. There are crazier 'blended families' in the world today. This one is ours.

Friday after work I visited the local rental emporium that gets a significant portion of business from the facility where I work, a fact that I mentioned (TWICE. Pointed out my name on a couple of purchase orders) and rented an enclosed trailer. As in, "Ten bucks to cover the paperwork and we'll call it good, Mister Gleason!"

We went to dinner Friday night in Nina's little car, rather than tug that trailer through parking lots.

Saturday morning we were up early, on the road at six, through the McDonalds for a bag of breakfast, then we were back on the road with a piano work on the stereo, a fact not unnoticed by the ten year old in the back seat.

"Dad, can I take piano lessons? I wanna play stuff like that."

"Are you gonna be serious about it? I don't like that 'flavor of the week' thing, little girl."

"I know, Dad." She huffed. "I'm serious about it."

"You have to be. There's a pretty long road from where you are today to playing Mozart."

"Yes, Dad, I know..." she sounded slightly exasperated.

Nina walked up to the little bonfire we had going between me and Sandy and dumped gasoline on it. "Dan, I'd like to take lessons with her. We're BOTH beginners."

Apparently there was another Plan being implemented. I thought I'd test to see if I was right. "So where did you two decide to put the piano?"

Sandy said, "That short wall between the door to the kitchen and the hall. You'll have to move a bookcase."

I'd been had, and what's worse, I was actually happy about it. "Nina, do you think you two can look into who might be a suitable teacher?"

Squeal! "Thank you, Daddy!"

Nina just looked at me and smiled.

The actual trip, one way, was almost four hundred miles. Somewhere along the ride we changed the CD to something else.

Nina laughed. "Oak Ridge Boys? Are you KIDDING!"

Sandy giggle. "Daddy sings the bass part! Show 'er, Daddy!"

Okay ... Call it a weakness. Apparently it's contagious, because I soon had the three of us singing along in harmony as the miles rolled by.

Lunch was a chain restaurant just off the interstate, and mid-afternoon, we pulled up on the residential street in front of Harry and Jennifer's house. There was a car I didn't recognize in the driveway, and since it didn't have dealer plates, I surmised it wasn't Harry's. We walked to the door.

Sandy barged right in. "Harry! It's meeee..."

"Well, hello, Sandy," Glenda said.

That explained the unidentified car.

She looked up at me and Nina standing in the door. The smile that was there for Sandy waned quickly. "Do come in," she said. "Harry's not here. He had to be at work. I've been helping him with Jennifer's things. It's hard for him, you know."

"I can't see where it would be any easier for you, Glenda," I said. I was honest. The lady'd lost her daughter. That had to be tough.

"One does what one must, Dan," she said. "You're here to get Sandy's things?"

"Yes," I said. "We brought a trailer."

"Dan, can I talk to you a minute?" she said.

"Sure!' I said.

"In private?"

"Oooo-kay," I said. We walked outside. Sandy was sitting with Nina, holding a picture of her and her mom, crying. Nina looked at me and nodded acknowledgment, and went back to stroking Sandy's hair, consoling a sobbing little girl.

I followed Glenda outside.

She turned. "Dan, I know you're newly married ... to that girl..."

The little twist of her tone changed my mode from friendly and sympathetic to wary. Very wary.

"We want Sandy to live with us, Dan." Her grey eyes were hard.

"Glenda," I said, "Sandy was going to ask Jenn about moving in with us, Nina and me, this summer. She fits well with Nina and me. We'll make sure she visits you any time she wants. Whenever it's okay with you and Andy. But she's MY daughter. I want her with me."

"Dan, I don't think she should be exposed to you and your teen bride."

"Glenda," I said, struggling to maintain decorum, "We are decent people, Nina and I. We ARE married. I don't remember you objecting to what Sandy was exposed to when Jennifer hauled her out of our house to move in with her boyfriend six months before the divorce was final."

"That's immaterial. History lesson. Dan, I'm serious. You'd have your freedom, you and uh ... Nina, is it? You two could do whatever you wanted, when you wanted. Sandy's just gonna be in YOUR way..."

I tried to defuse the situation. "Glenda, I know it's tough for you right now, losing Jennifer. Let's just let things go as they are. You'll be able to think clearly in a few days..."

"Don't you DARE patronize me, Dan Gleason!" she spat. "I know what I'm doing!"

"No, Glenda, I don't think you do. Do you honestly mean that you were a bigger part of Sandy's life since Jennifer left me than I was? Seriously? I can't believe you think like that." I was struggling now to keep civil.

"Okay, Dan," she said through tight lips. "We'll leave things as they are. I will help you locate Sandy's things. I've found some photos and things of Jennifer's that Sandy should have."

"Okay, Glenda," I said.

Nina looked at me curiously when we walked back into the house. We loaded boxes and bags and a raft of clothes on hangers and lastly, a cat carrier with a grey male tabby cat who was not happy with the disrespect being shown him.

Nina and I were rearranging the boxes in the trailer. Sandy was inside with her grandmother, being shown photo albums.

"What went on out here, baby?" she asked. "I couldn't make out words, but your voice..."

"Don't say anything to Sandy, sweetheart, but Glenda wants Sandy to live with them. I told her 'no way'."

"You're serious? What's she thinking?"

"Sweetie," I said, "She said that it would allow us to have our lives to ourselves, without having to worry about Sandy."

"How just too wonderfully admirable of her, Dan! Yeah, I didn't expect to end up with Sandy a month and a half ago when we got married, but you know what?!?!? I LIKE her!" She paused and looked into my eyes, that ebony hair in delightful disarray. "You aren't considering it, are you?"

"No. Not really. Sandy's lost her mom. She doesn't need her dad dumping her off on grandma."

I got a kiss on the cheek. "Good! That's my Dan! And OUR Sandy."

We went inside and retrieved Sandy. Harry drove up, parking on his own lawn. Sandy ran up and hugged him. "I'm sorry, Harry..." she said. He bent over and she kissed him on the cheek. I walked up to him as Sandy went to talk to her cat.

"Harry, I'm sorry. Again. And Sandy ... I know she's not yours, but she likes you. Send her a card or talk to her every now and then. This is hard on her. Her whole life turned upside down."

"I appreciate that, Dan. She's a good kid, but Jenn used to get exasperated at her. Said, in her words, she was so much YOU. But yeah, she's a good kid. Smart. Real smart. I'll keep in touch, for her sake."

Nina came up behind me. "We're ready to roll, Dan."

"I'll see you around, Harry," I said. I got in the car without looking for Glenda, and we drove off with a pet-friendly hotel as a destination for the night. We parked the SUV and trailer and the four of us, me, Nina, Sandy and one fuzzy Mister Mittens who was glaring at the world from his barred vantage in the pet carrier.

Bathing suits came out and we did an hour at the pool, then retreated to the room and enjoyed delivery pizza for dinner. The three of us sat cross-legged on one of the two queen beds and played cards for a while, then the two of them located a nature show on TV and we went to sleep.

At six the next morning, we did the reverse of the previous day's trip. Arriving at home, I backed the trailer into the drive and we started unloading. After the first three boxes were inside, I did the unloading while Nina and Sandy started putting things away. Mister Mittens was still in the pet carrier, having a stare-down through the bars at Sam, who was considering this NEW intrusion into his carefully managed household.

Once I got the trailer emptied, I walked into Sandy's room, interrupting a discussion about the order one uses to hang one's clothing. "I'm gonna go turn in the trailer," I said. "If you two come with me, we can go out to eat. If you stay, I expect to see a meal in progress when I get back.

Sandy looked at Nina. "Honestly, Nina, how DO you put up with 'im?" Giggle.

"It's the price I pay to associate with his bright children," Nina quipped right back.

"Well I suppose one must make sacrifices..." My precocious daughter.

We dropped the trailer off and went to the Italian restaurant for dinner.

'"Sandy, this is where your dad and I went on our first date."

"Really?" Sandy said.

"Really," I answered. "And I didn't even know it was a date. I thought I was bringing a bright young high school girl out to eat after working with her on her trigonometry."

Dinner was a happy affair. Maybe happier for them than me, because I had this nagging feeling that Glenda was going to be a problem. I pushed it out of my mind and enjoyed dinner, and we went home.

Sandy walked in and went to the cat carrier. "Dad, can I let Mister Mittens out now?"

"Sure, baby," I said. "But they might not get along very well. They're two cats used to having their own houses. Now they have to share."

She opened the carrier and Mister Mittens walked warily out into his new home. Sam observed from the arm of the sofa. Okay. That looked pretty good. The next forty-five minutes was occupied by various showers and post-shower rituals.

We played a round of rummy, the stereo on in the background, and then what would become another ritual for us, three mugs of herbal tea, relaxing for bed.

Sandy kissed me and Nina good night. "I'll sleep in my room tonight," she announced. Maybe Mister Mittens will sleep in there with me. Sam does."

I tucked her in. "I love you, Sandy."

"I love you too, Dad," she said.

Nina and I retired to our bedroom, closing the door. She turned to me, throwing arms around my neck. "Long day, honey," she said. "Now, is there anything that Glenda can really do about getting Sandy away from us?"

"Not that I know of, baby," I said. "But all the same, I'm calling my lawyer in the morning." I ran my hands down her sides, savoring her form through the cloth of her nightshirt.

"You could do better if this thing was off," she whispered. I peeled her nightshirt off over her head, watching her sassy hair splay out, and she slid her panties down, kicking her feet free. "Now yours," she whispered.

I complied. We loved on each other with hands and mouths and she tugged me into her and she had a shuddering little orgasm and I filled her with my own.

"We need to put our nightshirts back on, baby" she said afterward. We did. She rolled on her side and I spooned up behind her. I put my arm around her and she put my hand over her breast and whispered, "I love you, Dan."

"I love you, too, Nina." And we went to sleep.

Monday morning. Nina got up with me, despite my suggestion that she sleep in. Apparently we made enough noise to wake Sandy because she walked into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes.

"Hi, sleepy head," I said.

"Mornin', Dad. Mornin', Nina."

"How'd you sleep?" Nina asked.

"Two cats. One on each side. Ever time I move I have to move one."

"That means they'll do okay. As long as there's a little girl between 'em." Of course, I was immediately made to be a liar when two cats sauntered into the kitchen in close tandem. I was out the door before seven and in my office before seven thirty.

After the staff meeting, I retired to my office and closed the door. My computer gave me the phone number. I dialed.

A pleasant female voice answered, "Grantham Law Offices. Can I help you?"

I explained who I was, cited some work that Dodd Grantham had done for me and vice versa, added a remark about us being in high school together, and asked if he could call me back. I figured, 'yeah, right ... that'll happen... ' but was pleasantly surprised shortly afterward when the phone rang and I answered.

"Dan Gleason, XYZCorp, can I help you?"

"Hey, Dan. This is Dodd Grantham. Maybe I can help you?"

"Dodd," I said, "If I need to come to your office, just say so, but I got a question."

"Shoot," he said. "I don't start chargin' until you make me do research."

I explained the situation. "Can she take Sandy? Court order or something?"

"Look, Dan ... Under the conditions of the custodial parent's death, the surviving parent retains custody. That's you. The only exception is if you're an unfit parent. You're not. And there's no judge in THIS town that would rule you as unfit."