Chapter 36

The four of us loaded into the car, headed to an all-night pancake house just up the road. The girls exchanged knowing glances, giggling all the way from the lobby to the car.

I questioned the sanity of drinking coffee at 10 o'clock at night, so we opted for hot chocolate instead. The pastries that came with it were not as sweet as the little redhead sitting next to me. I looked at Alan. "This is a new one for us. Cindy has never asked for a late-night snack."

Cindy giggled. "Not one that we had to leave the building for." Big grin. "But this is kind of a special occasion. It's like I found a new sister that I didn't know I had." Her eyes gauged the three of us. "And we found out that she's married to Dan's best friend."

"That's how I feel," Tina said. "Cindy and I are not gonna let this drop. You guys should have kept in touch."

Alan spoke. "Yeah, I know. But you know, guys are like that. And if Dan and I had been in each other's back pocket, we might've missed you two. It's almost like it was meant to happen this way. Dan and I get to work on a job together, become good friends, split ways, find the loves of our lives, and then our paths cross again. If we weren't sitting here at this table at 10 o'clock at night talking about this, I'd think it sounds like fiction."

"I have to agree with that," I said. I laughed. "If we've been working on the same job, we would probably be out running the roads. I don't know, maybe things would've been a lot different, but I certainly don't think they could be any better." I looked at Cindy. "Cindy came along at a time when we needed each other. I didn't know I needed anybody. But then Cindy popped up. I found out that sometimes you need things that you don't even know about. Like cute redheaded girls."

Cindy smiled. "I needed somebody. I needed a friend. I didn't know what a friend would look like. I mean at school, I was kind of on the outside. A lot of kids didn't associate with me because they knew what my mother was. And even in Alabama, living in an RV park sets you off as different. And people knew that I'd been living in an RV park for years."

Tina reached across the table and patted Cindy's hand. "I know some of the stuff you're talking about, you know, the mama thing. I had it good as long as I was staying with Grandma. But when she died, my life went downhill fast. It's like it caved in on me." She sighed. "When we loaded up to evacuate from the hurricane, I honestly didn't think I'd get back home alive. Mom's boyfriend was crazy. Not to mention that some of her friends were already making comments like they wanted to do things with me that I didn't want to have done."

Alan said, "See, that's another example. If Dan and I had been working on the same job, I would'nt've been driving up the road that day." He paused. "I mean, I'd been fighting traffic for three hours, and I stopped for breakfast, and all that crap broke loose. I figured it was just what I needed to end an otherwise horrible day. And look how it ended up. It's funny how life twists around. Sometimes tragedies are just doors opening for some really good things."

Cindy slid tight up against me in the booth. She turned half sideways, wrapped both arms around my bicep, put her chin on my shoulder, and smiled. "Best possible outcome," she smiled. "I know my life has been fantastic. It's been some kind of funny fairytale with a funny looking little castle on wheels."

Tina said, "Tell Alan about your college stuff."

Cindy smiled. "No, I don't want to sound like I'm bragging."

Tina laughed. "It's not bragging, Cindy. I think it's neat. Tell him. I know you're not bragging."

"Okay," Cindy said. "Right now I have gifted scholarships. I interviewed with the deans of two engineering colleges in Alabama. I'm still trying to figure out which way to go."

Alan smiled. Actually he laughed. He looked at me and said, "Engineering? Electrical engineering? "Engineer's Apprentice" thing, isn't it?"

"Yes, Alan," Cindy said, "the first time I saw Dan in his element, I knew what I wanted to do. Since then, every time I visit the project, it reinforces what my first thought was. I want to be an engineer like Dan."

I shook my head. "That's not the worst of it, guys. She's had letters of interest from a lot of schools. We even had conversations about MIT and Stanford."

"But I kind of want us to stay in Alabama," Cindy said. "Dan and I talked, and we figured that it would be a lot easier for him to work down here. And The University of Alabama or Auburn, they both have great schools of engineering, and graduating from either one of those would be just fine."

Tina smiled. "That's funny, Alan and I have been talking about my college. I used to think about college when I lived with Grandma, but when I moved in with Mom I gave up on any dreams of college. The first thing Alan talked about was getting me through high school. Since he found out how well I was doing in high school, we been talking about college. Up until I met him, I had no idea about a major. Guess what. I have an idea now."

Alan laughed. "See, Dan. You're not the only one that could delude a young lady."

I looked at Cindy then Tina. "Tina is an honor student too?" I looked at Tina. "How's your math, Tina?"

Tina grinned. "AP classes, Dan. Straight A's."

"That'll do just fine, then," I said. "I think math's the hardest part."

"I don't think she'll have a problem with any of it," Alan said.

Cindy's the one who dropped the bombshell. "Why don't y'all move to Alabama." Her biggest brightest grin. "We could go to school together. I think that would be an absolutely wonderful thing."

Alan and I looked at each other in amazement. "You know," he said, "there just might be something to that."

I looked at Cindy. "Sometimes you amaze me." I paused. "No, make that 'you amaze me just about every day', little girl."

Sometimes it was fun to watch her when she had a little bit of encouragement. She started, "I mean, come on guys, doesn't that really make sense?" She glanced around the table. "I mean, you two, maybe you can work something out as far as where you work and what you do." She looked at me. "Dan, you were talking to that new powerhouse bunch. That's always an option. You talked about the money and you said that that would keep you in the area. But maybe there's a way that you can keep doing the "let's get that 'Dan' guy," thing. I know you can make more money doing that, but you wanted to be around while I was in college. But if we had our own little community..."

Alan looked at her. He looked at Tina. He looked at me. "Maybe she's on to something."

Tina smiled. "That's my little sister!" Giggle.

"Well," I said, "it's something to think about. And we don't need to make a decision tonight."

"Yeah," Cindy giggled. "We can sleep on it and make a decision tomorrow!" Another giggle. "No, seriously. I was just thinking and I thought I would put it on the table."

Alan looked serious. "No, Cindy. I think it's an interesting idea. Like you said though, we can sleep on it, we can go home with it, we can think about it, and we can talk some more. Dan and I need to toss some ideas around for the business angle and see if we can come up with a model that makes sense."

I laughed. "There you go talking like an MBA. When you start tossing words like 'model' around, I start getting nervous."

Alan countered. "You know exactly what I mean," he said.

"Okay," I said. "Let's think about it."

I looked at Cindy and she had that "you know I'm right" smirk. Tina was smiling, too.

The next half hour's conversation was about the upcoming concert and some of the concerts we'd listened to in the last few months.

Tina was telling us about some of the bluegrass concerts that she and Alan had been to. She smiled at Cindy. "Of course that's not the same thing as standing up on the stage." She playfully elbowed Alan. "Don't you wish you could play a musical instrument?"

"I do, baby," he said. "Actually I play several."

She looked at him quizzically.

He had an evil grin. "Yeah, CDs, iPod, and a bunch of ancient instruments, Dan knows about 'em, things like cassette tapes and vinyl records."

Cindy giggled. Poor Alan got another jab in the ribs. I laughed.

Alan and I got into another minor altercation over who paid tonight's ticket. I gave up this time. We paid and we all piled into the car to go back to the hotel. Back at the hotel, we agreed to meet for lunch the next day. Alan and Tina headed up the hall to their room, and Cindy and I hit the elevator.

When the doors closed, Cindy squealed and jumped into my arms. I love it when she does that. Her bright young face melts my heart. She could tell me to jump off the roof with that smile, and I'd get a running start.

"Baby, I didn't mean to put you on the spot." Her eyes were twinkling. "But sometimes I get an idea, and I just kind of blurt it out."

"Oh, sweetie, you didn't put me on the spot. You came up with a good idea. And you put it in front of the people that need to discuss it." The elevator doors opened. We walked up the hall and into our room. I locked the door behind me.

She started undressing, smiling. "You know how," she grinned, "you're all relaxed after sex, and it's so easy to go to sleep, and you sleep so good?"

I couldn't help but smile. "And where exactly is this leading?" I grinned.

She flashed those green eyes at me with a mischievous smirk. "Well, just maybe a little bitty one for each of us, you know, so we'll sleep good."

We slept VERY good. The next morning, we lounged in bed, cuddling, playing, until about nine. We got up and dressed casually and went downstairs. The hotel had a continental breakfast set up. We had a couple of pastries and a couple of cups of coffee. Then we got the car and drove around town, following a traveler's guide and seeing sights.

Nearing 11, we were in the vicinity of the hotel again. "Why don't you give your sister call?" I said, smiling at Cindy.

She giggled. "It IS kind of like that, baby. I mean, she and I have so much in common. Don'tcha think that, since you and Alan have so much in common, that you'd both be attracted to the same kind of people?"

"Yeah," I said. "You're both girls." I laughed.

"You know exactly what I mean. She's even got red hair!"

"No, sweetie, she's got auburn hair, you've got red hair."

"And she's an honor student."

"Yeah, well, some of us guys go for the bright girls. I always said that after the sex and after your buddies have seen what you brought home, you've got an awful lot of hours where you have to talk to the person."

She looked at me smiling. "Now isn't that rather clinical," she said.

"Yes and that's quite a statement, and from Little Ms. Analytical. But it's the truth. You have any idea how many marriages fall apart because two people can't sit in a room and carry on a conversation?"

"You're probably right, when you think about it. Remember when we first got together? And I told you it wasn't just sex for me? And then I felt like you wanted me for something besides sex?"

"Uh-huh," I said. "And I meant it. That was one of the first things I noticed about you. When you and me would sit by the pool and we'd talk. You didn't sound like a 13-year-old girl. You had ideas and opinions and you stated them well. I didn't know what to make of you."

"Dan, I think that was the first thing that attracted me to you. You didn't treat me like a kid. You did not act like I was bothering you. And we actually talked about things, you know, questions and answers. And it wasn't just me doing the questions and you doing the answers."

"I know," I said, "and that's why I was happy to be your friend and to be your tutor. I could see you were smart and I could see that you are interested otherwise you would'nt've asked. And then, as things went along, it was like I planted a seed, and this wonderful little flower blossomed."

She smiled, reaching across the console, patting my forearm. "You'll never know how much I love you," she said. She pulled out her cell phone, flipped it open, and punched a button. She held it to her ear. "Hi, sis! What are y'all doing?" Pause. "We're a couple of blocks from the hotel and its getting to be lunch time." Pause. "Okay! We'll meet you in the lobby in five minutes."

"Sounds like a plan," I said. "Maybe a light lunch? The concert starts at seven so we can do some place nice for dinner in the vicinity of the concert hall and have plenty of time to get there. We've got reserved seats, so we don't need to get there too early."

"But I certainly don't want to get there late," she said.

"We're not going to be late, baby," I said. "I've been wanting to hear the Brandenberg #3 performed live all my life."

"Me too," she said, beaming. " And a year ago I didn't even know what Brandenberg #3 was. You're the one responsible for creating THIS monster, you know."

We pulled into the hotel parking lot, parked, and walked in holding hands. Yes, heads turned. Trouble was, I didn't know if it was her University of Alabama sweatshirt, or if it's because she was a stunning little redhead with green eyes, and she walked in, an obvious teenager, holding hands with a middle-aged guy.

When we got inside, we didn't see Alan and Tina, so we sat on a sofa in the lobby. An older gentleman walked by, saw Cindy's sweatshirt, and stopped. "Don't see too many people wearing that shirt around here," he said and laughed.

"I'm really FROM Alabama. We're in town for the concert," Cindy grinned.

The guy looked at me.

"Don't look at me, I'm from Louisiana," I said.

"What concert?" He asked.

"There's an orchestra from Europe that's touring the U.S.," Cindy chirped. "We're here to listen to Bach concertos."

The guy laughed. "Well, welcome to North Carolina, even if you do have the wrong shirt on. I hope y'all enjoy your concert."

Cindy handled herself well. "Why, thank you, sir," she said, flashing a winning smile, her emerald eyes glittering.

Alan and Tina walked up in the middle of this conversation. Alan said, "What'd you do? Get caught wearing enemy colors?"

Cindy laughed. "Apparently some people attach more significance to the color of the sweatshirt than the fact that it's warm."

"Oh, yeah," Alan said. "It's even worse during football season. A guy wearing the wrong shirt can get the crap beat out of."

I added, "Of course, they'll probably exempt cute little redheads."

Alan asked, "So where are we going to have lunch?"

Tina looked at Cindy. "Did y'all talk about doing something light? For lunch?"

"Uh-huh," Cindy said. "We thought we'd put more effort into dinner before the concert. And then after the concert, like we did last night."