Chapter 40

At work for the remainder of the week was the almost excitement of the qualifying run of our client's brand new powerplant. For forty-eight hours the utility company configured its system so we could run at a hundred percent of the rated load of the new installation. After I watched the generators come up and tie to the utility lines and I saw the load hitting the numbers, I started breathing easier. At this stage of the game, I expected NO electrical issues. However, I'd breathe a lot easier when it was over.

Known fact: In ANY electrical installation, ANY problem is automatically electrical in nature. At least until the electrical department points out the pieces of the mechanical device spread from the pump shed to the parking lot.

I went home a little late Tuesday after assuaging the feelings of the mechanical engineer when one of HIS pumps burned up a seal. Of course he pointed out that it was MY motor turning his pump at the time...

Clearing the parking lot, I called Cindy.

"Hey, baby love," she chirped.

"I'm on the way home."

"Good," she said. "We're doin' dinner at Mizz Helen and Judge Charlie's tonight.

"On a TUESDAY?"

"He says his housekeeper's doin' fried chicken. Nothin' formal. Just come pick me up at the trailer."

"Okay." I had to ask. "Did ya talk to Tina today?"

"Uh-huh," she said. "Alan's over his shock. You're over yours. We're talking about a plan. When you get here, we can talk. Drive safe, okay?"

I pulled up next to the little trailer and a luscious little redhead bounced out of the door, turned and locked it, then jumped in the truck, sliding across the seat to give me a kiss before buckling in.

"Hi, cutie," I said.

"Hi, my guy," she answered. "Ever'thing running like it's s'posed to?"

"Wide open," I said. "One of the feedwater pumps tore up a seal. Not my problem. Not gonna stop the test. So what'd you an' your sister have to say?"

"We wanna meet this weekend. Maybe Chattanooga. Two hours for us. Short hop for them. Weekend. Me, you, Tina, Alan, an' Susan. Our community."

I thought about that. "You payin' attention to the weather?"

"Should be good from Friday afternoon to Monday."

We pulled into the broad circular drive of the Judge's house. Nice, BIG house. Knocked on the door and were welcomed in by his housekeeper.

"Good evening, Mizz Cindy. Mister Dan. Please come in," said his housekeeper.

"Thank you Mizz Sam," I said. "Are you takin' good care of yourself?"

"Oh, yessir," she said, smiling.

"How's your daughter? Pre-law, right?" I asked.

"Oh, yes, Mister Dan. She's right off into it. Doing well, she tells me."

"You must be proud."

"I certainly am."

We were led into the sitting room to join Charley and Helen. Cindy excitedly recounted the visit from the Auburn recruiter, eliciting a broad smile from Charlie.

"I just sent the ONE letter," he said. "Of course, it might've gone to several people. Just want to take care of my young daughter."

Cindy smiled. Technically, Cindy was the foster child of Helen, Charlie's wife, and that DID make Cindy like a daughter to him.

"Of course, I sort of did the same thing to Mizz Eletha's daughter, too." Eletha was Charlie's housekeeper. "It's my happiness that I became successful and now I can help deserving young people like her." He smiled at Cindy. "And you, Cindy. You get more beautiful every time I see you, darlin'."

Cindy blushed. "Thank you, Mister Charlie."

Mizz Eletha stood at the door and announced the arrival of dinner. "At the kitchen table, as you asked, Judge Charlie," she smiled.

Charlie looked at me. "Her momma made the fried chicken that I ate as a kid. I'm happy to say that Mizz Eletha does ever' bit as good a job!"

Eletha grinned. "Momma RULED that kitchen. Us kids BETTER pay attention." She looked at Judge Charlie. "Course, you sendin' Caroline off to study law, that might wreck the line of fried chicken cooks..."

"And start a line of bright young lawyers..." he said. "And I keep telling you that you're not too old to go back to school yourself."

"First one of my family to get through high school," she said. "Momma was proud a'that! And you're a fine one to push me. You, that's been tellin' people that learnin' is learnin' even if you DON'T get somethin' ta hang on de wall."

Charlie explained to us, "Mizz Eletha volunteers as a tutor for the local schools. If she had a degree, she'd be in the classroom, teaching."

"Uh-huh. Miss Cindy, YOU tell 'im what goes on in those classrooms these days. Thisaway, I get to help the students who WANT help, not try and force them that wanna be someplace else, doin' somethin' else."

Cindy said softly, "Mister Charlie, Mizz Eletha has a point, you know. EVERYBODY has to go to school. Only some of 'em wanna learn. I found that out." She grinned at Mizz Eletha. "I tutor in math an' I know what you're talkin' about..."

We filed into the kitchen to find the table already set for us, mashed potatoes, gravy, a platter full of golden brown fried chicken.

"Mizz Helen says you're partial to pecan pies, Mister Dan. I made you one..."

Cindy giggled. "He is. And 'thank you'."

"Mizz Eletha, I do hope you're joining us, ' Helen said.

Eletha looked at me. "Oh, no, Massa Chahlie say Ah got's ta be eatin' in da quahtahs out back!" she broke out into a broad smile.

Charlie laughed. Apparently a joke was being had at my expense.

Eletha smiled. "The Judge tol' me about the first time you and Mizz Cindy came over ... Jus' thought I oughtta help out..." and she sat with us.

We had a great meal: good food. Good conversation. And pecan pie.

We left Charlie and Helen at eight and headed home. In the truck, she said, "Good time wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was, cutie. Really good." I caught a quick look at my pretty young wife in the dim light of the cab of the truck as we drove. Wasn't a day that went by since last September that I didn't close my eyes and thank God for Cindy. Seven months from a frightened little ragamuffin of a girl-child to a poised young lady who rose to every situation and who entered a room bringing happiness with her.

That was the Cindy that the world saw, at least those of them that took a few minutes to get past the "She's ONLY fourteen" part. Or the "Fourteen and MARRIED" part. That was the Cindy that had latched onto total strangers, Alan and Tina and now, Susan, and put together the outlines of a plan.

And when we walked into our trailer, I got the OTHER Cindy as she started shedding her clothes into a neat pile. I knew she was going to shower, but I couldn't resist at least one good, long caressing hug of her neat young body.

"Mmmmmm, Dan ... all that other stuff ... THIS is the part that makes it sooooo much better." And she added a sensous kiss to the hug. "Now, lemme take my shower. Then yours, then US!"

"Yes, ma'am, Mizz Cindy," I said.

She flashed a smile at me as she went into the shower. She was out, I was in, then we were in bed and it was perfectly lovely.

She wasn't the only thing that was perfect. So was the project. Well, almost. There was, in common parlance, a "punch list" of items to be completed or fixed, and happily, there were no major electrical issues.

We had the meetings. Lots of meetings. I'd pop out of meeting, head into the facility to see work in progress or the testing that came afterward.

There was an outcome from all this that I found a bit of a pleasant surprise. We were 'de-mobing' the site, construction being essentially over, and Bill called me in.

"Yeah, boss," I said.

"Dan, they wanted me to ask you if you'll stay on and do some training and some documentation stuff with them."

"Oh, be still my beating heart!" I said. Bill knew how much I hated paper exercises. "I still work for you? Or they hire me as an independent?"

"Either way," he said. "If I was you, I'd negotiate a better rate as an independent."

"I don't wanna piss YOU off, Bill."

"No skin off my butt, Dan. I leave at the end of the week next week. An' it's not like you're leavin' me high an' dry. Or disappearin'. You'll be right up the hill in a new office for a month or two." He smiled. "I know you're not leavin' Alabama until Cindy graduates, anyway."

"Oh, I didn't get a chance to tell you yet. Ain't leavin' Alabama until Cindy graduates ... from Auburn!"

"She chose?"

I told Bill about the recruiter. He grinned. "You're awfully proud of 'er, ain't ya, son?"

I admitted to that.

"I am, too. Sure didn't wanna think you'd gotten some teenie sex toy when I found out about 'er."

"Never was like that, Bill. Couldn't've been. But I never thought she'd fly like this, either..."

You know we'll have to stay in touch, huh?"

"Absolutely," I said. "You're, oh, I dunno, depends on what she's thinkkin' from one day to the next: god-father, grandpa, mentor ... an' always friend."

"Well, before we part ways, lemme take you an' her to dinner."

"Gladly, Bill!"

I brought the news to Cindy. "It's a way that we can keep from dippin' into savings until you graduate," I said.

"It'll all be here, right?" Cindy asked.

"Yep. Brand new office, for a couple of months. No excitement. Home every night. Gonna bump 'em a bit on the money. Gotta cover my health insurance and extra taxes as an independent contractor."

"Will I get any more visits?"

"I dunno about that, baby. Doesn't belong to us any more. Mister Bill's leaving next weekend. A week from Friday's his last day."

"Make sure you get contact information from ever'body," she said. "This is almost like a family I was adopted into. Kinda sad, really."

"I know. Been through a bunch of these myself. But sometimes it's just like this: I end up workin' for Bill. I'm sure that in the future we'll cross paths again. And with YOU in the mix in a few years..." I looked at her green eyes, seeing a hint of sadness. "Oh, come, baby," I said, "They're still gonna be around somewhere. And look at YOU! These are all people you've met since September. You'll keep meeting people. You'll remember them. They'll remember you. Life goes on."

"I didn't think about that 'since September' thing," she said. "You're right. But you still gotta know that ever' one of 'em's special to me."

"I know, baby." I guess consolation was the best thing I could do now. This was a fourteen year old's view of the world. The stream of time with its large number of faces entering and leaving, I'd had forty years of it. She had fourteen, and a limited fourteen, at that. Sometimes I realized that she was, despite being spectacular in so many ways, just a fourteen year old girl.

So I held her. "Baby," I said softly, "A lot of people will come and go in our lives. But we'll ALWAYS have each other. Always. Dan an' Cindy. Forever. An' then we got family: Helen an' Charlie. That bunch in Louisiana. And now you have a new sister and brother-in-law. That's forever, too..."

"I don't mean to get all weepy, baby," she said, stepping into my arms.

"A soft heart is a wonderful thing, baby," I said. "It's okay to have feelings. Makes us human." I kissed the top of her head.

She turned her face upward. "Kiss me."

I kissed her. "Better?"

She nodded. "Let's go get a salad..."

"'Kay. Let's see what they have for us." The two old sisters often had something new and interesting to present.

Off we went. Tuesday was the day that Tina called Cindy. They alternated. Cindy's phone rang.

"Hi, sis," she said. Her voice lacked its normal exuberance. "No, Dan's job is winding down an' some of my friends are movin' on, an' I got all sad ... That's all." Pause. "Uh-huh. We're lookin' at reservations at the hotel tonight. Are we still talkin' Friday AND Saturday?" Pause. "Yeah, we'll get two queen beds. Susan stays with ya'll one night, us the other night." Pause. "Of course! That's just to sleep. We'll hang out together the whole weekend." Giggle. "Well, ALMOST! You know..." giggle. "Yeah, we're goin' to eat right now." Pause. "Okay. Might call ya later..." Pause. "No, not AFTER nine..." Pause. "Love ya, too, sis!"

She closed her phone. "Talkin' to you an' Tina helps."

"That's the way it's supposed to work, little one," I said. "Sounds like you have a plan between you and her."

"Don't forget Susan, baby."

"How did I end up with a Susan out of all this?"

"Kindred spirit. 'Cept Susan has normal parents. They trust Alan 'n' Tina with Susan."

"Life keeps getting curiouser an' curiouser," I said.

"Oh, it'll be fun. An' with both couples having rooms, we'll shuttle Susan between them so we both have time for US. You know, showers..." Her hand sliding up my thigh indicated that her thoughts extended past mere showering."

We walked into the restaurant and were greeted as friends. Made for pleasant conversation. They were interested in Cindy's education accomplishments and plans, as well as the approaching date that we'd be moving out of the area.

"We hate to see that happen,"one said. "You're good customers and we love you visiting and talking with us."

"I know," Cindy said. "We'd be here for the food, but we like the conversation, too."

We headed home.

The short few steps from the warm cab of the truck to the door of the trailer: "Baby! It's COLD!" Cindy squealed. "Kiss me!"