Chapter 41

I dressed in older clothes and went in to wake Sandra. When I shook her and her eyes opened, she smiled at me and said, "Good morning". I turned to leave and the picture was glowing with the sun shining on it. It took me a few minutes to realize she had used some kind of glitter mixed in some of the colors. Talk about a heart stopper. I went down stairs and got my first cup of coffee and sat and thought about it. I still couldn't believe she was so skillful with the way she had put the glitter in the paint. She was growing on me more and more as each day went by. I hoped she had fun with me today, going through all the junk in the bays. I figured Doris and she would get along fine. When she came into the kitchen where I was drinking coffee I had to laugh at her appearance. She had a flannel shirt on with jeans and hiking boots. She had one of the large red bandannas wrapped around her hair like she was going motor cycle riding.

"What's so funny, Grandpa? I thought this would be great to keep the spiders and dirt out of my hair."

"Why didn't you wear it yesterday and give one to the girls to keep the paint out of their hair?"

"Grandpa, if I had done that then I wouldn't have won my bet. They had to get paint in their hair for me to win my free lunch."

She was grinning at me and I was mumbling under my breath as we headed out the door for breakfast. I kept mumbling and she was giggling all the way into town. I knew I had been suckered, but I hadn't realized she was so smart.

"Grandpa, will you quit mumbling? I know it wasn't fair to you, but the girls helped me so we could all eat Chinese. They want to learn to eat with chop sticks too. I am sorry I took advantage of you, but we all decided you could afford to feed us since we did all the work."

"I don't mind feeding all of you, but it wasn't fair of you to take advantage of me and ask the girls' help. All you had to do was ask for what you wanted. This is your home and what I have is yours, Sandra. You don't have to resort to trickery."

"You're right, Grandpa, I promise I won't do it again. It's just that when me and Mom were in Mexico, we had to barter for everything, and we got pretty inventive on the way we did it. It's just the way it's done there, and if you lose then it's all a big joke, and nobody ever gets mad about it."

"I have to admit you and the girls had me and Mark going though. We were betting on whether we would be able to get all the paint out by morning. I think that's the first time I have ever seen them so dirty. I know it was for Mark, and that's why he was taking pictures."

"I got to admit, it wasn't easy to get them to go along. I had to work on them for ten minutes."

I was still laughing when we pulled into McDonald's. We got out and headed inside and Mark and the girls were sitting there waiting for us.

"Took you guys long enough to get here. The girls and I have been waiting for fifteen minutes. Harry these three are going to give us both bald spots if they keep making these plans without us knowing about it. I was politely told that they had all agreed to meet here for breakfast. I think my oldest and Sandra worked the details out last night."

I looked over at Sandra and she was looking up at the ceiling so I reached over and tickled her belly. She busted up in giggles with the girls both joining in. We went to the counter and they all ordered, grabbed their food and went to a table before Mark and I could get our coffees and pay the bill. I looked over at him and realized he was having a ball with all of this stuff. I could see I was going to have to learn how to lighten up a little, or I would have all three of them picking on me all the time.

Mark and I sat, and he ate breakfast while I had my coffee. The girls had their own table and I noticed they had their heads together again. I shuddered to think of what they were cooking up this time. Mark was watching me and smiling.

"Mark, if you say one word, I will punch you right in the nose."

He lost it and the girls looked over at us in surprise. I was sitting and seething at him for drawing attention to us. The people at the other tables were smiling at his laughing. I was thinking he ought to act like a sheriff when Sandra came over and whispered in my ear.

"Grandpa, is he always so jolly so early in the mornings?"

I looked at her and thought for a minute before I answered her.

"He thinks I'm too old and grouchy and I should be more jovial like he is. He doesn't realize you guys have been plotting again already this morning."

"Who, us? We wouldn't do that to you again, Grandpa."

I looked at her in shock and she busted out in giggles and went back to their table. It wasn't three minutes later that they were all giggling and laughing. Boy, I sure hoped they weren't going to pick on me this time.

Mark and the girls headed to Tran's while Sandra and I went to the motor pool for a full day of junk picking. When we arrived, Doris was just pulling up herself. We got out and I told her why I was there and introduced her to Sandra. They hit it off like they were old friends, and I just knew I was in trouble again. I went and got the keys to my unit and called in and let dispatch know where I was. I told them to have Beau to report to me here when he came in for his shift. I signed off and heard Mark signing in for the day. I had a feeling I was in for a long day. I went to the office, got my coffee and sat down while we waited for the crew to report to work. I wondered just what we would find in all of those bays out back and how much of it was good. I asked Doris if she had called the auditor so we could get the stuff priced for the sale. I was told not to worry it was all taken care of. Sandra smiled at me when I started grumbling again. Man, I had to break myself of doing that, as I had to admit it didn't sound very polite for a sheriff to be doing it. The motor pool personnel started coming in and I noticed Doris was standing in the window watching. I don't know how she knew, but she told Sandra it was time to go junk sorting and they went out the door. Since the invitation hadn't included me, I refilled my coffee and followed them. I got to the bottom of the stairs in time to catch one of her speeches to her people.

"Gentlemen, there will be no mechanic work done today. We are going to clean out the bays of all the junk in them. This is Sandra and she is my second in command today. I want you all to step up and introduce yourselves to her."

I watched as every man there came up and shook her hand. They all, except for one, had a ready smile for her. The one who hung back looked like a sixteen-year-old kid, but with a weight lifter body. He wasn't as tall as I was, but he was built like a fire plug and his arms were bigger around than my body. He finally walked up to Sandra, and I noticed that Doris had stepped back a little to watch the exchange.

"Hi, my name's Jimmy and I work here. I am very glad to meet you Sandra. Is it ok if I call you that?"

I was watching Sandra's reaction to this young fella. He was obviously mentally deficient but he was a gentle giant and I would almost bet he was everyone's favorite here. His next words threw me for a loop and I was sure it would shock Sandra, but she in her wisdom had read the situation a lot quicker than I had.

"I know you think I am retarded, but I am just not very smart. I would like to be your friend and your grandpa is my hero. He saved my aunt from being away from me just when I needed her most."

"Jimmy, my name is Sandra as you already know. I don't want to be your friend, but I could use an adopted big brother to look out for me and help me if I need it. Would you like to be my big brother?"

"I sure would, but will your grandpa say it's ok for someone like me to be a big brother to you?"

"I think Grandpa would be proud of having you as my big brother. He is always worried about somebody bothering me, but if I have you to watch after me then he will know I will be safe because you wouldn't let anyone hurt me."

"They better not try because they will get hurt themselves. I would never let anyone hurt you. I never had a little sister and I always wanted one. I can show you lots of things my aunt has taught me. We can have a lot of fun together."

I looked over at Doris and she had a smile on her face. I noticed the rest of the men were also smiling at the exchange between the two. I was a little hesitant about where this was going but Doris came over and pulled me to the side.

"Harry, he is my dead sister's son, and he is as gentle as a puppy. I think Sandra felt that from him and carried it on to its conclusion. I will guarantee nobody will ever touch her if he is around as he would break them in half. He doesn't have a temper, per se, but his protective instinct is very strong. Just let them go through the day and I think you will see what I am talking about. He will think she is his sister from this point on and will treat her with the utmost respect. I bet you they will have fun together throughout the day."

"Ok Doris, I will take your word for it, but I will reserve judgment as I watch him around her."

"Fair enough, Harry."

"Ok, everyone gather around. I want Shayne to stay in the shop to handle anyone who comes in. The rest of us are going to make short work of the bays in back. The junk will be piled to the side, while the stuff Harry or I think will sell, we will put to the side to be cleaned up for the auction. Sandra will keep the list of the good stuff. Jimmy will be helping her and he will do most of the carrying as he takes it to her. The rest of us will be moving the stuff out of the bays one at a time. I don't know what's in a lot of them so I suggest everyone be careful of how you handle anything you can't see plainly."

We all trooped out to the rear and opened the first bay. There were five different farm tractors sitting in the front that we could see. Jimmy and Sandra started giving directions to the men and in short order they had the tires aired up and the tractors lined up side by side by the auction cars. They started digging out boxes. None had any markings on them so Sandra had them stacked to the side to be checked later. I was starting to feel like a third wheel when Beau showed up, and was watching all this with a smile on his face. Now I had something to do and I decided to jump right into it with him. I walked over to where he was standing and started right in with my plan for him for the day.