Chapter 47

The rest of the night went by smoothly and we got the girls to bed without anymore mention of the coming dinner. I set the coffee pot and the alarm and fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. I woke up about fifteen minutes before the alarm went off. I made the trip to the kitchen and turned the pot on and went back to get my shower. I made sure to wear jeans and hiking boots today as we were going back to the motor pool again to try to finish up as much as we could before the auction the day after tomorrow. I was sitting in the chair in front of the window when Mark came down.

"Morning, Harry. How come you're up so early?"

"I woke up before the alarm went off. Have you awakened the girls yet?"

"Nah, let them sleep a little longer. I am going in late today because of looking at the house. You guys going back to the motor pool again today?"

"Yes, we are going to go through as much as we can before the auction Saturday. I hope we don't find another surprise like the last one. Man, that previous sheriff must have been a total idiot. Could you imagine what would happen if that stuff had somehow gone off? That part of town would have been flat."

"Harry, I think it was probably the son. He was a dummy from everything I have been told. I also heard he was an equal opportunity sadist to everyone he was around. I think maybe you did the world a favor on that one. I wonder what the cabin will look like?"

"If she did it like she says I think you and the girls will love it. I guess I will have to buy them some ATVs to get back and forth from there to here. I wouldn't want them to walk. I might even put the blade on the Arctic Cat and grade them their own road to travel on."

"Harry, that's all I need. Those three running loose up here on ATVs. They will kill themselves running through the woods showing off to each other. I think they can learn to walk between houses. The graded road is a good idea but the ATV is a no no as far as I am concerned. If they bring it up just say they are still too young to own such a powerful machine or something, will you?"

I was laughing at him by the time he was done with his little two cents worth. I did agree with him after I thought about it for a few minutes. The picture of them three on machines in the woods made me shiver. I wondered what he was going to say when I bought them horses for the barn on their place. Oh well, I would cross that bridge later. I headed up the steps to wake Sandra up and when I got to the landing I could hear her singing in her room so I went back downstairs. I started breakfast and Mark went up to wake his two. I decided we were going to have blueberry pancakes and started making the batter for them. I dug the big flat grill out and started it heating as I mixed the batter.

"Morning, Grandpa, what's to eat this morning? I think I could eat a horse I'm so hungry."

"We are having blueberry pancakes this morning. Go ahead and set the table while the girls get dressed, will you?"

She had the plates and silverware out when the other two hit the kitchen. They immediately started helping her after giving me my hugs. I was cooking pancakes when I caught a snatch of conversation that almost made me drop the pancake I was putting on the platter. So that was their little scheme, I thought to myself. I wondered whose idea that was as if I didn't know already. Sandra had never met Tran so it had to be Dina's idea. She was in for a rude awakening if I had any say in her slick little plan. Gonna get me married my foot. I would have a little bit to say to them when breakfast was over. I set the pancakes and syrup on the table and told Dana to call her dad for breakfast. I decided I would be the one giving the dirty looks this morning. This was going to be fun if I did it right. I waited till everyone was seated and eating before I started with the dirty looks in Dina's direction. I knew she wouldn't be able to stand this very long and I was almost chuckling out loud when she hid her eyes from mine the second time. When she looked away, avoiding my look the third time, Mark must have sensed something was going on.

"Ok you two, what's going on now?"

"I don't know, Daddy, Uncle Harry keep looking at me in a mean way. I think he's mad at me or something."

"Now why would I be mad at you Dina? You just got out of bed. Did you do something to upset me in some way?"

"Hmm, not that I know of, Uncle Harry. Can I have some more pancakes please?"

"Now Dina, don't change the subject. You didn't answer my question. What did you do?"

"Alright, I give up already. I invited Auntie Tran to meet us this morning at the new cabin. I'm sorry, Uncle Harry, but she loves you and I was trying to help her. She cries every time we talk about you and Sandra. I can't stand to see her so sad all the time."

After that little admission I immediately quit teasing her because I didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"It's ok, Dina. She should be there to see if you girls like your new home. Honey, Tran will get over her sadness, and she will love to stay and baby-sit you both in your new house. She and I will always be friends and I don't want her to be sad either. You and Dana need to try harder to cheer her up when she gets like that. I started to say something but Mark had to put his two cents worth in.

"Girls, your Uncle Harry will never get married again. He likes being single and being able to do whatever he wants to because he is. I think maybe your Auntie Tran thought she could change him but that will never happen. She will just have to accept that. I know she cares a lot for him, but he doesn't have the same feelings for her. Now I don't want either one of you trying to get them together again. If it does happen it will be because they want it not you."

"But Daddy, they were together for a little while before. We think Auntie Tran was a lot happier when they were. We just wanted her to be happy again."

"I know that, Sweetheart, but they are grownups and little girls shouldn't interfere with grownups feelings. Now I want both of you to promise you will quit trying to get them back together and just leave them alone from now on, ok?"

"Ok, Daddy, but can we at least introduce Sandra to her today?"

"That's up to Harry so you better ask him first."

They both looked at me for my answer and I pretended to be thinking before I answered them.

"I think I will leave that up to Sandra, girls. If she wants to meet her then I have no objections."

I sat and watched them both start smiling after they heard my answer and then they both started in on Sandra. I knew I wouldn't be able to not let her meet Tran because the girls loved her and I figured Sandra would too when she met her. Tran had been good for the girls but Sandra would have a baby sitter I chose. It wasn't going to be Tran because I didn't want Sandra pumped for information on me everyday. I knew the girls volunteered the information and all Tran had to do was ask about me and the girls would tell her. I figured I would let Sandra come home from school and let Jimmy watch over her and then that way they could play their music together. I knew I wanted Sandra to keep up with her playing, and Jimmy would want her to teach him the new songs she had been taught while living in Mexico. This would be a win-win situation for me, and the both of them. Besides, I liked hearing them. When winter hit I had already planned to cut my hours so we could spend more time together. I did want to learn how to play the guitar so we could play a few things together. I also wanted her to paint the mural on the wall by the fireplace. If it was anything like the one she had done in her room, then it would amaze everyone who visited. I broke up their little chatting session when I told them to clean up the table and load the dishwasher. They were still talking a mile a minute as they did their cleanup. Mark was smiling at them as they finished up.