Chapter 54

When we got out to the kitchen, the women were setting the table for dinner.

"Ok Harry, since you and Bill have had your man talk, I think it's time for you to catch the rest of us peons up on what you have been doing for the last ten years. Linda has already told me you would be here for her graduation so I won't have to nag you about that."

I spent the next hour catching them up on my life. They must have asked a hundred questions before the meal was over. We went into the front room and the questions continued. I glanced over at Sandra and she had that smirk on her face that she gets when she knows I am tired of talking. I waited till I was sure no one was looking then stuck my tongue out at her. She lost it and Joyce and Linda was looking at her, trying to figure out why she was laughing so hard.

"Sandra, is this a private joke or would you like to let us in on why you are in hysterics all of a sudden?"

"Grandpa was making faces at me, and I was the only one who saw it and it caught me by surprise is all."

"Harry, we are trying to have a serious conversation with you, so would you please save your weird sense of humor for some other time? I mean, come on, we haven't seen you in ten years and you're making faces. That's not right, Harry, so quit it. We really want to know how life's been treating you."

"Still the same old Joyce, always being serious and still picking on us old men."

That brought the other three of them down in laughter, while Joyce was sputtering and glaring holes in me as she tried to get control of everyone again. When it finally settled down, she stood up and came over to me and gave me a hug while whispering in my ear.

"Damn, it's good to see you again Harry. That's the first time I have seen Bill laugh like that in months."

With that, she went to the kitchen and brought back fresh drinks. Sandra and Linda were whispering something and then they were up and running for the upstairs. Now I was really curious as Linda was somewhat of a bookworm, and never ran in the house that I could remember. Bill was looking a little surprised at their actions too, and when he looked at me I just shrugged my shoulders. We didn't have long to wait because they came back down with one of those portable keyboards and Sandra had a guitar in her hand. I looked at Bill for an explanation and he just looked puzzled at the whole thing.

"Linda, I didn't know you played any musical instruments?"

"I learned how to play this keyboard in music class at school. I took the course for extra credit and this was the only thing I could learn. I thought the teacher was going to fail me until she realized I was a natural at playing electric keyboard tunes. I ended up getting straight A's through the whole course. Sandra said she plays the guitar and since we had that old one of grandpa's I thought I would let her see if she could play it."

I didn't say a word since when I looked at Sandra she gave me that look. You know the one I'm talking about. The one that says if you open your mouth, I will clobber you when we get by ourselves. All women have it, young or old. I sat back in the chair and shut my claptrap and waited to see what would happen. Of course Joyce had to stick her two cents worth in and it stirred Linda up.

"Now you girls take those noisy things to the kitchen. Neither one of you knows how to play and I want to talk to Harry, not listen to a bunch of screeching noises."

Wrong thing to say to Linda or Sandra.

"Mom, for a change, will you please just sit there and let us do our thing? I promise even you will be surprised at what we can do. Besides that's your father's old guitar he played all the time, so wouldn't you like to hear it again?"

Well needless to say Joyce got a little red but sat back and didn't say a word. Sandra tuned the guitar from the keys she asked Linda to play and within a few minutes they were ready. I looked over at Bill and he was looking at me with a question in his eyes and I just smiled at him. Linda did something to the keyboard and it sounded just like a banjo. I knew what they were going to play at that point so I just smiled and sat back to listen. They cut loose and I almost rolled on the floor at the look on Joyce's face when she heard Sandra playing the guitar. Then it was Linda's turn, and when she cut loose I thought Joyce was going to faint from surprise while listening to her daughter play. They played the long version of the Deliverance theme and when they finished you could hear a pin drop for a few seconds. Then Joyce had to have her say and it surprised the hell out of Bill and me.

"Girls, I must offer both of you my apologies, I didn't know either one of you could play like that. Linda, where did you learn to play? I don't remember you taking any lessons during high school."

She asked the same question of Sandra, and when they finally were able to explain, she surprised us all by asking Sandra if she knew some kind of ballad that her dad used to play. Sandra must have known it because she started playing it and about three minutes into it tears were running down Joyce's cheeks. She moved over to sit next to Bill and just sat and cried the whole way through the ballad. When Sandra strummed the last few notes, she sniffed and wiped her eyes before saying anything.

"Sandra, that was beautiful. I haven't heard that piece since I was a little girl. Dad used to play it for me and he said it was one of his favorites. Honey, if you can play that old guitar that well then it's yours. It has been collecting dust for years in Linda's room because none of my daughters could learn to play it. Will you and Linda play something else for me before you leave?"

"Joyce don't you think you should let Linda have it? After all it did belong to her grandfather and maybe she might have kids someday that might want to learn. Besides it a 1956 Fender acoustic and is very valuable. I have all the musical instruments I need thanks to grandpa spoiling me. I cannot accept it, but I would like to play it some more since it sounds so mellow."

I noticed Linda was smiling when Sandra finished so I knew it meant a lot to her, and when she saw me looking at her I winked and she gave me a big smile. They talked for a minute and decided on a song that I had never heard before. They both seemed to know it very well because they played it completely through without any hesitation. I did notice it gave them both solo parts they could play, and they sounded like they had played it together a hundred times it was done so smoothly. When they finished all the adults clapped and they stood up and bowed to us. They did it several times, being typical young showoffs. I was laughing as they sat back down and got a grin from both of them.