Chapter 8

So Nikki was a high school student. We drove home, stopping at the grocery store for a few essentials and needs. On the trip through the hurricane footprint we noticed a beehive, actually SEVERAL beehives of activity as people put lives and homes and businesses back together. Many of the houses had the generic-looking white FEMA temporary trailers sited in various locations nearby, along with signs of rebuilding.

"We're lucky we don't have to go through that, baby," Nikki said. "So many people have a mess." Sigh. "I talked to a few girls at school."

"The only 'luck' in it, baby, was that YOU weren't hurt. My buddies and I designed that house to stand two hundred mile an hour winds, and historical evidence says that where it's built NEVER saw a storm surge. We planned."

"But why? I mean, look at THAT house..." She indicated a badly damaged modern construct. Part of the roof was gone, a wall blown out.

"Oh, I know, little one," I said. "I could've turned my LITTLE house into a BIG house like that for about the same money. But what would a single guy do with four thousand square feet, really? The cat'd get lost..."

"That old house..." she pointed at a wood-frame house that was at least seventy years old.

"My grandmother lived in a house like that. Survived TWO of these hurricanes. If you built one like that today, it'd cost more than that new one, with half the floor space. If you could find the materials and an old carpenter who remembered how things USED to be done."

"I'm learnin' stuff," she said. "I never knew anyone who KNEW this stuff. How do you know this?"

"I learned it just like you're learning it. Observation. Questions. Taking couple of ideas and smashing them together to make another idea. You're plenty smart enough to do it, cutie."

"You make me feel smart, guy." And her arm twined around mine and she laid her head on my shoulder.

"Just pointing out something that's a fact. 'Nother fact: You're a cutie!"

That got me a kiss on my shoulder. She sighed. "I guess we need to see how this is gonna work, with you working and me in school. I mean, housework and meals and stuff." She batted those long, dark eyelashes at me. "I'm glad you think I'm cute. I'm glad you think I'm smart. I want you to think that I'm your PARTNER. I wanna pull my weight."

I smiled. "What a delightfully different creature you are, Nikki. Sometimes I close my eyes during the day and your face appears and I think of how wonderful you are."

"I know how wonderful YOU are, Dan. But is not you. And not me. It's us."

"Best 'us' on the planet, little one, ' I said. A month or so into knowing her, loving her, and I was convinced. And I'd watched at school. Her gaze didn't change when she looked at boys her age. It turned into a twinkle when she looked at me.

We pulled up into the driveway and went into the house. She tossed aside her backpack to bend over and pet the cat. Yeah, Tommi, who would meet me at the door with feline indifference, THAT cat. He acted like Nikki had nursed him from birth.

I mean, if the CAT loved her, what chance did I have?

She straightened up. "Let's see what's for dinner." She turned and tossed her arms around my neck. "After a kiss or two..."

When her lips touched mine, we both went "Mmmmmm". The synchronism of the event caused us both to giggle.

"I'm so glad that's still an 'mmmm' event, baby," I said.

"More than just 'mmmm'," she said, eyes atwinkle. She smiled. "If you think we can live on love, we can forget the kitchen.

"No," I laughed. "I'm an old man. I need to keep my strength up."

She hooked her fingers inside the waistband of my trousers. "I really don't think that's a problem. But you DO make a wonderful dessert."

"As you do, too."

"How about something garlicky. With pasta?"

"You have something in mind?"

"I think I can make something work." She was pulling cans out. "If you run the vacuum in the living room, I'll take care of this." She looked over her shoulder. I already knew that she was good in the kitchen. And a few other rooms in the house. And the back yard.

I fired up the vacuum cleaner, causing the cat to scoot into the kitchen, and went about the simple task of maintaining our home. Domestic, I was. I mean, BEFORE Nikki, I was no slob. I kept the house neat and clean. But it was so much easier with a willing partner. After I finished vacuuming, I made a pass through the bathrooms, tidying up a bit. Then I went back to the kitchen.

Nikki had something red and odoriferous simmering in one pot, water coming to a boil in another, half a box of spaghetti ready. "We'll have plenty of sauce," she said. "I'll freeze the leftovers. That'll give us another meal, maybe next week."

"Aren't you little Suzy Home-maker?" I laughed.

She stuck her tongue at me. "Why, yes I am. I got a husband. I got a home. And I got a grandmother who'd HAUNT me if I did any less."

I scooped her in my arms. "You know, ' I said, "it took me about two days to come to the full realization that you weren't just some teeny-bopper fluff-ball airhead. And ever day, you prove me right."

"I think we were both looking for something and got really surprised at when and where we found it, baby." She kissed me. After the kiss ended, she turned to the stove, gave the sauce a stir, turned the burner down, then put a lid on it. The pasta water was boiling, so she tossed the dry noodles in, gave them a stir, and then said, "Let's go sit a minute," as she set the kitchen timer.

We went into the living room.

"I'm sorry about the office, baby," she said. "It's just that when I heard the guy's voice, then saw him, so much crap started coming back..."

"Grady's not the kind of person I'd associate with on a social footing, ' I said. "He's not so hot as a technician, either. And I think he'd carry a grudge. We had a little incident today at the office."

"Well, I just don't want somebody seeing me and you and thinking that I'm with you because I'm like my mom was."

"He can think what he wants. But I don't want him spreading anything like that. You're nothing but purity and decency to me, and I want others to see you like that. Do you think he recognized you?"

"I don't know. When he stuck 'is head in your office ... maybe. I don't know. That's why I wanted to get out of there, before he had a chance to get a good look."

"I'd love for you to be comfortable at the office, baby, but if you think it's a problem..."

"What do YOU think?" she asked.

"I think you're probably right. If he got the chance, he'd use you to get at me." The thought saddened me. I'd stumbled on a bit of purity in Nikki, unlikely as it was with her mother's example. I saw no guile in her, just openness and honesty. I wasn't manipulating her and I didn't get any inkling that she was in any way manipulating me or using me, and the very thought that Grady might start planting that story rankled me.

My thoughts were interrupted by the ringtone of my cell phone. It was a little noisy thing I'd assigned to my sister. "Dana," I said to Nikki.

I punched the button to answer. "Hi, sis!"

"Hi yourself. How's everything?"

"Pretty good," I said. "Work is work. Home is magic. Got me a Nikki."

Dana laughed. "Just checking. Did she start back to school?"

"Yeah, but they had problems with her schedule. Seems we missed a letter. I had to go up there and get things straight. You wanna talk to her?"

"Sure," Dana said.

"Here she is." I handed the phone to Nikki.

Nikki repeated the "Hi, Sis!" Pause. "No, he brought me to his office. I start classes tomorrow." Pause. "Actually, I'm glad they screwed things up. I'm in algebra instead of business math, and chemistry instead of study hall."

I could hear Dana's squeal.

"No, Sis. I talked with Dan. It makes more sense. I was kinda idlin' through school last year. It's time to kick things up. Start thinking about college." Pause. "No, livin' with Mom, college was out of the picture. Now Dan WANTS me to go."

I smiled at her. She touched her index finger to the tip of my nose, smiling.

"Okay. Now, are we still talking about y'all coming over Saturday?" Pause. "Good!" Pause. Nikki looked at me. "Baby, Dana said she'll bring a pie. What kind?"

"Mom's recipe. Lemon meringue."

"Lemon meringue, he says," Nikki repeated. "I'm doing a pork butt. Dan says I do it pretty good."

I smiled. Nikki's cooking skills were far more than I had reason to expect, akin to finding a cut diamond in a shovel-full of gravel. I didn't expect a cordon bleu chef, and she wasn't THAT, but I didn't expect a fifteen year old girl to do more than boil water and stir a package into it. Nikki must've paid CLOSE attention to her grandmother's lessons.

"Well, he knows," Dana said. "Momma was a good cook. What's for dinner? I mean, you in school an' him workin'."

Nikki described her spaghetti sauce and the two chatted for a couple more minutes before the ring of the kitchen timer signaled that the pasta was ready. I got up and dumped it into a colander while Nikki ended her phone conversation. We fixed our plates from the kitchen and sat at the breakfast nook table to eat.

"I like talkin' to Dana," Nikki said. "Feels normal."

I laughed. "You'll never get me to admit that in public, but she's good people. I told you that once she got over me marrying a fifteen year old, she'd be your friend."

"What about your brother? He's got kids older than me."

"So does Dan, but she didn't worry about that. Neither will Bill. He's a loudmouth. Once you get past that, he's okay."

She forked a load of spaghetti, chewed for a few seconds, then swallowed. "Okay, what about those kids that are older than me?"

"That oughta be fun. They're good kids. But they're still kids. And Uncle Dan's married to somebody their age. I honestly don't think they'll be intentionally mean to YOU, but they're gonna let me have it. Just don't get caught in the crossfire."

"I think I can handle it, honey. I AM a high school student myself, you know..."

"It oughta be interesting," I said.

"So how's the sauce?" she asked.

"Perfect!"

"How come you're shakin' pepper flakes on it? Not spicy enough?"

"I like a little extra fire. I want you to cook it so YOU aren't uncomfortable. I can add the flakes."

She smiled. "But it's okay, otherwise?"

"Perfect, really."

"I could've simmered it longer..." she said.

"I don't know what you'd gain. The flavors combined pretty nicely. And you just jumped right in on it. You did good."

Another smile. "I was just trying to see how we can both be gone all day and still have a decent meal. And maybe make Friday night our 'go out to eat' night, or something like that."

"We can trade places cooking, too, you know. And we can make a batch of something on the weekend and freeze some meals."

We finished a perfectly normal evening meal, conspired on cleaning up the kitchen, took a little walk outside, curtailing it when mosquitoes started showing up. That put us back in the house and a little sticky from the elevated humidity of the lingering summer heat.

Sticky? Showers! Well, not TWO showers. Just the one, happily occupied by the two of us, giving me the opportunity to lavish her with soapy caresses over that sleek, youthful form. Lots of coos and giggles were involved in the procedure. Finished, we were both clad in our night clothes.

I pulled out the laptop to check personal email and websites. Nikki scooted up next to me, looking on. Nothing earthshaking was on the email queue.

"You need a laptop, baby," I said. "We'll take care of that tomorrow."

She nestled close. "I dunno. I like getting' here and lookin' at yours."

I closed the laptop screen and set it down. Nikki took that as a cue for her to slide onto my lap. She shook her head. "We need to get me a haircut, baby. If you like it short. Or I could let it grow. But I never did that, so I'm not sure what to do with it."

"I love it short. Lets me get to your neck," I said, attacking her neck, causing her to giggle. "Where do you go to get it cut?"

"Uh, someplace that's probably not there any more. I'll have to ask around. At school, maybe."