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“Handlebars for one hand will be tricky, Leighton!”
“Practice will help. You propel yourself with your strong left leg. Like a skateboard in that regard.”
She got it, but “Yeah, a little tricky ....”
I demonstrated some more.
“Samantha, if you’re worried, just use it to stand for a day or two. Right now from the chair, you can’t reach the bathroom or kitchen sinks. You’ll have better balance when you’re just standing. The seat is at knee height. See?”
She was still nervous. Skeptical. “You’ll need to practice. I’ll help you. And movevery slowly.No stock car racing down your hallway!”
Fifteen minutes later, she was exhausted by successful first usage.
“My darling is smiling? The inventor in me feels vindicated!”
“Sing for me, baby. I need to catch my breath.”
Not only were the holidays fast approaching, but my beautiful lady was more and more anxious about her business. Most especially worrisome for her were Alex and Amy.
“Baby, I’m …”
“I know, darling. But walk me through everything on your mind. There’s no problem we can’t solve together.”
I omitted the problem of the stalker. I could only hope that the “Karma’s a Bitch” campaign was going as planned and would eventually succeed at getting the guy off the streets. But since I’d declined to be updated on what the P.I. firm, Davie, and the attorneys had going on, I could only—like Samantha—await developments.
I did share, “Listen, my beautiful darlin’. Jerry and I have both spoken to your employees. They are both happy not to have to look for new jobs at holiday time. Glad that they’re being paid not to work. Jerry says it’s gonna work with the capital you have. You can pay them till the new location is open. You can do a ‘soft-open’, and Alex could be the head baker if needed. Right?”
“Yeah, okay, baby, but what’s the timeline for new construction? And, oh! Have you heard from my landlord?”
New construction was moving at a fast pace with emphasis on completion of the ground floor first. I told her that it looked like being done by the New Year.
I also shared the hilarious shenanigans her landlord tried on my sister—all to get more money for the sale.
I concluded, “Genevieve is sure that he’ll accept her offer at forty percent below appraised value in the end—the realtor agrees. Due to the ‘historic lack of maintenance and repair,’ no one else would offer full price, either. She expects him to sign pretty soon now.”
“Wow, I’d better watch my step around you Petersons. You drive a hard bargain!”
Enough business. I sang for my beautiful darlin’. I offered to make my Special Spaghetti Recipe for our lunch, but for some reason, she preferred to order in.
Samantha
Thanksgiving was coming up. Jerry always did a full traditional meal for us, while I was in charge of homemade bread and dessert.
But two things chipped away at my brain. I couldn’t bake this year, not the way I wanted to. And now I had Leighton. What to do?
Davie and Leighton solved that one for me.
At dinner at home one evening, Davie said, “Leighton came to me about having Thanksgiving with his parents at their house in the suburbs. The three of us. The three of them plus their parents. He didn't want to interfere with our traditional plans. What do you think, Sammie?”
I was kind of relieved that someone took the decision off my plate.
What I didn’t say was that I was also happy to have a reason besides doctor appointments and therapy to get out of the house.
“Jerry, what do you think? Should we do it? And if we do, what should we bring as our contribution?”
It didn't take much discussion, and I was in charge of accepting Leighton’s invitation for the three of us. I called him later that evening.
“Hey, baby!”
