Annie

  Chapter Three

  I took everyone out to a noon-day dinner. Annie was very quiet. I think she was more than a little intimidated by having so many people around she didn’t know. Where she had been, all the children and adults were familiar. On the way back from dinner, I stopped and bought corsages for all of us. Annie took a nap as soon as we reached home. It was I who had to lie down with her.

  I guess I was tired, for I slept too. It was only an hour later when I opened my eyes and saw that Annie was awake. “Daddy, what does getting married mean?”

  “It means that a man and woman, or as in your case, a mommy and daddy gets a paper or license and goes to an official to have some words said. When this happens the mommy and daddy make a promise to love and take care of each other forever. That’s what we are going to do tonight. We already have the paper. If they have a child like you, then they have to love and care for you until you are old enough to care for yourself.”

  “Daddy, I’m glad you are marrying Mommy. Can we get up now? I want to show you the dress Mommy bought for me. She has a new dress too. She is beautiful.”

  “You are too, sweetheart.”

  The women went in to get dressed. “So, Gordon, what have you been discussing?”

  “You, some. I told Sandy and Caitlin what I knew about you. Sandy thinks she lucked out. I don’t know but what you did too. She’s young and smart and I know she will work hard to make you and Annie happy. She comes with quite a chunk of change too. I’m referring to her wages for four years. The IRS, of course, has received their cut so it comes with taxes paid. A nice nest egg to start life together with.”

  “We won’t need it because I intend to take care of her with my own money.”

  “Handy to have in reserve, though.”

  The girls came out of the bedroom. Annie came running and twirled around in front of Caitlin. “Aren’t I pretty?”

  “Very, very pretty. Can that pretty girl steal a kiss from a beautiful little girl?”

  “Okay, but don’t mess me up.”

  My eyes went to Sandy. She was wearing a cotton dress that came just below her knees. It was a pale yellow, buttoned to her throat. Scattered across in front of each shoulder were embroidered, minute, colorful flowers. Her very thin stature made her look to be about fifteen instead of the twenty-seven she said she was. She had chosen a little coronet of flowers for her hair. She looked like the bride she was soon to be.

  Caitlin had changed into a dress, ridding herself of the suit she had arrived in. Gordon said, “I guess I had better put my jacket on. I’m glad I polished my shoes this morning.”

  That made me laugh, making me remember I had told him he was out of character with shiny shoes. I went in and donned my suit. When I came out, I checked to make sure we had the wedding rings and the license. Gordon was driving us in his SUV. I would rent a vehicle tomorrow for the remainder of our stay here rather than relying on taxi service.

  This was no wedding to write home about. The justice of the peace was at his table when we arrived. He had shouted for us to come in when Caitlin knocked. He was eating spaghetti for dinner. He did wipe his lips on a paper napkin before he spoke. The shirt he had on wasn’t put on today or even yesterday by all indication. Today’s meal was accented by an eight inch string of spaghetti draped across yesterday’s gravy drip just below his chin.

  “Show me your license. I want to make this all legal. I’ll take a look at your fifty dollars at the same time. Take your time lining up in front of the lectern. I got that little item when a church went bankrupt. Tools of the office, so to speak. We’ll take care of the paperwork before I begin and get that out of the way. You can see where to sign your names. Make sure you put in the correct date. You got the rings I see. You can put them on now. Saves time. Now hold your hands.”

  His voice dropped lower and it seemed like he was trying to imitate some great preacher. There was a book on the lectern, but he didn’t open it. He had memorized the words and raced through them. Okay, so it wasn’t quite traditional. It was just a few minutes later when he told me to kiss my bride.

  Suddenly he raised his arms to the ceiling and shouted, “Oh Lord, come down and bless this couple that I’ve joined in holy matrimony.” We all jumped when he shouted. His arms came down and he said as he turned away, “My supper is probably cold by now. You can show yourselves out.”

  Soon we were standing outside on the walk. I looked at Sandy and then at Caitlin and Gordon. Annie was tugging at my pant leg. “Daddy, are you and Mommy married now?” This struck us all as over the top comical and we were soon laughing.

  I finally controlled my mirth and answered Annie, “Yes dear, we are married. We are all the same family now.

  “That man had a dirty shirt on, didn’t he Mommy?”

  “Yes, sweetheart, he sure did.” This brought another round of laughter. “Sweetheart in your lifetime you’re going to see a lot of people married, but I’ll guarantee you’ll never see a wedding like this one. But it doesn’t matter because it got us married. Now let’s go out somewhere for a nice meal.”

  Caitlin and Gordon left as soon as dinner was over. Annie was sleepy and was soon tucked into bed. Sandy picked up a little and I watched something on the TV. She soon came in and snuggled up to me on the couch. “Crazy wedding ceremony wasn’t it?”

  “Yes, but the important part of it is that we are married. I agree it wasn’t very solemn, but it didn’t have to be. We had a few laughs at the JP’s expense and that is what will make it memorable. Would you like to go to bed and make sure it is legal?”

  “Yes, sweetheart, I would. You know as little as a month ago I would never have believed I could be this happy. And I am happy.”

  “I am too.”

  ———————

  We spent three more days in the cottage. Annie and I put on bathing suits and went swimming in the small lake. Sandy didn’t put one on, just saying, “Maybe some day.” She first watched from the shore, but then we put the little flat-bottom boat into the water and she rowed around. When Annie tired of swimming she got into the boat with her mother. I loved being in the water and swam a good distance with the boat following me.

  Two days later, I rented a vehicle and we went to the county fair. They had dozens of pigs, chickens, cows, and various other small animals. Annie loved looking at the kittens and I knew that when I got home she would have one of her own to play with. The day came when we were on our own and I made the decision that I would rent a car and we would travel slowly back to Vermont.

  We called Nurse Brenda and told her we were leaving the area. Annie was thrilled that she could say goodbye and promised to call her when she got to her new home. I cashed in the plane ticket and we loaded up the car and headed east. Every day we found a place interesting to stop and investigate. Eight days later as the light was fading, the three of us pulled into my driveway. I had been gone just short of one month.

  “Hey Mom, I’m home from my vacation. How about having a cookout to celebrate my return? I’m going to be calling Todd and Mary and ask them to come and bring the kids. I have a lot to tell you about my travels.”

  “Johnny I was wondering when we would hear from you. You left so suddenly and Todd wouldn’t tell me anything.”

  “He couldn’t because he didn’t know what was going on. I’ll fill you in tomorrow afternoon. I can’t tell you all of it, but most.”

  Annie went running through the house. She opened all three of the bedroom doors. She stood in the doorway. She came out and stared at me. “That’s a little girl’s room. Where is she? I want to play with her.”

  Tears came into my eyes. “Sweetheart, she went away. She didn’t want to go. Her mommy went away at the same time and she felt she should stay with Mommy. I hoped someday that another little girl would come to live here with me so I’ve kept it just as she left it. It is your room now.”

  “What was the little girl’s name?”

  “It was Leeanne and I calle
d Leah.”

  “That’s a pretty name. I’m going to pretend she is my friend.” She went back into the room and I turned away. Sandy came into my arms knowing how I was feeling. She didn’t have to say anything and I was thankful she didn’t.

  There was absolutely no food in the house. What a homecoming for my wife and child. “Johnny, order a pizza at the parlor I saw next to the Seven/Eleven just down the street. Pick up some milk and if they have eggs and bacon that’ll be breakfast.”

  Sandy had gotten busy by the time I returned. She had put new sheets on both beds. Annie was almost asleep, but managed a few bites of the pizza. Sandy and I went down to tuck her in. “Daddy, I love my room. Are all of the toys for me too?”

  “Yes, they are. Go to sleep now and we’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Can I still come to bed with you?”

  “Of course. Climb right over me and snuggle between us.”

  “Goodnight Daddy, Goodnight Mommy.”

  “You have a beautiful home, Johnny. The bed is so big I’ll get lost in it.”

  “I’ll find you.”

  “I should hope so.” First thing in the morning we rushed around getting ready for company in the afternoon. It was a given that we would be eating about two. That had always been when these get-togethers happened. I had to get propane for the grill and meat to put on it and we had loaded a shopping cart at the Hannaford Grocery. I wasn’t surprised when my mother and dad showed up before 12:30.

  I saw Dad pull up and park in the street. Mom got out of the car and stood there waiting for Dad to get out and come around to walk up the driveway. I had coached Annie to meet them. I said “now” and Annie went off running.

  “Hi Grammy and Grampa. My name is Annie. Welcome to our home.”

  Mom stood still looking at Annie and then she asked. “What did you say, little girl?”

  “I said my name is Annie and I said welcome to our home. Come, Grammy and meet my mommy. You know my Daddy.” She took hold of my mother’s hand and pulled her toward the house. Sandy and I came out and were standing waiting for them.

  “Hi Mom, Dad. You’ve met Annie. I’d like to have you meet my wife, Sandy. We were married about two weeks ago.”

  “Where?”

  “Wisconsin.”

  Dad, dry as ever said, “Guess you had a good vacation.”

  “Dad, it turns out it was the best one I’ve ever had.” Dad was looking over my wife and he didn’t think I had got much. I smiled to myself because Sandy had gained four pounds just since I had known her, but she was still damned skinny.

  “Mother Brooks, would you come in? I’m making salads. Johnny knows a lot more about that than I do. He’s the cook in the family and he says you taught him all of it.”

  “You can’t cook? That’s strange.”

  “Not in my case. I’ve been in the military for eight years and never had the chance to learn. Annie, ask Grammy if you can sit on her lap.” My mother’s arms came out and Annie crawled up.”

  The door closed and I couldn’t hear more. “Kinda’ sudden wasn’t this wedding?”

  “Yeah, adopting Annie at the same time was too.”

  “You want to tell me a little bit more about it?”

  “Not too much to tell and what I say shouldn’t be discussed. Quick story: A man came to the door the day before I left and asked me to do a favor. You know how I felt about losing Leah. Well you look at Annie and she looks like Leah did when I lost her. The man used that on me to get me married to Sandy and then it was arranged for me to adopt Annie. That’s all done and I have a family again. Sandy is a very sweet person and I’m glad I agreed.”

  “Not much to your new wife.”

  “Nope, not yet, but there will be. She was shot several times and is still recovering.”

  “Who was she shot by? Druggies?”

  “No, and I can’t tell you too much more. It was our people who unknowingly shot her by mistake. It happened while trying to rescue her. Quite a screw up, but she is alive and will soon be well.”

  “John, what in hell have you got yourself involved in?”

  “It’s all over now. The government promised certain things and Sandy deserves everything that was promised to her. I met some really nice people while they were winding up things for her.”

  “They pay you for this?”

  “Some, not as much as I thought they would, but balanced against having Annie and Sandy as family, I’m more than satisfied.”

  “Does she bring anything to you besides herself?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “That’s it? You are not telling me how much?”

  “Nope, her business.”

  “I have a feeling someday, something will come back and bite you.”

  “I’ll face it and gladly.”

  “Is she any good in bed?”

  “Dad, I loved the wife I lost and I’ve enjoyed the women I’ve had the pleasure of dating more recently. But I’ll tell you all of those women together can’t compare to this one. And don’t tell me I’m thinking with my dick either. I’m not, but then you probably won’t believe me.”

  “It sounds like you love this woman?”

  “I’m coming to, Dad. Hey we’ve stood here long enough. Let’s open up the cooler and see what we can find.” My sister-in-law, Mary, and their kids Junior and Ginny came in bringing a half gallon of vanilla ice cream and a blackberry pie. Todd came through the breezeway to us because that’s where the beer was. Dad and Todd opened a beer while I was cooking the chicken. Junior came out. “Pop, did you know Uncle Johnny has a wife? She’s got a little girl named Annie too.”

  “You’re shitting me. Johnny, where’d you pick her up?”

  Dad broke in, “John’s not saying much about her. Some crazy bullshit about doing somebody a favor. She looks like she’s been rode pretty hard, but he claims she is recovering from some injuries. Maybe you can get more out of him than I did.”

  “Dad’s got most of it right. This woman did some things in the military and the government ended up owing her big time. I guess I’m the prize they are paying her with.”

  “She has a kid and needed someone to pay the bills, is that it?”

  “Annie isn’t her child. I picked the kid out for myself. That’s my prize. Wait until you meet both.”

  “You’re not making a bit of sense. Lay it out so we can understand.”

  “I just did. I looked at the picture of Annie and fell in love with her because she looks so much like Leah did. She needed a mother, and she needed a father. To get the child I had to take the woman. I’ve been married a couple of weeks now and wouldn’t ever give up either one. Junior, go tell your aunt the chicken is about done and she can bring out the food. I’ll put the dogs on now for all the young ones. Todd, Sandy may not look like much to you, but I’m telling I’m not making any apologies for her and I don’t need to.”

  Sandy and Mary came out bringing the salads and picnic snacks. Junior was carrying plates, knives and serving utensils. Then he went back in for ketchup, salt and pepper. Annie had Ginny by one hand and Grammy Brooks by the other. When Sandy set the salad down, she was carrying, she stuck her hand out. “You’re Todd. Johnny has told me all about you. He says he couldn’t have a better brother. I consider myself very fortunate to be joining Johnny’s family.”

  “This is a surprise, Johnny getting married like he has. I never thought he would marry again.”

  “Why? Because he was a free-wheeling bachelor?”

  “Partly that, but more because I didn’t think he would take on another child to replace Leah.”

  “Yes, about that. Johnny couldn’t have Annie without getting me as his wife. You might think I would feel bad about it, but I don’t. I can’t imagine ever living without either one. I’m trying my best to make sure he feels the same way.”

  “I think from all he has said about you and Annie, you don’t have to worry. He tells me the same.” Sandy flashed a look of love at me a
nd I almost lost a piece of chicken on the patio tiles. “Anyway, welcome to the Brooks’ family.”

  “Thank you so much. You all appear just as nice as Johnny is.” (Sandy said you all as y’all) I would have to point this out and remind her that she had to be more careful and put her southern accent behind her. But maybe that was just bull-hockey and Sandy wasn’t in any danger at all. Or was she ever?” Hard to tell because so much of what I had been told and believed had been later retracted.

  ———————

  Sunday was a free day, when Sandy could get acquainted with my home and the town we lived in. I took her shopping at Hannaford’s on Putney Road. I told her I used the Rite Aid pharmacy next door. I showed her where my business was located almost across from the pharmacy. It was only five miles from my home in West Brattleboro.

  “Johnny you have a nice home. Where do Todd and Mary live?”

  “Not far, a few houses down from here on our street. They live in a house on a bank that goes up from the street. They really should have bought one on the level like this one. It didn’t seem important at the time because they didn’t have kids. They came later.”

  “And your mother and father?”

  “Just two houses below them. Mom and Dad moved there after Todd and I moved out of their house over in another part of town.”

  “What am I going to do all day while you are at work? I don’t know anyone.”

  “You’ve got Annie and the computer is hooked up with high speed. We have satellite TV so you can watch a movie while Annie is napping. Don’t you have a hobby you can get interested in?”

  “I never had time. Don’t worry about me, I’ll think of something. Maybe I’ll go on line and get some recipes and learn how to cook. I don’t know much about that either. What does Mary do?”

  “She works part-time while the kids are in school. I think she gets home by 2:30 or 3:00.”

  “Do I have to get friendly with the neighbors? They’re pretty close by.”

  “You don’t have to, but you can wave at them to be friendly. I’m always working and that is about all I have to do with them. I don’t have many real close friends either.”

  “How about the women you have been dating?”

  “I’ll send them an email tomorrow night letting them know I’m not in the dating pool any longer. They’ll understand. Let’s see, I’ll turn the rental in and start looking for something for you to drive.”

  “Johnny, let me buy a car with my own money. Also I have to go to the bank and have my money transferred here.”

  “Okay, if you want to do it that way. If you want your money here, okay. Where is the money now?”

  “The money is in an index fund held at brokerage account. I’ll just sell it and transfer it here. You’ll have to guide me in getting a Vermont license for myself and all that stuff and if I can’t figure it all out, you can help. I’m kind of dumb that way.”

  “I don’t think you are dumb at all. Sweetheart, I know this is all strange to you, but it won’t be long before you will get used to living here with me.”

  “It isn’t you so much; it’s that I feel so inept around Annie. You notice when you come home she is all over you and she totally ignores me. Even in the daytime she would rather be with her aunt Mary or her cousin Ginny than me.”

  “That’ll change, I know it will. Try getting her involved in your cooking. A little kid needs teaching, teaching, teaching’ When something comes out right or even if it doesn’t, praise her and do the same thing soon again. Another thing she has lots of dolls, the ones we gave her and all of Leah’s. Play house with her.”

  As the days flew by I did notice that Annie could barely wait for me to walk in the door and she hardly ever mentioned or said “Mommy.” As the weeks rolled by, I did worry about this. I never gave it a thought this would be a problem. I knew Sandy wasn’t mean to Annie and she did try terribly hard to connect with her adoptive daughter.

  Sandy got along with me, especially after we went to bed at night. I couldn’t imagine a better bed partner. Sometimes I wondered if I could keep up with her. I knew she was trying very hard in other ways as well. My meals were getting more delicious with each passing day. Sandy was somewhat friendly with Mary and my mother and even friendlier with Todd and my dad. Even Junior thought her a wonderful aunt. Sandy just seemed to get along better with the male species.

  The summer flew by. I was really busy at work. We had several unexpected orders with the work force getting back to work around this part of the country.

  September went by and October was half gone.

  Things were beginning to get weird and they all seemed to concern Sandy. She was often withdrawn as if she had a lot on her mind. The foliage was at its most glorious when she suggested we take her car and go for a ride. Sandy suggested I drive. Annie wanted Junior and Ginny with us so I called and picked them up. I thought we should go up route 9 to Hogback Mountain and use the large view finders they had there.

  “No, let’s go up Black Mountain road. The colors must be bright up there.” This seemed a strange request, but we could go there and then on to some other place. When we turned onto Black Mountain road we passed a sign that said, SIT, the School for International Training. “What’s that?”

  “I don’t know much about it. I see a bunch of the people around town. They have a van. Mostly young adults, I guess. Why, do you want to drive by it?”

  “Sure, as long as we are here, I want to see where it is.” I drove up Black Mountain Road. It was on the right, the first place on Kipling Road. “Do you want to stop and look at it?”

  “Just from here. It must be a college or something?”

  “You’ll have to look it up on the computer. I really don’t know anything about it. Seen enough? I don’t want the kids to get bored. If we keep on this way, we can come down onto route 30 and if you really want to see some views we can go on up to Townshend. There is a parking area and we can stop and look down on the dam. I don’t know if we can drive across it anymore. We used to be able to.”

  “That would be fun.” I wondered because this was the only place that Sandy had shown interest in. Returning home, I dropped Sandy off at the house and then my niece and nephew. Annie wanted to sit in front with me as co-pilot, but I didn’t dare let her because she was still too small and it was against the law. I could see through the window when I parked the car that Sandy was on the computer. By the time I got into the house, she was in the kitchen, making supper. “This was a fun family day wasn’t it Johnny?”

  “It was a great day we should have more of them.”

  “We may sometime, Johnny.” That was an odd response. I was going to ask some pointed questions about my feelings when we got into bed, but … that didn’t happen. Sandy’s demands drove any questions plumb out of my mind.

  It was back in my mind a couple days later. I swung by the house in the middle of the afternoon when I knew Annie would be down for her nap. Sandy apparently was taking a shower in the bathroom and didn’t hear me come in. I glanced into the room where the computer was located. It hadn’t been shut off. I walked in and looked at it. There was a note with passwords written on it lying on the desk. I looked at it. Her user name and password were scribbled across the top with a few email addresses.

  One caught my eye. It was an email address for Gordon Smith. “What in hell would she be emailing him for?” Sandy’s username was easy enough to memorize. And I did the best I could to memorize her password. There was a file named FBI and I memorized that one too. Just then I heard the shower shut off. I hurried into the kitchen and put together the coffee pot and was drawing the carafe full of cold water when she came through the door and discovered me.

  “Johnny, what are you doing home so early?”

  “I finished up at work for an hour or so and thought I would come home for coffee. What have you been up to?”

  “Not much. Playing with Annie. She is such a sweet kid. Have you been here long?”

/>   “Nope, just came through the door.”

  Sandy just had a robe on and she let it swing open. “Does this give you any ideas?”

  “Of course it does.”

  “Go take a shower then and we’ll play around a little.” She shrugged the robe off and it fell to the floor. Sandy had gained considerable weight in the four months I had known her and almost back to her normal body weight. The angry red scars had lightened a lot and the one on her breast from the ricochet was now totally flesh colored although still very rough. Except for the scars she had one sexy body.

  “Geesus woman, you’re going to kill me. How about we just have coffee and resume this when Annie goes to bed tonight?”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise. Hey I just remembered; I have donuts in the truck. They are yesterday’s. I forgot them when I needed to use the van yesterday afternoon.”

  “You like that old van don’t you?”

  “Yeah, I’ve had it a long time. It is about on its last legs. The company needs to buy a new one. I’ll try to get through the winter with it. I just put new tires on it.” Sandy went to put some clothes on. I glanced into where the computer was and saw that she had removed her password memo while I was out getting the donuts.

  I had to pick my time, but I knew somehow I was going to discover why Sandy had Gordon Smith’s email address. I remembered we had Caitlin’s and Gordon’s phone numbers, but didn’t realize they had given out their email. It took me several days before I had a chance to snoop. Sandy had taken Annie over to my mother’s earlier and had to go after her after I got home.

  The memo that had the passwords was under the base of the monitor. First I copied it and put the original back, hiding my copy between the pages of a book on the shelf. Then I opened up the computer with Sandy’s log-on password. I expanded the correspondence history between her and Gordon. It made interesting reading. I found that apparently Sandy was still employed by the FBI.

  There was a Foreign National, Abdul Aalee, mentioned who was renting a room at America’s Best Inn on Putney Road. This was his true name, but not what he was booked into the motel under. He was the terrorist cell member who was thought killed when Sandy was wounded and the FBI extracted seven months ago. He had come into the United States with a group of students who were going to school at SIT, hence Sandy’s interest last weekend.

  He had made friends with the students before arriving in the United States and come in with them, but instead of going to school he had rented a vehicle and a room. Still quite friendly with the students, he met with them at different times. He was intimate with one girl in particular. What bothered me most, this was the man whom Sandy was close to and had been her sexual partner at one time. Gordon, I think, had told me Sandy had feelings for him during the previous four years.

  From the emails, I gathered Abdul’s goal was to scout possible sites in the area that could be destroyed to disrupt this part of New England. He was concentrating on bridges and dams. He had the girl he was screwing who was operating as the driver of his vehicle while he took pictures. NSA had picked up on this while monitoring the airwaves traffic in a foreign country and turned over their findings to the FBI for investigation. The bureau now had a lock on the various methods of the communication he was using.

  It was getting near time for the agency to pick him up. The FBI wanted to use Sandy to trap him. What really pissed me off was a statement Sandy made to Gordon in an email when he told her about the girl that Abdul was screwing. Sandy’s words: Well, she is getting a royal screwing and as long as she lives she

  will never be satisfied by any other man again.

  “Sandy, you’re still willing to help trap him aren’t you? I don’t have to worry about him turning you, do I?” No, Gordon, he is a terrorist and deserves to be taken out. But I can still envy the sex she is receiving.

  Learning this had to be my payback for snooping in other people’s emails. I find out I can’t compare with some damned terrorist who used to screw my wife. I also suspect that she is going to get one more shot at him. Looking back over the last month of the four we had been married, I wondered if our marriage was going to last much longer. Things seem to have gone downhill between us and Annie wasn’t bonding with her like at first.

  There really was nothing I could fault Sandy with, but I wondered what this was going to cost me if I suggested we divorce. No, I’m not thinking that, but nevertheless some of the trust had disappeared. Sandy drove in with Annie. I had time to close down Sandy’s account and open my own before they came in.

  Over supper I suppose I was staring intently at Sandy without realizing it. “Johnny, you’re looking at me kind of weird. Anything I should know about?”

  “No, dear, not that I know of. Thinking about the business I guess.”

  Supper finished, Annie came into the living room and snuggled up next to me. “How was your day, sweetheart?”

  “Good, Mommy didn’t pay much attention to me because she was on the computer a lot. Then she took me over to Grammy’s and Grammy played dolls with me. Daddy, when can I have a kitten? I could play with my kitty if Mommy is busy.”

  “I’ll talk to Mommy about it after she finishes dishes.”

  We waited patiently on the couch for Sandy to come in. “Sandy, Annie asked to have a kitty. What would be your thoughts on the subject?”

  “Well now, I think she should have one. I never had a pet, but there are a lot of cats in the area and they seem to survive. This is a low traffic area so it should be safe to have one.”

  “Mommy, I’m not going to let it go outdoors with all those big cats and have dogs chase it up a tree.”

  “Okay, sweetheart, we’ll go look for one this Saturday.”

  “Mommy, I love you an awful lot.” She wrapped her little arms around Sandy and kissed her repeatedly.

  “I love you too, dear.” It took Annie a long time to get settled down enough to go to sleep. Finally it took both of us to lie down to get her to go to sleep. We went out and sat on the couch. Sandy sat with me for maybe ten minutes.

  “She is so sweet isn’t she Johnny?”

  “Yes, she is. You’re doing very well with her.”

  “I don’t think I am. Not like you are anyway.”

  “You’ll come to it.”

  “Maybe. Look Sweetheart, I’m going in on the computer for a little while. I won’t be long and then we can go to bed.”

  She was back in about ten minutes. I didn’t look at her when she came in. “Johnny, I guess it is time for us to talk.”

  Now I looked at her. Tears were streaming down her face. What’s the matter, honey?”

  “Johnny, you were snooping and accessed my email file didn’t you? Actually I don’t have to ask because I know you did.”

  “I admit it, Sandy. I should apologize, but what I read in your emails I don’t think I have to. You’ve been acting pretty damned strange for the last month. What I did is probably a crime, but you haven’t been honest with me either. What I read disturbs me greatly.”