Facing the Past - III

This past week struck me that I'm getting old.  I mean I know I am but on the first our grandson turned 18.  How is that possible, it was only last year that our daughter was sending us pictures of her baby bump.  We were so excited.  For seven years all we had was a grand dog and while Gwennie was a sweetie, it just wasn't the same. 

He is a joy and after some bumps in the road has turned into a fine young man -someone to be proud of.  He is articulate, considerate and brilliant.  Would you expect anything less?  Kidding.  He's been accepted into every college to which he applied and one of these days very soon he'll make his choice.  Unfortunately, I don't think it's going to be the one here in AZ.  Oh well.

Okay, okay - enough waxing poetic about my handsome grandson (couldn't resist that last plug) and onto the third installment of Facing the Past.

Here is the beginning of the tale.

Daniel spoke the truth.  He had every intention of being a part of his son’s life.  He had no idea what he was going to do with his own at that moment, but he didn’t need to.  There was enough money to carry him forward without doing a thing. The first thing he wanted to do was get to know his son and have his son get to know him.  It meant settling down in Newton – at least for the interim.  He wanted to keep his identity a secret as long as possible – it would make life easier for all concerned.

He hired a realtor to find him a place with a long-term lease.  A place that would be big enough to accommodate the times that Danny would come and stay.  Luckily, not too far out of town, a small ranchette became available that would be perfect. Part of the property was already sublet to a rancher who ran a riding academy, but the ranch house itself was empty.  Daniel brought Callie and Danny out to the property before anything was signed. Little Danny fell in love the minute he spied the horses.

“Can I ride the horses?”

“I’m sure we can make some arrangement.  First, though I want to know if you would like to live here sometime.”

“You mean all the time.”  He watched Callie and saw her shoulders tense.

“No, I’m going to live here all the time.  For the time being, you’ll only come on weekends and holidays, if that’s okay with your mom.” He watched Callie relax her shoulders.

He turned to his mom.  “Is that okay?”

“I think that will be okay.  Me and your dad will have to talk it over and work out the details but I think it will be fine.”

He and Callie walked through the house and discussed what he’d need to buy to make the place livable. 

“So you’re staying put?” she asked.

“For a while, I want to get to know Danny and I can’t do that if I’m on somewhere else.  I don’t think I want to tour anymore and frankly, the longer I can keep my identity and whereabouts a secret, the better for all.”

“I agree with that, Dan.  How am I going to explain you when people ask?

“I’ll leave that up to you.  Sometimes, it is just easier to stick to as much of the truth as possible, but it’s up to you.  Do you think the kids will give Danny a hard time at school?”

“No harder than he’s already endured.  I think short of revealing too much I’ll just say we just reconnected.  Hell, most people here in Newton will probably connect the dots in no time and your secret will be out.”

Callie was right – it was about two weeks later that the Newton Chronicle wrote a story about the celebrity living among them. It was both a blessing and a curse.

Newton’s population and geographic location helped keep the ruckus down. The locals' initial curiosity died down in a short time and he was able to lead a more normal life.  It had been a long time since he’d had that opportunity. The success of Full Speed Ahead dictated constant touring, so that he often didn’t get to bed until the wee hours of the morning and his days would begin around noon.  During his recuperation and rehab, there was a more normal pattern to his life but every day was an experience in pain and challenge. Now, life took on a pattern of normalcy.

Callie worked the breakfast shift at the diner. She would wake Danny, get him dressed and bring him with her to the diner where they’d share a breakfast before he left for school.  Dan began meeting them for breakfast and taking Danny to school. Callie’s shifts at the diner revolved around Danny’s schedule.  It meant she worked the lunch shift, would have the afternoon to herself until Danny was finished with school for the day.  Now that he was nine, he was involved in after-school activities, so Callie had more free time that she began spending with Dan.  Rekindling their childhood romance didn’t take long.  They had always been kindred spirits and they moved to the rhythms of small-town life.  They’d both pick up Danny after his school day and whatever activity he was participating in, then head over to the diner for Callie’s dinner shift.  Often, they’d have dinner there and while Callie finished her shift, Dan would take Danny home to do his homework and wait for Callie.

Lila corralled him one day in the diner and asked him what his plans were. He told her he didn’t have any.

“Well, you better make some.  If you’re going to stick around, marry my daughter.  If not, don’t dangle a carrot that is never going to drop.  She had a hard enough time the first time around.”



More to come.  See you later for more Aimless Ramblings.