Filling the Second Grave Pt. 02

Louise looked at Sally, then turned to Greg.

"What do you think, honey?"

Greg looked up and turned to look at me. The silence was painful. Then he said,"Sure, you can sit there. It's not like she cares, or will come through the door." He dragged his eyes to the table in front of him.

"Well, I would be very proud to take a seat of honor with you guys." She turned to me and winked as she pulled the chair out, with an inquiring flex of her eyebrows.

The kids had been going to therapy and I was very sure that Sally didn't know what had happened to her mother, I was starting to wonder about Greg.

"Hey, if it makes the kids happy, it's no skin off my nose." I smiled and opened the top pizza box.

'Oh, no,- anchovies!'I whispered.

"OH, GOODY, ANCHOVIES!!" Louise gushed. The kids watched as Louise pulled the top pizza box to her and picked up a slice. She took one of the little fishes and popped it into her mouth. Greg and Sally looked at each other, not knowing what to think.

"Not bad," said Louise. "Definitely better than Vegas, but not quite as good as Jersey." She smiled at the kids and winked.

"Want to try one?,"she said.

Greg hesitated and then reached for one. He looked at it, swallowed hard, and put it in his mouth.

And immediately spit it out. "OHH, that's gross!," he said.

Sally watched all this and then took one and took a bite. The she finished it. "Not bad. A little salty. But not too bad."

Louise was chuckling. "It's an acquired taste. His reaction is the same as my son's."

She turned to me, but pitched her voice so the kids could hear too.

"When I was little, my dad would pick up pizza on the way home from the, uhh, office. He liked anchovies, so we all learned to like them, too.

"It wasn't till I started high school that I learned you could get pizza any way other than with anchovies. But my daddy liked it, so I did too."

"That's when I met my husband Luke.

"As a matter of fact, on our second date, we went to a movie and then for pizza. He ordered mushrooms on half, and then asked me what I wanted on the other half. I was stunned."

'Why, anchovies, of course!!' I remembered telling him.

He looked me in the eye and said, 'It's a good thing I love you.'

"We were exclusive from then on. We got engaged just before I went to college, and he went to the police academy."

She stared at me and said, "We were married when I graduated, and were happy.....'till that night he was killed." Louise started to tear up. 'DAM IT! I WAS NOT GOING TO LOSE IT. NOW LOOK AT ME!!'

It was quiet around the table. I reached across to touch her hand, but my daughter beat me to it, and was soon hugging Louise and telling her, "Don't cry, Mommy."

Greg just sat there with his mouth open.

***********************************************************************************

Chapter 10

I was torn between empathizing with this woman, and laying my soul out to her.

We finished dinner, and as I was clearing the table, and filling the trash can, she retrieved her purse from the living room couch, and came back and sat down-again, right in Helen's old seat. This time my children didn't even bat an eye. They gathered around her as she reached in and pulled out two blue-ray DVDs.

"I'm sorry for getting upset, kids. I brought some gifts to help with my intruding on your dinner."

She held one out to Sally.

"I only have a son, so one of my friends said this would be a good gift for a young lady." Hitting all the right buttons. She handed a blue ray DVD of "Frozen" to Sally. The shriek from my daughter took care of any questions. Then she turned to Greg.

"Now I do have some input from a young man. My son, Luke Jr., told me you would probably enjoy this."

Greg's eyes bugged out."DAD, DAD, IT'S 'JOHN CARTER'.

I had taken Greg to the movies a couple of month ago on his birthday to see "JOHN CARTER" based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs's "Princess of Mars" story. That got him turned on to 'Tarzan' and the other Burroughs stories which had been a favorite of mine while I was growing up.

Louise grinned and said, "OH, I'm sorry you don't like it."

"Like it? I LOVE IT!!"

"O.K., guys what do you say to Mrs. Webber?"

"Thank you, ma'am."

O.k. They were sold. I don't stand a chance. This women could have shortened WWII buy about two and a half years if she had been in charge.

What was going on here? What was I feeling? I had known this woman for less than a day, and already my kids were head over heels for her, and I felt like she was my whole world-or she could be. But I wasn't even sure how she felt about me.

We adjourned to the t.v. room and I had the feeling if I wanted to I could have held her hand as we walked. The kids dropped to the floor, and I loaded 'John Carter' in the Blue Ray player. I turned to the couch, and she patted the cushion not too far away from her.

I obediently sat and the decision was made for me-she scooted over and laid her head on my shoulder. While staring straight at the plasma screen, she whispered,"I was wondering how long this would take."

**********************************************************************************

Chapter 11

It escalated from there.

Saturday we had her over for board games and bar-b-que. She informed me that she would just as soon go for a walk, sit at home watching television, or go to Mc Donald's as go out just for the sake of going out.

Sunday we picked her up to go to church, then out to Denny's for breakfast. The kids were all over her with questions. They laughed-all three of them- and sang songs and told jokes, often with me as the butt.

At nine p.m., we put the kids down and she led me to the living room. She turned and looked at me, then she took my hand and shook it.

"My mother was right. You are cute."

She turned and went to the front door. "I'll see you at your lawyers tomorrow morning, 9 o'clock sharp. I like my coffee with cream and sugar." With that, she was gone.

The following morning, I got the kids out the door for school and then made myself presentable. I left for the office, collected Sandra and we whipped through Starbucks drive through. Sandra ordered some weird Cafe macchiato Crème brulee something or other. That was not a problem.

But try getting two coffees, crème and sugar?? You'd have thought we were trying to steal the nuclear launch codes.

We showed up at my lawyers office, and found Louise waiting. We shook hands, and then she hugged Sandra like a long lost sister. I was beginning to think I didn't stand a chance with my future.

Not that I didn't like the way my future was going, but it would have been nice to be asked for my input.

We were ushered into Thomas Taylor, Esq.'s conference room, and Louise immediately took charge of the meeting. She showed the necessary documents to Tom, produced the powers of attorney and laid out the ideas she had for the company.

She even pulled Sandra into the conversation, with a proposal for her take over as Vice-President of production and design. Sandra was impressed with everything, especially the salary and benefits package.

Me? I sat around and drank my coffee.

Tom asked some questions, made some some suggestions, drew up some modifications, and finally asked me for my opinion.

I said I thought my coffee was getting cold.

The ladies looked at me like I had two heads, but luckily Tom's paralegal came to my defense.

She went and got me another cup of coffee.

I finally got to give my approval and we signed a bunch of papers, got a bunch of notarizations done, and shook hands on everything. Tom said everything would be processed and filed with the applicable powers that be the following day.

We left to meet Sandra's husband, Charlie, and went to a late lunch. We brought him up to speed with all the changes and Sandra's new position, and celebrated.

After the celebration, we went and picked up my children and off to the local fast food drive thru.

After we got home, we helped the kids with their homework, played a couple of games and had some milk and cookies, and some coffee. The kids got a little tired, so we got them into their PJ's.'s and off to bed. They both wanted Louise to read them stories, so I adjourned to the t.v. room and had a coke. It was getting to the point that alcohol was looking better and better.

But instead I started thinking. The woman was winning my kid's affections and doing a fine job. But was that such a bad idea? What was her ulterior motive? She had no basis to try to take them from me. If nothing else, she was getting closer and closer to being part of the family. Was that what she was trying to do? Building a solid base to mount a final assault on.....? ME??

Maybe I wasn't so smart after all. But why? It can't be money. All she had to do was not do anything and she could have had all Thornton's money and his company. She basically gave it all to me. Even my lawyer said she basically handed everything to me. Sandra had nothing bad to say about her.

(Hmm, did I sense collusion?)

My Spidey sense was basically asleep. It didn't help that she was so dam attractive. (She was, wasn't she?) Was she making a play for ME? (Naaah, why would she do that? I'm no great catch. .... AM I??)

Somewhere inside my brain a light bulb flickered. Had I been burned so badly and for so long that I was afraid to open up?

With that, Louise came back down stairs and picked up her pocketbook. I stood up and faced her.

"They're both asleep. The are beautiful children. You are very lucky," she smiled quietly.

"They're lucky to have you fussing over them like you do. Thank you. You have made a big impression on them when they needed it."

Louise looked at me and blushed. "I hope so." She whispered almost to herself, "I was counting on it." She stared at me and parted her lips. Then she seemed to regroup and pull back into her self. She looked down and said, "Tomorrow I would like to go and talk with Carl Westbrook. Can you come with me?"

I looked at her and for the first time I only saw a lovely, fragile woman, who appeared to be very scared of her future path. I smiled at her. For the first time since meeting her, I thought I knew what, conceivably, we both wanted. Was I back in control?.... NAH.

I told her I would be glad to go see 'Uncle Carl' tomorrow. With my newly installed V/P running the show, I could afford to 'goof off' a little.

She grinned and said she would be waiting for me bright and early at her hotel. For a brief moment, I thought maybe she would like to spend the night. Then I re-thought THAT thought and figured 'No, not yet.' She shook my hand and left to return to her hotel.

***********************************************************************************

Chapter 12

An aside- A phone call with Louise.

She drove silently back to her hotel room, with no music from the radio, and no humming or singing from the driver. The tears came almost unbidden. She didn't know what to do. She had come to Austin with a clear plan in mind and had executed it almost flawlessly. And still she felt an emotional wreck.

She reached her hotel, pulled into a parking spot, and shut the car down. That's when the tears started for real, washing down her face. She put her head on the steering wheel and wept.

"OH, my God, what do I do, WHAT DO I DO??" She sat for several moments before grabbing a tissue, and wiping her eyes. She grabbed her keys and her purse and got out of the car.

She rushed to the front door, across the lobby, and took the elevator to the tenth floor. She went to her room and entered, locking the door behind her. She walked to her bed and threw herself face down on the bedspread and proceeded to saturate the bedding with her tears. She cried herself to sleep, and awoke about two and a half hours later.

She slowly roused herself and stripped and walked to the shower, turning on the hot water full blast. She didn't care and stepped in to the scalding spray. That only lasted about five minutes, then she couldn't take any more and turned the temp down to a tolerable level. She showered, shampooed her hair and rinsed off.

She stepped out of the shower and grabbed a bathrobe, and a huge fluffy towel and wrapped her hair. She padded to the bed and sat down while she toweled her hair. She went and got the hair dryer, and dried the massive amounts of beautiful red hair. While she dried her hair, her mind was running.

Why was he making it so hard? He stood around while she schmoozed his kids, gave him a complete turn key company AND all the money that went with it, set up his girl Friday to run every thing (probably better than he could, the dip) And practically threw her self at him. WHAT WAS SHE DOING WRONG??

She needed a consult. She looked at her watch-9:00 p.m. That would make it 8:00 p.m. Mountain Standard.

She picked up the phone and dialed the special number to her ace-in-the-hole.

"Hello."

"Daddy, I need help," she whined.

"Hello, doc, how are things in Texas?," he chuckled.

"LOUSY. My plan is not going according to plan. He's wonderful, loves his kids no end, they love him, he's scrupulous, honest, charming, sometimes so dense it's pathetic. And he hasn't made a pass at me. Nothing. Is he gay??"

There was rustling of covers and whispers. He snickered.

"Here, I need you to speak to my chief of staff."

The phone was passed to another individual. Giggles ensured. Whispers, 'Kathleen, stop that. Take that out of your..... OHH, GOD!!!' More giggles.

Then,

"Hello, dear."

"Mother. I don't want to know."

"Then don't ask. Just listen. How old are you?"

"UHH, 35. What has that got to do with it?"

"And was the last time you got your world rocked??"

"MOTHER!!" Louise blushed. This was her mother, for God's sake. And she was pretty sure she had interrupted her parents 'discussing world affairs'.

"It's been a while, actually since Luke was killed."

"And have you played the 'nuclear option' card yet???"

"Err, uhh, no. But I made it clear that I was a one man woman and that I would never, ever share, or cheat."

"Good for you, sweetheart. All those years of catholic school paid off. Now go and put yourself out there and give him a sample of the goods."

"MOTHER!!!"

"And make it count. I want two more made to order grand-kids for Christmas. Good night, precious. ......Now, Sally, where were we?" Click.

The clinical psychiatrist in her figured she would be seeing her colleague Betty went she got home.

Or maybe Roger could fix this. She turned off her phone, whispered a quick prayer, and asked God, and Luke, to help her. She rolled over and fell asleep.

***********************************************************************************

Chapter 13- Back to the present

Roger woke up feeling better than he had in a long time. He showered and cleaned up, dressed in sports clothes, and hopped down stairs, beating his kids by about 20 minutes. He started coffee, poured cereal and got out chocolate milk.

Then he went back upstairs and rousted his kids. He whipped off their blankets and proceeded to tickle them both until Greg also peed himself, and Sally was in tears she was laughing so hard. "UP, UP" he shouted, "Hurry up, breakfast is almost ready. When you get down stairs, I'll start the pancakes. Hurry up."

"What's with him?"said Sally, yelling across the hall as she was getting dressed.

"Louise," was all Greg said. He grinned and started whistling. It had been a long time since his dad had been this happy.

They raced downstairs, and chowed down on cereal, fruit, O/J, chocolate milk and pancakes. They started to question their dad.

"Where's Miss Louise?," said Sally.

"At her hotel, I suppose," I answered. I glanced over the top of my coffee cup, with a sly look on my face.

"When is she gonna stay over?," asked Greg innocently, directing his eyes to his plate. I managed not to choke and looked at him.

"When do YOU think she's gonna stay over?"

"WHEN you ask her." He raised his eyes and stared at me. When did my son get so smart?

That's when Sally piped up. "Mrs. Webber loves you, daddy. Didn't you notice?"

Cripes, they're BOTH geniuses. They obviously didn't get it from me. I put down my coffee cup and stared at my kids.

"Look, I don't know what Mrs. Webber wants with me. I like her, but she is only a business associate. So don't go getting any ideas!"

My children looked at me. Greg said,"Don't go blowing this, dad. We ALL like her and need this." Sally used her best puppy dog eyes, and said, "We need a mommy, daddy. And she's pretty much perfect. Please, daddy??"

Now what do I do? I sucked it up and changed the conversation.

"Come on, it's time for school."

I got them off to school and went to Dunkin Donuts for another coffee. I was thinking.

(O.K., we're in trouble.)

Was there something about Louise I was missing? As far as I knew, she hadn't said anything openly to my kids, and had always been nice to them. I didn't know what to do. I thought she had made it perfectly clear that she was saving herself for ........ what??

I drove to Louise's hotel and pulled up under the front awning. She was waiting.

She was perfect. A blue wrap dress, I think they call it, with a sash tie. Blue four inch heels, and nude stockings with a Cuban heel and seams. The blue underwear peeked out in all the right places, not slutty but suggestively. The makeup was perfect, as though she had none on. Her hair was done up in a twist with a jeweled comb in the right side. She was perfect.

I felt like a hired hand the way I was dressed. She smiled at me as she moved to the car, and the valet beat me to the door, and opened it. She slid in and instead of shaking my hand, she caressed my cheek with her ruby red lips. The smile blinded me and I started to black out.

Then I shook my head and looked at her. 'You're still in control, you're still in control.'

"Good morning, Mrs. Webber. Did you sleep well?"

She swallowed hard, turned to look at me and smiled. "Yes, thanks for asking. How 'bout you?"

"Best I have in quite a while."

I put the car in drive and we were off to see Mr. Westbrook.

Thirty minutes later, I pulled into Westbrook Industries parking lot. Carl had done very well for himself since moving here. He had also seen Thornton coming from a mile away. He did not realize HOW low a snake he was, just that he was a snake. He felt slightly responsible for Roger's problems. So he took great pleasure in pulling strings behind the scenes when the shit hit the fan and the crap cleared.

Louise and I went into the foyer and up to the reception desk. Louise spoke to the receptionist.

"Mr. Roger Butler and Mrs. Louise Webber to see Mr. Westbrook. We don't have an appointment."

The cute blonde behind the desk smiled. I knew she was Carl's oldest granddaughter. But she obviously knew Louise better then me.

"Of course, Louise, he will be with you shortly." I straightened up and moved into her line of sight.

"Good morning, Jane. How are you this morning?"

"Good morning, Mr. Butler. I'm fine. How are you?"

Hmmm, a little familiar, aren't we? Not with me, either. I didn't miss the wink she gave to Louise and the smile returned to Jane. ....Control, huh? Who am I kidding?

Moments later, Carl came out to the front desk, his eyes beaming and a smile that said it was Christmas.

"Louise, sweetie, how are you? I haven't seen you in over a year." He enveloped her in a bear hug and squeezed her. She was smiling and gave him a big kiss. Then she turned to me and said, "Uncle Carl, I'd like you to meet Roger Butler."

I'm sorry, I thought I was fairly good friends with Carl.

"Mr. Butler, nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand and shook mine, grinning all the while.