Dakota sat on the couch as he walked in through the door. Kristi finished up dinner as he tossed his coat onto the floor.
“You okay? she asked, looking up at her father.
“I’m fine.”
“What happened?”
“Dakota, I’m ready to talk about Ellyn.” He sat down on the couch. “I just came from the cemetery, and felt a little silly talking to a grave.”
“Dad, don’t feel silly.”
“Well, I felt better when I did, actually to go see her and talk with her. Even if she is no longer here present.” He paused. “Sometimes, like at night when I’m alone, I could feel her here in the house.”
“You’re serious.”
“Yes, I am serious. Sometimes I feel she is here, watching me, wanting to comfort me. She always was the one to deal with my ranting and ravings and always managed to talk with me. Always knowing when to draw close and also giving me space to let me be.”
“Dinner is ready,” Kristi said. They all moved over to the table. Kristi and Dakota had waited for Jaymes to arrive home. The only lights in the house were scented candles as the table was covered with rose petals. Kristi had made up an Italian dish of manicotti pasta stuffed with shrimp, spinach, tomatoes and cream cheese. The three situated themselves at the table and began to enjoy the meal.
“This is good Kristi, where did you learn to cook like this?” Jaymes asked.
“My father taught me how to cook early on. He is now passed on.” She stopped and looked at him for a moment. “Jay, my father was a good man, and when he passed away, I felt like I lost my best friend. My grades dropped dramatically in school. My mother and I suddenly started to fight. I started getting into trouble at school.” She took a bite from her plate of food.
“Dad, everyone has lost someone significant in their lives at one time or another,” Dakota said, picking up where Kristi had left off. Both ladies had sat comfortably close together. A sense of uneasiness filled him as he watched the two of them for a moment.
“Well, I hate to burst your bubble ladies, but this ol’ gent here has lost both his parents. And, well through unfortunate circumstances, was not aware of where his precious little angel was for seventeen or so years.”
“Sorry to hear that Jay,” Kristi spoke sympathetically.
“This is good cooking Kristi, but there is one thing missing here,” Jaymes said, changing the subject quickly.
“What is missing?” Kristi asked hesitantly.
“A good bottle of wine.” Excusing himself from the table, Jaymes went out to the living room where his wine rack sat completely full of wine. Since Ellyn and he had first gotten married, he started getting into collecting wine, and after looking through the small selection, he picked a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc Wine that was dated several years back. “Here we go, some good old white wine.” He rummaged through the drawers for the corkscrew. Finding it, he soon had the cork out of the bottle of wine and then produced three wineglasses that had not been used for quite some time. Pouring three glasses, Jaymes handed the two ladies a glass and took his as he sat down.
“Here is to friendship, love and to Ellyn,” he said, then all three of them clanked their glasses together gently. Taking a good pull form the wine, Jaymes placed the bottle on the table.
Dakota walked Kristi out to her vehicle as Jaymes had searched for a pack of smokes, having found one, he stood out on the front porch, leaning against the house, smoking a cigarette. Watching his daughter hug and kiss the receptionist that worked at his office.
“She’s a cutie,” Dakota said, taking a cigarette from the pack Jaymes had handed her. Both stood watching Kristi’s taillights disappear down the road.
“You like her I take it?” Jaymes asked curiously.
“Does it bother you?” she asked him back.
“Does what bother me?” he asked her. Dakota rested her head on her fathers shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her.
“That I’m not attracted to men?” Dakota spoke softly.
“Kind of. Like I said, I am a father who dreamed of having a beautiful lady as a daughter and being able to see her grow and become a woman and then giving her over to a wonderful deserving young man that will take care of her.”
“You know, I shouldn’t have gotten upset at you.” Dakota paused, shifting the conversation quickly.
“About?” Jaymes asked.
“About what happened at your work. I should have known better.”
“No, don’t apologize Dakota, I am the one at fault, okay. I said things I should not have said, regardless of whether or not I am under duress. I should have never said what I had said to you.”
“I guess it’ll take some time for us to get used to one another.” She flicked the butt of the cigarette out onto the once highly maintained lawn.
“Yeah….will take us some time.” He placed his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a sideways hug. “It’ll definitely take some time. And no matter what, you are my daughter and I accept you and love you for who you are.”
“I know, I just am learning to cope with this as well. And I can’t imagine how you are feeling about all this going on.”
“I don’t expect you too.”
“So…tell me about Ellyn.”
She got up and walked into the house as Jaymes trailed behind his daughter. Dakota sat back down on the couch as Jaymes took up a place next to her. Both propped their feet on the coffee table.
“What she was like, how you guys met, all that.”
“It’s a long story but I guess every story has a beginning.” .” Dakota was ready to hear what her father had to say about Ellyn.
“Ellyn and I met at ‘Jakes on 4th’” he began, “I had just gotten back in town from Seattle, Greyhound style. I had toured around Europe for a year or so, then came back to the States and toured around the states for some time. But home always was here in Olympia, and so I found myself coming back home.” She listened intently as he described their first chance encounter.
“As I got to know Ellyn, she started kind of growing on me. You know, there’s that certain attraction that you have to that person and you start getting to know each other, dating, then next thing you know, you wake up married to her.” He paused and then repositioned himself on the couch. “Ellyn was a classy woman. A woman with strength and confidence that I admired. No matter what happens. Sometimes I think life’s storms falter when they try to come against her. Never budging, but standing, strong and tall.” Getting up, he grabbed the bottle of wine and brought the glasses out as well. “Anyway, when, I had first came back into town, hunger was striking hard and heavy like the troops on D-Day. I had ridden the bus all the way from somewhere in Montana to Seattle. No money, no food. After looking up some old friends I knew, I had come across an old lady friend of mine that now lives in Bremerton. After spending time with her, getting re-acquainted with her, I decided to move on. She helped me out with some money. I promised to call and write her, but when I got on the bus, it was going to be home sweet home.”
“So…you made it with some chick you had not seen in a long time, what a ladies’ man Dad…” She chuckled.
“Not hardly, your father can’t get a pick up line down good enough to pick up the bar stool after closing time!” He took a drink of more wine. “Anyway, so there I am sitting at ‘Jakes’ one night, coming across Chandler and meeting his new fling Georgia. Then here is this attractive lady, one helluva put together woman if I may say so. I’m watching her, catching her eye as I am talking with Chandler and Georgia and smoking. Ellyn’s hair was all frizzed out, but she was wearing tight black jeans and a white cotton button down shirt. I don’t know why, but I was attracted to her. I think, if I remember correctly, I said to myself ‘Now that’s a woman I can see myself settling down and marrying.’”
“Come on, no…”
“I think I said that because I needed someone to take care of me.”
“Dad, Jesus…”
“Anyway, she comes over, pours me another cup of coffee and then asks me why I am staring at her. At one point I don’t answer her, but instead go use the bathroom.”
“Because of all the coffee you were probably drinking.”
“No, because I wanted to practice what I should say to her because I wanted to take her out for coffee.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding…”
“No, I’m not. I stood in front of the mirror and talking in various different tones and trying to get a good response that would hook her.”
“And so you came up with what pick up line?”
“Well, I returned back and when she had another moment of time, she asked me the question one last time. My response was ‘admiring beauty’ ”
“Say what?”
“That’s right! I told her I was admiring beauty and that got her hooked.” Dakota laughed slightly.
“That is such a cheesy line.”
“Hey…it worked. We ended up dating and got married. That’s the Reader’s Digest version.”
“Well what was it about her beauty that you were so admiring?”
“I don’t know, her shapely hips, her beautiful tan face, and her long dark flowing curly hair. Could have also been the way she walked as well. But most of all, I think that when I looked into her eyes and said what I said, I realized then and there, Ellyn would be my wife.”
“That’s so sweet. Did you ever tell her that?”
“No, not that I remember. I told her that she was beautiful, attractive, sexy, all those mushy gushy things.” He poured another glass full of wine. “We basically became the best of friends. And we did have our moments, but we were inseparable.” That word lingered in his mind as he finished off the rest of the wine that he had poured.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, just remembering her brings up the fact that she is gone, I can’t hold her, touch her, kiss her, make love to her, or anything like that.” His voice quieting down. Dakota slowly rubbed his back, massaging it as he leaned forward, his hands clasped as he just stared blankly at nothing. “I’m going to step outside for awhile okay, Dakota?”
“Sure.” Dakota smiled as he grabbed another cigarette and made his way out the door. He heard the click of the television as he stepped outside. The air cool and crisp, the lingering warmth from the fading summer fills the atmosphere. Jaymes allowed his eyes to search the stars. When he was a kid, he always loved sleeping outside underneath the stars. Sometimes he would pretend he was a cowboy and steal his mothers’ broom, dressing it up as a horse and he would camp outside as the cowboys did in the movies.
Tomorrow, he was going to be sifting through Ellyn’s stuff, getting it ready for a garage sale. A heaviness cloaked him once again as he found himself alone, even though his daughter was in the living room watching television.
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