Now that he’d tamed his hair with some water and a touch of Bobbi’s conditioning mousse and removed most of those dreadful black clothes, the man looked almost handsome. Sure, his muscled torso didn’t quite fill Albert’s favorite fishing shirt out and those tattoos seemed rather vulgar, but at least he seemed more relaxed. His feet fit perfectly into the old beach sandals, still dirty from Albert’s last walk on the beach. How Emmy had scolded him when he tried to walk through the kitchen with those on! How sweet he had looked when he apologized…
“You’ve got some nice stuff here, lady,” the man said, shifting some small object around in his hand. Emmy did not have a chance to see to what he referred before he slid the object into the deep side pocket of his cargo pants. It looked like one of her small golden paperweights from that trip to the Holy Land. Just as well. It reminded her of Albert.
“Why, thank you,” Emmy replied.
“Pretty good stew for lunch too,” the man continued. He peeked into the drawer on the old lamp stand. “Liked the blue cheese part. That was original. You’ve got style for an old..um..you know…person.”
“I hope you come back to visit often,” Emmy told him.
The man looked to the hutch, crammed with all those over-done candleholders and plates and things that Albert’s family had given them. Emmy had never let him decorate the house with all that pretentious glitter. She blushed and said, “Never mind that mess.”
“Know what?” the man said. “I’ll come as often as you like. Can I call you ‘Auntie’?”
“Of course,” Emmy told him. “I’ll call you ‘Bertie,’ since I never did get to know your name and I’m terrible with names anyway.”
“Sure,” the man said. “That’s why I’ll call you ‘Auntie.’ I’m like that too. You never know. Maybe I’m like some long-lost member of your family. Think about it.”
“You could be right.”
“But you’d want to wait a while before telling—” A knock at the door interrupted him.
“Oh, let me get that,” Emmmy said. She turned and trotted to the front door.
Behind her, the man finished his request. “Just don’t tell anyone yet because you wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise I’m planning.”
Emmy nodded and opened the door.
