“I see you up there, Mr. Cat. Don’t you know it’s bad manners to stare at a guest?”
Bringing a large bowl of mashed potatoes to the table, Melissa shook her head. “I’m afraid Spooker is hopeless when it comes to manners.” She pointed at one of the lower limbs of the tree. “Spooker likes to settle down on it and poke at your head if you happen to walk beneath him. You have to watch out for him whenever you’re in our backyard,” she added with pretended seriousness.
“I’ll be on guard.” Richard gave Melissa a big smile, happy to hear he was expected to make future visits.
“If you’re going to get fed, I’d better help Mom bring the rest of the food.”
As Melissa rushed off, Richard pondered, Does Melissa really hope I’ll be here often? Or was she just being polite?
Donald put the finishing touches on the ribeyes. The women brought the rest of the meal from the kitchen—besides mashed potatoes and two kinds of salad, there was corn on the cob, buttermilk biscuits, and fresh lemonade.
Richard and the Ingrams had finished eating and were chatting when Donald said, “I don’t know about all of you, but I’m too full to eat dessert now. What say we have dessert later in the house.”
The guest of honor nodded his agreement with a look of relief, having had second and third helpings at Helen’s insistence.
“Melissa and I will take care of the dishes and, Don, why don’t you show Richard your vegetable garden and workshop.”
After the women had cleared the table and gone into the house, the men went over to the barbeque grill.
“I’d better clean up my mess, before I show you the Ingram estate.”
“Can I help?”
“Thanks, Richard. This is pretty much a one-man job, but I appreciate having company while I work. You mentioned at dinner that you live with your uncle. I suppose this was a convenient situation for you during your years at college.”
“I should have been clearer about my living situation. You see, I’ve lived with my uncle all my life. My parents, sister, and brother died when I was a baby.”
“I’m sorry, Richard. That’s rough.” Looking uncomfortable for raising such a sad subject, Donald moved the conversation to something more positive.
“What was your major in college?”
“Communication. I minored in political science and I took a lot of electives in music.”
“What courses in music did you take? I mean did you study any instruments?”
“I studied piano and guitar. And I found out very soon that piano took a special kind of talent I didn’t have. But, I did well in guitar, and got Bs in music theory.”
“Melissa has taken piano lessons ever since she was a little girl. At one time, she tried to learn to play the guitar, but she said the strings hurt her fingers. You know, you two should play a number together—you on the guitar and Melissa the piano.”
“Sure. I’d be happy to do it.”
The two exchanged comments about their churches and what their churches were doing to help people in need. They discovered that each of them had gone to Mexico with groups from their church to build houses for the poor.
“How many houses does your group usually build, Richard? We generally build three.”
“I’ve gone twice and both times we built three houses. They were very basic houses and small, but well built. I do worry, though, that the owners won’t have enough money to keep up repairs.”
“Yes, I’ve wondered about that myself. After all, we have people in our country who can’t afford to pay for needed home repairs. That’s why our church has organized a group of men who have the skills to do repairs for folks on fixed incomes.”
“Do you have to be a member to join that group?”
“No, you don’t, Richard. Think you might want to join us?”
“I’ll consider it. I’m a pretty good house painter. Three years I painted houses to help pay tuition in college.”
“We always need painters. The group would love to have you. As a matter of fact, we . . .”
“Dad, there’s some coffee made and dessert if you’re ready!”
“Okay, Melissa, we’re coming!”
In the living room, Donald offered Richard a comfortable recliner. Judging by Field and Stream and Sports Illustrated magazines on a nearby end table, Richard deduced he was sitting in Mr. Ingram’s favorite chair.
Looking at the family seated around the room, Richard felt a kind of peace settle over him. It must be nice to be part of such a family.
After everyone was served a slice of chocolate layer cake topped with ice cream, Donald said to his wife beside him on the sofa, “Richard told me that his uncle raised him. He was orphaned at an early age.”
Both Helen and Melissa looked at Richard sympathetically.
After a brief pause, Helen asked, “Do you have any other relatives who are close to you, Richard?”
“Yes, there’s Aunt Jennifer, my father’s sister, who lives in Flagstaff. She lives alone. As far as I know, she never married.”
“Did you see her very often growing up?”
“I didn’t see her at all ‘till I was twelve, Melissa. Then one day, she called Uncle Mac and asked if I would like to visit her in Flagstaff for two weeks. Uncle Mac encouraged me to go, so I did.”
“Did you ever find out why she didn’t contact your uncle sooner? I assume she was told about her brother’s death.”
“Oh yes, Mrs. Ingram, Uncle Mac got in touch with her right away. He thought Aunt Jenny was afraid that she would be asked to take a baby to raise. For a long time, he was afraid that she would ask for me and he would have to let me go.”
“Several years ago,” Donald commented, “I went to Flagstaff on a business trip. Nice city. Friendly people. Matter of fact I thought about buying some property there.”
“Well, if you had, you might have met Aunt Jenny. She was a realtor and later a real estate developer.”
“Did you have a good time when you visited your aunt?” Helen asked.
“Yes, she was very good to me. Though, when I first met her I thought she was kind of unusual. Every morning, after breakfast, she and I would do exercises called T’ai Chi—years later, I learned more about it. At first, I could hardly do it, but after a few days I caught on. When we went to her favorite restaurant, the waitress knew that she was supposed to stand by the table with eyes closed while my aunt prayed.”
“What did you do for fun when you were with your aunt?” Melissa asked.
“We went hiking. I had a hard time keeping up with her, even though she was older. We went horseback riding—sometimes we’d race, and the loser had to do the supper dishes. But, what I enjoyed most were our talks about life. She also told me about my dad when he was a boy, and that meant a lot to me. I love my Aunt Jenny—she doesn’t allow anyone else to call her Jenny.”
“Are you going to visit her this summer?”
“No, Melissa, she’s too busy with her campaign. A few years ago, she became interested in politics and ran for a senate seat in the Arizona state legislature, and won. The first time she ran, I helped her with her campaign. I enjoyed it a lot.”
“Would you like another piece of cake, Richard?”
“My eyes say yes, but my stomach says no. I couldn’t