It Happened One Night

They were on the road twenty minutes later. Soon they turned off the main highway onto a gravel road.
Her stomach tensed and she felt her palms sweat. She wondered again how smart of an idea this was.
Finally they turned onto the dirt road her dad lived on. Not much had changed. The trees were bigger and more over grown. But the dump of a house was still the same.
Max turned to her, “You still want to do this.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Sure, we’re already here.”
She got out of the van and looked at the house of her nightmares. What paint was left was faded and peeling. Thick moss covered every inch of the roof. The railing was missing several rungs, and the grass around the house was non existent.
She knocked on the door. “I’m coming.” Came the reply from inside the house. The voice sent shivers of fear down her spine.
“Sherrie? You really came. I’m glad. It’s good to see you.” He didn’t try to touch her, just opened to door for her.
“Dad, this is Max and his daughter Hayleigh. And this,” she pulled Celine closer to her, “is my daughter Celine.”
He didn’t move, just smiled down at the little girl. “Hi, Celine.” He held out a hand to Max, “Nice to meet you.”
Max shook his hand, looking warily around.
“Come on into the living room.” He lead the way. The inside of the house didn’t look better than the outside. With peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpeting, Sherrie noticed it as at least clean now.
He motioned them to the sagging couch and sat in his overstuffed maroon recliner. “I’m having an easier time now keeping it clean, sherrie. I quit drinking two years ago. Glad I got sober before I died.”
“How long, Dad?”
“Dr. Says maybe a couple months. The cirrhosis is complicated by lung cancer. I don’t mind now that I’ve seen you and Celine. And know you have someone to look out for you.”
What did he care about that she thought? She’d never had someone to take care of her until she met Max. She seethed inwardly but said nothing.
Then he shocked her to the core. “Sherrie, I’m sorry for the way you grew up. I was a horrible father and didn’t take care of you. I was a drunk. That’s not an excuse, you understand. Just what I was. I did alot of things during that time that I am deeply ashamed of. Probably more than my memory allows. I just wanted you to know that, while I wasn’t a safe person for you then, I am trying to be now.”
She didn’t know what to say. An apology was the last thing she expected. For a lack of words she looked at him. “Thank you.”
He nodded, then turned to Max. “So what do you do for a living, Max.”
“I’m a real estate broker.”
“Nice money in that I hear.”
“We do OK.” Max smiled for the first time.
“Hang on to him, Sherrie. Good ones are hard to find.”
Rather than explain their relationship she nodded. “Plan on it”
“Would you like to show the girls around?”
“Sure.” She knew there wouldn’t be much to see, but she wanted to see her room

The room was still a faded yellow, clean, and all her stuff just like she left it.
“Celine, this was mommy’s room when I lived here.”
“You lived her, Mommy.”
“I did.”
“But its so yucky.”
Smiling down at her daughter she replied. “It is. When I was growing up there was never enough money to fix it up.” Or enough for food, new clothes, or anything related to school.
She went to the desk that had been handed down to her by her mom. It was her ony thing of value. She wondered if her dad would let her take it. In case he didn’t she reached down into the bottom drawer and lifted the false bottom. Inside her journals were safe. As well as her mom’s jewelery she had taken after he mom died before her dad could. These things were all the treasures from her childhood.
“You know,Celi, I think I might have a box of Barbie’s my mom gave me in the closet.”
“Can we check?”
“Sure.” She opened the closet, dismayed to see her meager amount of clothes still hanging there. Compared to her closet now, it was barely anything. She pulled down a box marked Barbie on the top shelf. “Should be about twenty dolls in there. Let’s take it downstairs so you and Hayleigh can look at them.”
“OK, Mommy! Let’s go” Excitement filled her voice causing it to be a little loud.
“Not so loud,Celi”
Head down but with a smile on her face Celine apologized. “It’s OK, Celi. Just try to remember we're not at home.” Sherrie lifted the box and heded back to the living room.”

They went back down the rickety stairs. Sherrie glad they made it down safely questioned Hayleigh as soon as they were back in the living room. “Leigh, do you want to go through this box of Barbie’s with Celi?”
Jumping up from her spot by Max’s feet she came over. “Oh, yes.”
While the girls were occupied the adults talked. Sherrie didn’t have much to say. Seeing her dad sober was a miracle. One she prayed for daily as a teen. That it happened now, when she was happy with her life, disappointed her. It didn’t matter to her anymore. It was a day to late and a dollar short. She didn’t know how to talk to him, so Max carried the most of the conversation.
An hour later, they got up to say their goodbyes.
Max shook Bill’s hand. “Nice meeting you, sir.”
Bill beamed. “It was nice meeting you too. Take care of the girls for me?”
Max nodded his agreement and then turned to Celi and Hayleigh. “Time to go.”
Celi started to whine. “But I want to still play Barbie’s”
Sherrie jumped in, “You casn play with them back at the hotel.”
She shined. “I get to take them home?”
“Yes, they’re yours now. But you need to share with Hayleigh and Nolee.”
“Yes mama”
Sherrie turned to her dad. Did she offer a hug or not? “Bye, Dad. Please keep me posted on your health, OK.”
“Of course.” He nodded at her. “Can I see you again?”
“I don’t know, Dad. I need to think about everything you’ve said.” She stepped forward and gave him a hug. He smelled clean, for the first time she could remember. No alcohol or drug smell.

Max knew Sherrie couldn’t see it but he would be sure to tell her how happy her dad looked when she gave him that hug.