In a Blur

The following three days zip by in a blur.

Sunday begins the right way with a bout of tender lovemaking. The smell of sex was still heavy in the air when Amos rolls up. The aghast look on his face when he caught a whiff of our room and his hasty retreat afterward had us giggling. Amos, as always, was nothing but awesome. When we tell him of my grandpa he expressed his sorrow and told me that if me or Grandpa ever needed him that he’d be there without question. More importantly than just saying them, I knew he actually meant those kind words. To both Winona and I’s surprise he takes the news of me adopting the Crow name remarkably well. Big ol’ softy that he is he even gets a bit misty eyed about it! Afterward he wraps me up in a big bear hug and welcomes me to the family. It all got me to thinking about what Grandpa had said about father figures. If Amos was to be my positive male role model after Grandpa’s passing then I knew I’d hit the jackpot.

As I cooked Winona and I breakfast she and her dad got straight to work for the big grand opening that would be happening the next day. There was a buzz in the air of both excitement and trepidation. They had put everything into this move back to Ehkolie. This was a gamble that simply had to pay off. By the time we were munching on egg and tomato sandwiches, Winona’s with bacon of course, Cheryl arrives. She comes in hot, unimpressed by our sudden engagement, and a defiant Winona only turns up the heat by informing her that the wedding would happening within the week without any context. Amos, the peacemaker, steps in before things could get too out of hand to explain the reason for our haste. Cheryl, humbled by the grim news, offers her love and sympathy. Realizing just how hopeless it was to try to slow us down she relents and welcomes me at last with her whole heart.

Sensing some unresolved tension between Winona and her mom I excuse myself so that they could have a family moment and I could go check on Grandpa. By the time I returned all was well with the Crow family, though I did notice a little gritting of the teeth by Cher when the topic of my surname was raised.

The Grand Opening of Win’s Garage turned out to be a huge success and the talk of the whole island. There were balloons and streamers and entertainment by the one and only Grandpa Mike. What was supposed to be a little meet and greet ended up taking on a life of its own to turn into a impromptu festival!

As Amos flipped the burgers and dogs on the brand new grill he bought for the occasion I served them out while Winona and Cheryl schmoozed the crowd. It was all Crows on deck! I swear half the island must have made an appearance. We were on the verge of being overwhelmed by it all when Kayla and Briar arrive like the cavalry to pitch in. When Cain and Riley show up they too show the old Mayhems spirit and roll up their sleeves to help, even though nobody asked them.

Through the day we see Brenda and Chub and Sandra and Camille, David and Grace, and so many more familiar faces. I even bump into Eddie for the first time in months! It was weird and awkward but overall we were both cool about it. Winona however goes green with jealousy, which I found adorable. Brayden and Onyx make an appearance. My old roomie surprises me by going into salesman mode and telling anybody who would listen about Amos and Winona offering ‘great work for a great price’. It was a far cry from his previous claims of being ‘screwed’ by them on that head gasket from years ago. When the crowd got too much, and it did on more than one occasion, the Crows would cover for me as I slipped away to take a quiet moment by myself or with Mama. When I returned they let me slip right back into the flow of things with understanding looks and no comments. They showed me what ‘family’ really meant.

I think my favorite moment of that eventful day had to be when I saw my brother Joshua’s truck cruising up the driveway. I hurried to greet him and was pleased as punch to be able to introduce him to my friends and my new family. He was prickly and awkward as always but he was welcomed by all. He and Grandpa were able to spend a bit of time together, which warmed my heart, and just before he left I introduced him to Eddie. After getting a conversation going between them I excuse myself to ‘get back to work’. Eddie needed a rough and tough ‘Daddy’ top, Joshua needed someone to coax him out of the closet, I figured the pair of them chatting couldn’t hurt anything. I thought I’d been clever but a stunned look by Kayla told me that I hadn’t been as smooth as I thought I had. If there was anybody who could spot match-making in progress it was my bestie. As it hits her the true intentions of the introduction her face lights up. Like a moth to flame she wanders that way to help smooth the rough edges.

By that evening Amos, Cheryl, Winona, and I are cleaning up knowing that we’d knocked it out of the park. Amos griped about the cost of all the food and beverages they’d gone through but they were just surface level complaints. Deep down he knew we’d done well. Over the course of the day they’d made innumerable contacts and the garage was already booked solid for the next week and a half. It did brighten his mood however when Cher told him how the opening could be considered a business expense and that she could write a lot of it off on their taxes. His mood is double lifted when Winona mentions that we could use a lot of the grand opening stuff for the wedding reception, thus saving him some dough.

The whirlwind roars straight into Tuesday. As Winona and Amos finally get to work in the shop I am off on a job of my own. The photo shoot with Sandra and the girls goes off without a hitch. Not only is Sandra fully satisfied with my work she goes the extra step of helping me arrange an appointment with a local hotel owner who she’d recommended my services. Things were on the move! Not an hour later as I am putting the finishing touches on the pamphlets and sending it off to the printer I got a call from Brenda informing me that my suspension was over and that I was expected at work the next day. I had nothing against the grocery store and I quite liked Brenda, but boyyyy did it feel good to inform her that I’d moved on to greener pastures.

As often as I could I pop in on Grandpa who was his always wonderful self. The terminal diagnosis had done nothing to dim that bright spark in his eyes. He didn’t yet need my aid for the day to day things but he is more than happy to take my visits. He and I make plans for me to get my Captain’s License, we talk about family, but mostly we just hang out and enjoy the time we had. I do bump into mom once when going to the Bella. I don’t know what Grandpa had told her in their big heart to heart but she actually treats me nice for a change. There was a quiet understanding that there was no benefit now in bringing up Blaze or Dad or the boat or her drinking or anything else that would flare up emotions. We both had enough to deal with right now with the imminent loss of Grandpa. I didn’t know how long this would last but for his sake I make peace with her, for the time being at least.

Woven in and among everything else we had to return the canoe, I am helping out at the service desk of the garage, our wedding planning, and of course shoehorning in trips back and forth from my old apartment to finalize the move. Whew! What a busy few days! But what a happy few days. I really understood now what it meant to live life to the fullest.

It wasn’t until Wednesday that I could even take a breath and slow down. The much needed breather doesn’t even last until noon.

I am standing at the customer service desk going over the pitch I was going to the hotelier listening to the radio and the clanks and clangs drifting in through the open door between the office and the bays when Winona calls. “Customer inbound!”

“Ok-kay!” I call back.

By the time I am tucking my old laptop under the counter I could hear the crunch of gravel from an approaching car. Instead of parking to the front however they’d parked along the side so I couldn’t see who it was. As I listen I hear a door open then close. A moment later comes Amos booming laugh.

“Ha! Well hello there!” He says brightly. “Ha ha ha! Nice to meet you too!”

“Pops.” Winona hisses. “Dad!”

His laughter cuts off in an instant. “Aw shit.”

The grim tone of both of their voices sends a chill down my spine. I was just about to head into the bays to see what was happening when bounding through the open door gambols a huge rollicking Rottweiler! Not just any Rottie, but one that I’d known since she was a barely weaned pup.

“What the…?” I kneel down as the pooch rushes up to give me my usual big slobbery greeting. “P-Pepper!? Wh-What are y-you…?”

Lauren’s voice, trembling and sobbing, follows her dog in from the bays. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Does…Avery Beckett live here?”