" I explained, "I came home to tell you." Sold, is there anything left, after debts I mean," she asked earnestly."Nothing much, a house in Leeds." I t...ld her."Thank god, I've been so worried!" she said."Yes, it looks like it!" I agreed."I thought you might, you know, like Duffy Harrington." she said."Top myself!" I snorted, "No!" we had stopped now, I let her sit on the grass verge to massage her feet and then the rain started."There's a barn," she said pointing, "We could shelter." "Yes, why. The trip to the restaurant was short, less than a five-minute ride. I waited for it to stop and the doorman to open it before I guided her out. Part of me wanted to just open the door and do it myself, but that screamed 'wrong'. Getting used to being waited on hand and foot was a trial.The restaurant was dimly lit and had other couples seated in small groups, we were seated near the middle. The food was not remarkable; I couldn't tell anyone what we ate five minutes after we left. I'm sure that. He needed help and he got it. Kennedy suggested a dog and he got one. What has begun to happen there is odd, but it is not something he has to worry too much about because Judy is finally dropping her walls. She is the girl of his dreams even if he is practically twice her age. Because of her he hasn’t thought much about those strange interactions with Sandy.Alan hasn’t really been home too much, except in the evenings. He has been throwing as much time as he can into work just to be closer to. The longer he knew her, the more things he found to love and admire about her, but it frustrated him that at times her earlier life experiences still colored her self-worth. Pulling into the drive in the Santa Fe he found both she and Mimi with their butts in the air and heads buried together in the front flower bed. Wondering what they were planting now he walked over to find his beautiful, generally retiring wife holding a snake…..while his lovely curly-haired daughter petted it. ‘Ummmm….Is.