As he put away his stuff he thought about how he could make the best use of his new found knowledge when school started in a couple of weeks.First, ho...ever, there was football practice. Two a day workouts for the next week or two and then scrimmages followed by the start of the season on the first Friday night in September. He planned on having a good year this year, both on and off the field. Maybe he’d score a cheerleader or two. That thought made him smile considering how things had gone. One I recognized as that of bookstore owner Emma Van der Heyden, the other with a soft and almost indistinguishable Southern inflection was unfamiliar. Lottie, as everyone called Emma for reasons I wasn’t sure, stepped out of the pines. ‘Oh hi, Nicholas,’ she said, startled. Regaining her composure, she looked at me with her deep blue eyes and smiled. ‘I bet you’re wondering what we’re doing here.’ ‘That had crossed my mind.’ She grinned knowingly before widening her eyes. She turned to her. She wants a grandson, a Jewish one. Barney’s first wife, Bekah’s mom, had complications after Bekah was born that made her unable to have any more children, so he divorced her.”“No shit? The old bag’s desire for a grandson matters that much to him?”Sandy said bitterly, “Barney’s fucking terrified of that old bitch. Her slightest wish is his command. She’s fucked him up so bad that he’s scared to death of women in general!” She shook her gorgeous head. “He doesn’t want sex more than once every. Finally, ever her guardian angel, my father took her hand in his and placed a kiss in her palm. “With her heart,” he responded, his voice soft and eternal. They gazed at each other then, their silence saying more than words ever could, the truth filling the void like a bright and shining affirmation. I was silent. Dumbfounded. My clever repartee vanished, lost within the beauty that had filled our little facet of the world. It was then I knew that somewhere beyond my “secret sauce” I had found.