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Gene's Story or How I Gained a Cousin A novel by Karen Lockhart Copyright 2016

CHAPTER 39

All day long at work I worried about Tina. I had Ginny call her once just to check nothing was wrong. She had gone to work at the animal shelter as usual, and she hadn't had so much as a phone call from her father.

It was good that the only thing going on was the crew taking cores for possible support piles to be driven for the new building.

I just realized I hadn't heard from Steve Brady for over a week, which was unusual. I decided to call his cell phone to update him on progress here and find out how his nephew had made out on the other project.

Steve answered his cell with “Hi sweetie, how's it going up in Lynn? I've been so busy taking care of fixing all the screw-ups my nephew made, I forgot all about you.”

“That's why I called, I was wondering how he did, also to let you know the drilling crew is here taking cores.”

Steve laughed. “See, that's why I wasn't worried, you're there. I think where I'm planning to build the apartment was the site of a Chevrolet dealership, so the ground should be pretty stable.”

“I remember now, it was Beacon Chevrolet wasn't it? They went out of business in the 70's didn't they?” I replied.

“That's why I keep you around Ellen, you know everything.” With a deep laugh he promised to make it up to see us before the week was out. Finally, with a dirty suggestion for his nephew that was not physically possible, he hung up.

“Who was that?” Ginny asked. “Our phantom lord and master?”

That provoked a chuckle from me as I stood up to look out the window at the drilling crew.

“Steve's having trouble on the old job. It seems two weeks is all it took for his wife's nephew to screw it up.”

Ginny smiled at that, but then looked at me seriously. “You know I worry about Tina alone in her apartment.”

“So do I Ginny, I'm going to ask her to stay with us at least one more night. Maybe her father won't try that again if she's at my condo.”

Ginny chuckled, “He's afraid to run into 'Dirty Harriet' again you mean?” she smiled. “You're looking down the barrel of the most powerful hand gun in the world, it can blow your head clean off. So ask yourself, do you feel lucky, well do you punk?”

“Jeeze, Ginny, I wish you'd stop doing that. I feel shaky enough about last night, without you saying that whenever you get a chance. Besides, you never saw my fast draw.”

I said that just to get her wound up. One of these days I'll bring her to the gun range.

Thinking of that I realized I hadn't been there since Ginny came to live with me. I was probably starting to lose my edge by now. That was a great idea; I'd bring her along with me, I'd take the Browning target pistol and my competition Smith and Wesson 1911 auto pistol and I'll be 'Dirty Harriet' forever!

“I'm going to call her now, and convince her to stay at least one more night. You don't mind do you?”

“Not at all, I was going to the same thing. Look at the time, lets go home. So, what are you planing for dinner?”

“I was planning a simple one dish chicken bake Stove-Top stuffing, chicken breasts, Campbell's cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup, and frozen mixed veggies. Pop it in the oven for forty-five minutes and done. Add some cranberry sauce and a nice Chablis, presto!”

“Where did you get that recipe, from school?” I asked.

“No, from the inside of a label of Campbell's chicken soup.”

“Who'd take the trouble to read the inside of a can's label? Amazing.”

“Ellen, there is a ton of recipes on these labels, also the inside of a box of butter and the label of Progresso grated cheese. When we get home, I'll show them to you. Then you too can be a great cook with little work.”

We were five minutes from home when Ginny's cell rang; 'Stairway to Heaven' was her ring tone. It was Tina. By the time we pulled into the driveway, Ginny was successful in talking her to stay longer with us.

We went inside and changed from work clothes to in my case, sweats and a tee. Ginny was in a skirt and heels as usual, so she changed to tight jeans and a polo shirt. I was starting to feel like a frump. I'd forgotten she was not a natural woman. I guess her RLT was working.

I decided to clean my pistols before dinner. This ought to make Ginny's eyes bug out. I opened my closet door, and slid back a couple of jackets to expose a wall safe. I punched in the combination and removed my Browning and the Smith and Wesson .45cal. Grabbing my cleaning kit, I retired to the kitchen counter. After laying down an old towel, I proceeded to strip down one pistol at a time. I cleaned the big .45 first, being careful to clean all the little nooks and crannies with a toothbrush. About this time, Ginny walked in to get a diet coke from the fridge.

“Holey Moley! Inspector Callahan, herself! Where did these come from?”

“I have a safe in my closet with handguns and ammo. These are just two of them. I haven't been to the range since you moved in. I've decided to go on Thursday afternoon, taking you with me, since you carry that .25 cal mouse gun of yours. I want you to try out each of these.”

I finished giving the pistol a once-over, and handed it to Ginny. “A little different from that Beretta of yours?” I asked.

Oh, wow, This thing is huge! Look at the size of the barrel, it's enormous! What's this for, elephants?”

“Actually it was designed for the Army. They needed a gun and bullet that would stop a man with one shot. It's become the number one competition target gun, that's why I own one. The other popular caliber is .22 long rifle, that's this one over here.”

I picked up the Browning Buckmark target pistol that had a red dot sight mounted on the top rail, turned on the sight and handed it to her.

“This is better.” she said. “Neat, look at the red dot, it's everywhere I look!”

“That's the idea, hopefully, it'll be on the bulls-eye, when I shoot. I think you'll find shooting fun. To hit a ten ring is harder than hitting a golf ball.”

I finished up and returned them to the safe.

Ginny started supper, when I heard a knock at the door. I took a deep breath and opened it, expecting to see the face of Vinnie Morales, instead it was Tina Morales.

I gave her a big hug as she came in. She gave me an appreciative look and took off her barn jacket.

“I can't tell you how much I love you two guys. No-one has ever done anything like this for me. Everyone was afraid of Daddy.”

“I'm afraid of him too Tina.”

“Yeah, but you spoke to him while pointing a gun at him. He respects that. Knowing him, he probably now has a thing for you!”

Before I could respond to that thought, Ginny called us to supper.

“What were you two gabbing about? It seemed a little tense?”

I looked at Tina and nodded, She repeated for Ginny what she said to me.

“Shit, I hope you're kidding, what a thought!” Ginny gasped. “Tell me it's joke, please!”

After debating my possible suitors, we got down to talking Tina into staying with us on Wednesday also.

About the time we were getting ready for bed the phone rang again, this time it was my cell phone. This was getting to be a habit. I nervously looked at the caller ID screen, and to my relief it was Kevin, but at ten o'clock at night?

“I heard what happened last night, are you guys alright? Do you want me to come over and stay the night?”

I laughed. “Ginny would probably like you to stay the night, why don't you ask her?”

With that, I handed the phone to her. “It's for you.” I said and sat beside Tina on the couch. I explained the phone call to her, that started her to have a giggling fit.

Ginny ended the call, “He's coming over.”

With a twinkle in my eye I asked, “Where will he sleep?”

Ginny just snorted, “With you.”

To be continued

Many thanks to Bronwen Welsh for her help correcting typos and grammar.