Page 45 of Snow Blind

"Hey there Punkin!" Darnell said. "Oh my, it is so good to see my baby!"

"Good to see you as well, Daddy," Helen said. "We don't have far to go to reach the house. Plainfield is only about a thirty-minute ride. It will give us a chance to cover some critical points."

"Critical points?" he asked, turning slightly in the seat to look at her.

"Yes. One, life has beenlife-ing, and my name has changed. It is no longer Shenita Nelson, but Helen McDaniel," she said, leaving off a critical point of her last name now being Neary.

He sighed deeply, feeling some sort of way about changing the name he’d given her at birth, "Any particular reason why you changed the name I gave you?"

"Again, life has beenlife-ing, along with major life changes which constituted the name change," she explained.

"Witness protection?"

"Nothing so dramatic," she replied.

"You’re not single? I see rings on the finger," he said.

"Critical point two," Helen said. "He's going to ask you for my hand because that's who he is, but he also married me already since we live together and because, well, that's who he is. We will have a wedding later, and you will get to walk me down the aisle, but no snide comments referring to me as a cow that was being milked for free, okay?"

Darnell held up his hands and said, "Okay. So, what is this man of yours like? Will I like him or is he a knuckle-dragging knot-head?"

"I won't discuss him with you since you'll have all weekend to get to know him and ask those questions yourself," she stated. "He is grilling steaks for dinner and will open a bottle of red. If you want beer, we will need to stop and get it. I also have a few turkey breasts and Dover sole to grill in case you're watching your A1C."

"Funny," he said, looking about. "This is a bleak-looking place to raise a family. Are you planning on having children, Punkin?"

"Critical point three, Daddy. I can't have them because life waslife-ing. Jay isn't really trying to have kids either," she explained.

"What kind of man doesn't want kids?"

"What kind of man has a kid that he never sees?"

"That's not fair," Darnell said.

"Neither is your pre-assessment of Jay. Save your judgement until you meet him and have a conversation," she said, entering the Plainfield city limit.

Eight minutes later, Helen arrived at the gate and entered her code. She instructed her father to place his hand on the dashboard as a white light scanned over him. Darnell's face contorted, wondering what the hell his daughter had gotten herself into.

"You're married to a white man, aren't you?" he asked, looking about the property with the rundown outbuildings but brand-new metal six-car garage. "Is he one of those survivalist types with lots of guns, ammo, and knives? Ooh, is he going to go hunting this weekend and come back and field dress a deer?"

Helen pulled around back of the home, parking the pickup truck under the parking cover Jay recently had installed for her vehicles. The covering went to the back porch in case in rained so she wouldn't get wet bringing in groceries and supplies.

"Welcome to our home, Daddy," she said, cutting the engine. Helen led the way to the back door and disengaged the alarm. Darnell stood on the deck, looking over the property from a fresh angle. The back deck was nice. He could see the man who was working on it had plans in mind to spend a great deal of time on the deck cooking, watching the game, and living his life.

Inside the home, Darnell Nelson immediately felt relaxed. It was homey, not stuffy with items no one could touch, or expensive furnishings you were allowed to look at and not sit on to have a snack. He liked it.

He asked his daughter, "Is this a mobile home?"

"A manufactured home with four bedrooms and two and a half baths," she said. "Follow me to the guest room where you'll be staying."

Darnell didn't know what to expect when he entered the bedroom. A queen-sized bed with a comfy quilt, embroidered pillowcases, and monogrammed throw pillows awaited him. Art hung on the walls and the furniture pieces all matched. In his heart, he chastised himself for thinking his daughter would live in a rundown home or a stinking apartment building where all the neighbors fried fish on Friday and cooked cabbage on Saturday.

"You have a lovely home," he said as the sound of tires on gravel drew his attention.

"Daddy, let me take your coat," she said, waiting for him to remove the outer garment.

As she expected, under the coat, he wore a sport blazer with matching pants and a button-down shirt. A Phillip Stein watch sat on his left wrist and a matching wedding band on his left hand drew her eye. This is what she didn't want to mention but would to get it out of the way.

"How is Aunt Stephanie?" she asked, knowing her father had married her mother's sister.

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