Life is a Soap Opera Act 02

"I did at first," she admitted. "But I asked myself three questions. One: Is he a good person? Two: Does he treat Bailey well? And three: Does he make Bailey happy? The answer to all three is yes. Their situation is not one that I would have chosen for my daughter, but she has to live with it and when you see them together, you'll see that they're in love."

Her big worry was the distance between them. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but too much absence can spell disaster. The good news is that between cellular phones and the internet, they weren't as far away as they might have been fifteen years before, but that still didn't put them in the clear.

Bailey's visit to New York was a life-changer, though. When she returned, Joanne knew that her daughter was committing herself to Gabriel for the long-haul. It helped that she was living in his house and there were constant reminders of him around.

"So where's your guy, Bailey?" one of the cousins asked.

"He'll be here soon," the other girl replied. Bailey had spent every night with Gabriel since he had arrived. This morning, Bailey and April drove home in their Oldsmobile. They said he would be on his way a little later.

By late afternoon, all of the family had arrived. The crowd outdoors had grown and was playing horseshoes or on their guitars. Someone on TV was giving out six-legged turkeys to football players. There was a murmur of excitement when Gabriel's Lexus pulled on to the property and parked in the long row of cars in the front lawn.

He got out and was immediately mobbed by people rushing to introduce themselves.

"There will be a quiz later," Joanne winked as she went to help him bring in a couple bottles of wine.

"Just flunk me now," he laughed.

Joanne watched carefully as he walked over to Bailey and gave her a big hug and kiss for everyone to see. She appreciated that he was willing to show his affection publicly; it wasn't too much, but it also demonstrated that he wasn't ashamed of her, something the last boy who came calling couldn't say of himself.

Gabriel went outside to join the men; he was certainly no asset in the kitchen.

The other women fawned over Bailey for landing such a catch. And for the first time she could remember, Joanne saw a flash of jealousy in April's eyes at the attention her sister was getting.

A short while later, dinner was served. As the host, Andy said grace then Joanne invited everyone to dig in. There was more food than the family could possibly eat, but they tried their best anyway.

Gabriel and Bailey sat on the couch next to one another. Some of the cousins, especially the girls, were immediately smitten with Gabriel and he had a small audience eating out of his hand. He told stories and sang songs and was generally charming. Joanne joined them once she went through the line.

"So why did you take so long to get here?" one of the cousins asked.

"I had some business to take care of this afternoon," Gabriel shrugged.

"Where?" the inquisitive girl asked.

"At the Cold Nights Shelter," he said blankly.

"What were you doing there?" the girl continued. Bailey's eyes were wide. Joanne's, too.

"Helping get ready for Thanksgiving dinner," Gabe said patiently.

"But dinner is here." He clearly had the six year-old confused.

"Not for everyone," he said with a sad smile. "Some people don't have families on Thanksgiving. So to give them a place to go, the Cold Nights Shelter has a dinner where everyone is welcome."

"Where is your family?"

"Maddy, why don't you go get some salt and pepper from the kitchen?" Joanne asked. She flashed an apologetic smile at Gabriel. "Sorry, she's a little too curious for her own good."

"It's okay," he replied and went back to his meal, though he got quiet and slipped back into the shy introvert April and Bailey talked about—the one she had never seen—for a few minutes.

A little while later, when the kids had finished and the adults were on seconds—or thirds as the case may be—Joanne sat down next to Gabriel and Bailey. "So what were you really doing at the Cold Nights Shelter?"

"Helping them get ready for Thanksgiving dinner," his eyes grew distant. "It's something Mom started us doing when I was thirteen or fourteen . . . Did you know we used to be homeless?"

Joanne shook her head, surprised at the things she was learning about the man in Bailey's life.

"After Dad left us, Mom tried her best," he said wistfully. "We were out in San Diego, living out of an old Toyota Corolla station wagon. I was nine; Michael was eleven. It wasn't so bad; if you're going to be homeless, southern California is the place to do it. Mom was working, but we didn't have any money to get a house or apartment that wasn't in gang territory or out in the middle of the desert. We lived in the car for about a month until there was space at a family shelter."

When Joanne looked over at her daughter, Bailey only shrugged. This was news to her as well.

"They helped us get on our feet. They got me and Michael in school and they found Mom a better job," he continued. "Four months later, Mom saved up enough to get an apartment and we moved out of the shelter. She never let us forget it . . . being homeless with nothing but the clothes on our backs. So every year after that, we spent Thanksgiving and Christmas at the city mission where ever we were helping make dinner for people who had less than we did. She didn't want us to forget where we came from. Oh, don't give me that look; I'm no cook and you know it. Mostly I put cookies on plates, mop floors or wash dishes to stay out of the way."

"You should have told me," Bailey said softly. "I'd have gone with you."

"Thanks, sweetheart," he gave her a heartbroken smile. "But I needed to do this by myself today. . . . I haven't gone back since Mom had her stroke. I called Michael and he was at the homeless shelter in Montgomery . . . And in a way it was like the three of us were together again."

Joanne reached out and squeezed his hand. Gabriel smiled meekly.

Bailey gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek, then got up to help clear the dishes. Joanne and Gabriel talked some more. She was continually impressed at how considerate and thoughtful he was. She also appreciated that Gabriel—the TV star—would spend his Thanksgiving holiday making someone else's dinner with no fanfare or publicity. He could have used it as a photo op to grab some more headlines ("Soap opera star who took girls to prom does good deeds!") but instead, he just showed up as a guy named Gabe to help people who were less fortunate for a few hours.

As the evening wore on, some people started to leave. The rest settled in front of the television to watch Christmas Vacation. Little Caleb was asleep on Gabriel's lap while his sister snuggled up on his side and the dog curled up at his feet. It seemed that the entire family had welcomed Gabriel as one of their own.

Some of the men were still outside telling lies to one another when Joanne led Bailey back to her bedroom.

"You've got quite a guy there, honey," she said.

"I know, Mama," her daughter replied, a dreamy smile on her lips.

"Bailey . . . April's gonna stay over with Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Mark tonight. They need someone to watch the kids tomorrow," Joanne patted the mattress on the bed and the two sat down. "I want you to invite Gabriel to stay here tonight."

"You what?"

"I want you two to stay here tonight," Joanne repeated. "I know you two are sleeping together and your daddy . . . well, he just pretends not to know. You'll have yours and April's room all to yourselves tonight."

"Why?"

"Because tomorrow, I'm gonna get your daddy up early and make him go shopping with me. I wanna hit all the early bird sales," she said, a conspiratorial glint in her eye. "Bailey . . . four generations of Crawford women have made babies in this bed . . ."

Her daughter's eyes got wide.

". . . And since there aren't any boys still carrying the Crawford name, there probably won't be any more," Joanne paused to run her hands over the hand-carved posts and intricate woodwork. The frame and slats had been replaced and rebuilt several times over the years, but the sturdy mahogany head- and footboards were constant for over a hundred years. "I want you to make love to Gabriel right here tomorrow morning. I know you're on the pill and you're too young to be havin' babies, but I want you to feel what the rest of us did when we made love to our man in the family bed."

"You weren't too young," Bailey whispered.

"Yes, I was," Joanne said. "I was eighteen when I got pregnant and I had no business being a mommy then. Don't get me wrong; you and April are the best thing that ever happened to your daddy and me. But we shoulda waited until I finished college and your daddy got through trade school. We woulda had so much more to give you girls . . ."

"Oh, Mama!" The two shared a tender hug.

"Gabriel loves you more than life itself," Joanne lovingly cradled her daughter in her arms as she had so many times before. "And I know you love him, too. That's why I want you to have him in this bed. Pretend like you're makin' a baby like the rest of us Crawford women. . . . We've got to stick together, you know."

*************

"Hey, Jimbo, come check this out!" one of the guys in the shop yelled.

Andy didn't bother to look up from his desk. He was balancing the books for the end of the month. Business was good; a little slower than he'd like, but even in a tough economy, car repairs aren't things people usually put off. He was also thankful that his job wasn't one that could be outsourced to Bangalore or shipped overseas to Shenzhen.

He did notice that more and more people were paying with credit cards instead of cash, and he was doing fewer minor repairs. It seemed that folks were waiting until major things broke instead of bringing their cars in for regular maintenance. It wasn't smart for the car owner, but it was good for his business.

"What is it?" the other boy sounded annoyed. He'd been working on an alternator all morning and was having a heck of a time getting it back in.

"Come look at this Skylark!" the first mechanic said. "And check out the babe that's driving it!"

Not bothering to look up, Andy chuckled. Twenty years ago, he would have been the one with one eye on the job at hand and the other eye on the lookout for girls.

"Hurry up! She's coming this way . . . Wait . . . she's pullin' in . . . Holy crap! It's Bailey!"

His eyes wide, Andy walked out of his office into the shop. Sure enough, his daughter was behind the wheel of Gabriel's gorgeous Skylark convertible. She was just turning the corner but he could hear the distinctive rumble of a big American V-8.

"When did she get hawt?" one of them asked to no one in particular.

"She's always been hot," Andy said, a little more defensively than he'd have liked. "You boys just never noticed."

"What were we thinking?"

"You were too busy chasing her sister," he snorted. "You all had your chances and now she's found herself a TV star."

Andy couldn't help but smile as his daughter pulled to a stop in front of one of the garage's empty bays. Her hair was pulled back to keep it from blowing in the wind. In the warm spring air, it was no surprise she would be driving topless . . . er, with the top down.

She got out to the admiring gazes of the guys who worked in his shop. Last summer, their eyes would have been squarely fixed on the car. Now, they were ogling the girl, too.

Even Andy noticed—disapprovingly—that the young men who worked for him were eyeing his daughter. These were some of the same boys who never would have given her the time of day before. He knew what changed: Bailey was more confident. She stopped wearing baggy clothes that covered up her curves. She put on a little bit of make-up and dressed better. She felt pretty because Gabriel had convinced her that she was. There was a new spring in her step, a broad smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye.

"Hi, Daddy," she smiled, seemingly oblivious to the stares of the other mechanics at the garage. The younger guys who worked for him were a year or two ahead of the twins in school. Over the years, he'd had over two dozen young men come through his shop and these boys were no different. They had come up through the vo-tech school and would either move on and open up their own shops soon, or they'd move away once they realised that doing business in Washington County was going to be a lot tougher than they thought.

"Hi, Pumpkin," he said as she gave him a big hug. Since school started, he found that he really missed his daughter. Even if she hadn't been living away, he would still be seeing less of her. In their second semester of college, both girls were taking a full load of classes and working two jobs to try and save some money for the next year's tuition.

"Do you like my new car?" she asked, smiling sweetly.

"Your new car?" his eyebrow shot up.

"Gabe sold it to me," she said.

"How much?"

"A dollar," she replied.

Andy frowned. First of all, Gabe's Skylark was worth closer to twenty thousand dollars. Second, he didn't like the idea of being given things for free; Andy Crawford was a proud man, and disdained even the notion that his family might be accepting a handout. And third, he was jealous that Gabe had three cars that he could simply give away if he wanted. "Just a dollar?"

"Well . . . I had to tell him I loved him, too," Bailey blushed.

He did his best to not roll his eyes or make a face. He didn't like the idea of his little girl telling anyone other than he or his wife that she loved them. But he knew there was no avoiding this. Gabriel MacKenzie was Bailey's first love. And Andy was just going to have to live with it.

"Do you?" Andy asked despite himself. "Do you love him?"

"Yes, Daddy," she replied with that dreamy smile. "You know I do."

With a sigh, Andy led her in to the office while the guys gathered around the car. He noticed that their eyes lingered on Bailey's backside as she walked past.

"I need your help, Daddy," she batted her eyes at him.

Andy knew he was in trouble whenever she did that. "What do you need, Pumpkin?"

"Well, I need insurance," she said. "And I need you to look at the car to see if anything is wrong with it."

That second part was a lie. If his other things were any indication, Gabriel had certainly taken care of the car. And Bailey knew enough about cars to tell if it was in good shape or not by herself. Still, he appreciated that she would come to him.

"I've never had to buy insurance, so I was wondering if you'd go with me to get a policy on the car," Bailey continued. "Then I thought we'd put the car up on the rack and take a look at her."

Andy looked over at the clock on the wall. It was early afternoon and business wasn't going to pick up. Besides, the guys in the shop didn't need him to finish the jobs they were assigned.

"Shouldn't you be in class right now?" he asked with a frown.

"School got cancelled today," his daughter said. "A water main broke down on Fourth Ave last night so BCC closed down. We might be out tomorrow, too."

"Okay, let me get my jacket." On his way out the door, he stopped by to say something to Mike, one of the older guys who worked for him. Many years ago, he had also been a graduate of the Washington County vo-tech school, but he didn't have the ambition or the business acumen to run his own shop. He was a hard worker who could figure out just about anything, so Andy kept him around to help mentor the younger guys and run the shop when he was away. Over the years Mike had become a good friend and trusted confidante.

"I'll be back in a little while," Andy said. "Make sure Einstein gets that tranny put back together today. Mrs. Salyers will be by to pick up the car in the morning. And tell Jimbo that he may have to drop the front shock out of the Prelude to get that alternator back in it. How are the brakes coming on the Taurus?"

"They're shot. I've got pads and shoes, but we're going to have to order a new master cylinder."

"They grow up fast, don't they?" Andy quietly changed the subject.

"That they do," the other man replied.

"Don't be smilin' like that, Mikey. Your little girls are gonna grow up before you know it."

"That's what I'm dreading." The two men stood there watching the guys flirting with Bailey and wondering why they had never seen the beautiful young woman she had become. Andy shook his head as Mike supportively clapped him on the shoulder.

Bailey offered her dad the keys, but he declined; Andy knew she was proud of her car and he was just happy to have some time with his daughter. She fired up the engine and revved the big block a few times to show off.

The insurance agent was the only one in town; he also doubled as one of the county's four lawyers. They got a full coverage policy. Andy balked at the cost of insuring an "antique" car, but Bailey proudly not only said she wanted a separate policy, but that she would pay for it.

"Why do you think I've been working two jobs?" she asked. She was keeping her grades up, so Andy had no choice but to acquiesce.

She learned all about auto insurance: liability, collision, comprehensive, bodily injury and the like. When they emerged from the office, she had her new policy in hand and beamed with pride at accomplishing something on her own.

Andy was of two minds about this. He and Joanne raised their girls to be independent and know how to take care of themselves, but on another level, he realised that this was one less thing that Bailey would need him for.

Bailey drove him back to the house where they had dinner with her mom. Joanne was as a surprised as he at the new-for-her car, but she said nothing. Then Bailey changed into a ratty pair of jeans and old sweatshirt and the two of them drove back down to the shop, which was closed for the evening.

They put the car up on the lift and gave it the once over. Andy was glad to get some alone time with Bailey. Especially since he knew she really didn't need him for any of this. Even though he knew it was a young woman under the car with him, he could only see the nine-year old girl who did more rolling around on the creeper than actually helping when it was time to change the oil. He knew things were about to change when Bailey dropped the bombshell on him.

"Daddy, how do you know you're in love?"

"You just know, Pumpkin," he said, not liking where this was going. Gabriel and Bailey's romance was progressing predictably. He went back to New York after the holidays and was working regularly. Bailey had gone to visit him a couple of times and he was coming back for long weekends with increasing frequency. The girls were still living in Gabe's house and they were doing well in school.

"When did you know with Mama?"

"The moment I first saw her," Andy said. His smile became wistful as his memory drifted back to a time all those years ago. He also slowly took a step or two from denial towards acceptance. "Just as you knew you were in love at prom."

His daughter blushed.

"Bailey, I'm only going to say this once because I know you don't wanna hear it, and it really ain't none of my business," he drew in a deep breath. "Are you sure about Gabriel? He's a nice guy, but he's a lot older than you. And he's your first boyfriend . . . Is that really the best thing for you?"

"I don't know, Daddy," Bailey said softly. "We've talked about that a lot . . . I mean, the age thing. He keeps trying to talk me out of being interested in him . . . it's like he's trying to keep me from getting hurt."

"Is it working?"

"No," she replied. "I keep trying to figure out what it is . . ."