Page 46 of Snow Blind

"She's doing well. Steph has a hot yoga studio in Corning and it is going pretty good," he said, giving a smile, but his attention was on the sound of the alarm announcing the door was opening.

Darnell made his way to the main living area to come face to face with the man he expected to be a redneck of a loser who oppressed his daughter and talked down to her. He’d mentally prepared himself to dislike the man before he'd laid eyes on him or opened his mouth. He'd met one or two of his daughter's boyfriends, and like her mother, her taste in men was suspect. Entering the kitchen, he pulled back.

"Whoa, and hello," Darnell said.

Mustang did a once over of the well-dressed man, assessing him as educated, opinionated and a potential pain in the ass. However, for Helen's sake, he planned to be on his best behavior to make nice with her father. It wasn't what she said about her father which made him not think highly of Darnell Nelson, but all the things she omitted.

"Mr. Nelson, nice to meet you. I'm Jarius. Please call me Jay," he said, offering a handshake. "How was the flight out?"

"I hate flying in those sardine canes of bacteria, but I wanted to see my baby," he said, looking at Mustang's uniform. "You're a State Trooper?"

"I am, but currently an instructor at the academy here in Plainfield," he said. "You're an engineer?"

"Yes, I have spent most of my life working for Corning," Darnell told him. "I'm retiring soon. Looking forward to easy days, fishing, and golfing, and I was hoping to spend time with the grandkids."

Helen swatted her father, who seemed to have a case of early onset ofI know what you said, but I'm old and I have the I will say what I wantdisease.

Darnell commented, “I see you with the kids on the images in the hall. Are those yours? Why you don't want anymore?”

"Sir, I have no kids," Jay said. "Those boys are Helen's, well, now I guess my nephews."

"What nephews? Abigail had kids?" he asked, turning to look at the mantle, seeing Cherry. He moved to the mantle, looking at the photos of Cherry with Slow and Naomi. "Abigail has a child?"

"Yes, and one on the way. She is due in the next month or so. It's a boy whom they have named Luke," Helen told him.

"I spoke with her two weeks ago and she didn't tell me I had a grandchild," Darnell said. "Neither of you have ever mentioned I had a grandchild."

Helen's eyebrows arched. Mustang looked away. He wanted to hear all the upcoming conversation, and he really wanted to get those steaks on the grill, but now he was thinking of a good pan sear on the stove instead so he could hear this.

Helen asked, "Grandchild? I'm not understanding."

"Abigail is your sister," Darnell said. "She's my daughter as well."

Mustang held up his finger. "Hold on. I need to get out of this uniform and open a bottle of wine, and you guys need to sit close by while I cook these steaks. I want to hear this."

"Jay!" Helen shouted, shocked at his lack of sensitivity during this mind-blowing moment.

"What? How did you not know she's your sister? Hell, does she know she's your sister and if so, why has she never mentioned it, and always calling you cousin?" Jay wanted to know.

Darnell asked, "You know Abigail?"

"Of course; she'd married to my brother," Jay countered.

"Well, that is a bit of incestuousness happening there," Darnell said.

"Daddy, seriously? How, as the black ass pot, are you questioning the validity of the existence of the kettle's right to let off some steam? What do you mean, you're her father?"

"I could use that glass of wine now," Darnell said, not wanting to hash this up. This was part of his depression. This was the sadness that sickened him every year at the holidays. A few bad decisions, and Anita Barnes, the mother of the daughter standing before him, had used them to punish him forever.

Helen needed a moment to center her breathing. How on God's dying planet did she not know Cherry was her biological sister? Although they were raised together as such, it had never occurred to her they could be actual sisters. Then she thought about her mother, and all of her questions were pushed aside. Anita Barnes was not only petty, but jealous-hearted, and coveting anything her sister had. It should not have been a surprise to find out she'd also screwed her sister's man and made a child for a check.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Helen said.

Darnell made a move towards Helen and stopped short. "Punkin, I thought you knew."

"No Daddy, I didn't. I just assumed when you sent presents to me and Abi that you were giving her presents so she wouldn't be resentful of my father giving me stuff and hers not being around," Helen said.

"Abigail knows I'm her father; she just doesn't like me. She's never liked me," he said. "Even as an infant, she'd cry when I held her. One time, I took her to the park and she didn't want to leave. She threw such a tantrum, the mothers in the park called the police on me. Stephanie had to come to the station to pick us both up."

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