Abel In Paris by Jeffrey Allen White (beach read txt) 📕

redoing the restrooms at The Bistro. She found out quickly that what looked tempting was neither always tasty nor good for you.

“Well, this is it,” Abel said to himself. “There is no turning back.” He started for the door dreading the sale of the café and yet not selling the café. Either way was the other end of a burning rope as he clung tightly to its midpoint towering over jagged rocks and a lake of molten fire.

“Who are you talking to Dad?” Sandy had just walked out onto the porch and met him head on. Sandy had her hair in the same ponytail style that Nina had worn day after day.

“What? Oh, nothing, Sweet Pea. Just talking to the wind.” Abel looked around. “It is such a beautiful day today.” Abel kissed Sandy on her way toward him trying to change his dreamer tone and make her believe it. Sandy was as intelligent as her mother was, even if she did not possess her mother’s talent for pastry making. “What’s the matter, Dad?” Sandy sat down to eat her cereal and drink the juice her dad had earlier prepared for her.

Abel moved the apron carefully aside on the table and sat down next to his only daughter. “Listen, Sweet Pea.” He gathered up courage from somewhere and said, “There is something I have wanted to talk about to you.” Abel swallowed hard; his throat burned form the toxic coffee that he knew would eventually kill him. “Honey, I have decided to sell The Bistro.” There, he said it in one complete sentence, each word burning his tongue and lips as it came out of his mouth, leaving a bitter taste.

Sandy jumped up, knocking over her juice. “What? How can you sell The Bistro? You just can’t, Daddy.” Sandy’s eyes were wide open as if she had seen a snake or worse. Abel was relieved that he had moved the apron.

Abel took another attempt. “It’s time baby. The business is not what it used to be. I do not think I can keep it going. You need me home with you at least at night more than just a few hours here and there.” Abel bit his tongue, as he knew how much this would upset Sandy.

She ran into his arms and threw herself into his embrace, saying, “I see you right after school. I come here right away. I ride my bicycle as fast as I can!” Sandy was now crying.

Gaining his tortured thoughts, Abel tried to calm her. “Listen, that’s just what I am talking about; you need to have this time for you, to have friends, play sports or go to games and hang out with kids your own age.” Abel held onto Sandy’s shoulders looking into her eyes, which filled with tears. Each sob cut into his very soul. If only he could take away her pain.

Through Sandy’s sobs, she cried out, “But Daddy, you can’t. I will work harder. I will get up earlier and work in the morning to help you get ready before I have to go to school. I’ll stay up later and… and…”

Abel had to stop Sandy before she worked herself into hysteria. “That isn’t the way. I have thought about this for a while now. Since Nina… I mean, since your mother has been gone. It has been hard, hard… on us both. I know how you feel, Sweet Pea, there is not a moment I do not think of your mother, and the café just makes things harder. It is so hard to live with the reminder of what once was. I know you may not understand all this yet but you will, I promise.” Abel stroked her face. “This is the only way for us now. I have thought about this for weeks. I have agonized over this, afraid to tell you but it has been hard. Business has gone down, partly because my heart just is not in it anymore. I cannot keep going in everyday and pretend your mother is simply at the market getting supplies. It’s too hard.” Abel kissed her moist face looking for any kind of understanding, a glimmer of her acceptance of what was to come.

As she hugged Abel tightly she managed, “Daddy, please don’t, I will do anything I can to help. We can hire some more help.” Sandy wiped her eyes and ran her sleeve under her running nose. “Please, Daddy, don’t…”

Trying to keep his composure and ease her concerns, Abel replied, “That isn’t the problem. We have Maria and James; they are more than I can even afford now. The economy is down. We need more volume. I know you do not understand but with our expenses and falling income, we need more money coming in and that means new customers and long, long hours away from you. I just don’t have the knack your mother did with people.” Abel turned away as a tear slid down his face.

Sandy picked up the apron she had made her father and struggled to put it on him. “Daddy, you can’t. Here put this on and go to work. I will stay home from school today. I can read Mom’s recipes and practice them all over again. I will learn, Daddy. I will.” She tried to tie the apron around her father who stood up trying to stop her.

Abel took Sandy and sat her down in front of him, his bended knee steadying his balance. “Sandy, Listen. I just cannot. I need new ideas, I need time, and I need… your mother.” Abel broke down and held onto his daughter, crying as he had not since the day Nina had died.

It seemed an eternity before either of them let go of the other. Sandy’s tears had soaked through his shirt, the one Nina had bought him for his last birthday and the tie Sandy had given him for Father’s Day, the one with the grinning Garfield tossing a pizza overhead. Abel was dressed to impress the people who were coming to look at the café. He dared to hope they would buy it. By now, the morning sun had crossed from behind the roof and its rays had hit them both square in the face. Their eyes, red and puffy had squinted, making both of their sets of dimples catch their fallen tears. “Look at us, Sweet Pea, we’ve flooded our dimps.”

Sandy struggled to make a tiny smile and hugged Abel. “Daddy, please don’t sell The Bistro.” She looked into his eyes, straight into his mind and heart, the place where you are vulnerable and open to the world.

“We’ll talk more about this later. It is time for school. Go on and change your clothes. I’ll clean up here.” Abel managed a matching tiny smile straining to make it look good.

“But Daddy…” Sandy tried to speak, as Abel put his fingers to her lips to stop her. He kissed her cheek and held her closely.

Regaining his composure, he stood up and held out Sandy‘s arms in front of her. “No matter what happens, we’ll have each other. We will get through this and if you hurry, I may even be sure to get you to school on time.”

She looked up at her father with a large but controlled smile. “Do you think Mom can see us?” she asked in a quiet voice of an eleven year old.

Judging his words as he spoke, “I think your mom hears and sees everything and I bet she agrees with me. She would want us to go on and not have to struggle so.”

Turning toward the doorway, she wiped her eyes. “I’ll go change,” and with that, Sandy walked off into the house.

Abel looked at his little girl as she disappeared around the kitchen. He walked over to the doorway and took of the apron that Sandy lovingly made him and folded it neatly into a square and put it into the waistband of his pants, carefully smoothing it out as to not wrinkle it even more. Abel looked at his watch. Nina had given it to him last Christmas. Everything he had reminded him of Nina. Abel looked at his watch again. He would not have time to change. Abel would have to go like and meet the people, his shirt being wrinkled and damp from tears. Maybe his shirt would dry without any stains and his tie would straighten out by the time he arrived at the café. Maybe Sandy would understand what needed to be and accept it. Maybe his Nina would walk through that doorway. Abel remembered about the broken coffee cup but decided it would have to wait. He walked into the kitchen and they both left for their respective destinations. Neither spoke a word until he dropped her off at her school. “I love you, Sweet Pea,” he said with a full smile.

Sandy returned the smile and at that moment, she was his little girl of eleven again as she enduringly said, “I love you too, Daddy.” The wind moved some oh her hair onto her face as she blew a kiss to her father and vanished into the multitude of schoolchildren.

Chapter 3

The people from the real estate were late. That was good. Glancing at his watch, Abel needed this time to gather some last minute paperwork before they arrived. He turned and decided to straighten up the kitchen one last time. As Abel was putting some freshly washed and dried odd pieces of silverware back into a seldom-used drawer, he moved one of the wooden slots to accommodate a larger amount of serving spoons. He found something that felt odd in the back. It was shiny and looked out of place; too much of a color difference between the metals. Abel carefully pulled it out and held it up into the light. He smiled. It was Nina’s charm bracelet. She had lost it just last year. Nina had thought it went down the drain or worse, the garbage disposal. The clasp had been opening much too easily and she feared it might have fallen in while she was using the sink. She had planned to have it repaired but never got around to it. Nina must have caught it on the wooden slot drawer divider and it stayed there for all these months beneath some seldom used odd pieces of silverware.

Abel bought her the bracelet before they were engaged. They had always intended to add more charms as the years passed by. There were only two or three charms on it when she lost it. Abel has planned to get a few more charms for several occasions that meant something to her and him. Nevertheless, between the business and Sandy, sometimes plans were undone. It is funny how something turns up when you