"A vision of loveliness," sighed the scruffy stranger.
That caused both teens to turn and look at where he was looking, to see their mother.
"Mom!" said Debbie. "You're barefoot!"
Ramona looked down at her bare feet as if they belonged to someone else. She looked up blankly. "I guess I forgot my shoes."
Mister Semen laughed. "Ah, but it is summer anyway, is it not? And bare feet are perfect for summer."
Ramona's plan to announce their uncle had been put on hold. Ramona, while she changed, realized that her brother was wearing a disguise for some reason. She couldn't imagine why, but he had, so now she didn't know if he wanted to be identified or not. She needed a few minutes alone with him. Her heart was fluttering as she slipped on the dress. By the time she got to the bottom of the stairs her heart was pounding.
"Children," she said weakly. "Would you please put the food on the table while I have a word with Mister ... Semen."
Neither child wanted to leave the room, especially Robby, but their mother stared at them until they left. Standing there to make sure they didn't come right back in, she watched the entryway for a moment and then turned to find "Mister Semen" standing only a foot away.
"Bobby?" she whispered. "What are you doing?"
"Rami, you're so gorgeous," he breathed. "I thought I remembered your beauty, but I can't believe how you've changed. You take my breath away." Then he jerked. "I don't want anyone to know who I am right now. I'm posing as the caretaker for the house ... to get things started before the ruckus there will be when people find out I'm back. There have been legal claims filed against the estate ... vultures who think they can take what is not theirs. I don't want to talk to reporters, even if the only ones that show up are from the local newspaper.
"The kids ...." she said. "I was going to tell the kids about you ... going to let you tell them about you," she said helplessly.
"I didn't think you wanted your husband to know about me," he said thickly.
"He died Bobby," she whispered urgently. "I didn't have the strength to find you ... to tell you. I'm sorry," she said, her mouth turning down.
He reached out to touch her arm. "It is I who am sorry. I have neglected you and our family name in the pursuit of a mad dream. I'm so sorry to hear of your sorrow ... your loss. But I need to remain anonymous a little longer. Can I do that please? Would your children tell people who I am if they knew?
"I don't know. It's going to be a shock to them. I never told them about you Bobby. I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. Hearing your voice now ... I feel ..." She broke off, wiping an eye.
"What am I going to tell them now?" she asked frantically. "They want to know who you are and what you're doing!"
"Why would they care so much?" he asked, puzzled. Then a gleam came into his eye. "Unless it isthey who have been using the house!"
"Using the house?" asked Ramona. "What do you mean? What are you talking about?"
"Someone has been using the house ... being there I mean. They haven't bothered anything really, but I found a small collection of valuables, or things that children might think were valuable in one of the rooms. And some clothing has been unpacked ... our parents' clothing."
"What?!" came Ramona's astonished reply. "No! It couldn't be them. I'd know. They never go there.No one ever goes there Bobby!" she gasped.
"Well then, it is someone else. No matter, as I said they haven't bothered anything. If anything they have kept things in order, somewhat, and cared for things to some degree. There has been no vandalism, as I feared there would be."
"But what do we tell them?" she asked.
"Let me handle that," he said. "I won't stay long."
"But I wanted to see you!" she moaned. "To talk to you."
"I'll be right next door from now on," he said. "You can come and see me any time you like."
"I can't do that!" she said. "What if somebody saw me?"
"You work at the bank. I'll just request that they assign you as my personal teller ... to handle all my accounts ... to assist me in my mission."
"They won't do that!" said Ramona with a gasp.
"Dear Rami, my sweet" he said in natural closeness that was somehow easy to revive, "In the years that have gone by, the inheritance our father left us has grown much. They'll do anything I ask to keep my account in their little bank. Did you waste all your money?" he asked gently.
"No, I've never touched that money," she said breathlessly. "That money is tainted."
"Then my dear beautiful sister, you are rich beyond your wildest dreams. And the original money is long gone, returned to the treasury or dispensed to persons. That money is yours. You may do with it what you wish, but it is yours. Our father provided for us. What harm can there be in that? Think of it as his last gasp of love for us. He loved us, you know, he and mother both."
Ramona's eyes misted and glazed as she recalled one of her dimmest memories ... the tall brown haired woman who had sung to her and dressed her in frilly dresses, taking her for walks in the sun ... in the beautiful gardens. "I remember," she whispered.
"Then let us to dinner, to answer your handsome children's questions. They are beautiful, Rami ... your children."
"Yes" she said firmly. "They are the loves of my life."
"I used to be the love of your life ... long ago," he said softly.
"I remember that too, Bobby," she whispered again. She wanted to hug him, to cling to him, but his appearance was so strange and wrong that she couldn't.
"Come," he said. He held out his hand. She took it, feeling the call uses of the work he'd done for many years with his hands, and the strength in them too.
Debbie and Robby had tried to eavesdrop on the adults in the other room, but could hear only murmurs of conversation. They heard their mother exclaim something, but couldn't hear what it was. They labored mechanically, transferring dishes to the table, getting the silverware their mother had absent-mindedly forgotten to put out. She had used the good dishes and crystal glasses that they had eaten on perhaps only a dozen times in their life.
And for this stranger?!