

Shiksa's Are for Practice

Phil Wohl

End

Benjamin Shapiro was an eternal optimist who was thrown a curve as he and his wife were planning to extend their family. When Ben and Melanie Shapiro hit 30 years old, the clock starting ticking and the discussion about having kids materialized. Ben had always thought of kids during their first five years of marriage, but Mel had been hesitant to bring kids into what she viewed as a cruel world. As a child of divorce, she thought her life would be a lot cleaner and less obstructed without kids. So, they went the dog route instead.

Two years of coaxing turning into another year of frustration, as the couple unsuccessfully tried to produce a child. Ben was starting to think that it was his wife's resistant attitude that was leading to repeated failure, so they stopped trying and took a breather.

"My GYNOB is going to examine me and assess my fitness to have a child, and then if I get a clean bill of health, you have to get yourself checked out," Melanie said to Ben as they ate breakfast one morning.

Ben decided to tag along since Melanie was going to her doctor on Saturday. It was July 4th weekend and the office were fairly empty due to a restricted schedule. Dr. Gail Barnes happened to be around that weekend, so she decided to use her time effectively by scheduling a few appointments before going to big barbeque and fireworks watch party later that day. She was especially concerned with Mel, who had been prone to develop polyps that had previously been innocuous.

The doctor noticed a few more polyps than usual and said, "I'm going to send these out to get tested."

Mel's immediate thought was, "Tested for what?" but she waited to get dressed to ask the question.

"It's probably nothing, but I'm seeing a little more activity than usual."

"What kind of activity?" Mel inquired.

"Well, we have talked about your propensity to develop polyps and up to now they have been benign."

Mel heard the word benign and was instantly transported to a realm of numbness and safety.

The doctor saw the look on Mel's face a and sought to comfort her without providing guarantees, "This is just a precautionary measure. I want to see if there is some connection between the escalation of polyp activity and the difficulty of conception."

Mel and Dr. Barnes exchanges holiday greetings, although neither of them could have predicted that the real fireworks would be witnessed the following week during their follow-up visit.

Ben saw the concerned look on his wife's face and said, "I always knew my boys weren't good swimmers," as he kissed her on the forehead as she broke a little smile. Although Ben knew from that moment that, despite his healthy baby-making ability, he would be struggling in a sea of confusion before long. He just didn't know how deep it would be.

The following Saturday, the couple was back in the now-crowded doctor's office and Melanie was ushered in only moments after she arrived. This was not standard practice. In fact, all the women in the waiting room weren't sure if they should be envious or petrified for the urgency of such a visit. But, when a nurse came out and approached Ben to come with her, they surmised that the news was either really good or really bad since it didn't appear that Melanie was pregnant.

Ben's but barely hit the chair as the doctor started talking. It was only the second time in Dr. Barnes' 30-year career that she had to deliver such news, and there was no easy way to say it, so she did just that.

"Your tests came back positive."

And in between probing questions of what that meant and the denial that came with every passing moment, tears started flowing from Melanie Shapiro's eyes.

"I'm going to refer you to an endocrinologist I know for further tests," the doctor said since any words of comfort would fallen on deaf ears at that point.

There was a certain freedom in death for Mel that she never experienced in life. Nearly two years after her diagnosis she was gone, leaving behind as many unanswered questions than resolutions. The last days were the happiest that Ben had ever seen his wife, which made him question the efficacy of live itself.

They said their goodbyes one evening as Mel faded into the afterworld, with her last official breath coming the following morning. Ben alerted hospice to the finality and they contacted the coroner and the funeral parlor that he specified. It was Friday morning and the funeral would be on Sunday, as was the Jewish tradition although she was not religious and would be cremated, her ashes spread just outside of the boardwalk near the ice cream stand at Jones Beach.

She abhorred dirt and things that were dirty, so the idea of being put into the ground was completely out of the question. It had only been a few days since she passed, but it had been at least six months since the inevitability of the event sunk in. And while Melanie told Ben that he must move on and find love again, he was still months away from clearing the fog and being able to see the beauty of life again.

As people gathered in the small reception room designated for Melanie's mourners, there were two extremely tall blonde women who looked good for any age that were attracted attention at this all-kosher gathering. While Ben was greeting people giving him their condolences, he looked out in the hallway at two women wearing all black, including black veils to obscure their faces, but he was blinded by the sunlight streaming through an adjacent window. He also felt it would be impolite to bird-dog two hotties at his wife's funeral, but he just wanted to identify who these people were and which side of the family they came to represent.

A similar dynamic held true during the funeral service in the chapel. Since there would be no graveside formality and Ben suffered from an astigmatism and far-sightedness, his view of these women sitting together in the back row of pews was compromised. He vowed to get laser surgery to correct this deficiency once all of the smoke cleared.

Ben gave his upbeat and sweet sermon that made everyone cry, even Rabbi Morgenstern, who had helped a shy Ben get through his Bar-Mitzvah and had seen a lot of tsuris throughout the years. And when his speech was over and the service concluded, Ben snatched up the urn and was headed to the back of the room to satisfy his curiosity and to ease the tingling feeling of doubt that hung over him like a cloud on this cloudless day.

But, before he could part the sea of people, it closed up like he was an Egyptian in hated pursuit and the promise of an oasis never materialized in this apparent post-life mirage.

Origin

It was spring and hope was in the air for both young and old. That was, until the Shapiro's prepared for their seder on the first night of Passover.

"Why do you always have to invite all of these people?" Lenny Shapiro asked his wife.

"What's it to you? I'm the one slaving away in the kitchen!" Fran shot back.

The diabetes peaks and valleys didn't fall far from the sugar tree, as Rose Shapiro came down the stairs and entered the caldron of dysfunctionality.

"Meshugener," the 4'11" Austrian immigrant called the people in the kitchen crazy in her own brand of the Yiddish language.

"She has to put her teeth in," Fran muttered to her husband because direct conversation with her mother-in-law usually did not go well.

"Mom, where are your teeth?!" Lenny asked his mother as if she really had a care in the world where her teeth were.

Rose's teeth were sitting in a glass in the main hallway bathroom.

"Mindy! Can you please bring grandma's teeth down," Fran yelled to her daughter who was hiding in her room.

Mindy rolled her eyes and trudged into the bathroom, where she had been staring at the chompers for the better part of two days. She was about to reach and grab the teeth with her right hand, but her mom anticipated the mindless act.

"Bring the whole glass down!" Fran yelled as Mindy exhaled from relief.

But she did experience some anxiety bringing the glass full of water and teeth without trying to spill anything. Nobody wanted to touch the teeth directly, so Fran guided her daughter to present the mouth swords to her grandma'.

` Senile Rose looked at the young girl who was obviously her blood relative as she had never seen her before. But she did recognize her teeth, so she scooped them up and them popped them back in her mouth.

"Put that back in the bathroom and empty the liquid in the sink," Fran said to Mindy.

Mindy did just that and then washed her hands before going back into her room and closing the door, a door that had a sign that read "Mindy's Room" just in case guests were wondering who was taking up residence in such a plush establishment.

She remained there for the next few minutes as Len positioned his mother in a chair facing the kitchen, which delighted his wife to no end. She needed her fiercest critic watching her every move and critiquing the food she slaved over after working all day. The only good part of working all day was that she didn't have to spend time with Rose. The old lady was all of 60 years old, which appeared to be the age at which people of her generation were taken out to pasture.

There was more apprehension than usual in the air during a holiday at the Shapiro house. While Emily McManus had been to the house several times in recent months after finally snagging best friend Ben, nothing could have prepared her for what was about to take place. She grew up on the other side of town where mayonnaise and ham were commonplace, and people worshipped on Sunday instead of Saturday.

"This is going to be fun," an innocent and upbeat Emily said to Ben as they drove from her house back to his house in the family's white Chevy Impala.

Ben admired Emily for her can-do attitude, but her naiveté was cause for concern in this situation.

"I don't know about fun, but I can imagine that it will be memorable. It would have been bad enough with my family... throwing my grandma' into the mix can't be good."

He thought, "Could it be that she would remain untouched after coming face to face with the brutally honest and deprecating styles of Rose Shapiro?"

The one saving grace, he thought, would be the drive home and the extended make-out session after the seder. That was the only reason why he agreed to bring her over in the first place, as he preferred to spend most of his time in the land of Miracle Whip and Velveeta on the other side of town.

Ben parked the car at the curb and the couple made their way inside of the house where judgement and condescension would certainly be waiting. Mindy looked out of her window and saw her brother and her new best friend walking toward the front door. She bounded out of the room with energy last seen when the town came over for Ben's 18th birthday celebration, which meant that his hunky basketball friends would be stopping by. The 14-year-old had delusions of grandeur, although she really didn't know what any of it meant beyond a school-girl crush.

Mindy hugged Emily as she entered the house, the awkward teen wrapped in the 5'11" volleyball star, the irony of which didn't allude her once she grew to be taller than her once she entered high school.

"What's up, D?" Emily said as she always emphasized the "d" in Mindy, so it eventually stuck.

"So glad you're here, Em's," Mindy replied, trying to be high school kind of cool.

That was the high point of the awkward evening.

Everyone sat at the table, mom and at the heads of the table, Emily and Ben next to each other on one side of the table and Mindy and Grandma' Rose on the other side. While Rose's vision was constantly called into question due to her rampant diabetes and declining health, she appeared to have a burst of 20/20 vision as she looked across the table.

Rose looked at Emily and then turned to her left to consult her son, "Shiksa? Shiksa, Lenad?" which was the way she said Leonard.

Her revelation came even before the Haggadah was cracked open and a Hebrew word was spoken. She didn't even bother to look at Ben, since they had no relationship and kids were not consulted on adult matters in the old country.

And it had nothing to do with mixing a non-Jewish girl with a Jewish holiday. Plain and simple, the woman was just a shit starter and Grade A ball buster.

She then turned her hellacious brand of biting honesty on Benjamin, who she had rarely spoken a tender or helpful word in his previous 18 years. In the spirit of trying to point things out in a mean-spirited and harmful way, Ruth loaded her gun and took aim.

"Shiksa's are for practice," she said as clear as the space that was left open for Elijah to sip some wine.

For a woman with a thick Eastern European accent who needed an interpreter to be understood, her words rang incredibly true. And while Ben shook his head in disbelief and started chuckling along with Emily who thought the reference that she understood was funny, arrows and bullets in the form of yelling was being hurled from both sides of the table.

"That is inappropriate!" Fran yelled and then Lenny chimed in, "Mom, why do you always have to start things?!"

And then Rose reached into her mouth, removed her teeth and set them down on the tablecloth next to her plate.

"Mom, what did I tell you about taking your teeth out at the table?" a constantly-irritated Lenny yelled.

Ben buried his head in his right hand and wished he could click his heels together and be driving his girlfriend away from the insane asylum that was his parent's house.

Shiva

Ben agreed to five days of sitting shiva, although the crowd had thinned so much by day four that he all but gave up on the original commitment. By Friday, he was sitting in his living room and partially fell asleep although he managed to stay grounded in the material world despite months of lost rest.

Since Ben was a dreamer, it wasn't difficult to do just that whether he was awake or resting. He was back in the funeral chapel and was trying to move closer to the two blonde ladies in all black, but he still couldn't see their faces through their dark black veils. Ben struggled to get through the crowd, which seemed to fight and anticipate is every movement, as he grew more frustrated with each step.

"Stop! Please, stop!" he yelled, but the women looked at him and said, "We will come to see you when the time is right," as they smirked and then glided out of sight.

Ben was more awake then asleep as his restlessness intensified.

"What does that mean?" he questioned out loud.

And then he was fully awoken by the sound of a slamming car door. His first thought was "Maybe it's them!"

But then he stood up and looked out his front window and he knew that wasn't the truth.

"Stacey Bloomberg emerged from her Lexus SUV, which looked remarkably similar to the car that Ben had leased for Mel that was sitting in his driveway. She pulled her three-year-old son out of his car seat in the back and then headed toward the house.

The Bloomberg's had been the couple's best friends over the past four years, although their participation had waned until the days leading up to Melanie's death. Perhaps this was the time that Ben needed them the most.

He went an opened the door and said, "Hey, Justin! What's up, buddy?" he said in an upbeat voice as he extended his hand and Justin slapped it with gusto.

"I'm going to school next year," he said proudly.

"Wow, that's awesome!" Ben replied and then Justin blew past him. He then kissed and hugged Stacey, who had a bunch of conflicting thoughts going through her mind as they made their way to the den so Justin could watch his favorite show.

"So, how are you doing?" Stacey asked as they sat a good distance away from Justin but in the same room. She was sitting on the couch and he was nestled into his favorite tub chair. She moved down to the other end of the couch so she could be closer to him.

Ben had never felt a sexual vibe from Stacey in all the years he knew her until now. Even in his bereavement haze, he knew heat when he felt it. And while she was an attractive woman, Stacey was not Ben's cup of java. Even if he was in a normal frame of mind, he would never date her, especially since he followed basic bro' code with her husband Seth.

"Getting through it," Ben replied while growing desperate for someone, anyone, to change the subject.

It was the start of open season for married women to reassess their own relationships and to test Ben's vulnerability. While women wouldn't be bold enough to materially change their lives, there were certain women who would jump at a chance for a fresh start with someone they viewed as an upgrade on the human pecking order.

While Stacey loved her husband, her inability to see him as anything but an ample provider also inhibited her drive to jump on Ben. She worked as a school teacher and had her sights on being a school principal one day, so she wasn't necessarily looking for a man to take care of her.

Ben had planned to pay off the mortgage on his house and eliminate any remaining credit card balances. He then had to decide whether he would go back to his high-paying job in New York City or regress from the spotlight and do something else. His decision was made easier when 50-plus people from his office showed up earlier in the week to pay their respects. It was obvious that they wanted him back and he wasn't putting up much resistance.

He told the Chief Executive Officer, "I'll get back to you by the end of next week, but don't give my office away just yet."

"Why don't you take the rest of the month," CEO Ken Strauss replied to Ben. "You left us in good shape. Then you should consider working from home for a few months until you get your sea legs. Family does that for family."

The 64-year-old Strauss had lost his wife three years earlier and had been extremely empathetic to Ben's predicament. His first thought years earlier was to resign as CEO and ride off into the sunset, but an interaction with Ben changed his mind.

"I can't even imagine the pain you're going through but try to remember that we are also your family and we need you."

That resonated with Strauss and then he returned the favor when Ben was in need of some guidance.

Stacey asked a general question, "So, where do you go from here?"

Ben and the Bloomberg's were close, but he wasn't in the mood for another deep discussion and he would play his hand close to the vest with people he deemed as outsiders, which was everyone beyond Ken Strauss, who had been his mentor for the past 10-plus years.

He had been sort of a wunderkind in the financial world following his call of the financial crisis, which propelled his boss, Strauss, to the top of the food chain with Ben being named Chief Investment Officer.

"The first thing I'm going to do is get off the grid by installing solar panels on the roof. Then I'm going to donate a bunch of stuff, but not necessarily in that order."

"Well, I might have some suggestions where you can bring that stuff and they might even be able to send a truck over to pick everything up," Stacey replied, trying to reinfuse herself into the conversation.

"Thanks, that's very helpful," Ben said as the dialogue slowed to a halt.

Stacey was a true Long Island girl who never hesitated to mix things up. They watched Justin sing part of a song and then she literally went for the jugular on a fragile buck.

"Hey, I was wondering if you knew who..."

And before she could finish asking her question, Ben got some of his New York back up and attempted to anticipate her query.

"I couldn't get a good enough look to make a determination. Did anyone have any guesses?"

"Well," the gossip queen began, "these were obviously woman who were unfamiliar with our ways.

The words "our ways" stuck in Ben's mind for a few moments until he identified what he and Stacey had in common, other than their love of chicken parmigiana.

Stacey continued, "As far as anyone could see, they were Shiksa's from your past, not from Melanie's past."

"What about when she managed the makeup counter at Bloomingdale's?" Ben questioned, trying to throw himself some shade and provide the necessary time to take a stroll down "practice" lane.

"That's possible, but were the girls so striking?" she asked, knowing these women were there for him not her.

"Probably not, but Mel was striking," he replied. Then he thought, "I did have a propensity for blondes before I married the girl with jet black hair and green eyes."

Stacey left with Justin at the end of his show 15 minutes later and realized that Ben was orbiting in a different stratosphere than her. While her bravado kept telling her that she could hang, the truth was a much more sober reality. But she was still interested in finding out who the stunners in all black were, and she figured that it would only be a matter of time before they walked out from the shadows and made their presence known.

The Inlet

A few hours later, made his career decision after walking on the Jones Beach Boardwalk and then eating some soft-serve ice cream. It was near the end of his Carvel twist cone with chocolate crunch when he realized the importance of family at this stage of his life. With his parents in Boca Raton, Florida and in his younger sister living with her partner and four dogs in Portland, Oregon, he knew that work would not only be his salvation but his lifeline to his strongest and most enjoyable relationships.

He texted Strauss, "I'm in it for the long haul."

"Good," Strauss countered, "I didn't want to start looking for my successor!" noting that Ben would one day take his place as king of the castle. "Now get some sleep. Talk to you on the other side."

Ben smiled and then finished his delicious cone, bought some flying saucers to put in his freezer and then went home to his eerily-quiet three-bedroom ranch with two bathrooms and slept for the next 12 hours uninterrupted. He woke up, took a shower and then grabbed a flying saucer from the freezer – two chocolate wafers surrounding vanilla ice cream and chocolate crunch – and consuming it.

It was now 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning and Ben had the overwhelming desire to start his life anew. The first step in accomplishing that feat was to clean his house from top to bottom, making it a safe place for him to be able to relax and think.

His first text was to Stacey.

"Hey! Could you schedule a truck to pick up a bunch of stuff early next week?"

She replied in seconds, "Of course!"

He then texted his wife's mother and sister in a group text, "Please come and take whatever you want this week. I plan on making donations shortly thereafter."

They both came by the following morning, although Ben had other plans.

"I'm gonna' take a drive out east. Please feel free to take whatever you want but leave me with some clothes to wear."

He then packed a small bag and put together a collection of things he valued, including Mel's engagement and wedding rings. He hopped in his Ford Mustang convertible, dropped the top and then stopped at his bank's vault before jumping on the Long Island Expressway heading east, a place where he was always able to clear his head and think clearly.

Once on Montauk Highway, he made a right turn at the site of his college and headed to a small inlet at the end of a lengthy road that was on the Long Island Sound that face Connecticut. There was a house he always dreamt of buying that was at the neck of the street, but it had been inhabited by the same owner since he could remember.

Ben rested his long frame on the hood of his car while gazing out into the abundant sunshine that illuminated his path. Two questions glided through his mind in succession: Why had he left this place and how could he position his life so that he would never have to leave again?

A few minutes later, after some additional reflection, Ben witnessed something he hadn't seen in all of the years coming to this spot. There was movement in the house, and someone actually emerged from the dwelling. He wasn't sure what he should do, so he decided to let it all come to him instead of being aggressive. The man came out with a bunch of stuff and attempted to put it all in the bed of his pickup truck, but some of the items fell to the gravel ground below. Ben always did have a quick first step as an athlete and his timely reactions didn't fail him in this instance, proving the restorative impact of a half-a-day of sleep.

He picked up some items off the ground and handed it to the man, who appeared to be well past his normal retirement age.

"Thank you, friend," the white-bearded man said.

"It's my pleasure," Ben replied. "Do you need some help?"

Ben realized at that moment that we all need some help from a friendly hand every now and then.

And while Ben had never been inside of his dream house, it turned out that all of his pre-conceived notions fell short of what he experienced when he entered the premises.

"Wow," came out of his mouth even before he knew he was speaking, as the side and back of the house were adorned in floor-to-ceiling windows.

"Right," the man said. "I would stay here, but I can't stand the cold and I'm a full-time Floridian."

"Ben Shapiro," Ben said as he extended his right hand.

"Brian Sluman," the man replied as they shook hands. "Hey, you were the guy who helped me keep my shirt during the meltdown. For some reason, I trusted you over all of the other noise."

They shook hands again as Sluman patted Ben's back, "I almost feel like I should do something for you. What brings you out here?"

Ben told Brian the story of recent past and then said, "I went to college across the street and I always come here to clear my head."

"Now that my dada is gone, I see this place in a whole different light," Brian stated.

"How old was he?"

"95 years young. I came here a few days ago and he didn't look so good, so I called an ambulance. He held my hand, smiled and died just before the EMTs were about to load him into the ambulance. Pretty much where we are standing right now, Brian said as they talked in the driveway.

A feeling of calm overcame both men.

"I have been struggling today," Brian admitted. "I'd rather not get involved with the extensive cleanup and then having to sell it."

"Yeah, I feel the same way," Ben conceded and then processed a clear thought for a change. "Would you be open to an offer that would solve both of our dilemmas?"

Brian turned to Ben and said, "Sure, if it's as good as your previous call, I'm all ears."

"What if I bought the house?" Ben confidently suggested. "I've been dreaming of living here since I was a teenager."

Normally, Brian would have followed with, "It's not going to be cheap" or "This isn't charity," but he knew he was dealing with a Wall Street heavy hitter who he had nothing but respect for. His first instinct was to throw a big number at Ben, but they had both just suffered loss and he wanted to cut through the usual bullshit.

"Why don't you throw a number at me?" Brian suggested, much to Ben's surprise.

"Do you mind if I sit?" Ben asked and Brian nodded in affirmation, so Ben walked a few steps to his right and sat on the beach.

"I think better when I sit." He continued, "I could walk around the house and make a full evaluation, but we both know that it's not going to make a lot of difference. Okay, this is prime property, but a million dollars seems a bit steep. So, how does 850 sound?"

Brian smiled, "That's the number I was thinking!" as he extended his right arm and hand as Ben stood up to shake his hand. "You got a deal." They hugged, "Take care of her," Brian added.

"With everything I got," Ben replied.

Ben made a few calls, one to his banker to have the money wired to Brian's account, and another to have the appropriate people channeled so they could close the deal that afternoon. Ben always marveled at what money could do.

Ben then helped extract the things from the house that Brian coveted, and the two men signed the deal on the back of his full Ford F-150 pickup truck because Brian didn't want to go back inside. They hugged again and then Brian dropped the keys to the house in Ben's right palm and said, "Now this is the second time that that you made me a lot of money."

Ben countered, "You have done more for me than you could know, my friend. Let's call it even."

"Even it is," Brian replied as they shook hands for the final time before Brian got into his truck and drove away. Ben watched as he and the other people present drove away and their cars disappeared from view in the distance.

Ben hopped into his car and could feel the spirit of Abner Sluman sitting next to him.

"So, what happens next?" he asked as he looked over at Abner.

"That doesn't matter anymore," Abner replied. "But I think you should open this thing up and get something to eat in town."

Ben smiled as he started up his dream car in the driveway of his dream house, as both men smiled as the engine growled when the Mustang picked up speed with the top down and the ease of the salty breeze helping Abner's transition to his final resting place.

Change of Plans

The soul of Abner "Abe" Sluman was able to move on as he extended his arms and rejoiced from the freedom and emancipation he now felt. It was the convergence of factors that led to his eventual death. He knew his son didn't want the house but wanted it to go to someone who would share his love of the property and pass it down to future generations. And those heirs would also cherish it. Although Ben wasn't in the know yet, there would be plenty of opportunity to do just that in time.

"You won't believe what happened," Ben said to Ken Strauss as they Skyped a few hours later.

Strauss saw nothing but water behind Ben and said the first thing that came into his mind.

"What, did you but that house you always stalked in Southampton?"

Ben's jaw dropped, "What? How did you know?"

Ken was equally flummoxed, "Get the fuck out of here! There's no way that just happened!"

"You never cease to amaze me!" Ben marveled.

"That's why they pay me the big bucks," Ken teased. "So, what are you going to do with your other house?"

"It's already sold. My real estate agent didn't even have to put it on the market. I made one call a few hours ago and she had a couple lined up. I'm gonna go back and pick up some clothes and drop off the keys. I let Mel's mom and sister basically go in and ransack the place. I told them they could take anything they wanted, and I'm sure they will do just that. What do I give a shit anymore?"

"They will probably take everything that isn't tacked down, and maybe even some other shot, too," Ken agreed.

"That stuff doesn't matter to me anymore," Ben stated. "I am happy this happened, since I'm not sure how healthy it would be to continue to live in that house."

"I wish I had that kind of perspective back then," Ken said.

"Yeah. And I'm gonna' donate anything that's left to local charities," Ben explained.

"Sounds like a plan," Ken agreed as he transitioned to the next question that raced into his mind. "So, are you going to be commuting from the East End into the city?"

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that. I plan to helicopter to work on most days, but we should consider opening a satellite office out here. Most of the East Coast's wealth is out here from May to September."

"I've been thinking about that for years!" Ken exclaimed. "Now we have a reason to do it."

"It would ease your transition when you're at your house on Dune Road during the summer," Ben suggested.

"Yes!" Ken concurred and then suggested, "Why don't we both make a few calls about properties and then talk again in a few days."

"Deal, partner, "Ben said.

"I'm happy for you, Benny!"

"Thanks, boss" Ben replied and then they ended the video call.

Ben had a moment of pause even though he was about to embark on the journey that he had always coveted. Somehow, he was still felling that a big part of his life was missing. Initially, Ben thought it was all about Melanie and the huge void that had left in his life. But, as the hours passed, he was starting to feel that something deeper was going on and might already be in the works.

The mystery of the two blonde Amazons at the funeral was playing out behind the scenes. Actually, it was less of a mystery and more of a reunion of sorts that was about to occur. The broad reach of social media had more far-reaching implications than posting innocent or family or pet pictures incessantly and then waiting for people you stopped talking to years earlier to approve of your activity.

Ben's Facebook page was a virtual scrapbook of his life, from old girlfriends and friends from high school and college, to distant cousins and other relatives. While he liked to be the center of attention, this forum often had an impact on his ability to budget his time. While Ben might have had interest in going to his 20th high school reunion, the timing of the event proved problematic given Melanie's deteriorating condition. This was also the same time of year – the year before Mel passed – that there was a gathering scheduled of a bunch of his college friends out in Southampton.

It was the intersection of search quests that brought Emily McManus and Gretta Carlson together again. The two had a brief history as volleyball competitors in college in which Ben attended since was Gretta's boyfriend at the time and Emily's boyfriend for years leading up to it. Ben sat in his college gymnasium and proudly watched his blonde Amazon's battle until left-handed Emily spiked a ball through Gretta to win the match.

Ben was in heaven watching his two Shiksa Goddesses and would have married either one of them, or both of them, if his world wasn't ruled by his belief at the time that Shiksa's were for practice and he wasn't going to break the chain of his ancestors when he got married. But now the chain had been broken through Melanie's death, there was a possibility for interaction outside of the faith.

The epiphany happened almost simultaneously, as Emily and Gretta took to Facebook to reminisce about high school and college. Any flashbacks they were having started with Ben for reasons that were out of their control. Both women were on their laptops as they clicked on Ben's profile, somewhat innocently at first. They had always questioned his choice of wife – well, it was about not choosing them – although they thought that Mel looked like a nice woman. They calmly clicked through pictures of the couple at various outings and charity events, until the tone of the images altered their mental chemistry in a downward spiral.

Images of Emily in various head-wraps and hats revealed that she had been going through chemotherapy. Both women started crying, and it took a few minutes to clear away the waterfall obstruction. Ben was a one-woman man and both women loved that about him. So, besides a brief dalliance with in high school with a cheerleader named Kathy Zeller, it was basically a straight line from Emily to Gretta to Melanie as Ben let nature take its course.

Grandma' Rose's words had a profound impact on the dating universe of her grandson. While his parents had always stressed the importance of dating within the religion, he couldn't believe that his grandmother of all people had cleared it all up for him. In fact, he could open his data database beyond Hebrew borders until making the ultimate decision to get married. Then he had to narrow the field to those sisters who preferred Passover to Easter, Chanukah to Christmas, although he thought that everyone celebrates Christmas in some way or another.

The forays he had with people outside of the religion before he was told that practice was an acceptable form of expression ended badly. First out of the box was Nancy O'Connell, an athlete who was more like one of the guys than a girl. The relationship of 15-year-olds lastly exactly one week, which was a few days longer than Ben's parents had wanted it to last.

It didn't get any easier from there, as Ben became gun-shy to even broach the subject for almost a year. His Achilles heel was his honesty, and he knew that sneaking around was not in his DNA but being happy was. So, at the start of his junior year, 11th grade, he decided to dive into the deep end at the risk of being rendered useless.

Ben let nature take its course when he ran into Kathy Zeller in the hallway after school one fall day. He was on his way to the gym to play basketball before the season began and she was wearing her cheerleading skirt and was headed outside for practice as they opened their lockers a few rows away from each other. They had never talked before this moment, as she grew up on the other side of town and had not experienced males of the kosher variety up to this point.

"Hey," he said as he nodded on her direction.

She looked up at him – being that he was 6'5" and she was 5'6" – and his light brown eyes and her deep blue eyes made contact. Opposites attracted at this age being that the blonde fell for the brown-haired boy that was neither drunk nor obnoxious. Two days later they stayed after school and walk the halls together before stopping near a quiet bank of windows on the second floor and sitting on a ledge next to each other. All the sexual hesitation Ben previously experienced vanished and all he could think about was kissing Kathy lips over and over again. Although the only real kiss he had ever experienced with opposite sex was a short peck back in camp when he was 12-years-old and then being enveloped by a prom date gone wrong the end of the previous year, the minute their lips meant all previous failures vanished. This served to ignite his romantic side when best friend Emily sought to take their relationship to the next level during their senior year. And while his parents did their usual inter-faith complaining, he had heard enough and was resolute that they would no longer be able to intervene with any effectiveness in his personal affairs. College was only a few short months away and Ben was determined the cut the cord and start living his life.

Emily and Gretta transitioned from Ben's profile to doing some recon on each other for the first time in a while, and within a few clicks they were astonished at what they saw.

"What the H-E double hockey sticks?" Midwestern Gretta said.

"Holy shit!" New Yorker Emily exclaimed.

And then they almost simultaneously Instant Messaged each other, before realizing that you have to be friends, or connected, with each other before contacting them. Gretta hesitated and Emily filled the void by sending her a friend request. When it popped up on Gretta's screen, she was excited but didn't think about the strange coincidence right away. She accepted and then sent an IM.

"Long time. The last time I saw you, you were spiking over my block. My knee was a little balky that day. Couldn't get the kind of lift I wanted."

Emily smiled as she received the acceptance for her request and then laughed when she read the message, as her competitive juices came out of mouth balls."

"Hey! I had some extra incentive that day. And I guess, so did you."

They went back and forth with pleasantries until Gretta broke the ice walked the gorilla through the room.

"So sad about Melanie."

"Yes," Emily replied, "I wished for a lot of things in life, but that wasn't one of them."

"Am I off base, or do we have more things in common than just our past?" Gretta asked from her house in Michigan.

"Is it that obvious?" Emily asked.

"It is to me," Gretta replied.

"Yeah, to me as well," Emily agreed.

Reveal

Emily and Gretta stayed in touch for a year and then started more substantive discussions once the end for Mel was near.

"All I get is questions I can't answer," Emily said to Gretta one day.

"I'm getting tired of it," Gretta replied.

All the while, Ben's sister Mindy was feeding Emily information regarding Melanie in the last few months of her life.

"I think we should go to the funeral," Gretta suggested one night.

"Wow, you never cease to amaze me!" Emily replied, as the two women had become best long-distance friends.

"He should see us," Gretta explained.

"But not really see us," Emily interjected, as the two were completing each other's sentences.

"We are sisters," Gretta suggested, being that they were both only children. Both of their fathers had died of heart attacks within the past five years making them more vulnerable and available to take a leap of faith together.

The two women were both elementary school teachers who were off on Spring Break when the funeral occurred. Emily picked Gretta up at LaGuardia airport late Friday night before the Sunday funeral. She parked her car and waited at the area where people exited flights on the way to pick up their luggage. There was a steady stream of people wearing either Michigan State or University of Michigan apparel, but then strode Gretta with her blonde-haired pig-tales, long legs and glowing smile.

Emily returned the smile of joy as they had both been through a trying and solitary existence. They met in a tight hug and shed tears of joy.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to see you," Gretta said as Emily used her fingers to absorb Gretta's tears, and she returned the favor.

"Yeah, and I don't feel like stuffing that ball down your throat anymore," Emily said as she took hold of Gretta's carry-on bag and started rolling it as they walked down toward baggage claim together.

"I can see why he loved you both," Darlene McManus, Emily's mom, said as she looked at her daughter and their new friend after they arrived back at the house.

The women were inseparable after that, applying each other's makeup and staying up all night talking their similar but separate lives. And they held hands when walking into the funeral chapel, Gretta was more nervous than Emily because she hadn't seen Ben since their last day of college.

"He looks so sad," Gretta said as she spotted Ben over the throng of people in the reception room.

"Maybe he needs a hug," Emily added as they held each other back from doing something that Darlene warned them should never happen.

"He's going to be at his most vulnerable. So that means you're going to want to comfort him. That will not be the time nor the place to do such a thing! So, resist every fiber of your being and remain at a distance."

It was also Darlene who sewed the black veils for the girls to add a bit of mystery and intrigue to the proceedings.

The women left the funeral and were crying in Emily's white Chevy Malibu.

"You look hot," Gretta said.

"Right back at you," Emily replied.

They spend the week together without the benefit of a real plan beyond the funeral until the following weekend was upon them and Gretta did not want to go home.

"We have to do something."

"Let's drive by his house," Emily suggested.

Twenty minutes later, they came up empty.

"Does he still live here?" a confused Gretta asked as she looked through the window at an almost-empty house.

"I'd aske his sister, but I don't want to appear too stalkish," Emily said. "Let's try one other place."

They pulled into the neighborhood Carvel and the owner said to Emily, "I haven't seen him in a week. Took his flying saucers and drove off into the sunset."

And then it hit Gretta, "Can we try another place?" as they sat in the parking lot eating soft-serve cones with chocolate crunch. "And you were right about this chocolate crunch. It's like crack!"

Emily revved the engine like Thelma and Louise, but they weren't prepared to go out to the east end of the island and drive off a cliff.

It was a somber hour-long drive out to Southampton, as Emily turned right at Gretta's request. The sun was setting as Emily drove as far as she could go on land.

"Park right here," Gretta instructed Emily and then Emily complied.

"What is this place?" Emily asked as she turned off the engine.

"It's his favorite place in the whole world," as emotional Gretta explained.

Emily nodded, "Good choice."

And before they could get out of the car and fully enjoy the view, a car roared by and stopped in the driveway.

"Well, I'll be..." Emily began and then was at a loss for words as she and Gretta exited the vehicle and stood like goddess-like bookends on each side of the car.

While it was a common occurrence for people to park and admire the view, Ben nonetheless emerged from his car and looked back at the vehicle, thinking that he was simply going to smile and then disappear into the house. His initial thought was that it felt good to be on the side of resident instead of part-time view sharer for a change.

There was enough light for him to see what really was up. He looked back and did a double- then triple-take as his fuzzy visions from the funeral had apparently returned to provide him with some clarity. While he was mostly numb at the funeral, his ego left open the possibility of his past returning to provide a bridge to the next phase of his life.

"No way," he said and then stopped in his tracks before walking toward all of the heat in the area, the two people he probably needed the most bit expected the least from at that moment.

He walked toward them and said, "Is it you or am I dreaming?" as he dropped to his knees and started sobbing, which was something he had avoided in an aid capacity for over a year. He crumbled to the sand as the women sped over to comfort him so they could help him to his feet and make a blonde sandwich of comfort. Ben started walking toward the house with the women on each side of him once he was able to regain his composure.

"Do you live here?" Gretta asked.

"Yeah," Ben replied.

"Since when?" Emily asked, since she was usually aware of what was happening in his life through his sister.

He opened the front door and the women followed, "Since yesterday. Excuse me a second," he said and then went into the bathroom to blow his nose.

"I gotta tinkle," Gretta said as she disappeared into another bathroom.

"Let's go sit on the deck," Ben said as he walked into the kitchen and saw Emily.

Emily nodded and then located a bottle of wine, which she opened, grabbed three glasses and then brought it out to the deck as the sun was on its final descent.

"Wow! Now that's a view that I could get used to," Emily said as she poured wine into the three glasses.

Gretta had been to Ben's inlet many times, with the last time being on the night they graduated from college. She was intrigued as she walked around the house and gave herself a tour. She then made her way out to the deck.

"Wow, this place is a lot bigger than it looks from the outside. How many bedrooms and bathrooms do you have?" she asked and then took a seat after Emily handed her a wine glass. She nodded in thanks.

"Five bedrooms, and there could be an extra one in the basement, and three-and-a-half bathrooms."

Once everyone had their wine, Ben made a toast.

"Here's to good health, because we are nothing without it," as they clanked glasses. He then added, "And good friends."

"Amen," Gretta said. Emily never wanted to be in the friend zone with Ben, so she changed the subject.

"How did all this happen?"

Ben still had a sense of humor.

"Well, first my wife got sick and then she died."

"Yeah, sorry about that," a nervous Emily said.

"Yeah, sorry for your loss," Gretta added.

"After that," Emily prodded.

"My plan was to pay off my mortgage and bills and then go back to work at some point. In the middle of all that, I found myself getting into my car and driving out here after I gave my ex-mother-in-law and sister-in-law a green light to take anything they wanted in the house except my clothing. Maybe I knew I needed a fresh start but didn't know how to do it. I decided to go back to work because that was my only semblance of family remaining. I think we're going to open an office out here."

Ben took a sip of wine and then continued as the ladies shot each other a bunch of looks.

"Yesterday was the strangest, but one of the coolest days in recent memory." Ben was quick to add the words "in recent memory" to not hurt either woman's feelings. One of his string suits had always been his adaptability in action, just like when it rained the night the night of his college graduation when he and Gretta were sitting on the beach about 100 yards from where they were currently sitting. She flashed back as she took a sip of wine.

The two had broken up just over a month earlier, as Gretta started pulling away in fear that she wouldn't be able to make a clean break when school ended. Ben sensed this and started to pull away himself. Gretta's mother was a former nun, who took her religion serious and would not accept a Jewish boy has her daughter's beau. Obviously, Ben was in a similar predicament, which meant that the relationship didn't have an immediate future.

Ben and Gretta sat on the beach in stunned silence as the rain began to fall. They both couldn't believe that this would be there last night together. They raced into the back seat of his four-door car, wet and apparently vulnerable to the proximity of each other's warm breath. As the rain continued to fall in sheets, the former couple did what came naturally, but still said goodbye as the rain stopped and the night ended.

"I was sitting in my car where you parked and then this guy came out of the house and dropped a few things on the ground that didn't make it to the back of his pickup truck," Ben said. "So, I got out of my car and helped him, and then we got to talking. And then one thing led to another..." which led Emily to her steamy flashback as Gretta and Ben talked about the particulars and the house.

It was a week before her college graduation and Emily was done with her exams and was looking to blow off some steam and celebrate. So, she jumped into her car after her last final and drove out east to Ben's house he was renting his senior year.

Ben had fallen asleep at his desk after studying through the night and most of the morning in advance of his last final the following morning. He was awoken by a knock on his front door and he stood up after realizing that no one else was home. He opened the front door and was pleasantly surprised to see his old girlfriend.

"Em's, what brings you out here?'

She moved in as he puckered up as she removed the yellow sticky note from his hair. Emily walked past him as he opened his eyes and unpuckered his lips before following her into the house.

"You want something to eat?" he asked.

"Sure, what do you have?" Emily asked and then Ben shot her a knowing look.

"Peanut butter and jelly it is!" she exclaimed, remembering that was his go-to lunch.

While eating she said, "I forgot how good this is."

And then their eyes met, and it was go time. Like two animals in the jungle that were in heat. They went at it for the better part of an hour before she left him sleeping on his bed. Emily took a long swig of Gatorade, wiped her lips and then got in her car and drove home.

"He said, make me an offer and I did, and now I own the house," Ben said as he finished his story about how the 95-year-old man had passed away before the EMTs put him in the ambulance, and how his son didn't want to deal with the hassle of fully cleaning the house and then putting in on the market to sell.

"Holy shit, dude!" Gretta exclaimed. "It's like a dream come true."

She knew where the dream began and how unlikely most dreams are to be fulfilled, until that moment when she had an epiphany.

"How many bedrooms did you say this house has?" Gretta asked, trying to bring Emily back to reality.

"Five, maybe six," he replied as Gretta initially did the math and then Emily snapped out of her fog and added it up as well.

"Isn't that interesting, Em?" Gretta said to her new compadre.

"Yes, very interesting Gret," Emily concurred.

Ben looked at both women and had seen that look in their blue eyes before, which made him feel slightly uneasy.

"Should we tell him?" Emily asked Gretta.

"Yeah, we've waited long enough," Gretta replied.

And then, in an avalanche of information, less than a week after Ben buried his wife, the women cried then bared their glorious secrets simultaneously.

"You have a daughter. You have a son."

Ben initially looked at both women like they were speaking a language in which he was unfamiliar. And then he thought about all of the difficulty he and Melanie experienced, and how he came to the conclusion that he would never have children. His whole brain nearly rebooted at hearing these revelations.

"What? How? He began and then looked at each woman individually and recounted what they had both just dreamt.

"Oh... oh!" he uttered as he transitioned from confusion to an accepting excitement.

"Heidi is 17 and finishing up her junior year of high school," Gretta said and then looked at Emily. "Nicholas is also 17 and finishing up his junior year of high school."

The ladies then scrolled on their phones to find pictures of the two, first showing them to each other, even though they had already had previous knowledge, and then handed their phones over to Ben, who looked like a Neanderthal who was being shown the first wheel.

Ben looked at a younger version of Gretta and then felt like he was looking into a mirror when viewing Nick. He looked at both women in amazement and started crying.

"Wow, this has been some week!" he exhaled as the women came over to him as they all enjoyed a good, joyful release of tearful energy.

Next Steps

Ben realized when he saw Gretta and Emily what had been missing in his life. The familiarity of an old friend or lover, or both, in one package often transcends the boundaries of normal relationships.

The trio finished the bottle of wine and then ordered a pizza and a few salads from Gretta's old employer, Surf Pizza, which was celebrating its 25th year in business. Ben looked at Gretta, who would always bring him whatever pizza was left at the end of the night, and they both smiled, "The pizza's still good."

"But, it's not half-as-good as Pizza Emporium," Emily chimed in, trying to reset Ben's sights on the best pizza place in their hometown.

"I can't argue with that," Ben said, failing to realize that he was moving dangerously close to a two-master household instead of the one he had been used to most of his life.

The three went to sleep in separate bedrooms, exhilarated and exhausted from the collective punishment and information. A few primary decisions were made before the night ended.

"Who do I go to see first" Ben asked. "I never want to play favorites."

The women looked at each other and built off a foundation they set in a previous conversation.

"We can't ever fight over him," Gretta stated in one of their late-night chats in prior days. She knew that longevity was on Emily's side but that couldn't be a behavioral determinant.

Emily would have fought for the man she always considered her man, but now she was in a different situation that required some finesse if her son would be successfully united with his extended nuclear family.

"Agreed," she simply replied.

"You should go to Michigan first," Emily said, knowing she had some things to sort out with her mother and son before the major reveal. Ben had never steered her wrong and she had no reason to believe that he would forsake her and run away with her new best friend. After all, they were two of the people she now trusted the most in her world besides her mother.

"What time is your flight?" Ben asked.

"Two o'clock tomorrow afternoon," Gretta replied.

"She's going from LaGuardia," Emily chimed in.

Never having kids of his own, Ben was trying to figure things out as he went along.

"Do you want to talk to Heidi before I get there?"

"I already did," Gretta replied. "She's looking forward to meeting you."

"When did you do that?" Emily asked, thinking she had heard the entire story.

"Before I left," Gretta said. "We talk about everything, and I told her that I was going to New York to talk to her father. She was pretty excited that you were from New York," Gretta added while smiling.

"Have you talked to Nick yet?" Ben asked Emily.

"I haven't, but I think he already knows who you are. One of his classmates texted him a picture of you and told him that's what he's going to look like in 20 years. It was funny. He showed me a picture of you and asked, 'Do I look like this?' What was I supposed to say? I turned red and replied, 'Yeah, that's a pretty close match.'"

"And that's as far as the conversation went?" Gretta asked.

"C'mon! You know how different boys and girls are. If I get two words out of him at a time, it's a big day!" Emily explained.

Gretta nodded in agreement as the two women looked at Ben, who couldn't believe he was being implicated along with a teenager.

"What? Are you saying that I don't like to talk?" Ben questioned.

"I'm not sure how you are now, but back in those days you were basically speaking softly and carrying a big stick," Emily stated.

"I heard that!" Gretta said as they met in a high five.

"Wow, this isn't going to be easy," Ben mumbled.

"Hey, we both have been dealing with this for 17 years without you," Emily replied.

"Yeah, about that," Ben started. "I can understand why Gretta didn't want to involve me, being that her mother would have probably killed me, but why did you leave me out of it?" he asked Emily.

"Because I knew that wasn't the direction your life was supposed to take. You had made that very clear to me when we broke up," Emily explained. "How would you have reacted?"

Ben searched for an answer but didn't have one for a change. "I don't know."

"And that's one of the few times in your life that you didn't have an answer," Emily stated. "But, what do you think of this now?"

"It's a blessing from the highest mountain," Ben stated. "I feel blessed that the two woman I love so much think enough of me to involve me in their lives after all of this time, and the lives of your children... our children.

"See, that's the Ben I knew... the Ben I know," Emily said. "We'll meet you here next weekend when you get back."

Ben nodded, "Deal."

Michigander

"So, what's the plan?" Ben asked as he settled into the extra-legroom seats he had purchased for the trip to Michigan. Gretta was appreciative for the additional space and for having a flying companion.

"Wow, this is roomy. I never thought to spend the extra money for this," she replied, completely forgetting what he was asking. And then it came to her in typical ditzy, Gretta fashion.

"A plan for what?"

"How we're going to do this once we land?" he asked.

"It's funny, but I don't remember you being this anal. You'll be surprised how well adjusted my... our daughter is."

"Sorry, I'm just a little nervous and not as fluid as I usual am," Ben stated.

Gretta held Ben's hand and turned her head to the left so she could make eye-to-eye contact, "You have nothing to be worried about. Just be your natural, wonderful self and she will fall in lobe with you the same way I did."

"Thanks," he said as she put her head phones on and listened to some music while they continued to hold hands throughout the flight, even as her gentle heartbeat lulled him to sleep half-way through the two-hour flight. She looked over at him sleeping and wondered how it all was going to work out? The logistics of being in separate locations, her mother and that house... all she could think about was that house and how natural it felt to be there.

Ben would usually leave his car at the airport when he went away so he wouldn't have to rely on anyone to pick him up when he returned, but Gretta decided to take the path of least resistance instead. They picked up their luggage at baggage claim and then Ben asked as they walked outside, "Is someone picking us up?" trying to be prepared for what came next.

"Yeah, it's this guy I know called Lyft. Here he is now," she said as a Chevy Equinox pulled up and stopped in front of them.

"Hello, Miss Carlson, how was your flight?" the guy with a beard and Comicon/video game vibe asked without helping her with her luggage. George did flip the trunk, so Ben hauled their luggage into the trunk and muttered, "Chivalry must be dead," as he took to $20 bills and slid then into her back pocket.

She reached into her back pocket and looked the money, "What is this for?"

"Chivalry is not dead," he said as she smiled. Although she was a self-sufficient mom and independent woman, she felt comforted that the one man that she felt safe with in her life was once-again by her side.

The drive from Detroit Airport to Gretta's house – actually, her mother's house – in Grosse Pointe was an easy, breezy 40 minutes. While Ben had a good vibe about meeting his daughter, it was Gretta's mother that he was more concerned about. If mother was anything like daughter, then she would have a sunny façade with a lot more going on below the surface.

George again flipped open the trunk without moving from his seat, so Ben removed the bags and George drove away.

"Do you think it's a liability issue?"

"Do I think what's a liability issue?" Gretta asked.

"The fact that he didn't put our bags in the trunk or take them out?"

"Yeah, it might be. Or maybe he's just a lazy Millennial," Gretta stated.

Ben smiled as Heidi watched from her bedroom window, her heart fluttering faster as they approached the front door.

He wasn't sure what he was going to get once he reached the front door, but it had to be a lot easier than anything he had experienced over the past two years. Or so he thought.

Gretta didn't have to use her key as her mother opened the front door and immediately acted like a buffer between Ben and Heidi. Gretchen Carlson wasn't the warmest of creatures, but she did surprise her daughter by hugging her and then turning to Ben, "So, who do we have here?" like he was a slab of beef that was about to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

"Ben Shapiro," he said as he wasn't sure if a handshake or hug would suffice. So, instead of going full board and squeezing her size zero Talbot's apparel, he waited for a cue.

"Well Benjamin, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, "Gretchen said as she extended her long, thin arm toward him. They shook hands as he said, "The pleasure is all mine."

Ben was trying to figure out why she was shaking his hand so long, so he came up with a short list while he waited for the shaking to stop:

  * Maybe she had never seen a Jew before

  * She was trying to see if he had horns

  * She was wondering if his ancestors had killed Jesus

  * She was making a play for him

  * She had a stroke when she named her daughter

  * She was holding a knife and was moments from ending him

Of course, either none or maybe all of these things were true, but Ben was spared further persecution when Heidi came bounding down the stairs of the classic center-hall Colonial house. She came into view as Ben had a flashback of the first day, he met Gretta and how she had basically stopped him in his tracks.

"I know, she looks just like me," Gretta whispered as she detached her mother's claws from Ben's hand. "It made me question of your DNA was really in there until she started to talk," she added, trying to calm his potential anxiety.

"Hi, mom!" Heidi exclaimed and then hugged her mother, which as a commonplace. It also reminded Gretta what a warm and affectionate person Ben was, in contrast to her standoffish family.

And then, without further prompting or introduction, she turned and hugged Ben in the way that people usually don't ever want to let go.

"C'mon, mom. Let's leave them to talk," Gretta said as she looked back and Ben and smiled.

"He's very tall and handsome, but I didn't see any horns," Gretchen said to her daughter as Ben smiled and thought, "I knew it!"

After 20 seconds of hugging, Heidi looked up and Ben and said, "Is it bad that I'm sad for you, but happy for me? For us?"

Ben smiled, knowing exactly what she meant, "One door closes and another one opens. And this door is very special. You are very special."

There was no feeling out period between the two, much in the way people who have never met before would need some time to get to know each other. Heidi nodded her head that they should leave the house and go for a walk, so Ben, being the adult said, "We are going for a walk."

"Take Harriett with you," Gretta said as a Golden Labrador Retriever ran to the front door with her leash in her mouth.

Ben bent down and tethered the leash to her collar, and they were out the door. He then remembered that Grandma' Harriett was the name that Gretta's friends gave her in college, and it made him laugh.

"What's so funny?" Heidi asked.

"Your mother's friends called her Grandma' Harriett in college because she was always sitting with these old-school blankets and telling everyone to be careful."

Heidi laughed, "I thought that was a strange name for a dog!"

They walked to a nearby elementary school where Heidi let Harriett off the leash, and she ran around while Ben and Heidi sat on opposite sides of a see-saw.

"Did you ever think about marrying my mom?" Heidi asked right off the bat.

"You're funny, because Midwesterner's usually ask 10 questions before they get to the thing they really want to know," Ben observed.

"Must be the New York in me," she joked.

"I loved your mom the moment I met her, but we wanted different things back then," he replied, trying to be diplomatic. But diplomacy would get him nowhere with his daughter.

"I might be 17, but I am a lot wiser than my age. So, you don't have to sugar-coat things for me."

Your grandma' wouldn't have let her be with a Jewish guy and I had decided to marry a Jewish woman when I got married. To anticipate your next question, I suppose certain things are inevitable and we often do things that we don't completely understand at the time."

"What about now?" Heidi asked.

"As far as I'm concerned, all bets are off. My life has moved in a different direction, with finding out about you and your brother, and I feel like I am open to what comes next."

"Are you going back to work? Because it would be a shame if you didn't," Heidi asked.

"Yes, but I jut bought the house I always wanted where your mom and I went to college, so I would like it if my life was focused out east. Have you ever been to New York?"

"No, but I've always wanted to go," she replied.

"You have NEVER been to New York?" Ben questioned.

"My grandma' didn't want me to go," Heidi stated.

"Probably because she knew I was there. But it's a really big place," Ben joked. "So, what are your favorite thing to do?"

Heidi beamed, "I love volleyball, which I got from my mother, basketball, which I got from you, and I also love tennis."

"I also played on the college tennis team in additional to being on the basketball team," Ben beamed.

"Wow, I didn't know that!" Heidi exclaimed.

"We'll have to play," Ben suggested.

"Definitely," Heidi replied.

"What about school? What are you passionate about?" Ben asked,

"I love art!" she said flat out. "It's my life," she added and then took her phone out to show him pictures of some of her artwork.

"Wow! You are amazing and that talent did not come from me. I've written a couple of books, but I am not artistic in that way. There is a real artists colony out east."

She was no joke, "Do you think I could sty with you this summer?"

"We'll have to check with your mom, but I would love that," he said, as Harriett came back, and Heidi put him back on the leash as they walked home.

Resistance

Ben was feeling as positive as he had for quite some time upon his return to New York a few days later. Gretta agreed to send Heidi to Southampton for the summer if she got involved in some forms of enrichment. This meant that she had to play volleyball and create in the form of artwork. They also decided as a group that Gretta and her mom would visit for an unspecified period, although Gretta knew she wanted to get out of Michigan and stay on the beach as long as possible.

Now that one half of the child equation was in place, it as time for Ben to meet his son. The plans to do just that appeared to be fluid, with changes to time and location being altered almost daily in the days leading up to the Saturday meeting.

"What seems to be the problem?" Ben finally asked Emily through text.

"My son is being difficult," she replied.

"What would you like me to do? I could come to you if that is easier," replied.

"I think your best course of action is to do what you want to do," Emily suggested. "The element of surprise might be your best strategy."

They talked a little more and then Ben gave it some thought on the flight back to from Michigan. He changed his flight destination from LaGuardia Airport in Queens to MacArthur Airport in Suffolk County, which was only a short Uber drive from his house. He got a good night's sleep and then hopped in his Mustang and drove across the county border to Nick's high school. It was the execution of any plan against what appeared to a nervous and angry teenager that slowed Ben's role on this day. He wasn't looking for conflict after such a lengthy period of stress, but he was starting to realize that being a parent wasn't a perfect pursuit, as each kid was different.

He walked into the main office, which was standard protocol when entering a facility of lower learning.

"Can I help you?" a woman who was only three years Ben's senior but could have passed for a woman approaching retirement age, asked as if he was interrupted the flow of her perfect day.

"I am here to see Nicholas..." and then he hesitated, "McManus."

"Are you sure about that hun?"

"Yes," he replied, "trying to keep his inner-Long Island at bay.

"Who should I say is calling?" the queen of sarcasm asked.

"I am a coach of a college basketball program," was all he said, and the woman grabbed a large microphone and blared, "Nick McManus, please come to the gym. There is a very tall man that says he's the coach of a college basketball program who wants to see you."

Ben nodded after the woman looked at him, "Here is a visitor's pass. The gum is down the hall to the left," her tone changing slightly in light of his position in life.

After getting playfully razzed by his classmates, who threw pieces of paper and other objects at him, Nick unfolded his large frame and strode toward the main office, wondering what coach would be visiting him. While he had a decent year playing on the school's varsity basketball team, his limited game left a question mark in the mind of college coaches, who weren't sure if he could make the transition to the next level. But that didn't stop Nick from developing a big head playing against smaller and weaker players.

Ben walked through the hallway as the echoes of his own high school experience played like a highlight reel. It seemed the reminiscence created a sort of headwind that slowed his roll toward his ultimate destination. This gave his son time to make up the stagger and catch him as he excitedly ran through the hallways without the usual educational, "Slow down!" by the hall monitors.

Nick ran past Ben as the action moved to slow-motion in his brain. He initially thought the coach would be in the gym, but then he saw a tall person that was about his height, 6'6", and then his expression turned from joy to confusion at seeing basically an older version of himself. He stopped in his tracks as Ben kept walking past him into an empty gym. The eighth-period classes were outside running around the track, so the two gleaned the benefit of spring to be alone in their first encounter.

"Hey, Nick," Ben said and then waited for a response before assuming they should show affection. For some reason, Nick's negative attitude was rubbing off on Ben and he felt irritated.

"Oh," Nick replied as he walked into the gym. He was in a phase where his ego was huge, and his shit didn't stink.

"Your mother thought it might be best if I surprised you," Ben said.

"Well, she was wrong," Nick shot back.

"I don't think you should be disrespecting your mother," Ben countered, as the temperature in the gym began to rise.

"Not that's its any of your business," Nick said, trying to reassert himself as the man of the household.

Ben took a deep breath and his lack of snappy comeback emboldened Nick, who took a step forward like he was the big beast in the space. Ben didn't really like this show of aggression, so he turned around and walked toward the single row of wood bleacher seats and sat down. This move of non-aggression confused Nick, because he and his friends were used to simply beating each other up with their words and bodies. His lack of a substantive male role model in his life was obvious, just as Ben's parenting skills were sorely deficient. But, maybe in the grand scheme of things this was helpful, because under normal parenting conditions he would be angry, frustrated and yelling.

"Hey, man," Nick grunted. "What are you doing?"

Ben stroked his beard stubble that had been growing due to his lack of care about his professional demeanor. And then he shook his head and said, "I don't know."

Nick didn't know what to do, so he merely popped a squat on the gym floor where he was standing. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Ben buried his head in his hand, "Well, I buried my wife less than two weeks ago, at which point I saw two women that seemed familiar but I couldn't see who they were through their veils, I went out east to clear my head to a spot that gave me comfort since college, wound up somehow buying the house on the spot, and then the women who came to the funeral were outside of the house I had just bought and it turned out to be the two Shiksa's that I loved the most in my life, and then they told me that the last time I was with them, which was at the end of my senior year in college, I got them pregnant but they never told me until my world completely feel apart 17 years later. And the joy of spending time with my daughter and the prospect of being with my son, who could be my younger double, was quite frankly exhilarating." Ben picked his head up, "So, that's what's been happening."

Nick tried to absorb the totally of what had been said, but then tripped up on one thing, "What's a Shiksa?"

Ben smiled and nodded his head, "Exactly!" He stood up and said, "Why don't you go back to your class and we'll take a drive after school."

Nick stood up and nodded in agreement as he walked out of the gym and looked back at Ben one more time before disappearing into the hallway.

"I'm going to take a drive with Nick after school, if that's ok. I'll keep you posted," Ben texted, and Emily replied, "Good luck."

Nick texted his mom before he walked back into the classroom, "Going out with him after school," not knowing what to call Ben or having the comfort yet to refer to him as either dad or Ben. "What's a Shiksa?" he asked.

Emily laughed, "Exactly!" she replied as her son shook his head and disbelief and smiled.

After school, Nick made sure that his friends trailed him outside so they could see him with his dad even though they had never seen a father figure around him and they hadn't discussed it beforehand. Ben nodded to Nick as he stood next to his muscle car with the top down. Nick's friends didn't know what to look at first, either the dope car or the older dude that looked like Nick.

"What the fuck, dude!" one of his friends asked.

"Yeah, what is that your dad?" another guy asked out of feeling uncomfortable.

Nick looked back and smirked, "Yeah," as he ran over to the car. Both men got into the car as Nick flung his backpack into the back seat and then fastened his seat belt. Ben backed up and the car growled as they rolled out of the parking lot as both guys nodded at his group of friends.

"Where are we going," Nick asked.

"Out east," Ben replied. "Sit back and just enjoy the ride."

As Ben drove down Montauk Highway, Nick started feeling something that he rarely experienced: deep, meaningful calm. Ben turned the Mustang off Montauk Highway and said, "Almost there," as he drove slowly down the road that led to his house. Nick didn't realize that they were so close to the water and was completely in awe when they drove up to the inlet and then the Mustang settled in the driveway.

"You live here?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, I do now."

"Can I leave my bag in the car?" Nick asked.

Ben was getting the hang of it, "Do you have homework?"

"Yeah," Nick replied, thinking his new play pal would let him skate.

"Then bring it with you."

They walked toward the front door, "Even when I went to college here, I dreamt of living in this house."

And when Nick entered the main room and saw the huge bank of windows exposing the incredible view, he knew he was home as well.

"Hungry?" Ben asked.

"Always," Nick replied as Ben collected a bunch of snacks and a couple of Gatorades and went out on the deck, which was quickly becoming a good place to talk.

"So, what do you think about all of this?" Ben asked, trying to get the conversation going.

"I thought my mom was playing a prank on me at first," Nick replied. "I'm not sure how I should think or how I should act?"

"You and me both," Ben agreed. "But, the one thing I know is that your mom has always been one of my favorite people on the earth, so how can it go wrong?"

And then some of Nick's anger came out from not growing up with a dad, "So why didn't you marry her?"

"You know, that's an excellent question," Ben stated. "And that takes us back to my earlier mention of the word Shiksa. First, I don't want to offend you, but are you Catholic like your mom and grandma'?"

When the answer wasn't immediately "Yes," Ben's eyebrows raised from interest. "I am still mulling my choices. "It's been a major point of contention in our house... almost every Sunday!"

"Well, I am Jewish, and my family always called non-Jewish girls Shiksa's," Ben explained.

"What language is that?" Nick questioned.

"It's Yiddish," Ben replied. "It's a sort of slang language Jews from Eastern used and then brought with them to America.

"So, you got two Shiksa's pregnant?" Nick asked. And then you married a Jewish girl?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much the story. I never knew that you and your sister even existed until last week." Nick's head dropped, so Ben filled the void, "But it is one of the greatest joys in my life to be with both of you. I know I can't make up for not being there the last 17 years, but I will be there for you every day going forward."

"What should I call you?" Nick asked.

"Whatever you're comfortable with," Ben replied, "but if you don't call me dad it will be weird because we look the same."

"I'll get back to you on that one," Nick replied as he smiled.

"No pressure. It's all good in the neighborhood," Ben said as he crossed his legs and sat back in his chair.

Nick was percolating, "Hey, would you consider... I mean, would it be possible..."

"Hey, you can ask me anything. This is a safe place."

Nick calmed down, "Would it be possible for me to spend the summer out here?"

Ben thought, "Like bees and honey,"

He smiled, "I'll have to talk to your mom, but it sounds like a plan to me."

Nick smiled and sat back in his chair, "Sweet!" as they both chilled and absorbed the relaxative powers of the view.

Agenda

Ben did the smart thing by telling his new teenagers that he would have to check with their mom's first before making a final decision about the summer. And while he had a fairly good memory about how Emily and Gretta were in their pre-mom years, he no experience with them as den mothers. So, they scheduled a Skype call, the type of which Ben had done frequently in his role as Chief Executive Officer of a global investment company. He clicked the 'S' icon on the bottom of his large Microsoft Surface screen and waited for his parental cohorts to join him.

He sat back as technology seemed to be getting the best of the two school teachers who were used to conveying messages through more conventional methods. Emily was first to the party, only Ben could hear her but not see her pretty face.

"How do you turn the video on with this thing?" she said, not realizing that Ben could hear her. "Can you hear me?" she asked.

"Yes, I can hear you," Ben replied. "You just have to click on the camera icon," he suggested.

"Where is the camera icon?" she thought out loud as Gretta positive mug appeared on the screen, but she could not be heard, so Ben typed a message, "Click on the microphone icon."

He could see her saying, "Where is the microphone icon?"

And the both mothers called for IT support in the form of their children, who were so fluent in technology that it seemed they were born attached to computers, phones and tablets.

"He can't see me!" Emily yelled and Nick strode into the room and bent down and with one click their images appeared.

"Hi," he said to Ben, who returned the gesture, "What's up, buddy?"

Ben then saw Heidi run into the room and then she clicked on the microphone and said, "Hi, dad!"

And he smiled and replied, "Hey, Heidi! What's shakin'?"

She shook her body and then smiled before leaving the room, as both kids nervously-trusted their dad to get the job done.

Ben split his screen and two large images of the women while they had small boxes that were barely visible. A few seconds later after complaining they couldn't see anything, the kids ran back into the rooms and split their screens to larger images as well.

"Oh there, that's better," Emily said.

"Yeah, now I can see my people!" Gretta exclaimed.

"It's good to see you both," Ben stated.

"How have you been doing, Ben?" Emily asked.

"Well, I have been making decisions on what's going to stay and what's being donated, and I'm happy to report that most of it is going. This place needs a fresh start."

Gretta was quick to jump in, "Do you need some help with that?"

"Sure! What do you think, Em? Do you all have time this weekend?" Ben asked, being sensitive to being inclusive.

"Sure, what did you have in mind?" Emily asked.

"A little painting, hauling and going on a furniture and decorating shopping spree," Ben detailed.

"How can anyone say no to that?" Gretta asked.

"We're all going to have homework we have to do," Emily said. "And I think we should decide about the summer before we come in a few days," she added, making it clear that she would be the responsible one of the three.

Ben was more-than-happy to relinquish that role to someone else, being that he was currently looking for the path of least resistance with everything in his life.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Gretta agreed.

"Well, let me just give my elevator pitch then," Ben said as he transitioned into business mode. "I want to follow through on anything you had in mind for Heidi and Nicholas for the summer. She needs to focus on art and volleyball, and he should be heavily schooled on the finer points of basketball, business and writing. Am I on the right track?'

"Yes," Emily said.

"Yeah, I like where this is going," Gretta added.

"I made some calls at the college and then I had some time with Dean Kathy Shipley, who is the new leader on campus, and we came up with a few possibilities."

Both Emily and Gretta opened an Internet screen on their computers and looked up Dean Kathy Shipley, sensing that any female in Ben's proximity was now a threat to their new way of life. They scanned a couple of pictures and then Emily nodded to Gretta and the two smiled. It turned out that Kathy Shipley was Karl Shipley a few years earlier and was the first transgender college dean in the country.

"And it doesn't matter than she was a he before taking the job," Ben added, showing his old girlfriends that his power of perception and feeling the temperature in the room was still as strong as ever. The ladies started laughing and Ben continued.

And then he cut through the bullshit and inuendo, "You know, it's me and the two of you until the end."

The women were paralyzed by the statement and Ben knew it, so he continued. Both Heidi and Nick sat in the hallway listening to their father talk in a way that they had never heard before. Both of their mother's had been dedicated only to them and had never shown interest in dating, at least to their memory. While Gretta had dabbled early on, thinking she might need a husband to help raise her daughter, Emily had always been dedicated to Ben even though he had moved on with his life and become anchored to another woman.

"There are plenty of things they can do on campus in addition to helping me set up the new office we're opening up in June. We found a great location on the outskirts of the college's property."

"Wait, what?" Gretta asked as she came out of the temporary coma.

"Okay, that probably requires a little more explanation. The dean knew who I was even before I sat down to talk with her in her office. Initially, when I made the appointment, I said I was an alumnus that wanted to speak to the dean, but when I gave the women my name, she said, "Benjamin Shapiro? Can you please hold a second?"

Shira Fong had an inkling of who he was and then she did a Google search and said out loud, "Dean Shipley, can you please come here for a moment?"

The dean was not uptight at all, so she bounced out of her chair and Shira explained as she pointed at the screen, "Alumnus Ben Shapiro is on the phone. He wants to come in and talk to you."

"If he's selling, I'm buying!" Dean Shipley said and then ran back into her office and picked up the phone after taking a deep breath.

"Mr. Shapiro, this is Dean Kathy Shipley. Thank you for calling. What can I help you with?" she said as she twirled her long brown hair and then did a search on his name. And before he could speak, she said, "I am sorry for your loss," as she noticed that he had recently buried his wife.

"Thank you," Ben replied, "Life has had its share of ups and downs in the past month for sure, and that brings me to reason for this call. I recently came out here to get some clarity at the inlet past the marine bio facility. Well, one thing led to another, and I wound up buying the house that I've always coveted."

"Old Man Sluman's house? When did that become available?" she asked.

"It didn't," Ben replied. "I just happened to be there shortly after he died at 95, and his son and I struck a deal with his son to buy the property. So, now I am a full-year Southampton resident!"

"Wow, that is great news, Mr. Shapiro!"

"Please call me Ben, Dean Shipley," he said.

"Kathy," she replied.

Back to the Skype call, Ben continued to recount the encounter.

"So, I thought it was best if we met in person to discuss what I was thinking. I met her in her office later that afternoon and we realized that we played basketball against each other in high school."

The dean said, "You were playing, but I'm not sure what I was doing?"

Ben continued, "I told her about how my life turned from tragedy to triumph when I found out about Gretta and Nicholas."

Nick and Gretta cried tears of relief as they listened.

"And then I got into the fact that their both juniors in high school, and then a plan of such force and magnitude overtook me."

The scene shifted back inside the dean's office, "My daughter lives in Michigan and my son lives on Long Island. She is into art and volleyball and he is tall like me and loves basketball, and I bet he will love business as well. So, here's what I was thinking. My company is looking for an East End headquarters now that I am out here, so I was thinking that I would make a personal donation to build a new liberal arts building, complete with art studios, writing labs, a theater refurbish, scholarships, and..."

"Hold that thought!" Dean Shipley exclaimed as she anticipated his next sentence. She stood up and brought a large map of the campus over to him. "Now, I'm not sure if you know this, but we own a piece of land over here on the outskirts of the campus that was originally targeted for additional student housing."

Ben, as usual, was prepared before he walked into the dean's office. He had been reading for years that the small college, like so many other small colleges around the country, had hot a rough patch and was in jeopardy of becoming extinct. And while he had donated his fair share of money to the school over the years, it was nothing like he was about to propose.

The dean continued, "It's across the road from the Sagaponack dorms and has its own private entrance and exit exclusive of the campus."

And then Ben lowered the boom, "I like it! And what if my company, in addition to purchasing this land from you, made a generous donation to the college and you renamed your business school after us. You could attract the greatest young minds from across the world for your liberal arts and business programs, and that could feed into a cooperative relationship with students doing internships with the company and traveling abroad as part of their education."

Dean Shipley's brain nearly exploded, as she had just started looking for jobs in a diminishing field in advance of the next school year, which had been in doubt. The board of directors for the school told her that financially, the school had been running on fumes for years and they weren't sure if they could keep it going the following year.

"Well, this is great news!" Shipley beamed. "Would you mind ironing out the details over the next week or two and then announcing this at our next board meeting?"

"Of course," Ben replied.

"Holy shit," Gretta said under her breath, and then Nick, Emily and Heidi did the same.

"Holy shit is right!" Ben laughed in joy. "Do we have any other questions about the summer?"

"No," Emily said and then Gretta echoed that sentiment, "Hell, no."

"Okay Gretta, I'll buy your plane tickets and send them through email," Ben said.

"And we'll pick you up," Emily said as they exchanged pleasantries and Ben tried to instruct the ladies on how to hang up, but Emily came in with tears in her eyes and blew a kiss and said thanks to her dad before hanging up. Nick did the same, but he simply nodded and then smiled as he ended a connection that was just beginning.

Refresh

While it may have seemed on the surface that Ben was being a little loose with his finances, he was thinking very clearly. With his net worth in excess of $100 million, including vested retirement accounts, Ben was about to receive a $5 million check from Mel's life insurance policy and another million from the sale of the house. He wanted nothing to do with either of these sources of blood money and planned to add another $4 million, for a total of $10 million, while planning to donate $1 million dollars annually for the next 30 years to the college. He came to these numbers when talk to his friend, Marty Jacobs, who was a CPA and the Chief Financial Officer of Ben's company, Dolphin Investments. The firm had in excess of $3 trillion in assets and was the global leader in financial matters for both corporations and individuals.

"I talked to Marty and..." Ben started.

"I know any time you start a story with 'I talked to Marty' then I can brace for a pitch coming," Ken Strauss said as they Skyped.

"I'm definitely excited by what I am about to present to you," Ben stated. "You know we have been trying to find the right school to become associated with, but it hasn't felt quite right yet?"

"Yes, I'm interested," Ken said.

"Well, you know where I live now and where I went to undergrad, and the school is on life support as we speak. I see this as one of the best value plays of my career, between the location and the blank slate we've been handed," Ben detailed.

"Still with you and my heart is beating a little faster out of excitement, not fear about what you're going to say next."

"Good," Ben said and then continued. "I got to talking with the new dean of the college, a lovely woman who happens to be transgender and I also played against in high school..." he said and then paused for a moment.

Ken took a few seconds to unpack that, "Okay, I'm caught up now."

"She showed me a map of the campus and how there was a piece of property at the edge of the campus that they never got to build on, and it just so happens that this land also faces the Long Island Sound."

"You're shitting me?" Ken asked.

"I am shitting you not," Ben replied. "And there's more. I am making an initial donation of $10 million to fund a new liberal arts building and program. Most of the money is coming from Mel's insurance and the house sale. I took your advice and put the blood money to good use."

Ken nodded in a painful smirk of acknowledgement.

"The other part of the plan is where you come in, big guy. I thought it would be awesome if the company funded a new business program that could attract the best and brightest students from around the world to the program, and we could also brand it with our corporate name and also provide internships to work for us and receive college credit. It would also be a way for us to hire and nurture the best talent as well. Marty said the tax advantages would pay for themselves over time, and we're not even talking about how it would further enhance our reputation and legacy."

"Wow, you are on fire!" Ken exclaimed. "I am so happy for you!"

"And us," Ben added.

"And us. So, what do you need me to do?" Ken asked.

"I'll come in and next week and we can craft a proposal to present to the board of directors of the college at their next meeting in a few weeks."

"That's even better news!" Ken beamed. "The team will be happy to see you. Hey, it just so happens that I'm going to be out there this weekend. Maybe you can show me the site?'"

"Definitely! And you can meet my new family as well. They're all coming out to help me redecorate this weekend."

Probably the best thing for Ben following his wife's death was to be surrounding by people. While it would be intuitive for him to recede into the shadows and let the downward momentum of recent years continue, it was in his best interest to simply move on. All of the heat in his world was now focused on the East End and his little hamlet on the inlet.

Ken drove out to the Hamptons Friday morning after rush hour and let the navigation in his Tesla guide him to the inlet and the wonderful view. Ben had brought him to this spot on several occasions, but Ken never thought his dream would every come to fruition. But then he thought, who was he to question or doubt anything that Ben Shapiro wanted to do? He saw Ben's Mustang in the driveway and parked next to it, although Ben didn't hear him pull up due to the stealth mode of the all-electric vehicle.

The front door was open, which Ken discovered as he instinctively turned the knob without knocking. Ben's new house was so chill that he didn't even have a bell to ring, since that would have interrupted the flow with unnecessary noise. Ken was nearly a billionaire at this stage of his life, but the sight of those floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Sound was breathtaking, "No fuckin' way," he muttered and then worked his way to the upper level and then the energy took him outside to the deck. "You my friend, are living the good life," Ken said as he saw Ben sitting back in a chair with his sunglasses on.

"Don't I know it," Ben replied and then stood up and hugged his friend and boss.

"I could get used to this," Ken stated.

"I just bought some more Amazon and sold Facebook in our Premier Fund," Ben said, which brought a huge smile to Ken's face. "There's something about this fresh salt air that is giving me the space I need to think clearly.

"Hey, if you keep producing results like you have, you can manage that fund from the moon of you want," Ken said. "Maybe getting people out of the stale office will help our productivity."

"We can revolutionize the industry and the unstructured state of work," Ben added.

"You know me. I'm for whatever works," Ken said as he sat down. "And this definitely works."

"We are going to take a walk with the Dean and then eat lunch with her in the school cafeteria." Ben then put his boos at ease, "They have an excellent Vegan menu," knowing Ken had been a strict Vegan for the past five years."

Twenty minutes later after some procrastination, Ken observed, "I could feel my blood pressure reduce the minute I hit Montauk Highway." He then had a few other thoughts that were percolating, but he put them on the back burner for later.

"You wanna' walk or drive there?" Ben asked.

Ben looked down at the Mustang and said, "Let's take the Mustang."

And when they arrived at the spot where they were going to meet the Dean, Ken said "Not too far,"

"Yeah, just a little over a mile," Ben quantified.

Dean Shipley wasn't sure what she should wear for such an informal/formal meeting. To say the future of her university rested on the outcome of this meeting would be an understatement, but she didn't want to appear too eager. She must have gone through 20 outfits before her assistant said, "Successful but you don't give a shit."

It was a clear but brisk day outside, with temperatures vacillating from the mid-50s to lower-60s. She settled in a pair of jeans, a button-down shirt, a pair of Keen low-top hiking shoes and a Patagonia vest. She emerged from her car as the guys pulled into the business building parking lot.

"She's hot," Ken said. "Oh, did I say that out loud?" he asked as Ben had never heard him use such language before a business meeting. "Excuse me."

"It's all good," Ben replied, as he was happy that Ken could see another woman for her heat.

They stepped out of the chick-mobile and Kathy Shipley was trying to keep it together as she made eye contact with Ken, who was one of most well-known CEOs on Wall Street.

"Dean Kathy Shipley, this is Ken Strauss," Ben said, making an introduction where actual names meant little.

"Dean Shipley, it's my pleasure," Ken said as they shook hands.

"Please call me Kathy, Mr. Strauss," she said.

He smiled, "Ken."

"Ken," she repeated as Ben rolled his eyes and thought, "Am I premature in thinking that these two should get a room?"

And while ballpark amounts were discussed for the company to pay for the land and the business school naming, Ken was about to take a blank check out of his wallet even before seeing the space.

"This is our business school," she said as they entered the building. "Our enrollment has declined each of the past five years and we are anticipating this trend continuing for a sixth year this fall."

"To what do you attribute this decline," Ben asked, putting his portfolio manager hat on.

"Students have so many choices these days for higher education, including on-line learning. And we are a private school, which means that our tuition is going to be higher on average than state schools or community colleges."

"How much does it cost for a year of school?" Ken asked,

"For the average student that number is north of $40,000," Kathy replied.

"Including room and board?' Ben asked.

"No, that number would be closer to $50,000," she replied.

"Wow, that is expensive," Ken stated. "I don't think it costs a quarter of that when I went to school in the stone age."

He started laughing as Kathy commented, "It couldn't have been that log ago," suggesting that he look a lot better than his chronological age.

"This is all very sobering," Ben said, not really commenting on the budding romance between his boss and the dean. "I never had kids, until now, and I had a full athletic scholarship when I came here for college."

"Yes, and you still have some of the records to prove that was a good investment," the dean stated.

Ben nodded in appreciation as Ken was doing his usual deep thought when his company was about to take on a new project.

"I might be out of line here, but I think we can not only make things more affordable for current students but also, in some way, revolutionize the enter collegiate system by integrating corporate America into the mix."

"That's interesting," Dean Shipley replied. "What would that entail exactly?"

"Why I don't have the exact details at this moment, I will over the next week or so. But the framework is something way more than just naming rights. Would you consider renaming the college Dolphin University? I think naming it Dolphin Investments University wouldn't capture what we are trying to do here."

The dean smiled, "Look, if we don't do something now then there won't be a university to name. In reality, you could wait until next year and then try to buy the land and do what you want with it."

"Why would I want to do that?" Ben replied. "You are the dean of this university and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Honestly, I don't see a Dolphin University without you."

"Yeah, I agree," Ben added. "All this place needs is to be modernized and refreshed.

The dean was visibly moved and simply teared up and nodded in appreciation for their confidence and kind words.

And then they walked over past the dorms to the vacant property, "Once you move past this ridge, the views are spectacular. And the trio walked up the slight incline and were presented with a view from the gods.

"This is a lot different than our lack of view in Manhattan," Ken said.

"This place never ceases to amaze me," Ben added.

"I've been so sad of the possibility of having to leave here if the university shut down," the dean's thoughts getting past her lips due to her comfort of being around the two men. "Did I just say that out loud?"

Ken smiled, "Yeah, I believe you did."

"Excuse me, then," she replied.

"No excuses necessary. It's rather refreshing," Ben said. "I'm here to stay as well."

They both looked at Ken who was eyeing at his unabated view of the future, "Call me crazy, but I think I'm with you both."

Ben and the dean joked, "You're crazy!"

And the three laughed as they were bathed in sunshine and the invincible feeling when you're sitting on the doorstep of something epic.

Taking Shape

"Well, that was a good meeting," Ben said as he and walked out of the cafeteria and were about to leave the main building of the college.

"I'll catch up with you a minute," Ken said as Ben nodded at him, I'll be in the bookstore near the main entrance."

Ken walked over to Kathy Shipley, who had just treated the duo to lunch on the college and was putting her tray on a belt after separating the trash from the recyclables.

"Thank you for the tour and lunch," Ken said.

"The pleasure was all mine," she replied as they started walking out of the cafeteria.

"I don't usually mix business and pleasure, but would you like to have dinner with me tonight?" he asked.

"I have this thing tonight – outstanding members of the graduating class being honored..."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, feeling momentarily awkward.

"No worries," she replied, "would you like meet for a drink or maybe desert afterward? About eight o'clock?'

He smiled, "I would love that."

She displayed a devilish smirk, "Text me the details," as she walked away looking back at him and smiling as he watched her walk away until she was no longer visible. And then he still saw her.

Ben saw Ken coming out of the corner of his left eye and said, "I wonder if this stuff will be a collector's item or just junk this time next year?"

Ken looked at the branded clothing and merchandise and said, "I wouldn't stock up too much."

"We should completely modernize while paying homage to the way things were, just like they day when they build new baseball stadiums," Ben stated.

"Yes, that would be cool," Ken agreed.

"You going to dinner with the dean tonight?" Ben asked, knowing the look his boss got in his eye when he was closing a deal.

"No dinner, desert and perhaps a drink," Ken replied. "Was it that obvious?"

"You are the best closer I've ever been around. When something you covet is within your reach, I rarely see you come out the other side without it."

Ken nodded, "That is true.

"I think I should serve a lot more than just pizza tomorrow night," Ben said as they walked to the register with a couple of sweatshirts. "Hey are you coming?"

Ken hesitated, so Ben filled in the gaps, "If things go well tonight, bring her with you."

Ken smiled, "Then, let me take care of the menu. Any allergies?"

Ben didn't know, "I'll check," as he paid for the sweatshirts, handing a bad to Ken and then taking one himself. They walked out of the store and Ben group-texted Emily and Gretta, "Looking forward to tonight. Any food allergies I should know about?"

"No food allergies," Ben said to Ken as they walked out of the building.

"Let's drive over to our land on the way out," Ken said as they got into the car and drove over to the future home of Dolphin Investments. They walked to the top of the ridge and Ken said, "Would it be crazy of me to suggest shifting our operations out here. All of the sudden, I can see our entire life being out here instead of a few months a year."

"Yeah, but what about the people who live either in the city or close to it?" Ben asked.

"Satellite offices in Jersey, Manhattan and Connecticut, with our main headquarters right here in Southampton," Ken replied. "Can you imagine the lease savings of our building in New York versus the tax-advantaged situation of owning the land out here?"

"I know," Ben replied. "It was the most excited Marty had been in years. You usually don't hear that level of enthusiasm from a CFO or CPA."

"I guess change is good every now and then," Ken stated.

Ben put his arm around his mentor and Ken returned the favor, "I guess it is," as they reveled in the moment.

Instead of waiting for everyone to arrive in Southampton, Ben thought the element of surprise would kick the weekend off in grand style. He also figured that it would grease the wheels between his kids as they met for the first time. Ben wanted to be present when they were introduced. He had missed so many milestones over the years that he was going to be overly-diligent when it came to his family going forward.

In search a fresh start, he had sold the other two cars he had: an Audi Q7 SUV that was his wife's car and his car, which was an electric BMW i3. The proceeds from these cars were earmarked to be donated to a local charity, but Ben's circumstances and geography had changed, and he was thinking about starting his own charity in Southampton.

And since the Mustang wasn't going anywhere, it became his primary mode of transportation during the fair-weather months. Although it was a far departure from going all-electric, it represented his comfort zone and one of his lasting symbols of familiarity in his ever-changing world. And it also went fast, really fast, with that growling engine!

"Where you at?" Ben texted Emily as he pulled into the garage at the airport.

"At the airport," she replied.

"Did you park on the same floor as the terminal?" Ben asked, since that one was one his tricks when he traveled.

"I think so," Emily replied, not knowing why she was being asked these questions, as she and her son waited by the entrance to the baggage claim with a bunch of welcome balloons and some food.

Ben finally spotted Emily's beat-up SUV and then parked a few spots over from her on the other side of the row. He then walked through the terminal until he spotted two very tall people with balloons and edible gifts.

"That wasn't too bad," he muttered as he walked in their direction, Nick seeing his father out of the corner of his eye and then Emily, who's Ben-radar detection system had been updated with the latest software.

Ben put his arms around Emily and Nick and then kissed them both on the cheek, eliciting quite different reactions. Emily liked it and Nick became confused by it until Ben explained it to him, "Jewish men kiss each other. It's more of a sign of respect than the affection of a usual kiss."

Nick bought the explanation and it gave him a brief respite from wondering what his sister would be like, although he had looked at pictures of her on line and knew what she looked like. He could have housed a swarm of flies in his open mouth as he watched Heidi and Gretchen stride very-blondly toward them.

Ben love-tapped his chest with the back of his hand and sternly said, "Go help your sister and your aunt with their bags," suggesting that even 17-year-olds should have limitations to good taste.

"Oh," Nick said as he shook the cob-webs away, "Right."

They all walked toward the Midwest ladies and exchanges pleasantries and hugs, as Ben kissed both of them on their cheeks and even Nick hugged both women in a non-purvey way, as he shifted from teenager to den protector in a moment's notice.

"I love the balloons!" Gretta exclaimed as Nick said to the ladies, "We got you some black-and-white cookies," as Emily looked over at Ben and they both smiled. "What do you know about my cookies?" he said to Nick.

"They're my cookies now!" he shot back as they quickly devoured the four large cookies as a group. Heidi saying, "I'm liking New York already!"

They picked up the bags and walked to the garage where Ben had a decision to make. Nobody had ever driven his Mustang but him, but that was about to change, as his connection to material possessions had frayed and he was more focused on the value of relationships than he had ever been.

Emily assumed that she would drive everyone except Ben, but he quickly put an end to that.

"Why don't you guys take my car," he said to Heidi and Nick, who were standing next to each other. He saw the wild look in Nick's eyes and made an intelligent pivot on the spot, "You drive, Heidi," as he flipped his keys to her. This elicited an immediate reaction from Nick, "I was so close."

"Yeah, I wouldn't trust you with that car, either," Heidi joked as Nick ribbed her back.

"You're getting pretty good at this," Gretta said.

"Yeah, that was a good move not letting him drive," Emily said. "I would appreciate it if you can really teach him to drive because he won't listen to me."

Ben and Nick loaded all of the luggage into Emily's SUV and then Ben handed Nick a ticket so he could exit the garage.

"Follow us," Ben said to Heidi, realizing if he simply gave her the address that they might speed ahead or get lost.

"You want to drive?" Emily said to Ben.

"It's not going to be too much of a letdown for him, being that your car is probably older than our kids?" Gretta took a shot at them both.

"So, that's how it's going to be?" Emily said.

"I think my car is older than yours," Gretta said, trying to make Emily feel better.

"I doubt that!" Emily said, immediately calling bullshit

Ben turned on the engine and quickly realized that this experience would be like riding on a stagecoach with a bunch of horses instead of revving his Pony car engine.

"You should have let them drive this car," Gretta said as they started rolling.

Ben thought and then responded, "I would have done just that if it wasn't their first meeting."

And then the women went off into flashbacks of the first time they met Ben. For Emily it was in tenth-grade Spanish class. In those days, a student's sophomore year was their first year in high school, as middle or junior high school was seventh through ninth grades and elementary school was first through sixth grades. They went to different high schools on opposite sides of the town, which basically meant the Jews and Italians went to one school and the Irish and German kids went to another.

So, it was natural that when you mixed fair-haired, blue-eyed, light-skin people with dark-haired, brown-eyed people with darker complexions, magic would happen. While Ben walked into the Spanish class in room 235, full of apprehension and disinterest, Emily looked forward to learning a language and then finding out who that tall guy was that she had never seen before. Ben surveyed the classroom and his choice of seating was limited – there was a seat open next to a kid who was picking his nose, another next to a girl with a face full of blemishes and the third option was next to a girl who appeared to be nice.

He sat down and smiled at Emily and she returned the gesture, although they didn't get to know each other's names until Senora Melendez went around the class while she took attendance.

"Emily McManus."

"Here," Emily replied.

"Your name in this class is Emilia."

"Irish," Ben thought and then she waited for his name to be called.

"Benjamin Shapiro."

"Here," Ben replied as picked up his right hand and motioned to the teacher.

"You name is Benjamín," with the accent on the mean.

Emily muttered, "Ben," and then she wrote the name in the margin of the first page of her notebook.

They were best friends within a few days, passing notes back and forth in class while the senora tried her best to make Spanish fun.

Gretta and Ben's first meeting was in the junior year of college. It was a much different circumstance as 20-year-olds than his meeting with Emily as 15-year-olds. While they had seen each other around for a year-or-so, Gretta had been a relationship with a guy who looked like Freddie Mercury of Queen and might have been half her height, while being part of a group that called themselves The Rebels. Ben often wondered why people hanging out together had to be named, especially with much of what they did surrounded by the Southern Rebel flag and bathed in Country music. He didn't want to be associated with anyone who was part of hat group, so she remained an enigma despite everything else informing him that she didn't fit in with those people.

Perhaps these people had come together because they all lived in the Bridgehampton dorm. But things changed early in their junior year when she came back from summer break and broke up with her boyfriend Mark only three days into the semester. It was a small campus where your business was everybody's business, so news of the breakup hit Ben a few days later. The delayed reaction was probably since he had moved off campus to a local hotel, which was trying to supplement its robust summer income stream with some action in the off season. The hotel rented apartments/rooms to students. Ben then moved to a house with a bunch of other guys just down the road his senior year.

He was walking across campus on Friday afternoon after completing his last class of the day and was driving his car from class to the gym where he was going to play some basketball with his teammates. He swerved past the tennis courts and slowed down as he noticed a person walking somewhat dangerously in the middle of the road. He parked on the side of the road when he noticed that she was wearing headphones and listening to music. She saw him park the car and then instinctively moved over toward him as he decided to exit from the car. Usually he would have veered around another person, but when he noticed it was Gretta, with her blonde pig-tails and long legs, he had to take a shot.

She had a bag over her shoulder, as she was on her way to work out with her volleyball teammates in the gym. Gretta removed her headphones and then she came back to reality when Ben uncoiled to his full height. He was one of the few guys on campus she had to look up to, although she had avoided him up to this point due to her mother's insistence that she stay away from non-Catholic guys.

"You realize that you were walking in the middle of the road," Ben said as he said the first thing that popped into his mind that wouldn't seem like a line. And since he never used lines, he would either say something genuine or say nothing at all.

"Well, I guess I'm lucky that you didn't run me over," Gretta replied in typical, sun-always-shining, Midwest fashion.

"I'm Ben," he said as he extended his hand.

"Yeah, I know," she replied in confident fashion as the heat between them was instantaneous.

He smiled, "And you're Gretta," he stated, as they shook hands and she replied, "Yes, I am."

They talked for a few more minutes and then he gave her a ride to the gym, which was only a half-mile down the road. Once at the gym he said as he opened the door for her, "Maybe I'll see you later."

She smiled as she looked back with sexual intent, "Not if I see you first."

Later that day, at a mixer in the campus meeting place, a DJ was playing but there was only silence in the minds of Gretta and Ben. She walked into the room and she saw only him, and he saw only her. Gretta grabbed the hand of her friend and she guided them over to Ben and his friend, as she called bullshit on everything her mother had ever told her.

Ben smiled as Gretta beamed as they locked on each other. They were in another world until her friend elbowed her and she said, "Oh, this is Cindy."

"Kyle," Ben said as the two extra wheels nodded, said hello and started talking.

"We'll go get some beers," Ben said and then he and Gretta walked together to the opening where beer was served.

"How was your workout?" Ben asked and then thought, "I might be the luckiest person on earth right now."

She thought, "Not as satisfying as the one I am gong to have tonight," but then responded, "I like the games a lot more than practice."

"Yeah, me too," as he paid for the beer and they both carried two cups back to their friends.

Two beers later and either they were going to go at it in front of everyone or get out of there and get the real party started.

"Ben looked at Gretta and asked, "You wanna' get out of here?"

She smiled, "Yes, let's blow this popsicle stand!"

"We're leaving," Gretta grunted to her friend," insinuating that they all were going.

"Let's roll," Ben said to his friend.

What Ben and Gretta didn't know was that their friends had hooked up the end of the previous year and would have found each other again in the first weekend of the school year. They all hopped in Ben's car, which his parents had bought for him since they didn't have to pay for college and headed to Ben's place. There wasn't much of a buildup once they arrived, Cindy and Kyle jumping on the couch and were making out before Gretta had to tinkle and emerged from the bathroom. Ben thought it would be presumptuous and tacky to guide her into the bedroom, so he made a little area out of pillows where they could lay on the floor.

Gretta located a light switch and turned it down, "Too bright in here," and then walked over to Ben and melted into his arms, their bodies coming together as one, as they kissed for the first time. The impact of the smooching made her knees weak and produced a bulge in his pants that made it difficult for him to stand erect, so they headed to the carpeted floor. That was the last time they didn't use his bed.

Weekend, Part I

The conversation was much different in the SUV than it was in the Mustang.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Ben asked the ladies.

Emily replied, "Nick us usually pretty quiet when he first meets someone."

Gretta added, "It doesn't take much to get Heidi going, especially if you give her the keys to a machine with that much power."

Meanwhile in the Mustang, the talk was fast and furious for the first few minutes, as adrenaline was pumping, and then it calmed for the last hour of the trip.

"Is this your first time in New York?" Nick asked as they exited the airport garage.

"Yes," Heidi replied, and I'm really excited to be here.

"Well, if you think this is good, then you'll really like Long Island," Nick replied.

"Is Long Island where you grew up?" Heidi questioned.

"Yes, and you're from Minnesota?" Nick asked.

"Michigan," she laughed.

"Oh," Nick said, even though he didn't think there was much difference between the two states.

And that was it for the next 45 minutes of easy-breezy driving in the fastest car either of them had even been in. Meanwhile, in the SUV, the conversation was picking up.

"So, what are your plans?" Emily asked Ben while looking back at Gretta. They were both concerned about what his next move was going to be.

Ben was confused, "You mean this weekend or after this weekend?"

Emily looked back at Gretta and was happy to have a partner in crime for a change.

"Well, we don't want to put any undie pressure on you, considering that all this is new to you and you've just been through a significant trauma," Gretta stated and then Ben started feeling that his Midwestern counterpart was circling the drain again instead of getting right to her question. So, he tried to delicately cut through the bullshit.

"The one thing I've learned in the past few years is that I don't have time to waste," Ben started and then kept going. "And that mean the three of us have to be as direct as possible with each other and we can't have any secrets between us."

"I haven't had sex in three years," Gretta blurted.

"It's five for me and that wasn't really memorable," Emily added.

"Well, that's an excellent start," Ben said. "It's been almost two years for me." After a few seconds of silence, Ben continued, "I'm not sure how all of this is going to work, but you should know that my house is your house. I don't want to make any assumption, being that the kids are going into their senior years of high school and you two have jobs in your communities."

"Well, what are your plans for your new home. I guess, personally and professionally?" Emily asked, knowing she might be skating on thin ice.

You keep feel the tension in the car. Ben unpacked his last few weeks.

"I met with the dean of the college and then we both met with my boss, and we came with some awesome stuff." He looked back at Gretta, "Remember that big patch of land beyond the dorms that was never used?"

"Yeah, we used to go sledding there and camp out," she replied.

"I don't remember do any of those things," Ben said, "you must have been out there with little Freddie Mercury," giving her shit for that ridiculous relationship.

Gretta thought for a moment, "Well, there wasn't much to choose from while you were going out with this one," Gretta motioned toward Emily.

Emily couldn't wait, "So, what happened?"

"Well, we my company is buying the huge piece of land that overlooks the Long Island Sound and it looks like we are going to move our headquarters from Manhattan to Southampton."

"That is awesome!" Gretta exclaimed.

A numb Emily added, "Yeah, that's good news."

"But wait, there's more," Ben said. "I am going to make a generous donation to revolutionize and modernize the art program and facility, my company is going to take over the business program and we are going to rename the school Dolphin University."

"So, you've basically been thinking a lot about the kids?" Gretta asked.

"Yes, and the university was going to cease to exist in the near future if we hadn't stepped in," Ben added.

"What about this dean?" a possessive Emily asked.

"Ken, my boss, has already taken her out a few times," Ben replied. "He lost his wife to cancer five years ago and this is the first time I've seen him step out of her shadow."

"Are you and Ken close?" Gretta asked.

"Yes, we are best friends. We have been there for each other both personally and professionally over the last 10-plus years.

Emily couldn't stop thinking about how it might take years for Ben to come around, so she took a leap of faith.

"I'm trying to balance honesty and sensitivity, but..."

"You can ask me anything, Em," Ben said.

"How do you feel about us?"

Ben grazed over the question and gave a quick response, "You know how much I care about you both."

"But, how much?" Gretta followed up.

It was at this moment that Ben assessed his familiarity with the two women and surveyed the landscape of what might be to come.

"I love you both very much. In fact, I never stopped loving either one of you, but at the time it seemed like an impassable mountain to climb. Now, I don't see a mountain in front of us at all."

The woman digested his pronouncement, although doubt lingered in their thoughts. Ben turned the radio up and the ride was fairly quiet, and somewhat awkward, the rest of the way. Although, he did realize that actions always spoke louder than words and it would only be a matter of time for they all were in sync.

"Holy shit!" Nick exclaimed as they turned off Montauk Highway and made the final approach to Ben's house.

Heidi couldn't breathe until they reached the inlet and then she exhaled, "My lord!"

Nick, who had always wrestled with religion and never quite felt right while going to neighborhood church with grandma', refrained from making such references. His first thought was, "I don't ever want to leave here," but he kept those private thoughts inside.

Heidi flipped Ben the keys to his car and said, "Thanks! That was fun."

"He replied, "Glad you enjoyed yourself," as he was thinking about the still silence in the SUV for most of the ride.

Once inside, everyone took an official tour of the house, as mental warfare of who would sleep in which room was on. Gretta was first to choose, selecting the room to the right of master bedroom where Ben slept. Emily then chose the room to the left of the master, while the kids waited to see what else was available. When the group entered the lower level and saw the amazing view of the inlet, both Nick and Heidi said almost simultaneously, "I want to sleep down here!"

"Jinx, you owe me a Coke!" Heidi exclaimed.

Nick looked at Heidi and then his mom, "My mom has been saying that for years and I still don't know what anyone is talking about."

"Can we both sleep down here?" Heidi asked Ben and the mothers.

Ben looked to his female counterparts for reason, but when he saw that they were equally-confused, he made a call on his own.

"I suppose we could get a couple of futons and you two can hang down here. But, the first thing we have to do is donate the old before we can bring in the new. Ans we can start first thing in the morning. I would suggest you each take a room upstairs until then."

There wasn't much said the rest of the night, as Ben offered food and then turned in before 11:00 pm, his energy tank still relatively empty after months of neglect. Both kids stayed on the lower level and were communicating with friends on their phones for the next hour while Emily and Gretta had another one of their talks over wine on the second-level deck.

"What did you make of his response?" Gretta asked Emily.

"I think the better question is, what do we want from him?" Emily countered.

The two sat in silence for a few moments, taking a few swigs of white wine until the ultimate goal was in sight.

"I want it all," Emily said. "I've always wanted it all."

"Yeah, me too," Gretta agreed. "But, what would that look like?"

"I'll let you know when I know," Emily stated.

Gretta nodded, "I hear you."

The next morning, Ben was up at the crack of dawn, picking up a truck from the local U-Haul so they could clear the house out, bring the items over to the resale shop in Hampton Bays and then pick up new furniture at a few locations throughout town. Since it was before Memorial Day, the traffic would be lighter than what it would be once the summer started, which would cut down the time it would take to complete all of the tasks.

By the time Ben returned with the truck, Emily and Gretta were already labeling furniture for potential removal. In his spare time, Ben had donated all of the clothing that remained in the house, so all that was left was furniture, housewares and other items. They used yellow PostIt notes, which seemed to be in abundance around the house as an item the old man would use quite often to remember taking pills and doing tasks.

"Oh, I see you have been hard at work," Ben said as he entered the house and saw the ladies doing their thing.

"We didn't know what you want to keep, so we started labeling things that looked like they wanted to leave," Gretta said.

"Seriously," Emily added.

"Do you think we should donate everything and then start with a clean slate?" Ben asked. "Because I'm not attached to anything."

"That's up to you," Emily said.

"I mean, even though everything he had in here goes with the nautical motif, that doesn't mean that it's your taste," Gretta stated and then hesitated to complete her thought, so Ben helped her out.

"Or your taste."

"Exactly," Gretta agreed, "or, any of our taste."

"It would be in all of our interests to make group decisions," Ben added, not really knowing who would be living in the house at any given time.

They went room-by-room, starting in the rooms where teenagers weren't sleeping and then eventually moving into those rooms as well as the banging awoken them from their slumber. Two quick showers later, Heidi and Nick infused themselves into Operation Clean Slate.

Luckily, there was no carpet in the house, except for a few area rugs that could easily be replaced. And, as each room was emptied into the truck, Emily followed up and cleaned each floor and wiped away any excess dust or dirt. Gretta also pitched in as the heavy lifting subsided.

"I'm gonna' take the kids with me to drop off this stuff and you two can get started on scouting a few places for the new stuff," Ben said and then flipped his car keys to Gretta, "You decide who drives."

Gretta looked at Emily and said, "I'll drive there, you drive back," as their efficient ways and teamwork continued.

It was a 15-minute drive to the resale shop with Ben plopping into the driver's seat and Heidi sliding into the middle and Nick in the right part of the bench seat.

"How is this going to work?" Heidi asked as Ben started the truck.

He shifted into drive and then they all waived at Gretta and Emily, as Ben answered, "Well, first we're going to unload all of this stuff and then we'll pick up some new furniture and being it back to the house."

"No," Heidi replied with a chuckle, "We want to know how all of this is going to work if you are here and we are somewhere else?"

Ben looked at Nick and he nodded in affirmation of the ask.

There had been so many changes in his life as of late that Ben was taking it one day at a time. There was no utility in him trying to plan ahead unless the situation demanded it. He decided that the direct approach would work better with his kids, since that was the way he preferred.

"In my world, I see opportunities, research those opportunities and then act swiftly to avoid creep."

"What's creep?" Nick asked.

"Creep is that gap that occurs between action and inaction, that doubt that settles in when you let time pass before making a decision," he explained and his two pupils nodding in understanding. "Things have been happening so fast lately but living out here has helped me clear my mind and focus on the things that really matter. I even started meditating."

Then he paused and threw a question out there, "Have either of you decided where you want to go to college after you graduate?"

"I'm sick of the cold," Heidi stated.

"I have no clue," Nick added.

"Are you getting stressed about it?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, my mom has been pressing me, but I just don't feel comfortable yet," Nick said.

"I was, until I heard about you," Heidi stated.

"Go deeper on that," Ben said.

"You are making everything okay," Heidi stated. "There was a piece missing from both of us before we found out about you."

"Yeah," Nick agreed.

"So, what does okay look like to both of you?" Ben asked.

Heidi turned to Nick and asked, "Should I tell him?"

Nick replied, "Yeah."

"We want to live with you," she said without hesitation.

Ben smiled, "We have room for everyone."

"Including grandma's?" Heidi asked.

"Of course!" Ben replied. "They can live in the house for six months and then we can get them a place in Florida for the colder months."

"That works!" a nervous Nick exclaimed.

"The school thing is also real. Nick, I think the business program will suit you quite well and the new arts program will be right up your alley, Heidi."

"What about our moms?" Heidi asked.

"Yeah, our moms have jobs," Nick stated.

Ben had done so well in business over the years because he was always one or two steps ahead of the next person.

"Heidi, I want your mom to teach art at the school and Nick, I was going to ask your mom to run my new charitable foundation, which will work in association with my company and the school."

"Have you told them yet?" Nick inquired.

Ben smirked, "I've known your moms a long time, and the one thing I wouldn't do was tell them what they should be doing. I will ask them when the time is right, so I'm counting on both of you to hold the big secret a little longer. Deal?"

"Deal," Heidi beamed and then her brother said, "Deal!"

They had the help of a bunch of workers once they parked at the Hampton Bays resale shop, and the truck was unloaded within 15 minutes.

"Off to catch up with your moms. Can you grab a tax receipt from the guy?" Ben asked Nick, who ran over to the guy with a clipboard and got a tax receipt.

"Thanks!" Ben said to Nick and then they all piled back into the truck and drove back east toward Southampton.

"What if he was into you and not me?" Gretta asked. "You were with him a lot longer than me."

"But he basically left me for you," Emily replied.

"What if he likes both of us or isn't into either of us?" Gretta inquired.

"You ask a lot of questions," Emily stated. "Well, there's only one way to find out," Emily stated with a wry smirk and Gretta caught on and nodded in agreement. "You go first."

"I can do that," Gretta replied, and then they went back to looking for furniture.

Ben saw a home supply warehouse and said, "We have to pick up a few things."

"Get a cart," Ben said to Nick and then they walked around the huge store, filling the basket with basic tools needed for most jobs. And then they walked toward the paint department, "Do you think we have time to paint the rooms?"

"Why don't we do that this summer," Heidi suggested. "Once we live there a bit, we can have a better idea what color will work."

"Okay," Ben replied, "on to the appliance area."

"They looked at washer/dryers and decided on a few deluxe models with stands, and then they picked out a new top-of-the-line stove, dishwasher and a clear-doored refrigerator and freezer.

"We should probably ask them what they think," Nick suggested, slowing his roll enough to come to his senses.

"Can you meet us over here?" Ben asked and then gave Emily the address.

Thirty minutes later, all of their choices were altered, and the mothers had purchased the right appliances for their needs, especially if the house was on full capacity at any point.

"Wow, I'm amazed they could get that all together and deliver it so quickly," Emily observed.

"Yeah, how is it possible that it's coming tomorrow?" Gretta questioned, "on a day that they don't usually deliver."

Ben smirked, "Well, I had a little talk with the store manager and gave him the motivation that was needed."

"What was that?" Heidi asked.

"The promise of a bigger order to come is always a great motivator," Ben explained.

Nick nodded, "Money does talk," he said listening to a crumpled-up dollar bill he removed from his pocket.

"What is George saying?" Heid teased.

"Spend me," Nick joked, as they all laughed while walking out.

"My turn to drive," Emily said to Gretta, who flipped her the keys.

"Follow us!" Gretta said as Ben looked at both women in amazement.

"Why didn't they tell you?" Nick asked, as there obviously was some questions that were difficult to answer.

Ben started the truck and then shifted into drive, "Well, your mom and I went out for years, but I always knew that I wouldn't marry her."

"Why, didn't you love her?" an innocent Nick asked.

"I loved her very much, but I decided to marry a Jewish girl. Because I'm Jewish and I did a lot of reading about the Holocaust and decided that I wouldn't be the one to break the chain."

"And then you went out with my mom," Heidi stated.

"We both couldn't resist," Ben explained. "She had her beliefs and I had my beliefs, although for the record, she backed away well before I did. And I did love her very much."

"How do you feel now?" Gretta asked.

"Well, now the chain has been broken and I feel like the luckiest man alive having you two and your moms in my life," Ben stated.

"You're gonna' pick my mom, right?" a cocky Nick said.

"Why would he do that?" Heidi shot back. "My mom is obviously hotter!"

"No, she isn't!" Nick countered.

"Are you two arguing about how hot your moms are?" Ben tried to infuse some levity into a developing tense situation.

They kept going back and forth with each other until they reached one of the furniture places.

"Mom!" Nick yelled as he emerged out of the truck and obliterated his mother's peaceful chi. "I can't ride with her anymore!"

"That boy is flat-out rude! You are so much hotter than his mom!" Heidi exclaimed without thinking that she was being insensitive.

"What did she say?" Emily asked Gretta.

"Take that back!" Gretta yelled at Heidi as Nick continued to complain to Emily.

Ben had only witnessed copacetic interaction with his new family to this point, and quickly made a beeline into the store to seek cover. He looked around the store and found the most comfortable couch he could find, and then parked himself within it. Since it was in a remote area of the store, which just happened to be the clearance section, it took a while for anyone in the group to find him. This was a god-send, because he was able to close his eyes and meditate in order to find his calm. His thoughts went primal, "I am going to die in this couch," and the thought of that eventually was comforting for someone who had experienced so much turmoil amidst a tremendous run of success.

"I told you he would like that couch," Gretta said to Emily, who replied, "I bet he's thinking about dying in the couch."

Ben smiled, "You're both right."

They sat down on either side of him and intertwined their arms in his while cuddling up next to him.

"Raising kids is not easy," Emily grunted.

"And their both good kids, too," Gretta added.

They closed their eyes as Ben replied, "It will be easier if we do it together."

Both women smiled as a saleswoman came over and observed, "You all look very comfortable on that couch. Just so you know, we have another on of those at the same sales price and there is also a line of furniture that goes along with it for the entire house.

"Are they all as comfortable as this?" Ben asked, still reclining with his eyes closed.

"Yes," the middle-aged woman replied as she wondered who this guy was and why two women were so comfortable in his arms.

"Do it," Emily whispered and then Gretta said, "Matches the scenery."

"We'll take it," Ben said, opening his eyes and adding, "We'll be with you in a few minutes. We have a truck in the parking lot, so we'll want to take it with us today."

The woman nodded and walked away.

"I need you both in my daily life," Ben stated. "Whatever that means, whatever I have to do to not lose you both again, I will do. Gretta, I talked to the dean about you teaching in the revamped art program, and one day you will run the program. And Emily, I am starting a new non-profit foundation in association with the college and my company, and I want you to run it."

There was a moment of stunned silence and Ben continued, "And, as for your mothers, they are welcome to live with us. I have inquired about a property in Key West, Florida where they can live during the cold weather months and we can visit them."

"I think we all should sleep in the same bed," Gretta said.

"Yeah, I like this," Emily agreed.

Ben smiled, "So, we're agreed?"

"In," Gretta said.

"In," Emily stated.

"In," Ben added as they shared a warm hug.

"Well, that looks cozy," Heidi said as Nick thought, "That is one lucky dude with two Shiksa's."

Weekend, Part II

The dealings at the furniture place went so well that the saleswoman, Katie Christopher, sent two of her workers over to help the family unload. Ben talked of more business for her in the area, after he spent a good chunk of change seemingly on a whim. So, Katie was glad to keep the wheel greased after such a positive first impression. When they talked mattress size for the master bedroom, she suggested, "We have a new line of mattresses called California King Plus, which could accommodate more than two people with long legs comfortably." She also detailed how the foundation could be sized to accommodate the mattress. That was why she sent the workers over to the house, to assemble the platform beds that were purchased for each bedroom.

Ken Strauss and Dean Shipley had been inseparable since they met, and this trend continued as they stopped by the house. It had been a full day of moving things out and in. Ben was with Nick returning the U-Haul truck, Nick driving the Mustang and Ben in the truck.

"Now, let her come to you," Ben said. "She doesn't like it when you are all rude and press the gas down too quickly."

"The care is a she?" Nick asked as he caught the key.

"Anything of beauty and high performance is a she," Ben replied.

"Why didn't you say anything to Heidi when she drove the car?" Nick asked, as their sibling rivalry appeared to be in full swing after both of them being the only child for 17 years.

"Did she force the gas when she drove?" Ben asked.

Nick replied, "No, I don't think so."

Ben shot Nick a look that conveyed, "That's why I didn't have to say anything to her."

Ben rolled out of the driveway and then Nick started the V8, 5.0 Mustang engine and the raw power was intoxicating. And the first thing he did after shifting into drive was the very thing that his father had warned him about. Ben looked at the side mirror and saw his baby jump, and he laughed a Nick appeared frustrated. Then he eased off the gas and let the car transition through its natural gears, which gave him instant understanding, although that kind of clarity would be short lived.

They dropped off the truck and then Ben let Nick drive home, much to his surprise. And while Nick had passed his driving test, just barely, he was very road- or Mustang-worthy.

"It's all about minor adjustments," Ben said as he noticed his son doing something else that might be detrimental to both of their long-term longevity.

Ben was not a severe person either in his professional and personal life, and he always sought to spin things in a positive direction.

"You drive quite well." And then he suggested, "Use the lane markers as your guide, like the lines on a basketball court."

Nick understood the reference and positioned the car in the middle of the lane instead of to the left where he had been fading.

"Good," Ben added as they zipped through the streets as Nick became one with the vehicle.

"Wow," Nick sighed as he parked the car in the driveway. "I liked that."

Ben smiled, "I bet you did," as they emerged from the vehicle and bumped fists before heading inside the house.

While Ben and Nick were gone, Ken knocked on the door and was greeted by a usually-chipper Gretta, who seemed to be at home in her new surroundings.

"Look who it is! Dean Shipley and Ken Strauss!"

"Kathy," the dean said as a formal handshake turned into a welcome-to-the-family hug.

"Ken," Strauss said and then skipped the handshake for a hug. "You must be Gretta," he added once he saw her Nordic blonde hair and braided pigtails that Emily had done.

"I missed doing this when I had a boy," Emily said to Gretta the previous night.

"Let me show you around," Gretta said to her new friends.

During the process of the guided tour, Kathy Shipley and Ken Strauss became separated from Gretta when she needed a "tinkle break."

Ken found Emily and Kathy literally stumbled upon Gretta.

"You must be Emily," Ken said as they shook hands, "Ken Strauss."

"Ah, you're Ken Strauss!" she exclaimed and then they hugged.

Kathy was walking in and out various rooms, marveling at the views, when she tripped over a foot and found herself surfing on the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Heidi yelled as she finished plugging in a lamp and rolled over to see who she had felled.

"No harm," Kathy replied as she sat back against the wall of the bay window instead of rising to her feet right away. "I love what you've down with the space," she added, as she looked around the room.

"Yeah, it's a work in process. We'll be painting this summer."

"It's really beautiful here in the summers," Kathy stated.

"It's not too shabby now," Heidi countered. "Makes it easy to have vision and be creative. I love where I grew up in Michigan, but all that snow and gray clouds aren't exactly inspiring."

"Unless you're an Eskimo or a penguin."

"I'm Heidi."

She nodded, "Hi, Heidi. I'm Kathy Shipley, dean of the college."

Heidi's eyes widened, "Oh, that's great! The first time I meet the dean, she trips over my feet."

"And now we're talking, which is a good thing. Did you say that you are going to be here this summer?"

"Yeah. Well, it's not 100% official yet, but I think it's gonna' happen," Heidi explained.

"Well, Heidi, if you are here this summer, I think we should talk about auditing some art classes so you can get a flavor for what it's like. That's if you want to," Kathy suggested.

"Are you kidding me?" the rambunctious teenager replied. "That sounds awesome!" And then she remembered to be respectful, "I would love that. Thank you."

The heat in the house shifted once Ben and Nicholas came through the front door. Ben knew that the dean and his boss were literally in the house when he saw Ken's Tesla in the long driveway, which could accommodate six or more cars.

Ken saw Ben and his son walking toward him and had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing double. Although the two had not met until recent times, they had the same stride and extremely similar mannerisms on initial review.

"Wow, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me!" Ken exclaimed.

"Ken, this is my son, Nicholas, or Nick as he likes to be called."

Ken shook hands with Nick and immediately noticed the incredible size of the boy's hands. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Nick."

Nick smiled and shook the man's hand but offered little in return. It was the first Chief Executive Officer he had ever met, and he was a bit starstruck. And then, Kathy and Heidi emerged from another bedroom and the kids were introduced to Ken and Kathy with little impact. Emily walked into the room and was introduced to Kathy, and then Ben scanned the room and saw that something was missing.

"Where's Gretta?"

Heidi had a beat on her, "She's downstairs exploring the space."

The words 'exploring the space' lingered in the minds of the adults.

Kathy said, "Well, that sounds promising."

The group headed downstairs and just when they all thought they couldn't be more in awe of the intoxicating water view, Gretta and her vision catapulted that up another notch.

"You're hired!" usually-reserved Kathy Shipley said as open the long wall came into view. "That's the easiest job interview I have ever conducted."

Gretta smiled and looked at Ben, who was also smiling and thinking about a conversation he had with Gretta earlier that day.

"I feel like I need to paint," Gretta said to Ben as they were alone for a moment during the moving.

Ben's initial reaction was that she wanted to paint a wall, but upon deeper reflection he realized that her version of painting was a lot different than his.

"Oh, painting..." he replied and then analyzed the list of available canvases.

"What about that long wall in the basement?"

She thought and then replied, "It would help bring the tides inside the house, without the water actually having to be in there."

"What is it about this place that brings out the best in us?" he asked.

"I don't know, I was just thinking that. Who am I to question such inspiration?"

"Indeed," he replied.

Since the wall was only half-done, Heidi picked up a brush and continued where her mother left off, the remaining people in the room sitting on couches and the floor to watch a live demonstration. Normally, a 17-year-old would have been rattled in front of such company, or anyone, but Heidi was a free spirit like her mother and like to perform in front of groups like her father. She was fearless as she drew a diving whale making a huge splash as Kathy was flabbergasted once again. She turned to Ken and Ben and said, "I think we should have an accelerated art program."

"Yes, that would be brilliant." Ken replied as he put his arm around Ben and patted him on the back.

Weekend, Part III

Ken stuck true to his word by taking care of dinner in a fully-catered affair. While the group was watching both mother and daughter put the finishing touches on the basement mural and then sign their names on either side of the wall, the catering company was setting up and had dinner ready on the piece of land just outside of the basement on a patch of land between the house and the Long Island Sound inlet.

A boiling pot of lobsters that were caught earlier that day with some corn were being removed and placed on serving dishes. Nick wasn't a huge fan of lobster and neither was Ben, so the father said "We also had them make some burgers and dogs for us" to the son, who breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of his favorite summer foods.

"That lobster looks nothing like the ones we got at Red Lobster for your birthday," Heidi said to her mother.

"Good thing," Gretta said with a smile.

"Pinch me," Emily said to Ben, "I never saw our life being anything like this."

Ben pinched Emily on her left butt cheek, and she jumped from the surprise.

Gretta saw the fun gesture and walk past Ben, slapping his butt as the connection between the three was becoming increasingly fluid.

A long rectangular table was set up with white linens and regular china, since it was an informal cookout. Everyone sat down and wine and soda were poured in the appropriate glasses, which was Ben's cue as the host to stand up and make a toast.

"I am so proud to be here and be part of this family," as he looked at each person around the table. He paused to avoid getting choked up, "This proves that if you have a good heart and never stop believing, that anything is possible. I have been truly blessed," he added, smiling and looking up at the sky. He raised his glass, "Here's to Shapiro East. May we be together for many for many glorious occasions for the rest of our lives."

"Here, here!" Ken added, as everyone around the table clanked glasses and reveled in the joy of the moment.

Later that evening, Ken and Kathy went off on their merry way to Ken's house and the kids took a drive to the local movie house to check out the latest blockbuster superhero flick. That left Emily, Gretta and Ben alone after Emily lifted a bottle of wine during the catering crew cleanup and brought it up to the second level deck for a little further reflection.

"You have some nice friends," Gretta said as the catering truck was loaded and then pulled out of the sandy beach of the inlet approach.

Ben nodded, "It's good to have friends. I've only had a few special ones over the years."

And then he clinked glasses with the ladies.

"What should I do with your sister?" Emily asked.

"About what?" Ben replied, as Gretta sensed a change in his upbeat demeanor and shot Emily a look.

"About informing her and your parents about your good fortune," Emily replied.

"Hey, were they at the funeral?" Gretta chimed in.

"No," Ben faintly replied.

"So, who gives a fuck about them?" Gretta concluded.

"Yeah Em, who gives a fuck about them?" Gretta exclaimed.

Emily caught on and said, "Your right. Let's try to live our lives free of misery from this point on. I've been carrying people for so long that I'm amazed that my back has held up."

"Here's to people who can go fuck themselves," Gretta suggested.

"People that can go fuck themselves," Ben and Emily said in unison.

Gretta was back in Southampton and she continued to be on a roll.

"We still have one outstanding issue to resolve."

"What's that?" Ben asked as Gretta looked at Emily.

"Well, it looks like the kids are going to be here all summer, right?" Emily asked and Ben and Gretta nodded in agreement.

"And it also appears that the kids are going to school here next year, which means they will be living here," Gretta added.

Ben nodded again and asked, "Yeah, that sounds right."

"What about us?" Emily asked.

Ben was confused, "Didn't we just buy a bed so we all can sleep in the same room?"

Gretta kept going, "Yeah, but that all sounds good on paper."

"It's been 17 years since either one of us have been with you," Emily stated.

"Maybe the magic is gone," Gretta added.

Ben grabbed a beer he had taken out of the fridge and rested on the end table next to him and chugged it like when he was a college man on a mission. The ladies had seen that look in his eyes before, but not since they had reconnected with him at the funeral.

"Well, there's only one way to find out," Ben said and then spun the bottle on the center of the table. The women were mesmerized as the bottle spun and spun until the spout pointed at Emily.

"If we're going to do this, we have to do this together," Ben suggested and then Emily stood up and then sat in his lap.

"Excellent," Gretta cooed.

Then Ben and Emily did what always came naturally to them, like the expanse of a 17-year pause had been fused. A couple of minutes later as the chill of the spring night took effect, there was literally steam coming off them. Emily stood up, her legs wobbly from the connection and she was helped into her chair by Gretta. Ben simply picked up the bottle and pointed it at Gretta and she knew what to do. Admittedly, the connection between Emily and Ben was always stronger, but the sex between Ben and Gretta was always nuclear and didn't require any foreplay. Since Emily and Ben were friends and started going out in high school, their entire physical relationship was based on foreplay and the bits that led up to intercourse.

Limber Gretta took the seduction once step further as she extended both of her long legs to each side of Ben and straddled him. He moved toward her like a lion and she met him like a lioness as Emily said, "Whoa" with complete admiration and no tinge of competitiveness or jealousy. Of course, the wine probably helped that along. If not for the circumstance, Ben and would have eliminated boundaries and had sex right on the spot. He grabbed her ass and pushed her down on the bulge in his jeans and she started grinding on him. They broke the kiss and the embrace shortly after that and Ben said, "Yeah, I think it all still works."

Gretta looked back at Emily and smiled, "Yeah, it still works," to suggest that his manhood was still all it cracked up to be. Gretta then moved to one side of Ben's lap and Emily stood up and positioned herself on the other side of his lap, their long legs intertwined as they took turns kissing him and even each other as Ben started to realize that he had truly gone through hell to get to heaven.
