Unforeseen Events: Day 4

Word Count: 24,032

Summary of Events:

Emil unloaded the car and put it up on blocks before taking measurements from one of the tires and calling the nearest tire shop to order replacements so that he could roll the car into the garage to get to work on repairing it. Sheldon came down for supper and got into a terse discussion about driving that led him to be invited to try and drive Emil's standard-transmission pickup; Sheldon figured it out not too badly, except for the part where he hit the ditch right out of the driveway. After getting the truck out of the ditch and cleaning up supper Emil went outside to feed the bones from their steak dinner to Chief and enjoy a summer evening . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Emil settled down on the hammock and sighed. He'd heard Sheldon slam the door from out in the truck, and he'd heard Sheldon's sobs the entire time he'd washed the day's dishes.

He wished Roseanne were here to explain to him what he'd done wrong. He certainly felt like he'd been good and gentle, something he hadn't always been with his kids — in fact, they all joked that he was too soft on his grandkids, but they all had told him they were okay with that because it wasn't his job to raise his grandkids, it was their jobs.

Was it because Annette had told Sheldon he was horrible and mean? Would this entire summer be spent banging his head against the metaphorical wall of Sheldon because not even his nicest acts would be able to change Sheldon's perceptions?

Or was it because he was actually doing something wrong?

Emil looked at the sky. He never thought he'd find himself asking the question, but he couldn't help himself: why had Roseanne been taken from him so soon? If Roseanne were here she surely would've softened Sheldon up with purely a smile.

Roseanne had always had the quality of being disarming. That was part of why — and how — he'd fallen in love with her. She'd always thought the best of people that she knew could be better, and pitied those who couldn't seem to.

Emil had sometimes quipped that what the world really needed was for her to visit all the hostile leaders, like the presidents of the Soviet Union, and things would've become peaceful a lot sooner. Roseanne had always laughed her sweet laugh and hugged him before remarking that she was sure it would all turn out without her intervention.

She had really softened and disarmed a lot of people over the years. Annette was probably her only failure, unless he counted Henry. She'd offered to help him with Henry, but he'd felt it would be awkward, and so had told her he'd do it. As it turned out, maybe he should've asked her, maybe then Henry would've listened.

He startled when he felt a cold nose against his hand. Sitting up, Emil tossed another bone and watched as Chief caught it in mid-air just as he had the first.

Emil laid back and sighed. He couldn't undo the past. Roseanne was gone, and there was no way for him to get advice from her on how to handle the situation.

It didn't take long before Chief was back for the next bone. Once he'd thrown it, Emil got up and headed back to the house — even though the shade and the soft breeze made it a lovely evening for sitting outside and relaxing, his mind was too unsettled."