"Everyone here likes you very much," Patrick said to his lovely niece. "You're doing a terrific job and I'm very proud of you," he told Sierra. The smile on her face as he praised her went ear-to-ear.
"Thank you uncle-daddy, I've been working very hard," Sierra Carter said as she listened to her uncle sing her praises. It mattered very much to her that he was proud of her and that she was doing a good job. It would help her in university, of course, but her main goal was to please the man she thought of as a father. She had been a "daddy's girl" ever since she could remember. The only problem with that is the fact her real father was a tremendous shit that had bailed on her family shortly after Sierra turned five. Her uncle Pat had stepped in and filled the void as best he could. He visited often, brought toys and gifts and helped her mother with all of her bills. Uncle Pat and his older sister had always been close and her mom adored her younger brother as much as Sierra did.
Pat looked at his niece and indicated that she could sit down. It was a bit hard to reconcile this smart, professional-looking, polished young woman with the teenager he had known last year. Both he and his sister had agreed that Sierra would not be sitting around the house this summer break. She could come and work for him at the hospital and earn her own money. Last summer she had worn jeans and sweats and regular clothes. This summer, every day that she came to work she wore a different, smart-looking outfit. He assumed that Anne had taken her shopping, although he had yet to receive the bill.
"How is your mother?" He asked about the woman he was no longer speaking to. He knew that sooner or later, he would have to speak with her again as she was his sister. It was awful to throw away a relationship like theirs, but it had been unbearable for the last 3 years, what with Anne's increased drinking. Sierra had told him her mom was 9 months sober, but that remained to be seen.
"She's better uncle-daddy, but she's terribly lonely," Sierra told her uncle. "You should come home and visit. She misses you. I miss you, please uncle-daddy, think about it," she begged him. Their house didn't feel like a home without him in their lives. As much as Sierra adored her mother, and she did, she wanted her parents speaking to each other again. Sierra promised herself that she wouldn't stop working on him until she made that happen!
Sierra knew that her uncle-father loved her mother, loved her very much. They had been a very demonstrative towards each other while she was growing up. They were very affectionate, towards each other and towards Sierra. Rarely did a day go by without a hug and a kiss. Sierra knew that her mother's drinking had driven the wedge between them. Sierra's grandparents had been drinkers and their niece followed in their footsteps. Their son had not. Now, all three were finally getting the help they needed. Sierra just didn't want it to be too late for her mom and the uncle who had helped to raise her.
"I don't see us working things out any time soon, sweetheart," Patrick said to his niece. "All of the passion seemed to go out of your mother; she even stopped painting and doing her gardening. All that she cared about was getting her next drink."
"Things aren't like that any more, uncle-daddy," Sierra defended her mother. "She's looking really good again. Mom has gone to the gym, she's lost weight, she's dressing better and she's even getting out again. Didn't you notice last week, when you came to pick me up for dinner? You know she's a wonderful woman and you two love each other, don't throw all of that away too fast."
"I will think about that, darling," Patrick promised. He did love Anne; he had loved his sister all of his life. Anne had been his confidante and best friend and, unknown to anyone, his first lover. Anne had taken her younger brother to bed and taught him so many things about pleasing a woman by the time he finally started dating, women begged for a second date. Beautiful Sierra was a younger version of her mom, only she had blonde hair like his own instead of her mother's flaming red locks. She had Anne's carriage and bubbly personality too, as well as her overtly sexual nature. Men at the office swarmed around Sierra like bees to honey until they remembered who her uncle was.
"Take a girl out to dinner?" Sierra smiled at her uncle. Her skirt rode up a little and he noticed that his niece was wearing stockings instead of hosiery. Anne liked that as well. They were fishnets, the expensive kind, and Sierra also wore a shiny pair of new black heels. She wasn't actually flaunting her sexy looks but she wasn't hiding them under a bushel either.
Sierra had an ulterior motive. She wanted her daddy at home and if she had to lure him back, she would. Mommy wouldn't object, not after what had happened last week. Someone had to do something before all was lost.
Sierra had always been calculating, she had a facile mind. She was a young girl who knew how to get what she wanted. She either worked for it or through subtle manipulation, found a way. With Uncle Pat, it would be a combination of both.
"Dinner sounds nice, beats eating at that apartment I've been renting," Patrick told her. He flinched when he realized that he had made an error in speaking of it. Sierra didn't know about the place where he met up with Pepper. It didn't really matter because he could tell her that he had the place for nights when he was too tired to make the trip home. She wrinkled up her nose. "What was that for?"
"I remember a few times when mom was ill and you cooked dinner for us," Sierra told her uncle. "You can barbecue but you can't cook worth a damn!"
He laughed. "Blame your grandmother for that, she wouldn't let my father or me into HER kitchen," he told his niece as they left the office. He took the two of them to Baton Rouge, he fancied Prime Rib. Sierra ordered chicken and they both had wine. She wanted him slightly buzzed and driving wouldn't be a problem as he was staying in that apartment he had mentioned earlier.
"Now THAT was a good dinner," Sierra sighed.
"Beats Grilled Cheese, that's for sure," Patrick laughed. "Or Swanson's."
"Let me walk you home uncle-daddy, I can take a cab from your place," Sierra suggested. "The fresh air will clear our heads." She hoped it wouldn't clear them too much as she would need a bit of courage to accomplish her goals and she wanted Patrick just loose enough for his resistance to be lowered. She thought of the irony of using alcohol to accomplish her goals, but it would all work out in the end. Alcohol had caused all this chaos, alcohol could be used to rectify it. In this case, the ends justified the means.
"This is a nice place, uncle-daddy, and it's very private," she told her father. "You can relax here and get away from it all. Has anyone else seen it?"
"No, you're the first," he lied to his niece. "I had tenants here until a few months back and I haven't rented the place out since they moved out."
