Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Friday, November 5, 2010
   "Alex, I have a favor...  A *huge* favor to ask.  And if you say 'no' I
promise I will understand, and I will *not* be mad." Amanda took a deep
breath and waited for this to sink in.
   She and Alex had been neighbors now for fifteen years.  It started back
when they were both married to their now ex-spouses and their children were
still small.  Alex's daughters had gone to college, and his wife had
divorced him.  Her own story was not much better.  An alcoholic husband who
had cheated on her and then left her with a small child in a wheelchair. 
Her story had definitely grown worse in the last month.
   "You know I don't have long." She reached over and touched his hand as
his eyes dampened.  She had grown...  determined.  With only a few months
left, her number one priority had become her sixteen year old daughter.
   When he nodded, she continued.  "I want you to take care of Sarah for
me."
   Alex's eyes widened.  "I'd be honored to.  How do you think she would
feel about that?"
   Amanda grinned.  "She adores you.  But there's one catch...  And the
reason for my favor.  It's her father."
   "What about him?"
   "When I die, Sarah is still a minor, so she would go to her next closest
relative.  Her father.  Assuming the courts come to the conclusion he's
unfit, her next relatives are his family or mine which are all out of
state."
   "I see...  So, would I have to adopt her?"
   Amanda shook her head.  "You can't without her father's permission or
going through the courts.  And I don't have that time."
   "Then what?"
   Amanda took a deep breath.  "You can marry her."
   "Marry her?  She's only sixteen!  And I'm forty-one!  She isn't going to
want to be with some old guy who is technically old enough to be her
grandfather."
   Opening her purse, Amanda removed a leather covered book and slid it to
Alex.  Yellow Post-It notes protruded from the top.  "Read the marked
pages."
   "That's her diary!" He recoiled as if from a venomous snake.  "I can't
read that!"
   He had given it to Sarah for Christmas two years earlier; the bautiful
book had her name embossed on the front.  "I didn't ask you to read the
whole thing.  Just those three pages."
   He took the book and turned to the mark pages.  His eyes grew wide, and
his mouth slowly fell open.  When he made it through all three pages, he
turned back and started over.
   "She loves you," Amanda said.
   "I...  I see that..." He did not sound like it was a good thing.
   Sarah was quite vivid in her writings about how life would be like
married to Alex.
   She replaced the book in her purse.  "Just think about it.  Okay?"
   "And if I don't?  Marry her that is."
   Amanda grinned.  "I have a cousin in Ohio that I'll call.  She has a
daughter a little older than Sarah."
   She stood.  "I need to go pick Sarah up from school.  Just think about
it.  Please."
   "I will." Alex stared off into the future with an unpleasant look on his
face.
   
  
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