---Part Six - Dancing With My Wife ---
Given the details I now understood about Jonah, and the fact that clearly, Veronica had shared with him everything she knew about me, there was no excuse for me to not meet him and at least shake hands with the guy who was allowing me to have the friendship I had with his wife. I could have easily arrived ten minutes early, brought a third coffee from Love's and just talked to the guy, and at least, then, we would all have this shared common thing, this bond of sorts. But, for whatever reason, I never made the effort.
On a Saturday morning, my wife Sandra and I had a garage sale at our house, twenty-five miles from the apartment compound. I had mentioned in passing to Veronica that usually, when we were done with garage sales, I would pack up everything that had not sold and take it to Goodwill or some other donation place so we wouldn't have to hang on to everything. I suggested that perhaps I could bring it by and let her pick through and take anything she wanted. I had no idea that she would look on Craig's List, find the address for our yard sale and show up with Jonah and Emma in tow.
I was standing in the driveway talking with a man about an old grill I was trying to get rid of when my wife exclaimed, "Oh good, more customers!"
We had had a steady stream of people all morning, so I barely gave notice until Emma ran up to me with her arms outreached for me to pick her up. In spite of the fact that I nearly shit my pants with fear, I instinctively asked Emma how she was and what she was doing here.
I told the man looking at the grill to think about it and walked with Emma toward Veronica and Jonah as they walked toward us. My wife, a woman who has never met a stranger, didn't even give it a second thought that this "strange" little girl ran up to me and jumped in my arms as if she knew me. "All the kids love him." she said in the general direction of the young couple. "She is so precious, what's her name?"
"This is Emma." Veronica responded. "She really likes him." She chuckled while looking up at me.
I said, "She is very pretty, just like her mommy." I walked past Veronica to Jonah and handed him Emma saying, "I think this little girl belongs to you!" Jonah took her and smiled at me, again, not in a mean spirited way, but a courteous smile of a fellow father.
Everyone was playing it cool but I could feel myself literally shaking with fear. I had no idea if this was to be some confrontation. Was Jonah here to out me to my wife? It didn't seem like it, but I was still completely caught off guard by this intrusion.
Sandra's actions were not unexpected or really, much different from any of the other people who came by the house to look at our old crap. She has a history of engaging in conversations with total strangers at the store, befriending stray husbands in the aisles at Target to show them where the cleaning products are and joking with people waiting in line for a table at restaurants. Unlike my normally introverted personality, she is the life of the party wherever we go. I mention this only to make the point that, in spite of how unlikely this may sound, this is not unlike my wife at all.
As Jonah and Veronica looked through our stuff, casually picking up nick-knacks, chatting with one another about mugs and small appliances on the tables set up in our driveway, Sandra moved in to offer helpful tips on the history of various things. "My sister found that table cloth at a thrift shop in Fredericksburg but it didn't match any of her stuff. She thought it might match my dining room but James doesn't think so. So, you can have it for a quarter if you like it."
She continued, "So are you new to the neighborhood? We've been here a couple of years now and love it."
"Actually," Jonah offered, "we just happened to be driving around and saw your signs. We live in south San Antonio."
"Oh, well I'm glad you found us. I can recommend a few places in town to eat if you'd like."
At some point between a slow stream of customers, my wife had moved to other people and I walked up to Jonah and shook his hand. I said, "Well done, sir." And chuckled, finally feeling a little less stressed.
Jonah said quietly, "I am so happy to meet you in person. I want you to know that this is all good. I'm okay with you and Veronica being friends. I get it about your need to be on the DL, but your wife seems very nice to me."
"Thank you, Jonah." I said. "I'm sorry I haven't stopped by to meet you before this little visit. I take it Veronica instigated this little trip?"
"Of course." We both laughed.
