While Todd’s father was slim and dark, Todd’s Uncle Frank looked like nothing so much as the descendant of a Viking raider.
Todd himself looked like his mother, Gina, who was Italian – he was strong, but soft, almost pretty, and very dark, very Mediterranean, with black wavy hair and olive skin. Uncle Frank was more than just big – he must have been 6’5’ at least, with shoulders as wide as he was tall, and from what I could see as the flimsy robe fell open, nothing but hard, strong, well-developed muscle. He looked like a gym rat, but I suspected that heaving logs around for this cabin, and wrestling cast-iron stoves into place had more to do with his well-developed physique.
The most arresting feature about Uncle Frank was his face – regular, even features, a handsome face, but with a stern expression that did not need to scowl to say “Don’t mess with me.” I’m quite certain that very few people would care to take that risk…and yet, when he smiled, especially when he laughed, he was like nothing so much as a young wolf cub, strong and sure of his strength and agility, but not one to start a fight where none need happen.
Uncle Frank was much younger than Todd’s father, so Uncle Frank was not that much older than Todd and me – probably not yet thirty. As we finished eating, and talked a bit, I found out that he was a computer programmer and website designer, and made enough money working from the room on the other side of the living room to pay for this house and the land it was on. I asked him how much land he had and he said calmly, “300 acres. I like my privacy. I own all the land down to the state highway we drove up here on, and a couple of miles or so on either side, all the way back to the National Forest at Big Canyon. I didn’t want anyone else near me, and when I’m gone it goes to the National Forest, so it can be preserved as Nature intended. Except for my own little space, of course.”
Having come from a family that had always struggled to make ends meet, and didn’t always go on vacation every year, my jaw dropped. “Wow – you must really be rich to own so much land.”
He said, quietly, “Not really. My needs are simple, and I like it that way, so any money I have goes to the cabin and the land. I keep a low profile.” There was something in his voice, in his manner, that indicated that a change of subject would be a good idea. Todd jumped into the breach and was off and running about school, future plans, modeling, you name it. The Italian danced away from the Great Dane, and a crash was averted.
After a few more minutes, Uncle Frank pushed his chair back from the table a bit, and letting his robe fall open, said “Now don’t you think it’s time to show the chef how grateful you both are?”
I looked at Todd questioningly and he smiled and said, “Don’t worry – just follow me and do what I do. It’s ok.” With that, he slid from his chair down to the floor, and we both crawled on all fours over to Uncle Frank’s chair.