Granddad Tom Rules - 21. The Summer Ends 

A week after Mary and Ryan’s encounter on the moonlit beach, she moved into his home. One evening, two weeks after she had moved in, Lynn asked a question at the dinner table. “Are you and my father going to get married?” While the topic of marriage had never been discussed between the two, both had assumed it would eventually happen.

Ryan carefully answered. “We have not discussed marriage. Before I consider marriage to Mrs. Richardson, or Aunt Mary as you have been calling her, I will first discuss it with you and your brother.”

Suddenly Lynn jumped up and screamed, “You cannot marry her.” As she ran out of the room, she screamed, “It will ruin my life if you do!” After the door slammed, they could hear her sobbing in her bedroom.

Mary and Ryan were stunned by her outburst. “I do not know what brought that on. As her father, I must speak to her.”

When he knocked on her bedroom door she whimpered, “Go away.”

“I cannot ignore this. Please let me in. We need to discuss what is going on.”

A very soft, “OK.”

Lynn was lying on her bed, face down. Ryan sat on the edge of the bed.

“Why don’t you want me to marry Aunt Mary?”

Silently she replied, “When I am older, I am going to marry Matt. But if you marry Aunt Mary, he will be my brother. I know it is against the law for a brother and sister to marry. If you marry her, I will lose the love of my life.”

Ryan realized that he had to be very careful with every word he spoke. “If there is a law that states a brother and sister cannot marry, the law only applies to blood brothers and sisters. If you and Matt were born to the same parents or you had the same birth mother but different fathers or same birth father and different mothers, then you would be blood sister and brother. But since your mother and father at birth were not the same people as Matt’s birth mother and father, legally you are not related. So, if Aunt Mary and I were to marry, Matt would technically not be your brother. Do you understand?”

“Do you mean Matt would really not be my brother?”

“Yes.”

Lynn jumped up. She hugged her father. She ran out of the room. “Aunt Mary, you have my permission to marry my father.” She jumped into Mary’s arms and gave her a big hug. “So, when are you going to get married? When will Matt become my not real brother?”

“Slow down young lady. First I have to discuss this with your brother. With his blessing, I will discuss it with Mary. Does anyone want a second piece of cake?”

Barry spoke up, “I want more cake, and you can marry Aunt Mary.”

“Now that I have the blessing of my children, I will talk to Mary.”

That evening Ryan described the reason for Lynn’s outburst. Both assumed that thirteen-year-old Lynn would have a series of crushes. The next day, Mary discussed the situation with Matt. He realized he may have been too flirty with her. Luckily, he would not see Lynn daily after school started. He was in the process of enrolling at Long River High School, a public, not Christian school. He would live in Long River with his Granddad while all assumed Mary would become Mrs. King and the mother of Lynn and Barry living in the Town of Eagle Lake.

Labor Day weekend at the beginning of September was a sad time for Matt and Rick. The two had been inseparable, except during work hours, all summer. After Labor Day Monday, they would no longer share a bed every night. Rick would return to his home in Fairfield and return to the Christian Academy to complete his final year of high school. Matt would live with his granddad in Long River where he would attend his final year of high school. While he looked forward to attending the nonjudgmental public school, he would dearly miss his love, Rick. Fortunately, the distance in time between Long River and Fairfield was about a one hour drive. The first weekend after school started, Matt visited Rick at his home. Then a few days later the two met one afternoon after school at Sleeping Giant State Park, about a thirty-minute drive for each. There the two hiked into the wilderness to do what boys and men in love do.