Lassiter meets 'Lil' Madeline.

There was a general feeling of uneasiness ever since Lassiter returned to the dusty, dirty, forgotten town of......Forgotten. Not because the ruthless, stone cold professional killer for hire was walking around town amongst the town folk. No, they were uneasy because nobody was sure if Lassiter knew that Minerva had settled in town, married Jimmy, was working at Ho Ho's Chinese Emporium and was the proud mother of 'Lil' Madeline, Lassiter's granddaughter. Town folk didn't know how Lassiter a lone gunman, professional killer for hire without scruples, was going to take all the news when he found out. What the town folk didn't know is that Lassiter, while camping in the Grand Canyon, found God and became a born again Christian! One day, Lassiter walked into the Forgotten Mercantile and was buying some chewing tobacco thinking it might be a good idea to cut back on smoking a bit. By chance, Minerva walked in with 'Lil' Madeline straddling her hip to buy a new home spun dress for 'Lil' Madeline's christening. Minerva looked into Lassiter's eyes and saw the steely, stone cold eyes of a professional killer and knew immediately that she had finally found here father, the man who walked out on her family many years ago and left them poorly equipped to unsuccessfully fend for themselves. Minerva's heart started racing as she said, "Daddy, I want you to meet somebody." Lassiter, not used to being called "Daddy," didn't respond, as he tucked the chewing tobacco into his shirt pocket. Minerva said, "Daddy, I'm a talkin' to you." Lassiter slowly turned to face Minerva and their eyes locked for a moment. Lassiter then looked into 'Lil' Madeline's eyes and to his surprise saw two little stone cold, steely gray eyes looking up at him. He knew immediately that Minerva was his daughter and 'Lil' Madeline was his first and only grandchild. That night over a drams of 18 year old Highland Park, 43 vol. with a pale gold color, flowery nose, nuts, honey, cinnamon and ginger flavor and spicy, dry, oaky, smoky hot finish, Ginny the cashier at the Mercantile, swore that she saw the permanently downturned corners of Lassiter's scowling lips deeply etched in his granite like face turn upward with a smile when he saw 'Lil' Madeline earlier that day, if only for a millisecond. Slainte, Tommy Maaltman