© 2025 Duleigh Lawrence-Townshend. All rights reserved. The author asserts the right to be identified as the author of this story for all portions. All characters are original. Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental. This story or any part thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the expressed written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review or commentary.

This is an update to the 2022 version of Stormwatch - A Date Which Will Live. For comments, questions, or merchandise, please contact the author.

STORMWATCH Chapter 2

A Date Which Will Live in Infamy

"Nica, Nica, wake up." Josh shook Veronica's shoulder gently. He kissed her perfectly smooth shoulder and gently kissed his way to her tiny ear, where he nibbled on her earlobe. His hand cupped her breast through the sheet covering her lithe body and he pushed his hips forward, pressing himself against her warm, round ass.

"Mmm what?" she mumbled. "Don't you ever get enough?" she groaned happily; they had just drifted off to a well-deserved sleep after some marvelous love making in their boss's office. There was something special for Veronica about sitting in Anthony's chair with her feet up, her delicate toes clutching the edge of his desk, and Josh kneeling between her legs, fucking the bejesus out of her. Her vagina has never had a workout like these past few days has provided for her and she relished the aches.

"Nica, listen," said Josh.

Veronica heard it, the sound of motors, trucks, by the sound of it. The growl of trucks accompanied by scraping sounds, like the sound of a snowplow scraping on frozen pavement. She jumped up and peeked out between the slats of the venetian blinds. "They're here!" she squealed. She fumbled for her cell phone, but it had slipped under the couch, and she couldn't find it.

Instead, she walked over to her boss's desk naked and sat in his big comfortable chair, which was still warm from their earlier lovemaking. She picked up his desk phone and called Anthony Friedman, founder and CEO of Andalon Data Systems. "Sir!" she said when "Ant" Friedman answered the phone. "The plows are finally here; we'll be able to open for business in a few hours." A flash of light told her that Josh had taken a picture of her seated at Anthony's desk using his phone, completely nude. But she was in the zone right now. She Launched into what Josh called MBA Mode, and she had work to do. She'll take care of Josh later. Another flash... she looked up and saw that he took the picture with her phone.

Up in North Tonawanda, miles away from the snowstorm that buried Josh Gravely and Veronica von Köster, Anthony looked at his watch. It was a little past midnight. What was his executive assistant doing awake at this hour? Never mind, he laughed to himself. When Veronica told him she was trapped in the building by the storm along with Josh, he was overjoyed for the two. Despite their outward differences, Josh and Veronica were considered a perfect match by Anthony and his wife, Marjorie. Despite outward appearances, they're both smart, driven, and geniuses in their field. 'Salt of the earth,' is how Marjorie described them. Both from working-class backgrounds who struggled up the ladders of success that they had chosen, or had thrust upon them, as in Josh's case. Their temperament is similar and they genuinely like each other, even though they were both too shy to admit their feelings toward each other.

"Calm down little one," said Anthony. Even though Veronica was nearly his same age and was easily six inches taller than him, Anthony always considered Veronica his daughter and would often call her 'little one,' which seemed to make her happy. "What does the weather report look like for the next twenty-four hours?"

"AccuWeather says that the worst of the storm is over, on and off flurries for the next few days," said Veronica as she tried to ignore Josh while he busied himself around Ant's office. Every time she looked to see what he was doing; he raised her phone for another picture. Instead of squealing and covering herself up, Veronica struck a pose. She even put on Anthony's reading glasses and gave Josh a look that said, "I asked you into my office today for a little fun and games."

Veronica was a fashion model for years. The work was arduous and boring, but it paid for her MBA. If there's one other thing that she's proud of, in all those years, no photographer ever got a nude photo of her. They begged and threatened, but she walked off several well-paying shoots and quickly gained a reputation for refusing to shoot nude. She rarely did see-through as well. It cost her a lot of jobs, but she had her standards and advertisers loved that and paid the exorbitant fees she charged. Even her lovers, who wined her and dined her and carried her all over the world on private jets, never got a nude photo of her. Which was odd for someone who, deep down inside, loved to have sex in places where they could be seen or caught. Josh has taken three nude photos of her and was standing in front of Anthony's desk reviewing the photos that he took. She didn't know whether to laugh or hit him. Instead of either, she grabbed his phone and took a photo of him with an erection as he looked at her phone.

Then she realized that Anthony was talking to her...

"Send out a text to all employees and contractors, let everyone know that we'll be starting up day shift ninety minutes late, and when those guys are done with the parking lot, you guys' head home."

"Ninety minutes, got it," she said as she opened her laptop and prepared to send the text to all company cell phones.

"Hey, thanks for holding down the fort," said Ant. "It really helped with you two there watching the farm for us."

"I really didn't do much of anything other than scrounging meals," said Veronica. "It was all Josh, he did a lot of work keeping the exits clear and working over in the data center."

"No, I read the reports you prepared for me on the upcoming installations," said Ant. "You were quite busy yourself." There were several new customers and there was a lot of paperwork and legal dealings to bring them online. Veronica spent a lot of her time these past couple of days preparing the documents needed. It was nice to be able to do all that work without a parade of interruptions, like in her normal day-to-day functions.

"Thank you for noticing. I think the next time we have a new customer to set up, I'm going to work from home with my phone shut off."

Anthony chuckled. He couldn't afford to lose her for a few days when there was a new installation, but there was a way to do the job without losing Veronica. "When you get back, walk over to the legal section and grab somebody, we'll make them your plow mule for new installs."

"Yes sir!" said Veronica joyfully. An assistant! She had an idea who she wanted.

After signing off, Veronica logged into their phone server and sent out the text message, telling all employees that the Andalon data center would reopen at ten thirty AM after being closed by the storm since midday on Monday. Actually, it never closed. With so many people working from home and she and Josh here in person running around the building doing all the needed hands-on work, the data center's service to their customers never flagged.

Closing her laptop, she looked around and saw that the futon couch that she and Josh had been sleeping on for the past four nights was folded back up, the blankets and pillows gone, and the only evidence of their past few days was her clothing neatly folded and waiting for her to wear. And sadly, there was no evidence of Josh other than her cell phone lying on Anthony's desk.

Veronica sadly dressed herself. It was nice having Josh there to help her dress; he was (mostly) a gentleman as she dressed, helping with pulling on her blouse and buttoning it. That kind of thing. He had a bad habit of hiding her bra, however. Once she was dressed, she went looking for Efraim Joshua Gravely. Since he was hired a year ago, she had a thing for Josh; he was so much nicer and more intelligent than he let on and she was able to see through the mask he wore at work. It was like he was playing a grouchy old man just to push people away. When the storm hit and they were trapped in the building, they dropped whatever shields or masks they held up and when their real identities were revealed, they became inseparable lovers. But now he was gone, busy somewhere in this large office complex.

She looked in the break room where they ate most of their meals and found it spotless. The fridge was restocked with bottled water and the trash cans were emptied and empty plastic bags were put in the trash cans. In the janitor's closet, she found that the sheets and pillow covers were in the washing machine and the cycle had started. She walked over to his work area and found that it was neat and clean, but he wasn't there. She peeked out the window and his Jeep was still parked out back. Heading back toward her office, she saw through a window that the snow was recently knocked off the dumpster lid showing that he took their trash outside.

She finally found him standing in the main entryway watching the plows race around the parking lot, scraping it clear of the three feet of snow accumulated in the storm. A huge front-end loader was building a mountain of snow in the northwest corner of the lot. Of course, the walk to the main entry was clear, and he moved her SUV close to the building so they could plow the parking spot it had been sitting in. All week Josh had made sure that all exits were clear in case there was a fire, and they could get out if they needed to.

The sidewalk leading to the main entrance was lined with a dozen snowmen that they made over the week. She noticed he looked very sad as the plows cleared the snow away from her Lincoln SUV. They guessed the crew would take two hours to clear the parking lot, but these guys were fast. They'll be done much sooner than that. Then she noticed Josh wasn't watching the plows as they raced through their job. He was looking at the snowmen that they built.

That evening they made the snowmen was such a joy! They created their army by the light of the parking lot lights.

"I thought you rolled a ball around to make a snowman," said Josh as he watched Veronica carve the base of a snowman out of the pile of snow left from Josh's shoveling.

"You can, but why waste this enormous pile of snow," Veronica replied. With a shovel, she chopped away a base for a snow man and she began to build another pile on top of that from the snow she chopped away.

Josh chopped away a snowman base across the sidewalk from her creation and soon he had a snowman. His snowman was tall and lanky compared to her pudgy snowman. Working together, they had twelve snowmen guarding the entrance of Andalon Data Systems by the end of the evening. "Ain't they gonna melt?" asked Josh. "We made them out of wet, slushy snow."

"There's a method to my madness," said Veronica. "First, it's going to get really cold tonight, down to zero, so these guys are going to freeze solid, and they'll be here all winter." She proudly looked at the army they created.

Josh hugged her from behind and said, "What's the second part of your plan?"

Veronica smiled in satisfaction. "They will think this was your idea."

"What do you mean?"

"They all think I'm some goody two-shoes. Nobody in that building except Mister Friedman would believe that I bait my own hooks, filet my own fish, and have no problem pooping in the forest."

"Why hell, that's my favorite kinda woman," rumbled Josh, letting his South Georgia accent have free rein.

That evening Veronica taught Josh about the difference in snow, from dry and sandy to wet and slushy. The snow falling from the clouds yesterday was cold; it was horrible for snowballs and snowmen but perfect for snow angels. Laughing and hugging, they added a dozen snow angels to their army. They worked together; they competed against each other; they sabotaged each other, and they helped each other. More than once, they ended up rolling in the snow, laughing and kissing and accidentally knocking over one of their "soldiers." In the end, they had two ranks of frozen figures and two ranks of angels guarding the entrance. An army of joy created just for the sheer delight of being silly together.

She leaned against Josh and asked, "What's wrong? Why are you so sad?"

Josh didn't notice that she was standing there. He was reminiscing over the events of the past few days and dreading what life would bring from now on. In a short time, he would go home to an empty apartment adorned with the picture of his cat Sphinx, who died while he was still working for XCom. He would water his houseplant, scratch his teddy bear in a batman costume behind the ears. And then what? Probably what he's done for years; stare at the walls. Alone. He suddenly realized that Veronica didn't have her coat on, so he took off his Air Force surplus parka and put it around her shoulders. Before he realized it, the words just came out, "I want to say that this has been the most wonderful time I've ever had. I'm... I'm just not happy about going back to being alone."

"I... uh..." Veronica felt that darkness settle down over her, too. She's never had so much fun with a man and never felt so loved. How do you say the same thing and not sound needy? They never really spoke about what was going to happen to them when the plows arrived. For the past four days, they lived for two things, working at Andalon Data Systems, and growing closer to each other. Veronica was beginning to think that their work at Andalon was just something to do while they recuperated from their last bout of making love. Anthony gave them until next Wednesday to figure out what direction their lives were going to run. An idea came to mind that will probably protect the pride of both of them. "I will need help clearing my driveway. Do you think you can help?"

Josh immediately brightened. "I'll probably have to swing by my place and get a change of clothes."

"Grab a couple of changes, you still owe me a toboggan ride and a fish fry."

Back on Monday, they had a long, rambling discussion about what a perfect date would be. She told him she wanted to have a picnic near a stream or a lake. He said that they could do that this summer, but for now he promised to take her tobogganing at Chestnut Ridge Park and a fish fry at the Ellicott Manor when they get freed. Now the snowplows were here, digging them out and setting them free. When she reminded him of his promise, a sense of profound relief washed over Josh. He was so terrified that this relationship was just a dream that ended here as the plows cleared the parking lot, but now he has a future for at least a few more days.

"You know, a toboggan ride and a fish fry just might do the trick... then maybe we could spend the night in my cabin and go snowmobiling in the morning."

Veronica looked at Josh in wonder. "You have a snowmobile?"

"Yeah, and I have fifty acres of forest to ride on."

Veronica's jaw dropped. They had discussed his land for an upcoming campout. Even Terri McCarthy had mentioned it, but he never mentioned that it was fifty acres. She had assumed four or five acres at best, but it suddenly became real. Fifty acres of forest with a snowmobile and a cabin? "Why aren't we there right now?"

"Why don't you head out and I'll catch up. I have to lock down the building and set the alarms and fold the laundry..."

"Come here," Veronica said and pulled Josh into her arms. They stood in the late-night darkness, clinging to each other. "I feel so right in your arms."

"I'll always have room in my arms for you," said Josh. He realized he needed to come clean with her before it gets any further. "Honey... I... I'm not..." The words wouldn't come properly.

"What dear, you can tell me," whispered Veronica between growls of the big front-end loader.

"I had a few bad missions. The last one put me out of the Air Force. It busted me and my crew up pretty bad and I..." Josh sighed, then said, "It keeps me up some nights. I lost a good friend and almost lost another."

"Oh!" whimpered Veronica, and she hugged Josh tighter. "Don't hold back on me," she said. "My dad is a Vietnam veteran and there's things he won't talk to me about either, but he has someone to talk to. Do you?"

"Sometimes I wake up and I don't know where I am. That's when I call Ellie, she was there, she understands."

Veronica held him tighter. "It's ok. You don't have to talk to me, but if you want to talk, I'll be here for you."

A sudden wave of relief washed over Josh. "You really don't know how good it makes me feel to hear that." He tipped her head up with a finger under her chin and looked into her glistening eyes. Their lips met, and they kissed long and deeply. When their lips parted, they rubbed foreheads, and he asked, "I ain't woke up screaming all week have I?"

"No," said Veronica. "You snuggle nicely. You purr sometimes."

"Purr, that's sweet," said Josh.

"You do, you snore very softly, it's like you're reminding me that you're close."

"That's where I want to be. Close." Josh looked around and said, "I'm going to go play tape monkey, then I can boogie. Why don't you..."

"Show me," said Veronica. "Show me how you tape monkey."

"Ok, come on." He led her to the server room and showed how each server was backed up to a remote data server or to a tape drive cassette that was about the same size as a video tape cassette for a home video camera from the early twenty-teens. He swapped out the cassette tapes and put the cassette tapes into a small ammo can. "We log the tapes into our master log, and we put them in our ammo can, then we put the ammo can in this safe," and he locked them up. "Later today, a fellow from Iron Mountain will bring us tapes they've had for two weeks and then take these and store them in a safe underground storage site for two weeks. Mister Katzman makes sure the tapes get transferred properly." Mister Katzman was the VP for legal at Andalon Data Systems and he insured the customers that their data was stored in a safe location daily.

"Iron Mountain puts the tapes in a gigantic cave or something?" asked Veronica as Josh filled out the paperwork.

"They own lots of caves for long term storage, but for short term storage like ours, they use retired missile silos."

"I've never been in here before," said Veronica over the sound of the screaming cooling fans. "It's freezing in here!"

"Good. If the air conditioning, went out for about thirty minutes the temperature in here would be over a hundred and fifty degrees and things would start to shut down. If it gets much warmer than that, things will start to melt down."

"Wow. What's this machine?" she pointed to a computer that was different than the others. It had spinning lights that changed colors.

"That's the game server."

"The what?"

"Folks come to this server over the internet and play Spacefall. It's kind of like dungeons and dragons but in outer space," said Josh. "Mateo and Sekani in programming wrote it. We're their beta testers."

"Does Mister Friedman know about this?" demanded Veronica.

"He built this server. If you log in at seven PM, you'll see him and a few of his kids playing, if they did their homework."

"I should have known," said Veronica, smiling. Her boss probably had the game server planned when he designed this company.

Josh chuckled. "Let's boogie."

"Boogie? You want to dance?"

"Uh, in the military it means to skedaddle."

"Now I'm confused."

Josh chuckled, "let's go shovel your driveway."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

It felt good to be back in his Jeep Gladiator. The four-wheel drive beast dug into the snow that blocked him behind the Andalon building, and once he clawed his way free from the parking spot, the snow plows were able to finish clearing the back parking lot. As he came around the side of the building, his phone rang. It was Veronica. He answered the phone by saying, "I miss you."

"Awww. I miss you too Effi. Hey, do you know where the 279 Café is in Springville?"

"Yes I do, best burgers in the county."

"I just called and they're open, let's get breakfast there before we dig out my driveway."

"That is a plan! I'll see you there Nica."

"Bye, Effi"

Josh stopped at his apartment. He had to park in the street and trudge through an unplowed parking lot to get to his apartment. He climbed up the three stories to the top floor, a height that gave him a perfect view of Doc Jarecki's car dealership. He could look all day at cars he could never afford. Doctor Paul was a friend and was able to get him a hell of a deal on his Jeep Gladiator, so there was no need to moon over the Ferraris and Lamborghinis just outside his living room window. (But he still did)

Entering his dusty, cold apartment, he first watered his houseplant, a philodendron named Phil, then he scratched Dave behind the ears. Dave was a Teddy Bear that Ellie sent to keep him company after Sphinx died. He checked the fridge to see if anything in there was growing fur, then headed off to the bedroom to change his clothes and pack.

He packed a backpack full of clothes, socks, underwear, a toothbrush, razor, and shampoo, then he grabbed a few venison chops and venison sausage from the freezer and headed out. As he drove up to Springville where Veronica lives, he made a quick call on his cell phone which woke up a sleeping friend and his wife, but both were ecstatic when he said, "Hey, I have a date tonight, can you help a fellow out?"

"What will it be? roses of morn?" asked his buddy Dick.

"How about let me call you sweetheart," said Josh.

"This sounds serious," said Dick. "Are you lining up a new ex-wife?"

Despite the pain behind that, he made Josh chuckle. Dick could tell a fart joke to the pope and get him to laugh. "Something like that. See you at the Ellicott Manor."

"See you there buddy."

Once upon a time, Springville was a tiny village in the heart of the snow belt south of Buffalo. Named for the high-quality spring steel that was produced there in the late 1800s, its location in the hill country nearly caused its demise when the spring steel factories that the village was named for closed shop and moved to Lackawanna. Springville was a hard location to get to, being up in the hills of southern Erie County the roads were steep and icy and it wasn't a pleasant drive, and after the C&O railroad ended passenger service, it was nearly impossible during the winter to get there. But when the 219 Expressway was completed, it became easy to reach Springville, and a flood of people moved to the beautiful hamlet and bought up the exquisite old mansions and Victorian houses that were abandoned and restored them.

Josh's buddy Paul was one of them. When Paul's brother John became the pastor of the Springville Congregational Church, Paul bought a huge Victorian mansion and moved their parents in so the whole family could be together. Paul also bought a farm just outside of the village where he raised chickens and hid from the world. Josh spent a lot of time at Paul's cabin because several years ago, Josh purchased a plot of land across the street from Paul's farm. Josh's land used to be a scout camp. They eventually became hunting and fishing buddies and called themselves "Hill Williams," which are hillbillys with jobs. But like a proper hillbilly, they measured their self-worth by the amount of split and stacked cord wood they had ready for winter.

Life was good on their land: wild turkey, pheasant, grouse, woodcock, deer, bass, trout, sunfish. They could easily live off the land. Paul and his brother John even harvest maple sap and make their own syrup. And it looked like the girl that eloped with Paul loved the land as much as he did. Now Josh could only wonder if Veronica would enjoy his patch of heaven.

Josh avoided the 219 Expressway. People who had no clue about driving in winter generally took the 219 Expressway far too fast as they headed to the south towns. They often ended up in the ditch, or upside down, or heading south in the north bound lanes. Josh didn't need to see all that and was in no mind set to stop and help, so he set his Gladiator to Four Wheel High and followed the old US 219, now called the Springville-Boston Pike, through some of the most beautiful countryside in New York.

The late-night ride was hypnotic, curving through the hills, climbing steep inclines just to plunge down a sharp decline into a wooded valley far below. He passed a few farms and could see in the bright yard lights it was still gently snowing, and many of the farmhouses were still lit up for Christmas. Finally reaching Springville, he cruised down Main Street and ended up beyond the east end of the village. There in the middle of farm country, Main Street met US 240, and that's where the 279 Café sat. It was well past two AM by the time that he pulled up beside Veronica's Lincoln Navigator in the parking lot.

He walked into the café and there was Veronica; she was seated in a booth and was chatting with the waitress. "This is the fellow I was telling you about," said Veronica.

"Josh?" said Darla, the waitress. "Your mysterious Mister Wonderful is really Josh?"

"Thanks Darla, you really know how to help a guy out," groaned Josh. He leaned over and gave Veronica a kiss. "How are you Nica?"

"Shh, Effi," she said, pausing briefly between kisses. "People are watching." She turned to Darla and said, "How do you know Josh?"

"He's in here every Sunday evening for the blue plate before heading back to the salt mines."

"The salt mines?" Veronica asked Josh with a raised eyebrow.

"That was when I worked for XCom," muttered Josh as he pretended to study the menu.

"True, he has been fairly well behaved this year, he hasn't made fun of Pastor John," said Darla.

"You made fun of my pastor?" demanded Veronica.

"I called him a traitor to his race when he bet on the Montreal Canadiens against the Buffalo Sabres," said Josh as he flipped the pages on the small juke box at the end of the table.

"And he won, didn't he?" demanded Darla.

"Yea, I had to sand and varnish the pews in the old church," grumbled Josh as he poured coffee for Veronica.

"I don't want you picking on my waitress," scolded Veronica.

"Oh, me and Darla go way back. She's my gal pal and she knows that if she's not nice to me, she can't go grouse hunting on my plot," said Josh as Darla sat down next to him.

"That's right darling, now what'll ya have?" asked Darla.

"The usual," said Veronica.

"Same for you hon?" Darla asked Josh, who nodded and handed her back the menu. "I don't know why I bring these out for either of ya." Then she patted Veronica's hand and whispered in her ear. "You found a good man, honey. It's not hard to keep him happy. Just treat him right."

"I didn't know you lived in Springville until Andi mentioned it to me at the party," said Josh.

"Why didn't you say something to me at the party?" asked Veronica.

"Well, it was an enormous party, wall to wall people, and I didn't want to embarrass Andi during her first house party by sweeping you off your feet and promising my undying love in front of everyone. Brides tend to frown on that," said Josh.

Veronica didn't laugh at Josh's silly remark. In fact, she looked very glum. "I was so lonely," she said. "Have you ever been lonely in a room full of people?"

Josh reached out and took her delicate hands in his. "I know awful well how you were feeling, Nica. I was in an unfamiliar environment with people I've known for years. Everything had suddenly changed. I didn't know Paul in a palace, I knew him with a cabin around him, like me. My hunting and drinking buddy suddenly married a girl he knew for just a few hours. My preacher buddy suddenly became a man of the cloth, my singing buddy moved me to tears with Minuit Chrétiens. I've only been to Paul's house once before and both times I felt so lost."

"If you saw me there, why didn't you say hi to me at the party?" asked Veronica.

Josh blushed and stammered while holding her hands. "Ah wuz afraid," he said, his accent coming in full force.

"Afraid of what?"

Josh looked confused. "Everything was wrong. We were in a houseful of doctors and lawyers, local politicians, the upper crust of Springville society, all of Pastor John's church... your folk. I felt like a curiosity, an old yard-bird, a banty rooster in a field full of elegant peacocks. I was terrified that if I said hi, you would turn your back on me."

"Effie, that's not me! You know better than that."

"I'm sorry Nica, I that know now, but back then, I was so afraid. I was raised by the bottom of the barrel. My folks were alcoholics, and we were looked down on by everyone. I didn't want to see that look in your eyes, I couldn't have survived that, not from you. So, I avoided you all night." He sighed and said, "I'm sorry, but I avoided everyone all night."

"Effie, you and I come from the same stock, my dad was a welder at GE, he built locomotives. He raised me and Magda alone and people looked down on us because my mom ran off on us. When GE sold off the locomotive division and laid everyone off, at least got his full retirement." She sniffed and said, "I didn't spend much time at the party." She daubed a tear and said, "I was lonely too."

"I want to meet your dad," said Josh, desperately changing the conversation to happier ground.

"Why?"

"From everything you say, he sounds like an awesome guy." Josh kissed her hand and said, "There's certain things that a man has to say to his daughter's beau. He should get that opportunity."

"Here you go lovers, egg white veggie omelet with a side of turkey bacon, and two eggs over easy on top of hash browns on top of sausage patties with sausage gravy on the side." Darla set the plates down in front of them. "More coffee?"

"Please," said Josh and they began to eat. "I didn't realize how hungry I was."

"We didn't eat dinner," said Veronica. "We were too busy..." and she blushed.

"I ate. I'm sure you noticed," said Josh with a grin.

"Stop!" Blushing and desperately trying to change the subject, Veronica said, "Marie-Claude is your singing partner?"

"Macy? We sing around the campfire in the evening. When John and Paul play their guitars and Macy plays her fiddle, I sing along. I'm nowhere near as good as they are on the guitar, but I try to keep up, and sometimes I play keyboard."

"I can't do any of that," said Veronica, her eyes wide with surprise. Her Josh is a musician... wait, 'Her Josh?' When her mind stopped spinning, she said, "You said you were surprised to see your preacher buddy become a man of the cloth. What does that mean?" She helped herself to some of Josh's hash browns, put them on her plate, and spooned some sausage gravy on them.

"John and I have been hunting and fishing, I helped him with his house, he's been nice, but not what you'd call a holy roller," said Josh as he nibbled a bit of her turkey bacon. "When I went to his church on Christmas eve and heard him preach, and then he performed Paul and Andi's wedding... I was..." Josh could only shrug. "He was good. It wasn't the John that I knew. He had a light about him, and a courage of what he said. And Macy, she just glowed when he preached, she was so proud of him!"

"She should be," said Veronica. "She trained him."

"What?"

"In divinity school, she was his dissertation advisor. She put him in front of her classes and made him teach first year students."

Josh nodded at Macy's wisdom. "The very best way to learn something is to teach it. That's what I did with airmen that had potential to learn, I put them on the Squadron Lead Crew so they could teach other bomb loaders."

"Bomb loader? I thought you were a gunner," said Veronica.

"Being a gunner was just part of the job. It was a very special assignment. Much of my time was spent loading bombs on B-52s, F-16s, A-10s. In my last year I was a supervisor, I just told my expediters what needed to be done and they ran the show."

"It sounds dangerous, but exciting," said Veronica.

"It's only dangerous if you do it wrong. Mostly it was very repetitious. You follow the book step by step and nobody gets hurt, and the plane is ready for war," said Josh. "The worst time I had was in North Dakota fighting the cold, loading nuclear bombs and missiles on a B-52 bomber at fifty below zero, but now that I'm done, it was pretty amazing to do something that nobody else on earth would even try." Then, trying to change the subject, he asked, "What was it like being a fashion model?"

Veronica sighed. "It was boring. All you did was wait. Hours of makeup and hair, then waiting, waiting, waiting for the photographer and the set designer, and the brand representative to get everything set then it's shoot, change clothes and hair then wait, wait, wait. I usually did my homework during the shoot."

"Gawd," groaned Josh. "You're so bright and energetic. It must have been hell on you."

"It drove me crazy. I wanted to get home and dedicate all my time to homework or spending time with my dad."

"You didn't have a big mid-town Manhattan apartment?" asked Josh. He was kidding, but only partially.

"Nope. My salary went to school and the Long Island Rail. I roomed with a friend out on Long Island and ate salads. I saved my money and when I decided to settle down here in Springville, I bought my house cash."

"No kidding? The realtor must have shit! Uh, I mean he was surprised."

Veronica's musical laughter filled the near empty café. "He did nearly shit, when I pulled out the checkbook." By that time, they were finished with breakfast and holding hands across the table.

"I suppose we should get to shoveling," groaned Josh.

"Let's take a nap then hit the driveway," said Veronica as she got her purse out. "I'll get the meal if you get tip."

"Ok, I'll get dinner tonight," and Josh tossed a ten on the table, then he held Veronica's jacket open for her. He was just wearing an insulated vest and a western hat. "See ya Darla!"

"Later hon!" called the waitress as Josh and Veronica left.

"Was that Josh? With Miss von Köster?" asked the cook, peeking through the kitchen window.

"It sure was," said Darla as she rolled silverware into napkins for laying out later.

"Will wonders never cease."

Josh was low on gas and had to drive all the way out to the edge of town to find an open gas station. Once there, he had to wait for the snowplow to finish clearing away the snow from the pumps before he could pull in and fill up. A fellow on the other side of the pumps from him looked shell-shocked as he pumped gas. "Is it always like this?" the fellow asked.

"Yep," said Josh. "Where y'all from?"

"Virginia," said the terrified fellow. "We are driving north to meet her family and suddenly bam! Four feet of snow, from Bradford PA to here. The roads were hell."

Josh knew what the man was going through. South of Springville, the roads didn't get plowed as well as the roads north of the village. He probably had a hell of a drive. "Where ya going?" asked Josh.

"Amherst."

Josh chuckled. "You're in for another twenty-five miles of snow but the roads are clear and Amherst didn't get a flake."

"You sure?"

"Yep, that's how these storms work. I just dug my way out of work a few hours ago, my boss in the Amherst area got nothing. Just stay on the 219 till you get to Orchard Park then take the 90 into town. The roads are all clear from here north."

"Why would somebody live here?" gasped the shell-shocked man.

"The people. That's the only reason. Be good y'all." Josh climbed back into his Gladiator and headed back into the village.

Veronica was one of those yuppies that moved to Springville when she bought a beautiful old Victorian house just across the street from a tree-lined park. As Josh made his way through the sleeping village, he found that Veronica lived just two blocks away from his buddy Paul and Paul's new wife, Andi. Even though the holidays were over, the village was still gaily decorated, many houses were still glowing with Christmas lights, although the lawn ornaments were packed away for next year.

Arriving at the address that Veronica gave him, Josh pulled up behind Veronica's Lincoln Navigator, which was parked in the street. There was a seven-foot-tall mountain of snow left by the snowplow when it cleared the street, blocking her driveway. Josh got out, pulled on his backpack, clipped on his snowshoes and went mountain climbing in downtown Springville, NY.

From what he could see, Veronica's house was a beautiful Victorian house recently painted in a style known as the Painted Lady, once a drab gray, now a rich turquoise with peach, white, and auburn trim. He noticed as he walked across the snow-covered lawn that Veronica had a tough time getting to the house; it looked to Josh that the snow was four feet deep in areas and her footprints showed that she struggled here and there getting to the house. Josh stepped onto the front porch and took off the snowshoes and as he went to ring the doorbell, the front door opened. There she was, an angel of love. Josh's eyes almost teared up with joy when he saw her wearing a beautiful white silk robe adorned with tree branches covered with cherry blossoms. Her blond tresses brushed out, makeup touched up, her smile was warm and genuine. Then she said the most beautiful words he's ever heard.

"Welcome home Effie."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

They slept peacefully. This was their first night together in an actual bed, and they slept soundly. Veronica slept better than she had in years, happy that the man that has been in her dreams for a year was now in her bed. Josh woke occasionally with an anxious feeling that this was all a dream, that he was sucked out of a shattered AC-130 and was falling to his death over some god forsaken shithole. He was terrified that this was a dying dream soon to be interrupted by a sudden high-speed impact with the planet Earth. Each time that thought woke him, he would reach out to touch the woman he cared for so deeply and his anxiety was washed away. She was real! Reassured, he went back to sleep.

As the morning sunrise lit up the room, Josh woke and spent long patient moments looking at her, drinking in her beauty, basking in her smile. He opened his mouth and almost said it; he wanted to shout it, but it's only been a couple of days... or has it been longer? They both hinted at the feelings that were washing over them and both were stunned that love found them. Now it's a matter of handling the baggage that comes with it.

All those months, looking for excuses to walk past her office just to see her, feeling like a lovesick teenager, sometimes feeling like a stalker. But many times, she'd look up from her work and smile and softly say, "Effie!" and if she wasn't busy, she'd invite him in. If she invited him in, he would find an excuse to politely turn down her invitation with an excuse about work, always about his next project, until one day when she said, "I won't bite." He grinned and responded, "Maybe that's why I'm not in there." That's when their relationship got interesting.

Then her eyes fluttered open, and she saw his eyes studying her face. "Mmm... good morning!" she said as they pulled each other close for a morning kiss.

"Morning Nica."

She snuggled up close and used his chest for a pillow. She listened to his heartbeat for a full minute, marveling at how satisfying it was to do this, and how sad it was that she had to wait so long to discover it. "What do you want for breakfast?" she asked.

"You."

"You had that for a midnight snack. I'm craving food."

"We just ate..." He looked at his watch. "Holy crap! It's after ten!"

Veronica nodded and smiled. "We've been more active than normal lately." She waggled her perfect eyebrows at him.

Josh chuckled then said, "What do you say we clear your driveway, get your land yacht off the street and go start our date over at Sally Ann's and get brunch there?" He kissed her head and marveled at how nice her hair smelled.

"If you can get my snow blower started, I'll get coffee started and we'll do just that."

"Deal!"

Josh was dressed and outside in Veronica's garage in moments. He found that the snow blower had a 110-volt starter. A 110-volt starter should be powerful enough to start a dead horse. He plugged the extension cord into the wall outlet and the snow blower's starter, primed the carb, set the choke, set the throttle, then he hit the start button and nothing happened. Starting the snow blower should have been a simple job, except for some reason, safety gizmos were added to the starting process and Josh had to figure out all the different safety gizmos. He was a southern boy, so he never had to play with a snow blower, but after a few minutes of study, he decided they're equivalent to a brush hog that was designed for someone that was too stupid to safely operate a can opener.

His problem was with all the dumbass safety gizmos. He believed that the intent was to keep you from getting your leg chewed off by making it impossible to start the motor. When he figured out the right combination of abusive threats on the lives of the designers and prayers to be divinely held back from carrying out those threats, the motor coughed to life on the seventh try. He had to keep a lever squeezed to keep the motor running, so he fixed that with a length of duct tape. As the snow blower purred and warmed up, Josh cleared the back steps with a shovel and finished as Veronica came out with two insulated coffee cups. He could tell by the smell that Veronica had added a dash of Irish whiskey to the coffee, a little something to ward off the cold.

"Why is it running while you're not over there?" she asked as Josh sipped his coffee.

"Must be a problem with it, I'll take a look."

She walked over to the snow blower and saw the duct tape holding the safety grip closed and frowned at Josh. He came over and said, "I see you found the problem. I knew it wasn't something serious." And he went back to shoveling the steps.

The driveway itself wasn't that hard of a project. It's only one car wide and Veronica was a wizard with her snowblower. She used it with the skill that comes from living alone for years and having to dig out from dozens of snowstorms. The real job was the mountain at the end of the driveway left by the snowplow that cleared the street. Luckily it was piled up recently, and it hasn't frozen solid, so while Veronica cleared the driveway with the machine, Josh attacked Mount von Köster with a snow shovel and a garden shovel. He used the straight-bladed garden shovel to chop the mountain into smaller chunks, then the snow shovel to toss the chunks to the side. He started by cutting a path through the center of the mountain, then began working from the street side of the pile while Veronica cleared the driveway and sidewalk.

After about an hour, Veronica was done with the driveway and sidewalks and began to claw at the portions of Mount von Köster that Josh hadn't shoveled away yet. With the vast hole in the middle of the mountain, Veronica could gnaw away at the massive snow pile until it was gone. Soon they finished the entire job and ended up with two gigantic mountains of snow guarding the entrance to the driveway. Josh took a selfie of them standing in front of their new mountain, cheeks red from the cold, huge smiles from having completed their first task together at her house.

With Veronica's SUV tucked away in the garage, they climbed into Josh's Jeep, and they headed off to their first date which started with Sally Ann's, a little restaurant/flea market in the old B&O Railroad freight station up on Main Street. "Well, what do you think?" asked Josh as he led her down the old freight platform decorated with inexpertly made wooden crates and an actual railroad baggage handling wagon.

"It's so... kitschy!" she said in excitement as they entered and looked around the former B&O freight warehouse. "I don't believe I've never been here; I love it! I can get a lot of ideas here."

Sally Ann's was a combination of an eatery and a garage sale, and the locals love it. Items of all sorts and make filled the old freight station that was built over a hundred years ago. The silverware, dishware, and drink ware used for food service were all mismatched "orphans" which blended in with the atmosphere.

"This doesn't look like your kind of place at all," said Josh, a bit surprised. "What I've seen so far, your house is beautifully decorated. This place is kind of like the opposite." Which was true. This place had everything from washboards to surfboards, but on the other hand Veronica's house was beautiful, thoughtfully decorated, what little he saw of it.

Veronica just looked at him and shook her head. "A diamond mine isn't a basket full of diamonds, you must dig for them. At first glance I can see three pieces that I would just love. Like that lamp over there, with a proper shade it would look beautiful on my sun porch."

"I can't wait to see your sun porch," said Josh.

"Oh gosh! I haven't shown you the house yet!" Veronica suddenly realized how bad of a hostess she was. "I'm so sorry!"

"Hey, calm down," Josh laughed. "We just got sprung, let's concentrate on today and enjoy a meal we didn't have to scrounge from other people's lunches."

"Ok," laughed Veronica, "let's not talk about any future plans for the next twenty-four hours."

"We are going snowmobiling tomorrow, aren't we?"

"I think those plans were set before the boycott," said Veronica. "A night in your cabin and a day snowmobiling."

"Absolutely. No worries about the day after tomorrow." smiled Josh. He wasn't sure where that came from, but it was a good idea. "Let's concentrate on now. We can worry about later, later."

In addition to regular restaurant fare, Sally Ann's was also a bakery offering various breads, buns, bagels, and muffins. They had a delicious brunch of waffles and "Unmanly but delicious European coffee" as Josh put it. Then he pulled out his cell phone and made a quick call. "Hey buddy, are you in your cabin? Everyone? Cool! Can I impose on you? I'm going to spend the night tonight, can I ask you to plow my... she did? Really? That's awesome! Love ya brother!"

"What was that?" asked Veronica.

"I called Paul to ask if he'd plow out my cabin's driveway, and he already got it. Andi plowed it out yesterday."

"Andi plowed it out?" asked a shocked Veronica. She was shocked that the tiny woman could operate a tractor. "They're at the cabin?"

"They're having a blizzard party. Paul loves locking himself in his cabin for a blizzard. The fresh snow is perfect for a snowmobile."

"I can't wait to ask Andi about her wedding cruise," gushed Veronica as she sipped her cappuccino.

"That's not a future plan is it?" taunted Josh.

"Of course not!" insisted Veronica. "It's a social necessity."

"That only works because you're so cute in a knit snow cap with kitty ears."

<><><><><>

Ten miles away in Paul Jarecki's cabin, Andi Jarecki saw the confused look on her new husband's face. "What's wrong honey?"

Paul put down his cell phone and scratched his head. "That was Josh... he sounded... happy."

"So?"

"He's never happy. He called to ask me to plow his driveway because he's going to be here tonight..."

"So?"

Paul looked even more confused. "He ended the call with 'Love ya brother.'"

The crowded cabin went silent. Newly hired governess Yi-jin Carlson said, "So?"

"Something's up," said Paul, then he saw the grin on his sister-in-law's face. "You know don't you!"

"I cannot reveal something that was said to me in confession," said Macy, her grin growing wider.

"You're not a priest; you're a protestant minister and you don't say confession. What's up?"

"It's just a guess, based on a rumor." She turned to the twins and said, "Girls! Let's go gather some eggs for our neighbor Mister Josh."

"YAY!" Any chance to see the chickens was better than a trip to the zoo for Sandy and Madeline. They now have a hen house full of pets and some you can even pet!

<><><><><>

After brunch, Josh and Veronica went for a leisurely shopping tour of Sally Ann's nick-knacks and sundries. Josh bought the lamp that Veronica pointed out and a half dozen assorted muffins. Although they banned talk on future plans for the next twenty-four hours, the muffins were physical evidence that there would be breakfast together tomorrow in the cabin. "Are you ready for Chestnut Ridge?" asked Josh.

"Yes! Uh... what's Chestnut ridge?" asked Veronica.

"You've been here for years, and you don't know what it is?" asked Josh as he helped her into his Jeep.

"Welllllll..."

"It's a county park, and it's gorgeous. A lot of poor saps come out of Buffalo and think it's the wilderness. It really is beautiful, but it's been tamed. Hills, trees, streams... and it is simply beautiful in the fall."

"How come I never heard of it?" asked Veronica.

"You don't watch TV or listen to the radio, so you've missed any story or ad for the park. The Buffalo Philharmonic even plays concerts there."

"Buffalo has a Philharmonic?"

Josh stared at her in shock. "You didn't know? In November they're doing Gershwin, and in December there will be the Holiday Pops concert. I never miss that one..."

"You listen to Gershwin..." said Veronica, more out of shock than anything.

"I love all the classics, Gershwin, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, George Jones, Bach, Beethoven, Johnny Cash... I have tickets to the philharmonic in April for their Dvorak symphony. I doubt Paul is going to want to go now what with kids and all."

For some reason, Veronica was thinking of a high school band quality orchestra. She couldn't picture a full-bodied symphony orchestra in a town like Buffalo. "Are they good?" she finally asked.

"I like them, they're better than Denver, I'd say on par with Philadelphia. I've been told they were at their best when Michael Tilson Thomas was conducting. Do you know Melissa Kraft? She plays piano at John's church. Her son plays first chair in Atlanta. She can probably answer your questions better than I can."

To Veronica, this was amazing. Josh talking intelligently about classical music and symphony orchestras? It's like buying a house and discovering that there's an indoor swimming pool in the back rec-room. "What do you want to do this summer?" asked Veronica.

"Besides the kids campout? I would really like to learn how to sail. Paul comes back from Florida every year talking about sailing and how awesome it is, I'd like to give it a try."

Veronica thought back to the huge Christmas party that Paul and Andi threw at their immense house. "Are they always so crazy about Christmas?"

"Yeah..." said Josh. "Paul is CRAZY about Christmas. I sure hope Andi doesn't lay the Grinch on him. He has permanent Christmas lights on his house that he changes for the seasons and football games. He's got five acres of Blue Spruce just to raise that enormous tree for his house. Only he and John know where the trees are at. They have Saint Nicholas Day parties, and New Years parties, a big Boxing Day gift hand out, and Christmas doesn't end until January 5, which is the twelfth day of Christmas. I kinda wanted to go to the Pajama Party this year now that he has kidlets."

"Pajama Party?" asked Veronica.

"Yeah, Paul has Christmas Eve pajama parties, him and Gus and John and Macy sit up all night and wrap presents for Boxing Day and each other. Macy says they're silly and fun and I missed two in a row. I don't know if Andi is going to put up with something like that." said Josh as they turned into Chestnut Ridge Park.

"I don't think Andi is a grinch," said Veronica. "She loved their Christmas dinner." They drove around the enormous park and Josh pointed out a few things.

"It is so much prettier in the summer with the trees in full leaf, or in autumn with all the colors. In the winter I use it as a shortcut when the 219 expressway is closed."

"I seem to miss autumn every year," sighed Veronica sadly. "I get involved in a project and I don't see anything else around me. When I lift my head up, all the leaves are gone."

"That's kind of sad," said Josh. "It's a pretty world out here."

"Show me."

Now Josh was wondering if Veronica was begging him to share this beautiful area or daring him. He pulled into the parking area at the concession stand and said, "Challenge accepted."

"Where to?" asked Veronica as they got out of the truck. Josh pointed to the top of the distant hill. On that distant hill were two green buildings on stilts, each one had two slides sticking out the front. "Where do we get the toboggan?"

"We rent them here at the concession stand or we bring one from home," said Josh.

"I take it you don't have one at home?"

"No," said Josh. "Not at home." They got a smaller toboggan and started up the hill.

Tobogganing at Chestnut Ridge Park is a winter activity that has been part of Erie County for ninety years. At the top of the hill, two buildings stand on twenty-foot-tall stilts. Each building has two toboggan ramps coming down at a 45-degree angle emptying out onto a hill. It looked like an Olympic ski jump facility to Josh. He's been around the world and been in a lot of crazy situations, but this attraction to snow and ice that these northerners have is beyond him. Veronica had never seen such a thing, but being a bit of a snow bunny, this looked like fun to her.

Josh carried their toboggan up the stairs to the "launch control facility" where the toboggan was placed on a metal rack that was lined up with that ramp that appeared to be a vertical drop to him now. "Has either one of you ever been here before?" the operator asked. Getting a negative response, he asked, "Has either one of you ever been tobogganing or sledding before?"

"I have," answered Veronica. She hugged Josh's arm and said, "He's from South Georgia, he doesn't know what fun is."

"Oh? Where abouts?"

"Saint Mary's," said Josh, who was still studying that drop looming under them.

"Small world! I'm from Nahunta," said the operator, extending a clenched fist, and when they fist bumped, they both said, "Go Dawgs!"

"Yay Buckeyes," Veronica said in a small voice.

"Did you go to Ohio State?" asked Josh.

"Uh huh, I was a cheerleader."

"Go Buckeyes!" cried Josh. "What's a buckeye?"

The Operator placed the toboggan on the launch chute and instructed Josh and Veronica on how to sit on a toboggan and gave them the required safety briefing. Since Veronica had experienced tobogganing in the past, she sat up front, which didn't make much sense to Josh, but he got to hold her as they settled on the toboggan. It felt good to have his arms and legs wrapped around her. "Ok! Are you ready?" asked the operator.

"Yeah!" called Veronica.

"I'll launch you on three, ok? ONE!... TWO!..." With a bang and a whoosh, they were hurtling down the two-story tall ramp, gaining speed as they hurdled downward.

"What the hell happened to three?" demanded Josh as they sailed down the ramp. The end of the ramp came up at them with blinding speed then with a bump, they came off the ramp and were now shooting down the hill, kept in a straight line by metal rails in the snow to either side of them as they hurdled down the hill.

They were still moving at quite a clip when they left the groomed snow of the toboggan runs and hit the softer snow at the base of the hill. There was a cloud of white as they hit that light snow and began to slow down. Eventually they rolled over to their side, mostly because Josh was tickling Veronica, and she leaned over to escape the tickles, causing them to tip over. "That was awesome!" cried Veronica as they untangled. They ended up laying nose to nose in the snow, kissing passionately. Finally, their lips parted. "Gosh how I miss that!" she sighed as she clung to Josh. "Thank you for bringing me here."

"I know it's only our first date," he said, "but I'm hoping to get lucky tonight."

"Me too." Veronica smiled as their lips met again.

On their second run, Josh sat up front. He looked up at the operator and said, "What happened to three?"

"Oh, sorry, did I miss three? I get excited."

"Yes, you missed three."

"Ok, I'm gonna pay special attention this time." The ramp tipped up, and the operator yelled "THREE!" but Josh didn't notice. When the ramp tipped up and the toboggan started down the hill, Josh was somewhere else. The sight of the ground rushing up at him sent him back years. Memories of a mission gone horribly wrong... the smoke and the blood... his friend Craig split open bleeding to death... The "Double Yous" both busted up and in agony, crying over Craig... Ellie blown out of the gunship... Suddenly he was at the bottom of the hill and they were stopped. His hands were grasping the toboggan ropes until his fingers ached. Veronica nudging him, saying, "Hey, we're done. Come on, get up."

Finally, he got up off the toboggan and was shaking, covered in sweat. As they walked to the side Veronica remained quiet until Josh said, "I'm ok, let's do it again, but you sit up front, ok?"

"We don't have to, we can take a break," said a concerned Veronica.

"Nope. When the horse throws you, you get back up on that horse and ride it until the pain is gone."

"If you're sure," she said, and she curled herself around Josh's arm and they walked back up the hill, holding each other tightly. By the time they got to the "launch control facility" Josh was feeling better, and when they got on the toboggan, he felt much better knowing that she was up front. On their third run, Josh brought out the telescoping selfie stick and took several great shots of them roaring down the ramp from the front and from the side.

At the base of the run was an immense stone structure known as the casino, which held the concession stand and a large crackling fire. They went to the casino to warm up by the fire and drink some hot chocolate as they unwound. As they blew on their steaming cocoa, Veronica said softly, "Do you want to talk about it?"

He didn't have to ask. She wasn't stupid. She had to have seen the terror in his eyes on that second run. "No," he said firmly, but then he thought. That will not work. He's going to have to let her know sometime, might as well start now. "I'm sorry, I should never say no. Yeah I got issues. I'm not going to go into details, most things don't bother me, but the sight of the ground coming up at me..." He sighed and closed his eyes. She should go now. Leave this busted up moron behind and find someone who's not so shattered. "I had a mission go bad and it got ugly."

He couldn't tell her or anyone the terror he felt as he was sucked out into the night on that last mission, how he hung from the safety strap, but his hands were covered with blood and as he fought and tried to claw his way back into the fuselage of his shattered aircraft, he couldn't do it. He was slipping down the strap, and the landing lights came on and illuminated the ground coming up at them. Another crew member hauled him aboard, then they hauled Ellie aboard. He strapped her in and to take his mind off of it once he was pulled back in; he spent every moment caring for his wounded crew members to the point that he didn't get secured by the time they hit the runway, and he ended up bouncing around the ship like a rubber ball.

"Was it when you got your callsign?" she asked. He had told her about his callsign, Bounce Two Seven and she's not stupid by any margin. She could put two and two together without having to ask for two of what.

"Yeah, it was a pretty rotten evening."

"Oh." She paused for a long time, then said, "We don't have to go back up there."

"No, you know what? I really think this last run helped, I want to be up front next time... and if you find yourself flying solo, you'll know it didn't work."

She gently touched her forehead to his, their knit hats pressing together. "You are such a nut." Her kiss was sweet and caring and when their lips parted, she asked, "You think it did some good?"

"I really do. Maybe I've been avoiding it so long that finally doing something helped."

"Ok then," she said. "After this one, you owe me some tubing."

"Roger dat," he grinned, and they kissed again. He wanted to say it... that secret he's been dying to admit, no he wanted to scream it... but he didn't, and little did he know that Veronica was wrestling with a similar quandary. The toboggan became easier when Josh focused his eyes on the distant horizon and ignored the ground until they came off the ramp. After a couple more toboggan runs filled with laughter and wrestling at the bottom of the hill, Josh turned the rental toboggan back in and said, "Tubing is BYO here." They walked over to his Gladiator and he lifted the cover on the bed of the truck. "I don't have tubes, but remember Christmas Vacation?" He lifted two plastic discs out of the back of the truck. They were like the disc Chevy Chase rode in the movie Christmas Vacation, but plastic.

"This is a kid's sled," said Veronica.

"Is that a problem?"

"No, but why do you have a kids sled in the back of your truck?" she asked with a grin.

Josh shrugged, "I have some hills on my land and I never went sledding before, so I got one for me and one for Macy, John or Paul, whoever wants to play along. We end up towing each other around on the snowmobile."

"Y'all crazy!" said Veronica as they headed back up the hill.

"Well said, Miss von Köster," chuckled Josh.

They spent the rest of the day sledding down the hills, then walking back up the hills hand in hand. They played until they were exhausted. Neither could remember when they laughed so much and had so much fun. Finally, they were told by a park ranger that the park would close soon. "Ready for your fish fry?" he asked.

"Oh, hell yea I'm starving!" They tossed their disks in the back of the truck and climbed into Josh's Jeep Gladiator pickup. As Veronica buckled in, she inspected the roof, then finally asked, "How does it come off?"

"The roof? It doesn't. I didn't get the soft top."

"Terri mentioned driving with you and having the roof off." Veronica didn't mention Terri's desire to ride topless.

"Oh, that's my other jeep, it's a classic. It's a 1949 Willys CJ-2A and it's parked up at my cabin."

"Can I see it?"

"Sure, we can fire it up if you want, but it doesn't have a heater."

The drive to their dinner destination was a bit of a long ride, and it was well past dark when they arrived. "We made it!" said Josh as they parked in front of what was a residential home that was converted to a neighborhood bar decades ago. "They only serve for another hour."

"It's only six, they shut down that early?" Veronica was shocked to see a restaurant stop service that early.

"This is sort of..." Josh searched for the words and failed to find anything that adequately described the Ellicott Manor, so he said, "think of it as a rec center that serves beer. Several ball teams are sponsored here, and they practice in the field out back, there's a picnic grove out back too and an ungroomed cross country ski trail, even a train watching park. Inside they do weddings and other gatherings, several groups meet here because of the facilities," he said as he opened the door for Veronica.

She stepped in to find a typical neighborhood bar still gayly decorated for Christmas occupying the front room, and behind the bar was a big gruff-looking bar tender who nodded to Josh. "I love this place!" gasped Veronica. "It reminds me of the pubs back home." Home for Veronica is only seventy-five miles away in Erie, Pennsylvania.

"What would you like?" Josh asked. He wasn't sure if this place offered wine, but if it did, it probably came in a screw top bottle. He knows she likes red wine and just about anything with vodka.

Veronica's pretty eyes roved across the bar and finally said, "Just a ginger ale for now." Josh got her a ginger ale and a draft beer for himself. Both drinks were served in the same style glass and the only way to tell them apart was the ice cubes. Drinks in hand, they headed into the back for dinner and a waitress waved to Josh.

"Sit anywhere you want," she called.

Josh waved and said, "Hi," then held up two fingers. The waitress nodded and wrote something on her pad and went back to clearing a table. The back area was a huge, wide-open room with many tables set up haphazardly, from tiny two-seat tables to long tables that could easily seat sixteen people. They chose their table and sat down, holding hands across the table. They reviewed the fun they'd had, and Josh was aching again to say what was foremost on his mind, but he just couldn't.

"Is there a menu?" Veronica asked.

"Nope, you only have two choices," Josh said, "fish fry, or no fish fry."

"What if I want something else?"

"There's pretzels at the bar or a McDonalds about a mile up Walden Avenue." When Veronica looked a bit shocked, Josh explained, "The only thing they serve is Friday fish fry. Every other day of the week it's frozen pizza or microwave wings. This is a bar; they only serve food because the law requires it."

Before she could react, the sound of four-part harmony filled the restaurant and Veronica smiled, "A barbershop quartet!" and sure enough, there were four men that were walking around the restaurant with a large coin bank that looked like a barber pole and for a donation to their charity they would serenade the table with a song. "I love good harmony," she sighed as she leaned back and listened to the men sing. "You don't get vocals very often when you're dancing in competition, and I love acapella harmony... why are you grinning?"

"I just came up with a solution to a conundrum," he said as he gestured the quartet over.

"Hey stranger that I never met before," grinned one of the singers. He had a handlebar mustache and an actual straw hat.

"I'd say he's a perfect stranger," said another.

"But nobody's perfect," chimed in the whole quartet.

"You've never met these fellows before?" smiled Veronica.

"No, not me," said Josh, doing a terrible job of acting innocent.

"How can we help you young man?" asked the lead singer, the guy with the amazing mustache who was clearly younger than Josh.

"I've got something I need to say and I... uh..." Josh couldn't finish.

"Maybe we can help," said the bass in his very deep voice.

"I'd appreciate it," sighed Josh.

The bass singer cleared his throat and rattled the bank. "Maybe we can help," said the bass in his very deep voice.

Josh folded up a ten-dollar bill and put it in the bank as Veronica said, "It cost ten dollars a song?"

"No," said Josh, "It costs three dollars a song, it costs seven dollars for them to leave when they're done singing." Veronica giggled, knowing that something was going on here.

The lead singer took a circular device out of his pocket, put it to his lips, and blew a single note. The four men took a deep breath, and Josh took Veronica's hands in his. The quartet began to sing. "Le..." they didn't get the first word out when the fellow who sang lead started coughing and walked away.

The baritone put his hand on Josh's shoulder and said, "sorry fella, but can you sing lead?"

Josh squeezed his eyes closed and shook his head slowly; he knew these guys would pull this, he just knew it. He smiled nervously at Veronica, who was surprised when he stood up next to her and the three remaining men took up position around him.

"What's the first word?" asked Josh.

"Let," said the tenor, a large red-faced white-haired Irishman.

"Ok, good, got it," said Josh. He paused, ready to sing, then he asked, "What's the second word?" The three men glared at him. "Me," said the baritone.

"Ok guys, let's do this... whenever you're ready," said Josh.

"Uh, buddy... you're the lead."

"Oh," said Josh. "Right. That's very different."

Then, in perfect four-part harmony, they began to sing:

Let me call you Sweetheart

I'm in love with you

Let me hear you whisper

That you love me too

Keep the love light glowing

In your eyes so true

Let me call you Sweetheart

I'm in love with you

The last chord was so perfect that their four voices combined to create a harmonic fifth voice. The whole time he sang, Josh's eyes were locked on to Veronica's eyes. She literally melted. Veronica was in shock. She was being serenaded? She's been romanced by so many rich and powerful men. She's been on dates that have taken her all over the world, but they never did anything to show her their feelings. They spent money and hired other people to do things. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think she'd be moved to tears of joy being serenaded by her lover with a barbershop quartet in a working-class bar in Lancaster, New York.

When the quartet hit the last note that rang through the building, Veronica jumped up and threw her arms around Josh. He looked her in the eye and said, "I love you Nica."

"I love you too Effie," she said, still in shock but completely unembarrassed as she became the recipient of the most passionate kiss in her life. All eyes were on them, and the patrons of the restaurant applauded the lovers sat down, their eyes drinking in each other's eyes.

"I've been trying to say that since the snowplows came," said Josh, his eyes soft and vulnerable. "When they arrived, I was terrified that this was the end of a wonderful dream. I was so afraid that when the road was open, you'd say goodbye."

"That was my fear too," said Veronica. "In the past I would meet a man, and he would tell me I was his one and only, until he went back home to a wife he never mentioned." As Josh gently kissed away her tears, she said, "I was so tired of being a 'side piece'... but you..."

"Shhh," he hushed her with a finger to her lips.

The rest of the evening was a swirl of utter joy in Veronica's mind. She remembered being served her dinner, but she didn't remember eating. All she remembered was the love in Josh's eyes when he sang to her. "I didn't know you sang harmony like this," she finally said.

Josh shrugged. "It's fun. We had to take music in my school, and we couldn't afford an instrument, so I learned to sing. I was the only redneck in my class that didn't have a guitar. In my junior year we did The Music Man and that's where I learned to sing Barbershop Harmony."

"I love that movie," sighed Veronica, thinking back to the many times she's watched it with her dad.

"The quartet in that movie is from here in Buffalo," said Josh softly as he fed Veronica a bite of fish. "Anyhow, I don't do it too often, but it settles my nerves."

"Your nerves?"

"It's nice to be able to make a sound that makes people feel good." He didn't add that many of the sounds he's made in the past did the opposite to people if they lived. "We can talk about that later. What do you think about the guys?"

"They're funny, do you know them?"

"Yeah, I come here on Fridays, the chorus will be showing up eventually." Josh waved the quartet over. "Guys, this is my girl Veronica, Ronnie this is the Gentlemen's Disagreement, Johnny is the tenor, the guy with the frog in his throat is the lead Dick, our baritone is normally me, but Eddie is filling in, and Sam is the bass."

"That's so sweet, you guys singing to raise money for charity," smiled Veronica.

"Not quite," said Sam. "We sing because we like to sing, they're giving us money to go away and bother someone else. We give that money to charity."

"We think we're a comedy quartet," said Josh as he held up a ten-dollar bill. "Here, go bother someone else."

Eddie snagged the ten and said, "the sentiment is right, but our rates have gone up."

Dick leaned toward Veronica and, with his perfectly waxed handlebar mustache wagging, asked, "tell me miss, do you have any interests? Any special talents?"

"I... I like to dance..."

"She likes to dance! Did you hear that fellow?" Dick took an evil pleasure in twirling his mustache.

"Oh no..." said Josh in a tiny voice as Eddie pulled him out of his chair and Josh lined up with his quartet while Eddie sat down next to Veronica.

"We do this all the time," said Eddie. "Don't worry, he'll be fine." Other members of the chorus who had just arrived started assembling. On cue, Josh's quartet started singing sweetly.

I met a girl who told me she's a dancer

A prettier girl I've never seen before

I went to the theater to see her

What a SHOCK when I opened up the dooooooorrrr

They took a deep breath and let it fly in perfect four-part harmony

She was dancing the Bump. Bump. Bumpity Bump.

The audience was going wild!

She looked at me and threw me a kiss

As I came stumbling' down the aisle.

Now more men had joined in. Their singing grew more enthusiastic and louder with each line of the verse.

With every Bump. Bump. Bumpity Bump,

My heart started bumping tooooooo

Now every night you'll see me in a front-row seat

I'll be cheering with the rest of them and stomping' my feet

I knew I met a gal who made my life complete

With her Bump. Bump. Bumpity, Bumpity. Bump.

Veronica began laughing at the very first "Bump." And when Johnny began doing the worst imitation of a bump and grind in the history of dance, Veronica got up and danced with him as the quartet became an octet, and then a chorus. Soon everyone, including the restaurant patrons, was clapping their hands in time with the music and singing along.

Now when I get home each night about five, she's got that radio on

She starts dancing all around the kitchen floor

The neighbors peeking in and shouting "More, more, more!"

They asked if I'd sell tickets at my front door

To watch her dance, dance, dance, the Bumpity Bump!

After shaking hands and thanking the Gentlemen's Disagreement for the serenade and the dancing lesson, Josh and Veronica took their leave. Loaded down with foam containers brimming with leftovers, they climbed into Josh's Jeep and headed south.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Here in Lancaster, they barely got an inch of snow in the storm that trapped Josh and Veronica in their building for four days, and most of that was gone. He turned on a station that was playing classical music and pulled into Tim Horton's and ordered two extra-large double-doubles before heading back to Springville.

They cruised slowly through the neighborhoods to look at the remaining Christmas lights. Many of the houses that were built in the pre-civil war 1800s were lit up with flood lights and huge evergreen wreaths were hanging on the houses between windows. Many houses had a single electric candle in each window, a beautiful and simple display.

Eventually he got on the expressway, but as they got to Orchard Park, the halfway point, he got off the expressway at US 391, the Boston State Road. "Where are we going?" Veronica asked. She was hoping to hurry home and celebrate their mutual confession of love.

"One more surprise," he said as he took her hand. "I couldn't pass up taking the grand tour." It turned out that the grand tour followed US 391 through a long glacier carved valley south through the hamlets of North Boston and Boston, New York. Houses and businesses in both were decorated with white lights outlining their windows. By now they were back in snow country and the snow made the scenery even more festive. "My folks would have loved seeing this so much," he said softly. " Ma was such a nut about Christmas, and snow! Every level surface in our house was covered with white cotton with glitter to look like snow. She never saw real snow in her entire life." He shook his head sadly. "That was before I was born.

After passing through Boston, he turned onto Trevette road and followed that up out of the valley and through the countryside. "I know where we are... I think," said Veronica. "At the other end of Trevette Road is the Zoar Valley. It's where I go fly fishing!" she said brightly.

"We're not going quite that far," he said as they looked at the little farmsteads illuminated by bright yard lights. As they traveled southward, it started to snow gently, and as they crossed US39, he began to show off his favorite part of the earth. "Ok, this first farm here is Gerry and Irma Hirsh's dairy farm," said Josh as he pointed to a big, beautiful farmhouse and dairy barn on their right. "That's where Andi went off the road in the early December blizzard and Paul rescued her."

"We got cows," said Veronica as she looked out the window at the Hirsh's modest dairy herd illuminated by their yard light.

"If you like whole milk, we'll swing by and pick up a gallon of fresh in the morning if you'd like."

"That sounds wonderful."

Josh continued to play tour guide as they drove along the narrow road. The snowbanks built up by plows were over five feet high in some areas. "This plot is owned by a couple of cousins; it was left to them by their grandpa... this plot here is where my buddy Paul holes up when he's not counting his money... over there is Brad and Dianna Clemmon's hog farm... and right across from Paul is my Scout Camp. Andi dug out my driveway for me and she left the gate open for us."

He turned left off the road into a driveway that stretched back about 100 yards. A double line of pine trees blocked the view of Josh's land from the road, as they passed the trees Veronica saw the main cabin, a large garage, and down by what must be a lake a smaller building, then out by the edge of the woods another log cabin.

"How big was the scout camp?" Veronica asked.

"The land is fifty acres and was a Scout Camp back in the 40's, with my cabin there were about twelve cabins. We think that mine used to be the camp office and leadership cabin. Back in the trees are three cabins still standing of the original twelve, the lake is that flat area over there if you can see it, and the small building is a boat house and changing house."

"It's beautiful!" gasped Veronica as the moon shone through a break in the clouds and illuminated the scenery. Tall pine trees in a stately forest beckoned, a huge weeping willow hanging over the edge of the lake with a rope swing waited patiently for summer. "We need to get cross country skis! I want to explore every inch of the land. And this cabin! It's yours?" Veronica gushed at the sight of the large single story log cabin with a bright blue steel roof. It was perfectly rectangular. The long side facing the pond to the northeast was shaded by a full-width patio roof that was lined by Christmas lights which were glowing faintly in the night.

"Yes ma'am, nothing special or splashy, probably made from untreated telephone poles and chinked with actual mud, but it's holding up, no signs of rot or decay."

"Can we do that?" asked Veronica. "Can we get skis or snowshoes and explore the forest?"

"Sure, and I have several sets of snowshoes. I've walked the perimeter once, right after I bought it, I have fifty acres, it would be interesting to do it on snowshoes," he said. Then he scooped Veronica up in his arms, ignoring her warnings about his back, and carried her across the threshold. "Welcome home Nica," he said, echoing her sentiment from very early that morning. Then, inside the cabin, he lowered her feet to the ground.

As they broke their kiss, Veronica rubbed her snow-covered mittens on Josh's face playfully. "The next time you do that it better be for real mister!" He released her, and she looked around at the cabin. "It's beautiful!" she gasped. The cabin was dominated by a large common room with an enormous stone fireplace where a fire crackled merrily and had the cabin warmed up nicely. "When did you start this fire?" she asked.

"I asked Paul to light it for me. I texted him when we left Tim Hortons," said Josh as he led Veronica around the cabin. "To the right is the kitchen area, it's where I will prepare your breakfast," he said as he placed the package of muffins that they bought that morning at Sally Ann's on the counter and the leftovers from dinner in the small refrigerator. He noticed a half dozen eggs, and some bacon wrapped in wax paper. Each egg had today's date on them. "Sandy and Madeline brought us eggs," he said.

The kitchen area had a few assorted cabinets scrounged from random rebuilds, a three-burner electric stove and oven, sink, microwave and air fryer.

"Mmmmm, I can't wait to eat," she said, licking her lips. She wasn't talking about leftovers or muffins.

"Here is where I prefer to cook," he said as he showed her the huge fireplace with a heat exchanger that gets heated by the fire, it pulls in cold air from the cabin and blows it through the exchanger which heats the air and returns it to the cabin. "When you close the glass doors like this... it makes magic." The accordion fold doors closed and soon the flames changed from a merry crackle to a slow, magical dance, waving like seaweed in the ocean currents.

"They do that because they're oxygen starved. I'm getting starved for something too," she grinned as she grabbed his crotch and kneaded his cock and balls. It's been almost 24 hours since they last made love, the longest period they spent celibate since they first touched.

"I'm a bit peckish myself," he said and gave her a forceful kiss that left her panting. "But I need to check the plumbing and make sure it didn't freeze, you don't want to use the exterior facilities in this weather."

"No sir!" and Veronica responded with a kiss that left Josh gasping. "You just do what needs to be done, and I'll look around some."

"Yes ma'am!" and he crossed over to the sink and stuck his head under the cabinet. Indoor plumbing in a building that's not heated for much of the winter has its own hardships. All water lines are protected by heat tape, but they need to be routinely checked for failure. While Josh inspected the plumbing for cracked and broken pipes, Veronica inspected the cabin for everything else.

Veronica was mostly looking for mementos of his past, there were mostly objects that Josh thought were interesting on the walls, things like antique snowshoes, a couple of black powder rifles, leg traps, antique fishing poles, a woven trout creel, and the like. There were several pictures on the walls of Josh hunting and fishing. Several of those were with Paul and John Jarecki. On the same wall she found a display case showing a properly folded American Flag, several silver badges he wore on his uniform, one looked like a rocket, there was a set of wings, several medals one of which looked like George Washington's profile on the medal, and a rack of ribbons with lots and lots of ribbons. "You have a lot of ribbons," she mentioned, not expecting an explanation but hoping she might get something from him. He stepped up next to her and held her close.

"When you fly special ops, you tend to get a lot of ribbons." He didn't mention there were quite a few more ribbons from classified missions that will probably never see the light of day.

She couldn't help but notice that bit of disdain in his voice. "You probably got boxes of stuff at your apartment, plaques and awards and photos, why don't you put them up?"

He took the blond beauty in his arms and looked deep into her eyes. "I don't need a wall to remind me of that part of my life anymore, that's over. Uncle Sam told me that he don't want me no more, so I'm done being GI Joe. I want a wall dedicated to us."

"Ohhh," she whined as tears came to her eyes. He's shown more genuine love, affection, and respect for her in a week than all the men in her past who promised her so much had ever shown her in her life. A simple serenade in a small bar, playing in the snow, dancing the bumpety bump with his buddies... She held him tight, trying to keep from crying. He kissed her tenderly, then returned to his plumbing inspection, and she returned to snooping.

That folded flag was probably Josh's retirement flag. Next to it was a framed document, just a normal, everyday looking government document. She looked closer; it was his DD214, his certificate of honorable discharge. "Only my Josh would frame something innocuous as that..." she thought, and it felt good to think, "my Josh." She took a picture of those ribbons. She wanted to look them up online, because she was sure that Josh wasn't going to tell her what they stood for.

Next Veronica explored the bedroom which was bare but for a queen-size bed, an electric heater, and a dresser which had several changes of clothes, and nothing else, no pictures, no memorabilia, just a couple of robes hanging from hooks on the inside of the door. She noticed that one pillow on the bed was askew, but otherwise, that was it. The main room had all sorts of decorations one would find in a cabin, even a hornet's nest hanging on the wall, but nothing in the bedroom. The only thing on the walls was a window, still shuttered closed from the inside. It is almost sad; she felt that his inner sanctum had no reminders of his life outside the walls. She turned on the electric heater, then took a red terrycloth robe from the door and exchanged all of her clothing for the robe. Before returning to the main room, she straightened up that pillow and found something underneath that made her smile.

Returning to the living room, she reclined on the couch which sat in front of the fireplace. On the coffee table sat a couple bottles of wine and a cheese and fruit tray. "Did your neighbor drop this off?" asked Veronica, as she inspected the labels by the light of a kerosene lamp.

"Probably Macy, she's my cupid," said Josh as he finished inspecting the bathroom plumbing.

"Macy is cupid?"

"Yeah, she's constantly trying to hook me up. I called Paul last night and said, 'Hey, I have a date on Friday, can you clear the driveway for me?' She probably heard me say that and was over the moon, I'm surprised she didn't fill the room with roses and leave a pair of fuzzy handcuffs."

"Why don't you take those clothes off and join me in a shower?" asked Veronica.

"You, my angel, are a mind reader," he said with a grin, and stepped into the bedroom. He emerged wearing the remaining green bathrobe. Both robes were heavy terrycloth and nearly floor length.

"These are nice robes," she said as she examined one that he wore. They even have hoods. "These are the last things I would have expected in a guy's cabin. And why two? Is there somebody else?" those last two words were said amid a darkening cloud of jealousy that was almost visible.

"There hasn't been somebody else since I came home all shot up and found Senor Alfonso living with my wife and his baby." Josh paused and frowned. "I will admit there was three weeks of mayhem with the beach bunnies of Fort Walton beach but that hurt worse than getting bounced on landing." Veronica looked at him in confusion, and he tapped his chest, indicating his heart. "It hurt here. Trust me, hate fucking someone out of your life is..." He looked at her with eyes full of terror. "You're not..." The thought that Veronica was hate fucking her former fiancé away terrified him.

"NO! Oh God no!" cried Veronica. "Jameson was gone from my heart months ago. I was just hanging on to a dream." She sniffed and said, "You can only kick a dog so much before they get the idea."

Josh pulled Veronica into his arms and said, "I don't know why that came over me. I really don't. I love you and I trust you Nica." They clung to each other and let their mutual pain diminish. "God how I want to beat that man for treating you like he did."

"How? How do you trust me?" she asked through tear-filled eyes. "If I said I wasn't sleeping with you to get back at Jameson, how do you trust me?"

"A man I greatly admire, a man who rescued me from that insane hell hole called XCom trusts you with his company and his wife's dreams and that's good enough for me," said Josh.

"And that's good enough for me," said Veronica as she opened his robe a little and kissed his chest. "I think that before we do anything permanent, we bask in our love until we know we've healed."

"I agree," said Josh. "A promise is a promise," he said as he touched her engagement ring that they're now calling a promise ring. "What say I get a smaller ring so people don't think we're engaged."

"What say I don't care what other people think," said Veronica and she curled her arm around Josh's neck and pulled him in for a kiss. "I found a man that trusts me and..." she thought for a moment and said, "If I find you beating up Jameson and I ask you to stop, will you?"

"Why on earth would you do that?" asked Josh.

She held the ring up in front of his nose and said, "Because that's your brother-in-law."

"Whatever you ask, the answer is yes," said Josh. "Let's hit the shower. And I got two robes because occasionally one is in town for laundry, and look, once the fire goes out it's a long cold walk to the bathroom."

And he was right. The bathroom is on the opposite end of the cabin from the bedroom, next to the kitchen area. She immediately realized the need for a warm, heavy bathrobe.

"Why is the bathroom way over here?" she asked as she peered into the door that led to the bathroom. It was a utility room with a chest freezer covered with a plastic tarp at one end and the shower at the other end. Shelves and cupboards lined the wall, and a vent fan clattered as it drew the humid air out. She peeked in the cupboards and saw shelves of canned food: soup, vegetables, beans, sauces, and spam. To her right was a large water heater, and beyond that was the shower. Plastic dividers kept the water spray contained and off the water heater and toilet that sat between the shower and the water heater.

"That keeps the plumbing all in one place. The kitchen sink is on the other side of the wall and the outside hose spigot is right next to the shower."

"Smart, saves on pipe," said Veronica. "And the tarp?"

"The tarp keeps the humidity from the shower off the freezer," said Josh as he turned on the shower.

"Would you mind if I rearranged your cabin?" she asked.

"Yes."

"How about the bathroom and kitchen?"

"You can have complete control over this end of the cabin," said Josh. He hated the tiny kitchen. There was room for a bigger kitchen here. "But Toby stays."

"How often are you up here?" she asked as Josh gently lifted the robe from her shoulders, exposing her delightful body. Her full breasts jiggled slightly as her breathing deepened. He hung the robe up, then took off his robe.

"Whenever I don't have to work," said Josh, as Veronica caressed his throbbing cock. Her delicate fingers cupped his heavy balls and hefted them. She's worked hard to keep them drained this week and they've held up to the strain. My apartment is just a place to collect mail and sleep between weekday shifts.

They stepped under the warm spray of the old-fashioned shower head. There was no shower stall per se, it was just a corner of the room with a shower curtain to keep the spray contained. Their lips met and his tongue sought hers as the warm water splashed over them. Candles on the shelf next to the shower gave a golden glow to Veronica's flawless skin. Soft classical music filtering in from the main room sparked their new love.

Their shower was long and playful. They lathered and washed each other, luxuriating in the feel of hand against skin lubricated by soap and hot water. Their bodies were constantly touching each other, their hands constantly moving as they washed their favorite parts of each other's bodies.

Finally, after rinsing off, they dried each other with Josh's towels... "Way to kill a mood," complained Veronica. "Where did you find sheets of sandpaper this big?"

"What, these are my best towels."

"Ever hear of fabric softener?"

"No, it turns the pond blue, makes the fish sick, and they taste funny."

"You wash them in the POND? You goof!"

"I wash them at home," Josh admitted. "I put a softener sheet in the dryer." He noticed from the glare he received that he clearly was not measuring up to her standards. "Sorry..." he said in a tiny voice.

Veronica sighed then said, "I need the facilities, you can pour some of that wine for us and I'll be right with you," and she hustled him out of the door. Josh went to the coffee table and uncorked a bottle of wine; he selected the white wine because he liked German wines, and he hoped this would be close. It wasn't, but it wasn't horrible. Veronica soon came out of the bathroom wearing the robe over her shoulders, but her hands were not in the sleeves. They were under the robe, holding it closed. She stood in the firelight without saying a word.

"What's the matter?" asked Josh.

Veronica shrugged the robe off and stood naked before Josh. The only thing she was wearing was the fuzzy pink handcuffs that Josh's little cupid left under the pillow. "It's your turn to drive," she said.

Josh gave her a smile and hugged her from behind, grinding his crotch into the cheeks of her delectable ass, his hands gripping her firm, round breasts. "This could end up being a bumpy ride."

Veronica arched her back, offering her breasts to his groping hands and pushing her firm ass cheeks back at his cock. "Mmmm," she groaned as he pinched and pulled her nipples. "The bumpier, the better." She ground her ass against him, reveling in the feeling of lustful playfulness.

As he explored her ear with his tongue, he growled, "The words "no" and "stop" no longer have a meaning tonight. You can beg me to stop all you want, but you'll only get worse." Veronica rolled her eyes and groaned under the skillful manipulation of her breasts; this was sounding good to her. Very good. "It will only stop if you ask for chocolate," he grinned.

"This is one of the most interesting safe words I've ever heard," she said. Has she played this game before?

He produced several lengths of cotton rope and tossed one over the beam above her head, then tied it off to her handcuffs, then pulled on the other end. In a few minutes, her hands were stretched upwards, legs were tied at the ankles and spread apart and tied off to the couch and a heavy iron rack holding firewood. She was naked, vulnerable, spread wide open, and tied up in a cabin, miles from help, completely at his mercy.

"Do you understand?" Josh asked one last time. "You are all mine, I'm going to do anything I want with you."

In a deep, breathy voice, she answered, "Yes my lord." Veronica took a deep breath and smiled. All those bastards who have used her in the past, not a one of them had the courage or imagination to try this. To them, she was a trophy on the shelf, a piece of ass that they felt they were entitled to. A dinner at a restaurant that their wife hated, and their expense account could cover, then a quick ball draining fuck. Had they tried what Josh was up to, she'd be begging for a bucket of chocolate before they got the fuzzy handcuffs out just to get rid of them. But for Josh? She won't say the safe word, not with the love that this man was exhibiting. Besides, this looks like fun.

The only sound was the crackle of the fire, the gentle hum of the fans on the heat exchanger, then a click as the ancient thermostat clicked over and the ceiling fans started spinning, gently pushing the fire warmed air down from the vaulted roof. Josh had moved behind her and she couldn't turn to see him. What was he up to? Then gently she felt his warm, wet tongue darting and licking the inside of her left knee. That bastard! Soon the cabin rang with her beautiful, melodious laughter as Josh found one sensitive spot after another.

So light! His touches were barely noticeable at first, but they quickly became mind warping delights. She whooped and screamed as his fingers gently stroked her ribs and underarms. And all she could think of was chocolate! She felt like a musical instrument, and Josh played her body like Coleman Hawkins with a saxophone. Her ribs became the keys as his fingertips tapped them, her armpit became the mouthpiece, and his lips and tongue taunted and teased her there until gasping and whooping, she thought she would wet herself. All the while, her laughter rang in the cabin. At one point she could barely breathe because of the tickling, and she begged, "Stop! Please stop!" and he didn't. He kept his promise. He tickled her more. She was so happy he kept that promise, yet also so damn angry.

Finally, she hung exhausted in her bondage while his tongue flickered on the back of her neck, his hands gently cupping her breasts, his cock now between her legs, gently brushing against her pussy lips. "What are you doing to me?" she groaned softly.

"You told me that I had captured your heart," he said between kisses on her sensitive neck, "now I'm going to capture your body."

Those words went straight to her pussy. It was like a switch that went off converting all the teasing and tickling over the past minutes? hours? to pure sexual sensations. She was terrified of what he might do... actually, the worst thing he could do was stop. He could feel sorry for her and cut her down. He could lose interest. She had to prevent that from happening. She smiled. She knew exactly what to say. "I dare you," she whispered.

"Challenge accepted," he chuckled with evil intent, and he began to kiss his way down her back. As his kisses moved down her back, his hands moved down her front, his fingertips dragging slowly down her hyperexcited flesh. She shivered and shuddered, her body covered in a fine sheen of perspiration from the heat of the fire and the non-stop tickling, but now with the ceiling fans moving air around the cabin, and she felt a chill, it made her nipples grow even harder, and Josh kissing his way lower and lower sent thrills through her body.

Now he was kissing her sensitive butt cheeks and gently rubbing his hands over them. It felt so nice, so sensual. She began to whimper and sigh. "Yessss Effie, it's soooo good..." His fingers pried her ass cheeks apart, and he drove his tongue straight to her anus. Her eyes popped open in surprise, and she gasped at the sudden flood of sensations. "What are you doingggggg... UNNNGGGHHH!!!" The sensations were incredible! So different, so powerful. Her body was overcome with confusion. On one hand, her body tried to get away from Josh's probing tongue, yet on the other hand, she pushed back, trying to get more. She concentrated on relaxing her sphincter to let his tongue penetrate her anus, and she was rewarded with a rush of snakey, slithery pleasure as Josh tongue fucked her ass. For the first time in her life, she considered taking a cock there... even one as big as Josh's.

She felt a hand move around and, looking down between her straining breasts, she saw the hand reaching for her pussy. In a tiny voice she encouraged that hand, "Please, please, please..." and soon it reached her flower and dove straight for her clit. "Ohhh GOD!" she cried as a finger moistened by her nectar began sliding over her clit and at the same time, his tongue slithered and wiggled inside her asshole! "Effie! Ooohhh Effie! OhMyGod that's so gooddd!" The sensations were incredible. They were lifting her up in her climb to orgasm, but it was clear that they would never be enough to push her over the edge.

Now Josh wanted more himself. He worked his way around to kneel in front of Veronica and looked up into her beautiful eyes. "Why don't you say something?" she asked nervously as he looked up at her, but he answered her with a smile and a gentle kiss on her pussy. Followed by another kiss and another. She groaned and shuddered and tried to open her legs wider for Josh as he began to gently lick her clit. Their eyes remained locked to each other's eyes as he got more and more attentive to pleasuring her. Her arms ached; her wrists hurt. She wanted to sit down so badly, but Josh was slowly driving her to heaven, and she didn't want to miss a single moment.

She didn't want to announce her orgasm. Years of being able to cum only once, if at all, made her gun shy. She didn't want it all to end, but Josh wouldn't let her hold back. His gentle lapping and suckling at her sex drove her over the edge, "Effie, stop... don't... Please don't... you're making me... I'm going to..." Her body tensed up as she fought back but Josh refused to play fair. Two fingers slid into her pussy, deep into her, reaching nerve endings that have been demanding attention. A third finger joined the two, stretching her nicely, but that one was just there to pick up lubrication. On the next plunge, it withdrew and lined up on her still tingling anus. "No! You're not! ... Josh don't!" Two fingers slid into her pussy while two pressed into her asshole. She threw her head back and groaned as both holes were violated. "Ohhhh you bastard!" She couldn't move, she couldn't avoid his hand as his fingers plunged into her over and over and over, gaining speed, gaining force with every thrust.

Her hips picked up the rhythm of his fucking thrusts, forcing her poor overexcited clit into his mouth, where he licked and sucked her tingling nub. He sucked at her clit like it was a nipple, his tongue fluttering on it, his teeth threatening to bite it, causing a rush of fear to join the symphony of emotions he was eliciting. Now his free hand reached up and grabbed a neglected breast and began pinching a nipple hard, like she taught him, and the minute he did that it was over. Her body surrendered to him and exploded in orgasm.

"FUCK ME YOU BASTARD!" she shrieked as an explosive climax crashed over her. "I'M CUMMMIINNGGG!!!"

She growled and grunted as she pushed her pussy into his mouth, crying with ecstasy as the mother of all orgasms wreaked havoc on her mind. Her body shook as if she were a rag doll being ravaged by a pit bull, her hips slamming her groin against his mouth. She cried and shrieked as undulations of ecstasy rattled her mind and body and yet he continued stimulating her. His mouth remained attached to her clit, his fingers pushed as deep into her as he could go, practically lifting her off the floor. She screamed as her mind snapped with pleasure.

Finally, the waves of release subsided, as did Josh's attention to her. "Oh my god, that was... it was insane!" she gasped as Josh gently lowered her from her captivity and laid her gently on the coffee table.

"You came so good," he said as he gently kissed her.

"I know," she whispered as she returned his kisses. "That was the best one... ulp?" He stuffed something made of cloth into her mouth and her eyes bugged open wide in surprise.

He gave her a smile that chilled her to the bone. "I'm not done with you yet," he said as he tied her in place. "It's my turn."

"What?" she tried to cry around whatever was in her mouth. He slid her forward and now her head was hanging off the edge of the table and her hands were on her chest, still cuffed, but tied immobile, as were her legs. He got up to add some wood to the fire, then he disappeared, leaving her all alone strapped to the coffee table in front of the crackling fire. What the hell is he doing? She thought.

She watched him emerging from the bedroom, his large erect cock leading the way, bobbing with each step and advancing on her. Josh paused and wondered if he should take this next step. She's completely helpless and may not be able to say the safe word. But she's enjoying this so far and he may never get this chance again. With a silent laugh, he remembered the old motto of his fighter squadron in Korea, Audentes Fortuna Juvat, Fortune Favors the Bold. It was time to be bold; he thought to himself, and he knelt in front of Veronica and pulled her panties out of her mouth. He snickered one more time, remembering his squadron in Korea. Their name was "The Headhunters." It's time to hunt some head.

She clearly understood what she was in for and opened her mouth wide to accept her lover, and she was a little surprised when he lowered his balls to her mouth. Josh groaned as she sucked in one testicle, then the other, sucking and laving her tongue over them. "That is sooo good," he groaned as she sent indescribable thrills through his body. He loved it when former lovers did this, but his ex-wife only did this once. He loved it, but she never did it again. Having a woman tongue his balls was a thing with Josh, and he enjoyed Veronica's eager mouth. She certainly knew how to make a man happy with her mouth. "Oh my GOD!" he growled, "you are incredible!"

His compliments spurred her on. His balls weren't as swollen as they were on their first nude encounter several days ago on Anthony's couch. Since then, she's kept them well drained, so now she could really pleasure them without causing him pain. She sucked them to her heart's content, running her tongue over them, listening for his groans and gasps as she sucked and licked.

And she was pleasing him. He always loved having his balls sucked, but this was incredible! She drove him out of his mind with pleasure. It seemed to Josh that restraining her body set her libido free. When he pulled back, she sucked even harder, refusing to release his testicle, but when it popped from her mouth she dove for his perineum, or as they called it in the military, the taint, (it taint asshole and it taint balls). It was exquisite. He could spend the rest of the evening stroking his cock while she suckled and laved his balls and taint.

He pulled back and pushed his cock down level and aimed it at her mouth. She was ready as he leaned forward. Her mouth opened, and he eased his aching rod into her mouth. Her hot, moist tongue circled the head of his cock, driving him wild, even probing the opening, which sent shivers down his back. "Ok, here it comes, are you ready?"

Somehow, she smiled around a mouthful of cock and nodded. Josh eased forward and Veronica relaxed her throat, allowing his cock to slide in deeper and deeper. This was a terrifying turn-on for Veronica. She could deep-throat a guy, but she was in control when she did that, here she had no control. Josh was 100% in command and they both knew it; all she could do was relax and let it happen.

Josh eased in, then paused, pulled back a little, then eased in some more. He repeated this over and over, in a bit, pause, pull back some, then ease in a bit more. "Oh God that's so good darling!" he groaned as he eased into her throat millimeter by millimeter. Then he was in all the way! He pulled back and eased back in, fucking her throat. It wasn't nearly as nice as her mouth or her pussy, but it was awesome just the same.

He pulled his cock out and she took a deep gasping breath, and he felt horrible for cutting off her air like that, and now he needed to cum, and he needed it bad. "Ok, enough of that," he growled and undid the cotton ropes that were holding her in position. Suddenly he flipped her over and Veronica faced down and just as suddenly she felt him grab her hips and slid her back until the edge of the coffee table was at her belly button and her knees were on the hard wooden floor.

He roughly shoved the coffee table forward. And now she was supporting herself with her elbows and forearms. She was helpless as he forced her legs wide open and lined up between them. He pried her pussy lips open with his thumbs and lined his cock up. He needed this so badly, his balls and lower abdomen were hurting in that well-known effect known as blue-balls, and it was time to release that pent up sperm before it really started to hurt.

With an involuntary twitch of his hips, he plowed into Veronica and his groin met hers with a wet slap; she was soaking wet! But this was no time to relax. He grabbed her hips and fucked. He drove into her as fast and as deeply as he could. Slap! Slap! Slap! Their groins met in body shaking fury. As he drove fiercely forward, he pulled her back to him hard, and their collision was bone jarring. Her breasts swung freely with each motion of her body, and she screamed "FUCK MEEEEE!" hoping that she could be heard in Springville, ten miles away.

Josh could only grunt, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" with each thrust of his cock in her, and suddenly he felt it! The need to release had caught up. "I'm going to cum in youuuu!" he groaned.

"Do it! Cum in me!" she cried and suddenly she felt his hot spurts of semen splashing against her cervix, which set off her own orgasm. As waves of release crashed over both of them, they pressed their groins against each other, trying to drive his cock deeper into her pussy. Josh slumped back, and he pulled Veronica back with him, keeping their connection as long as possible. He held her close, kissing the side of her neck, jaw, and earlobe until he softened and slid out of her.

"Oh my God! Where did all that come from?" Veronica laughed as Josh's cum poured out of her. "I thought I kept you drained!"

"You did, but you're damn good at working me back up," he smiled and eased her down to the floor, then rolled away and went to the bathroom to get a warm wet cloth to clean up with.

Soon they were snuggled on the ancient couch under an old quilt, watching the fire and listening to music on the ancient stereo. The flames danced in the fireplace as they sipped their wine. Josh glanced at his watch; it was well past midnight marking the start of a new day.

"That was so much better than how I used to celebrate the start of the weekend, I'd be passing out drunk," he said as they clicked their wine glasses. Even though he showed her how to release the fuzzy hand cuffs without a key, she still wore them as a symbol of her servitude.

"Now we celebrate it with a date," she purred as she rested her head on his shoulder. "A date which will live in infamy."

"That was my pun," he said as he began tickling her. "I wanted to say it!" but his protests were drowned out by her laughter. "Nobody will ever believe it," said Josh. "Bondage on the first date. I can't believe you brought handcuffs with."

"What? They're not mine, they're yours," insisted Veronica.

"I have never owned a fuzzy handcuff in my life!"

Veronica crawled over Josh, straddling his naked body with hers under the quilt. "I found them on your bed under the pillow."

"It had to be Macy," said Josh with a grin. "I warned you about madam pastor."

"Are you going to tell Macy?" she asked as she glared at him.

"Not if you say don't. But if she asks if I used the fuzzy handcuffs I'll have to say yes."

"But that's it," said Veronica. "No more. Let her mind fill in the details."

"Oooo, that's evil," said Josh and he kissed his lady love. The lovers watched the fire dance in the fireplace, their shadows dancing on the walls as the flames flickered.

"This is so peaceful," sighed Veronica. "I don't remember peace like this since I was a girl fishing with my dad."

"That's exactly why I bought this place," said Josh. "I wanted a retreat where I could unwind, and if I needed to swing a sledgehammer, nobody would be in the way."

"A sledgehammer?"

"You have no idea how cathartic it is. The physical effort of splitting firewood with a wedge and a sledgehammer can be the most peaceful thing I can do when my past comes gnawing at my soul."

"I want to watch," sighed Veronica. "My Effie with his shirt off swinging a sledgehammer like Jawn Henry." She sighed and wriggled against Josh. "Just the thought gets me moist."

"The best part comes after. When I get the firewood stacked, I drop trou and walk out to the end of the dock wearing nothing but a smile and fall backwards into the pond."

"Now I have to be here for wood cutting time!"

"That's all summer long. I have several fallen trees that need to be bucked and split."

She nibbled a bit of cheese accompanied by a slice of apple and said, "This would be the perfect place to spend Christmas," sighed Veronica. "A tree next to the fireplace over there, or maybe in that corner where the gun cabinet is. Can we install a mantle over the fireplace? That big stone fireplace needs a mantle. I know a carpenter who can build one!"

"I already asked Gus Didomissio to do it. I asked for scarred wood, something that looks ancient and he said he found something."

"That's who I was going to suggest!" gushed Veronica. "He built my sunroom." She looked up and was hypnotized by the shadows of the beams dancing on the ceiling. "Christmas garland hanging from those big beams, it will be so beautiful." Suddenly, she screeched at the top of her lungs.

"What?" asked Josh.

"Eyes!" she said in a voice, shuddering in terror. In the depths of the dark ceiling, she saw eyes reflecting the firelight.

"That's probably just Toby."

"Who or what is Toby?"

Josh took a flashlight from the end table and directed the beam to the wooden cross beam illuminating a racoon that stared back at them. "That's Toby."

"Is it dead?" she whispered.

"Very dead. He was in an estate sale, same place I got Ricardo," He shone the beam in a dark corner where a mounted rabbit's head was hung on the wall. The rabbit had pointy antlers. "That's Ricardo."

Veronica laughed and said, "A jackalope?"

"Exactly," said Josh. "I found Toby and Ricardo at an estate sale."

"I'm in love with a nut!" squealed Veronica.

<><><><><>

The next morning, Veronica woke to the smell of frying bacon and the sound of it sizzling in a pan. She reached out and Josh's side of the bed was empty. Both robes were hanging up from hooks and the sun was lightening the sky outside. She stumbled out of the bedroom in the red robe, grumbling a good morning as she walked past Josh to the bathroom.

When she emerged, she grabbed a cup of coffee and sat at the tiny kitchen table. "How do you get up so early?" she grumbled.

"Back injury. Best alarm clock known to man. How do you like your eggs?" he kissed the top of her head and patted her shoulder.

"Just egg whites."

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that to a farm fresh egg. Your choices are poached, sunny side up, over easy, medium, hard, or scrambled."

"Poached please."

"My specialty." Before long, a plate with two perfectly poached eggs on buttered toast, bacon, and a brown object was placed in front of her.

She tasted the brown object, and her eyes opened in delight. "This potato patty is incredible! How did you make it?"

"It's the easiest thing on earth, just a patty made from leftover mashed potatoes pan fried with some bacon grease from a local pig."

"And the eggs! I've never had poached eggs done this well!" gushed Veronica. "How did you make them?"

"Put the eggs in a bowl with just enough water to cover them and nuke them for about a minute to a minute twenty." Josh sat down with the same breakfast on his plate. "Do you have a snowmobile suit?"

"No," said Veronica. "Just jeans and thermals."

"Let's go into town and hit Johnsons and get you a suit, or maybe ski pants and jacket. Maybe some proper boots and a set of snowshoes. I have a spare helmet you can use."

"Do I need all that?"

"If you're going to hang out with me, this is where I am most weekends and any time off." He reached across the table and held her hands. "I will do everything I can to fit into your world, but here, hunting, fishing, spending time with nature, this is a very huge part of my life. When I first enlisted, I started saving thirty percent of my pay every payday for a piece of land. I first planned on South Georgia, then North Florida, and somehow I ended up in Western New York."

"What do you mean, fit into my world?" asked Veronica.

"I want to be part of whatever you do that makes you happy. Church on Sunday, business functions, I have a nice suit and tie to wear at dinner on the town. Whatever makes you happy, I want to be there, and I hope this land makes you happy."

A man that wants to be part of her world? Veronica's head was spinning. She's never had such a thing. Except for her dad and Anthony, all men informed her that life was going to be lived by his rules. Now Josh was inviting, not demanding, to join him and was encouraging her to have her own life. Wonder after wonder! Her heart danced as she said, "Let's get me a snow suit, and you can introduce me to your land."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Snow was still falling gently on the village of Springville, lightly covering the remaining Christmas decorations. They weren't up because Springville was stretching the holiday season. The remaining decorations were wreaths and garlands with white lights, which celebrated winter rather than Christmas. At least that's the story. It's cold, so why force the village workers to be out in the cold taking down decorations that didn't need to come down right away? The decorations became part of the village and attracted shoppers away from the big box stores out on US 219 and into the heart of the village, where little local stores still survived.

Even though it was Saturday, Johnson's feed store opened early. Johnsons had two compelling reasons to open early on Saturday: the farmers still need feed for their cattle, and they always open early on Saturday. Josh led Veronica into the store and the front room was full of amazing gadgets. Washboards and watering cans. Kitchen utensils from a bygone day, garden tools that predate plastic. The room was heated by a potbelly parlor stove, and in front of the stove was an old couple. The old man was studying a crossword puzzle, and the old woman was knitting. "Whatcha knitting Grandma Lacy?" asked Josh as they entered.

"Seven letter word for warm garment, ends in R," said the old man.

"Sweater," said Veronica.

"There's a couple of new girls from down south in Sunday school," said Grandma Lacy. "Doctor Paul got himself twin daughters! I'm knitting them sweaters to keep them warm."

Josh chuckled and said, "Grandma, they're from Denver. That's only down south to a Canadian."

"Fort Erie Ontario is south of Buffalo," muttered the old man.

"Veronica, this is Grandma Lacy and Grandpa Archie. They were here sitting around a campfire and someone built a feed store around them."

"Absolutely right," said Archie. "We got some nice potato ricers in stock the other day."

"I have one," said Veronica. "But I will be back for that copper kettle!"

Josh led her back to a larger room where there was a gun counter and several racks of outdoor clothing. "It's not the best stocked place but I would rather spend my money here than at a big box store."

A tall middle age man entered the sporting goods area and said, "Can I help you?"

"Dave, Miss von Köster would like some cold weather gear, we're going snowmobiling and snow shoeing. Maybe we'll get skis later and do some cross-country skiing. Veronica, this is Dave Johnson. Where's Kenny?"

"We should have some cold weather gear in your size," said Dave. "Doc Jarecki nearly cleaned us out a week ago. He's got a new governess and chef working for him and Kenny went with them for the blizzard party." Dave smiled. "You can say the lad's twitterpated."

Veronica hugged Josh and said, "That seems to be going around this winter."

They returned to the cabin with Veronica's purchases and dressed for a day in the cold. "If Kenny brought his sled out here, then we'll probably meet him on the trail," said Josh as he showed Veronica how to fasten her bright purple chrome helmet.

"I feel like an astronaut," she said, but she was muffled by the helmet.

"Here, squeeze the sides," said Josh, placing her hands on the sides of the face plate. When she squeezed, the clear face shield popped up and the heavy chin guard slid down.

"That's so cool, I feel like an astronaut in that," said Veronica.

"Wait until we get going, our helmets have built-in microphone and speakers." He plugged a Baofeng radio jail-broken to FRS frequencies into her helmet and clipped it to the front of her jacket. "When you seal up your helmet the radio kicks in."

"This is too cool," said Veronica as she followed Josh out of the cabin and back behind his truck. He hoisted two five-gallon jerry cans full of gasoline out of the back of the gladiator. Josh opened the garage door and there sat an ancient Jeep with a canvas top. "That looks like it came from the set of M*A*S*H," she said as she studied the ancient Jeep.

"It's a 1948 Willys CJ2A, all original, the only thing I added was a block heater so it's easier to start in the winter. It's registered as an Antique, so inspectors are a little kinder to me when it's time to have it inspected."

"Can I drive it?" asked Veronica.

"Can you drive a stick?"

"I can learn."

"Then I'll be happy to teach you when it gets a bit warmer, and the snow is gone. Those army tires are horrible in the snow."

Behind the jeep was another stall and in there was a rowboat lying on its side, the keel facing Veronica. In front of that was a tarp covered object. Josh opened the side garage door and said, "Remember that signing bonus Anthony gave me?" He removed the tarp and there sat a big silver and blue snowmobile. As Josh stowed their snowshoes in the cargo box on the back of the snowmobile and topped it off with gas, he said, "Two thousand twenty-three Yamaha Sidewinder SRX. Let me get it out of here before you get on, ok?"

"Ok," she said, and she watched him top it off with gas. He didn't just top it off, he taught her how.

"These jerry cans are really heavy, so over there is a smaller plastic can with gas you can use if you need to use the Sidewinder." He got on the snowmobile and closed up his helmet and gestured to Veronica to close hers up, too. When she did, she heard a click of the radio being connected and she heard Josh over the radio. "Kill switch to run, choke out, key on, then off, then on again to let the electric fuel pump dump some gas in the cylinders, and turn to start."

The snowmobile roared to life but sputtered. "We still have a manual choke," and Josh played with it until the engine was running smoothly. "Transmission to forward," he said as he reached down and clicked a switch, then he squeezed the thumb throttle and eased it out of the garage.

Veronica slipped behind him and found that the cargo box behind her was padded and could be used as a seat back. "Hold on tight," said Josh. "This thing is incredibly powerful, and the nose will come off the ground if I hit the throttle."

"Ok," she said and hung on tight.

Josh started out slowly, heading toward the boat house on the edge of the pond. On their left, the ground rose. "Our septic tank is under the back of the cabin, this is the leech field, and to your left you'll see a pipe sticking out of the side of the hill, that's a natural spring."

They turned to the pond and, keeping the edge of the pond to their left, Josh said, "There's a pontoon boat in the boat house. This area here is a sandy beach, it's great for swimming in the summer, and the dock is a great place to fish or lay out and get some sun. "

"Is the ice thick enough to walk on?"

"I don't know, I haven't checked it. I can get the drill out and check later."

"That's ok, I prefer to skate on the rink in the park across the street from me... from us."

"Will you teach me to skate?" asked Josh.

"Of course!"

"Then I'll get a pair of skates on Monday."

They cruised around the south end of the pond. A wall of pine trees to their right was a privacy wall, hiding them from Trevett road. Soon they were in the forest, following a road. "This road was pretty overgrown, but I cleared it with the old jeep and a brush hog."

"How did you do that?" asked Veronica. She has a little knowledge of how brush hogs work, and they're just massive mowers driven by the tractor that pulls them.

"The jeep has a PTO and a three-point hitch. It's more tractor than vehicle. That cabin there, number seven, that's where Ant, Marj, and the kids stay." He pointed out a large rectangular cabin with several windows that were shuttered closed and a big stone chimney.

"Is that the cabin on the lake Ant says that he takes the kids to?"

"That's the one," said Josh. He drove past the next large cabin. It was similar to Ant's cabin, a plain one-story log cabin with a stone chimney. The windows were covered with plywood. "This one is for the kids this summer. It needs windows, floor, and the wiring fixed. Each cabin has a kitchen area, a bedroom for the adults, and bunk beds in the common room for the kids. We put foot lockers and picnic tables inside for the kids. Behind the cabins are fire pits and barbeques."

"There's so many trees!" gushed Veronica as she marveled at the branches above.

"Wait until summer, this is all shaded heavily." They drove around a big loop. "In autumn these trees are bright red, it's amazing." There was a pavilion style roof at the end of the loop. "I fixed the roof here. It's, I think, an auditorium. It won't take much to turn into a picnic pavilion."

In the center of the loop was a large pile of logs. "Those logs are from cabins that were knocked down. I'm going to do something with them... there's a cabin that's half standing, maybe rebuild that."

"What's that open area over there?" Veronica pointed to their right. It was a large round area with a chain-link fence protecting it from the road. "It looks like a softball diamond to me."

"I never really looked at it in the winter before, in the summer it's usually overgrown with weeds. I think you're right," said Josh.

They continued around the loop and Josh pointed out the camping spots he would like to build for RVs. "I don't have room for huge RVs here, twenty footers, pop-ups, and tents are what I would like to see here." They continued around the loop and were headed toward the north end of the pond. Even with the deep snow, Veronica could tell they were at a T intersection. To the right, it looked like a bridge. There were wooden guardrails on each side of the road. To the left was the back end of cabin #7, Ant's cabin.

"Let's do a quick lap or two," said Josh. With that, he opened the throttle and headed left. After making the left turn to complete the lap in front of Ant's cabin, he slammed the throttle open. The engine roared, and the skis came up off the snow as Veronica squeezed Josh tight and screamed in excitement. They raced around the loop, making two full laps, each one quicker than the last. When he came up to the bridge, he stopped the sled and said, "I love that loop. It's one of the reasons why I bought this land. I ride my mountain bike around that loop in the summer."

Calming from the racing around the loop, Veronica panted, "It would be nice to jog on. How big is that loop?"

"A bit over a quarter mile. Let's go see the rest of the land," said Josh and he turned right. "We're crossing over the outflow of the pond. The pond is filled by a small creek, spring water, rain, and melting snow and in the spring, this road may flood over."

Veronica looked and to the right, she saw a steep walled ditch with a creek at the bottom. "Does the pond flood?"

"A little, there's a control dam to your left," said Josh, and Veronica looked, but everything was covered with snow. On the north end of the huge pond, the woods were no longer leafed trees, they were evergreens, fir and pine trees. There was a small cabin very close to the edge of the pond surrounded by thick hemlock trees. "This cabin is almost done. It still needs a new dock on the pond." He stopped the snowmobile, and they got off. Unlocking the door, he opened it and said, "What do you think?"

Veronica looked around. There was a door and two windows that opened to a porch on the pond side of the cabin. It wasn't big, but it had a good-sized fireplace and a bunk bed on the west wall. The east wall was a kitchen area. "It's an awesome fishing cabin; my dad would love it!" gushed Veronica.

"Then let's bring him up and get his opinion of what it needs."

"Really? Could he camp here?"

"If he wanted to." They bumped helmets as they hugged. "I can't wait to meet him," said Josh.

"I'm sure he'll say the same thing when I tell him about you."

Leaving the fishing cabin, they climbed back on the snowmobile and headed around the north end of the pond. The trees here go right up to the edge of the water. One large tree hung out over the surface of the pond and a rope swing hung from a branch down to the snow on the surface of the pond. "The end of that rope swing is a foot or two off the surface of the water," said Josh when Veronica sounded excited about it. "I take it that you like swimming?"

"I love swimming, jogging, fishing, making love outdoors..."

"I will try to give you as much of all of those as I can."

The road continued west, and they were past the pond; the ground rose, and the road made a sweeping hundred and eighty degree turn and headed east, climbing above the pond. "I think this was a hiking path for the scouts," said Josh. There was another wide turn, and they were heading west. "We're climbing a hill, it's not a huge, tall hill but it looks like the scouts hiked up this path."

"What makes you say that?"

"Something I found," said Josh and they made one more turn back to the east and the road leveled out. They were in an opening in the trees. There were three mounds of snow sticking up from the normal level of the snow.

"What is that?" asked Veronica.

"Hang on, we'll get our snowshoes on and walk over." Josh hopped off the sled and waded through the waist deep snow to the back of the snowmobile and dug their snowshoes out of the cargo box. He clipped them on Veronica's boots, then on to his and soon they were trudging across the snow field to the big lumps in the snow. They dug down through the snow and found wooden planks.

"What is it?" asked Veronica.

"A picnic table. There's three picnic tables here, over there are the ruins of an old outhouse, and there's a fire pit up here. I'm sure they hiked up here for overnight campouts. I'd like to do that again. Make this a place where visitors can hike for the day and picnic or pitch a tent and spend the night."

"How did you find this place?"

"Just hiking I found what looked like a path through the woods," said Josh. "I kept following the path until I was here. It's a nice long hike."

They trudged back to the snowmobile and Veronica sat down and Josh took off their snowshoes and stowed them in the cargo box. "They had a shortcut home too. Hang on!" Josh started the Yamaha and headed straight and suddenly they were heading down hill. There was a straight path through the trees that headed down, and Josh opened up the throttle. They roared down the hill and Veronica clung on tight. She clenched her eyes closed and screamed in excitement. She felt a bump and then Josh slowed down and turned to the right. And they were on the rear of the loop by the odd pavilion. "What do you think?"

"How did we get back across the stream?" asked Veronica.

"Stream?"

"The outflow from the pond."

"Oh," said Josh. "We were moving so fast I guess we must have jumped over it."

"You nut!" she bumped her helmet against his. "How did we get across?"

"There's a culvert downstream behind the cabins. Let's go across the street, Paul has some wide-open acreage, and you can drive without trees jumping out in front of you."

"Let's go!" cried Veronica.

They cruised around the south end of the pond, past Josh's cabin and went around behind it to the driveway, then across Trevett Road onto Paul Jarecki's land. Josh turned hard off the driveway and over a hill of snow onto a large open field. There was a large hill that Josh drove to the top of and stopped. "This is Paul's land; it's about seventy-five acres but he has about fifteen acres mostly open for motor sports and gardening. The rest is wooded like mine... There they are!"

"Who? What?" said Veronica, but Josh hit the throttle and launched down the hill and off across the field. There were small groves of young trees that Josh wove around, and Veronica noticed snowmobile tracks crisscrossing the field. Quickly, they caught up with two other snowmobiles. One was towing a covered trailer. Josh maneuvered beside the lead snowmobile and said to Veronica over the radio, "That's Paul and Andi." In the trailer were the twins, Sandy and Madeline. They were waving their stuffed animals at Josh and Veronica.

Paul slowed, and all three snowmobiles stopped, then all helmets opened. "Veronica?" cried Paul's tiny bride Andi, and she launched off the snowmobile from her seat behind Paul. "You're Josh's mystery lady?"

"It's not a mystery anymore," laughed Veronica as she and Andi hugged in the waist deep snow.

"I brought Ronnie over here to learn to ride," said Josh to Paul.

"Join the pack," said Paul as he adjusted Josh's radio to the same channel he and the other riders were communicating on. Meanwhile, Andi was introducing Veronica to the other riders.

"This is Kenny, you know him from the feed store, right?"

Veronica smiled as she shook hands with the tall, muscular blond fellow. "No, but I met his dad and his grandparents this morning," said Veronica.

"This is Yi-jin Carlson, she's our governess, chef and friend," said Andi as she introduced the beautiful Korean American woman to Veronica.

"Welcome to Springville," said Veronica. "I've been here a few years, but I feel like I'm just learning what it's like to live here."

"A good partner will do that for you," said Yi as she hugged Kenny's arm.

"Let's go!" cried the twins in unison as they bounced in their Snowcoach trailer.

"Girls, are you ready to drive?" said Paul.

"Hell yeah!" cried Andi, and the tiny blond leapt into the driver's seat of Paul's snowmobile.

Yi and Veronica nervously climbed into their seats and when Veronica closed up her helmet, she heard four more voices in her headsets. She reached for the choke, but she knew enough from her snow blower at home that a choke isn't needed on a warm engine, and since the engine is warm, she only had to turn the key once to pump fuel into the cylinders. She fired up the snowmobile and Josh reached around to show her the transmission switch. "It goes backwards?"

"Yeah, slowly. It's handy for connecting trailers and putting it in the garage."

Soon, the three sleds were zipping around Paul's extensive field, and at one point, they shot across his frozen pond. Yi was terrified of Kenny's sled, a powerful Ski Doo, and Andi was very careful in her driving, especially with her daughters in the trailer, but Veronica felt comfortable driving and did a great job. When they all felt comfortable, Josh called out, "Trail ride anyone?"

"Let's do it!" cried Andi, not knowing what a trail ride was, but hoping it was like a trail ride on a horse.

"Hang on," said Kenny. Yi had her fill of driving and wanted to ride behind Kenny.

As soon as they switched, Paul called out, "You lead Veronica. Take us on Josh's trail."

"Where? What?"

"The path we took earlier," said Josh. "Head toward that huge barn and follow the driveway."

"Ok," and Veronica headed toward Paul's enormous ancient barn. As they got close, Paul guided her over the radio to follow the previous snowmobile tracks and to go slowly past the cabins. She followed his direction and soon they were on Paul's plowed driveway and cruising past his smaller barn shaped cabins. Two hip-roof cabins stood side by side, sharing a covered porch. Several cars were parked in front of the cabin. "How many people are here for your party?" asked Veronica over the radio.

"Counting the twins? Ten," said Andi. Just then, Macy stepped out onto the porch. The tall, dark beauty was wrapped in a blanket, and she stuck a hand out and waved as they cruised by. "John and Macy don't like sleds enough to buy one," Andi added.

"Give Gus time," said Paul. "Gus Didomissio and Andi's friend Lucy are back in the cabin too."

They crossed Trevett Road onto Josh's property and followed the path that she and Josh took earlier. This was the first time that Josh had ever been a passenger on the trail around the campground, then across the bridge and up the hill. Josh pointed out the footprints of the different animals as they headed deep into his woods. "Turkey... porcupine... skunk... and deer tracks everywhere!" said Josh. "Where were the deer during hunting season?"

"Probably sitting at the bar in Worzils," said Kenny, who got skunked this season.

Andi didn't see the deer prints. She was concentrating on following Veronica and Josh along the trail that headed deep into the forest and circled back, slowly climbing the hill in the rear of Josh's property. Paul pointed the tracks out to the twins, who were fascinated by them. "Is that a broken deer?" cried Sandy, pointing to a new set of tracks.

"Those are turkeys, like you had on Christmas."

"Look at them all!" said Josh. "Three more months until spring turkey season. What's the bag limit this year Kenny?"

"One bird a day," he said as they headed up the hill. "Mind if I join in the hunt? We may run into some lean times."

"Not a problem Kenny," said Josh. "And my freezer is open to you and your family any time."

"Same here," said Paul. "If you need legal advice or help I'm here for you."

"Thanks guys."

The easy ride through the forest was magical. Veronica never felt so free, yet at the same time she was being hugged the whole time. She made that last turn to the campground where the picnic tables sat. "I think I'm going to put up a deer stand up here," said Josh.

"Good choice, you can see the entire forest from up here," said Veronica.

"These kids behind me are getting hungry," said Paul as they headed back down the hill.

A few minutes later, Andi and Kenny headed to Paul's cabin. Josh and Veronica stopped at Josh's cabin and she backed his sled into the garage. They changed out of their snowmobile outfits, put on regular jackets, and walked hand in hand over to Paul's cabin. "I think tomorrow after church, I'm going to haul more firewood down from the forest," said Josh.

"You're going to church with me?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah, I kinda like what I heard on Christmas. Let's see if John can do a twofer."

"You're so silly."

Soon they were in Paul's cabin where a small fire in a wood stove kept the room warm, but with a dozen people in there, warmth wasn't a problem. "This cabin is where we do our living. There are beds upstairs for six people," explained Andi. "In the second cabin is the kitchen, toilet, shower and sauna and Yi made her private nest upstairs there."

"Sauna?" gasped Veronica.

"It's nice," Josh whispered into her ear.

Andi showed off the modern kitchen and sauna in Paul's second cabin, and when they returned, John was playing something soft and complex on the guitar. "What is that?" asked Veronica.

"A little something by Johann Sebastian Back," said Paul as he played alongside his brother on the guitarone.

"It's Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme, Awake, the voice is calling us," said Macy softly.

"That was beautiful!" gushed Veronica as she sat down, and Yi handed her coffee. "Do you play a lot of classical music?"

"Yeah," said Pastor John. "We like this one most." And he began strumming his guitar. Paul strummed along on the guitarone, a bass, acoustic guitar. "They gave him his orders at Monroe Virgina sayin' Steve you're a-way behind time..." they sang with a hillbilly twang in their voice. As John and Paul cranked out 'The Wreck of the Old 97' the twins Sandy and Madeline began dancing to the music.

When the up-tempo song was finished, the twins ran over to Josh and climbed in his lap. "Did you like our eggs this morning?" asked Madeline.

"Yes, they were delicious. Be sure to thank your chickens for me."

"Aunt Macy said your wife would like them," said Sandy.

"Sandy!" cried Macy. "I never said wife."

"You did!"

"What did I say?"

"You said special lady! That's what Unka John calls you, and you married him!"

Veronica was blushing and Josh was laughing so hard he almost spilled his coffee. "You two slay me. I'm going to take you home and keep ya."

"Really?" gushed Madeline, who seemed happy with the idea.

"If you keep bringing me eggs and bacon, I just might. One of these days I'll have you come over for a sleep over."

"Can we play with Toby?"

"No, Toby stays where he's at. It's safer for everyone. A real racoon would scratch all the pretty off your faces." He looked at Macy and said, "You showed them Toby?"

"It was safer than them being surprised during a visit."

They spent the afternoon chatting and munching on sandwiches provided by Yi, who was treating Veronica like a princess. Anything that Veronica wanted, Veronica got. And no matter what Yi was doing, she always called Veronica 'Miss von Köster' and couldn't be persuaded to call her Veronica or 'Ronnie,' like Paul and John called her. Finally hauling a giggling twin under her arm like a squirming load of laundry, Veronica followed Yi into the kitchen. "What's going on?"

Yi looked like she was slapped. "Nothing!"

"Why don't you call me Ronnie? Or Veronica? Why Miss von Köster?"

The pretty Asian girl finally said, "You were my inspiration."

"How did I inspire you?"

"I remember your question on the Miss America pageant. You said you were a skinny homely girl and your dad encouraged you and loved you and gave you courage to become Miss Ohio. I said, 'I'm going to be Miss Ohio too!' My older brother said, 'you can't, you're in Florida,' and for some reason it broke my heart. My dad was watching too, and said, 'Miss von Köster is from Pennsylvania and became Miss Ohio, you can do it too. You can be anything you want.' And that gave a skinny, homely girl in Florida the courage to become an executive chef on the exclusive yacht circuit, which for me was Miss America."

"I'm glad I could help, but please, call me Veronica."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

The sun was setting as they headed back to the cabin. The snow was falling gently as they walked hand in hand. "Well? What do you think of your neighbors?"

Veronica looked sad and said, "I've been living two blocks from Paul, I've been going to John's church since I moved to the Village, and you know my neighbors better than I do."

"Just Paul and Macy. Paul and I are recluses, and Macy wants to save us. John just watches from the sidelines and shakes his head. As for you, I think you were a recluse too. You seem all happy and outgoing but that was just with clients. The only person besides Ant and Marge you talk to is Terry and that's because she won't shut up."

"I talk to you," said Veronica. "We talked quite a bit when you were first hired, then you backed off. Why?"

Josh shrugged and finally said, "At first I thought you were the HR lady because you did my HR in-brief. I find it best to be nice to the HR lady. But then I saw you with that office next to Ant and in all his meetings... I don't mess with company officers."

"Now you know I'm not HR, and I'm not a company officer. I'm a contractor with an MBA."

"That's when I let myself admit my feelings for you," and he pulled her into his arms. "Nica von Köster, I love you more than I ever knew possible. You're an entire world to me, and my mission is to make your entire world a better place for both of us." He held her so tight when he kissed her it was hard to breathe, which was fine with Veronica.

When their lips finally parted, the moon peaked above the horizon. It showed its silvery face for a moment before diving behind the clouds. In that moment, Josh saw the glint in Veronica's eyes and realized that he amused her somehow. "Effi Yashua Gravely, I think I'm going to let you do that." And she pulled him to her. Her tongue shot into his mouth, fucking his mouth just like he fucked her mouth last night with his cock. Then she turned and darted up the driveway. Josh gave chase, and laughing, he ran after her.

As they were nearing Trevett Road, Josh saw a car coming up Trevett Road, coming from the left, but Veronica was looking back at Josh over her right shoulder and didn't see it. "Stop!" he called, but she must have thought he was kidding and kept running.

That car was coming way too fast for road conditions. Its back end was sliding from side to side, barely in control. Now Josh's call was nearly hysterical, "NICA! STOP!" Josh put on a burst of speed and dove, knocking Veronica into the enormous pile of snow at the end of the driveway. The battered old Chevy hit the snow pile and took a huge chunk out of it. Snow and ice exploded around them; the car missed Veronica by inches, it showered them with snow and chunks of solid ice.

"EFFI!" shrieked Veronica as the ancient Chevy careened down Trevett Road. She saw Josh's face was covered in blood. She crawled to Josh and crying she said, "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine."

"You're bleeding everywhere," she demanded. "Your face is covered in blood

"I just got hit with a chunk of ice. I'm ok, head wounds bleed a lot." He found the source of blood and held a mitten to his forehead. "It's going to take more than some old drunk to knock me out of commission now."

"Why?" she begged. "Why did you do that?"

He struggled to a sitting position and said, "I finally found love and I ain't givin' it up for nothin'."

"You could have been killed," she said as she helped him to his feet.

"I could have, you would have. I ain't no stranger to dyin', I just don't want to be around it no more." Josh was limping, a pain in his bad hip was aching with each step. "Wonderful. Now that acts up again," said Josh.

"What acts up?" said Veronica. Far off in the distance was the crunching sound of a car hitting the ditch or maybe slamming into another pile of snow.

"Bad hip. My left hip got bunged up when I got bounced around on landing."

"You should get that checked out," insisted Veronica.

"I know. I've been through this before, they poke and prod and waste the whole evening and in the end they send you home with a cane and a bottle of gabapentin, which makes me dizzy and sleepy. I want to enjoy this evening with you."

He opened the cabin door and sighed in relief as he entered his personal safe space. "If it still hurts tomorrow after church, I will go to Bertrand Chaffee. What do you want to do, get the fire going or make dinner?" He went into the kitchen sink and washed up, then he applied a huge Band-Aid to his forehead.

"I'll make dinner, you try to get comfortable," said Veronica.

Josh limped over to the coat hooks, took off his winter garb, then went over to the fireplace and slowly sagged to the floor in front of the fireplace. He piled up a couple of charred logs, then crumpled up some newspapers and wadded it under the charred logs. Then he added kindling and dry split logs and lit the paper. He closed the glass door with the oxygen intakes wide open and in no time at all; the fire burned merrily.

In the kitchen, Veronica found a tube of crescent rolls and some breakfast sausage. "We're having my favorite comfort food."

"What's that?"

"Pigs in a blanket." She put some breakfast sausage in a frying pan and cooked them as she unrolled the crescent roll dough. Once the sausages were cooked, she rolled them up in the dough and popped them in the oven. While they baked, she cooked some frozen French fries in the air frier and in a few minutes she carried a paper plate with pigs in a blanket and French fries to Josh. They sat on the floor wrapped in a quilt, eating their comfort food and basking in the radiant heat from the fire.

"These are awesome," said Josh as Veronica daintily dipped her pig in a blanket in a small puddle of ketchup on her plate.

"This is what daddy made Magda and me when we were feeling lonely. Saturdays were the worst."

"Why?"

"Saturdays we would do something with mom, she would take Magda and me to dance class then we'd go out for ice cream or pizza. It was a girl's day out. Then she disappeared and poor daddy didn't know what to do with us. He'd try; he'd take us to dance class, but it wasn't the same. Whenever we were stuck at home, we'd end up watching Bugs Bunny or Disney movies and eating pigs in a blanket and for some reason that cheered us up."

"What happened to your mom?" asked Josh.

Veronica mumbled and looked embarrassed. Josh prodded again, and she finally blurted out, "she ran off with the milkman."

It sounded like she was kidding, and Josh almost laughed, but he held back in case she was serious. She was very serious, and Josh realized that this was something she had to get off her chest. Josh pulled her close and softly said, "Tell me."

"It was some guy who worked at the Meadow Brook Dairy, I think he made cheese, I don't know. I don't know any details other than that she left with him. Daddy would occasionally say he was a milkman, but only after Magda left when he was really drunk."

A million things went through Josh's head that he could say to relieve her anguish, but he rejected all of them. 'You're better off without her,' was probably the most accurate. Anyone that would leave their children for a cheese monger is best left with the cheese monger. He held a French fry up to her lips and said, "doctor's orders."

She bit, then made a confused face. "What did you put on this?"

"Black pepper," said Josh, who always put salt and pepper on his fries.

"Eww!"

"Hey! You're the one that mixes horse radish in with her ketchup!" His fingers danced on her ribs, and it was clear that she wasn't wearing a bra under her T-shirt. They ended up rolling around, tickling and wrestling around in front of the crackling fire. Was it intentional or was it unconscious effort that led them to undress each other? Her golden hair glistened in the firelight, and her round breasts were spectacular in the flickering golden light. He leaned forward and kissed each raspberry nipple, causing a shiver to run down her spine. She tugged off his pants and his cock sprang up and slapped against his stomach. They were naked in a nest of quilts and pillows and pinned him down as they gazed into each other's eyes in the firelight.

"I will never leave you," said Josh. "That may be a curse, but it is a promise. I am here forever."

"It's a blessing," whispered Veronica as their lips met. "You complete me."

As they kissed, Josh gently slid his fingertips over the impossibly smooth skin of her back, from her shoulders down to her sensitive, round backside. She shivered as she kissed him, and she pushed him onto his back without breaking the kiss. Veronica straddled his hips and rolled her hips, lining his cock up with her pussy. As they continued to kiss in the warm firelight, she arched her hips, drawing her clit up the length of his hard cock. The sensations were overwhelming for both of them as she slid her pussy up and down the length of his cock.

"So good," hissed Paul. "Pussy slide... I've heard of it but I've never..."

"Shhh..." whispered Veronica. Her actions grew more deliberate as she pressed her sex against his. Her generous fluids lubricated them both. Her hips twitched as she dragged her trembling clit up and down the length of Josh's cock. Her skin glowed golden in the flickering firelight and her eyes sparkled with passion.

"You are so beautiful," murmured Josh as her pussy slid deliciously up and down the sensitive underside of his cock. Her hips shifted forward and back, sliding her pussy up and down his length, driving them both out of their minds with passion. Josh was covered with the lubrication that her pussy supplied, and his cock drooled pre-cum as Veronica's motions grew more and more jerky as her excitement mounted. Josh cupped her swaying breasts as she rocked back and forth, gasping and cooing as her passion built.

In her excitement, she pulled her hips forward a bit too far and his cock sprung up, so when she pushed back, she drove his cock half-way into her. She gave Josh a peaceful smile and pushed herself up, sitting straight up, driving him deep into her, deeper than he ever had penetrated her before. He felt the head of his cock brush against her cervix, and she groaned. "Are you ok?" asked Josh, who misread her groan.

"I'm fine, you just discovered some virgin territory," and with a smile, she fell forward, and their lips met again. As they kissed, Josh held her tight, and they rolled over with him on top. Veronica looked up into his eyes and said, "Fuck me like you own me."

He hooked his arms under her shapely legs and hoisted them up and began fucking. The sound of their bodies clapping together filled the cabin. He hammered his cock into her with a vengeance, and she relished every pounding stroke. So many men tried to emulate this tremendous fucking, but all fell short. Josh pounded his cock into her with a mixture of athletic vigor and passionate love, and Veronica grunted in pleasure with every gut-rearranging thrust. Before long, her grunts changed to screams of ecstasy as convulsions of sexual frenzy wracked her mind and body. Her legs over his shoulders, she involuntarily raising her hips, trying to get his cock in deeper with each crushing thrust.

Josh soon joined her in orgasm. His orgasm hit him like a sledgehammer, and he slammed his cock into her with each spurt of his semen. When his orgasm faded, leaving him empty but sated, he collapsed onto Veronica, whose orgasm was still shaking her body.

"Oh God that was good," sighed Veronica. "Where did you learn to fuck like that?"

"It was just something I made up as I went," said a winded Josh weakly.

They rolled and Josh ended up on his back and Veronica was half sprawled across him, one hand propping her head up, the other idly playing with his wilting cock. They gazed into each other's eyes, watching the reflection of the firelight as they recovered from the most intense love making they had ever experienced. "I never thought it would ever come to something like this," said Veronica. "I always thought I was headed to a loveless marriage with some boring investment banker. I never thought I would be loved by someone like you."

"Like what? What am I like?"

"Handsome, hardworking, well hung, sweet, loving... you're real. Now I know why Anthony has been pushing me toward you."

"Tell me more about the well-hung part, " said Josh. "I don't think Anthony knows much about my dick."

"That's just it, I can talk like this with you, nobody else." She looked at him and sighed, then leaned in for another kiss.

"Just to let you know, much of this is just a pretty wrapper," said Josh. "Inside I have a sack fulla cats tearing up my brain sometimes. I gotta warn you, Doctor Macy is going to hook me up with a shrink right quick, and I'll be spending quality time with him... her... whoever."

"That's ok, I've been dealing with one myself," said Veronica. "Why didn't you see a doctor before we fell in love?"

"I didn't think you'd ever get here."