© 2026 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 all-new addition to the Stormwatch series. If you haven't read Stormwatch Chapter 1, through Stormwatch Chapter 12, please take this chance first. All chapters are listed in the correct reading order in the Stormwatch Series List. The older stories with names will be included in the new series and then eliminated from the list.

Stormwatch Chapter 13

Brandon

Chapter 01 - A New Name

"... so the new mayor of Springville New York has asked us to sing at her inauguration..." said Josh as he looked at the guys who were looking at him like he was crazy. They had been practicing for long hours and were taking a break.

"Who?" asked the tenor, Alex Rodriguez.

"I told you, my neighbor, Andi Jarecki."

"Where is this inauguration going to be?" asked the baritone, Dan Griffith.

Josh rolled his eyes in exhaustion. "Springville, the town we live in," said Josh, pointing to himself and Julissa Tanaka, their harmony coach.

"Shouldn't we be concentrating on our numbers for the international championship instead of a sing-date in a town nobody has ever heard of?" said the bass, Gene Krauss.

Julissa didn't look up from the musical arrangement she was studying when she said, "The new mayor's husband is a millionaire."

"Dude! Way to bury the lede!" cried Alex.

"Yeah, he's going to finance our show costumes," said Josh.

"He owns a chain of automobile dealerships," said Julissa as she made a few notes on the arrangement she was studying. "He wants to hire you to be the musical voice of Jarecki Motors."

"Which means what?" asked Dan.

"Which means he'll pay us to sing commercial jingles."

"Why? Why Pennsy?"

"He's my friend, friends help each other. Me and my buddies gave him a hand when he was in trouble, and he wants to repay me for what ah did," said Josh, but he was speaking so quietly that he was hard to hear.

"Horseshit. He saw the video of New Year's Eve, especially when Josh held the lead in Auld Lang Syne against two tenors, two baritones, and two basses. He likes your sound, but all this largess is not free," said Julissa. "You're going to do TV commercials, radio ads, grand openings, along with fundraisers. And it's not all going to be one hundred percent barbershop. Paul wants a bit of do-wop, a bit of ragtime, but mostly he wants Rat Pack. And you get to sing at church."

"Church we can do," said Alex, "but Rat Pack?"

"It's easy," said Julissa. "Line up, we're going to do Fly Me to the Moon..." She had a karaoke machine set up and was getting ready to teach the guys Rat Pack Barbershop. "Josh you ready? Just ham it up, I'll help the boys in the back. Ready? Three... two... a one, two, three..."

"Fly me to the moon," Josh sang the melody, and the guys followed him with the melody. He had sung this before at karaoke night at the American Legion, and it was a fun song, plus, it was the song that Veronica used when she taught him to dance, so hamming it up wasn't a problem. Julissa's karaoke machine was odd. It didn't play recorded music; it was AI created sound, and it displayed the musical score as well as the words. The second time through they added harmony, and she coached each man with their part. By the third time through, they sounded great. It wasn't traditional barbershop music, but each chord filled the requirement.

"You guys pick up a new song quickly," said Julissa. "I suggest if you make it to Saturday night, you lead with this and we'll find some other number to compliment it."

"You think we can hit Saturday night?" asked the tenor, Alex Rodriguez.

"You have the talent, now all you need is the effort," said Julissa. Saturday night was when the top ten quartets competed for the honor of Best Quartet. "Your current material will get you there; you're that good, now we need something to knock their eyeballs out. This could do it. I'm going to show the video we made to Mister Jarecki on Monday and get his opinion. It might make us some money."

"Money?" The thought gave the guys fresh energy, and they went back to their practicing. After their introduction to Rat Pack Barbershop, they warmed up for Andi's inauguration and their debut at church. They sang a few patriotic songs for the inauguration and, knowing that Madam Mayor would request something on Sunday when they met her, they brushed up on a few hymns. Paul Jarecki wanted to hear the boys live, and his return to the Springville Congregational Church would be the place to show off their talents, so they practiced a few hymns.

"You guys are looking to get a standing ovation in church?" grinned Julissa. She rarely complimented "her boys" during practice, but at the end of the evening she would let them know how she really felt. "You hit every chord perfectly; Paul and Pastor John are going to love you. I think Pastor Macy will be happy with you as well."

"Who's Pastor Macy?" asked Dan Griffith.

"She's Pastor John's wife; she's a bit of a musical genius. She took two girls that never sang before and in three weeks had them singing French Baroque Christmas songs," said Josh. "Then we conned Julissa into joining them and we paired them with a men's quartet and we went caroling on the street corners. It was a lot of fun."

"Yi Jin wants to join the Sweet Adelines," said Julissa as she put the music and her karaoke machine away.

"Ok, that was a good practice guys," said Eric Westover, their former lead and now their assistant coach. They worried about Eric because he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Eric was a great lead singer and a musical genius, and his loss terrified Alex, Dan, Gene and their wives, but somehow Eric's last public performance became an audition for Josh. Josh normally sang baritone, but he had the range to sing lead, and he stepped in marvelously. Josh also brought with him a lot of management experience, so not only did he sing lead, but he was also the group leader when not singing. He brought in an award-winning vocal coach from the Sweet Adelines, the women's side of barbershop harmony, and he begged Eric to stay with the guys as assistant coach as long as he was able. "Is there anything we need to discuss before we head out to Josh and Ronnie's house?" asked Eric.

"Our name," said Alex.

"What about our name?" Eric didn't expect something like this to come up.

"Since Josh joined us, we're not Pennsy anymore," said Gene Kraus. "There's a new life, a new fire, and a new sound. As Pennsy we were singing old time barbershop, but now we're singing John Denver and Frank Sinatra."

"This isn't anything on you Eric, in fact, if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be international contenders," said Alex. "We want to change our name to Westover."

"No," said Eric Westover.

"What? Why not?" asked Dan Griffith. "We thought you'd be honored."

Eric looked at Josh and said, "What do you think?"

Josh leaned on the table nearby and frowned. "If we're changing names just to change names, it's a waste of time. Pennsy is a fine name. If we're doing it because the tone and feel of the quartet has changed, that's fine. We're allowed to change our name as long as we apply during the quartet renewal period in May through July."

"But what about naming it for Eric?"

"That's up to Eric and Olivia," said Josh. "Ah had a building named for me and it just didn't set right with my soul. Every time ah'd walk in there, they'd call the room to attention. Ah ended up changing my name just to reclaim control of my name."

"I'm not wild about it either. I don't want to see rumors of my demise on the internet because you guys named the quartet after me. What's your next suggestion?" asked Eric.

"Ah was thinkin' of one of the first songs we ever sang together; and Eric sang it with us, it was one of his last songs on stage," said Josh. "Country Roads."

Suddenly, they were all talking at once. "That's a good name," said Dan.

"It makes a pretty good tag too," said Gene.

"Let's do it," Alex said. "None of us live in a city, we're all country boys."

"Lead us out, Josh!" cried Dan, and soon they were singing the last series of chords in Take Me Home, Country Roads. The room they were in literally rang with their last chord.

"Ok, anyone need directions to my house?" asked Josh.

"Dude," groaned Gene Kraus. "This is what happens when you sing with a bunch of old guys for six years. We know how to use GPS."

"Sorry force of habit," said Josh with a fist bump. "I have to pick Veronica up at her dad's place so you'll probably get there before me."

"Will do, sarge," said Dan Griffith.

Josh thought of correcting him but shook his head, picked up Julissa's paperwork, and they headed for the door. "I think Country Roads will fit, what do you think?" asked Josh.

Julissa simply shrugged. "It's your name, as long as International accepts it you're in there." The word International refers to the headquarters of the international barbershop harmony organization.

"On Monday I'll check the list of registered quartets and see if the name is taken," said Josh as he loaded her equipment in the back of his Jeep Gladiator, the truck he named Spartacus.

<><><><><>

Josh and Julissa pulled up to the Retired Railroaders Retirement Home near the former General Electric locomotive plant in Erie, Pennsylvania. "You'll like Mike von Köster, he's a nice guy," said Josh as they walked into the building. Josh, Julissa, and Veronica came down to Erie Pennsylvania, they dropped Veronica off, and while they were at practice, Veronica was spending time with her dad and helping him get ready to move.

"I know about those nice guys," said Julissa. "I'm a waitress and a detective. You meet all kinds of nice guys." She didn't sound happy when she said, "nice guy."

"Hey dad!" cried Josh as they entered the room. "You packed and ready to move?"

"I have a week left on my pension," said Mike von Köster, from his rocking chair. "They're going to pay for my palatial estate, Wabtech bastards..." Mike was upset that the new owners of the locomotive plant that he had worked his entire life in was screwing over the employees. "They're not building locomotives here anymore; they're building in Texas! Fer cryin' out loud."

Josh chuckled at Mike's anger. The poor old guy has been screwed over by GE, Wabtech and almost every woman he's ever met. Josh wants to make Mike's final years as comfortable as possible. "Hop in the car, we're ready to take you home."

"Next week," said Mike. "I want them to pay for every benefit I have left."

"That's the spirit," chuckled Josh. He patted Mike on the shoulder, then said, "Excuse me while I kiss your daughter."

"What are you... ahh!" Veronica yelped as Josh pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. She fought back at first, then relaxed. Kissing in front of Dad was something she never did; she was terrified of hearing him clear his throat, a signal to her that her behavior was unacceptable. A signal she grew up with, and she even heard it when tales of her behavior backstage at a pageant were revealed.

It never occurred to Josh that she would have any reservations about kissing in front of Mike; he just wanted his arms around Veronica and her lips on his. So slim and dainty, it felt to Josh like she was made to find refuge in his arms. Will she feel the same in his arms in five years? Finally, when their lips parted and Josh pried his eyes open. "Behave," said Veronica softly to her new husband.

"I miss you," said Josh. "We've been married nearly a month and we're never together. Our work schedules don't match up, you're working with Andi, I'm working with the boys."

"We have a cruise coming up," said Veronica. "Soon as Paul feels ready, it's all arranged with Anthony."

They exchanged more kisses until Veronica heard "a-HEM," behind her.

"Sorry daddy," said Veronica, actually blushing.

"I am going to turn in for the night so head out."

"You sure you don't want to move in tonight? We got room in the truck."

Mike softened and smiled. "You should go home and enjoy your last week of solitude before this old crab moves in and you have to dress properly."

"That's ok, we have a nice cabin where we can play," said Josh with a wink as he held Veronica's winter coat up for her so she could put it on. Then he picked up a couple of boxes that Mike said were ready to be moved.

With a kiss to her father, Veronica joined Josh and Julissa, and they headed back to Springville, ninety minutes away. "Any news from her majesty?" asked Josh.

"Andi says Paul can't wait to hear you guys. He was really wound up watching the videos from New Years. He would like to hear some up-tempo music at church." Julissa in the back seat snorted with laughter while Josh swore under his breath. "What's the matter?" asked a confused Andi.

"We just practiced several old-school hymns, you know, the kind Macy likes," said Josh sadly as he drove, but Julissa sat in the back and laughed.

"Happens every time," she said.

"It doesn't have to be a hymn if you're singing in church," said Veronica.

"Barnicle Bill?" asked Josh.

"NO!"

In Western New York, there's a fellow who goes by the name Doctor Dirt, and he plays at bars and colleges singing what can best be described as locker room music. His music is raunchy, filthy, and filled with sexual impossibilities, and it's all hilarious. Julissa and Josh began singing, "Who's that knocking at my door..."

"STOP!"

Josh and Julissa laughed like school kids at Veronica's reaction. Then Julissa and Josh had an idea. "Something we could do for smaller shows with a middle-aged crowd," said Josh. "They're the age of folks who would frequent the bars where Doctor Dirt had his shows."

"An evening with Doctor Dirt!" gushed Julissa. "We could start with the announcer saying something like, 'Here's the Seneca Land District Champions Pennsy in an evening featuring the lyrical stylings of Doctor Dirt.' Then you guys break into one of his songs and a confederate would jump up and shout stop before getting into the good stuff."

"What do you mean good stuff?" asked Veronica.

Josh smiled and began singing. "There's a skeeter on my peter whack it off..."

"STOP! Could you imagine the fecal hurricane if International heard about this?"

"Then how about if we do your song and you bust a few moves?" asked Josh. By 'your song' he was referring to a song called "My Wife the Dancer." It was a fun, up-tempo song about a guy who met and married a burlesque dancer, and it worked marvelously in barbershop harmony.

"That's fine, much better than An Evening with Doctor Dirt," huffed Veronica as she turned on the reading light and began reviewing the documents she'd need for the board meeting on Monday. When she said that Josh held his fist up, and Julissa gave him a fist bump from the back seat. The guys wanted to work 'My Wife the Dancer' into their sing-dates and have Veronica play the part of the dancer. It was underhanded, but this was how they got Veronica to agree to do it.

As they pulled into Springville, Josh's phone rang, and the screen in the Gladiator showed that it was Hope Rodriguez, Alex's wife. "Hey Hope, s'up?"

"We're here at your house, are you close?"

"Roger, roger, we'll be there in a second," and turning the corner, they saw two cars parked on the street in front of Josh and Veronica's house. The first car held Alex and Hope Rodriguez, along with Gene and Mary Beth Kraus. The other car held Dan and Judy Griffith and Eric and Olivia Westover. Josh turned to Veronica and said, "You look excited."

"It's my first house party!" she gushed. "And I know everyone here!"

"Is that a bonus?"

"Effi, you have no idea how many parties I had to go to for one designer or another, or Revlon! Revlon sent me everywhere. Huge parties all over Europe and the US, and I didn't know anyone."

"Sounds swell to me," said Julissa as they got out of the truck. "Free drinks! Uncle Sam sent me to affairs like that, but I was expected to arrest at least one person there."

"I take it you weren't the most popular girl at the party?" said Josh as he lifted a cooler filled with soda out of the back of the truck.

"Oh, I made damn sure I was very popular. I had to carry my badge in my purse because there was no place I could pin it on some of those dresses I wore," said Julissa.

"Oh? That's not something you see on TV cop shows," said Veronica as she got a stack of paper plates out of the truck and a stack of red Solo cups. Not only was Julissa a detective for the Town of Concord Police Department, but she started as an undercover investigator for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

Julissa grinned as she grabbed a box of Mike's stuff. "Girl, if I thought it would help me nab someone that was passing classified information to an enemy nation, I'd show up wearing nothing but Vaseline and a smile."

Veronica turned bright red and burst into nervous laughter and attracting their guests over to them while Josh said, "I love it when you talk cop talk."

"Let's go inside folks," said a furiously blushing Veronica.

"Are you ok sweetheart?" asked Olivia Westover. This quartet was young, and Olivia was the "mother superior" of the Pennsy girls like Maureen McGreevy was over the Gentleman's Women, and now she's grooming Veronica for that position.

"I'm fine, I just heard a little Air Force talk that I probably shouldn't have listened to.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Chapter 02 - House Party

"Be cautious of Josh's attack cat, he's not friendly," said Veronica as she opened the door so the gang could enter the house.

"Is that your attack cat, the one sleeping on the kitchen table?" asked Eric. Sure enough, Tigger was sprawled out in the middle of the table. Eric reached out to pet Tigger, and Veronica gasped. Tigger doesn't put up with random acts of affection, but when Eric touched him, he started purring. "This cat is a sweetheart."

"Looks like you got a new cat, there boss," said Josh. The moment Josh said that Tigger realized that it wasn't Josh petting him. He looked up at Eric in shock, then dashed off to the basement. "He won't be back to bother anyone," Josh said with a laugh.

"I just cost you a friend," said Eric with a chuckle.

"Nah, I'll let him out and the next morning I'll find half a squirrel on the porch for me. He likes to share," said Josh. Meanwhile, Veronica was giving a tour of her house to the Pennsy Girls. They gushed over Veronica's sunroom at the back of the house.

"You should see it in the summer," said Veronica. "There's a stream in the backyard that Josh turned into a flower garden. It's so nice to sit under that willow with a good book and an iced tea. Josh made a tiny waterfall and the sound is so peaceful."

"Did he make this sunroom?" asked Hope Rodriguez.

"No, a friend who's a local contractor did this for me. The previous owner had planned to put this in and the contractor showed me the plans and I couldn't get it built soon enough. Let me show you what we did downstairs," and Veronica led the girls down into the basement. Down there was a spacious laundry room with a washer and drier, a folding table and a fancy ironing board and iron.

"You iron?" asked Olivia Westover.

"Sometimes, but Josh does it mostly. He's very proud of how he looks when he puts on a suit and tie. There's a shower down here so we can clean up after working in the yard, and for my dad," said Veronica. "This is what I brought you down here to see." She went to the back of the laundry room and slid aside a barnwood door and showed the two-room apartment they had made for Mike. There was a spacious bedroom with a queen-size bed, with dresser, a vanity, an antique wardrobe, and a large flat screen TV on the wall at the foot of the bed. "The other room is a sitting room, and we have a futon in here if anyone wants to volunteer to sleep on it tonight."

"It's beautiful!" gushed the Pennsy Girls as they inspected the apartment. "Did your contractor friend do this too?" asked Judy Griffith.

"He designed it, his apprentice, Pastor John, did much of the work, then Josh put up the drywall and did all the finishing work. Together Josh and I painted it and decorated it." She pointed out the photographs of the locomotives that her dad had built. "We finished a couple of months ago. Wait until you see dad's cabin! Josh put so much work into that."

"I suppose Gene and I will stay down here," said Mary Beth Kraus. "After all, someone is going to have to christen this room."

"That's already been taken care of," said Veronica with a smile, then she blushed when the girls started laughing. After assigning the sitting room to Olivia and Eric, they went upstairs so Judy and Hope could see their bedrooms for the evening. "Keep your coats handy; we're walking to dinner," said Veronica. Josh was entertaining the guys with stories of the contests he was in as he carefully fed his goldfish, Pancho and Morris.

"You have a big ten-gallon aquarium for two goldfish? Isn't that overkill?" asked Alex.

"There's more, keep looking," said Josh. They looked, and eventually they saw the beautiful burgundy beta fish hiding among some floating plants; then, down at the bottom of the tank, they found several neon tetra fish swimming as a school among the jungle of live aquatic plants. "The beta is named Tyson, and the neon tetras are named Dave. Their pronouns are us and we."

"This is beautiful, but why a black moor?" asked Dan.

"A dear friend of mine always has a black moor goldfish but unlike Morris, hers are Panda Bear Moors which have a white body and black telescope eyes and fins. She got a little tipsy when I met her in Korea and she spent an evening telling me about her goldfish, so when I won Pancho at the county fair, I added a moor as a buddy for Pancho. My real interests are live plants. Everyone puts plastic plants in their aquariums; I plant real plants, I love watching them grow, I love the cover they make for the little fish."

Just then Veronica finished the tour and came downstairs with the girls after setting up Hope and Olivia in the upstairs bedrooms. "Honey, Yi called, dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes."

Josh glanced at his watch and said, "Dinner will be at another location, so get your coats and hats, we have a little bit of a walk." Soon the five couples, along with Julissa, were walking past Howard Street Park, where the ice rink was in use. There were about eight kids playing hockey with a few adults watching or officiating. "Our new sponsor put that ice rink up a couple of years ago, lights and all. It even has a sound system," said Veronica. "I taught Josh to skate so we could skate here on Sunday nights."

"I suck at skating," said Josh.

"You liar! You skate very well! You beat what's his name... that cop... Oglethorpe in a one-on-one game of hockey."

"That wasn't hockey, that was aggressive falling," mumbled Josh.

"This is the place," said Julissa, and she pointed at the huge Victorian home that was lit up to show off its "painted lady" paint style. The main siding was light gray with trim and highlights painted in forest brown, navy blue, dried tomato red, and ocean green. It was a riotous combination, and it worked perfectly to highlight the architectural details. The hidden spotlights and permanent lights on the trim had the house lit up so all colors could be seen at night.

"I'm so happy the lights are back on," sighed Veronica as she led them up the driveway. "While Paul was missing, his wife turned off the exterior lights. This side of the neighborhood became so gloomy." She rang the doorbell, and the door was answered by a cute Asian girl who was holding a baby.

"Come on in, it's a little hectic here, but come on in."

"Gang, this is Yi, the hardest working au pair girl on the face of the earth," said Josh.

Yi glared at Josh with a stare that would wound a lesser man. "I am Doctor Jarecki's executive chef and governess, NOT an au pair girl." She placed the baby in Josh's arms and said, "He's been crying for you, get to work." With that, she handed Josh a baby bottle, then sweetly said, "Follow me and I'll show you where you can hang your coats."

The laughing guests hung their coats in a closet and followed Yi into a huge side room. "We call this the library because of the bookshelves that line the walls. It's a multi-purpose room with a sprung dance floor where Veronica taught Josh not to trip over his own feet when music was playing."

"You're killing me Yi," groaned Josh as he sat down with Danny and fed the hungry little guy.

Yi ignored Josh and continued, "currently we have it set up for tonight's meal. Your hosts will be down in a moment. "

Just then a little boy stepped into the library and looked at the group in terror. He was about to dash out of the room when he saw Veronica, and he ran to her. He cried something that sounded like "Mademoiselle Ronnie!" as he ran to her.

"Cholly, we spoke about this," said Veronica as she scooped up the little boy. She showed him her ring finger and said, "It's Madame Ronnie now," and she gave him a kiss that he replied with a sloppy open mouth kiss that very young children prefer.

"Dosh!" cried Cholly, and he squirmed in Ronnie's arms until she let him down, and he ran to Josh and began chattering.

"No, I am not going to put down the baby, I just got him settled down," said Josh. "Bring me Chiot."

"Chiot is home," said Cholly with a pout.

"Where's Jolie?"

"In a box," Cholly pouted. He meant that Jolie was in a kennel.

"Where's Wonka?"

"Sleeping."

"You're just out of luck today. I suppose you'll have to play with your cousins."

"Ok," said the little boy, and he scooted off.

Just then Paul and Andi Jarecki entered the room, and Josh rose to introduce them. "This is Doctor Paul and Doctor Andi Jarecki, our mayor elect. Paul and I have been friends for a few years now, when we do our summer campouts his property will be across the street from us." Then Josh went around the room introducing the quartet and their wives.

Eric went right for the throat. "Josh said that you were planning to hire us?"

"Yes, I am," said Paul. "Josh and Missus Tanaka are in contact with your international headquarters to see what the rules are for your income. You can work for your uniforms and travel expenses through paid sing dates etcetera. I would like to hire someone with your sound to do not just jingles for my ads but to create a sound that delivers snob appeal. I think you have that sound."

"Us? Snobs? I'm a truck repair mechanic," said Gene.

"I'm a forklift operator," said Alex. "There's no snob in my blood."

"That's right," said Paul. "And going to Denver for a week isn't something you guys can easily afford. That's where I come in. I believe in you guys. I love the way you look and how you sound, and I think the advertisements I have in mind will be your ticket to Denver."

"Like what?" asked Alex. Alex was naturally curious, and he was starting to worry about the whole deal.

"Picture this, a big band, brass, woodwinds, the good stuff. Everyone in black tuxedos except for the leader, he's in a white tuxedo. Their band stands are black and gold, you guys come out in front of the band with black tuxedos that have gold trim. You sing something hot, yet smooth. Fly Me to the Moon comes to mind, I can get permission to use that. As you sing, a black and gold Ferrari 488 GTB rolls out in front of you. On the screen are the words something to the effect of 'The Good Life - Jarecki Motors.' The screen goes black the white letters fade to black and the song ends."

The room was silent for a long moment, then Gene, the bass, said, "You just gave me a woody."

The room exploded with laughter. "I take it that means you like the idea?" said Paul.

"I can't wait until mom sees me on TV!" gushed Alex.

"Well... these are going to be targeted at high income areas, Manhattan, the Hamptons, places like that where a Ferrari 488 GTB is used to pick up the groceries," said Paul. "What do you think?"

Before anyone could answer, Yi entered the library, calling, "Dinner!" and she put a stack of paper plates and a couple of rolls of paper towels on the table. She was followed by her fiancé, Kenny, who carried a stack of pizza boxes topped with two white foam containers filled with Buffalo style chicken wings. He was followed by Julissa's husband, Ayato, who carried a cooler filled with different varieties of pop.

"Everyone dig in," said Paul. "Girls would you lead us in grace?"

Paul and Andi's twin daughters appeared at the end of the table with Cholly, and they chanted, "God is gracious, God is good. Let us thank him for our food. YAAAAAY GOD!"

"Is that a proper grace?" asked Mary Beth Kraus. She wasn't scolding the girls; it was more like teasing.

"Unka John says it's a good grace," said Sandy as she and Madeline got a paper plate and stepped in line.

"Who is Uncle John?" asked Mary Beth.

"That would be my brother, our pastor," said Paul. "You'll be singing in his church tomorrow. He encourages the kids to say grace that's not conventional, repetitious chants. Sandy and Madeline come up with some creative grace, but as long as it gives thanks for the meal and glory to God, that's all grace needs to be."

"I was hoping these guys would sing for their supper," said Yi as she and Kenny sat down next to Julissa and Ayato.

"Guys?" asked Eric, "Keep the Whole World Singing." Pennsy stood and sang the barbershop harmony anthem. It's a perfect song for situations like this; it's melodic, it has wonderful chords that ring when you hit them, and it's short.

Sandy and Madeline were overwhelmed; they had never heard music sung like that, so they sat on either side of Josh. "Excuse me girls, can my wife sit next to me?"

"We are," said Sandy as she gnawed on her chicken wing. Her face and tiny fingers were covered in mild chicken wing sauce and blue cheese dressing.

Josh wiped her face as he said, "We talked about this, I can't marry you two."

"We're going to take turns," said Madeline.

"Girls, I'm twenty five years older than you. When you're old enough to marry I'll be forty three."

Sandy shrugged and said, "Poppa is forty four and momma is happy."

The chuckles around the table were getting to the bursting point. "Welcome to the family," said Andi. "These are the things Josh has to put up with every time we go camping."

"Girls, I'm already married," said Josh.

"Don't look at me to get you out of this," said Veronica between delicate bites of pizza.

The twins glared at Josh, then at Veronica, then at each other, pouting in anger the whole time. Finally, Madeline said, "We'll share."

"Share?" asked Josh as the folks at the table roared with laughter.

"Uh huh," said Sandy, nodding.

"Girls, enough!" said Andi. "You're making Mister Josh crazy."

"Sor-ree," said the twins in unison. Then Madeline looked at Josh and said, "When can we play with Baby Ellie?" Sandy nodded along with Madeline.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," said Josh as he wiped the faces of the twins again.

They ate and chuckled as stories were told. Most stories were inspired by Josh and his land. "We give Josh a lot of grief," said Paul. "But his land is beautiful, and his cabins are gorgeous. He's a good custodian of the land."

"I think I have lumber for one more cabin then we can call that project finished," said Josh. "We'll have at least one weekend getaway to practice and unwind, and one fund raiser in the woods."

"A fund raiser in the woods?" asked Dan Griffith.

Since Josh was busy washing the twins' faces, Veronica explained. "We have a chicken dinner to raise funds for several charitable organizations. I don't know if we will meet last year's numbers, but our plan this year is to donate one million dollars to Adoption Advocates..."

"A MILLION?" gasped Alex.

"... and eight million dollars to Roswell Park Cancer Institute."

"Eight million dollars?" Olivia Westover.

"That's impossible," grumbled Gene Kraus.

"We raised seventeen million dollars last year," said Josh as he wiped chicken wing sauce from behind Sandy's ear.

The room went silent in shock. "How?" asked Alex. "I've been to awesome chicken barbeques, but seventeen million - does Chiavettas raise that much at the county fair?"

"It's not the chicken," said Veronica. "It's Josh and Paul and Josh's boss, Anthony Friedman. They invite their rich friends to spend a couple of hours with a genuine hero; the genuine hero's girlfriend sweetly asks them to donate money to our causes. The money goes straight into the pool, we don't touch it, all we do is direct where it goes after the event is over. We pay for expenses from that fund, that's it. This year expenses will be Chiavetta's chicken, since it's an all-day event you'll be paid for two sing-dates, and the band."

"We'll add the Institute of Logopedics to the pool and they'll be getting a percentage of everything over nine million that we raise. It will be donated in the name of Country Roads," said Josh. "I'm not an accountant, I just schmooze."

"Last year that schmoozer won the Humanitarian of the Year award from the Western New York Businessman's association," said Andi. "It was quite an awards ceremony."

"I got an autographed football from Jim Kelley," said Veronica with a sigh of admiration.

"The guy that fired me two years ago announced the award, and the pilot that got shot out of the sky with me handed me the award," said Josh as he pulled a messy Cholly onto his lap and washed his face.

"You should hire Josh as your governess," said Eric as they watched Josh clean up the toddler.

Josh put Cholly on the ground and said, "Go get your book," and the little guy ran off. When he was out of earshot, Josh turned to his quartet and said, "That little guy is an orphan because I wasn't there for him. I failed, and I won't fail him again. That's who we're singing for."

"What if we don't want to do this?" asked Gene.

"What do you mean?" asked Josh.

"That's a lot of work..."

"So is tearing down a diesel engine, but you do that every day. What's your point?"

"I'm just saying, it's stupid. Besides, you didn't ask us if we wanted to..."

"Actually I did, I said on New Year's Eve that this would be part of the price of asking me to join." Josh glared at the people around the table who were looking at him like he was crazy and said, "I'll give you time to discuss it among yourselves. Don't let an agreement you made hold you back." With that, he left.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Chapter 03 - Practice makes Perfect

The room was silent. What happened? Josh, the good times, good ol' boy, vanished, and someone with death in his eyes stormed off. Finally Veronica said, "This fund raiser is very important to Josh. He has been supporting our adoption efforts since the day we met, and he took the murder of Cholly's parents very seriously, and in the end he found the body of Cholly's father."

"It's been a tough winter here in Springville," said Andi, who was leaning on Paul. "You need to know this about Josh; PTSD will tear you up."

"I just don't think our time is well spent cooking chicken," said Gene.

Julissa glared at Gene and snarled. "Dumb ass. Who said you'd be cooking chicken? You didn't even ask what you'd be doing." She looked at Paul and said, "You've known Josh the longest, what do you think these dumbasses should do?"

Paul shrugged. "That's up to you guys. Whatever you decide to do doesn't affect me. If Josh walks from your quartet, it'll save me a lot of money on uniforms and travel expenses. As for my ads, I'll use him solo. The band leader I have in mind wants Josh as a solo singer to begin with."

"What do you mean?" asked Eric.

"What I mean is, I owe Josh a lot. This is how I repay his kindness, not yours." Paul looked friendly, but he didn't sound that way anymore. "Personally I'm not seeing much kindness. You have a close friend with lung cancer, another with osteosarcoma, you have the chance to raise eight million dollars to help them, eight million. Josh gave Roswell a check for sixteen million last year without your help and you sit here whining about not liking a task you're not allowed to do?"

Gene's wife, Mary Beth, is short, round, and a Sweet Adeline alto, and she always wanted to go to International Competition. She's normally a happy-go-lucky woman who spends most of the evening laughing. She wasn't laughing now. She turned to Gene and said. "Fix this. Now."

"You're right, I'm sorry, this is on me," said Gene. "I will talk to him." He got up and looked around the house for Josh. The place was a lot bigger than he had expected. He ended up in the kitchen, where he found the three children sitting under the kitchen table, petting a chocolate lab who lay under the table. The dog's tail slowly slapped the floor as the three children petted him. "Have you seen Mister Gravely?" asked Gene.

"Mister Josh? He's in the back yard," said one of the tiny blond girls.

"Thank you." Gene stepped outside and looked around. Snow was falling gently, but he didn't see Josh. He saw Josh's footprints, however, and he followed them out into the backyard. The footprints were almost lost in a stampede of dog prints, but he found Josh standing under a snow covered grape arbor. He was just standing there, looking down at the ground under the arbor. "Boss, I want to..." but Josh held up a finger, silencing him.

"I'm not your boss, I'm just a singing computer nerd. I prefer Josh."

"Josh, I'm sorry if I said the wrong thing, it's just that I hate chicken. Growing up that's all we had to eat was chickens and eggs. Just the smell of the hen house makes me sick. I can't be near it."

Josh was silent for a long time, then he finally said, "When I was eight, they'd send me off to school with one Pop-Tart washed down with a cup of bourbon. Sometimes I prayed that when I woke up, I'd find I was an orphan, and for my sins, God granted me my wish."

Josh turned and saw the shocked look on Gene's face. "Don't get me wrong, if those sons-a-bitches didn't drink themselves to death I woulda took care of it myself. I was sick of getting ignored for a week, then beaten for a week. When I was eleven, I went down to the docks and lied to Capt'n Rolf an' told him I was sixteen and I worked on the shrimp boats separating the shrimp from things that weren't shrimp. Capt'n Rolf let me keep what I thought I could eat, as long as it weren't shrimp. I ate a lot of flounder those days. I signed up for the swim team so I'd get a shower once or twice a week."

Gene sputtered, "I'm sorry... I didn't..." but Josh continued.

"When I was seventeen I went to the recruiter and took the ASVAB test and found out I was smart enough to take any job in the military but I just wanted to go immediately so I took the first job available. The day after I graduated I went to the recruiter with the papers signed that let me enlist before I turned eighteen. He didn't know my mom was dead. My sister forged my mother's name just to get me out of the house, and the rest is history."

"What do you want me to do?" asked Gene.

Josh stared at the ground and was silent for a moment. Then he said, "You need to learn to gather more information before you make a decision or come to a conclusion."

"You're right, I'm sorry," said Gene. "If I do that again, please tell me to pull my head out of my ass."

Still staring at that point on the ground, Josh said, "Together we have a good sound, singing with you is very important to me, but my fundraiser is vastly more important, I don't know how it got as big as it did, but it did. It's like a fad to be rich and donate money to us, and I need to ride that wave for my orphan kids and my brothers and sisters with cancer. It's ok if you don't want to help, that's fine." The threat that Josh would reciprocate by not helping the quartet hung in the air.

"Tell me what you want," said Gene. "Just don't ask me to do food service."

"I need guys up here to get the property ready before folks show up. Help me get cabin number nine together and the quartet can consider that cabin to be theirs to use year round. Come up for a weekend of fishing and laying in the sun, hiking, camping in the woods, whatever. Each member of Country Roads will get a share of the take for expenses in Denver."

"So I can come up any time I want and do what I want?" asked Gene.

"Within reason. Cabin five is off limits, cabin seven is usually populated with my boss and his seven kids. The rest may or may not be reserved for one family or another but cabin number nine will be for Country Roads except for occasions like my company picnic when quite a few folk stay. If you have an RV or tent we have sites for them too, some sites have power, all have fire ring and picnic table."

Gene was shocked; he had thought Josh had a field and a patch of woods. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to be in charge of the quartet, you get the guys and their wives busy, set up workdays and practice days. Make sure everyone gets gas money from Paul. The day of the fund raiser is the easiest, it's a big party, just keep the orphans happy and the garbage cans empty."

"You got things worked out?" asked Eric as Josh and Gene returned to the library.

"Gene has volunteered to manage quartet activities for the fund raiser including scheduling use of cabin number nine," said Josh.

"Wait, what's with cabin number nine?" asked Mary Beth.

"Cabin number nine is a Boy Scout patrol size cabin with fireplace, small kitchen and a leader's office/bedroom. Unless it is reserved in advance for special activities like my company picnic, it will always be available for the eight of you."

There were dozens of questions too fast for Josh to answer, and Paul finally said, "Wait until you see the property. The cabin is almost finished, you just need to do the roof and the floor, but five guys should be able to finish it up in one afternoon."

For his part, Josh just turned to Eric and said, "Let's sing."

"Ok, songbooks out," and the guys opened up their songbooks.

"Working at the Car Wash Blues?" suggested Alex. They've added a Jim Croche block to their show format and were working on a few of his lesser remembered hits.

"We can do that for my boss in June," said Josh. "This is a church service."

"Warmups first," demanded Julissa, and the quartet began singing scales, and she listened carefully to each man, making sure that each was on key perfectly. They knew better than to whine about having to do the "boring stuff," they were going to International competition, and the boring stuff is what got them this far.

<><><><><>

Andi left Paul with the quartet and led the girls downstairs. "This is really Paul's domain but he's not using it now," said Andi.

"His domain? Where's the TV?" asked Mary Beth.

"They should be practicing down here," said Olivia. "This room is acoustically perfect."

"We don't watch a lot of TV here," said Andi, answering Mary Beth's question. "However when we watch, we go all out." She opened an armrest on one of the big, cushy recliners and pressed a button. When she did that, the curtain on the wall that the seats were facing opened up, and the projector lit up, showing one of the biggest TVs they had ever seen. "Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, and the Olympics is mostly what this TV is for."

"Star Trek!" shouted the twins as they raced down the stairs, followed by the biggest puppy the girls had ever seen. They were eventually followed by Cholly, who laid down on the stairs and slid down, face down, feet first.

"No Star Trek tonight," said Andi.

"I Grok Spock," said Sandy with a pout.

"I don't know where they get this stuff," said Andi with a sigh.

"Probably from Uncle Josh," said Veronica.

"You girls don't know how much help Veronica was to me when all this was going on," said Andi. "Paul was running for Mayor when he was abducted, and I thought I could step in and run for mayor in his place. I was ignored by the press and harassed by the local police department. I was going to run out of money buying advertising because I couldn't get a press interview. Then Veronica stepped in and started making calls and the whole world changed."

"What did you do?" asked Judy Griffith.

"I called friends in social media. I know folks on Substack who had their own following and invited them to a press conference, then I called folks in the back rooms of the local news feeds who heard that social media was big on Andi, and they sent their reporters to cover it."

"She taught me a valuable lesson," said Andi. "You don't have to answer the question they asked, you have a responsibility to answer the question they should have asked."

"She was wonderful!" gushed Veronica. "Local news rarely airs the question, so Andi only answered questions they should have asked. That one about Mayor Windecker was priceless!"

"What did she say?" asked Hope Rodriguez.

"The reporter asked something about Windecker's lead in the polls, which was a lie, he never led in any legitimate poll," said Andi.

"So Andi said, 'I firmly believe that when the district attorney reviews Mayor Windecker's actions he will take his evidence to a grand jury.' Holy Smokes! That lit off a fire storm like you wouldn't believe!" Veronica's pretty hazel eyes were wide with excitement as she spoke. "The Buffalo press was against her, but they were all trying to get the next hot take. The new media was in love with her, and she was the darling of talk radio. The next thing you know, the public is behind her."

"I even got interviewed during the period break of a Sabers game," said Andi. "I'm trying to answer the announcers questions and these two want to talk to the goalie."

"He's cool!" gushed Sandy, who was playing with her puppy.

"He's like a knight! Unka Josh should be goalie too!" said Madeline, who was rolling on the floor.

"Don't ever get Josh mad at you then challenge him to a little one on one hockey," groaned Veronica.

"So, how are you doing? Is there anything we can do for you?" asked Andi.

"Is it true that you want the guys to sing in commercials?" asked Mary Beth.

"Yes, but Paul isn't looking for a barbershop sound, more of a jazz or swing sound. He's talking with Julissa who can coach them," said Andi.

"What do you mean?" asked Olivia, who has been involved with barbershop harmony almost as long as Mary Beth.

"I think I understand," said Mary Beth. "Pure barbershop is dependent on the diminished seventh chord, which creates a harmonic fifth voice. It's too full and rich a sound to perform with a band. But if they go to a two note harmony, the band can fill in with the rest of the chord."

Andi shrugged. "I studied medicine. I can tell you how the ear works, but I can't tell you why some things sound better than others. Julissa and Eric could answer better than I could." Just then Yi and Kenny came downstairs, and each was carrying a tray of cups of cappuccino. They distributed the hot drinks and finger shaped cookies.

"These are delicious!" gushed Hope. "What do you call them?"

"Biscotti senza burro con cioccolato," said Yi.

"Donkey cookies!" cried the twins, who dashed for the cookie tray that Yi set on the coffee table in front of the women.

"Biscotti senza burro... butter free chocolate cookies?" asked Olivia.

"Exactly," said Yi. "Something quick and easy for the little crumb snatchers after school."

"You made these cookies?" asked Mary Beth as she tasted the finger shaped cookies that paired so perfectly with the cappuccino.

"Yes, they're baked in an air frier."

"How clever!"

"Yi is a Culinary Institute trained chef that we hired away from ourselves," said Andi.

"Hired away from yourselves?"

"We own a yacht, and on our maiden cruise we hired a full crew, and Yi was part of that crew. She had a way of dealing with the twins that we just loved..."

Madeline peered over the edge of the coffee table and said, "Yi is scary."

"So we hired her away from ourselves to move up here to Springville and help us out here. Madeline, go check with papa and see if he wants help with the baby."

"Kay!" and Madeline snatched a cookie from the dish and ran up the stairs.

Andi began explaining the layout of the basement, Paul's train and radio room, the gym, the shower, but Madeline yelled, "HE DOES MOMMY!"

"I'll be right back," and Andi went upstairs to take care of Danny while Madeline came back downstairs.

"So, you think Miss Yi is scary?" asked Hope Rodriguez. She was about to tell stories of her abuela, who brooked no nonsense from her grandchildren.

"She is to bad guys," said Sandy.

Madeline nodded in agreement. "She cooked their brains."

The women broke into laughter, but Yi growled a warning. "Madeline!"

"A bunch of bad guys come to take us away, so she used her phaser," said Sandy.

"Just like Star Trek!" said Madeline cheerfully. "She set it to bake and..." Then the twins put their fists under their chins and started shuddering. "Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbb!" Then they fell down, much to Cholly's enjoyment.

"What?" laughed Judy. "You girls!" Then she saw the pained look on Kenny's face. It was the look of a man who had tried desperately but failed. She saw the same look on Veronica's face. "What happened?"

Kenny, Yi, and Veronica looked at each other. Then Veronica said, "It didn't make the news and not many people know. The ones that do know think it's a lie, which is good. Two men came into Zoar Valley Academy to take the twins, but Yi was there, and when they got too close, she used her taser on them."

The room was quiet except for the sound of Cholly playing with Jolie. "There's more, isn't there," asked Olivia.

"There's quite a bit more," said Veronica. "The news missed almost every part of the story; I'm still finding out about it."

"Was Josh involved?" asked Mary Beth.

"Josh is very protective, especially of older veterans, these guys started harassing a friend of his and he went ballistic on them."

"How ballistic?" asked Judy.

"One-on-one hockey ballistic," said Kenny, speaking for the first time.

"So when my Gene started getting lippy with Josh, he was in danger?" asked Mary Beth.

"No, Gene is a good friend of Josh," said Veronica. "Josh's friends are treasures to him."

"If he's upset with a friend he'll just put his friend to work," said Kenny. "Josh believes that hard work is what draws men together, not beer and fishing. That's for later."

Andi returned with Danny in her arms, and the Country Girls all noticed her demeanor; she was confident but tender. Humble, but at the same time regal. She had been through the fire and, like steel, came out stronger for it. Springville didn't elect a mayor; they elected an empress, a queen who would rule with humility and love.

She noticed the looks on the women's faces when she entered the room, and she saw the twins laying on the ground twitching, playing 'Dead Klingon.' That only meant one thing: they had been talking about what happened after Paul was kidnapped. Did they know that Josh shot two men who were trying to kill John? Or that he was actively hunting down the rotten apples in the Springville Park Patrol? "I take it they told you about the events at school?"

"The kidnappers and the taser? Yes," said Olivia.

"Which event?" asked Andi. "The first attempt or the second?"

The women's eyes sprang wide open. Multiple kidnapping events? "Miss Julissa was there the second time, she cooked 'em good!" cried Sandy. Then it was time to play 'Dead Klingon' again. "Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbb!"

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Chapter 04 - Country Roads to Church

Josh woke his visitors with a nice breakfast laid out for them: scrambled eggs with homemade salsa, hash browns, and deer sausage. "This is incredible!" gushed Alex. "Who taught you to make salsa?"

"I used to manage a Mexican restaurant," said Josh.

"What, a Taco Bell?" said Hope with a smirk. Being Hispanic, she couldn't picture a Southern cracker like Josh managing a Mexican restaurant, but one taste of the salsa made her change her mind. "This is good... it's really good!"

"I got the recipe from Mariano Ochoa. I ran a Mariano's Real Tex-Mex."

"Seriously? Mariano's?" asked Alex. Mariano's was a chain of Mexican restaurants that served well-crafted meals.

"It tastes like Mariano's salsa alright," said Hope.

"She used to work at a Mariano's Real Tex-Mex," said Alex. "That's where we met."

"I met my first wife at a Mariano's too. Which one were you working in?" asked Josh.

"Brighton, Colorado," said Hope. "God, I missed this salsa."

"We have jars of it, I'll get you some," said Veronica. She got up and headed down to the laundry room, where a cabinet full of jars of food that she and Josh had canned awaited.

"I didn't realize you guys were from the Denver area," said Josh. "I managed the Santa Rosa Island location."

"That's headquarters, that's where the owner is."

Josh nodded and smiled ruefully. "Señor Ochoa. He was my father-in-law."

"You were married to Yesenia?" gasped Hope. "That means..." her eyes grew enormous. She knew all the rumors that circulated. "You left her and the baby?"

"First of all, it wasn't my baby, I don't know what you heard but I came home from a deployment that went nine months and when I got home she was six months pregnant. I stepped in my house and she was blowing her baby daddy and I was there with my first sergeant and my commander."

Hope looked at him, then smiled and said, "That's what I heard!"

"I miss Señor Ochoa. He was a stern father but that completed me... having a dad... I suppose that's why I can't wait until my new dad gets here," said Josh.

"I just can't picture you in the restaurant business," said Gene.

"He loves to cook," said Veronica as she returned from the basement. She put a glass quart jar down in front of Hope and handed her a photo album. "Which is lucky for me. I'll eat a sack of frozen broccoli instead of a proper meal." She snuggled up to Josh and gave him a warm kiss. "I love a man who cares for me... and my dad! How lucky can a girl get?"

In the photo album were photos of Josh working at the restaurant and his wedding to Yesenia. "That's him!" said Hope. "The big boss! Señor Mateo!"

"I invited him to come to the fundraiser, so you better be on your best behavior," said Veronica. The shocked look on Josh's face was priceless.

<><><><><>

An hour later, four cars pulled up at the church. There were several cars there already, so they parked and got out, and Josh led them to the newer of the two churches. He pointed back and the old white church and said, "Over there is the old church, Paul's brother John got his first job right out of divinity school there and has been here ever since. He built this new church against his will, because he loves that old building so much."

"Do they use it?" asked Eric.

"Oh yes, at least a dozen weddings a year, and they'll lease it out to other churches for weddings. Brides like the way the church looks out front and inside. The steeple bell still rings every day at noon and at eleven to start service on Sunday."

"Turch!" agreed Cholly. He was in Josh's arms as they walked up to the new building. Cholly spent the night with his cousins and was supposed to go to church with Uncle Paul, but he missed his parents and was whiny when he woke up. Josh was going in early to practice, so he swung by Paul's house and picked up Cholly.

The quartet and their wives compared the two churches. One was an old white clapboard side church with a tall steeple, but it was tiny. The new building looked more like a modern school with stained glass windows. Somehow the old church looked warmer.

Josh led them into the new church and set Cholly down. The toddler rocketed off through the bustle of the women's ministry as they set up tables for the congratulatory meal that they were preparing for Andi; they weren't aware that Paul insisted on getting out of bed and coming in as well. "Poppa!" cried Cholly as he dashed around and under tables.

"The pastor's office is that way if you haven't guessed," said Josh as he pointed in the direction Cholly dashed off in. "The women's ministry is setting up a congratulatory feast for our new mayor. Paul is supposed to be on strict bed rest for two more weeks so this will be a surprise to the congregation."

Veronica gave Josh a kiss and said, "I'm going to help the girls."

"Catch up with you later," said Josh. To his quartet, it looked like they were separating for weeks and didn't want to say goodbye, but Veronica slipped out of Josh's arms and headed over to the fellowship room, followed by the Country Girls.

"Are you ok Ronnie?" asked Eric's wife, Olivia.

"Why do you ask?" asked Veronica.

"It looked like Josh was afraid you were never going to return."

"Oh... We haven't had much time together since we were married and it's getting painful to say goodbye so often." Veronica led them into the kitchen where a tall, beautiful, black woman with long, flowing hair stood directing the activities while holding a small baby. "Girls, this is Macy Jarecki, Pastor John's wife and a pastor herself. Macy, these are the Country Girls, Hope, Judy, Mary Beth and Olivia."

"So good to see you, Mary Beth, you are the Sweet Adeline, no?" said Macy in her delightful French-Canadian accent.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"A little bird-dee told me," said Macy, and she pointed to where Yi and Julissa were sliding the entrée pans into the oven. "What part do you sing?"

"I sing lead and baritone."

Macy smiled and said, "Ah! Julissa sings bass, and I will naturally sing lead, we just need to teach Yi the tenor harmony, and we can have our own quartet."

"You sing lead?" asked Mary Beth.

"But of course," said Macy with a playful smile. "I am thee tallest, no?"

"She can sing every part," said Julissa without looking up from the sink she was washing dishes in.

"I want to hear thee Pennsy, could I?" asked Macy.

"The boys changed their name," said Olivia. "Since they got a country boy singing lead, and we found him in West Virginia they now call themselves..."

"Knowing Josh? I'd say he picked The Good Ol' Boys," guessed Yi over by the oven.

"That was probably his second choice," said Veronica.

"They're calling themselves Country Roads," said Olivia. "That makes us the Country Girls now."

"Are you good with that name?" asked Macy.

"I don't know," said Hope. "I'm a city girl, I grew up in Aurora, Colorado."

"Trust me, one night in one of Josh's cabins, and you will be a Country Girl," sighed Macy, remembering her first night alone with John in Paul's cabin.

"I don't know," said Mary Beth. "I've never gone camping."

"Do not worr-ree," said Macy. "I will be just across the road."

"And a half mile back in the trees," said Julissa under her breath as she dried her hands. "Ok, time to break the guy's spirits. Here comes the coach." And she headed through the fellowship room to the hallway where the nursery and storerooms were located. The guys were lined up in a large, half empty storeroom. They were about to sing when Julissa made her presence known. "Let's start with scales," and she pulled out a round pitch pipe and blew a single note.

"Doe, ray, me, fah, so, la, tea, doe, tea, la, so, fah, me, ray, doe." Then she blew a higher note on the pitch pipe, and they sang the scales again in a higher key. "Doe, ray, me, fah, so, la, tea, doe, tea, la, so, fah, me, ray, doe."

Julissa took them through their warmup exercises, and John came over to hear the guys. Cholly was amazed at the sound he heard when they harmonized. Noticing the motion behind her, Julissa glanced over her shoulder and saw John and Macy hugging at the doorway, and she grinned. The guys knew what that grin meant; it was time to have some fun. "Hang on," muttered Josh under his breath.

"If You knew Macy," said Julissa, prompting them to sing a modified rendition of If You Knew Susie. This song was the essence of the roaring twenties. Written in Tin Pan Alley and first performed by Al Jolson, If You Knew Susie was one of America's first mega-hits. The catchy melody, the playful lyrics, and the mischievous rhythm changes made this song fun to perform, to play, to sing along with, and simply hum. Eddie Cantor rode this one to the top of the Billboard charts in 1925 (the Billboard charts started in 1913) and he even starred in a movie based on the song.

Julissa stood in front of "her boys" and blew a note on a pitch pipe, but the guys didn't 'tune up' aloud; in their minds, they prepared themselves to hit the note they needed to start. With a gesture that told the guys to start and she stepped aside.

If you knew Macy like I know Macy,

Oh! Oh! Oh what a gal!

There's none so classy, as this fair lassie,

Oh! Oh! Holy Moses, what a chassis...

The crowd of listeners in the hallway roared with laughter, and so did Macy. She can act quite reserved, but she's not without a sense of humor, and musical comedy was her favorite form of comedy. John looked like he loved it. He knew it wasn't mocking Macy so much as honoring her. When they finished, he and Macy walked up to the quartet and welcomed them. "Welcome back," chuckled John as he hugged Josh. John now had his daughter Katarina in his arms, and Josh tried to "borrow" the child, but John wouldn't give her up. "Thank you so much for making sure Andi made it there and back safely. Do you do a lot of that up-tempo music?"

"Uh..." Josh was stuck for words. They had prepared to sing in a church, so they dusted off a few hymns: Amazing Grace, Nearer My God to Thee, and It Is Well With My Soul. "All of our up-tempo music that we are ready to perform is secular."

"Well, I'm sure that Country Roads can be forgiven for singing their title song in a house of worship," said John with a smile. "I'll let you get on with your practice."

As John left, Alex said, "I've never seen a man so happy to hold a baby."

"This past year all of John's dreams have come true," said Josh with a sigh. "Unfortunately, that also included the nightmares. Ok, what do we have that we can sing in a church?"

<><><><><>

Alex, Josh, Dan, and Gene joined Macy and Melissa Kraft over at the piano as the service started with several hymns. Then Pastor John stepped up to the lectern. They could feel the excitement in the air; Paul was back! They saw him sitting down front with Andi. "I'm sure you can't get enough of hearing my voice," said John, teasing the congregation. "However, I'm going to take a break and let my brother speak to you for a moment."

As Paul rose to speak, the congregation gasped in surprise. Paul was back! They heard that he wouldn't be back for several weeks. As he slowly made his way to the lectern with the aid of a cane, Country Roads stood and sang the traditional song sung at barbershop chapter meetings when a guest arrives. It was the same song that introduced him to barbershop when Rod and Deanna Daniels took him to a chorus practice at a yacht club on Santa Rosa Island, but Josh requested a change of one word for his good friend.

You're as welcome as the flowers in May.

And we love you in the same old way.

We've been praying for you day by day.

You're as welcome as the flowers in May.

Their final chords rang through the church, adding to the delight that Paul was back. Paul was doing well and even started laughing when Josh and Country Roads began singing, but as he got to the lectern, he heard, "We've been praying for you every day" and the tears came. He fought for control, but he lost it, and the tears flowed. Words weren't coming, and the congregation watched in heartbreak for their head deacon, their pastor's brother.

Paul felt an arm around him, and he heard Josh saying softly, "It's ok old man, you have to let it out. If you keep it inside, you'll wind up like me."

"Thank you, brother," gasped Paul between waves of emotion, but before he could realize what was happening, there were several people around him: John, Macy, Gus, Andi, Yi, Cholly, and the twins were hugging him at the lectern. Finally, Paul collected himself. "Thank you, all so much," said Paul as he nudged the surrounding crowd to back up.

"Lean on your wife, that's why she's here," Josh whispered to Paul before returning to the quartet. The cluster of support around Paul soon backed away, except for Andi and the twins, who clung tightly to Paul. He nervously looked up at the filled church; there were even some news reporters there. They had all come to see Andi's address; nobody expected Paul to show up.

"Thank you..." started Paul as he collected himself. "When Josh and his guys sang that you were praying for me, I remembered a time not long ago when I was sure that the only thing keeping me going was your prayers... For that, I can never thank you enough. Thank you for helping my family in our time of crisis. So many of you helped in so many ways, and I'm still hearing of the different ways you helped Andi, Yi, and the girls. Until I can get my list straight, thank you."

Paul was silent for a moment, then he continued. "In a nutshell, what happened was that back in early December I opened a new dealership, and the previous owners had a side business which was based on importing drugs and underage girls. I assisted the FBI in breaking up their operation, and they didn't like it. Those who weren't rounded up hired some thugs and kidnapped me and shot my dog."

The same thought raced through the church; "Who would shoot Wonka?"

"I don't know where I was, I eventually discovered that I was in the sleeper cab of a tractor-trailer and we were driving through the Midwest, then they knocked me out and the next time I came to I was in Louisiana. At some point I took the name tag from my uniform and stuck it on the wall of the sleeper cab, and the detectives used that to identify the truck that was hauling me around. They ended up throwing me in a swamp and I was found by friends of Josh. If that isn't a sign, I don't know what is."

Paul pulled his tiny wife close to him. "Andi was a rock, she stepped in and took over Jarecki Motors and she worked with Min Sun, and Melissa Kraft to keep our operation on track, then she took over my election campaign and won with Veronica's help. Did you all know that Veronica got married?" There were surprised sounds in the church. Paul meant it as a joke; he didn't realize that things were so wild that Josh and Veronica never made the announcement. "They did, on New Year's Eve."

Just then the Country Boys started singing:

Goin' to the chapel and I'm gonna get married,

Goin' to the chapel and I'm gonna get married,

Gee, I really love you and we're gonna get married,

Goin' to the chapel of love.

When the laughter died down, Paul looked at the congregation and said, "On New Year's Eve, Josh and Veronica were in West Virginia, they went down there to get married and came back with a whole new quartet. Come on up here and sing two songs so John can go to work."

Country Roads walked up to the microphone on the left side of the podium and immediately began singing Amazing Grace. They sang beautifully and sweetly. They sang it a little quicker than they would normally sing it, trying to lighten up the feel of the sweet old hymn, and in the end, they would all say that it didn't sound great. When they were done, the congregation gave them a round of polite applause, and it would be the last time they ever tried to lighten up a hymn.

"Paul is right," said Josh as they gathered around the microphone. "Ronnie and I snuck off to Maryland to get married. We want to have a nice church wedding later, but we wanted to get the legalities done first. We were staying across the river in West Virginia, and we met a quartet that needed a lead singer. Come on up, Eric and Olivia. And the girls, come on up Hope, Ronnie, Judy, Mary Beth, Julissa, and Ayato..." The wives came up and Josh gave everyone an introduction.

"We are going to International Competition in the fall to represent Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania and since we have a new sound and we were there on the Shenandoah River we decided to change our names from Pennsy. We are now called..."

Gene interrupted and said, "Harper's Fairy."

There was a mock argument, and finally Julissa broke it up with a note on the pitchpipe, and Josh began to sing.

"Almost heaven, West Virginia

Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River...

One by one, the guys joined in singing the melody until they hit their "tag line" then they split into four-part harmony:

Country Roads, take me home.

To the place I belong

West Virginia, Mountain momma

Take me home, Country Roads.

The Country Girls were shocked. They've heard their men sing for years, but here they were, standing in front of their husband, his arms wrapped around her, his quartet partners on either side of them, the sound surrounding her. Each of the country girls could feel as well as hear the four voices creating a fifth harmonic voice, and suddenly each of them saw the appeal; the ability to make such a deep, rich, powerful sound with just your voice was amazing.

During the second refrain, Julissa said into the microphone, "It's ok if you want to sing along." And the church sang along; it was wonderful.

"Thank you guys," said Pastor John as the congregation applauded wildly. "Josh, Alex, Dan and Gene, Country Roads!" When the applause died down and the guys returned to their seats, John looked over at Josh and shook his head. "When I pick a song they fall asleep, when you pick a song they rock the house. I don't get it."

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Chapter 05 - First Sing Date

It was organized chaos at the fellowship meal after the service was finished and Country Roads finished with the recessional hymn. Josh got a lot of teasing from his friends as they asked Dan, Gene, and Alex, "How long did it take to teach Josh to sing?"

"Country Roads is going to sing for us so let them get their food first," said Pastor Jarecki.

"Paul needs to sit," said Josh. "We should feed him first."

"Macy is already on it," said John. "Andi is feeding the kids and Macy is getting Paul his meal."

"That's so nice that they're feeding Paul first," said Hope Rodriguez.

"He bought the meat and au jus, might as well serve him first," said Julissa.

"Ok, guys, looks like we're having roast beef. We even have kimmelweck so we can make beef on weck," said Josh.

"A what?" asked Hope.

"The king of roast beef sandwiches, the food on which football and hockey fans gluttonous for punishment dine on to regain their spirits between losses," said Josh in a grandiose manner.

"Teach us, oh master of the junk food," kidded Dan.

"This is the real food of Western New York," said Josh. "Buffalo style chicken wings, not Buffalo wings, is for tourists, and they are never served with ranch dressing. The real food of Buffalo is the Friday Fish Fry, Chiavetta's Chicken, and the unofficial official sandwich of Western New York, Beef on Weck."

"How shall we proceed, oh restaurador por excelencia?" asked Alex.

"We shall assemble our meal thusly. Traditional Buffalo style roast beef is served on a kimmelweck bun. Note, the outer crust is crispy, but not dry, the inner bread is soft and absorbent, and the top is crowned with pretzel salt and caraway seeds. The ritual starts with top and bottom of the kimmelweck dipped in au jus, like this," and Josh demonstrated the technique. He did a gentle dip of the cut sides of the bun in the au jus.

"Now we add some beef for flavor and texture..." he piled up the roast beef on the bottom half of the bun. "And now the main ingredient," and he slathered a small portion of horseradish on the beef, then topped it with the top of the bun. "And you have a piece of heaven right there in your hand. Grab some salads and the dessert table over there is waiting for you as well," he handed his sandwich to Veronica, then made another for himself.

"Be careful with the horseradish!" warned Veronica. "It's really potent."

"Josh put quite a bit on your sandwich," pointed out Olivia.

"I've built up an immunity over the years," said Veronica as she added some salad and coleslaw to her plate.

The quartet and their wives, along with their support, Julissa and Eric, sat down at a long table and enjoyed their meal. "Oh my! This horse radish!" gasped Olivia.

"It will clear your sinuses," agreed Eric.

"I swear it's making my ears drain," said Hope. "I wonder if there's a way to work horseradish into Mexican style food."

The talk at the table was mostly about music and the people they met at contests and conventions. People from the congregation would stop by their table and thank them for singing at the service. Josh would always rise and shake their hands and ask them if there was something they would like to hear more of. "Why are you jumping up like that?" asked Gene. "You'll never get your lunch finished."

"Because, these are our beta judges," said Josh. "They may not know a note of music and couldn't tell a chord from a cord of wood, but they know what they like. We are here for them, not the other way around." Then Josh said, "I'd like to add some classic Disney music to our line-up."

"What like Snow White singing to birds?" asked Eric.

"Only from the good version. No, I was thinking of Mary Poppins, to do a few songs from Mary Poppins with a Sweet Adeline quartet. We'd sing Bert's parts and the Sweet Ads would sing Mary's parts."

Julissa and Eric looked at each other and scowled, then Julissa said to Josh, "We can do it, but when would we do it?"

Josh shrugged and said, "Chapter shows, events, whenever. I know someone who knows people," and he squeezed Veronica's hand under the table. "Something to get our name out there."

Behind Josh sat a young couple who had never been to the church before. At their table sat the pianist Melissa Kraft and her son Jacob, a cellist and a barista at Sally Anne's restaurant and gift shop. "What do you think so far Stéphanie?" asked Melissa.

"We get to hear the quartet and the new mayor speak," said Stéphanie. "It's a win-win." Stephanie had a breath-taking beauty with thick blond hair that cascaded down over her shoulders and a figure that has caused at least one priest to question his vows.

"This is their first public sing-date so I hope their nerves don't get the best of them," said Melissa. "What did you think of the service? Pastor John was so happy to have his brother back."

"Sing-date," Stéphanie's husband scoffed under his breath. "Like a five-year-old play date?"

"Billy!" scolded Stéphanie softly, then she turned to answer Melissa's question. "We are catholic so this is all new to us. Do you always have a barbershop quartet in your service?"

"No," said Melissa with a laugh. "You may want to talk to our pastor; he and his brother Paul were raised Catholic. John had a crisis of faith in seminary and ended up in divinity school where he met Macy."

"How interesting," said Stéphanie, who actually knew all that before they entered the church. She turned to her husband, who was sipping coffee from a Styrofoam cup. "What do you think dear?"

"Folger's. It's definitely Folger's classic roast."

"No. Of the singers."

He glanced back over his shoulder quickly. The quartet was talking about a contest that they had been in several months ago. "I want to hear more," said the young man.

Over at the quartet's table, the conversation shifted to Josh's past. "I still can't believe you were married to Señor Mariano's daughter; he's like hella rich!" sighed Hope Rodriguez.

"Not anymore," said Veronica. "The marriage was annulled by the church, so it's like the marriage never existed."

Hope's eyes popped open when Veronica said the word annulled. "Was Señor Mariano that angry?"

"The last time we talked he wished Josh and I a happy life and he can't wait to come up at visit in June," said Veronica.

"HE'S GOING TO BE HERE?" squeaked Hope. "Can I meet him?"

"If you want, we're all going to be there at the fund raiser," said Josh.

"But... but... but..."

"Hope, relax. He's just another person. You're a fine surgical nurse; you shouldn't be nervous about meeting a fellow Mexican."

"But he worked his way up from nothing, and now he's worth millions," gasped Hope.

"And with luck his grandson Mateo Ezequiel Ochoa will invest the money he inherits and earns billions."

As they ate, Cholly popped up next to Josh and held his hands up to be picked up. Josh hoisted him up on his lap, and Cholly dove for the grapes on Josh's paper plate. "Ask nicely!" scolded Josh.

"Peas!"

"Here you go," and he bit a grape in half and popped it into Cholly's mouth. Then Josh noticed that Macy was looking around urgently for something, probably Cholly. "Wave to mommy," said Josh as he tickled Cholly.

"Maman!" cried Cholly, using the French word for mommy. When Macy saw Cholly, she gave a sigh of relief and bustled over to Josh's table to collect her boy.

"Come with me you little dickens," cried Macy in that mother's confusion of anger, relief, and joy. Three months ago Macy was positive that she wasn't ready to be a mother, or that she was far too old to raise a child. A month after Katarina was born, she was still worried that maternal love would never come; then Cholly was literally dropped in her lap, and the poor, helpless orphan wriggled his way into her heart. In turn, he sparked a flame of love and devotion to her infant daughter, a love that Macy once believed would never come. "Viens avec moi, petit rigolo, ton oncle Paul veut te voir." (Come with me, you funny boy, your Uncle Paul wishes to see you)

"Unka Paw!" cried Cholly as Macy lifted him from Josh's lap, his tiny legs doing a dolphin kick in excitement.

Josh watched in amusement and sadness... will he ever have a boy that would be that excited to see him? And what if Cholly's real grandparents demand that he move to New Caledonia with them? The sorrow that accompanied that thought overwhelmed Josh, and he didn't hear Eric telling him, "It's time."

They lined up in a corner of the room which would reflect their sound out over the audience, but as Gene ruefully noticed, it was farthest away from the dessert table. A microphone was set up and connected to the building's sound system. Larry Snow, the church's head of audio and video, fired up the soundboard and started recording.

Gene Kraus stepped up to the microphone and said, "Good afternoon. As we mentioned before, we are Country Roads. If you think you have heard us before, until recently we were called Pennsy, then Josh joined us and we changed our name to Country Roads. Before that we were Cross Wind, until Alex joined us and we changed our name to Pennsy."

"Y'all had a busy month," said Josh, which earned him a swat from Dan Griffith. They pantomimed an argument, and then Josh continued with the announcements. Being ready to sing pulled him out of the blue mood he had fallen into, and he was ready to go. "Today we'd like to take you on a tour of the music of the first half of Twentieth Century America. We start with the very first song to ever reach the top of Billboard's top forty." With that, they sang the old barbershop favorite, "When Irish Eyes are Smiling."

They ended to polite applause because When Irish Eyes Are Smiling doesn't thrill audiences like it did one hundred and twenty years ago. Alex then stepped up to the microphone. "A decade later, the top song was one we have a lot of fun with. It's one of America's first mega-hits and Eddie Cantor took this one to the top of the Billboard charts in 1925." With that intro, they sang "If You Knew Susie," but this time they used the right words.

"In 1932, Cole Porter wrote one of the most beautiful and romantic songs in American musical history," said Josh. "Fred Astaire sang this one on Broadway and it was a smash hit. Guys, y'all keep this one on hand for Valentines Day, you'll thank us for it." With a wink, he stepped back into line, and they sang the haunting classic hit Night and Day. To emphasize the romance and longing that dripped from every line in the song, Josh reached out to Veronica and bided her to rise, and holding her hand, he sang to her.

It was a beautiful, romantic moment, a scene from a great old romantic movie, and they could hear the women sighing with jealousy of Veronica. The beautiful former model was entranced by her handsome husband as he sang to her. When Josh sang the line "and this torment won't be through, 'till you let me spend my life making love to you night and day..." Veronica's pretty hazel eyes filled with passion, and she gasped loud enough to be heard by Andi and Macy as Josh sang. When the song was over, Josh leaned in to give Veronica a kiss, and she threw her arms around him and peppered his face with kisses while the audience roared with laughter. Then she slowly sat down in her chair, where she sat panting and gazing at her husband in a new light.

"It gets to you sometimes, doesn't it?" asked Judy Griffith.

"He always sang comedy before... this is new!" gasped Veronica, causing all the Country Girls to laugh.

"In the nineteen forties the era of big bands swept through America," said Gene. "It was a new sound, and America fell in love with Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman and their incredible big bands." The guys began keeping time with a beat only they could hear. Their heads nodded slightly, their shoulders rocked to the unheard beat, then suddenly they all shouted, "PENNSYLVANIA SIXTY-FIVE THOUSAND!" which caused laughter in the audience.

"Ok, admittedly a cappella isn't working for this one, but we're working on it," said Josh, and the audience roared with laughter. "When it came to music, there's really nothing in the nineteen fifties that could top the sound that came from the big cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Detroit..."

As Josh said those words, the bass, Gene sang, "Doo woppa, doo woppa, doo woppa doo doooo..." Then the entire quartet joined him with, "Oooo whaaa, oooo whaaa," until they burst into "Why Do Fools Fall In Love." This was a Pennsy favorite: Gene, Dan, and Alex had been singing it for a long time together, so they had choreographed moves. Josh had just learned the song and didn't know the moves, so he stood in front of them and sang the melody while the guys sang their do-wops. The audience loved it! So lively, so well sung, and so polished. They got an enormous round of applause for that.

"Thank you," said Gene. "That's a lot of fun to sing. There were so many good, good songs that came out in that era, here's one we're hoping brings us luck in the upcoming contest," and they eased into one of Dean Martin's classic love songs, You Belong to Me. This song was perfect for Josh's voice; he could sound exactly like Dean Martin if he wanted. The Country Girls were astounded; they had never heard their men sound so good!

When they finished their last song, Josh did the closing narration. "Thank you all so much for spending your time with us," said Josh. "I would like to thank our trainers and coaches, Julissa Tanaka, an amazing singer and conductor with the Sweet Adelines, and Eric Westover a brilliant singer, but even better, he's a magnificent coach and teacher. Thank you again and be safe, don't get between Gene and the dessert table."

The young woman at Melissa Kraft's table turned to her husband and said, "What do you think now?"

The young fellow had unruly reddish hair, and he gently nodded his head as if he were still listening to the music. His fingers tapped lightly on the table as he replayed every note of You Belong to Me in his head. He never answered her question, and Stéphanie was sure he wouldn't answer until later. That's just the way Billy was. Her dad once told Stéphanie that Billy was a genius, but a genius is a person who knows more and more about less and less, and their grasp on the real world, the world that Stéphanie inhabits, is tenuous at best.

With a sigh, Stéphanie turned back to Melissa. As a pianist, Melissa occasionally works for Billy, and even though she's not as lively in the Buffalo music scene as she used to be, Melissa keeps her 'toes in the water.' When she heard that Billy was looking for vocalists, she called Stéphanie and invited her to church and listen to the boys. "He's interested. What do we do now?"

"Talk to Paul Jarecki."

"He's their business manager?" asked a surprised Stéphanie. She only knows Paul because her dad buys a new car from Paul personally every year.

"No, but he's got them on an exclusive contract. Talk to Paul Jarecki, tell him that you like Josh's quartet."

"I don't know if Billy wants the entire quartet," said Stéphanie.

"Paul does, and he wants a band that can back them up. He wants to dominate the advertising world come August and December."

<><><><><>

"You still want to listen to me?" asked Andi, and the crowd started clapping even louder. "I'm not going to give a big political speech. I'm just going to say that I am going to keep every single promise I made while on the campaign trail." That brought the crowd to its feet, applauding. "On day one I will return the village Park Patrol to the parks and I will actively hunt down people who used their badge to commit crimes against the people of Springville!" Now the audience was going wild.

"What's going on here?" asked Eric. He thought that Country Roads was the headliner; he didn't expect a speech.

"Paul Jarecki was running for mayor and someone kidnapped him on December twenty ninth," said Josh. "While he was gone his wife Andi chose to run for mayor in his stead and won in a landslide. The current mayor is unpopular and corrupt to say the least."

"I first want to thank literally hundreds of policemen and FBI agents and the lord for returning Paul to us safe and sound," continued Andi. "When the police closed in on the kidnappers, Paul was tossed in the swamp and a couple of guys rescued him; one happened to work for Josh when they were stationed together in Korea. The other was a disabled veteran, feeding his family with social security and the catfish he occasionally catches. We were so blessed they were there when we needed them most, and thank the lord we were able to help them when they needed us most."

Andi turned to Macy and said, "My sister Macy, you were a rock through everything; you kept me sane and your constant reassurances that Paul would return kept me going. Yi and Kenny, you kept my babies safe in ways that the public refuses to believe. I couldn't have made it without everything you did for me. Veronica, you crafted a campaign that freed this village from the grip of an incompetent buffoon. Josh and Gus, I'm amazed at the restraint you showed when you found those guys that were creeping around your shop."

Andi didn't say, 'Gus and Josh stopped the guys who were trying to kill John.' Macy heard it once and was in tears for an entire day. She will never find out that a sniper was hired to shoot her and her babies.

"Thank you all for your support and your votes. We will be setting up a mailbox where you can email suggestions and ideas of how we can improve Springville. For the next weeks my plan is to nurse my husband back to health and study for my new job before the inauguration that you helped make possible."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Chapter 06 - Back to Work

A gentle snow started an hour or so after the gang headed off to their homes in Pennsylvania. Josh slipped off his suit and his S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A. tie while Veronica eased out of her dress. It was time to do the laundry before Mike arrived on Friday. Josh went into the bedrooms and stripped the linen off the beds and piled it up in the hallway to take downstairs to the laundry. He and Veronica put new sheets on the beds, and Josh laughed. "What's so funny?" asked Veronica.

"I swear I never thought I'd ever see the day when I could watch you make a bed topless."

Veronica sputtered a few times; they were both in their underwear, planning to shower once they got the laundry started. She stripped off her panties and tossed them on the laundry pile and stood with hands on hips, hips shifted to the side. Her breasts were round and inviting, with just the right amount of sag to prove they were all natural. "There. Does this make your day?" she taunted.

In response, Josh stripped off his shorts but instead of tossing them in the laundry pile, he hung them from his erect cock and put his fists on his hips and struck a Superman-like pose. "An how is your day now?" asked Josh.

"You are so goofy," said Veronica as she tossed his shorts onto the laundry pile.

Veronica purred and rubbed herself on Josh as she remembered his musical seduction. "YOU were incredible." Their lips met again and again. They stood naked in the hallway, holding each other tightly, basking in the warmth of their bodies pressing against each other.

"What about the quartet?" he asked between kisses.

"The quartet didn't turn me into a trembling wreck, the lead did."

"There's one bed in this house we still haven't christened," said Josh.

"No, we got them all," said Veronica. "Most of them at least twice."

"The futon," said Josh. The futon in Mike's sitting room where Olivia and Eric slept.

"You don't think Olivia and Eric christened it, do you?" asked Veronica as they hauled the laundry downstairs.

"It wouldn't count. As homeowners, only we could do that."

"I don't think that's true," said Veronica.

"It's in the OP plan," said Josh with a shrug as he started the washing machine.

"The what?" said Veronica with a laugh.

"The OP plan, the big book. Look, I don't write the rules..."

"Oh stop!" said Veronica as she tickled Josh.

"Behave!" said Josh as he slid the door to Mike's apartment open and called out, "Google! Play Night and Day, Fred Astaire." As the song started, Josh danced her into Mike's sitting room. Was it the size of the small rooms that had them dancing closer than ever before? Or was it being naked? As they neared the futon that was still open, Josh scooped Veronica up in his muscular arms and lowered her gently onto the futon.

Veronica was halfway there already; her breasts were swelling, her nipples aching, her chest flushed with desire. Josh began kissing her neck, going for that spot behind her ear that would leave her gasping and shuddering in desire every time. The spot was so sensitive that he was able to end disagreements by kissing and nibbling at that spot, along with soft romantic words that she ached to hear. ("You were right, I was wrong.")

She whimpered as he kissed his way down to her breast as his fingers gently traced around her pussy. "No!" she gasped.

"No?" asked a shocked Josh.

"I need you now!" her voice was heavy with passion. Her hand wrapped around his hard, throbbing cock and pulled him closer, and cried, "Please?" Veronica knew that Josh could tease her and drive her to the edge of insanity with his foreplay. Josh loves foreplay, but sometimes it's just too much. More than once Veronica had to grab his cock and shout, "Enough! I want this NOW!"

"Aww darling," he said as he slowly eased into her. He sighed as her pussy clasped his cock in a warm, moist embrace.

"Fuck me," she gasped as she felt his cock spread her open. She wondered silently if she would be able to handle childbirth when Josh's cock seemed so damn big to her. "Ohhhh, Ephie," she groaned as his cock stroked in and out of her pussy. She wrapped her arms around him and brought her legs up, locking her ankles around his back, surrendering her body to his thrusts. "Fuck me Ephie," she gasped as he began thrusting into her harder and harder.

He lifted on his elbows and looked her in the eye. "I need you Nica," he said as he kissed her gently in counterpoint to his now powerful thrusts. "Now and forever." She crooned and returned his kiss. She's never heard him say that he needed her before, and the feeling that gushed through her brought her close to climax by itself.

"Oh God don't stop," Veronica gasped as her body shook with each pounding thrust. She gasped and cried out as her man fucked her with all of his heart. His girth gave her the feeling of being pried open, sometimes a bit scary, but now a welcomed sensation. As he drove in with each thrust, his pelvis slammed into Veronica's clit, sending a new shockwave of pleasure through her.

"I love you Ronnie," he groaned as he pushed himself up on his arms. Now he could look down at her and admire that trim, vibrant figure as he drove into her over and over. Her beautiful breasts wobbled with each slamming thrust of his cock. "My god you're so beautiful, he gasped as she began to spur him on with her heels."

"Cum with me," she gasped, "I'm going to cum, cum in me!" She reached up and began pinching his nipples, trying to urge him into cumming with her.

Josh was now out of his mind with passion. He slammed into her savagely. The sound of their groins slapping, the futon creaking, and their breaths panting filled the room. He came with a roar of "NIIIICAAAAAAA!" as her own orgasm made her shudder and cry out. He dropped to his elbows, spurting into her over and over as she squeezed him tight with arms, legs, and pussy, shuddering and gasping as their mutual pleasure coursed through their bodies and souls.

Slowly they returned to Earth, panting and marveling at how a good, true love is such a beautiful aphrodisiac. As their breathing returned to normal, Josh pulled the cover over them and lay on his back. Veronica cuddled close, her head on his shoulder, and he turned and kissed her moist forehead. "I always thought that married sex would be boring," she said with a happy whisper.

Josh kissed Veronica and whispered, "I've never been so happy in my entire life."

<><><><><>

The snow that they got all day Sunday in Springville never reached Orchard Park. When they pulled into the Andalon Data Center parking lot, the snow from early January was gone. Josh dropped Veronica off at the front entrance to the Data Center with a kiss. "Don't forget, if I'm visiting a site, don't wait for me. Call Melissa Kraft over at Jarecki motors and she'll give you a lift home."

"Why would I want to do that?" purred Veronica as she squeezed Josh's thigh.

"Because her SUV has Wi-Fi. You can get your work done in there and not run up our data."

"Oh stop!" and with a kiss she hopped out of Josh's truck and stepped through the front doors of the data center. The lobby was empty, and the receptionist wasn't in yet, so she was able to make it to her office without being noticed. The first thing she did was check to see if HR had made the changes that she had sent in, and yes, her name was now listed as Veronica Gravely von Köster, and Josh's name had been changed as well. When she logged in on the company software, the sign next to her office door will light up with her new name.

Let's see who notices.

The connecting door to Anthony Friedman's office opened, and he was looking at her with a huge grin. "What?" asked Veronica without looking up from her computer monitor.

"It's just so unusual to see you at your desk lately," said Ant. "Did the new mayor release you from your duties?"

"No, we have several meetings coming up with the state's attorney to outline what charges we can bring on the previous administration."

"Won't that be setting a precedent? One administration putting the previous administration in jail?"

"That is the law. For minor infractions it's ignored, but if the mayor fragrantly breaks the law for his own profit, he will go to jail. Samael Windecker spent millions of dollars that the village doesn't have on things the village isn't allowed to have, and ignored necessary services, like plowing the streets. His term will expire before he can be brought to trial, but that doesn't release him from his debt to the village."

There was a scream behind Anthony and his wife Marjorie, Veronica's primary boss roared into her office and wrapped Veronica in a keyboard stumbling hug. "You did it! Let me see your rings!"

"Awk!" groaned Veronica. When Marj loosened up a bit, Veronica showed her the wedding ring along with the matching engagement ring.

"It's beautiful! Did you pick that out?"

"Yes, we went to a little jewelry shop in Williamsville and showed Mister Wetzel my diamond and we spent the day looking at possibilities."

"I can't imagine Josh doing something so girly," said Marj.

"He loved it; he wanted to see how Mr. Wetzel mounted stones and resized rings."

"Leave it to Josh to turn art into something mechanical," said Ant.

"Mister Wetzel likes to take pictures of the proposal there in his office and we did, but Josh said, 'The real proposal is going to be so much better. Save some space on your wall.' Poor Mister Wetzel thought he was just bragging," said Veronica. "He sent Mister Wetzel that," and she pointed to the portrait of Josh proposing to her at the Andalon party that she had hanging in her office. It was a perfect picture: Josh in his dress blues bespangled with ribbons, badges, and medals, on one knee holding open the jewelry box; Veronica in her white sequin show dress; and the band in the background watching with huge grins.

"I saw that, I want to see the wedding!" cried Marj.

"Oh, ok..." and Veronica brought up the video of the wedding in the judge's chambers in Maryland, accompanied by a barbershop quartet.

"That's the entertainment you hired?" said Ant. He was being a wise guy, like usual.

"That's Josh's quartet," said Veronica.

"I thought his quartet was done," said a confused Anthony.

"Nope. These are the guys who won at the regional convention. Their lead is sick and Josh stepped in for him. We are going to the international championship in Denver in the Autumn," said Veronica as she played the video of New Year's Eve.

"He never mentioned that" said Ant.

"He's been busy," said Veronica. "With Paul being found and in recovery, acting as Andi's security, designing a wide area network for WNY Imaging, setting up a call center in North Dakota, and working remotely while doing all those things, he's been going sixteen hours a day. He said that he was coming into the office today to get some rest."

Over on the hardware side of the building, Josh was in the server room wearing a parka and a pair of headsets. He was listening to their performance at the church on Sunday; at the same time, he was doing a physical inspection of the installation of a half dozen servers. Ever since they installed the new air conditioners, the server room was frigid, and a large parka was hung by the door for folks to wear when working in the server room.

Exiting the server room, he headed over to Mark Post's office to discuss the Wide Area Network plans he drew up for the new customer, WNY Imaging. Just as he neared Mark's office, Terri McCarthy entered the building. She's a funny little emo chick with an awesome figure and a cute, mousy look to her face. Her shoulder length black hair looks like it was cut with a chainsaw, and she's proud of that look. He handed her the clipboard as he walked past and said, "Make sure these write-ups are cleared first thing today."

Shocked to see Josh, she said, "Right boss..." then as he entered Mark's office she shouted, "WELCOME BACK!"

"Who are you yelling at?" asked Jenn Combs, the supervisor of all the work that goes on at the customer's sites in the "field." She is slim and cute with long blond hair and a pointed chin. She looks like a high school cheerleader, but she's ten years older than Terri and is married with two children.

"Josh! He just showed up out of nowhere, walking around like he runs the place, spouting orders 'n shit."

"He does run the place," said Jenn. "And that's his job."

"Yeah, but he doesn't have to just storm around and say, 'Do this,' and 'Do that!'"

"Yes he does," said Jenn. She and Terri had been friends for three years, and Terri hasn't changed a bit since they met. Jenn took the clipboard from Terri and looked at the write-ups that Nick caught, and she shook her pretty head. "I told you..."

"It not me, it's that dumb-ass VP and his walking dildos."

"Who?" asked Jenn with a laugh.

"Cliff Breen and Kellan Griffith."

"What about Shayla?" asked Jenn.

"She doesn't do shit. Everything is beneath her," grumbled Terri. "All three of them want that one open slot in your side of the shop." Jenn had two people working for her; she has an open slot for a third field technician. "Josh is going to shit."

Ten minutes later everyone fell in for the morning briefing. "Thank you, Rasheed, for running the show while I was out with... all kinds of fun. The servers for the new site are up and..."Josh noticed two young men in the back of the crowd. "Who are you?"

They looked at each other and shrugged.

"It wasn't that hard of a question. Maybe you could check your wallets for ID if you don't know?" said Josh.

"Cliff Breen," said the taller of the two.

"Kellan Griffith," said the other. They both looked angry. They didn't like Josh making them think so early in the morning. They were about twenty-two and had a sneering adolescent attitude about them.

"What are you doing here?" asked Josh.

"Job," mumbled Cliff.

"And who do you work for?" asked Josh.

Kellan shrugged and said, "You?"

"We will see about that." Just then the door slammed, and an angry-looking woman walked in. "Do you work here?" asked Josh.

"Yeah, so?" she snarled.

"You're late."

"So?"

"You owe your co-workers bagels." It was an Andalon tradition: if you are going to be late, you swing by Arnie's Bagels and get a dozen bagels for the gang.

"I don't want to."

"We will discuss that when I get back from the board meeting," said Josh. "Rasheed - get the new Imaging Servers up to specs. Lady McCarthy has the write-ups I observed. Full training mode on Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, and Tweedle Dumber." Josh headed for the door to the programmers' area, and he waved to Terri. "Bye-eee!"

"Hey, wait, IS THAT A WEDDING RING?!?" and Terri ran after Josh with Jen in hot pursuit, leaving their co-workers laughing.

"What the hell is this Tweedle Dum, and Tweedle Dumber boo-shit?" demanded Shaylyn Young.

"That was Mister Gravely's not so subtle way of saying that he doesn't think two of you are going to make the cut."

"Cut? What the fuck?" demanded Cliff Breen.

"Did you stay awake during your HR briefing?" said Rasheed, drawing himself up to his full height. "You are on a ninety day probationary period. That's not three months; that's ninety business days. That's four and a half months."

"Oh that's boo-shit!" snapped Shaylyn Young. Then she noticed Rasheed take a notepad out of his pocket and check something in that notepad off.

"So what the fuck is full training mode?" Demanded Cliff Breen. Another tick in the notebook.

"You're marking off whenever someone swears, aren't you," said Kellan Griffith.

"Yep."

"Why? We have freedom of speech."

"Nope. This is part of full training mode. You can say whatever you want. But if you swear when there's a customer in the area, your probationary period will end and you will be escorted from the building. If you swear at Missus Friedman or Miss von Köster, you won't be seen again. I keep track of who can't control their tongue so when a customer is in the building, I have a good idea who to send out to the warehouse and sweep up."

"Oh THAT's boo-shit!" shouted Shaylyn Young.

"What kind of candy-ass goody-goody piece of crap came up with that?" demanded Cliff Breen.

Rasheed led them to Josh's office and said, "take a look in here," and he swung open the door. The wall was covered with photographs of Josh back in his Air Force days. There were numerous pictures of him on the gunship and in action. Several photographs of him as an airman loading bombs on a B-52, and quite a few of him in combat gear directing his troops in Korea, but most of the photos were of him on the AC-130. There were several photographs of him, covered in blood, helping get Ellie and "The Double-Yous" off the shot up Ghost Rider Zero Four. These were all on the wall behind Josh, where he can't see them.

On the wall in front of him were photographs of him hugging Paul after Paul was recovered, hugging Roxie and Wedge at their award ceremony, him standing behind Andi Jarecki as she handed Phil and Wendy Budreau an account passbook containing half a million dollars each. There was a picture of Josh being awarded the Humanitarian of the Year award, a picture of him receiving the Medal of Honor, and a picture of him and Veronica getting married. "I didn't notice that one," muttered Rasheed.

"This is all that Josh guy?" asked Kellan Griffith.

"Yeah. He knows how to manage a program, if you want to be successful, just do what he tells you to do."

"A Jim Kelly autographed football?" said Shaylyn Young.

"Look at the other side," said Nick Taube, one of Rasheed's best workers.

"Josh Allen?" Shaylyn nearly shrieked. Her appraisal of Josh just went up one thousand percent.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Chapter 07 - Let's Go Brandon

The staff meeting was the same old, same old. Stan Dombrowski, Vice President of Finance and Accounting, gave the financial report, which was good, but it was boring and nearly put Josh to sleep. Emmitt Katzman, Vice President of Legal, gave the same report that Josh didn't understand, but it eventually boiled down to Andalon Data Systems was legally rock solid and the IPO is on schedule.

Brandon Mitchell sat across from Josh and kept smiling at Josh, like he were up to something. Josh didn't like Brandon; he constantly talked about his open marriage, drinking, marijuana use on sales calls, and 24/7 gambling. "Sales projections are holding steady," said Brandon.

"I've been away for a while, what do you mean by projections holding steady?" asked Josh.

Brandon glared at Josh. "It means our projections are steady."

"Meaning what? I don't speak vacuous. I have a dozen people here depending on your two dozen salesmen. I have four pages of notes to brief and we're just the maintainers."

"What would you like to hear Mister Airborne Hero?"

"First it's Air FORCE hero, and second, I'd like to hear about all these sales you have lined up. I want to hear what we're going to be working on three months down the road. I want to hear about all the companies you approached and they told you to take a hike and I would like to hear why and what we can do to bring them into our fold. I want to be able to tell my troops they'll have a Christmas this year. Or is that too damn much work for you Mister..."

"Josh!" said Anthony, and he held a hand up to silence him. Josh slumped back in his chair, and Veronica grabbed his hand and squeezed it too tight in a silent scold. His complaints were valid, but for some reason Anthony is letting that sleazy bastard get away with financial murder.

"Fabian? Your report?" asked Anthony and Fabian Bernsdorf, VP of Production, Josh's boss leaned forward, looked at the notes Josh had given him.

"Mister Gravely can cover this."

"WHAT?"

"That in the business world is called punting. What do you have for us Ephraim?" asked Anthony.

"I have several things that need to be addressed immediately. First, I need a twelve percent increase in my manpower funding..."

"Why is that?" asked Stan Dombrowski, VP of Finance.

"I needed to fill one slot and someone went out and hired three bodies."

"Technicians," said Fabian.

"Bodies," snapped Josh. "You had your chance to speak. I will decide if and when they're skilled enough to be called technicians," snarled Josh. "They never should have gotten past a proper vetting. But now you have to pay them, and I will not cut my already meager budget to cover this blunder. They can't be bothered to show up on time, and don't get me started on their attitude."

"You have quite an opinion of yourself," said Fabian.

"Yes, I do, and I have the receipts to justify my opinion." Josh was quickly beginning to hate this clown that Anthony hired. "Currently the Dakota call center is handling an average of twenty four point seven calls a day..."

"How does twenty five calls a day justify twelve people?" asked Fabian in a tone of voice that was clearly meant to shoot holes in the project. "That's two calls a person."

Josh wanted to throttle the idiot. Was he that clueless about his own project? Josh fielded his question like it was a compliment. "Excellent question. The average number of calls per day includes weekends, which is zero each day. The number of calls per business day is 34.5 calls per day, and Mondays is the busiest day with over forty five calls. Last week they took 173 calls, which is seventeen calls per technician per week. Plus, each technician is tasked with monitoring the status of the servers in our data center and reporting their findings to me and Rasheed Davis..."

"Why don't they report to me?" asked Bernsdorf.

"Because." Then Josh went back to ignoring Fabian. "At the call center, two people are not taking calls; one is the site manager who is overseeing the entire operation and the other is the trainer who monitors calls constantly for quality. Both are always available to take a call should an eleventh or twelfth call come in at the same time, and most importantly, if there is a major problem, they are always available to reach out to me or Rasheed and inform us of the problem."

"The average number of calls per day is rising. At the current rate we foresee adding four more technicians in the Minot call center later this year. The hospitals that are using the system are incredibly happy to have this support and WNY Imaging is going to be the first customer to start with call center support from day one."

Then Josh read his report on the state of the sites. All were doing well, but Sister of Mercy Hospital is having repeated issues with the guest Wi-Fi and a field technician had been dispatched to troubleshoot the Wi-Fi router and repeaters. "I would like to add that Andalon Data Systems is the only data center in western New York with 24/7 call center support like we have. If Fabian Bernsdorf were here he would say that it is all due to the efforts of Jennifer Combs, Rasheed Davis, Mateo Buran, and Ephraim Gravely." Then Josh tapped his notes on the tabletop to even them up and slid them in a portfolio and leaned back. His statement "If Fabian Bernsdorf were here" caused Stan Dombrowski to snort with laughter.

"What about the programmers?" asked Anthony.

"I'm sorry sir, what about them?" asked Josh.

"Isn't programming part of production?" asked Anthony. Josh turned to Fabian Bernsdorf and stared at him wordlessly, but Ant said, "I'm asking you, Mister Gravely."

Josh couldn't figure out what Anthony was up to. "I do not work with programmers other than to trouble shoot a software issue and considering the amount of information the Vice President of Production brought to this meeting, everything over there must be peachy-keen." That was a lie. Two programmers left and they have a stack of work backing up.

"Is 'Peachy-keen' the way you would describe the way your programming division is working, Mister Bernsdorf?"

"I... uh..." then Bernsdorf pointed at Josh. "If he was around, maybe things in the programming area wouldn't have devolved to the point that they are."

"Seriously?" said Josh with a laugh. "Because I was working remotely, you got mad and ignored programmers. Is that what you're saying? Look buddy, I have to interview a nurse to watch my father-in-law. Should I hire a second one to lead you around by the..."

"Mister Gravely, he is a vice president, and you shall treat him as such!" Brandon Mitchell shouted.

"You're right. I'm sorry," said Josh. "Mister Mitchell, Mister Bernsdorf, in the future when you are in the area, I'll strive to use smaller words."

Stan Dombrowski and Emmitt Katzman burst out laughing, but Anthony glared at Josh. "Ephraim, my office. Now! Wait for me there. Missus Gravely, could you excuse us?" Josh glanced over at Brandon Mitchell when Anthony called Veronica "Missus Gravely" and Josh saw a visage of pure hate. The word hasn't gotten out that Josh and Veronica have tied the knot? They've been living together for a year. How could he not know?

Josh went into Anthony's office and sat down. Then he got up and started pacing. What the hell was going on here? This place was Josh's refuge from the insanity of the world; now it seems that it's becoming the epicenter of insanity. His phone started ringing, and he was going to ignore it, but then he saw it was Paul Jarecki. "What's up bro?"

"Hey, could you set up a wide-area network for me at my dealerships?"

"Sure, It would cost you a fortune and I'd need at least three people to help, but I can do it. Why? I thought you were going to talk to one of our salesmen. I have the infrastructure here ready for you."

"Oh..." Paul sounded frustrated. "The salesman..."

Veronica knew what was going on, but she was asked not to tell Josh. Business politics at its finest. She was almost to her office when Josh came flying out of Anthony's office and raced back to the conference room. She heard shouting, and then she heard Brandon Mitchell shouting, "He's crazy! Get him off of me!"

"You arrogant fuck! You sick pervert!" That was Josh. Veronica hurried back to the conference room, and she saw mayhem. Brandon Mitchell was backed up to a wall, and three men, Ant, Emmett, and Stan, were trying to hold Josh back. "I'll fucking turn you inside out!" shouted Josh.

"Effie, stop," said Veronica softly as she touched Josh's cheek. Josh immediately stopped struggling; even so, the three men continued to hold him back from Brandon. "What's going on?"

"He grabbed Macy's ass."

"WHAT?"

"He went over to Jarecki motors to talk to Paul this morning..."

"Paul's not back to work yet, he's still recovering," said Veronica.

"That didn't stop the fucking pervert. When he discovered Paul wasn't there, he asked Melissa Kraft out on a date and stuck his tongue in her ear then he grabbed Macy's ass," said Josh. "That contract is gone; he just cost this company a couple million dollars a year."

"She's a lying bitch," said Brandon.

"She's my pastor you fucking pervert," said Josh as he lunged again. "You just destroyed our IPO!"

"Who told you this?" asked Anthony. His face was white with shock.

"I just got off the phone with Paul. He wants to hire me away, and thanks to these two pieces of shit, I just might let him."

<><><><><>

Josh sat in his office with a new server that needed configuration and a ham and capicola with provolone sub. He had left that mess with Brandon and Fabian up to the Powers That Be to figure out. Anthony and Marj drove over to Jarecki Motors to see if there's anything they could do to rectify the situation.

"Where's the missus?" asked Rasheed Davis as he sat down and helped himself to some of Josh's salt and vinegar potato chips.

"Rabble rousin'" said Josh.

"They going to charge you for smacking that asshole?" asked Rasheed. Then he opened Josh's small fridge and said, "When did you switch to Pepsi?"

"I didn't lay a finger on him, Anthony is quicker than he looks and no drinks, I have a server open," scolded Josh. An accidental spill could easily destroy a thirty thousand dollar server.

"Sorry," said Rasheed, and he put the can of pop back unopened. "Where's the little lady?"

"With the rest of them."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you see Terri or Jennifer or even Lois around? I think the new girl, Shaylyn, is with them. They're having a girls only meeting in the cafeteria. Anyone that may have been sexually harassed by Brandon Mitchell is venting." Josh began sealing up the server and getting ready to fire it up when he noticed that Rasheed was still there, but he wasn't talking. "You ok? Anything I can do?"

"I don't want you to think any less of me," said Rasheed as he grew a new interest in his fingernails.

"I don't see how that's possible," said Josh. Then he saw the hurt in Rasheed's eyes and said, "I'm kidding, you're my top man. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I'm not a marching in the street kind of guy, I just want to live my life and do my job..."

"Rasheed, you know that's not what I'm about, we've been friends since day one, ain't we?" Rasheed nodded, then Josh said, "Do you want to go talk to Veronica? Add your name to her list?"

"I really think I should."

"Then go, and if you need to unwind, head home when you're done."

"Thanks... I'm going to take Cole with me."

"Go, and if you ever need to talk, I'll be here for you."

"Thanks man," and Rasheed got up and left. Josh shook his head sadly. He knew Rasheed was gay, but he didn't realize Cole was. Cole was a big white guy; he used to play linebacker for Williamsville West Highschool.

A little while later, Josh got up and went over to Veronica's office to see what she was doing, but her office was empty. There was a sign on the cafeteria door that said Meeting In Progress. Do Not Disturb. Over on VP's row, Brandon Mitchell was packing up his office while Stan Dombrowski and the building security chief, Dustin Brooks, watched. "Well? Did you come to gloat?" snapped Brandon.

"You did this to yourself. Anthony stuck up for you constantly. I said, 'you got to get rid of him Ant, he's going to drag you down with his adolescent, childish, hell-bound, lifestyle.' But Anthony stuck up for you. 'Oh, he's a good man, he's ok, he's not a problem.' You picked a truly amazing way to prove Anthony wrong."

"What the fuck, she's a secretary, nothing more," said Brandon. "And the other one, she's a n----r, who cares? You holy-roller types are all the same, someone touches you and you get all up tight, but if no one was watching she'd be laying under me with my dick up her ass begging for more."

Secretary, and nothing more? Macy? His musical inspiration? And to use that word to describe one of Josh's closest friends? Brandon had no idea how close to death he was. Josh took a deep breath and thought, what would John say? Soft language would surely draw a gutless attack out of Brandon; he hates kind-hearted people.

Josh relaxed and said in a pleading tone, "She is a rape victim, that's why she's a pastor, trying to learn to forgive the man who raped her, drugged her, and left her unconscious in a foreign city. You just set her back God knows how far. And she's a close, personal friend of Ant and Marj. Marj is helping her adopt an orphan whose parents were murdered blocks from my house."

"Oh boo-hoo. I'm sick of sob stories. So what? Everybody has to die sometime. You're just mad that I called her a n----r. You pussy, you cunt. You're all talk and no balls."

Josh got close and said in that pleading tone, "I've killed more men than you have ever met, they were all better men than me. They were doing something for their people. I was like you until I got very close to death and I realized how precious life is."

"Fuck you and fuck life," said Brandon. "I'm sick of you and your medals and your superior attitude. One more word out of you and I'm going to put you and your cunt girlfriend down permanently. Capiche?"

"You mean my wife?"

"Yeah, that whore. I'm going to fuck her dead corpse while you watch, Mister Humanitarian of the year."

Josh smiled and took the digital voice recorder out of his pocket and rewound it a couple of seconds, and hit play... "I'm going to fuck her dead corpse while you watch, Mister Humanitarian of the year..." then he put his lips next to Brandon's ear and said so quietly that Brandon barely heard him. "It's been four weeks since I shot a man and watched him crawl away in the snow leaving a trail of blood, and I got away with it. Twice. You will probably be number three."

Josh smiled at Brandon, waved the recorder at him and said, "Y'all behave. There's gators in them swamps."

<><><><><>

Jen Combs was in tears, and Terri McCarthy watched sadly as her best friend told her story. Terri's story was like Jen's, but Terri wasn't married; she didn't have a husband and children piling on a sense of guilt. Brandon cornered Terri in his office and pulled out his cock and said, "Think you can deep throat that?"

"Deep throat it? I can barely see it."

For that Brandon slapped Terri around for ten minutes before bending her over his desk. "I didn't hardly feel it," said Terri as Murna O'Brien took down her words. "I said, 'I've seen bigger dicks under diapers that I changed babysitting,' that got me another black eye and a sprained shoulder. I had to tell Josh that I got mugged down on Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls."

"Why? Why didn't you tell Josh the truth?" asked Veronica.

"Brandon said he had friends in the mafia and if I said anything to anyone, they'd kill Josh."

Jen ended her story the same way, except that she said, "Brandon said if I said anything to anyone, they'd kill Dale and my boys." Dale was her husband of seven years, and her two sons, Ethan aged six and Chip aged three. Then she whispered, "I'm pregnant and I don't know if it's Dale's."

Veronica looked at Murna, who was typing madly. Murna was Emmitt Katzman's legal assistant, and she was a lawyer as well. Her job was straightforward until this morning. The room went silent as Rasheed and Cole Reagan entered the room. Only Jen's silent whimpers could be heard.

The women looked at the men suspiciously, but they went directly to Jen and crouched down by her side and put their arms around her gently. She burst into even louder tears and wrapped her arms around Rasheed and Cole.

"I want to get a psychologist in here and talk to these people ASAP," said Veronica. "Now that they're not feeling alone, maybe they'll open up more easily to a doctor and get the help that they need."

"I'm going to let you, Anthony, and Emmitt deal with that," said Murna. "I'm going to get this information together for a brief for the District Attorney. I think he can take this all to the grand jury."

"Damn," moaned Veronica. Brandon Mitchell never touched her, and she thinks she knows why: Josh would have cut him in half. "Did he go after all these girls because he couldn't get to me?" said Veronica out loud.

"You can't think that way," said Murna, her eyes filling with tears.

Veronica saw a terrified, guilty look behind those eyes. "Oh God Murna, did he get you too?"

"No, I always carry this," she showed Veronica her keychain that had a lavender aerosol dispenser about the size of an asthma rescue inhaler. "Gel pepper spray."

"You carry pepper spray because of a co-worker? Does Emmett know?" Veronica's head spun. What the hell happened to Andalon Data Systems? Like Josh, to Veronica this place was a refuge from the real world.

"He will when he reads my brief."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Chapter 08 - Pearle Post

Josh was alone in the hardware room when Veronica walked over to see if he wanted to leave early. "Where is everyone?"

"I sent them home; I couldn't take the questions anymore." He looked at Veronica, and to her it looked like his eyes were red from crying.

"Are you all right?"

"No I'm not all right. The flaming ass that I've been telling Ant was a danger to this company turned out to be a danger to this company. I have been tentatively offered a job, and I'm seriously thinking of telling a dear friend to fuck off and taking the job." He ground his knuckles into his temples and groaned, "I'm so fucked up I can't think straight."

"You're drunk?" asked Veronica.

"No, but my head is spinning... Why did he have to do that?" Josh stood and took Veronica into his arms and held her tight, kissing her tenderly. "Did he touch you?" Then he paused. "Sorry, you don't have to answer that."

"No, it's ok. He never touched me. He's threatened to, but he never did." She kissed Josh's nose and said, "Anthony declared tomorrow a pause. A companywide hold and unwind."

"Let's spend the night in the cabin," said Josh.

"We have interviews and you have a zoom call."

"Good. We'll send the interviewees the address to the cabin and show them where Mike is going to spend his free time."

"All he has is free time."

"Good, that will give us an empty house," said Josh as he held Veronica close.

"You're so silly. We'll go out there Thursday. You have pictures of this place to show the applicants."

"Let's go get dinner."

Josh locked up the maintenance side of the building and left. He felt like a wonderful dream he was living in had just ended horribly, and he woke up and found that it was all real. "I don't want to cook tonight," said Josh finally as they rolled into Springville.

"Worzil's?" asked Veronica. She didn't want to cook either.

"No, I want to save Worzil's for the good times... there's that new place out by the mansion."

"Sure, let's hope its as good as the one in Cheektowaga," said Veronica. By mansion, Josh was referring to a huge Victorian house that surpassed Paul's house in size and ornate trimmings. It was the bed and breakfast that Andi Jarecki missed when she got lost in a snowstorm on her first day in New York. They exited the 219 expressway and pulled into the Your Host parking lot.

"There's more than one of these places?" asked Josh.

"They used to be all over Western New York. A local company is bringing them back."

They walked in and saw that it was the living embodiment of a 1950s diner. There was a horseshoe shaped lunch counter in the center of the room, and the walls were lined with booths, two seat booths on the left wall, four seat booths on the front wall under the windows, and six seat booths on the right wall. Every booth had a jukebox where you could flip through the pages and select music from the fifties and sixties. Josh immediately started looking for Frank Sinatra and found several. He put a quarter in, made his selection, and immediately the song another booth had selected began playing.

As a waitress came up to them and handed them menus, they heard Andi Jarecki's signature laugh coming from the back area where there were freestanding tables and chairs. "I'll have a tall Pepsi, she'll have coffee with real cream if you have it and I'll be right back," said Josh as he got to his feet.

"Very good, I'll be back to take your orders," said the waitress.

"Where are you going?" asked Veronica.

"I think Andi is back there. I want to see how Macy is doing," said Josh.

Together they walked to the back of the diner and, sure enough, the entire Jarecki clan was there. "DOSH!" shouted Cholly as he fought to get out of his booster seat.

"Hey Mini-me," said Josh, and he stood behind Cholly and massaged the tyke's shoulders. "Ah just want to apologize for the..."

"Stop," said Macy. "Stop, please. He made me feel ill for a few minutes. Melissa is upset, but I'm working with her."

"We've shut down the building for the next twenty four hours," said Veronica. "It appears that Brandon Mitchell fondled or raped almost every woman in the building and threatened them with bodily harm if they ever told anyone."

"I will gladly help any woman that needs counseling," said Macy. "Being a target of his ardeur I can sympathize."

"I will make sure that Anthony pays you full wages," said Veronica. "He was warned about that man often enough."

"I will be adding to the list of charges," said Josh. "He made threats against me and he did it in front of witnesses."

"My offer still stands," said Paul.

"What happened? What happened?" repeated the twins over and over as Andi tried to silence them.

"Let's talk about that later, I need to let my brain unwind. I need a beef on weck," said Josh.

"Why aren't you at Worzils?" asked Andi.

"Because there's beer there and I had best stay away," said Josh as he and Veronica headed back to their table.

"He threatened you?" asked Veronica.

Josh sighed and pulled out his recorder and hit play, and Veronica heard Josh say, "I was like you until I got very close to death and I realized how precious life is." Then came Brandon's angry threats. "Fuck you and fuck life. I'm sick of you and your medals and your superior attitude. One more word out of you and I'm going to put you and your cunt girlfriend down permanently. Capiche?"

"I want to hear the whole thing," said Veronica, reaching for Josh's recorder.

"Not now, please Nicca. Later. I don't want to hear that man's voice again for a while."

As they sat down, Veronica's phone rang, and she heard a familiar voice say, "Missus Gravely, I'm Pearle Post, we have a meeting in ninety minutes... I may be late."

"We will wait, that's not a problem," said Veronica, but Josh sat up and looked around. He heard the voice, too. He pointed to the corner where the lunch counter met the wall on the right-hand side of the store.

"I ran out of gas and I have to walk and I don't know how far it is..." and it sounded like she was going to cry. Josh nodded and pointed to the corner. The caller was sitting back there.

"Why don't you join us, we're at the Your Host diner sitting in a booth under the window," said Veronica.

"Ok," said the prospective nurse, and Josh moved over to sit next to Veronica. In a moment, a very nervous-looking Audrey Mitchell was standing next to their booth.

"Have a seat Miss Post," said Josh softly. Poor Audrey looked terrified as she sat down. The waitress came and placed a glass of water in front of Audrey.

"Would you like anything else?" she asked.

"Water is fine," said Audrey softly.

"She'll have a large Pepsi also," said Josh.

"No, I'm fine."

"I insist," said Josh. "Ma'am, every time this young'n says no, bring her a larger portion."

The waitress laughed and said, "Yes sir!"

"Now Pearle, if that is your name," said Josh with a mock-grouchy voice. "If you don't have Parkinson's what else would commonly make your hands shake?"

She looked down at the table and said, "Hypoglycemia."

Josh nodded and said sympathetically, "Low blood sugar and I are old friends. When is the last time you ate?"

"Saturday," she said softly.

"Look at me," ordered Josh. "Look in my eyes." When she finally raised her eyes to his, he asked, "Where are you living?" She shook her head no and refused to answer. "Your father threw you out and you're living in a car, is that right?" Slowly she nodded yes. "Where is your car?"

"ECC parking lot," she said softly. Just then the waitress brought the drinks and placed a large, ice cold glass of cola in front of Audrey. She looked hungrily at the soda, but said, "I can't."

"Pearle, you need to get your blood sugar up so you can answer our questions," said Josh. As Audrey drank her soda, the waitress came, and Josh said, "My wife will have the cob salad with blue cheese; I'll have the small sirloin medium rare, with French fries and gravy and a side of succotash." Then he pointed at Audrey and said, "She'll have the same as me."

Audrey didn't seem to notice as she finished drinking the water and half of the Pepsi. "You've been eating snow, haven't you?"

Audrey refused to answer, so Josh said, "Let's play a game of total honesty. For the next fifteen minutes we can ask each other anything that comes to mind and we have to answer honestly. You go first, you ask either one of us any question you want."

Audrey looked nervously at Veronica and Josh, then finally said, "When are you getting married?"

"We are married honey," said Veronica. "Now my question. Why do you call yourself Pearle Post?"

"Post is my grandmother's maiden name, she was my..." Audrey caught herself, then went on. "Pearle is from Pearl S. Buck. Sometimes I feel like O-Lan in her book The Good Earth."

Josh nodded; O-Lan was the hardworking wife who was used by her husband in his rise to wealth. "Why didn't you just say that you were Audrey Mitchell?"

"The last time we met... I'm sorry... I'm so ashamed. I left home the next day. I couldn't take them anymore. I just applied everywhere for a job and when I saw your ad, I applied under that name because I thought you'd reject Audrey Mitchell."

"It's your turn, Audrey," said Josh.

Audrey just looked down and her lap, her hands were balled into fists. Finally, she said, "Do you hate me?"

"No, of course not," said Veronica in a soft voice. "Actually, I always felt sorry for you, and I admired you. It must have been very difficult coming out of the house you were raised in and still keeping that smile of yours."

Audrey looked shocked. "Me?"

Then Josh dropped the hammer. "Would you agree to testify against your father in a trial?"

"What did he do now?" groaned Audrey.

"He assaulted almost every woman and a couple of guys at work, then he grabbed the ass of the executive assistants of the CEO of Jarecki Motors and lost us a big, big contract. He's been relieved of his position."

"He threatened our lives," said Veronica.

Audrey just frowned. "I knew it would come to that. Yes, if asked I will testify for the prosecution."

"IF we hire you, will you sit down and speak with a counselor on a regular, reoccurring basis?" asked Veronica.

Audrey thought for a moment and finally said, "I can't afford that."

"How do you know? We haven't talked salary yet," said Josh.

"Hush!" said Veronica, and she swatted Josh. "It will be no charge to you; Andalon or your parents will pay. The counselor will be Doctor Marie-Claude Solange Dagenais-Jarecki."

"Yes!" gushed Audrey. "Her name sounds so exotic."

Veronica was loosening up as she spoke with Audrey. "You've met her, she was at the party in December."

"How are your hands?" asked Josh.

"They're better, that really helped," Audrey said as she looked at her hands.

"Good, wouldn't want you to drop a steak knife in your lap and cut your femoral artery," said Josh as the waitress set the plate of steak and potatoes along with a bowl of corn and lima beans in front of Audrey.

"I can't accept this," said Audrey.

"You're going to need to get your strength up if we hire you," said Josh. "Mike's a tricky ol' cob, and he's quicker than he looks."

"This isn't right," insisted Audrey.

"Eat," said Veronica forcefully. "It's what Mister Gravely von Köster wants." Audrey looked from Josh to Veronica and back. Veronica ate her salad, and she appeared to be angry with Josh. As for Josh, he seemed to be happy. Actually, he appeared to be a lot happier than he was when she first sat down with them.

They were quiet as they ate, then suddenly Veronica gruffly said, "Could you let me out, I have to go to the bathroom."

"Yes dear," and he got up, and she stormed off. The bathrooms were at the back of the restaurant, so Josh gave Veronica a few moments. Then Josh excused himself and went to the back and asked either Andi or Macy to check on Veronica to see if she's ok. And he returned to Audrey.

"How is class going?" he asked.

"Aren't you worried about Veronica?" asked a shocked Audrey.

"I'm very worried about her. I have a friend checking on her right now. Relax, she'll be ok."

In the bathroom, Veronica was leaning over the sink, trying to fight back the scream of anger before it came out. She looked up and there in the mirror she saw Macy and Andi standing on either side of her. "Are you ok?" asked Andi.

"No I'm not ok!" spat Veronica. "He's sitting out there with Audrey Mitchell, he bought her a steak dinner and they're chatting like nothing is wrong."

"What did Audrey do that's so horrible?" asked Andi.

"It's not her, it's her damn father. He grabbed Macy, he harassed Melissa Kraft. When Josh found out he went ape and almost killed him."

"But what did Audrey do that's got you so mad?" asked Macy.

"Her goddamn father, excuse me but he's a bastard, he raped women, and men! He convinced them that if they spoke he'd have Anthony fire them, one girl is pregnant and she's terrified that it's his baby!"

"He raped Audrey also... his own daughter," said Andi. "She told me about it at the party. I let her hold the baby and she just started talking about how her mother did nothing and that she'd never do that to her daughter."

"I don't want to hear this!" cried a confused Veronica. "Why is Josh treating her so nicely?" she almost screamed.

"Josh is only doing what a good man is called to do," said Macy. "Beating someone up, or shooting someone who threatens your friends or family is easy for a man. Testosterone will give them the courage to do that. Showing charity to your enemy's daughter? That's not easy for a man to do. He has to undo everything the testosterone is getting him ready to do, and do the opposite of what he wants to do."

"I've known Josh since I moved here," said Andi. "I'm sure he'll say that he wants to turn this day around and do something nice."

"But why her? She tried to sleep with him."

"She was ordered to sleep with him, to drive a wedge between you and Josh. Audrey is not your enemy," said Macy. "I spoke to her at the party as well. She wanted to hold Katrina, so I let her and she revealed a lot more than she probably realized. I think she will be an asset to you and your father. A younger sister that can help with dad."

"I already have a younger sister and she caused most of dad's financial problems."

"Ok, a better younger sister," said Andi. "A trade-in, or maybe a rebuilt."

The thought of sending her sister Magda back to be rebuilt was suddenly hilarious, and Veronica found herself close to laughing. Then she settled down and looked sadly in the mirror. She didn't recognize herself in the reflection. She always thought of herself as being less than beautiful, and all those pageants were in reality a game of fool the judges. "Josh sees you as a truly beautiful woman inside and out and he trusts you to make the right decision."

"Why? Why does he do that to me?" She knew they were right about Josh.

"Because he loves you," said Andi.

Veronica returned to the table, and Josh was telling Audrey about his zoo. "This is Tigger. He just kinda moved in with us."

"He's so cute!"

"He can be vicious. He'll claw your hand off."

"He looks like a sweetie."

"And this is my fish tank, that's Poncho, this one is Morris, this guy is Tyson, and all of these little guys are named Dave."

"All of them are named Dave?" asked Audry with a laugh.

"Yes, their pronouns are we and us."

"You're so silly."

"I'm back," said Veronica. "Audrey, could you give us just one minute? We're actually not quite ready to do interviews and I want to makes sure we have our ducks in a row."

"Oh, sure, I have to go potty myself." And Audrey got up and left.

"She hasn't eaten in two full days," said Josh. "And before that, it was a cup of Ramen a day. She's lost over twenty five pounds and..."

"Honey, I know what you're doing," said Veronica. "And it's one of the many reasons why I love you..."

"It's just... this day, everything that could go wrong has, and it's all because of her father. I just want to do something good, something we can look back on and say, 'we did that.'"

"Honey, do you want to do this because there's a young girl that needs help, or because you want to tell Brandon Mitchell that you're a better father than he is."

Josh held Veronica at arm's length and said, "Audrey is a friend, and if we can't help our friends, what good are we?"

Veronica thought about what her husband had said and nodded. "You're right, you're absolutely right. This is what Pastor John is always telling us to do, and now we have the chance."

Josh gave her a kiss then said, "If we do this right, if we get Audrey on her feet and help her get her emotional life and financial situation straightened out, we can shove this so far up Brandon Mitchell's ass that he'll gag."

Veronica sighed and said, "That's the Effie I married."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Chapter 09 - Audrey

"I really love Mike," said Josh. "To me he's the dad that I always wanted. Both of my folks drank themselves to death and I didn't spend a lot of time mourning their passing."

"I wish my folks would do that," mumbled Audrey.

"Come on in," said Veronica. "Kick your snowy shoes off over there. Ok, as you can see, the front of the house looks fairly standard, but toward the rear it's split level and there's a lot of stairs, which is why we need someone to help with dad. I'm sure he's going to try to be a hero and climb all the stairs, so you're probably going to just guide him."

"I'm sure I can do that without a problem," said Audrey. Tigger bounded up onto the table, and Audrey started scratching him behind the ears, which caused him to purr.

"All the kitchen appliances are new; we just ask that you clean up when done and put your dishes in the dishwasher. Josh runs the dishwasher every night and empties it every morning and he gets grouchy if you don't put the dishes in the dishwasher neatly," said Veronica.

Audrey ran a finger over a skillet. "Hex-Clad! Is this stuff as awesome as they say it is on TV?"

Josh and Veronica looked at each other. Audrey could tell that Josh did the cooking around here. "I like it," said Josh.

"Let me show you Dad's apartment." Veronica showed Audrey down to the basement. "On the left is the laundry room with some storage, on the right is daddy's bathroom."

"The shower... it's perfect!" gasped Audrey.

"We had a carpenter who specializes in handicapped housing design it for us, then our pastor and Josh actually did the work down here. We can lower the lavatory if daddy ends up in a wheelchair," said Veronica as Josh showed how the sink basin could be raised and lowered. "All the electrical outlets are up high and easy to get to." She slid the barn door open to Mike's apartment. "On the right is the sitting room, and you can sleep on the futon if you need. That door opens to the back yard; that's the emergency exit. And over here is the bedroom. Down that little hall is closet space and beyond that is the mechanicals, the furnace, air conditioner, and water heater. We have a reverse osmosis filter in the kitchen."

"This is half of what we hope will be Mike's life," said Josh, and he led Audrey and Veronica back upstairs.

He turned on the TV, then sat down and opened a laptop, and began to stream images to the TV. The scene of a large lake surrounded by forest came on TV. Audrey could see cabins through the trees on the right side of the screen. "This is taken from the front porch of our cabin," said Veronica. Then the image began to zoom in on the far side of the lake. A small cabin on the edge of the lake swam into view. In front of the cabin was a dock, and a rowboat was tied to the dock. "That's daddy's cabin. Josh has been working on that for over two years. There's a fireplace inside, bunk beds, a table and chairs, we're hoping daddy likes it."

Audrey's jaw dropped. "Can I come out there with him?" she gasped.

"If we hire you and he wants you there, yes, of course," said Josh.

The scene shifted, and Audrey saw a vast group of people in the center of a circle of cabins; there was a Chiavetta's grill cooking up chicken, and a barbershop quartet singing in the background. "This is the fundraiser. Josh raised over seventeen million dollars for Marj Freidman's Adoption Advocates and Roswell Park Cancer Center and a few other charities. He was named the humanitarian of the year by the Buffalo Businessmen's Association for this."

The next scene was an enormous group of children splashing in the pond and having a grand time. Josh was in the middle of the melee, and Marj Friedman was in there with him. "This happens a few times each year, but most of the time it's just Ronnie and me running around naked," said Josh.

"I love it!" said Audrey as Veronica swatted Josh. "It's a dream come true! My folks sent me to summer camp all summer long when I was a kid. I loved it, camping in the woods, gathering firewood, cooking over the fire, and fishing, can we fish there? I can dig up my own worms and bait my own hook."

"You actually like living in the woods?" asked a stunned Veronica. For Veronica, Josh's cabin and forest was a learned affection.

"I could stay there all year round if we had enough firewood beforehand," said Audrey with a nostalgic sigh. "We had winter campouts too. That's where I learned to ice skate."

"What would you do if you're on the lake fishing with daddy and he collapsed?" asked Veronica.

"First, treat the patient. Remove a seat and get him to lay down on the floor of the boat. As I called 911 on the cell I'd treat for shock and get his vital signs. Once I have him stabilized I'd row to the shore nearest to where the ambulance could..."

"Thank you," said an impressed Veronica.

"How are your cooking skills?" asked Josh.

"I can cook nearly anything and I'm not afraid to try new recipes. My major is currently Geriatric Nutrition, so I'm ready to make nutritious, healthy meals that a senior would truly like." Audrey looked around to see if she was being spied on then said in a conspiratorial whisper, "the secret is to not give it some fancy name only a vegan would love. Just call it spaghetti or stew or something."

Veronica and Josh looked at each other and smiled. They just wanted to do a favor for a friend and the nurse of their dreams fell in their laps. "What about school? Do you have your degree?"

"I'm doing all of my classes remotely this term. I graduated Phi Theta Kappa for my initial nursing courses; I'm now specializing in geriatric care and am carrying a 3.96 GPA."

Just then a car pulled into the driveway. "We have two more applicants coming," said Veronica. "Josh could you show Audrey to a room upstairs while I get the door?"

For the next hour, Audrey sat in a small bedroom. Her luggage, which was two pillowcases full of her clothes, sat at her feet. Everything needed to be washed. Josh gave her the Wi-Fi password, and she opened up the course she was working on and reviewed the course notes. It was identifying drug allergies in a geriatric patient.

She could hear Veronica and Josh downstairs giving the tour and she could hear the applicant. She sounded like an older woman, and she didn't sound happy about anything. She didn't like all the stairs; she didn't like the basement exit opening to the side of the house away from the driveway; she didn't like the kitchen layout, and when Josh started showing the photos of the lake and Mike's cabin. "No, I'm sorry but I am a nurse, not a camp counselor." And the woman stormed out of the house without even saying goodbye.

"The lazy old cow didn't like the stairs," grumbled Josh.

An hour later, the next applicant showed up, half an hour late. Audrey knew this girl from classes, and she was the most arrogant, self-centered woman she had ever met. "So what are you going to pay me?" was the first thing out of her mouth. The next thing was her long and exhausting list of things that she refused to do.

Finally, Josh said, "Thank you for coming out, but it's clear you're not a fit for this position."

"Is it because I'm black?" she demanded.

"No, it's because you're arrogant and lazy. You started out demanding premium pay then told us you refuse to do the job."

"I'm going to report you! I'm going to..."

"Feel free to report me to anyone you like. I recorded this entire conversation and I'll send them a copy."

"You never told me you were recording it!" demanded the applicant.

"You never shut up and gave me a chance. Have a good day." And then Audrey heard the door slam. She sat in the small bedroom nervously for what seemed like a long time, then she heard. "Audrey, you can come down," said Veronica.

Audrey came down and found Josh fiddling on a laptop; he was opening a Zoom call. "Let's talk pay," said Veronica. She offered a fairly low salary, but it was fair.

"I'm sure I can find someone here in town that is looking for a roommate," said Audry hopefully.

"Our offer includes room and board; didn't I mention that? You're going to spend a lot of time with daddy, but we want you to get out and get your life back on track also. This is some beautiful country, and in the winter there's skiing, ice skating, snow shoeing, snowmobiling. But first, I want to do your hair."

Audrey blushed and cringed. "You don't have to," she said in a tiny voice.

"My dad would never allow hair like that in his apartment. He raised two daughters and he taught us to care for our appearance," said Veronica firmly. Audrey's hair was dyed blond for the December party, but her darker brunette hair was coming through, making it look like she was wearing a skullcap. "We'll re-do that hair and take care of those split ends. When's the last time you washed your hair."

"Yesterday, no, day before," said a nervous Audrey.

"Good pick. Let's find a suitable color for you," said Veronica.

"You don't have to do that," said Audrey.

"Yes I do," said Veronica, and she fished under a cabinet for her equipment. She set out several boxes of colors and said, "I trust these all. I'm thinking of this color here; it's what I use on the mayor's hair."

"Can I start a load of laundry first?" asked Audrey.

"Go get your jammies on, get your laundry started and we'll do girly things while Josh does guy things in the billiard room."

<><><><><>

"Everyone here?" asked Julissa. She was wearing her Worzil's Bar & Grille polo shirt and was speaking from the back room of Worzils. The guys could hear an air hockey game in progress in the next room. "I sent sheet music and sound files to everyone for a couple of new songs that I want to go over on Thursday. I want to look more at country music for the upcoming shows because I think this is something we're good at."

"You don't like the do-wop we've been doing?"

"I love the do-wop you've been doing, but when you do Take Me Home, Country Roads, you own that song, the audience can feel it. Your name choice was perfect, and I'd like to save Country Roads for Friday in Denver." The guys smiled all week long; sixty-five quartets will perform for the judges, and the top twenty will sing on Friday, then the top ten will sing on Saturday night.

"Wait a minute," said Alex. "This song... this is Josh's autobiography."

"Ohhh, way down yonder on the Chattahoochee, It gets hotter than a hoochie coochie..." sang Josh. "Ah'm ready," his south Georgia accent kicking in full force. "Let's get 'er on!"

The guys all laughed at Josh's outburst, then Gene Kraus said, "There's some extra lyrics in here."

"Yea they is," agreed Josh, which caused more laughter. He reviewed the lyrics and said, "Y'all is used improperly here, y'all is an indefinite pronoun which refers to all people in an unspecified way. This addresses a single individual so an objective personal pronoun should have been used, such as you."

"My man!" called Alex.

"Wooo! Listen to the knowledge on that boy!" said Dan Griffith.

"I'm so proud," said Eric with a sniff. "He's all grown up now."

Josh bowed and took the applause, then looked at the next song she sent. "This is country only in Italy," said Alex.

"My Tesoro!" gushed Josh. "I'm going to sing this to Veronica on our honeymoon!"

"You haven't done that part yet?" asked Gene. "That's the most important part!" His taunting was followed by laughter and teasing.

On top of the laughter, Josh started singing.

"You belong to me, my own amore mio, my only dear tesoro...

Say you're my moroso, my love."

The guys were completely silent, digesting what they had just heard. Josh's voice was perfection. He was on key, on pitch, and hit every note exactly. Then Gene killed the moment by saying in his deep announcer-guy voice, "For Jarecki Motors, here's Country Roads." The laughter and teasing returned until Julissa said, "Headsets on, let's try this." They were going to sing four-part harmony over a Zoom call.

<><><><><>

"Why is he singing?" asked Audrey,

"Josh is a singer, he and his quartet performs all over New York and Pennsylvania and in autumn they're going to complete against sixty four other quartets for top honors. Four guys are on a Zoom call trying to sing in harmony."

"He sings? I thought he was a dancer."

"I'm the dancer, he begged me to teach him so he could cut into my dance at the party, but he surprised me with the proposal."

"Didn't you know he was going to ask?"

"I was expecting him to ask me in front of my father, not everybody I know," said Veronica as she massaged the hair dye into Audry's roots. Audrey was seated in a chair, leaning back over the sink with a rolled-up towel supporting her neck.

"You do the mayor's hair?" asked Audry.

"And our pastor's hair, and Marj Friedman's hair. Her girls ask if I'd give them pink or purple hair but I just do natural colors," said Veronica.

"Thank you for doing this," said Audry as Veronica started rinsing the dye out of her hair.

"I like having a friend hanging around. I mean, if I want some alone time with Josh we'll go to his cabin, we haven't been there in ages. We should go tomorrow to pick up the snowmobile."

"Why?"

"There's going to be a storm later in the weekend, we want to be ready. Let's go shoot some pool while your hair dries."

"I don't know how to play," said Audrey as Veronica combed out her damp hair.

"Time to learn," said Veronica, and she led Audrey to the billiard room where Josh was finishing up his Zoom meeting. "Anything new?" asked Veronica.

"Two new songs," said Josh. "Julissa wants to do more country, so we're going to do Chattahoochee, and she wants women swooning in the audience, so we're doing Tesoro. Julissa and Eric are still trying to figure out who gets to play MC during our shows, they want one member to be the voice of Country Roads."

"What's Tesoro?" asked Audrey.

"Show her," said Veronica. Josh smiled and took Veronica in his arms, but Veronica said, "show her."

Josh took Audrey in his arms. She's so much shorter than Veronica, but she's just as busty with a spectacular narrow waist. She's got a cute elfish look about her, and Josh pitied the poor girl. She should be dating, maybe even engaged. Her dad has her so screwed up in the head that she's terrified of men and women her own age. Terri at work is the only girl her age that Josh ever saw Audrey ever talk with, and Terri is probably the wrong one considering what her father has been up to.

Josh painted the picture. "Imagine that we're on an Italian villa, we're on the rear Terraza watching a full moon rise over the Aegean Sea..."

"What's a Terraza?"

"It's a fancy Italian patio," said Josh. "Really romantic. The guys from Lady and the Tramp with the violin and the accordion come out to play Tesoro and..."

"What's an Tesoro?" asked Audrey.

"That's an Italian word, it means lover. The man you fall head over heals in love with, is your Tesoro. Capiche?"

"What's that?"

"It's something the mafia says before they start shooting. Ready? The music starts, we sway to the rhythm and...

I'm at Heaven's door, my dear tesoro,

I want you more and more, my dear tesoro...

You belong to me, my own amore mio, my only dear tesoro...

Say you're my moroso, my love."

Audrey sprang from Josh's arms and fell back against Veronica. "You're married! You can't be singing songs like that!" gasped Audrey.

"That song is going to get women swooning if Josh sings it right," said Veronica as Audrey picked up a magazine and fanned herself with it.

"That's just... whew!"

"Need to go change your panties?" said Veronica slyly.

"No... be right back," and Audrey dashed upstairs. Veronica followed her upstairs and went into her room and got a robe and went over to the room where Audrey was sitting on the bed, shuddering.

Veronica sat on the bed next to Audrey and handed her the robe. "I'm sorry. But now you know what I go through every time he sings."

"Really?" squeaked Audrey as she pulled the robe on over her worn out flannel nightgown.

"On our first date we went tobogganing and tubing at Chestnut Ridge. Then we went to the Ellicott Manor for fish fry, and these guys were going from table to table singing to raise money for a charity. They got to our table and Josh gave them money but the lead singer suddenly had a coughing fit and walked away. They convinced Josh to sing in his place and Josh got up and they sang Let me call you Sweetheart. I had never heard barbershop harmony in person before so I was shocked. It turns out that it was his quartet and they pulled a fast one on him because he had a date on practice night. It was so silly, but so perfect. It was so Josh. He didn't tell me his entire story for months, but I knew right then that this was the one." She sighed happily and patted Audrey's knee. "I only hope that when you find your man, you know."

"Me too," sighed Audrey. She always considered Veronica a serious professional, mostly because of her demeanor at work, and by the way that her father left Veronica alone. Audrey didn't realize that Veronica was a romantic.

"Come on, let's go downstairs and watch some TV. We don't do it often but Josh likes Night Court."

"That weird show with the dopey female judge and the grumpy old lawyer?"

"No, that's the new version, we watch the original. Come on, you'll love it." She helped Audrey up and led her downstairs to the front parlor where Josh had the TV up and running. Josh had two bowls of popcorn made and handed the smaller one to Audrey.

"You can sit in the recliner if you want," said Josh as Veronica settled in on the couch. "Drink? We have Diet Pepsi, Diet Root Beer, Diet Sprite, Diet Squirt, and Diet Water."

"What is Squirt?"

"It's grapefruit flavored pop."

"I'll have the diet water," said Audrey. Josh disappeared into the kitchen and returned with drinks. Then he cuddled with Veronica on the couch and turned on the real Night Court. Audrey found the show hilarious! The jokes were crude and silly, but they were told warmly. A few times she didn't understand what was going on, but that was because the show was from 1984, over forty years ago. Audrey was born in 2005, so the show was ancient by the time she was born, but it was the best thing she had ever seen on television.

Tigger jumped up on Audrey's lap, curled up, and started purring. "I'm home!" the young nurse finally realized.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Chapter 10 - Mike

Audrey woke up the next morning covered in a royal blue Buffalo Bills fleece blanket, and she was completely lost. She remembered going downstairs to make sure the streaming boxes on the two TVs in Mike's apartment were working. She sat up and looked around and realized that Tigger was snoozing under the blanket with her. The room was dark, but there was faint sunlight making the window curtains glow, and she realized that she was on Mike's bed. She must have laid down on Mike's bed and fallen asleep. She folded the blanket and put it on the futon, where she remembered seeing it yesterday, then dragged herself upstairs with Tigger leading the way.

"Morning sleepyhead," said Josh as he sipped a cup of coffee. "Would you like breakfast or lunch?"

"If she doesn't want to eat, she doesn't have to," said Veronica as she came down from upstairs with a laundry basket full of clothes. She handed the basket to Audrey and said, "these are yours. There's another basket upstairs that we think are clean."

"Mine? We washed all mine last night," said Audrey, but a glance in the basket revealed that they had to be hers. She doubted that someone as elegant and chic as Veronica would wear Minnie Mouse panties. "These were in my car," she said, confused.

"We got all your clothes out of your car. Your car is now at Jarecki Ford getting checked over, oil change, and front end alignment," said Josh as he made an entry in the daily crossword puzzle.

"We can't have you breaking down if you're taking my dad somewhere, or out picking up a prescription," added Veronica. "What kind of phone do you have?"

Audrey looked confused and said, "My dad shut off my phone after I refused to..." She didn't go any further.

"We're getting a phone for my dad, might as well add one more. What kind do you prefer? Android or IOS?"

"Android," said Audrey as she disappeared down the stairs with the laundry. She returned a few minutes later with yesterday's laundry folded and stacked in her basket. "You don't need to get me a phone."

"Yes we do," said Veronica. "If you're at the cabin and something happens, you will need that phone. We're getting him a phone but I doubt he'll use it for anything but listening to hockey games."

"I feel like I'm taking advantage of you," said Audrey sadly.

"We got your skates out of your car, they're at Johnson's Feed Store getting sharpened," said Josh as he entered another word in the crossword puzzle.

"My skates?"

"Veronica has a meeting with Mayor Andi and Pastor Macy so I promised to take the twins skating after school. You and I are going to wander around the village and you're going to meet the folks, take the twins skating, and then go pick up your car when it's ready."

"While you're wandering around, get the snowmobile and make sure we have gas for the snow blower," insisted Veronica.

"Shoot, I forgot about the storm! Thank you dear." Josh turned to Audrey and said, "How are you with snowshoes?"

<><><><><>

They turned onto Trevett Road, and Audrey was amazed at the snow piles left by the plow on each side of the road. "Damn, we'll have to clear my driveway while we're here," said Josh, and he pulled onto a driveway that was cleared, but there was a gate across the driveway. "Come on," he said, and they got out and walked across the street. There was a wooden fence paralleling the road, and behind that were pine trees covered with snow.

Josh went up to a metal gate in the fence, unlocked the gate at both ends of the gate, then after a struggle, lifted the gate up off its hinges and set it to the side. There was about two feet of snow, and they made their way to a garage at the end of the driveway. Audrey was wearing Veronica's snowmobile suit and boots; both were too big for her, except the suit was tight in the chest area. Josh opened a locked box on the exterior wall of the garage, pushed a combination, and the garage door rolled up.

"Coooool!" gasped Audrey when she saw the 1951 Willeys CJ-3A jeep. "Does it work?"

"Of course it works. That's Grandpa. That's Miss Veronica's favorite ride in the summer." He uncovered an ancient Toro snow blower and plugged it into a 110 volt outlet. "This thing is ancient, but it works. We have a newer one in the garage at home." Josh topped off the gas tank in the snow blower, then fired up the snow blower with the 110 volt electric starter, then unplugged the power cord and moved out onto the driveway. He showed Audrey what each lever, crank, and squeeze grip was for, then placed her hands on the handles, engaged the augers, and put it in gear.

With eyes wide with terror, she cleared a line straight down the center of the driveway. Josh helped, but she did it by herself. By the time she made her third pass, she was having fun. The hard part was clearing out the big snow pile the plow left, but with Josh's help, she did it. She even cleared a parking spot on the side of the driveway, but why did Josh want her to do that? She didn't understand. Josh cleared a path through the trees to the cabin, then put the snow blower away while Audrey stood on the porch at the front of the cabin and looked at the trees covered with snow, the cabin on the other side of the frozen lake, the trees rising on a hill behind the cabin. Then she heard the roar of a different engine, and a snowmobile roared up to the cabin where she stood.

She looked at the blue and silver Yamaha SRX; it looked fast; it looked like it wanted to cross that frozen pond at a hundred miles per hour. Josh tossed her a helmet and said, "Let's go!" Audrey pulled on the helmet and found she could hear Josh over the built-in speakers in the helmet. "Let's look around," said Josh. They took off and roared around the lake and into the woods. They eventually stopped at Mike's cabin, and Josh unlocked the padlock on the rear door and handed Audrey the key. "Here you go Nurse Audrey."

She stepped into the cabin, and it was, in a word, perfect. It had a fireplace with a pot hook, two sets of bunk beds, but only one would be needed, a table, chairs, an old radio, and a couple of shuttered windows that, when Josh opened the shutters, looked out on the lake.

She stepped out onto the patio on the back side of the cabin, and there were a couple of Adirondack chairs. She walked out to the end of the dock and turned around to look at the cabin. It was so perfect: a small cabin tucked away in the trees on the shore of a lake. "I want to live here," said Audrey.

"I suppose you will when Mike wants to come out here," said Josh.

"No, I want to live here now. I want to live where my mom and dad can't find me... ever."

"We will keep that from happening," said Josh.

"You can't protect me," said Audrey sadly. "He's going to get you first."

<><><><><>

"You hired who?" demanded Andi.

"Audrey Mitchell," said Veronica. "You met her at the party; she and her mother were dressed alike."

"Ah yes, a sight to behold," said Paul Jarecki. He leaned back and remembered the sight of the two Mitchell girls. Both were wearing skintight red dresses that only covered from the upper edge of their nipples to the lower edge of their asses. Brandon Mitchell walked between them, his arms around their shoulders, clearly showing them off like prized possessions. Paul remembered Audrey clearly, the exposed portions of her breasts jiggling like a pair of happy Jello molds with every step. Her mother didn't provide such a display, and Paul assumed that was because of silicone implants on her mother's part.

"The slut," growled Andi.

"Andi please," said Macy.

"I can't help it," said Andi firmly. "The display those two sluts put on at the party was shameful! I held my tongue there for Anthony's sake but it's clear that Anthony had no control over the entire situation, or maybe he was complicit in their ridiculous actions."

"Andi, please," begged Veronica. "I've known Audrey for a couple of years, and I didn't know what to think, but I believe she was groomed into that position."

"Is she safe around kids?" asked Yi. "I'm taking the ambulatory kids over to the ice rink to skate with her in about fifteen minutes." Yi classifies any child that can walk as 'ambulatory.'

"I'm sure she is. Josh is a trusting guy, but if he senses danger, he'll let me know immediately."

"What do you mean, exactly?"

"He warned me about Ted Small weeks before the Town of Concord picked him up for trying to lure a child away from her folks and into his van at Walmart. Josh said he had a feeling about that guy," said Yi-Jin, Andi and Paul's governess. Ted Small was a park patrolman in the outlaw Springville Park Patrol.

"Has he had that feeling about anyone else in Springville?" asked Andi.

"About a half dozen more guys on the park patrol," said Veronica.

Andi turned to Yi, who was helping Cholly get his snow pants on. "If Josh told you this woman was safe to be with children, and you found her molesting a child, what would you do?"

Yi stood the year and a half old Cholly on his feet and buckled the suspenders on his snow pants and said, "If Josh told me she was safe to be with children, she'd never molest one." The beautiful Asian looked at Andi and said, "From what you say about her, it sounds like she's a molestation survivor. If she's a danger to children, it would be to her own child because that's how she was raised."

When Yi said that all eyes turned to Macy, the professional psychologist. "Aren't we supposed to be talking about the budget here," said Macy.

"Is what Yi said about Audrey valid?" asked Andi.

"Yes, quite valid. She's going to have problems with emotional relationships with all age groups, but she won't feel secure enough to act out unless it's her own child. I'm planning to talk to her sometime next week. Thanks to her father, I suddenly have a full time job."

"Come on kidletts," said Yi, and she pulled on her jacket and led the twins and Cholly outside, where they found their puppies romping in the backyard. Yi put Cholly in a plastic sleigh with everyone's skates, and the twins followed as Yi headed down the driveway, across the street, and into the Howard Avenue Park.

They sat on the home team's bench and put on their skates. Then the twins hit the ice with their plastic hockey sticks and a tennis ball while Yi put on her skates. Then she brought Cholly out onto the ice. They saw a cute young lady wearing a sweater and a skirt, and she was wearing figure skates and was talking to the twins. "You can't really play a good game of hockey until you can skate backwards."

"These skates don't work backwards!" insisted Sandy. She strained until her face turned red. "See? They don't move."

"Then start by going forward and turning around," said Audrey. "Watch." She started skating forward, then she gracefully turned around and was coasting backwards. "Now your skates will work, see?" She soon had the twins skating backwards, a bit awkwardly, but they were skating backwards. "Now you can defend your net and keep the other team from scoring."

"Yeah, those Canadians!" growled Madeline, and the twins swept their sticks side to side, protecting from an imaginary attack from the Canadian team. "Hey lady, do you play hockey?"

"No, I learned a different kind of skating than hockey," said Audrey, and she started skating around the rink. Then, when she got up to speed, she flipped around backwards and went into a hard turn. Then she popped up into the air, revolving twice, landed still going backwards, then drew up to a stop, spinning in a pirouette.

"Wow!" gasped the twins. "Were you in the Olympics?"

"No," laughed Audrey. "I was sent to a private school and I learned to skate there."

"We go to a private school!" cried Sandy.

"We don't have skating girls, but we sometimes have bad guys to shoot with a phaser!" cried Madeline. Both twins started shuddering and making babbling noises. "Bbbbbbbbbbb!" Then they fell down in the ice.

"Are they still doing that?" asked Josh as he skated up next to Yi, who was pulling Cholly around in his plastic sled.

"One of these days they'll give up on it, but it won't be soon," said Yi.

"You go skate, I'll keep an eye on shrimp-bait here," said Josh, and he pulled Cholly around the edge of the ice rink in his plastic sled.

Heather and Harold Driscoll stopped by to see their daughter, the new mayor, and they chose to let her continue her meeting with her advisors. They collected their son-in-law, Paul, and came to the park to check on their granddaughters. It was a beautiful sight to watch. A couple of neighborhood boys were teaching Yi and Sandy the finer points of hockey; a cute young lady was skating with Madeline, teaching her elementary figure skating moves, and Josh was skating around the edge of the rink carrying Cholly in his arms. Cholly had his arms clasped happily around Josh's neck, and he was singing something with Josh. Paul could see tears of joy forming in Josh's eyes.

"You made all this possible," said Harold. "Every bit of it."

"Yeah," said Paul, shifting his stance to relieve the pain in his back. "I need to make this the focus of my life, not that damn business."

"That damn business is what makes this possible," said Harold. "You need to strike a balance now that our little princess has a kingdom to run."

"I know," said Paul with a sigh. "She wants to open her own practice with Lucy and Macy, that way she doesn't have to leave the village for any reason."

"If anyone can make that work, it's you," said Heather.

<><><><><>

While they were at work, Veronica and Josh gave Audrey strict instructions: walk around the village, stop in at every business, and introduce yourself. She fell madly in love with Grandpa Archie and Grandma Lacy at Johnson's feed store, and every chance she got, she walked up to Main Street and joined them at the stove to warm up and learn about the history of the village. It felt so right to sit in a wooden rocking chair and listen to the stories. Grandma Lacy even talked about her mother, a Chinese war bride brought home by Kenny Johnson's great grandfather.

She also fell in love with Martha Lane at the IGA. Martha knew everything about everybody; in fact, when the young nurse walked up to the deli counter to get some ham for Mike's arrival, Martha broke into a huge grin. "You must be the nurse that Veronica and Josh hired!"

"How did you know?" said Audrey meekly.

"Josh told me you'd be along, that he'd find some damn fool excuse to get you in here to meet me. Howya doin' sweetie?"

"All right I guess. Veronica and Josh headed down to Erie to pick up Mike and bring him back tomorrow."

"You take good care of Mike von Köster, honey. I heard all the stories, how his wife dumped him for the milk man... the milk man fer God sakes. You can't get more cliché than that!" Martha barked, but Audrey realized it was a laugh coming from the 65 year old woman. "Should Mike get kinda grouchy, you send him up here to the IGA, ol' Martha will make him proud to be a man, know what I mean?"

"No," lied Audrey.

"You're a good kid. Oh! After lunch, Josh told me you need to go visit Amelia and Dexter on Argentine Avenue. They have something important for you."

"Did he tell you where I should eat lunch?"

"Go eat at Worzils honey. The beef on weck is to die for."

A few minutes later Audrey found herself in a booth at Worzil's, and someone she knew was taking her order. Julissa, the cop! Josh's singing coach! Audrey was terrified to speak to the woman, but Audrey soon found out that Julissa was just a regular person who had the opportunity to exercise her talents. "I hope that storm holds off until tomorrow," said Julissa. "We have a practice in Erie and I don't want to be trapped down there by the storm. I'm on duty with the PD on Friday so I have to make it back. Whatcha want honey?"

"I-I-I don't know," Audrey finally spat out.

"One newbie special coming right up," said Julissa with a wink.

Nervously Audrey opened her laptop and tried to do some homework, but the Wi-Fi was password protected and she didn't know how to set up a Wi-Fi hotspot on her phone. "We don't bite." Audrey looked around for whoever said that and saw the old Asian guy leaning on the bar, grinning at her. "We don't bite, just ask if you want something."

"Sorry," she said softly. "Could I get the Wi-Fi password please?"

Ayato grinned and said, "It's plastered all over this bar. Every beer sign has the password on it."

All that Audrey could see were beer sign after beer sign that said, GO BILLS! "Umm Go Bills?"

"Yep, Gee, zero, underscore Bills with a capital B and three exclamation points."

"Thank you," said Audrey nervously, and she typed it in, and it worked. Just then Julissa set a beef on weck sandwich in front of Audrey with fries and a tall draft Genesee NA beer. She normally didn't like beer, but she was thirsty and gave it a try, and it was delicious! The fries were awesome, but the sandwich was incredible! And when she tried it with horseradish, it was even better! "So good!" said Audrey with a mouth full of roast beef and au jus.

"You act like you've never had one before," said Julissa as she sat at the bar with Ayato, watching Audrey eat. "Where are you from?"

"Tonawanda."

Tonawanda was north of the Buffalo area, and it was much closer to Buffalo than Springville was, so there was no excuse for not knowing about beef on weck. "You're a Tonawanda girl and you've never had a beef on weck?"

"Daddy didn't want me to get fat," said Audrey softly. Julissa barely heard her, but Ayato heard her clearly. He nudged his wife, signaling her that there may be a problem in that booth.

"Don't worry, hon. Beef on weck taken occasionally is not a hazard. It's primarily protein," said Julissa.

Something snapped in Audrey's mind, and she began to shake. Suddenly she screamed, "PROTEIN! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT WORD EVER AGAIN!" Audrey shrieked.

Julissa looked at Ayato and pointed to the kitchen. He nodded and left, and Julissa sat down next to Audrey, who was fighting back the tears. Julissa put her arms around Audrey, who started weeping, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." over and over.

"It's ok hon, you're safe here. You have friends everywhere now. Ok? You don't have to say anything, just know it's all ok now."

<><><><><>

The door of the ramshackle house opened a crack, and a grouchy voice demanded, "Who are you?"

"I'm Audrey Mitchell, Josh told me that you have something for me."

"Come on in," growled Amelia Hernandez, and the door opened wider. "I'm Amelia. You're a nurse?" She demanded in derision.

"Yes ma'am. I'm studying geriatric care and I want to major in that."

"You going to become a doctor and quit working for a living?" demanded Amelia.

"No ma'am. I want to be a nurse practitioner eventually, but never a doctor."

"Good! Too damn many nurses getting their degree and putting their feet up in cushy offices. That guy over there is Dexter. If he ever lays a hand on you let me know and I'll break it offa him."

"Yes ma'am."

"Dex! Get up and show Audrey what we have for her."

"Yes dear," and Dexter got up and handed Audrey a key. Then he led her to the back of the long, narrow house. On the back wall of the living room was a door that was painted the same color as the wall, and it didn't have trim around the door frame, so it was hard to notice. "If you ever believe that people are looking for you, you come here and come in the back door with that key. It will let you in here," and he opened the back door to show her a tiny one-room apartment. "Nobody will find you here. From the outside there's just one door. You come in, close the door, and latch these locks," and he showed her three heavy duty locks. "Do you think you may need to hide from someone?"

Sadly, Audrey nodded.

<><><><><>

Josh, Veronica, and Mike pulled into Springville as the dark of evening encroached. It had been snowing all day, and they left Erie earlier than they had planned. Mike was happy to be rid of the Railroad Men's Retirement Community. One room, no TV, and three lousy meals a day, and it ate up his entire retirement. Thank God for Social Security so he could get a few hot pockets and have something with flavor to eat.

"They've gotten two feet of snow already!" gasped Veronica as they crept slowly through the village. "Where are the snowplows?" Her Navigator kicked into four-wheel drive, and they plowed through the snow that in places drifted up to three feet deep across Main Street. "I hope Audrey is ok," said Veronica.

"Who's Audrey?" asked Mike.

"Audrey is our surprise, dad," said Veronica. "She's going to be there for you while we're working or in Josh's case getting ready for competition."

"I don't need no babysitter," growled Mike.

"She's a nurse, daddy," said Veronica.

"I don't need no nurse," snapped Mike. "I ain't dead yet."

"I showed her your cabin and she's excited," said Josh. "She can't wait to spend some time in the woods fishing and hiking."

"She can hike right back to the Nurse Store or wherever you got her," groused Mike.

"You haven't even met her!" said Veronica.

"I haven't even tasted cyanide either, and I'm not about ready to try it."

"Oh hush you crazy old coot," said Josh. "She's eager to meet you."

"We'll see," grumbled Mike, then he swatted Josh on the arm for calling him a crazy old coot.

"She shoveled the driveway?" gasped Veronica as they turned into their neatly shoveled driveway. "Didn't you show her how to use the snow blower?"

"I showed her how to use the one at the cabin," said Josh.

"That one doesn't have a safety key," said Veronica. "I put the safety key in the key box."

"Then she probably couldn't start it. Hop out and I'll put this away," said Josh as the garage door opened.

Veronica led Mike into the house, and they set his luggage down, and she called out, "Audrey?" but there was no answer. "Come on dad," and Veronica led Mike down the stairs into the laundry room. The dryer was tumbling a load of laundry, and Veronica checked it. It was all Audrey's snow clothes. "She probably got drenched shoveling that wet snow," said Veronica. "Ok, your bathroom is over there," she said, pointing it out. "Your apartment is behind this barn door," and she slid the door open. "There's your living room with door into the back yard. And on this side is your bedroom."

Mike walked into the bedroom and set his bag down. He turned on a light and saw a vision of loveliness laying on the bed, covered in a fleece Buffalo Bills blanket, fast asleep. "She wore herself out shoveling," said Mike softly.

"Come on dad, let her sleep."

"Honey, why don't you go upstairs and make us some coffee. I'm going to wait here for my nurse to wake up." Mike sat down in the recliner in his room, put his feet up, opened a book, and waited.