Stormwatch - Winter's Icy Grip

Stormwatch

Book 5 - Winter’s Icy Grip

Created and written by Duleigh

Edited by KMaz317

<><><><><>֎<><><><><>

Introduction

Stormwatch Book 5 - Winter’s Icy Grip

Welcome to my version of Springville, New York. Springville is about twenty miles south of Buffalo, New York, nestled in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountain. The land around Springville is farmland, but land that’s not used is covered in thick forests. Balsam Fir, Blue Spruce, Norway Pine, White Oak, Red Maple, Ash, and Beech cover the land, making beautiful camping and hiking areas. Springville is also the head of the famed Zoar Valley, a deep valley that drains the rain and snow runoff from the hills to Lake Erie, thirty miles west.

Here is where Josh and Veronica Gravely-von Köster live. Josh is a highly decorated veteran, and Veronica is a former beauty queen with an MBA. Together they own a former scout camp in the woods west of Springville and are rebuilding the cabins with dreams of making it a luxury campground in the future. They both work at a high-tech company called Andalon Data Systems. Josh is the production manager, and Veronica is the executive assistant to the owner/CEO, Anthony Friedman. In his spare time, Josh is a singer in a barbershop quartet that has won its regional contests and is heading for international competition. They are newlyweds, just married this past New Year’s Eve, meaning that in this book they’ve been married for 40 days. He’s tall and muscular, handsome and charming. His South Georgia accent melts the hearts of the women of Western New York, while Veronica is also tall and she still keeps her beauty and figure of her modeling days.

Their best friends and neighbors, two blocks away, are Paul and Andi Jarecki. Paul owns a string of automobile dealerships that he and his brother, John, inherited from their father. Paul is a doctor with a law degree that he got to help with the legal nightmare that comes with a business like his. Paul met his wife Andi when she slid off the road in a snowstorm, and he rescued her and her tiny and smart twin daughters, Sandi and Madeline. They fell in love and married weeks later. A year after that, they had a son, Daniel. Paul was running for Mayor of Springville when he was kidnapped, and Andi stepped in and ran in Paul’s absence and won. Paul is over six feet tall, is going to turn fifty soon, and is proud of his Polish heritage. Andi is tiny, four foot eleven, with a sexy figure and a mind like a supercomputer. She is a pulmonologist with the VA and is planning to go into private practice so she can stay near Springville and fulfill her duties as mayor. Both were previously married; Paul to an Air Force fighter pilot who was killed by a jealous commander. Andi’s husband was a drinker and a gambler, and ended up in prison.

Paul’s brother, John, is much younger than Paul and is the pastor of a local congregational church. He was going to a seminary, but he had a conflict with the catechism and dropped out. Paul talked him into continuing in a divinity school, so John enrolled in a school in Montreal, where he fell in love with his doctoral advisor, Dr. Marie-Claude Solange Dagenais (Macy) a tall, slim, beautiful black woman ten years older than John. They married and ended up in a tiny church in Springville, where Macy is the associate pastor. They tried for years to have a baby and finally had one, Katarina, then a month later, an orphan boy, Chamonix Lévesque (Cholly), was actually dropped into John’s lap.

As this book opens, it’s February, and Josh’s new quartet, Pennsy, is practicing for competition. Josh just started with them, so they have to bring him up to speed on all their music. Meanwhile, at Andalon Data Systems, the company is preparing to go public, and they have made a date for the Initial Public Offering. However, the newly hired personnel seem to be acting against the wishes of the board and are covertly sabotaging the company’s efforts. All the work with the new quartet and the issues at work are taking a toll.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

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?”