Stormwatch - Chapter 05

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

This is an all new addition to the Stormwatch series. If you haven't read Stormwatch Chapter 1, Stormwatch Chapter 2, Stormwatch Chapter 3, or Stormwatch Chapter 4, please take this chance. Chapters one and two are updates to existing chapters with 50% new material in each, and a corrected timeline. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 are all new and hopefully they rekindle the joy of the series.

Chapter 5 is a return to Springville dealing with the aftermath of Josh's confession to Veronica. It's still a departure from the current story line, but it sets the stage for future developments. I loved every minute of writing this chapter, but many of Josh's issues are taken from real-life issues faced by veterans that I've met over the years. This time is the problems of recognition. Sometimes veterans have no idea what to say when you say "Thank you for your service." Veterans like Josh have an even worse time when he's recognized by other veterans.

For comments, questions, or merchandise, please contact the author.

STORMWATCH Chapter 5

Springville in the Summer

"Ride! Ride! Ride!" chanted Sandy and Madeline Jarecki from the small green and yellow equipment wagon that sat in front of their mom and dad's cabin. On the wide covered patio of the cabin sat their parents, Paul and Andi Jarecki and their Uncle John and Aunt Macy Jarecki. Their mom, Andi, and their Aunt Macy were beginning to show signs of their pregnancy's development. Both were due in late October to early November, and there was an entire summer to be uncomfortable ahead of them. Andi wanted nothing more than to jump in their cool, refreshing pond, but her OB/GYN nixed that on day one.

Over by the barn were Aunty Veronica and Unka Josh. To the twins, the term aunt is reserved for Aunt Macy and any other female sibling of their parents should another one arise. The term Aunty is for their parents' female friends. Uncle vs Unka is more clouded because the term Uncle just entered their vocabulary and they're still working out the nuances.

Over by the huge ancient barn, Unka Josh was trying to teach Aunty Veronica how to hold a chicken. She finally got the chicken settled in her arm and she petted it gently as she tried to calm the chicken down. The twins named the dark chicken with white bands and a prominent red comb "Pokey." Veronica thought it was because the escaped chicken was slow. Several painful pokes changed her mind. "What kind of chicken is this?"

"A frier," called Paul from the porch, which caused the twins to shout "HEY!" The twins knew about the cruel truths of farm life versus animal longevity, but Pokey was almost family.

"It's made of stone!" cried Madeline, who was peering over the edge of the John Deere replica equipment wagon.

"Stone?" asked Josh. "So, if we make chicken wings you won't be able to eat them?" Sandy and Madeline became immediately addicted to Buffalo style chicken wings the first time they ever tasted them after moving to Western New York with their mother. A chicken wing dinner leaves them both covered in bright orange wing sauce and white bleu cheese dressing from head to toe. While highly intelligent, the twins are still messy eaters.

"Well... maybe not real stone," said Sandy. "She's made of chicken flavored stone."

"I think she's made out of chicken," said 'Unka' Josh as he and Veronica stepped up onto the porch and sat down with the Jareckis. Veronica sat in a folding chair with the chicken on her lap and Josh sat down next to her. Veronica was practically glowing.

"She's a Plymouth Rock," said Andi, who was new to chickens, at least live chickens. "Is that right?" she asked Paul.

"Absolutely right dear," said her husband Paul, and he leaned over and gave her a sweet kiss.

Josh had a black cat in his arms. He was getting pretty good at catching Paul's barn cats. The huge old barn contains hay and chicken feed, which attracts rodents, so Paul has always had a few semi-feral cats in the barn, dining on the mice. Josh was able to pick up a cat and carry it out to the porch. If anyone else tried that, the cat would inflict serious scratches. The cats were so wild that the twins refused to give them names. Their reason was that you can't name something that you can't pet.

As they chatted and drank homemade lemonade, the friends and relatives enjoyed the beautiful day. John and Paul worked hard in the family garden that sat a few yards from the cabins. The vegetables were sprouting, and they caught Pokey digging and scratching in the garden.

Josh and Veronica also worked hard this weekend, completing their campsite back on the hill on the northeast side of Josh's land across the street. They took Friday off from and built an outhouse. Saturday, they spent hours digging a pit for the outhouse downwind from the campsite, then they hauled the little building up to their campsite and set it up. Then, using rocks they collected from Zoar Valley, they built a fire pit and had their first meal under the trees back in the forest.

The fun part was that for the first time in her life (since childhood) Veronica spent the weekend topless. She even drove the tractor from the cabin to the campsite topless. Anyone passing on Trevett road could have seen her between the trees if they looked, which added a level of excitement. All the while they toiled, Josh told Veronica of his last year in the Air Force. It was something he rarely speaks about and he only speaks of it slightly more than his accident which preceded that final year, which is never.

Veronica was shocked at the non-stop emotional rollercoaster ride that Josh took that year. One moment he was fine and healthy, leading his men and women to greatness, the next thing you know, something would happen to destroy his joy. The last hit was discovering he had cancer. "Can we talk?" Veronica softly asked Andi.

Andi knew immediately what Veronica meant, so she gave Paul a kiss as she said, "The girls are hot, can you take them swimming please?"

"YAY!" shouted the twins as they scrambled out of the wagon that was coupled to Veronica's tractor.

"Get your swimsuits on girls," called Paul, and they thundered past him into the cabin. The twin's passage scared the cat out of Josh's lap.

"Awww... and I was having fun petting your..."

"DON'T!" warned John.

"Sorry," said Josh with a sly grin.

"You're horrible Ephraim!" said Andi. Then she added, "Wait for John to leave before you break out the innuendos."

The twins came roaring out of the cabin in their brightly colored bathing suits, flip-flops, floaties, sunglasses, and towels. "Guys, I think I'm going to need help with these two," said Paul as the twins walked past him and straight off toward their pond.

With unsaid hints from their wives, John and Josh followed Paul out into the field. Once they left, Andi and Macy leaned to Veronica and Andi said, "What's up?"

"He finally opened up," said Veronica.

"About his accident?"

"No, what happened after..." Veronica fought the tears. "How can someone go through that, completely broken, then built back up, then get torn down again..."

Macy nodded sadly. She knows some of the low points of his story.

Veronica looked at Andi and her voice cracked... "He's got cancer," and broke down crying. Andi and Macy tried to calm her, but she replied, "He acts like it doesn't bother him..." She began crying so hard that she scared Pokey and the chicken fluttered out of her lap, leaving behind a freshly laid egg in Veronica's lap.

Somehow Veronica's mind made a connection between that and Josh dying and leaving her pregnant and she became hysterical. Andi was completely shocked and automatically assumed that Josh was dying and she began crying too. "It's ok Ronnie, that was years ago. He's been cancer free and he's getting the best care," said Macy. "He goes to Roswell Park for follow up treatment twice a year." Roswell Park was a cancer treatment center in Buffalo that often outshined the Mayo Clinic when it came to cancer treatment.

Veronica tried to sniff back the tears and rasped, "you know?"

"I'm a psychologist AND a pastor, remember? We know how to listen, but we also know how to get someone to talk to us."

"Did he tell you about Hani?"

"Who?" asked Andi, who was completely lost.

"No, he never mentioned anyone by name other than someone named Wedge and Roxanne."

"How long does he have?" asked Andi, trying to hold back her own hysteria.

"He's ok, both of you relax. Josh is fine. He's been cancer free since he moved to Western New York," said Macy as she put her arms around Andi and Veronica.

"He wanted to die," sniff Veronica. "Life was so bad at times he prayed for cancer so he didn't have to do it himself."

"I'm sure he was exaggerating," said Macy. "You know Josh better than me... have you ever seen him back down from a challenge?"

"No," sniffed Veronica.

"Did he mention that when he came home, he paid off all those bills without help in less than five months?" Veronica shook her head no. "He's very proud of that. Ask him about it, Josh is inspired by a challenge. Josh will never back down from a challenge, and he saw his cancer as a challenge."

"Did he tell you what he did with those women in Florida?" asked Veronica. "I don't know if I can..." she stopped before she said more.

"What women in Florida?" asked Andi.

Macy nodded sadly. "Yes he was wrong, and he knows he was wrong. He talked to me at length about that... he said his friend Craig inspired him to quit and to apologize to those women."

"Who is Craig?" asked Andi.

"Craig is dead," said Veronica and Macy in unison.

"What? Did Josh kill him?" asked a completely confused Andi.

"No, Craig was on Josh's crew and died on a mission," said Macy. "That's all I know about it."

"Craig is his conscience," said Veronica as she studied the egg that Pokey left her. Then thinking about what "Does he think I'm a challenge?"

Macy smiled, then began to chuckle as Veronica continued to examine the egg in her hand. "You are the greatest challenge he has ever had."

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John and Paul Jarecki walked back to the pond, following Sandy and Madeline, who clung to Josh's hands. The tiny blonds chattered the whole way to the pond. They were mostly concerned about the fish that were waiting to bite their toes. Everyone knows big fish like to eat little girls' toes. "I don't think those fish want to eat your stinky toes," said Josh.

"I'm not stinky, you're stinky!" insisted Sandy.

"Not me! I took a bath last week," said Josh. He and the girls taunted each other until they found the spring that fed the pond and splashed in the little stream until it reached the pond and splashed over a small waterfall into the pond. Several springs fed this pond, and it was the perfect place to cool off on a summer day. One could dive into the cool water of the pond and, to really cool down, you would swim out to the middle of the pond and head down. The pond was over twenty feet deep, so the water in the depths was cool and refreshing. At the far end of the pond the red maples, willows, and sycamore trees gave relieving shade from the sun.

"Can you swim Unka Josh?"

"Does an alligator hide in the treetops?"

"Do they?" asked Madeline, her eyes huge as she scanned the tree branches for an alligator.

"I'm just teasin' ya," said Josh. "Y'all don't have no alligators up here worth makin a purse outta. I can swim right good."

"You talk funny," said Sandy.

"If I took you down to Georgia, you'd be the one's talkin' funny."

"I have been to Florida!" said Madeline.

"Yeah! My daddy has a house and..." Sandy paused to count in her head. "Seventeen boats!"

Josh looked back over his shoulder at Paul. "Seventeen boats?"

"Closer to two," said Paul.

"Three!" cried the twins. "Mommy's boat, your sailing boat, and the bouncy boat."

"Bouncy boat?" asked Josh.

"A zodiac dingy," said Paul.

"I have four boats," said Josh. "Two row boats, a party barge, and a canoe."

Soon, they were playing in the pond with the twins. John and Paul were in the water with them, playing catch with an inflatable beach ball. Josh watched for a while, unable to force himself into playing with them. He walked around the shore of the pond until he got to the young cat tails and laid back on the grass of the bank. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the sunshine. It would be ages before he could relax like this again.

Next weekend was the orphan's campout in cabin number eight. On Friday, he was going to play 'scoutmaster' and take the orphans on hikes in the woods. He just hoped they don't ask him to play the guitar. He only knows four cords and two of them are wrong. Saturday was the big picnic, and he intended to raise $500,000 for Adoption Advocates by twisting arms of businessmen and rich people that Anthony, Veronica, and Paul Jarecki invited. Anything he raised over that amount would go to Roswell Park Cancer Institute. He even had a dream of recouping some of the money he sank into this, because he's broke. If it weren't for Veronica and the frozen deer and turkey in the freezer, he wouldn't be able to eat.

"The pond is muddy here! Yuk!" Josh opened an eye and saw a twin sitting next to him, studying the mud between her toes. "Why don't you take off your shirt Unka Josh?"

"I don't need to."

"Papa has his shirt off. Unka John has his shirt off."

"You don't have your shirt off," said Josh without opening his eyes.

"Yes, I do," said Madeline and she dropped her wet swimsuit on Josh's face.

Josh sat up, sputtering. He looked and saw a naked little girl running away in the shoulder high (for her) hay. He had been warned by Andi's friend Lucy that the twins were "flash nudists" but he never saw such a thing.

Laughing and giggling and only wearing her floaties, those inflatable donuts worn on her upper arms, Madeline dashed back to where Paul and John were relaxing in the pond with her sister Sandy. Madeline ran at full speed into the pond, making a big splash, and sat down next to where Sandy was playing in the sand at the bottom of the pond.

"Madeline, where's your swimsuit?" demanded Paul.

Madeline looked innocent and said, "I gave it to Unka Josh."

"Why?"

"I was done with it."

"Madeline, go get your swimsuit back on," scolded Paul.

"Why? Sandy doesn't have one on," insisted Madeline.

"Yes she..." Paul stopped when both twins stood up naked and ran off along the path that goes around the pond. Slowly, Paul and Josh walked after the twins. "God I hope they outgrow this," groaned Paul as he and his brother trudged after the twins. It made no sense to run because there was nothing faster on earth than a naked five-year-old who wanted to play "keep away."

Josh was watching, however. As the twins approached him, they stopped suddenly and crouched down to investigate something. They stepped back and Sandy picked up the biggest stick she could find and raised it above her head for a killing blow and shrieked, "SNAKE!"

She tried to bring down a killing blow, but Josh held the end of the stick, keeping her from hitting the snake. "Jes stop there lil' one. Let's take a look-see first." Josh crouched down and saw the target of the twin's terror. With a quick snatch, he picked up the snake, holding it behind the head. "He's a pretty one! Here look," and he held the squirming snake so the twins could touch, but they both shied away.

"It will bite!"

"No he won't, he just wants to get back to working on his tan."

"Huh?"

"Lil brother snake just likes to lay in the sun and soak up rays," said Josh. "When he's nice and warm he might go looking for a big juicy bug to eat, or maybe a big fat ol' worm."

"He eats bugs?" asked Madeline as she worked up her courage to touch the snake.

"That's it. He's got a little bitty head so he can't eat anything big. Down where I'm from we have annoying little frogs that brother snake likes to eat, but the frogs are too big for him up here."

"Is he a rattle snake?" asked Sandy, who joined Madeline in petting the snake.

"Nope, he's a garter snake, you can see by the long yellow stripes that go from head to tail. He likes to hang out by the pond here and look for bugs and worms to eat."

"Is this a baby?"

"Nope. He's full grown," said Josh. "He's not going to get much bigger." He laid the snake back on the ground and it slithered off into the grass. "On a nice day like today, his friends will want to lie in the sun on the path. If you see one, just walk around him, or give him a nudge with your snake stick and he'll slip away."

"He wasn't slimy!" said Madeline. "I thought snakes were slimy."

"No, frogs are slimy," said Josh as he walked down to the edge of the pond. He leaned down and peered into the undergrowth and, with a lightning quick grab, he scooped up a little frog to show the girls. "This is a chorus frog, these are the guys what like to sing all night long."

"He's slimy!" said Sandy as she petted the frog.

"Yes they are. Every time you play with a frog, you have to wash your froggy hands."

"Eww," said Madeline, as she petted the frog.

"And unless you're gonna eat them, you always put them back where they came from."

"What about show and tell?" demanded Madeline.

"You're not in school," said Josh as he carefully lowered the frog back into the pond.

"We will be!" insisted Sandy.

"Don't you worry," said Josh. "By the time show and tell rolls around you come to me and we'll catch all kinds of critters for you to take in to show your teacher. She's going to be so happy you two are in her class." He led the naked girls back to Paul and John and they eagerly made plans for their academic career that will start in just three months.

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"Are you going to avoid me all week?" asked Veronica in a text message.

Josh read the message and then replied, "No." Then he muted his phone, dropped it in a desk drawer and closed up his desk, then went into the server room. He couldn't do it. Ever since he told her about his cancer treatments, she's been looking at him like a dying kitten that she couldn't help. She used to look at him and see a man, someone strong and capable, someone she could lean on for support. Now she looks at him like she wants to give him warm milk with an eye dropper.

About twenty minutes later, Veronica entered the hardware section of Andalon Data Systems and looked around. There were four of Josh's people working at the big center desk. Everyone was doing something with a computer. Josh's nemesis, Terri McCarthy, was repairing a faulty fan on a used server that Josh had purchased from a company that was upgrading and was selling off its older devices.

"Just get it running he says," muttered Terri over and over.

"What's up Terri?" asked Veronica.

"That dumb ass boss of mine went out and bought up every garage sale server and laptop he could find then told us to get them running."

"Hey, at least you get to do the easy part," said Rasheed, Josh's top operating system guy. "We have to figure out how to get a brand new version of VM ware to run on these antiques."

"Is Ephraim around?" asked Veronica.

"He probably locked himself in the server room again," said Cole Reagan, who was looking over Rasheed's shoulder as he tried to tweak the new OS.

"You mean the walk-in oven?" said Terri.

"Huh?"

"We've been expanding left and right, building out the server room, but the new air conditioner was canceled," said Cole. "It's getting hotter in there and Josh is trying to load balance the heat output by napping low use servers."

"Ten more degrees and we're all on the job market," said Nick Taube.

"I got my resume ready," said Terri.

"Same here."

"Me too."

"I have a letter of recommendation from Josh."

"I better get one before things start to melt."

"I ain't waiting, I have an interview with the Tech Shop after work."

Veronica looked around in shock at the men and women as they worked and complained. "What's the matter?" asked Terri. "Ain't you ever seen a sinking ship?"

"All of us are on our fourth or fifth job," said Cole. "When you're a tech you get used to this crap after a while. Even the engineers go through job changes constantly."

"Most technicians aren't laid off because they fucked up, but because their bosses did," said Rasheed.

Veronica walked over to the server room, normally a room she wouldn't enter without a sweater, and through the glass door she saw Josh typing on a keyboard in front of a rank of servers, he was wearing a t-shirt, something he'd never do. He normally had a parka in there to wear. She stepped inside and it was hot in there. "What's going on in here?"

Josh waited for the door to close and he glared at his co-workers in the other room as they watched. Then, when they saw Josh's scowl, they turned back to their work. "That fucking idiot Brandon Mitchell cut my budget and canceled the order for the new Liebert air conditioner. I warned him. I warned Anthony. Yet here we are. We have the world's most expensive sauna."

"What are you going to do?"

"What can I do? Anthony suddenly decided that the chain of command must be followed and for some reason data and production fall under the kiddy school of Sales and Marketing. I have to go through Brandon Mitchell with all business problems. Ant thinks he's 'teaching' Brandon. When the temperature hits one hundred and ten I start shutting down machines."

"Why at one hundred and ten?"

"Because when this room hits one twenty five, the machines will melt down. At least if I shut them down before there's any damage, Ant will be able to sell them and buy his way out of bankruptcy."

"Come with me," said Veronica and she stormed out of the server room with Josh following. The cool air outside of the server room hit his sweat dampened T-shirt and chilled him to the bone. "Terri, Rasheed, wedge all the server room doors open," said Josh as they walked past the work room.

"That will set off the security alarm," said Terri.

"Would you prefer the fire alarms going off? Do it!"

Josh followed Veronica out through the programmer's suite. The security alarms were screaming when they reached the sales area. He followed her up to "executive row" where she stormed into her office, turned hard left and went through the connecting door to Anthony Freidman's office. "Not now Miss von Köster, we have a problem with the alarm system."

"No sir, it's working fine. Operational check good."

Anthony hung up the phone and looked at Josh strangely. "You did this?"

"Yes sir. I had to cool the server room somehow."

"Why, what's going on?"

"We've been expanding and growing sir. When I started a year and a half ago you predicted that we wouldn't run out of rack space for six years. We are almost full. You have more servers than you have cooling."

"Nonsense, the air conditioning system you have is one of the finest in the world," said Brandon Mitchell, VP of sales and marketing.

"Fine has nothing to do with it, sir," he spat out the word 'sir' like it was festering on his tongue. "As I told you multiple times in the past, sir, we have exceeded capacity. I just informed Miss von Köster and now I'm telling you, when the temperature in the server room reaches one ten, I start shutting down machines."

"You can't do that," said Brandon.

"No, really, I can. It's very easy. I start with the non-medical sites first..."

"You can't shut down a legal office!" gasped Brandon.

"Yeah I can. Or didn't you read my list of priorities?" asked Josh. "Lawyers are at the bottom of the list with the lowest priority of all our customers. Hospitals and medical clinics are at the top because people's lives are on the line. They're followed by medical imaging sites, then schools and education, followed by quick oil change locations, fast food chains, then your buddies, the law firms."

"You did not!"

"I sure as shit did," snapped Josh. "I knew you weren't reading my memos so I drew that up to get your attention and you just passed it on to the board. And now, thanks to you, my memo was approved and this is company policy. Hope your lawyer buddies don't look at their contracts too closely."

"If you shut down a law office, this business is done for!" shouted Brandon.

Josh stepped up to Brandon Mitchell and stood nose to nose with him. "If it comes to the point where I'm shutting down servers, we're done for anyhow. If I can keep the hospitals online maybe they can move their business to a more reliable company without endangering their patients."

"Wait a minute. You were supposed to get a second Liebert air conditioner installed a month ago," said Anthony.

"Yes, and it got canceled, then my budget was slashed. I up channeled my complaints through Mister Mitchell like you demanded every time, but in the end my guys have been screwed while the salesmen get Acapulco vacations for bonuses. Would you like to see the copies I sent? I'll be glad to send them along with my resignation."

"We don't need to be melodramatic Mister Gravely," snarled Brandon Mitchel.

Josh responded to Anthony, keeping his back turned to Brandon. "It's not melodramatic, sir. My land is paid for, I have a source of income, the only bills I have are electric and my tractor. You can't afford to lose anyone over there except me and..."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Anthony.

"I came into work on Monday morning after a long weekend of preparing for Marjorie's orphans, and my loving VP cut my budget again. He demanded that I cut 80 hours out of each pay cycle. That's two hard working young people trying to start a family. Me? I'm just a paper pushing shinyass, I don't work for a living anymore, I shovel shit like a salesman. I applied for a job with the Town of Concord Department of Public Works on the road repair crew. My neighbors need help with their dairy herd, I'm going to see if they want to hire someone my age. Those two jobs should have me..."

"Mister Gravely!" snapped Anthony. "Go back to your office immediately. Can you print all of those emails you sent and have them back here in ten minutes?"

"Yes sir!"

"Go." Five minutes later came a knock at the door. "Enter."

The door opened, and in came Terri McCarthy, looking more nervous than anyone has ever seen her. "Josh asked me to bring these over," and she handed Anthony over a dozen printed pages, the top one in a manilla envelope.

"Where is Mister Gravely now?"

"There is a problem in the server room, something about the fire alarm."

"You mean the security alarm."

"No sir, the fire alarm, one server is overheating so bad it's going to set off the sprinklers. Josh is trying to move the virtual machines off of that server to its backup and shut it down."

"Thank you Terri. Go see if he needs a hand."

"Yes sir."

"Wait," called Anthony as he peered at the letter in the envelope. "Miss McCarthy, please give this back to Mister Gravely and tell him that I have more than enough toilet paper." He gave the envelope containing Josh's resignation back to Terri and said to his wife, "I'll be home late today, dear. Miss von Köster, please ask Mister Dombrowski and Mister Katzman to come into my office then go see if you can help our people in hardware."

Back at the hardware section, only Terri and Larry Clark were working on the servers on the worktable. Everyone else was in the field working at customer's locations or helping Josh. Josh had gone to a local big box hardware store and rented several large fans that were used to dry out a flooded house. "Nick, got that list for me?" asked Josh as he hung the big fan in a doorway to draw the hot air out.

"Yeah, and you're not going to like it."

"What do you have?" Josh asked Nick to set up a plan to move virtual machines so they could shut down real machines. VM ware allows them to run two or three virtual servers on a single chassis. The three virtual servers could run three different operating systems and they'd all use the same multiple port network interface card. The problem is that they are limited by drive space and processor horsepower.

"We'll be working all night to move six machines around to be able to shut down one chassis," said Nick.

"Roger. Damn. Ok, we go to Plan B. Which machines are our lowest priority chassis?"

"We can safely shut down three chassis without interrupting a class A customer."

"How about garbage cans full of ice in front of the fans?" asked Terri.

"I think that's our next move," said Josh. "Ok nobody but me in the server room. Once we set out the ice, I don't want a bucket kicked over."

Veronica was amazed. Was this Master Sergeant Gravely? Was this the man he was when he was in uniform, quelling problems and 'generating sorties'? Josh was calm, determined, decisive, and strong, no matter how angry he was inside. "Terri, Cole, go collect every office trash bin you can get. Beg, borrow, steal. I think we need about a dozen."

Josh was about to hop into 'Spartacus' and buy about 40 pounds of ice when a fellow knocked on his door. "Yes?" Josh asked the fellow who was wearing a Pyramid Controls uniform.

"I have a Liebert UH147C-AA Network Center cooling system... Is Ef-ri-um Gravely here?"

"That's me, it's ef-RAME."

"Gotcha. Ef-ri-um, my work order says you're wired and ready for this particular unit?"

"Any UH147 series machine," said Josh, still not believing this was happening.

"Where does it go?"

Josh smiled and said, "Bring it in the shipping door, the data center is over here." Josh led the fellow to the server room, and the guy whistled as he saw the fans. He stepped into the data center and looked at the thermometer on the wall. "Damn! You guys are close! Why did you cancel this thing two months ago?"

"Please don't ask me to read the minds of those who are paid to know better than me. Do you need a crane for the roof unit?"

"Nah, we got it."

Veronica watched in awe as Josh sprung to action, muscling the ground part of the unit into place and assisting the vent team with the duct work. Then Josh disappeared and Veronica later found he was on the roof helping the installation team with the new condenser. He sent Terri out for foam insulation so he could insulate the coolant lines between the condenser and the air conditioner.

Josh came off the roof sweaty and grinning, and somehow Veronica fell in love with him all over again. He noticed that nobody was watching, so he pulled her tight and gave her a kiss that set her head spinning. "I don't know when I'll get home," he whispered.

"I'll wait up," she said coyly.

"There's that look," said Josh with a cheerful grin. "Don't wait up. This is going to be an all-nighter. If I'm not home when you wake up can you bring me a change of clothes?"

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Veronica returned to work at six thirty with a change of clothes for Josh and his favorite store-bought breakfast, an Asiago bagel 'with a schmear' from Panera and an 'extra-large double-double' from Tim Hortons. She got there and found Josh in the server room, wearing his parka as he typed away on a keyboard. "How is it going?" she shouted over the cacophony of cooling fans and roaring air conditioners.

Josh turned to her and saw that 'the look' was still in her eyes. With a smile, he led her out of the server room and hung up his parka. His t-shirt was filthy and stained with sweat and grime. After a quick kiss (he didn't want to get her pretty dress stained) he told her of the work that they did. He sent his troops home before 8:00 PM, but most waited around to see if the new industrial air conditioner was going to work. As he spoke, he wolfed down his breakfast. "When's the last time you ate?" Veronica demanded.

"Lunch," said Josh between bites of his bagel.

"There will be no meal skipping! If you're going to be working like a lumberjack, you had better fuel yourself properly." She kissed him again and said, "Pew! You better shower too."

"Yes ma'am!" he headed over to the janitor's closet which had a shower, but Veronica stopped him.

"There's not enough room in there."

Josh grinned and said, "There's that look." He followed her to Anthony's office, where she started Anthony's shower and undressed Josh. He stepped into the shower and was quickly followed by Veronica. "You undressed quickly."

"That's what happens when you plan ahead," she said as she slipped into his arms. "Now tell me about that look you were talking about."

"When we started, you always looked at me like a Man..."

"What do you mean?" she said.

"That look in your eye, there was something there. Respect, love, even admiration..." he stopped and groaned as she soaped his cock and balls.

"Go on," she said. "Don't let me interrupt."

Running his hands over her lithe body and sumptuous breasts, he continued. "Then I told you about my bad times after the crash... that look was gone. All I saw in your eyes was sorrow and pity. Like I was a dying kitten that you found lying on the road."

"You could have died..." she whispered.

"Honey, I flew in the biggest, slowest target that ever hung over a battlefield and when I mention that you glow with pride. But when I mention cancer you act like you have your dress picked out for my funeral."

"It's just... cancer is so insidious..."

"So are Stinger missiles, but I survived them too." He took Veronica in his arms and held her tight. He took her hand and ran it up and down the huge scar on his side. "I got this in combat, and I got the cancer in combat, too. It's just another scar I got protecting you."

"It's hard to see it like that," said Veronica, who shuddered in his arms.

"Look at it this way, it's just another steppingstone in the path that led me to you. I did so good in Kunsan that I could have talked my way into a full twenty years, but once I was diagnosed with cancer, they had to put me out. I needed a job and I needed cancer treatment, that led me to Buffalo which led me to you."

"You can see the bright side of anything, can't you?"

"Only when I see that look in your eye. It makes me proud to be your man."

Veronica sank to her knees and closed her luscious lips around the head of his hard cock. As she sucked on it, her tongue slithered around the head, taunting and exploring. Her hands grasped his ass cheeks and squeezed and pulled him forward, pressing his cock into her mouth, deeper and deeper, until he entered her throat.

She swallowed him, time and time again, her tongue slithering over the sensitive underside of his cock. Josh groaned, "Oh Nicca!" over and over, letting his fingers tangle in her thick blond locks. She let him take control, using her mouth as he held her head steady and began to fuck. Her fingertips danced delicately over his ass, threatening to tickle his anus as the pleasure grew and grew.

"Nica, I'm going to cum," he groaned and this time she surprised him. She pushed his hips back and began stroking her delicate hand up and down his cock.

"Cum on me Ephie, cum on my face."

Words he had never heard before set him off and he came shooting spurt after spurt of his semen and she directed his spray on her face. When he finally stopped cumming, he sank to his knees and held her close and kissed her. "My god that was something," said Josh.

"We have to get married now," said Veronica. "You marked me as yours."

<><><><><>

"Good morning, Mister Gravely, is the new air conditioner working well?"

"Quite well, sir," said Josh as he finished knotting his tie.

"Good, good," said Anthony. "Is that the air conditioner I hear?"

"Uh, no, that's Miss von Köster's blow drier."

"And I suppose there's a reason why you're getting dressed in my office this morning?"

"Well, yeah," said Josh. "The shower in the maintenance section is barely big enough for one."

Anthony chuckled and eased down into his chair. "Is there a reason for the tie?"

"Yes, we have a meeting today."

Ant looked at Josh and said, "We meaning you and Ronnie?"

"We meaning you and me," said Josh and he sat down in a chair in front of Anthony's desk. "Let's talk budget. My budget to program, operate, upgrade, and maintain the equipment that makes this company run, has been slashed drastically three times in the past two months. The pay raises we promised Jen and Rasheed and the raise you promised me have failed to materialize and you're looking at losing two for sure, maybe three good people very soon."

"Please tell me you're the maybe," said Anthony, but Josh slowly turned his head from side to side.

"You and I and Brandon Mitchell all agreed that greater responsibility requires greater compensation. Instead, my payroll was slashed by 80 hours a week. If you're that desperate for money that you have to slash people but you hand out luxury vacations to salesmen for merely doing their job, we're not going to be open much longer."

"Explain," said Anthony.

"Ant, you came this close to losing everything yesterday. If you hadn't made a Liebert appear that would have been it, your entire data center would have melted down, I mean literally melted. Your people love you, but we're technicians, we're the pawns of the data industry. We know what it's like to be used and tossed away like an old condom. Your people are already lining up interviews because they don't trust you."

"And you?"

"Anthony, I love you and Marj, and all of your kids, and you'll always be welcome in your cabin on my place. That being said, down here in the trenches we live by the hard and fast rule, money talks, bullshit walks. All we have gotten from the VP you forced me to endure is bullshit. Slashing our budget and payroll and expecting us to do more with less speaks much louder than words."

Anthony clenched his jaw. He now realized how badly he screwed up. It was clearly a mistake putting the hardware shops under Brandon. He was trying to give the man some responsibility, trying to give him the opportunity to advance himself.

"Hang on," said Josh. He got up, poked his head out of Anthony's office door, and called out to a fellow who was entering the building. "Benny, come here a second." Josh led Benny Cavetti into the office. "How was the vacation to San Diego?"

"San Diego? I was in Acapulco baby! Sand! Sun! All the tequila you can drink!" Benny was the quintessential salesman, everything was superlatives.

"Cool!" said Josh. "Did you stay at the Tropicano?" The Tropicano was a $50 a night dive.

"Hell no! Four nights and five days at the Park Royal Beach!"

Anthony groaned. The Park Royal Beach was one of the finest resorts in Acapulco.

"Damn, you must have sold your ass off!"

Benny shrugged and said, "I landed the Morrison contract." Morrison Legal Services was a small one office group of professional ambulance chasers. Calling that a minor contract was inflating its value.

"Thank you, Benny," said Anthony a bit forcefully. After Benny left, Anthony sighed. "We clearly need a production manager. Would you be interested in the job?"

"Not meaning to be a wiseass or nothing, but you still haven't paid me for the last promotion you gave me."

"I will make amends by the end of the day, at least give me until four PM."

"If I have to work for Brandon Mitchell I'll just take my chances filling potholes in Zoar Valley, sir."

"No, you'll work directly for me, and you'll report directly to me, but..." Anthony gave Josh a big grin. "Brandon will think that you work for him."

"What good will that serve?"

"Veronica told me about a young headstrong lieutenant that you turned into a decent officer, I want you to try it with Brandon."

"Can I lay hands on him?" asked Josh. "Give me thirty seconds and believe me, he'll see the light."

"What did your commander say when you asked him that?" asked Anthony.

"He said don't get blood on anything."

"That's a good rule. Give me your honest budget request for Q4, and make sure you add your desired salary and bonus."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

On Thursday, Marjorie Friedman's orphans and her entire family settled into their cabins. Marj and her tribe of seven kids, and the eight orphans and their two young nannies, came in two large vans and spilled out into the forest, jumping out in front of cabin seven and cabin eight. Veronica was there to get them settled in and soon everyone was aching to go exploring. The Friedman kids had camped there before, and they guided the orphans around the property. The orphans were older children, from ages eight to twelve, the age where adoption rarely happens and they end up being passed from foster home to foster home.

Josh and Anthony still put in their usual hours at Andalon Data Systems and continued to hammer out the details of Josh's new position and Brandon's tutelage. "Why don't you just shit-can him and get someone who isn't so slimy?" asked Josh. He was tiring of being ignored by Brandon.

"Firing a VP this close to an IPO is suicide," said Anthony.

"Is that any worse than packing the sales floor with your poker buddies and handing out bonuses for favoritism, not results?"

"You don't like salesmen, do you," remarked Anthony, who was a salesman at heart.

"Don't feel alone. I'm not crazy about programmers either, but they keep me employed."

Thursday night Josh went home to change. He spent some quality time with Tigger, who sat in his lap and purred loudly and yowled his displeasure at being left alone, then remembered he was a cat and hopped onto the floor and disappeared into the basement. Josh got the load of clothes that Veronica left in the drier, then headed out to his cabin where he found Morgan, Anthony's youngest son, giving two orphans a tour of his cabin.

"Morgan! What are you doing in my cabin?"

Morgan turned to the orphans, a tall slim black girl and a short pudgy Hispanic girl, and said, "This is just Josh. He sounds grumpy but he's pretty chill."

"JUST Josh? Morgan! You menace!" Josh scooped up the little boy and began tickling him. "What are you doing in my cabin?"

"I'm showing them Toby," said Morgan, between fits of giggles.

"SHHHH! If you wake up Toby, he'll hunt you down and eat your sneakers!" warned Josh.

"He's just a stuffed trash panda," said the black girl as she looked up at the stuffed racoon that was mounted high above on an overhead beam.

"Trash panda?" said Josh, holding a giggling Morgan under his arm like a rolled-up rug. "That's Toby the Pond Lion! The fiercest hunter in the land. He's the reason why there's no bears left."

"That stuffed toy don't hunt no bears."

"Believe what you want but there haven't been any bears round here since Toby was born. If wasn't for Toby and Alfonso this place would be crawling with bears, and snakes."

"'fonso eats snakes!" giggled Morgan as Josh set him down on his feet.

"Who?" demanded the black girl.

"'fonso!" cried Morgan as he pointed at the mounted jackalope head in the corner.

"That's not even real!"

"Alfonso is as real as you are. Are you sure you're even real? You could be a dream in somebody's nightmare," said Josh as he went into the bedroom and put the clean clothes he brought from home in the dresser.

"I'm real!" called the girl. "I have a name!"

"So does Alfonso," said Josh through the bedroom door.

"I'm real because I know I'm real!" insisted the girl.

"Congratulations," said Josh as he stepped out of the bedroom. "That is one of the most important facets of self-realization. Cogito Ergo Sum, or in English, I think therefore I am, the 'first principle' of René Descartes's philosophy. So, what is your name fellow philosopher?"

The black girl looked confused and said, "I'm Lashinda."

"Ah, you're French, then you'd understand Descartes's philosophy better in the original French, je pense, donc je suis." Josh grinned at Lashinda.

"What's that?" she demanded.

"It's French. It's that philosophy of life you came to by yourself, I'm real because I know I'm real."

Lashinda glared at Josh. "Look at me!"

"Yeah, so?"

"I'm black! Black people don't talk French! There's no fancy black philosophers and if there was he wouldn't be a black woman."

"You're eight, you'll learn."

"I'M TEN!"

Josh sighed inwardly. Ten years old and she's already been taught the lie that she can't advance because of her skin color. She needed help, so he took out his phone and sent a quick text, which was answered shortly later. "Come on Lashinda. I want to show you something."

"What?"

"My pet whale."

"What?"

"Come on Morgan, you remember Bubbles, right?"

"Yeah! Bubbles!" shouted Morgan. "Come on Norma!" and the Hispanic girl raced after Morgan across the lawn to the dock. By the time Josh and Lashinda were down at the dock, Morgan and his friend were peering over the edge of the dock. "He's not here!" complained Morgan.

"It's sunny, he hides under the trees on sunny days," said Josh as he led the kids onto the pontoon boat. He untied the boat and, using the electric trolling motor, he moved the pontoon boat under the shade of the trees on the northwest leg of the pond. "This is where the big ones live," he said as he moved the pontoon boat between the dead trees that stuck up through the water.

"He's hard to see 'cause Bubbles is brown," whispered Morgan as he and Norma knelt on the edge of the fishing dock at the bow of the pontoon boat and peered into the dark water. Lashinda just sat on a cushioned seat and scowled.

"Whales don't live in fresh water."

"There!" cried Norma. "He's HUGE!"

"That's not Bubbles," said Morgan as a large bass swum under the boat. "Bubbles is BIGGER!" Bubbles was a huge brown trout that lurked under the fallen logs. Josh had been trying to get Bubbles on his hook since he purchased the land.

As they looked for Bubbles, a large SUV entered the campground and parked next to the cabin. "Your special visitor is here," Josh said to Lashinda, and he headed back to the dock. They tied up and Lashinda saw an elegant, beautiful, and pregnant black woman get out of the SUV. "Bonjour Docteur Jarecki!" called Josh.

"Bonjour Sergent Gravely, is this the young philosopher who believes she exists?" asked Macy.

"Oui mon ami. She figured out Descartes's first principal without any real philosophy training, but she thinks black women can't advance in academia."

"I don't know what you're talkin' about," said Lashinda. "Everyone knows..."

"Come, my cher, let's talk."

"I don't know you," said Lashinda.

"You should talk to her, she has two doctorates and is the executive assistant to the largest car dealer in Western New York," said Josh.

"Why are you working for some car salesman?"

"Because" and Macy whispered her average pay in Lashinda's ear. "That, and he asked for my help." She and Lashinda went for a walk around the pond and they talked. As they walked, Josh led Morgan and Norma back to where the gang was in the cabins.

"Josh is here!" called Billie, Anthony and Marjorie's oldest girl. "Can we go swimming now?"

"No, it's almost supper time," said Anthony. Soon they had charcoal fires cooking on a couple of grills, and they made hamburgers and hotdogs for the hungry campers. The two 'nannies' kept the orphans under control. The oldest was twelve, the youngest was eight-year-old Norma. After dinner, they played kickball by the pond under the setting sun. Josh and Veronica watched with joy and pride. This is what this property was all about, relaxing with friends and sharing with kids that need a smile. The smell of fresh cut grass and the pine scent of the forest made the evening perfect.

They gathered together again under the trees around a campfire, and the children watched in fascination at the crackling flames. This was the first campfire that the orphans had ever seen. Pastor John came over and played songs on his guitar and sometimes Macy played along with her violin to Lashinda's continued amazement.

Lashinda was fascinated by Macy. Macy has done it all! At Lashinda's present age Macy was a professional fisherman, then a fashion model, then a college student, then a professor, then a pastor's wife, an executive assistant to a rich business owner, and now she's going to be a mother for the first time at 40. "Wow! You did all that?" gasped Lashinda. "That's so awesome!"

"There was actually a lot of pain and sorrow. I almost gave my husband a failing grade."

"Wait, what? How?"

"I was his professor, and we had theological differences..."

"There's that word again," grumbled Lashinda.

"What, theological?"

"No, I understand that word, it means religious stuff, what the bible says an' shi... uh, I mean an' stuff. Differences! It's why I don't get adopted, they're afraid of differences. I don't understand how people use differences against each other. Like our skin color, that shouldn't make a difference."

"You're right, it shouldn't but some people let it, I mean look how dark I am compared to you," said Macy, and she held her black as coffee hand next to Lashinda's chocolate colored hand. "Some people make a fuss over that. I was born and raised in Canada; I know how some people let differences rule their lives."

"I don't," said the white guy that was playing guitar. He had gotten up and got a drink out of the ice bucket and leaned over and kissed Macy.

She took the can of diet coke out of his hands and said, "Thank you."

"Won't your husband..." gasped Lashinda.

"He is my husband," said Macy. "Are you surprised?"

"No... yes! You didn't tell me you married a white guy."

"Would it have made a difference if I did?"

"I guess I assumed your husband was black."

"When you assume, you make an ass of u and me," said Macy.

"You're a pastor's wife, are you allowed to say ass?"

Macy laughed her clear, ringing laugh. "I was talking about a donkey. What were you talking about my young friend?" then she patted Lashinda on the knee. "You're quite intelligent, I don't want to see that wasted."

"How do you do it?" asked Lashinda. "How do I get to where you are now?"

"Do you want to know the secret mon ami?" Macy leaned over to share the secret that only the rich and ultra rich know. "Work." Lashinda looked at Macy in confusion. Everyone knows that! Macy repeated the secret. "Work hard. Be prepared for hard times, and when they come, work harder and change if you must."

"That's it?"

"That's all it takes. I ran off to be a fashion model, I ran to the big city and found that my big break was a sick child pornographer, so I ran and found a legitimate photographer and worked very hard. But I found that being a model was not wonderful at all so I changed my dream and went to school. That happens in life."

"I want to own a resort like this," sighed Lashinda.

"Monsieur Josh is like me. He grew up poor as dirt in the deep south, all he wanted to do was be a farmer, so he began saving every penny and dime. He enlisted in the air force and put much of his pay in savings and never touched it, not even when he was horribly injured, not when he got cancer, not when he was put out of the air force. He changed his dream and kept working. In the end he didn't buy a farm, he bought an old scout camp and he's been working every weekend to rebuild the cabins that trespassers tore down."

"Really?"

"Really, he works for Mister Friedman along with Miss Veronica. My husband's father started a car dealership and when he passed he had three. My husband and his brother took over and they now have twelve dealerships because my brother-in-law, my boss, works very very hard. He waited until he was my age before he married and had children. You will meet his daughters tomorrow."

"I can't wait," said a confused Lashinda.

Night falls quickly in the woods and the campers squawked in protest when it was time for bed, but they climbed in their bunk beds with nearly an hour of giggling and teasing in both cabins. They lit a small fire in the fireplaces to give the kids something to watch, but the cabins were warm enough. Outside Anthony, Marj, Macy, John, Josh and Veronica sat around the fire and watched the fire burn down as the sliver of the moon rose over the forest. Josh strummed quiet, soothing music which calmed the excited kids to sleep.

"What do you have planned for tomorrow?" asked Veronica.

"The usual," said Anthony. "Swimming, hiking, rowing, canoeing, even some fishing."

"It's firefly season," said Josh.

"Ahhh Firefly. That show should have gone five seasons," sighed the sci-fi nut, Anthony.

"Not Firefly, fireflies," said Marj, elbowing him.

"Tomorrow will be perfect for a dusk hike," said Josh. "Not far," he said to answer Veronica's questioning look. "The fireflies gather over the outflow stream down that-a way."

Veronica snuggled close and wrapped herself around Josh's arm. Nothing in her life prepared her for a man like Josh. She watched in awe as he came out after a long trying day at work and immediately started playing with the children. He heard Lashinda's grousing and realized that anything he said would be wrong, but he found the right person to talk to her.

She wanted to be next to this man for the rest of her life, to be his partner, to support him as he supports her. And... maybe... dare she dream it? To have his children. The thought caused a few tingles deep inside. She remembered the first time she held a newborn baby and realized that this was something that she could do. She could make one of them, but she never had the desire. She wanted to be the Queen Bee of the business world, and a baby would just slow her down. Through her history and all the different men that she loved or thought she loved, the idea of having their child never occurred.

Now, it's a thought that crops up almost every day. What will their baby look like? Will it have their features? Or will he or she be a carbon copy of her first love, her dad? And what will Josh say when he meets Mike von Köster? A thousand questions danced happily in her head as they watched the fire burn down.

John started playing an old Kingston Trio song, The River Is Wide, and Josh began to sing the sweet old folk song in his baritone voice, but he made changes. He rewrote the third verse.

When love is young, then love is fine.

Just like a gem, when first it's new.

But love matures, like the finest wine.

And tastes as sweet as the morning dew.

"Thank you," said Josh. "I aways hated playing this song because of that verse, the fading love broke my heart to sing."

"I rewrote Barnicle Bill also, wanna try that one too?" asked Josh.

"No!" said John and Macy in unison, causing laughter around the campfire.

The cabins were built of thick logs, but they could hear giggling and the nannies, Angie and Sharon shushing the youngsters. Eventually, Angie and Sharon came outside to join the adults around the fire and enjoy a can of pop without being interrupted between each sip. They joined the other adults and raised a cold cola in recognition of a successful day. "Thank you so much for having us," said Angie. "Your place is incredible."

"We would drive past this place to visit my grandma in Zoar Valley," said Sharon. "I always wondered what it was like back in the day when it was open as a scout camp. I'm so glad you're taking care of this place."

"We're just getting started," said Josh. "We're planning to put RV and tent sites in here so folks can go camping here."

"You're going to open a campground?" asked Sharon.

"A private campground," said Veronica. "Camping by invitation. Like if a local camping club wants to rent spots. The Cheektowaga Chieftains have already approached us for an August campout."

"They'll probably have to do it without power," said Josh. "That's going to be expensive."

"They'll have power in the cabins for group functions," said Veronica. "And the money we make from the campout we'll put in a power fund."

"You're my MBA angel," said Josh, giving Veronica a kiss. "What did I do to deserve you?"

"The list is long and demanding, and you hit all the right requirements," she said in a passion laden voice.

"There's kids in the cabin next to you," said Anthony.

"With that I think we should be going," said John as he helped Macy to her feet. "Before we need to perform a ceremony."

"Oui, but we shall be back tomorrow. My sister is bringing the twins," said Macy.

"I think it's time for the old folks to go to bed also," said Anthony as he and Marj got up and folded their chairs.

"I think we're going to disappear into the woods tonight," said Veronica. "Don't come looking for us without a flashlight," she said with a very broad wink as they folded up their chairs and headed out into the woods.

Not long later, Josh and Veronica followed the stream that flowed into the big L shaped pond that Josh named Lake Nicca. They followed a narrow path upstream until they came to a low water falls then climbed up to the top of the falls where they found a small freshwater pool lined with shale and slate. For light, they used an old-fashioned hurricane lantern filled with citronella oil to ward off the mosquitos.

"We should name this creek," said Veronica as she eased her tired body into the cool water of what Josh called 'the upper pool.' The water was clear having bounced and babbled over rocks down the hill to this pool that eventually flowed into Josh's huge pond.

"What should we name it?" Josh asked as he hung the lantern from a tree limb, casting a golden glow on the pool and the surrounding area. The light of the lantern danced on the surface of the water and Josh watched his beautiful mermaid recline in the crystal clear water. Josh had dreamed of this moment since he first saw this pool, to bring a woman up here and make love to her on a clear forest night in a pool where the water was warmed by splashing in the warm air as it traveled downstream.

"Ephie creek," said Veronica as she leaned back in the pool that was not much larger than a hot tub.

"I don't know," said Josh.

"No, Ephie Creek is perfect. Ephie Creek goes into Lake Nicca. Ephie goes into Nicca very nicely." She curled her fingers and thumb of her right hand into a circle, then eased her left index finger into that circle.

Josh looked at her with a stern look, then started laughing. "I'm in love with a nut."

Veronica continued, "Ephie fills up Nicca to overflowing. It runs down her leg..." Only a passionate kiss from Josh as he joined her in the pool stopped her and their hands roamed over each other, touching, exploring. They fondled each other, teasing and touching. "Tell me you will love me forever," said Veronica in a whisper between kisses.

"Forever and anything that comes after that," he said as he kissed his way down her lithe body. The golden light from the kerosene lamp illuminated Veronica perfectly, and her damp body glistened in the light of the lantern's flame surrounded by the peaceful forest darkness. Veronica was sitting on the edge of the pool and Josh was kneeling in the middle, holding her perfect foot and massaging it. Then he hoisted her other foot out of the water and began massaging her beautiful foot. She leaned back on her elbows and groaned. After a day of chasing orphans around in the woods, it felt so good to have her man massaging her feet.

"Whenever I think of you, I think of you as my man. Is that silly? It's a very powerful emotion in me."

Josh smiled and ran his tongue over her perfect little toes. "I will honor that title as long as I live, and it makes me happy that you think of me that way."

"So, it doesn't bother you? I'm not overbearing or smothering?" asked Veronica.

"Have you ever slept under a heavy quilt on a cold winter night? Ah have. The furnace in the trailer ah grew up in was broke so we had heavy quilts for frosty nights. The heavy quilt is stuffed with sheets and it weighs heavy and it feels so wonderful. You're warm and secure and cuddled under the quilt and nothing can bother you."

That didn't really reassure her, but she continued as he massaged her calves. "You're so good with those kids," said Veronica. "They really like you and you're really sweet with them. If... no, when we get married would you want children?" Josh's smile faded, and he looked nervous in the light of the kerosene lamp. The loving moment had passed, and it was clear she struck an exposed nerve. "What's wrong? Tell me Ephie."

Josh finally said, "When I was being treated for my cancer, I didn't want to live with that hangin' over my head like the sword of Damocles, so we went a bit overboard on the chemo and the radiation. The doc said that can do things to a man."

"What do you mean?" she asked Josh.

Josh shrugged and said softly, "There weren't nobody in my life waiting at home for me and with my track record I didn't expect that position to be filled, so I took every dose of radiation they offered. Hell, I loaded Nuclear Weapons for a living, I was probably halfway there as it was." He looked down at the pond and said, "I never went back for a sperm count. Ah guess I'm a bit afeared some." Then he cheered up and continued, "Just in case, this weekend with those kids is an audition." He went back to massaging her feet and legs. "Maybe we can take one home."

"Oh!" Veronica tried not to cry. "Do you think of me as your woman?"

"I think of you as my only. My one true love like in the fairy tales. Ah'd hike through the wilderness and fight off dwarves just to kiss you." That started Veronica giggling, and he continued. "There's nobody else in my life but a sister what hates me something powerful. There's nobody else an' I never felt this way 'bout no one before. It's like I've waited my whole life for you. I have friends I say I love, but that love ain't nothing compared to what I feel for you. When you finally make it to the pearly gates for your final reward, I'll be waiting there for you."

Oh God, he's talking about death again. Veronica couldn't believe how much that terrified her. But she soldiered on. "You think I'm going to heaven?"

"Ah hope so, I'm counting on you to vouch me in there." He began kissing his way up her leg, getting nearer and nearer to her sweet vagina, but something overcame Veronica. She grabbed him and pulled him up to her.

"Stop, please. Just hold me."

Time stopped for Josh. The sound of the splashing stream and the distant crickets filled his ears. "Is everything ok?"

"No... I mean yes," sputtered Veronica. "It's just... I've never been in love like this either. I want to just hold you. Please just hold me tonight."

Josh curled up with his one and only and they held each other for a long time in that perfect forest night before they walked naked back to their cabin.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Veronica woke with Josh, gently touching her here and there. She didn't realize how good a gentle touch could get, but Josh was a master and knew right where to brush his fingertips. Normally she would push a morning lover away demanding to brush teeth, comb hair, and touch up the 'war paint.' It was all a ruse to get herself psyched up to let that man touch her intimately so soon after waking up. She never felt that need with Josh. "I suppose that's how I realized he is the one," she said to herself.

She rolled onto her back and saw his smiling face in the morning gloom. "Good morning my love," he said happily.

Veronica pulled him close and they kissed long and passionately. Their tongues danced together, and they held each other tight, never able to get close enough. She felt his hard, aching cock poking against her hip as they kissed and she realized that even with cotton mouth and bed head, she was still desired by this man.

She rolled to her back, silently giving him permission to do as he wished, and he soon had her writhing and moaning. The thrill was so delicious! His fingers, mouth and tongue, danced on her breasts, suckling, nipping, pinching, twisting... it was so wonderful. He suckled her breast, and she held his head in place and arched her back, trying to get her entire breast in his mouth. As she did that, she felt his fingers exploring her pussy. He delicately sought entrance to her moist pore, and she was no longer in the mood for delicate. She grabbed his wrist and drove his fingers into her pussy.

It was a shock to them both, but the shock wore off soon as she used his hand like she would use Bob, her Battery Operated Boyfriend, pounding her pussy to a juicy, hungry froth. It was so dirty, so weird, so hot as she fucked herself with her lover's hand. She would never do this with another man, but Josh let her be the woman she wanted to be, to experiment, to try the different. What will he say when he finds out about her kinky side?

Right now, she wanted Josh inside her cunt... that's what she called her vagina when she got this hungry for Josh. It's a word she'd never use in any other instance, but when he got her this hot, no other word would suffice. "Fuck me," she gasped as he slid three fingers into her. "Fuck my cunt... please."

Josh couldn't deny this woman when the C word popped up. He learned quickly, even before the snow melted, what the C word meant. When her vagina became a cunt, he was needed. Lubricating his cock with his hand that was damp with her juices, he climbed between her legs and thrust his cock into her cunt. He didn't give her any warning or any time to get used to the invasion. The C word was in use. It was time to fuck.

A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do...

Veronica found herself curled up in a ball, her legs wrapped over his shoulders, which caused her hips to arch up and left her open, helpless, and vulnerable to anything he wanted to do... and it's just what she wanted him to do. He plunged into her as hard and fast as he could, his straining cock spearing and pounding, stretching her open and she started cumming on the first cervix tapping thrust.

The sound of their flesh slapping together, her joyous cries of rut rang through the cabin as Josh fucked with blind eagerness. Her fingers clawed at his back while waves of carnal delight crashed through her, driving her over the edge, and she exploded. Her toes curled and pointed to the ceiling as mind shattering waves of release shattered her mind. Her body tightened up and shook, and her shrieks of delight drown out Josh's roar of "I'm cumming!"

Her cunt clenched his cock as they came, squeezing his semen out of him while he spurted into her over and over. Then, as suddenly as it started, it was over and Veronica fell limp and Josh's spent cock slowly slithered out of her body. Her pussy was sated and no longer a cunt. He laid down next to her panting, waiting for his heartbeat and breathing to return to normal. When Veronica didn't open her eyes in response to his kisses, Josh propped her dainty feet up on some pillows, which got the blood flowing back to her brain.

"You did it again," she said as her eyes flickered open.

"Did what?" he asked innocently.

"You knocked me out with that cock of yours."

"I'm sorry," said Josh. "I'll refrain from..."

"I'm not complaining," said Veronica. "I'm just giving you another oak leaf on your ribbon."

He chuckled and kissed her. "I never should have told you what those leaves mean. Besides, I'm jealous."

"Of what?

"The fact that you can have an orgasm so powerful that it knocks you out."

"Oh," said Veronica as she softly kissed the man she adored. "I thought you were jealous of my multiple orgasms... Ephie?... Ephie? Don't cry..."

<><><><><>

After making sure that Marj had everything she needed for the half day that he would be gone, Anthony Friedman gave Marj a kiss at the cabin door and hiked off on the path that led out of the woods and around the south tip of "Lake Nicca" and around to Josh and Veronica's cabin. The duo was waiting on the porch. Veronica was sitting on Josh's lap while they sipped coffee and whispered softly to each other.

"Ready to go?" Anthony asked as he approached the cabin.

"Waitin' on you!" said Josh cheerfully, and they rose. Josh was dressed in his "Friday best," dark slacks, a light blue and white plaid shirt, and a bright red tie. His outfit dared you to define him by what he wore and generally set the viewer off on the wrong path. If you can't figure out Red, White, and Blue, then Josh had no time for you.

"A tie?" chuckled Anthony.

"I'm management now," said Josh. "Wait until you see my manpower report, I'll be back among the troops in a week." They climbed into Josh's Gladiator and headed to work. Instead of heading into Springville on US 39 so they could get on the Expressway, he continued north on Trevett road. Trevett was fairly straight, but there were some sudden and drastic changes in altitude as the narrow country road dipped into sudden valleys and rose over abrupt hills. Anthony swore they were weightless as they crested a hill far faster than he would ever drive on this road. It was still fun, however. "How often do the wheels touch ground?" asked Anthony as they crested a hill and dove into a sharp valley.

"Not a lot, I don't want to wear 'em out."

Trevett plunged into a deep valley, then out across the valley floor where the greatest potatoes on earth were raised. They turned north on the Boston-Springville Pike and then turned right on the Boston-Cross road which climbed out of the deep valley and again they were driving far too fast (as far as Anthony was concerned) past sprawling farms and pastures holding beautiful thoroughbred horses.

As he drove, Josh talked about the coming picnic on Saturday. It started as a party for the orphans of Adoption Advocates, those poor kids that bounce from foster home to foster home. Over time, the party expanded to inviting businessmen, friends of Anthony and some gentle arm twisting to fund those kids was applied. This year was expected to be a big year, both picnic wise and money wise.

Then Anthony looked around. He's been to Josh's pond dozens of times, and he didn't recognize the road they were on. "Not meaning to criticize, but where the hell are we? I'm the navigator, I have a right to know."

"This is a short cut," said Josh. "It's much quicker than the 219."

"It is the way you're driving."

They soon found themselves in the south end of Orchard Park and Josh pulled up to a Deli for bagels. He traditionally bribes his troops with fresh bagels at their weekly wrap-up meeting every Friday. "Best bagels in New York," said Josh as he went in and got his assorted dozen and two small containers of cream cheese. "Bagel, sir?"

"Oh no, I made a big breakfast for the kids this morning. I need to have Marj run into town for more eggs."

"Hang on, let me see if I can call in a favor," said Josh and as they got in the truck, Josh made a call.

"Hey Redneck," said the cheery woman over the truck speakers.

"Yi! My celestial darling! Have you checked for eggs yet?"

"We're heading out in a few minutes," said the woman. "Is that all I am to you now? Eggs?" she was teasing, but Anthony had no way of knowing.

"Look honey, I have a flock of orphans back in my cabins, can you send some eggs over for tomorrows breakfast?"

"Orphans? Is that all you could think up?" asked Yi.

"Sorry, I'm driving. I'll come up with something better next time, but we need the eggs. I think the twins can tell you what's going on."

"The twins. Right. Ok, I'll get your eggs, but you owe me," snarled Yi.

"Oh, we forgot about when I caught you sitting on Archie's lap when Lacy wasn't around."

"You play dirty, Redneck. Love ya."

"Love ya too, Yi."

"Who was that?" asked Ant as they passed the enormous lot of Jarecki Motors. Cars gleamed in the morning sun, and near the main building was the cream of the crop. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Jaguar, Mercedes, sports cars and luxury sedans and the new craze: luxury SUVs.

"My neighbor, she works for that guy," he said as he pointed at the huge motor lot. It was the 'home base' of Jarecki Motors, a chain of dealerships that was spreading across New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.

"She works for Paul Jarecki?" asked Ant.

"Yeah, Yi is his governess and live-in chef. They live two blocks from us. That was Paul's brother and sister-in-law that were playing for us last night. Paul will be helping out at the picnic."

"The pastor is that Jarecki?" asked Anthony.

"Yep, actually they're both pastors. John is officially co-owner of the motor company but Paul runs it with Marie-Claude. She prefers to be called Macy. John took a vow of poverty and he and Macy live off of what he makes as pastor and carpenter, and they put his money aside and only use it for emergencies and lumber on their house," said Josh as they wheeled into the Andalon Data Center's parking lot.

"Do you go to his church?" asked Ant.

"To paraphrase George Patton, every Goddamn Sunday," said Josh with a grin.

"So who is Archie and Lacy?" asked Anthony.

"Archie is her boyfriend's paternal grandfather and Lacy is his maternal grandmother. Archie and Lacy have been close for decades. Go to Johnson's Feed Store in Springville. They'll be there greeting customers."

"Do me a favor before we go in," said Anthony. "Check your bank account." Josh gave Ant a confused look, but as they parked, he opened his bank app on his phone and was impressed at the balance it showed. "We got the pay grades straightened out. That's your back pay. We'll talk your signing bonus for production manager next week. We still have a few things to straighten out in the executive suite."

"You don't have to..."

"Josh, you are doing things I never dreamed possible, and you're doing it with scraps and a bare minimum of people. Now I'm going to give you actual power. Starting Monday I want you in my nine AM staff meeting, I want your input and your thoughts on what the other divisions could be doing to make life easier on the Hardware division. I'm sure that you already have ideas."

"Thank you sir, and yes I do." They headed into the building and Josh started his Friday with the weekly wrap-up; a staff meeting held first thing every Friday morning. They go over everything that happened during the week, and lay out the plans for next week. Josh set the bagels and cream cheese out on the worktable in the workroom and his entire team gathered around for their Friday bitch session. They went around the room and spoke about want they accomplished during the week, what they learned, and what they had scheduled for next week. Josh asked them to refrain from speaking about the Air Conditioner Episode as he planned to address that.

As they spoke, Josh took a few notes, but not many because he also required his folks to send him their weekly accomplishments in an email. He would make sure they were annotated in the work tickets they submitted. Finally, Josh got his say. "Ok, starting Monday, we will not be working under Brandon Mitchell, we will be working under Mister Dombrowski. Also, Mister Friedman has chosen a production manager with some supervisory skills to let Mark concentrate on network upgrades, integration, and expansion..." Josh had to stop there because the applause was so raucous.

Finally, Terri McCarthy said, "Who's the lucky sucker that gets stuck with us?"

"Me."

"No, really. Who?" asked Terri.

"Me. Really." When the dozens of questions thrown at him were settled, Josh said, "I will take the production manager position from Mister Mitchell. Mark Post was actually the production manager, but he is so buried under architecture design he is still wondering how the paternity test said his kid is really his. I will take over as Production Manager and do exactly what I've been doing since Eli left. The only difference is that I get paid for it, and I get two people to beat on to make sure they beat on you. The manager for Server Room Operations will be Rasheed Davis and manager for Field Operations will be Jennifer Combs."

There was a lot of hand shaking and back patting for Jen and Rasheed, and the troops were glad to see one of their own promoted. "This was a difficult decision to make," said Josh. "With only one unnamed person," then he coughed a cough that sounded like he said, "Terri," he said, "you are all qualified for the position but I believe that Jen and Rasheed have the skill to pull it off. Their primary job is going to be to get you people rolling then do the follow-up inspections to see that everything is built, installed, configured, and operating properly. Keep in mind, you follow their directions, but you work for me. Your annual review is based on what they tell me and how quickly you can put out Terri's fires."

"Hey! It was just that one time!" shouted Terri. She installed a power supply in a computer that had a short circuit internally and the moment she hit the power switch, it shorted out and bellowed smoke. Then the circuit breaker on the work desk tripped, shutting down work on several projects. It wasn't her fault in the least, but she still gets grief for it.

"A few more things, then we can get started. I now work directly for Stan Dombrowski the VP of financial. He doesn't know much about what we do but he's interested and we will not get boned like we did with the Air Conditioner Episode. I told him I wanted more people, thinking he'd let us gain two, he said, 'hire four' so I'll be busy with interviews for the foreseeable future."

A wave of relief passed through the group. They had been overworked, averaging ten hours of overtime per week, and all were looking for different jobs so they could spend more time with their families. After the cheering died down, Josh continued. "Tomorrow we're having a big party on my campground and you're all invited, bring the family or a guest. This is for Marj Friedman's Adoption Advocates and she has eight orphans there, so no keg stands. There's a couple of cabins ready to sleep in if you want to bring a sleeping bag, and we'll be having Chiavetta's chicken for dinner Saturday."

This time, the cheering was even louder. Chiavetta's chicken is a Western New York favorite. Forget the Buffalo style chicken wings (they're NOT Buffalo Wings), the real food of Western New York was the Beef on Weck sandwich and Chiavetta's chicken. Vinegar marinades for chicken are not unusual in Western New York, but Chiavetta's marinade is as near perfection as heavenly possible. Picnics, fairs, parties, with huge grills sometimes over 100 feet long set up by Chiavetta's caterers to feed the hungry throngs is not an unusual sight in Erie County NY. And the smell of that roasting chicken will make any vegan swear off their carrots for one afternoon in chicken heaven. Many people will go to the county fair just for the chicken dinner.

"I'm in! Can I get in line twice?" asked Terri.

Josh finished up with, "since there's nothing pressing in the field and someone is covering on-call, I'll turn this over to Jen and Rasheed for shop clean-up. When they are satisfied, you can go."

Josh was in his office, puzzling over a sick server that was sitting on the worktable in his office, when Jen and Rasheed poked their noses in. The first thing that Jen noticed was that the portrait of Yesenia was covered with a black cloth.

"Is she dead?" asked Jen, who was used to seeing Yesenia's picture covered with nerf darts.

"No, Veronica put it there to be silly.

Jen peeked under the black cloth and saw that the frame was empty. "She's gone?"

"I didn't need that hanging over my head. She's got a baby boy and she's learning to be a good mother." Josh was actually feeling better with that photo gone. His last memory of Yesenia was her once flawless skin covered with gang style tattoos. The Yesenia he loved was gone and even with the anger burning in his stomach, he wanted her back for a longer time than he cared to admit. Only Veronica's love cleansed him of that curse.

Then Jen noticed a few other pictures hanging in his office. One showed a big four propeller airplane tilted to its left at a steep angle, a tongue of fire blasting out of its side. Another picture showed Josh in uniform with a flak vest and helmet with a pretty little black woman and a tall, rugged looking guy all in uniform and combat gear. They were each holding a gasmask in their hand as they stood in front of a single-engine fighter aircraft. "You look so happy in this picture," said Jen.

"A lieutenant that drove me apeshit was just hauled off for a combat gear violation. As soon as the all clear sounded we posed for pictures to celebrate the occasion."

Jen went from picture to picture, studying the content. "I never saw these before," she said as she read the inscription on the different plaques that adorned the wall. Some featured a wolf, some featured the grim reaper, another featured a skull with wings. She looked at the central picture carefully. It showed Josh in his blues wearing a ribbon around his neck shaking hands with... "Is that you with the president?"

"Yeah, he was pretty cool."

"When did you put these up?"

"I didn't. Miss von Köster did it."

Jen studied a picture of an AC-130 sitting on the ground, leaning to the left. The big cannon sticking out the side was stuck in the dirt and clearly had been dragged. Behind that was an enormous gaping hole in the plane's side, with blood staining the side of the plane. Josh was sitting on the ramp, still wearing a blood-soaked flight suit and a flight helmet. A cigarette was hanging from his lip and he looked like he was staring into the depths of hell. Jen knew that Josh only smoked cigarettes when he was highly agitated, but he looked beyond agitated. "What happened to this airplane?" asked Jen.

"It got broken," said Josh and he went silent, so Jen went back to looking at the pictures.

Another picture showed Josh with three other airmen in flight suits posing in front of a healthy AC-130. The guns protruding from the side looked like they were ready for war, and the four young men looked happy and eager to fly. There was a plaque listing Josh, Craig Zigler, Wayne Engler, and Wyatt Grady as the "Gun Crew of the Year." Hanging next to that was a framed newspaper article. It was an obituary for Staff Sergeant Craig Zigler. And next to that was an obituary for Airman First Class Wyatt Grady. Jen knew the careful wording used in an obituary for someone who committed suicide. "Where is Wayne Engler?" asked Jen.

"Don't know. When we got back stateside, Wyatt and I ended up in the hospital. When I got back to home base he had already been discharged."

It was obvious to Jen that it was painful for him to talk about this, and she needed to change the subject. "So, what's with the black chick? Was she a special someone in your life?"

Josh softened and smiled. "Yes she was very special. She helped me keep my sanity in Korea. Last I heard from her was that she and the big guy got married."

"You let that big dude steal your girl?"

"No, Roxanne and I put each other firmly in the friend zone. We were each other's shoulder to cry on when our lives fell apart."

Jen moved on to another picture. "You had TWO Korean girlfriends? Hot damn Redneck!" The picture showed Josh being hugged by two Asian women. One was extremely cute, and the other was also cute, but she was tiny.

"I only had ONE Korean girlfriend. The other one was Vietnamese."

"Well? What happened?" demanded Jen.

"Hani, the taller one moved to Inchon. I don't know why, she never said."

"It's because you had wedding bells in your eyes and she was scared."

"Where did that idea come from?" demanded Josh, but looking back, that was probably right.

"I can see it in your eyes in this picture. What about the other one?"

"Squeaky? She was a friends wife. She's American, Minnesota born and raised." Josh thought again about Lanh Campbell. She was so sweet. The last he heard was that they were back in Minnesota, but he didn't know how to get a hold of them.

Josh started putting his tools in the toolbox as Rasheed joined them. "Ok, your homework assignment is this: I want all tools accounted for when we close for the day. Next Friday, give me your preliminary ideas. Shop tools should be easy, but I also want dispatch kits for field work, and I want them to be identical. No more of this crap with technicians supplying their own tools. Any questions?" he asked as he locked up his desk.

"Can we buy new tools for this idea?" asked Rasheed.

"Yes, but expensive items like testers, volt amp meters, and line tracers will be separate from the tool kits."

"No problem!" said Jen with a huge smile.

"Outstanding! I have a meeting with Anthony, you two can be satisfied with their cleanup any time after eleven."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

"This is the life," sighed Marjorie Friedman as she and Veronica relaxed in the sun on lounge chairs. They were on the lawn between the main cabin and the swimming beach. The swimming area was marked out by bright yellow nylon rope held in position by "South Georgia Buoys" (an empty bleach bottle anchored in place by a rope tied to an old disk brake rotor) the yellow rope had floats made from sliced 'pool noodles' and it ran through the handles of the buoys and was anchored at one end to the fishing dock and at the other end by a tent stake. Josh called it "cracker engineering." The big rope enclosure gave the non-swimmers plenty of space to play in the water.

The sun was warm and the kids, all fifteen of them, were splashing happily in the pond. There were chicken fights with the older kids hoisting Marj's youngest kids, Morgan, David, June, and Greg, on their shoulders. The oldest, Billie and Linda, were diving into the pond off the bow platform of the pontoon boat because they were awarded the privilege by Josh. They proved their ability to handle the deep water by swimming across the pond last summer.

The radio played Buffalo's oldies channel WECK, playing sweet old songs by groups like Gary Lewis and the Playboys, The Spinners, Spanky and Our Gang, Stevie Wonder, the Supremes... The squeals of the kids rang through the air as the splashing continued. "Do they ever tire out?" asked Veronica.

"Never," said Marj, Angi, and Sharon in unison.

"Wait, I just counted again... we're up to seventeen."

"Seventeen?" asked Angie, and she sat up and counted. "Where did the little blonds come from?" There were two tiny blond girls with beach pails and shovels playing at the very shore in the sand with Morgan and David.

"They're mine," came another voice and there, laying in line with them, was a slim Asian woman laying on a beach towel, soaking up the sunshine as well. "I brought eggs," said Yi as she made tiny dance moves in rhythm with Chuck Berry's Johnny B Goode. "They're in a basket on the table." She looked over at Veronica, then sat up and said, "You're practically glowing! Did you get some last night? Hmm? Did he get the fuzzy handcuffs out?"

"Geez Yi!" laughed Marjorie. "Nosey much?"

"No, look at her! She's practically walking bowlegged."

Veronica just chuckled. "No, actually last night we just cuddled." Now she had the attention of everyone. "We went to the upper pond and cooled off there by the light of a single flame." She sighed and hugged herself. "I have never had such a romantic evening."

"What? You've had rich men fly you to Paris! Rome! Vienna!" said Yi. "You find romance in a creek?"

"Yi darling, they didn't want me, most didn't even want my body, they wanted to be seen with me. I was arm candy, a photo opportunity, a prop." She continued in a hushed voice. "Most of the time we'd get back to our room they'd be so drunk they passed out. The ones that didn't pass out were too drunk or stoned to get it up."

"You didn't get any?" demanded Yi.

"Sometimes, but they didn't last long. The hard part was pretending the next day in front of those photographers that we got it on. I usually spent the night working on my term paper for one class or another."

"So, you were an unsuccessful hooker?"

"On the contrary, I was highly successful. They didn't give me money, but I got to meet the rich and powerful all over the world, I was photographed with kings and king makers, I met several presidents, and I ended up getting a lot of contracts both modeling and business opportunities from those dalliances. The opportunities were worth more than money."

"And you gave that all up for Marj and Anthony?" asked Yi.

"Not really, I was still doing occasional modeling jobs. Nope. I gave it up for something more important."

"You gave it up for Josh?"

Veronica smiled and took a deep breath. "I gave it up when Josh brought me home."

"Home?"

"This is Ronnie von Köster. Fishing, camping, hiking, getting dirty, swimming in a pond. This is what I grew up with and it feels so good. The first spring morning when I woke up in the cabin and I smelled smoke, bacon, and coffee, I knew I was home. I ran out into the main room of the cabin expecting to see daddy, instead I saw Josh, and I wasn't disappointed in the least. He even said the same thing daddy would say."

"Good morning angel?" guessed Marj.

"No, it was 'get some clothes on before you freeze.' He even sounded like daddy."

The women broke up into laughter at that. "So, you love Josh because he reminds you of your father?"

"Yeah," said Veronica. "It's fair to say that. Daddy was hard-working but he had bad luck with momma. He raised me and Magda by himself. He didn't know what to do with little girls so he taught us to camp and fish. I was the only kid in fourth grade who could bait my own hook. Magda and I were the only girls in the school who could pick up a worm." Veronica sighed and said, "When I see Josh playing with those kids, teaching them to swim and to sing... I want to have his child. I never considered that with any other man," she said.

Just as she said that, they heard a vehicle pull up in the driveway. "Prince Charming is here!" said Yi in a sing-song kind of voice, without looking to make sure it was Josh.

Just as she said that Kenny Johnson from the feed store in Springville stepped around the line of trees. "Yes he is!" said Veronica in a sing-song voice, causing Yi to blush furiously. Yi thought it was Josh that had pulled in and now the man that was confusing Yi to tears stepped into their view.

"Ma'am, I have several coolers of chicken and salads for tomorrow's barbeque, where should I put them?"

Veronica turned over on her lounge and said, "Pull your truck around and park in front of the porch. Yi, can you go with Mister Johnson and show him where things go?"

The innuendo was not lost on Yi, who had a crush on Kenny, but he seemed terrified of her. "Ok, ok," groaned Yi, who acted like this was an impossible task. She got up and Kenny was shocked at seeing Yi in such a tiny bikini. Down in her native Florida, it's what she wore most of the time. She was slim with modest breasts, so she only needed a little cloth to cover the goods.

To Kenny, seeing the woman he desired most of all in a string bikini was a dream come true and he stood, drinking in the sight of her slender body. Kenny always wanted an Asian mate. His great-grandfather came home from World War II with a Chinese war bride and that slight bit of Asian blood in his system called out for companionship of a like kind. He did three tours in Korea with the Army, hoping and praying for an Asian wife, but came home empty-handed. But just a few months ago, the woman of his dreams walked into his father's feed store.

Yi and Kenny stood there staring at each other. The young Asian girl didn't know what to make of this man. She's met surfers and rock stars. She's been the executive chef for any number of good looking multi-millionaires, none of them were attractive to her. But when she met this penniless veteran, her mouth went dry and her pussy began to tingle.

"You kids need help getting started?" asked Marj. "There's a bottle of Boon's Farm on the table, that should help."

"Marj! You're awful!" laughed Veronica as she gave her boss a nudge.

"KENNYYYYYYY!" shrieked the twins when they saw him appear around the trees. They dashed up from the edge of the pond, babbling and yammering hundreds of questions all at once. As Kenny scooped both twins up in his powerful arms, Yi gave him directions on bringing the truck around the line of trees and up to the cabin's front porch. Marj and Veronica watched as Kenny disappeared around behind the trees, then soon re-emerged in his truck with the twins in the bed of his beautiful 1959 GMC pickup. They peered over the edge of the bed and waved to the other kids, who turned to watch what was going on.

Kenny carried the coolers into the cabin with help from Yi. "This is Mister Gravely's cabin?" He looked around in awe at the ultra-masculine hunting cabin.

"Haven't you ever been in here?" asked Yi. "You look surprised."

"Not surprised... well maybe a little. Miss Veronica has such a pretty house, I thought she would decorate this place a bit."

"Why are you so interested in that Jackalope?" asked Yi.

"I'm not," said Kenny as he studied the Jackalope head mounted in the corner.

"You're avoiding me then."

"Yes and no."

"Huh?"

"Yes I am avoiding you but no I don't want to avoid you." He groaned inwardly. He was dying to tell her how he felt about her and has been aching to do that since they first met in February, but every time he does, she stomps off in anger. Like now.

Yi banged open the screen door and saw the twins peering over the edge of the pickup's bed. She was about to tell them to get out of the truck when Veronica stepped in front of her. Ronnie put her hands on Yi's shoulders and said, "Give the guy a chance."

"He's so..."

"He's terrified of you. I know how it is. It took Josh over a year and a life threatening snowstorm to suck it up, swallow his fear, and tell me how he felt."

"Josh? He's not afraid of anything."

"Not with me at his side, but guys have histories too, and most guys worth having live by the rule 'once burned twice shy.'" Veronica whirled Yi around and opened the screen door. "Get back in there and make him proud that you chose him." She didn't push Yi back in there, but she would have if the pretty Asian took too long crossing the threshold.

"Aunty Ronnie! Where's Miss Yi?" the twins asked.

"She's talking to Mister Kenny," said Veronica as she lowered the tailgate so the twins could hop out.

"Will she take long?" the twins asked in unison.

"Only if she's lucky. Hop on out and head back to the pond.

"No. Mister Kenny owes us a ride." Again, they spoke in unison.

"They may be a long time..." Just as she said that, Yi and Kenny came out of the cabin holding hands and smiling like they got away with something. "You guys need to work on your communication skills," said Veronica. She closed up the tailgate, and the twins took up position peering over the top of the tailgate as Kenny took the path back into the woods. He had seen this land in the winter on snowmobile and was amazed at how beautiful it became in the summer.

As they drove around the circle a few times to make the twins happy, Josh and Anthony arrived. Anthony had several bags of groceries and he led the nanny Angie back to their cabin to make lunch for the kids while Sharon and Marj, with help from Yi and Kenny, got the rest of the kids out of the water and dried off. They changed in shifts, girls in cabin eight, boys in cabin seven, then everyone gathered in cabin seven for lunch.

It wasn't hard to fill them up, PB&J or bologna and cheese with chips and a drink. The three picnic tables fit all seventeen kids, and it was a loud, cheerful meal in the cabin. The twins were in their element telling stories of their boat trip to the Obamas (Bahamas), their chickens and Wonka, the Wonder dog that can catch any frisbee no matter how poorly it was thrown.

Meanwhile, back at the main cabin, Josh and Veronica made a lunch of leftovers from previous meals, when all that Josh wanted was Veronica. She eventually pulled on a sarong, which inflamed him even more. Even though he was wildly passionate about her perfect legs, seeing her in a sarong and a bikini top set him on fire. As soon as they chased the last twin out of their cabin (the twins were still giving tours) he took Veronica in his arms and they kissed with all the love and desire they had in their hearts for each other.

"Sit, eat," she finally commanded.

"Yes dear," and he lifted her up and sat her on the table. He pulled up a chair and lifted her sarong.

"No stop," she said. "I want to talk, is that ok?" She hopped off the table and turned to the counter and pretended to prepare something, then she gave up pretending and leaned on the counter for support as she fought off tears.

"What? What is it?" asked Josh as he came up behind her and wrapped his strong arms around her. "You can tell me anything."

"What if I told you that an old boyfriend asked me out, and out of habit I said yes."

Josh didn't tense up or droop in defeat, but she felt him sag emotionally. "We would talk about it like rational adults. Is that what's bothering you?"

"No..." she paused a long time. "It's worse."

Confused, Josh asked, "what is it? Talk to me. Even if we can't resolve it, at least it will be off your chest."

"I don't deserve you," she groaned.

"I feel the same way about you. I don't know what I did in my life to deserve a woman like you."

"No, that's not it... I don't think I can have kids," she said.

"Shhhh, it's ok." He didn't know what to say, so he held her close, her round firm ass pressing into his groin. This was the worst time to be thinking of stuff like that, but he couldn't help it with this woman.

"It's not fair to you," she finally cried. "You're so good with those children, and when I see you drying their tears or putting on a Band-Aid and cheering them up, or teaching them to swim, I want to have a baby with you... but I can't."

"Why not Nicca?"

"I can't let the way my mother raised me ever effect a child. From the day I was born until she walked out on us she called me ugly and stupid. I was daddy's favorite and she hated me for that and treated Magda like the chosen one. That's why I worked so hard with dance, the pageants, modeling and school. To prove her wrong!"

"Shhh, and you did prove her wrong. Look honey, I know how you feel. Both of my parents were alcoholics, they AND my sister hated me and they treated the dog better."

"So how do you do it?" she groaned. "How are you so good with kids?"

"It's not easy, the echoes of the past are overwhelming, but I'm inspired by terrible teachers. Every time a child learns something from me, whenever they laugh, whenever I dry their tears, I say in my mind 'fuck you ya drunken old hag. Kiss my ass you worthless drunk cracker. Watch me! This is how you treat a kid!' And I said that until loving a child came naturally. When stuck with a problem I think 'what would my parents do?' and I do the opposite. It works every time."

"It's not that easy," said Veronica.

"I never said it was easy," said Josh softly. "I said it worked. I think that if we are ever blessed with a child, we have to work as a team, and if it gets too hard for one of us, the other takes over and we switch off. I think between you and me, we have enough love inside to raise any child, no matter how difficult it is."

"What if we don't have any children?" she sniffed.

"Then we get season tickets to the Bills and spend our love on the new draft picks."

That got Veronica to chuckle. She's been to all the major cities in the United States, but never has she seen a town that was so passionate about their football team as Buffalo. Denver is close, but only when the Broncos were winning. She turned around in Josh's arms and wrapped her arms over his shoulders and pulled him down for a kiss. "You are so goofy."

"Gorsh!"

"It can't be that simple," she said as her smile faded.

"I always told my troops, don't overthink the problem. If it comes to that, I'll become a full time dad and you can bring home the bacon."

"You would do that for our child?" she whimpered.

"I would do that for us. Just as long as you are at my side, I can do anything."

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The next day was the biggest event Josh had ever attempted on the property. Everyone from the Production team had shown up with their families. They brought chairs, and a few brought folding tables. The main gathering was in the center of the loop between the cabins and under the trees. Veronica had taken it upon herself to borrow a brush hog from Dr. Jarecki. It was almost too much for their compact tractor and she had to have the front bucket loaded with firewood to balance the tractor when she lifted the brush hog with the three-point hitch. The gutsy little engine on their compact John Deere tractor powered the brush hog, which was a mower designed to tackle thick brush. The brush hog chewed up the weeds, leaving a beautiful open space in the middle of the loop. After the brush hog, Veronica used the regular mower to keep the weeds down and eventually the area turned into a nice lawn. That's where the party was held, on the lawn under the trees.

Terri McCarthy even brought a date. He was a skinny, greasy looking kid with long hair that hung limp. He was a fellow Canadian, and he refused to speak English. He spent the day sputtering and grousing about arrogant Americans, and Terri was quickly learning the error of bringing him.

All the men and women that volunteered their time at Adoption Advocates were there. This was their party. The vice presidents of Andalon Data Systems were there as well. Stan Dombrowski and his wife Doris brought their son, his wife, and their kids. Emmitt Katzman and his wife Gladys brought their twin grandsons, and Brandon Mitchell and his wife Emily brought their eighteen year old daughter Audrey. Josh never got to meet Audrey because she was spending all of her time with the kids playing big sister and following them around as they hiked in the woods and played in the pond. Audrey played and romped all day and people who knew her and the Mitchells said it was her first taste of freedom. They were joined by many businessmen and women that the Andalon VPs and Paul Jarecki invited, hoping Marj and Josh could convince them to donate to the cause.

It was a glorious and perfect day under the western New York sun. Josh's two row boats and canoe were happily floating around on the pond being propelled by first time rowers or fathers teaching their child to row. The big pontoon boat was tied up at the very end of the new dock by cabin five and was used by folks who wanted to sit and relax by the pond.

Josh spent much of his time in his cabin with several members of the Andalon Data System's board of directors, and several power players from the tech industry in the Buffalo area. This was what the weekend was all about, raising money for both Adoption Advocates and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Out at the party there were buckets everywhere asking for donations to the two charities and there would be games to raise money like several 50-50 raffles, and Josh and his quartet would serenade couples for a donation (and shut up for a larger donation).

However, in the cabin were the rich folks, the power players in western New York and he was trying to schmooze donations out of them in hopefully the five-figure range. He only knew a few people in his cabin other than Anthony and Veronica. The biggest question Josh heard was, "When are you going to go public with your campground? I'd love to park an RV here."

"Aw, I don't have the well or the septic system for that kind of park. Ah got in mind a park where weekenders can come catch blue gill and relax in the shade. Tents, pop-ups, and small trailers, twenty foot max. No generators. Ah want a refuge for serious campers, ya know, weekenders with their own home who want to get away from it all and set in the woods a spell, maybe cast a line and relax. Ah want a place where a cancer survivor can come and breathe the clean air. Where a family can bring their newly adopted child to learn to swim."

Where Josh grew up, there were RV parks where RVs were crammed in tightly and folks would park a fifth wheel there and live out of that trailer for years. There was one right next to the moldy old doublewide he grew up in, and there was nothing appealing to him about a packed RV park. He wanted elbow room and shade trees.

"How about a picnic grove?" asked another person.

"That would be an idea," said Josh. "I'd have a lot of tables to build, then I'd need a building to store them in, then I'd need a pavilion for rainy days..."

"What did you have in mind for this property when you bought it?" asked a fellow who looked like a well-heeled banker.

"A radio."

"Pardon?"

Veronica came up behind Josh and wrapped her arms around him. "He means he only planned to sit on the dock, dip an empty hook in the water and listen to the radio and hope no clumsy fish would get tangled up in his line and ruin his nap."

Josh nodded. "This property is only to get away from y'all. I was planning to buy some farmland and grow some corn or something, but I found this land and fell in love. Then I found a girl who likes to drown worms too and life is good." They were inside the main cabin at the behest of Ant, who wanted to introduce Josh to a group of investors. They chatted and sipped some whiskey that Anthony brought. Josh was drinking small amounts from his can of Arnold Palmer. He had enough of what "brown liquor" did to people, and he was pretty sure "white liquor" did the same thing.

"I'm wondering how someone with the awards you won ended up at a small data company," said another man. This guy Josh knew.

"I didn't win no awards, Mister Peters. When you wake up screaming in terror with the events of the past living on in your head, you didn't win nothin'. The only thing I got was a bit o' ribbon and cancer."

"Have we met Mister Gravely?"

"I used to work for you Mister Peters, but you laid me off and was done with me. You didn't see any value in a disabled veteran, so you booted my ass out the door. Don't worry none, you spurred me on to work harder and help Mister Friedman expand his business."

"I'm sure if we laid you off it was a mistake," said Aaron Peters, CEO of XCom. "Mistakes can be amended."

"It weren't no mistake Mister Peters, you gave me an opportunity to excel in a fast growing, exciting company were my skills and knowledge are appreciated, and I am allowed to make a difference."

Aaron Peters looked at the photograph of Josh in uniform receiving a citation from the President of the United States. Veronica hung the photo above the fireplace next to the framed citation, knowing that the board of directors of Andalon Data Systems and many other big donators would tour the cabin. "What would it take to bring you back to our fold," asked Peters.

"You can't afford me," said Josh.

"Try me," said Aaron.

"A hundred and fifty thousand per year, double time for every hour over forty per week. Thirty days paid vacation, fifteen paid personal days, and mileage for every inch including my morning and afternoon commute..."

"That's all do-able," said Aaron.

"I know, now comes the non-negotiable requirements. I work for you. Nobody else. I will be the head of the unit or division you put me in, and I will have final say on all hiring, firing, layoff and vacation scheduling for my troops."

"You know we can't do that," said one of the richest men that Josh ever met.

"Why not? Mister Friedman does. He put his trust in me, and I respect him, and I work my ass off for him and now we're one of the fastest growing businesses in western New York."

"Maybe we can come to an agreement," started Aaron, but Josh interrupted him.

Josh pointed to the fireplace. "Do you see that medal that Mister President is handing me? I have a sacred trust to uphold everything that medal embodies. Spirit, trust, honor, courage, respect. After being laid off for no reason other than the bottom line I can't work for a man that I can't believe or trust. I know what I can do to get your trust, but how are you going to earn mine?" Then Josh's scowl became a smile. "But thank you for the offer."

Aaron glared at Josh, then broke into a smile. "It's been a while since I've had my ass handed to me, sergeant. You're right. I can't afford you." He shook his head and grinned, then patted Anthony on the back and said, "Let's talk..." and he led Anthony out of the cabin while the rest of the board gathered around Josh and Veronica and asked Josh about their land and if they could have a party for the full company there.

"Sure, as long as you cater it properly, ah don't want a couple a dozen grills burning all over my land. Don't forget port-a-potties and trash."

"What would you charge for use of your land for a private function?"

"Sir, it won't be private because I will be there, and I may have friends with me for one reason or another but we won't interrupt what you're doing unless it's revolutionary, controversial, or obscene." Josh gave him a wink. That's what his high school printing teacher Tony Bonaventura banned in the school print shop, and repeated it often. "Let me think on that. There's a lot of land here and city folk can easily get hurt or lost and there are dangerous critters."

"Dangerous animals?"

"Porcupines, racoons, and turkeys. They'll try to avoid you but dogs and porcupines don't mix. I guess porcupines smell good. Veronica and I will sit down and discuss liability, insurance, that whole thing. Here's my card, email me with your idea and I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible."

"What about hunting?"

Josh sighed and shook his head. The fellow was sure that Josh was going to disagree because of gun safety or something like that. "Ronnie and I are the stewards of this land and all the critters that live here, so I'm going to be pretty picky. We don't want a wounded animal suffering because someone was too lazy to follow him down and finish the hunt."

The man looked at Josh's card and grinned. "Good answer."

As they stepped outside, the Jarecki twins were waiting for him. The two little blond girls were wearing bathing suits with frilly skirts and they looked upset about something. "What's the matter kiddos?" asked Josh. Both twins latched onto his wrists, and he hoisted Sandy up and deposited her in Veronica's arms. Then he scooped up Madeline, who smiled and blushed as Josh carried her towards the pond where the rest of the kids were playing.

"They're building something back there!" said Sandy, and she was pretty upset about it. She pointed a tiny finger at the campground area.

"Is that right my dear?" he asked Madeline, who squeezed her eyes closed and giggled like she was just tickled.

"I think somebody has a crush on Mister Josh," taunted Veronica as they walked.

"Oh no, check this out." He turned to Madeline and said, "After we check this out, what do you say we go swimming Maddie?" The change to Madeline was instant. She went from a love struck little girl to a clone of her sister Sandy on a bad day.

"Only Papa calls me Maddie, not you!" She shook an angry finger to make her point.

"My apologies Lady Madeline, I won't do that again."

"You better!" said Madeline and Sandy in unison.

"It's on fire!" cried Sandy. "The house they built is on fire!"

"What?" asked a confused Josh.

"The Chiavetta's chicken grill," laughed Veronica. "Come on, let's watch!" They hurried to the back end of the big oval, where the caterers set up their portable barbeque pit. The pit was made of metal side panels about three feet high and four feet long, and the grill itself was about four feet wide. The bigger the event, the bigger the grill. They simply add panels to make the grill bigger. The grill at the Erie County fair is over fifty feet long. The pit is filled with charcoal, which is lit with a propane torch. The chicken is marinated in the Chiavetta's vinegar/garlic marinade and placed on three feet by four feet grill racks which fit on the firepit.

The chicken roasts two and a half feet above the fire. Every ten minutes, the cooks place an empty grill on top of the chicken. The grills have handles that stick out and they grip the handles of the upper and lower grills and flip the chicken upside down, and now the grill that was on the bottom is on the top. They place that on the next grill full of chicken and flip that grill and continue on down the line. They are followed by another chef, who has a bucket of the marinade and a long-haired brush and he paints, mops, and sprinkles the marinade on the freshly turned chicken. After an hour and a half of being turned and anointed every ten minutes, the most delicious grilled chicken you ever ate was ready.

Chiavetta's chicken is loved throughout western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania. Veronica and her sister Magda grew up going to lawn fetes in Erie, Pennsylvania and having the Chiavetta's chicken there. Lawn fete means 'yard party' but can be any kind of outdoor activity from a fair to a picnic to a beer tent, another western New York favorite. In Orchard Park, close to Andalon Data Systems, the Orchard Park VFW has a Chiavetta's barbeque every Wednesday evening, and when he worked late, Josh would pick up two dinners on his way home. Chiavetta's chicken is one of Ronnie's few weaknesses.

The twins watched the chefs flipping the chicken in awe, saying things like "Miss Yi cooks like that." As they watched, Andi came up out of breath.

"Where have you two been?" she demanded.

As the twins flustered and sputtered, Veronica said, "They thought these guys were setting something on fire so like good girls they came to report it to Josh."

"I was so worried," gushed Andi, as Paul and John came up. "Next time tell me!"

"MOTH-ER!" groaned the twins in unison. Five years old and they were already elbow deep into teenage angst.

"Ah was gonna take a few young-ins on a nature hike, why don't you sit down and relax momma and let Ronnie, Paul, John and I worry about them."

Before Paul and John could protest being involuntarily volunteered, Andi kissed her husband Paul and said, "Oh thank you, I could use the rest." She was just starting to show that in four months, the twins would have a new sibling. Josh put his coach's whistle to his lips and blew on it and said, "Y'all gather round! We're gonna take the young-ins on a nature hike while momma and dad set the tables and get ready to eat!"

They split the kids into two groups of ten each. Veronica and Paul Jarecki took their group in one direction, while Josh and John Jarecki took their group the other way. The average age was probably about ten-years-old, that's if you don't count Terri McCarthy, who convinced her moping emo boyfriend to follow Josh.

Josh and Veronica spent plenty of time looking through the woods for interesting things to point out to the kids as they walked, and some of it was marked with wooden plaques shaped as arrowheads. They walked past cabin five and headed up the hill to the pool at the top of the small waterfall, but Josh didn't point out the pool where he declared his love to Veronica. He instead began pointing out the trees in the area. "This is a hemlock tree, this is what we call a fir tree. How can you tell?" he grabbed a branch and showed it to the kids, "Because the needles lay flat, just like the fir on your dog, or your cat, or your head." And he rubbed Morgan's head for emphasis.

"I'm not a dog!" cried Morgan.

"Américains en état de mort cérébrale," (brain dead Americans) muttered Terri's emo friend Jacque.

"Ah didn't catch that, do you have a question Jock?" called Josh. Josh didn't like this jerk. For all Terri's faults, she's still a fantastic technician. She has a mind like a steel trap and a solid knowledge of everything she did, and Josh depended on her. She was Josh's 'work daughter' and she was far too good for this piece of Crescent Town trash. When Josh called Jacque 'Jock' he emphasized the word to ensure that Jacque knew Josh was calling him nothing but a testicular bra.

"Je ne parle pas Anglais," (I don't speak English) muttered Jacque.

Josh looked at Terri with a questioning look and she said, "He said that was something he didn't know." Then she whispered to Jacque, "Arrête. Tu vas me causer des ennuis." (Stop. You're going to get me in trouble.)

"Bah. C'est un plouc stupide." (Bah. He's a stupid hick.)

Next, they stopped at an area where the trees were all growing in rows. "These are Tamarack trees, also known as the American larch. This tree is called a deciduous tree, meaning a pine tree that drops its needles in the fall just like a leafy tree like an oak or a maple. In the spring the needles grow back and are bright neon green. Be very careful with fire around these trees." He held up a fallen larch branch. "These have pine tar in them and burn easily and rapidly. Any questions? Jock?"

"Tu aurais dû mourir à la guerre." (You should have died in the war.)

Josh looked at him, then smiled and said, "Terri, could you translate for those of us that don't hablas Francés?"

"Uhhh..." The embarrassed Terri thought fast. "He wants to know who planted them in rows."

"Good question, in the 1940s the state of New York handed out free saplings to reforest western New York because hinterland animals like the turkey were losing their natural habitat. The scouts that used to camp in those cabins replanted this forest from 1948 to 1955. Does that answer your question Jock?"

"Vas-y voir ailleurs." (It translates to "go look elsewhere" but means "fuck off")

They met up with Veronica's group at their campsite, where they paused for ice water and a potty break in the new outhouse. Then they continued downhill to the party. Josh showed off where carefully harvesting trees opened sunlight to the forest floor, allowing shrubs to grow which provided food and cover for deer and other forest creatures. He pointed out the difference between porcupine and beaver gnawing on trees, and the damage done to the forest floor by heavy ATV traffic. Each display accompanied by a snide growl in derision from Jacque.

When they ended their hike, Josh asked, "Any questions?"

"Tu n'as rien compris à ce que j'ai dit," said Jacque with a grin. (You didn't understand anything I said.)

"Il a tout compris," (He understood everything) said Pastor John in a Montreal accent. "Il a étudié le français à l'université." (He studied French in college)

Josh sighed and said to Terri, "Tu peux faire tellement mieux que ça." (You can do so much better than this) then he turned to the crowd and said, "Ok folks, let's eat!"

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That evening, when the VPs and other dignitaries had left, it was just the "real people" left behind for the evening campfire at the pond. Dick Daniels, Johnny McGreevy and Sam Lux were there all day, of course. It wasn't often that Josh could do anything without the three of them tagging along. They were friends with a great sense of humor, and they could really sing. They had something special planned for that evening. They were going to debut their new comedy song in barbershop harmony.

First, they started with "Campfire Karaoke." John and Paul Jarecki would play on their guitars any tune that the singer chose. Macy started in her beautiful soprano voice, and occasionally Yi would join her. As folks gained courage, the fun began. Finally, the "Gentlemen's Disagreement" stepped up and tuned up. Veronica watched with pride as the guys that practice in her basement took the stage. They sang several old songs re-written for comedic effect. They started with "I've Been Working On the Amtrak" and "The Wreck of the Satanic" (a song about a ship that was so poorly designed it did the world a service by sinking on its maiden voyage in Lake Erie) The songs were filled with local features like fish fry on Friday and beef on weck. A crowd favorite was "Sitting In A Winter Wonderland," a song about sitting in The Ralph (a long time nick name of the Bill's home stadium) trying to watch a Buffalo Bills football game during a blizzard.

"Ok, this next one is for you," said the lead, Dick Daniels. His perfectly waxed handlebar moustache bobbled with every word. "We're going to try this in the Great Lakes District competition next month, so wish us luck." They tuned up, and the crowd went silent. Not only were they funny, but they also sang well, so the crowd waited anxiously for the upcoming song.

Almost heaven, western New York

Snowbelt blizzard, Allegheny River.

Life is sweet there, Sabers, Bisons, Bills

Beef on weck with Genny,

Friday fish fry thrills

Country roads, take me home,

to the place I belong!

Western New York, snowstorm trauma

Take me home, country road!

All my memories gather round her.

Irish ladies, Niagara's thundrin' water

Empty steel mills 'neath a clear blue sky

People screaming GO BILLS!

teardrops in my eye

Country roads take me home,

to the place I belong!

Western New York, snowstorm trauma

Take me home, country road!

I hear that voice in the morning hour he calls me

Danny moves my fanny on KB to start my day

Driving on "da troo way" feeling that I should have been home yesterday.

Yesterday!

"Everybody sing!" shouted Dick Daniels, and they did.

Country roads, take me home,

to the place I belong!

Western New York, snowstorm trauma

Take me home, country road!

Country roads, take me home,

to the place I belong!

Western New York, snowstorm trauma

Take me home, country road!

It was incredible. The part about "Danny moves my fanny on KB" was a reference to a long time morning DJ on WKBW, and the boomers and zoomers in the audience laughed and clapped with tears of nostalgia in their eyes. The cord they hit when they sang "Yesterday" a second time was so perfect and powerful it was stunning. Their voices echoed off the trees and rang through the countryside. The final two stanzas, a sing-along with the entire crowd, was a riotous, raucous, joyful rendition that filled the night air.

As they sang the very last verse, the fireworks started. Out on the two docks, Josh's troops from the server room and field services began lighting off mortars and roman candles that soared into the dark night sky and reflected off the glassy surface of the pond. The singing became ooo's and ahh's in appreciation of the fireworks blossoming far above in the warm night air. While they watched the fireworks in the cabin, Paul, Marj and the board members were re-counting Veronica's figures. She was dead on as usual. The total amount of money raised in cash and pledges for the orphans and Josh's pet charity, the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, shocked Marj and Anthony to tears.

Meanwhile, Josh and Veronica found themselves in a crowd of friends, but oddly alone, as they held each other tight and basked in the love they saw in each other's eyes. Overhead, the fireworks smuggled in from Pennsylvania popped and flared. The crowd watched the show and missed the long, sweet kiss that Josh and Veronica shared. How could it get better than this?

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As summer grew warmer, Josh found life in the village of Springville to be as close as he ever dreamed heaven to be. The scent of cut grass and lawn fertilizer filled the air and always a lawn mower hummed somewhere in the quiet village. Josh and Veronica spent a lot of time on her porch, sitting on the glider swing, either reading or chatting with the neighbors as they strolled past. Across the street, children laughed and played in the park, watched as always by mothers and nannies.

After work, Josh volunteered to help Andi and Yi with the twins by teaching them to swim while Paul was still at work. Paul had a big L shaped swimming pool. The short leg of the L went from three inches to three feet deep, the long leg went from three feet to eight feet deep. There was a diving board and a big slide in the long leg of the pool, but the twins weren't allowed to use them until they learned to swim.

"Ok, you guys let's kick! Kick, kick, kick! Try to move the pool!" Josh had Sandy and Madeline in three feet of water, holding on to the side of the pool and kicking their little legs as fast and as hard as they could. They churned the pool water to a froth as they kicked. Josh Gravely and Paul Jarecki have two different styles of teaching a child to swim. Paul believes in teaching a child to float to overcome their fear of the water. Josh believes in teaching a child to power their way through the water. Paul's style will keep you from drowning. Josh's style will keep you from alligators.

"Ok. you ready?"

"Uh huh!"

"Wanna get deep?"

"Yeah!"

"All righty then, here's your boogie boards." He gave them each a foam kick board, the same tool he used when he learned to swim at their age. The board was a flat board a foot and a half wide, two feet long, with a rounded forward end. It can be used multiple ways, and since the twins were so tiny, Josh lets them lay half on the board to practice their kicking. Josh's swim instructor, when he was young, would never allow that. She insisted you grip the board and hold it far out in front of you.

Decades ago, his folks sent Josh off to swimming lessons every summer day just to get him out of the house so his older sister didn't kill him. He rode his rusty old bike all those miles into Kingsland with his towel rolled up and held to the handlebars of his bike with rubber bands. There he'd go to swimming lessons at the high school, then ride back to Saint Mary's with several other kids. When they got to US40 they dropped off at the gated community and Josh would ride slowly through Saint Mary's as slow as possible, drawing out the time until he returned home.

"I'm not going back to that swamp," muttered Josh under his breath.

"Huh?" asked Sandy.

"Oh, I was just saying, we ain't never gonna swim in a swamp. Let's go!" and clutching their kickboards, the twins kicked, propelling themselves down the length of the deep end and back. Andi would scream if she saw that, but Josh was right there in the water with them the whole time. Yi and Veronica were sitting on the sides of the pool, ready to jump in if needed.

The girls bumped their boards to the pool end at the same time, then turned around and kicked hard to get to the shallow end. When they finished, Josh congratulated them and said, "Let's do floaties to relax." Floaties were what their papa taught them, to relax and float on their backs. "This time when you're doing floaties, kick your legs."

Doing floaties is very relaxing, and once they started, the twins watched birds circle overhead. "Keep your chins up!" called Josh as they floated lazily, their kicking propelling them through the water. Keeping their chins up, arched their back and kept their butts from sinking. They didn't notice how far they had gotten until they saw the diving board over their heads. Sandy started to panic a little, but Josh was right next to her and said, "You're doing fine, keep kicking." Their heads bumped the far end of the pool about the same time as each other. They grabbed the edge and realized they were in the deep water with Josh, Veronica and Yi in the pool with them and their mom, standing on the deck looking so proud of them.

"You did it! You swam the whole way!" cried Andi.

"We swimmed?" asked Sandy.

"We were just doing floaties," insisted Madeline, who was a little confused about how she got into the deep end.

"That's all swimming is, floaties with kicking," said Josh.

If they were excited that they achieved a milestone, the twins didn't show it. Josh helped them out of the pool and they dashed off to the shallow end, where they could sit in the shallow water and play with their toys.

"I can't believe they swam the entire length of the pool!" said Andi.

"Those little legs have some endurance. We'll keep that up until they're ready to move on.

"What little legs?" came a voice from behind Josh. He turned and there was Paul. He had just arrived home from work.

Josh suddenly realized that he had intruded on Paul's time with his daughters. Teaching them to swim was daddy time and Josh had elbowed into that. He was about to apologize when Veronica grabbed his arm and said, "we have to get going, we have to be at the Sheraton at six thirty."

"We need to get going too," said Andi as she kissed her husband, Paul.

"Let's take one car," said Josh. "We'll come pick you up." Veronica's navigator would be perfect for this event.

"Let me drive," said Paul. "There's certain privileges to owning a dealership."

"See you in a few!" and with that Josh and Veronica walked the two blocks home in their swimming suits and t-shirts. At home, they showered quickly and got dressed. This was a very formal affair, black tie and tux for the men, formal dress for the women. Veronica was one of those rare women whose hair is manageable, and she's able to quickly style it to her liking. Even rarer, she's that rare breed of woman who is satisfied with the way her hair looks once she sets it. She took just a few minutes to set it in a gentle wave past her shoulders.

What took her longest was her makeup. Josh had already trimmed his beard to perfection, dressed, and hand tied his bow tie, getting it right on the third attempt by the time Veronica was finally satisfied with her "war paint." "What takes so long?" asked Josh. "You're beautiful without make up. This isn't a pageant."

"Tonight, you are getting a special award, and I want to look perfect. I don't want to draw attention away from you, but I want to look perfect for you. It's a fine balance," she said as she put on her eye makeup.

"You're not arm candy, you're the woman I love," said Josh.

"I know, but this is a competition. I want to make sure that the makeup and dress I wear tell every woman there tonight, 'I'm going home with his man because he chose me, not you.'"

"That's so catty."

"But it's true. What do you think?" She stood and showed off her royal blue dress. The dress was a floor length halter top dress with a plunging neckline that dove almost to her naval. It was clear that she was braless because of the amount of side-boob she displayed, but Veronica used two-sided tape to keep the dress in place. The skirt was slit up the side to her hip, revealing that long, perfect leg. In the back, the dress plunged deep, revealing her naked back to her waist. The dress was slightly sheer, allowing her body to play peek-a-boo when the light was exactly right. The fabric that the dress was made of had royal blue butterflies embroidered at random intervals. "You like?" she asked again.

His fingertips traced down her naked, flawless back. "It's beautiful, we may not make it out to the car."

"I was thinking the same thought," said Veronica as her fingertips gently explored a few inches south of his belt buckle. She gave him a tiny kiss and in her sexiest voice, she whispered, "go feed Tigger."

"Yes mistress," said Josh as he plucked his cat off the bedroom fireplace mantle and carried him downstairs to the kitchen. Veronica smiled and pulled on her metallic silver taffeta evening shawl and grabbed her chrome clutch purse, slipped into a pair of silver 'fuck me' pumps and headed downstairs.

"Last check, let's see what you got mister," said Veronica as she gave him one last look over. She brushed away the occasional Tigger hair and dust mote, tugged and oriented his bow tie, adjusted his American Flag style pocket square, then she stepped back and took a deep shivering breath. He looked incredible in his tuxedo. She bought it for him and even had it tailored and it was money well spent. From his broad shoulders to his narrow waist, he was incredible. "If looks could impregnate," she muttered.

"What?"

She took something out of her clutch, then pinned it to his lapel. "You do things to a tux mister..."

"No! We don't wear lapel pins on a tuxedo," insisted Josh.

"Lesser men don't. YOU do." Josh looked in the mirror at the miniature ribbon she pinned to his lapel. It was the highest decoration on his military ribbon rack. He was allowed to wear it. Hell, he was allowed to wear the medal on a ribbon around his neck if he wanted to, but that just reminded him of aging French generals who strode around and demanded unearned respect. Josh just wanted it to end.

"Knock knock!" called Andi, as she peered in the front door. She was wearing a cute pink gown with an Asian look to it. "Yi picked this out for me, it's a Vietnamese Ao Dai! It's the perfect maternity dress." Actually, it wasn't a dress, it was a pair of pants with flowing legs, topped with a loose blouse that looked like a full-length skirt. It hung down over the pants, past the knees. It was simple, elegant, and comfortable.

"Just in time," said Veronica as they stepped out onto the porch. Sitting in the driveway was a regal gray Rolls-Royce Black Badge Cullinan Series II, widely regarded as the world's most luxurious (and expensive) SUV.

"Wow," gasped Josh. "Where did you get this honey from?"

"It's a loaner," said Paul, like it was common for people to hand out half million dollar SUVs. "Rolls asked me to show this to perspective clients, so this is my new VIP limo."

Veronica explained the seating arrangements because she's been to so many high end affairs. "One must always act like the camera is rolling!" The girls sat in the back and Andi showed off the champagne cooler between the rear seats. They had a bottle of sparkling apple cider in the cooler and Andi poured champagne glasses of the fruit juice as they chatted on the way into Paul's hometown, Cheektowaga.

"Paul, I didn't mean to take anything from you with the twins. I was just teaching swimming the way I was taught. I didn't mean to take any daddy/daughter time."

"It's ok, I wasn't sure where to go once I got them treading water and floating on their backs. Thank you for helping."

"Just so you know, I had them do a length of the pool and back on kickboards then a full length floating on their back and kicking. Once they got that and know they can do it, you can teach them how to blow bubbles."

"A full length? That's amazing! What do you mean blow bubbles?" asked Paul.

"Have them hold the side of the pool and put their faces in the water and blow bubbles out their noses. When its time to breathe, they turn their heads to the side rather than lift it up. That's hard and it takes practice. Once they can do that they'll never hold their nose when they jump in the pond ever again and you can start on the arm strokes."

Paul and Josh talked about learning to swim when they were kids. Josh learned at the local school, Paul learned with the boy scouts. Soon they were pulling up to the hotel, and there was a huge crowd at the entrance. There were news trucks and camera men, reporters with microphones and there was an enormous crowd in the driveway, too. Paul had to navigate between the two crowds to get to the hotel door. There at the hotel was a red carpet and the news reporters with cameras and microphones were there, along with other photographers. "This is just a businessman's affair," muttered Josh. "I was told it was a small event."

"It is a small event," said Veronica. "Compared to Manhattan, it's tiny."

"I feel like a beached whale," moaned Andi. She felt sorry for Paul. He was getting an award too and his wife looked like a cow.

"Honey, put your hand on your tummy and keep it there," said Veronica. "That way everyone will see you're pregnant... this is baby's first outing with mommy and dad!"

"Is that something fashion models learn?" asked Andi, as they pulled up and people tried to peer in the car windows. "Macy told me the same thing."

"And Macy was right."

Josh groaned and steeled himself. He hated the spotlight; he hated recognition for his work by people that weren't connected to his work. They pulled up in front of the main entrance and he and Paul got out. As the valet got in, he and Paul opened the 'suicide' rear doors and let the girls out. The photographer's flashes started as Veronica stepped out and clutched Josh's arm. "Smile!" she said through clenched teeth.

"I don't smile."

"Then lift your eyebrows, that's a suitable substitute."

The Rolls moved away and Paul and Andi joined them and they walked up the red carpet into the hotel. The very last journalist asked Josh, "Is that pin real?"

"Yes it is," said Josh with a sigh.

"Thank you for your service, sir."

"Please don't call me sir. I know who my father is." His remark was clearly an insult directed at officers.

"I'm going to kick your ass, sergeant," muttered retired Lieutenant Colonel Paul Jarecki under his breath.

"See? There's your smile!" gushed Veronica as they were ushered to their table. They weren't far from the dance floor and there was a ten-piece band who was playing some wonderful music, but nobody was dancing. "Do you want to try dancing?"

"I only know how to waltz and two step. You know that."

"We'll work on that. Come on." They took to the dance floor and began dancing to the old Tommy Dorsey classic I'm Getting Sentimental Over You. They looked spectacular, the handsome, trim man in the well-tailored tuxedo and the fashion model elegant woman in the fantastic gown dancing like they had been practicing for years. In truth, it was their very first dance together. "Is there anything you can't do?" asked Veronica as she welled up with love for this man.

"The only thing I can't do is leave you. You are my world. My entire future."

"Oh!" she whimpered, holding the tears back. She has always dreamed of this moment, their first formal dance, and here it was. All too soon, the song was over and it moved on to soft jazz that was more for conversation than dancing, so they returned to their seats.

"Relax," said Paul as they were served their first course, a summer chopped salad with strawberries, grapes, apples, grape tomatoes and feta cheese served with a pomegranate vinegarette. "This is exactly like a dining out. You've been to those, right?"

Josh frowned and said, "I know about them, but by the time I got to the rank and position where I'd get invitations, I was usually in the shit pureeing goat fu... uh... bad guys." That slip caused Andi to look confused, but Veronica whooped with laughter, knowing that Josh was going to say goat fuckers. Veronica has had no connection to the military, but she listens to Josh talking to his buddy Ellie on the phone and she picked up on their private language.

Andi, on the other hand, was new to the rough and tumble language that veterans use because she has had no connection to the military prior to meeting Paul. Because of the twins, Paul holds back on the salty language. Her father was a captain in the Colorado National Guard and he didn't return from Iraq. She was very young when that happened and her mother worked very hard to keep her away from the military to prevent Andi from having the heartache she suffered.

"Why do you talk like that?" asked Andi.

"Ah apologize ma'am," said Josh sadly. "Ah didn't mean to vent like that. There's two militaries, one is the spit and polish military who submits reports and has a nice golf course on base. We call 'em Nonners. Then there's the guys with grease and blood all over them, either theirs or somebody else's."

"What do you call the guys with the blood and grease?" asked Andi.

Josh just looked nervous, and he chased a cherry tomato around his salad plate with a fork, trying to stab it. Finally, he softly said, "Brothers."

Andi leaned forward and deftly stabbed the tomato with her fork and held it up for Josh to eat. He took it off her fork and chewed on it as she asked, "What does nonner mean?"

To Josh Andi looked regal, a little pregnant princess, an heir to a kingdom that she didn't quite understand how broad and all-encompassing it was. All she knew was that her king was keeping her and her girls safe and fed, and for now, that was enough. "Well? What does nonner mean?"

"Non-combatant."

"Oooo! Sting!" hissed Paul.

"It's true," said Josh. "You were flight surgeon; you were part of the fighters. But you'd go to the Officer's Club and see a huge divide between the guys in the field and the guys in the office, the folks busting their ass day and night getting planes to fly and the one who complain that they have to wear fatigues on Friday. I know people who called themselves sailors who never set foot on a ship for their entire twenty years. I know people who insist on being called soldier who never laid down in mud. Those are the ones who had a dining out."

"Amen my brother," said Paul and he lifted his glass to Josh, who tapped his glass on Paul's.

"I don't understand, Paul was a doctor, but he wasn't a nonner?" asked Veronica.

"He was a flight surgeon," said Josh. "He had to put up with our whining. He had to tell his friends they couldn't fly anymore." Josh turned to Paul and said, "How many joy rides did you get?"

Paul rolled his eyes. For him, a 'joy ride' was a ride in the back seat of the two seat F-16D and it was anything but joyful. He was required to do it every so often. "Fourteen?" He thought a bit, then said, "Yeah, fourteen."

"And how many times did you puke?"

"Eleven," which caused the girls to laugh. "Hey, those guys were merciless. We were pulling eight G's and rolling all over the sky."

"Don't feel bad," said Josh. "We got the flight surgeon to puke on the AC-130. We always took them up when we were shooting, that plane filled up with cordite fumes, the noise, the guns swiveling on target, the ship rocking. They'd blow chunks. And if that didn't get them, they'd lay on the ramp trying not to puke and we'd open the ramp. They'd open their eyes and see mother earth scooting past at three hundred knots. That always got them."

Dinner came, and the girls got parmesan crusted chicken with bacon and fontina cheese with twice-baked potatoes. Josh and Paul got the barbeque pork tenderloin with pineapple salsa and au gratin potatoes. "Can we talk about something besides making doctors vomit?" asked Doctor Andi Roberts.

"Like I was telling young Josh here," said Paul to a warning glare from Josh. "These things are civilian versions of a dining out, but without the comradery. The idea is to get a bunch of people who bust their hind ends for a living to dress up and take their ladies out to a nice dinner with friends and to act like well-dressed gentlemen. Rule number one is to have fun; a dining out is not serious. It's a costume party. Rule number two is no shop talk. The rest of the rules are silly made up rules that were made just to get someone to violate the rule and buy you a drink."

Finally, the master of ceremonies began the program. Both Paul and Veronica's jaw dropped in amazement as Jim Kelly, former quarterback for the Buffalo Bills and now a businessman in the western New York area, stepped up to the microphone. He received a wild standing ovation from the businessmen of the Niagara Frontier. It seemed to be forever before he was able to speak. His love struck fans finally sat down and Jim spoke for about ten minutes, recalling humorous stories from his days as a star NFL quarterback in the city of Buffalo. Then he talked for a few minutes about being a businessman in the Buffalo area and the trials and tribulations that come with the title of Businessman Buffalo Style. "Our first presenter of the evening is a man you all know. I'm sure he twisted your arm at least once before you succumbed and drove a new car home, Mister Paul Jarecki."

Paul got up and presented two awards, first for the best car dealership in Western New York. He won last year, so he had to present the award to somebody else this year, and this year's winner was a friend of his, Jim Campbell, who owned Campbell Chevrolet in Williamsville. "This next award goes to the automobile salesman of the year, this award is selected by a poll of car customers and to make it more fair, they're asked three months after the sale is complete. This year's winner is..." he opened the envelope and smiled. It was the smile he's going to display in future years when the twins win the science fair or his son wins the hundred meter dash. "Ron Shapiro of Jarecki Motors." Ron was one of Paul's favorite young salesman and he was proud the fellow got it.

Just as Paul was leaving the podium, Jim Kelly tossed Paul an autographed football. "For that little one of yours. When is he or she due?"

"Three more months," said Paul as Andi sighed. She remembered watching Paul's videos of Jim Kelly beating her beloved Denver Broncos. Now she has a Jim Kelly autographed football, to go with her John Elway autographed football that had belonged to her daddy.

The ceremony went on for a while. Anthony Friedman got an award for the High Tech Company of the year and he asked Josh to receive the award with him. Josh felt out-of-place up there standing with Anthony, but Ant introduced Josh as his "right arm" and expected bigger and better things for Andalon Data Systems next year.

Josh plopped down and sighed. "that's over, can we go home now?"

"If you leave you have to buy a round for everyone," said Paul.

"Oh, come on, if you swing by Patler's I'll buy everyone a custard."

"Where's my football?" asked Veronica.

"Huh?"

"Jim Kelly and I are both from Pennsylvania, I've been a fan since I was born!"

"I'll get it for you next year. My fun-meter is pegged; it's time to wind down."

Jim Kelly rose and spoke into the mike one final time. "The last award of the evening is humanitarian of the year. The winner this year and I have something in common," said Jim. "We're both survivors and we both owe a debt of gratitude to Roswell Park. To present the award is previous award winner and President and CEO of XCom, Mister Aaron Peters."

Josh watched as Aaron stepped up to the stage and smiled. "I too have something in common with todays winner, I laid him off." When the laughter died down, Aaron continued. "It's said that a soldier doesn't fight because he hates what's in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him. This year's winner embodies that quote. If he had orders to stop you, you were stopped, no question about it. Sadly, a shot up aircraft and a duel with cancer ended his military career, but he survived both and the Air Force's loss is western New York's gain."

Josh groaned. He's going to get back at Anthony for this, but Aaron continued. "For the past few years, this year's winner has been holding picnics for friends and business owners of Orchard Park. Just a word of mouth thing: friends, food, and fun. It's nothing fancy, although this year they had Chiavettas cater the food. Coworkers, friends, a barbershop quartet, campfire karaoke, nature hikes in the woods and word of mouth invitations. While the families and kids were having fun, our winner and his fiancée were greeting the businessmen of the local area and asking for their support. This year alone, he and his future bride raised in cash and pledges over seventeen million dollars for Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the orphans in the care of Adoption Advocates. This year's humanitarian of the year is E. Joshua Gravely."

The entire audience rose in applause, and Josh looked at Veronica in surprise. "Seventeen million?" She nodded happily. She was sure Marj and Ant had told him, but it appears that they didn't. Actually, they did. He simply didn't believe them.

"E. Joshua?" asked Paul with a grin as Josh got up.

"It's gonna be my pen name," said Josh as he and Veronica rose and she walked up to the stage with him.

On stage, Aaron stood at attention and saluted Josh. Surprised, Josh returned his salute, then they shook hands, then Aaron started looking around. "I'm sorry, I thought we had the award here," he said.

"Well, my girl is from Pennsylvania, she'll be right happy with one of those signed footballs," said Josh loud enough for the microphone to pick it up.

"I'm on it!" called Jim Kelly from his seat.

Aaron leaned into the microphone and said, "I'm really sorry about this, but does anyone have tonight's trophy?"

"We have it here!" called a familiar voice and Josh turned and saw a ghost from the past... a Ghost Rider from the past, as his former air crew commander Emory Hancock, and his beautiful and very pregnant wife Christy stepped up on stage carrying the crystal trophy with Josh's name engraved on it. They were both in uniform, Emory was wearing the rank of full colonel and Christy was a lieutenant colonel. They both sharply saluted Josh and held their salutes.

Josh was overwhelmed and was near tears and was barely able to return the salutes. Then he hugged Emory and Christy. Sniffing tears away and looking at the crystal trophy, he stepped up to the microphone and tugged Veronica close. He said, "Ah had a speech for y'all, it was a really wonderful speech, full of humility and gratitude, but ah dun forgot every word. This is my commander, callsign Emerald, he flew a shot to hell gunship to the nearest air strip that wasn't brimmin' with rebels to make sure ah got here tonight. Ah introduced him to my pal Christy and... ah guess she took him serious."

"Josh!" squealed Christy as she punched him in the arm.

He looked at the award and he said, "This is mostly due to the love of my life Veronica von Köster. When she saw the potential of my picnics and the money we raised in the past, she went full bore after them check books." He turned to Veronica and gave her a kiss. She was happily holding a football signed by a football legend and was practically glowing. "Now, if y'all don't mind, ah haven't seen these two in years. On behalf of Roswell Park and Adoption Advocates, thank y'all so much!"

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

"NO! Get out of here with those tuxedos!" shouted Ayato Tanaka.

"Geezuz, Redneck, you're classing up the joint!" called Ayato's wife, Julissa.

"Oh, hush you. Y'all jealous." They sat down at a table and Julissa brought a tray with a beer for Josh and Paul, a glass of wine for Veronica, and a glass of fruit juice for Andi.

"Don't pay any attention to that grump behind the bar, he's a retired old Air Force maintenance officer."

"Uh huh," said Paul. He leaned over to Emory and said, "And she was the OSI officer sent to investigate him."

"Hey, a girl has to do something to pay the rent, what can I get ya sweeties?"

"I'll have a Genny and Christy will have a Coke zero," said Emory.

"So, what are you doing here?" asked Josh.

"We come up to visit Christy's folks in Lockport. I heard a rumor you were in the area so we called. You were doing something so Veronica answered the phone and when we mentioned we'd be in the area she arranged everything for the dinner tonight."

"That's my arranger," said Josh as he hugged Veronica. "Last year we raised what - ten thousand dollars? She didn't even come to the picnic."

Veronica smiled and shrugged. "I thought it was a kegger with Anthony's golfing buddies."

"And you made them pay for their beers this year," chuckled Josh. "We charged $15 for a full chicken dinner and a can of pop, the kids ate for free, everyone else paid because we got a share of the profits from the caterers. Meanwhile, Veronica has me twisting arms in our cabin on guys I never met and never heard of before."

"That's a lot of cash, Bounce. I'm proud of you," said Emory.

"How are you doing otherwise?" said Christy. The Josh she knew was a torn, terrified man who spent his alone time mourning his lost friend and his evaporated marriage. "Any good challenges lately?"

"Just this one," said Josh as he hugged Veronica.

The six talked about the evening until Julissa dropped off beef on weck sandwiches for Christy and Andi. She noticed the tiny ribbon on Josh's lapel, then said, "Shit, I didn't realize..." She stepped back, stood at attention, and snapped a sharp salute.

"Thank you," said Josh as he stood and returned the salute. "Please don't ever do that again," He tore off the ribbon and stormed out of the bar.

"I'll talk him in off the ledge," said Julissa and she picked up the ribbon and pin backer and went after Josh.

"I was worried about that happening," said Veronica. "He hasn't done that in a long time."

"Trust me, we understand," said Christy.

"He's a lot better now than before the cancer set in," said Emory. "He needs a challenge to keep his mind occupied, otherwise he starts thinking about the bad times."

"You wouldn't have recognized him when he came back from Korea," said Christy. "He was a walking corpse ready to join Craig and Wyatt. Somehow the Mayo clinic convinced him that cancer isn't a disease, it's a challenge. He came back to get grandpa a different man. Does he still have grandpa?"

Veronica smiled, "He loves that Jeep, he wants to be buried in it." She showed them a picture of her and Josh in his 1951 jeep. She was wearing a bikini top, and they were splashing through Cattaraugus creek.

"The real fun is when he folds the windshield down and you cruise the beach," said Christy with a wistful smile.

"We don't have beaches here, so we use the back roads," said Veronica.

"Topless?" asked Christy, and Veronica wagged an eyebrow and nodded. "Girl!" and they high fived across the table.

"I missed something here," said Emory.

"When he gets like this he goes out and puffs on a cigarette," said Paul as he considered what Christy had said. "I wonder if he's trying to relapse the cancer so he can fight it again."

They were silent for a long time. Finally, Andi said, "I hate it when he gets like this. He hates his psychologist, he wants to talk to my sister Macy, but she refuses, she says he's too close."

"Too close?" asked Emory.

"They've been friends for years and grew too close. Julissa can calm him down, but when it's bad only Ellie can talk him down," said Veronica.

"He talks to Ellie?" asked Emory. "How is she doing?"

"We're planning to visit her in the spring," said Veronica. "He's going to give me a tour of his hometown."

<><><><><>

Julissa stepped outside the back door where the smokers congregated and only Josh was there, in his tuxedo, puffing on a non-filter. She grabbed the cigarette out of his mouth, threw it on the ground and stomped it into a cloud of tobacco fibers. Then she began pinning his ribbon onto his lapel.

"I don't want that damn thing."

"Shut the fuck up," said Julissa.

"That ribbon's not for me, that's for a hero," groaned Josh. "I ain't no damn hero," he added sadly. "They needed a hero... not me."

"You are to that woman in there. Now shut up and act the part."

"Don't ever salute me again."

"I don't hand out salutes for free chum. Now listen, I spent twenty three years sneaking around, digging through garbage, sticking my nose into everybody's business looking for junkies and security risks," said Julissa, who was an OSI investigative agent in the Air Force. "You don't know how good it feels to find someone that wasn't some piece of shit."

Josh wanted to scream, "I am a piece of shit! I couldn't save Craig, I couldn't stop Wayne, I can't find Wyatt. What the fuck good am I?" but he just shuddered and said, "I ain't no hero."

"Don't say that to me," said Julissa. "Don't you ever say that to me! I wasn't there long, but I saw the looks on the faces of those kids with no homes..."

"I raised some money; anyone can do that."

"I'm not talking about the money. You busted your ass for weeks making sure those kids would have a warm, dry cabin to sleep in. You put two row boats on the lake for them to play in, you fed them and taught them to cook, you sang to them and told them stories." Julissa was fighting back the tears now. "You were the first real dad that those kids ever had, and to me that's a hero. Can you accept that?"

Josh nodded. "I didn't do any of that to be a hero or a dad."

"It doesn't matter why you did it, you did it, and a lot of people recognized that and put a nickel in the drum. And if they think that's what it takes to make a hero, then who are you to argue? If you are that sure you're not worth it, send the money back."

"That's not what being a hero is all about."

"It is to them," said Julissa as she leaned against the wall next to Josh. "Any of your oncologists will tell you he can only do so much on his own. Without staff and proper equipment, he's just a country doctor with a fancy title. To them and your fellow patients, you're not just a patient, you're a hero because you put the tools in their doctor's hands. And what happens to Marj Friedman without the money? She doesn't do anything that generates a profit, so she's out of business. You funded her operation for an entire year. How many couples will be able to call themselves parents because of what you did."

"So, I can't define what makes me a hero?" asked Josh. He needed that cigarette and he looked sadly at its remains.

"No, because you're just doing what needed to be done." She tapped that ribbon on his chest. "Same with this. The fellow that wrote you up saw what you did as a heroic effort. It may not make you a hero in your eyes, but it did to him and quite a few other people."

"People have died trying to get this ribbon," complained Josh.

"If they went out specifically to earn that medal, they deserve to be dead. This medal is for those acts of bravery that weren't planned, they just happen. Whoever wrote that award up, was so impressed with what you did that he risked his career writing it up."

"Risked his career?" asked Josh, astonished that the retired colonel would say such a thing.

"Oh yes. If I wrote up someone for a medal of honor, and after review it got downgraded to a commendation medal, my career would be over. Even if it was only knocked down to a silver star, I'd be considered a comedy writer and my next Officers Efficiency Report would be an F minus."

"I'd be happy with a silver star. Nobody salutes a silver star," groaned Josh.

"Take those salutes," said Julissa. "You earned them. I read your citation, you earned them."

"Most of what I did on that mission is still classified."

"I read that too," said Julissa with a sly grin. "You earned it. Trust me. Whoever wrote that medal had a lot of faith and love for you."

"Fuck," groaned Josh softly. "Now a feel like a real heel."

"Why?"

"The guy who wrote the medal is sitting in the bar with my ex-girlfriend."

"The knocked up blond is your old girlfriend?" cried Julissa. Inside the bar, her husband, Ayato, looked at Christy in shock, then started laughing.

"What's with him?" asked Emory.

"Oh, either Julissa or Josh mentioned you guys," said Paul. "Ayato has amazing hearing."

Soon Julissa and a pale Josh entered the bar and sat down with the gang. "I want to apologize," said Josh. "I feel I don't deserve this medal and I have problems with salutes, especially when I get them from a man who laid me off."

"He donated five million dollars to your fund," said Veronica. "Maybe that's to make up for laying you off."

"Bounce, you earned that medal," said Emory. "When I said what I was going to do, I was told to downgrade to an Air Force Cross, but I didn't. And when I submitted it, nobody requested a downgrade. A lot of folks agree with me and the entire crew, you earned that. And after hearing about your picnic, you're still earning it."

"You're a good man," said Christy. "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

"You're right. Thank you," said Josh as Veronica kissed his cheek.

"He does that," said Veronica. "He wants to be so much better that he doesn't realize how good he already is."

"Here you go lover boy, on the house," said Julissa as she set a pint of dark brown liquid with a white foam head in front of Josh. Josh tasted it, then drank thirstily.

"Guinness?" asked Emory.

"Hires," said Julissa. "He's had his two drinks tonight."

"We need to get going," said Emory. "We have to get to Lockport."

"Stay, we have plenty of room, we have a ground floor bedroom if you don't want to climb stairs," said Veronica.

"I'll light a fire in the fireplace and youse guys can snuggle," said Josh.

"Bounce, I'm impressed," said Christy. "You didn't say y'all."

"I did, I just pronounced it like a Noo Yawker and said 'youse guys.'"

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

At Veronica's request, Christy called her folks and told them she and Emory would spend an extra couple of days in Springville. Saturday was spent relaxing at Paul and Andi's house under the grape arbor and by the swimming pool. Christy eyes the hot tub jealously, but she wasn't allowed in there so she and Andi ended up lazily floating in the enormous swimming pool in floating lounge chairs and being waited on hand and foot but Paul, Josh and Emory.

"This is what vacation should be," sighed Christy as she floated lazily in the pool. "Life has been so crazy since we got back from Germany."

"What were you doing there?" asked Josh.

"Commanding the 76th Airlift squadron," said Emory with a frown. "C-21s and C-37s... frickin' limousine service for congress men on 'Fact Finding Missions.'" C-21 and C-37 were military versions of Lear and Gulfstream business jets, and Emory was clearly not happy with that. "But I'm back on the Herc now, 19th Airlift wing, Little Rock AFB."

"He's commander of operations for the wing," said Christy. "That's a big job, there's four operational squadrons."

For dinner that night, Yi made a huge wild turkey dinner that she cooked on the rotisserie over a charcoal fire and grilled fresh sweet corn and locally grown potatoes. "An all Erie County meal," said Yi. "Paul shot the turkey just a few miles from here." That's pretty much how they spent a pleasant Springville Saturday, but Josh promised they could see his pond after church on Sunday.

They started Sunday by walking to church with Josh and Veronica. It was only about six blocks in the warm sunshine and cool morning breeze. As they walked, Josh and Veronica explained their history in Springville. "Josh bought his land several years ago, but he stayed there while he had an apartment in Orchard Park. He was working for a different company when I bought my house and settled down in the village."

"So, when he started with your company it was love at first sight?" asked Christy.

"Kinda," said Josh, but he said nothing more about it.

"I gave him his HR in-briefing and he had me laughing so much it took hours," said Veronica.

"Up to his old tricks," said Christy with a grin.

"Then I found out she was the CEO's personal assistant so I put my nose to the grindstone and kept it there," said Josh.

"He did," said Veronica. "We'd occasionally eat lunch together in the lunchroom. Then the day my life fell apart we were snowed in and he treated me like a queen."

"She had always been my goddess," said Josh as they entered the church.

Emory and Christy were swamped with joyful greetings by the various members of the church and when their identity as old friends of Josh were known by the congregation, the questions started. "What was Redneck like back then?" was the most common, and occasionally "What did his wife do?"

"You haven't told them anything about Yolanda?" asked Christy.

"Yesenia. No, not a word." Hoping to change the conversation, Josh introduced Christy and Emory to Macy and John Jarecki. "Pastor John and Doctor Macy have a much more interesting past than Veronica and I."

"No, not at all," said Macy in her delightful French-Canadian accent. "We met at university and got married just before graduation. This is the first church that hired John and we've stayed here ever since."

Josh glared at the tall, elegant black woman in shock. Her husband, John, just smiled in agreement. "Honestly? Y'all could make grandma's Sunday fried chicken dinner sound like a Chicken McNugget!"

"Relax mon chéri," said Macy. "We're just having some fun. Come on in," and she led them into the sanctuary where they sat with the Jarecki family. Paul got up and read the announcements.

"Wednesday night men's bible study resumes at Pastor John's house at seven PM. Kid's pool party will be held next weekend at my house, we could use another volunteer for lifeguard. Women's prayer guild meeting is Wednesday at Kathy Hansen's house at seven." Then he frowned. "Our new mayor, Samel Windecker, asked us to cut back on watering the lawn here and over in the church yard... so pray for rain to help us with our irrigation. Don't forget the church picnic at my farm on Labor Day weekend. Any special announcements? Comments? Additions? Ok, Josh you said you would lead us in a hymn today?"

"Yea, ah did," said Josh as he got up and walked over to the piano. He was joined by Macy, Pastor John, and the pianist, Melissa. As the worship leader stood next to Josh, Macy brought her violin to her chin, and they began.

"Some glad morning, when this life is over, I'll fly away..."

Emory and Christy were amazed. Emory was used to hearing Josh singing "Another one bites the dust," over the intercom after the mission was completed and they were heading back to base, and for a few wonderful weeks Christy was a "barbershop wife" listening to him at practice at the yacht club with the local barbershop chorus at Fort Walton beach. She knew he could sing... but did he become the reincarnation of Charlie Daniels?

... When I die, Hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away...

Josh sang joyfully with Dante Reese, the worship leader, providing harmony. Emory, Christy, Andi, and the twins were absorbed in Josh's glad singing, but Veronica didn't look happy as he sang. Christy leaned close and asked, "What's wrong?"

"He likes this song too much," said Veronica softly. "It's all about dying... and leaving me behind..." and the tears started.

"Oh honey, he's not planning to die."

"All this attention pushed him to the edge. He actually called his psychologist late last night."

"How's he doing now?"

"He's better..." just then the hymn ended and Josh spoke.

"Ah just want to thank y'all with all the help ya gave us with the orphan's picnic. The kids loved their cabin, and were crazy about the food, and they loved being out in the country. Thank you for the help from the women's ministry making meals for these campers, and for everyone who stopped by for the chicken dinner, a big thank you. With your help, Veronica and I were able to raise seventeen million dollars for Adoption Advocates and Roswell Park. Give yourselves a round of applause!"

After that Josh had to go back and help with Sunday School for the little kids. "Does he always do that?" asked Emory.

"Any time they ask, he'll go help. He loves reading to the pre-schoolers."

"Was he like that before his..." Christy didn't want to say it. Veronica had finally stopped crying and Christy didn't know how much Josh had told her about the day they were shot out of the sky. She finally said, "... before his divorce."

"He was excited about having kids," whispered Emory. "That's all Josh talked about on that last deployment, teaching little Josh how to catch a football, teaching him about the Georgia Bulldogs, taking him to baseball games. Singing his little girl to sleep, helping her dress for her tea parties, treating her like a princess, and terrifying her boyfriends."

Yesenia's betrayal affected everyone in his crew. It was bad enough that they knew they would never fly together again, and some would never fly, but watching a fellow Ghost Rider's agony was almost too much to bear for some of them. Emory had to chase down his copilot Everett Jackson, call sign Jax. He was going to shoot Yesenia in the head. Weapons System Officer Harold "Hal" Rainey, call sign Hailstorm, never flew a gunship again. He was the one that helped Josh back there, and he only spoke about what he saw twice, once at the official inquiry and once when General McCarty, commander of the Air Combat Command, investigated Josh's medal of honor nomination. When Hailstorm heard what his Weapons Team Chief went through when he returned from the hospital, he left to take a non-flying job somewhere.

Josh returned from Sunday school as the last hymn was sung, smiling. Veronica tearfully clutched his arm as folks readied to leave. "Is she going to be ok?" asked Christy.

"Oh yeah," said Josh. "I got something for her that always cheers her up. We're going to dig an outhouse pit!"

Veronica looked up at Josh, her eyes glistening with tears, but suddenly happy. "Are we?"

"Yep, Gus has the pit laid out."

"How deep?" she asked happily.

"As deep as you want."

"Let's do it."

They headed over to Paul and Andi's house for brunch with Josh and Macy and a few other folks. "John and Macy were my guiding light for the entire picnic. And this big fellow over here is Gus Didomissio, master carpenter and designer of the first Jack and Jill two holer built in Erie county. And this is my on-call amateur oncologist, Doctor Lucy Kosis."

"Did you say two holer?" asked Emory with a laugh.

"Uh huh. Two hole outhouse. They used to be all the rage," said Josh as Christy began giggling. "And Veronica gets to dig the hole."

The friends had a wonderful brunch of sweet rolls and finger sandwiches that Yi laid out, accompanied by all forms of coffee from Paul's espresso machine that Josh insisted was a boiler off the retired USS Enterprise aircraft carrier. "I can't wait to see this land you fellows have," said Emory.

"It's the land that ties us together," said Paul.

"I'll second that motion," said Veronica. "I was stuck in a rut, restaurants, shows, restaurants, shows, nothing real, nothing new. I ended up giving up dating, but I challenged Josh to describe a perfect date. We ended up riding toboggans at Chestnut Ridge."

"That's a lot of fun!" said Christy. "I haven't done that since I was sixteen."

"We were lucky," continued Veronica. "We were already in love when we ended up at his cabin. Then Josh said, 'Ever ride a snowmobile?' On the back of that snowmobile touring his woods, I went back to being a little girl, fishing on Six Mile Creek with my dad, swimming in the lake at Shades Beach Park... and now I get to dig a pit!"

"This I got to see," said Emory.

An hour later they were changed and standing on the porch of Josh's cabin. "It's heaven," said Emory as he surveyed the land, the lawn down to the water's edge, the forest surrounding the lake, and the road that ducks into the forest.

"Almost heaven," said Josh. "Want to take out a rowboat while we get ready?"

"Sure!" said Emory and Josh held the boat steady as Christy climbed in. Soon they were sailing across the pristine lake with Emory at the oars, and Christy sitting in the stern enjoying the ride. "It's a big pond," said Emory.

"There's another cabin on the pond, looks like a new dock," said Christy as Emory pulled at the oars. They heard an engine start and Christy said, "That sounds like Grandpa." Not long later, they heard another engine start, and they saw Josh in Grandpa riding along the path. Behind him was Veronica driving a small tractor that had a front-end loader and a backhoe. As they watched, Gus, John, and Paul stepped through the trees that grew along the road and followed Veronica into the forest.

"Let's go see what is going on," said Christy and Emory pulled hard at the oars and he beached the boat near the road that went around the south end of the lake. He shipped the oars and got out, then held the boat steady. As he did that, Josh pulled up on Grandpa and stopped. He hopped out of the jeep and held the boat steady while Emory helped Christy out of the boat and helped her in the jeep.

"Ready for one more ride in Grandpa?" said Josh with a grin.

"I'm keeping my shirt on this time," said Christy with a wink and Emory climbed in and they drove up to the cabin, turned around and headed back into the woods. Emory and Christy were surprised to see five cabins, two large cabins and, behind them, three smaller cabins, all facing a driveway that ran in a huge oval. In the open space between the cabins was an outhouse with two doors, one in front and one on the back, and next to the outhouse, Ronnie was digging a pit with the small backhoe on the tractor. She operated the backhoe quite well and had a huge grin as she did it.

"She looks like she's having the time of her life," said Emory.

"She is," said Josh as he got off the jeep and watched. "She's come a long way from modeling, beauty pageants, and ballroom dancing." Gus was standing at the edge of the pit, giving Ronnie hand signals. He wanted the sides of the pit to slope inward so they didn't collapse when they pull the new outhouse into position over the pit. Paul was standing next to Veronica, giving her hints and directions. He's been operating a backhoe on his Kubota tractor for a while now and she's been begging him for training on the backhoe on her tractor.

"I'm shocked that you let her drive your tractor," said Christy.

Josh turned to his old friend and smiled. "It's her tractor. She insisted on buying it. I was looking for an inexpensive old ford but she fell in love with a used 1000 series John Deere. She wants to use it to shovel the driveway this winter, so I suppose I need to get a trailer to haul it."

"I am so damn proud of you, Bounce," said Emory as they leaned against the jeep and watched Veronica dig the hole. "Raising that money, caring for those orphans, the folks in your church can't sing your praises high enough. You seriously got your shit together, Airman."

"One day at a time," sighed Josh. "I can only take it one day at a time."

"You need to know, from what I've seen, you earn that medal every single day. Don't be afraid to wear it, and don't be too proud or too shy to return a salute, you earned them."

"I'm still trying to figure that out," said Josh wistfully.

"While you figure that out, Joshua Gravely, I want you to know that I'm proud to have flown with you. Hearing you say 'guns ready' on the intercom over the hottest fire pits I've ever seen told me we were going to be ok. I can't wait to tell my grandchildren that I flew with you." He extended his hand, which Josh shook.