Chapter 3

Come see me. Ant

Josh sighed. Now what? Doesn’t Anthony know that the chain of command goes in two directions? He finished up the inventory he had been working on, grabbed a notebook and tried to lock his computer before Terri could read over his shoulder and...

“You’re in trouble now!” gushed Terri.

Too late, Josh groaned inwardly. Terri had seen the direct message from Anthony. “I got called into his office once,” she gushed. “It was for dancing on the tabletops during the office Christmas party last year.”

“Oh, you had? I must have missed it.” Actually, Josh was there. He was new with the company but he was there and he remembered seeing Terri dancing away and he thought he didn’t have to put up with ‘moonbattery’ like that in the civilian world. Then they met the next day at work.

“You were too busy making goo-goo eyes at Miss Veronica.”

“We talked for a few moments,” said Josh. “She was hanging out with much more important people than me.” Being both gorgeous and intelligent, Veronica spends most of her time at these functions buttering up clients.

Josh grabbed a notebook and headed over to Anthony’s office, one of the few rooms in the building that wasn’t covered with Christmas decorations. He stepped in and saw that Anthony and Veronica were in the room and God; she was more beautiful than before. Even her hands were beautiful, long, delicate fingers. Her nails were perfectly shaped and colored. What he would give to have her hand caressing his cheek, her fingertips sliding over his chest, getting lower and lower ... her right hand, not her left hand. Her left hand is adorned with a giant rock that shows she’s betrothed to another man, so all Josh could do is daydream.

“How can I help you Chief?” asked Josh as he tried to stay as far away from Veronica as he could. He knew that one whiff of her perfume would toast his brain and he’d be useless for the rest of the day.

“Marjorie is starting to firm up an adoption advocacy organization, and Miss von Köster is planning some activities for the older children we would be servicing,” said Ant. “We were wondering if we have a little campout on your property this summer, around July 15, maybe a night in a cabin, a splash in the pond, a hotdog cookout over a fire sort of thing.”

“I don’t see why not,” said Josh.

“Fine. Can you work with Miss von Köster and make this happen?” asked Anthony.

“I uh,” Josh looked at Veronica. “Sure, let me call Gus and see if we can get another cabin finished by mid-July. The organizers will have to haul out trash and if they want better sanitation than what is available, they’ll have to rent a porta-potty.”

“Not a problem,” said Ant. “Miss von Köster, anything else?”

The beautiful woman sighed. “He’s gone. Why does he hate me so much?” she looked absolutely heart broken.

“He doesn’t hate you, in fact I think there’s just one thing that’s setting him off.”

“What? We were friends, we had lunch together two, three times a week, and now he won’t even speak to me.”

Ant sat down next to her on the couch and took her hand in his. “I know Ephraim. I know his history. Because of that history, they told me that hiring him would be a mistake, but he has never given me reason to doubt my hiring him.”

Veronica shook her head. “You can get anyone with a two-year degree to do that job.”

“Honey, he’s running that entire side of the building. While Mark and Eli are reviewing every receipt and document looking for that leak, he’s been doing it all, scheduling the work, following up on the field techs, doing a full quality inspection of new installations, plus his own work in the server room, keeping it up and running, even designing new installations.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“Nothing, it has everything to do with his loyalty to this company and you and I.”

“But why doesn’t he like me?”

“He cares for you very much. Maybe too much.”

“He won’t even talk to me,” said Veronica.

“He has his reasons,” said Ant, and he turned her hand over so she could see her diamond engagement ring. “He’s a man of honor and principals. You are betrothed to a man who isn’t here, so he’s not even going to appear to be interested.”

“Why?” she asked, but she was sure she knew the reason.

“How would you like it if you got phone calls stating that Jameson was seen spending time with a woman who just claims to be a friend?”

“But we’re not doing anything like that,” said Veronica.

“And neither, God forbid, is Jameson. But people talk. Ephraim is a southern man; he says yes ma’am and no sir and opens doors for you and he doesn’t associate with engaged women.”

“So what do I do?”

“Go talk to him, take Marj with you. He’s going to relax with Marj there and you’ll be able to feel him out.”

Ten minutes later, Marjorie and Veronica walked into the Server Room and Josh was at his desk going over the duty schedule for the next few weeks when Veronica asked, “Can we talk?”

Josh looked up and saw that Marjorie was there with Veronica, even though she was standing back a few steps. “Sure,” he said, and he locked up his PC. Veronica took another chair and wheeled it up to Josh’s desk and sat close to him. “What would you like to talk about?” asked Josh.

“We have this project but I think we should clear the air first,” said Veronica.

“Oh, what do you want to know?” asked Josh.

“Why don’t you like me?”

Josh looked at her, then at Marj, then back at Veronica, then back to Marj. “You put her up to this, right?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” said Marj with a shrug of her shoulders.

“What are you saying,” asked Veronica so quietly he could barely hear her.

“You’re the second engaged woman that asked me that in the past few days. I met a friend’s fiancée the other evening and she asked me the same thing. I’ll tell you what I told her that evening.” Josh pointed to the portrait of a beautiful Mexican woman on the wall. “When we were engaged, every time I came back from a mission, I heard rumors. Rumors like she was hot for a sergeant in the avionics shop, and she was having an affair with a married captain in the Osprey squadron. Crap like that. I still remember how painful that was and I swore that I will never be the cause of a rumor like that and bring such pain on anyone else.”

“I didn’t realize...” started Veronica, but Josh stopped her from continuing.

“I like you, Miss von Köster, probably more than I should, but engagement is a very important time in a relationship. It’s when you should be at your most open and honest with your man so both of you are prepared for your life together.”

“So you’re willing to work with me?” Veronica asked.

Josh softened and smiled. “Yes, I can’t wait to get going on this project, but we’re going to need someone with us to insure no wicked rumors get back to Jameson.”

That was so sweet! She worked with so many high-powered men that would jump at the chance to jump in bed with her, and here was a guy who was telling her why he would not consider a dinner alone with her, for purely romantic reasons ... for her romance with Jameson! It was at that moment when their friendship blossomed. “I think we can arrange that,” said Veronica. From that moment on, they became good friends. Josh could still be tongue tied when talking with her, but Veronica thought that was cute. Here was this big, strong, handsome war hero stuttering like a schoolboy.

Every day at lunch they would meet and discuss plans for the kids’ campout. Josh showed her on his laptop what his property looked like on Google Earth. “This used to be a scout camp,” he said. “There’s been some vandalism over the years, but I’m rebuilding with some friends.”

“Can I come help?” asked Veronica.

“Can you swing a hammer? Cut with a chain saw?” asked Josh.

“Yes to both,” said Veronica. “Daddy also taught me how to weld.”

Josh looked at her with a newfound admiration. “You’re on the team. Ok here’s the pond, the main driveway is here, and on the other side of these trees is my main cabin.” He pointed out the driveway that went back to the east side of the huge pond and went around a big loop in the forest. “This is Ant and Marj’s cabin, and here is my future main cabin,” he said as he pointed out a small cabin right on the north-east edge of the pond.

“It looks like heaven on earth,” sighed Veronica.

“We think so,” said Marj. “Those cabins are huge. One will do it for us if we can get enough cots and picnic tables.”

“How big are these cabins?” asked Veronica as she slipped Josh a folded post-it note.

“There’s three sizes. There’s small cabins which are fine for six to eight, I call that a patrol cabin, the big cabins can hold up to three patrols of scouts, I call those troop cabins, then there’s a couple that fall in between. There’s only one of those currently standing and it’s where I stay. There’s also spots for tent camping along the loop, I’m thinking of making those RV spots.”

“You’re going to make an RV park?” asked Veronica.

“Yep. That’s my retirement. Baiting hooks and helping with water hook-ups,” said Josh. “No more high pressure bullshit. Pardon my French.”

That entire idea appealed to Veronica. To retire in the woods and help novice campers get their start with the hobby. “My dad used to take my sister Magda and me camping all the time,” said Veronica with a happy sigh. “He loves fishing in a rowboat.”

“You and Jameson will have to bring him for a visit.”

While Marj was describing to Veronica the forest that Josh owned, Josh opened the folded post-it note and, in Veronica’s calligraphy perfect handwriting, was:

Be honest, How much do you like me? 1 - 10

Josh wrote his answer and folded the note back up and slipped the post-it note into her purse.

On Christmas Eve, Josh went to the Springville Congregational Church for the first time and sat through the candlelight service. He was impressed with John’s sermon. It was both inspiring and educational, and Josh liked it more than he would admit to himself. Josh was brought up in an old school hell fire and brimstone style Baptist church, and after that, any other church he went to worked so hard to distance themselves from that format they ended up sounding like over saccharinated kindergarten teachers. He actually liked John’s sermon. And Macy’s singing was incredible! She sang Oh Holy Night in French (Minuit, Chrétiens) and it sounded as sweet as the angels that Josh imagined. The entire congregation was waiting for that and for what came next.

Veronica herself was there for the same reason. She used Paul Jarecki’s library to practice ball room dancing, and she just adored Paul’s fiancée, so she too was in John’s church for the same reason. When she saw Macy, she thought the elegant black woman looked familiar for some reason. Neither Josh nor Veronica knew each other was there. They were sitting on opposite sides of the church.

Like many people in the church, Veronica chuckled in delight as Paul’s dog, Wonka, led the tiny blond moppet ring bearers to the altar. Josh was shocked to see Gus in a tuxedo, but then the incredibly plain looking maid of honor was in a matching tux as well. Then came Andi’s spectacular entrance, where she cast off a white shawl and revealed that she was getting married in a beautiful red dress that matched Macy’s green dress. The guys all wore matching black tuxedos with red or green lapels and ties. Veronica almost stood and applauded Andi’s brave choice of a red dress, because with twin girls, nobody is going to believe a white dress anyhow. Wear what makes you and the groom happy!