Chapter 39

Present – Liz and Bernie – back in Leadville

We had a great ride back to Leadville. The closer we got to Leadville, the more sure I became of our decision. It was great that Bernie felt the same way as I did. I had known Bernie almost forever and I never dreamed we were so compatible.

We drive into the Enterprise car rental lot, Bernie hauls the bags into the office from out of the trunk, the rental agent gives us a questioning look and asks, "Is there something wrong with the car?"

I smile at him and answer, "The car was great, we just decided to find a place to live here, not in Denver."

He responds, "Are you going to need the car while you look for a place here?"

Bernie answers...

The rental agent seems to understand about us coming back to Leadville, and like a real salesman, he wants to know if we'd like to keep the car.

I answer, "I don't think so since we plan on using the taxi driver to help us find the people we need in Leadville."

The rental agent says, "Well, I will have to charge you for the miles and of course today's rental."

I reply, "Of course. Can I use your phone to call the taxi driver?"

He replies, "Sure, let me go out and get the miles off the car and I will be right back inside to let you know what the charges are."

He goes out to the car, I look at Liz who is literally beaming and remark, "Liz! I've never seen you look more beautiful than you do right now."

Liz gives me an evil look and teases, "Bernie it's talking like that got me preggers in the first place."

I tease her right back and suggest, "I thought it was the horizontal tango which caused the so called problem. But if complimenting you caused the problem then I guess I need to stop."

Liz begins to threaten, "Bernie, if you do that then you can be certain that the horizontal..."

Liz stops and blushes as the rental agent walks back inside. He looks at Liz and asks, "Ma'am are you feeling okay?"

I grin at Liz as she lies to keep the rental agent from guessing the real cause of the problem while she says, "Thank you for asking. I'm fine but it does feel hot in here so I think I will wait outside."

Before she leaves I ask, "Hey Liz, how about giving me the business card of the taxi driver."

She pulls it out of her purse and hands it to me. I walk over to the counter, the rental agent spins the phone around and says, "Here you go."

Liz heads outside and I watch her as she...

I get embarrassed by the rental agent so I decide to walk outside. I breathe in the fresh mountain air and imagine this is how Julie Andrews felt when she played her role in the Sound of Music. I guess I even get carried away and begin to spin slightly with my arms outstretched.

Bernie walks out of the car rental agency carrying our bags and roughly sings, "The hills are alive..."

I grin at him and finish, " ... With the sound of music."

He says, "The taxi driver will be here in ten minutes. He was happy to hear that we changed our minds. He also told me he would call the realtor he talked to us about. But he did give me some bad news."

I worry it's going to be like the news we got about the hospital, so I automatically frown. Bernie sees my frown, laughs and says, "Liz, it's not that bad. He just told me there were no new car dealers in Leadville - I guess I'm not surprised."

I threaten, "Bernie, keep it up and there will be no more horizontal tangos."

Bernie takes my hand and calls my bluff, "Oh really, I guess I will be taking many long cold lonely showers by myself."

I squeeze his hand and counter, "What? You don't want to shower with me any longer?"

The taxi driver shows up before Bernie can answer. He jumps out of the taxi, loads our suitcases into the trunk and suggests, "I hope you don't mind that I called the hotel and reserved a room for the two of you. I figure we should drop your suitcases off there before we take you to the realtor."

I ask, "Which hotel did you choose?"

He smiles and answers, "Again I hope you don't mind but I chose the Delaware hotel because it's right downtown and is sort of like stepping back into the past. We can actually walk to the realtor's office from the hotel."

Bernie answers, "Damn that will be great! I'm tired of driving and riding in a car."

I practically demand, "Bernie, I'm hungry and..."

Bernie laughs and interrupts, " ... When aren't you hungry?"

The taxi driver says, "Don't worry, they have many great places to eat downtown."

We hop into the back of the taxi then he drives us up to the Delaware Hotel where a man comes out, waves and says, "Welcome, you must be our new guests for the night."

He takes our bags out of the trunk, carries them into the hotel, we walk inside and I'm speechless...

Present – Stacy and Samantha – at the building

Sally arrives right as I finish reading Samantha the report on the Sedankina twins. We both walk downstairs, I smile at Sally, shake her hand and ask, "Would you like the grand tour of the place before you get started?"

Sally's eyes are travelling everywhere, soaking in all the surroundings while she replies, "That would be great."

I motion to Bill and say, "This is my right hand man Bill, he will show you everything."

Sally leaves with Bill while I look at Samantha and ask, "Well, now that we've read the report on the Sedankina twins, what are your thoughts?"

Samantha replies, "Stacy, I'm glad you stopped me from broadcasting the report. The last thing I want is to have those two after me or my camera operators."

I smile at Samantha because she wisely took my advice and ask, "So how do you plan on explaining it to Sally? She and her cohorts were counting on being famous."

Samantha smiles and answers, "Stacy you're right so I need to throw her a bone. If she does a good job with our beauty treatments I will do a report on the wonderful services available in small towns."

I ask, "Do you really think America would be interested in a report on a local beauty shop?"

Samantha surprises me when she answers, "Stacy, I can make anything a news story - all I have to do is present it the correct way. For this I would craft it as the story of how an independent woman moved to the mountains and created her dream job of owning her own business."

With that, Sally and Bill came back and Sally remarked, "It's so good to see what you've done with this old building. We were worried when you moved here and bought the building that you were going to destroy it and build something new. You should have seen this place when it was a functioning brewery."

I smile at Sally and say, "This is a great old building and my Grandmamma taught me the value of historic places. We have considered restarting the brewery, but none of us know anything about making beer. It sounds like you have been in Leadville for many years?"

Sally replies, "Yes, I have been here most of my life. I spent some time away when I was younger and went to school but there's something magical about this town that called me back. And if you are serious about brewing beer, the old brew master still lives in town and would probably be more than happy to give you some pointers."

I look at Bill and suggest, "Bill, let's have a meeting later to discuss this, I would like to see some financial projections on what it would cost and whether it would be a good investment."

Bill asks, "Sally, if you don't mind, I would like to get the contact information for the brew master so I can come up with some figures for Ms. Summers."

Sally pulls out a business card, writes the number on the back, Bill takes it and leaves. I look at Sally and say, "Well, I don't want to keep you from your shop, so let's get started. I would like a manicure, a pedicure and a trim job on my hair. What would you like Samantha?"

Samantha answers...

I can tell that Stacy had hit a home run with Sally and has built up a great amount of positive rapport with the town. I ask, "Sally, I would like the same as Stacy."

Stacy suggests, "Sam, why don't you go first."

Sally sets up on a table and begins to soak my hands and feet. It's been forever since I've had a maniped¹ so to have one come to where I am living seems extremely decadent. I close my eyes and begin to rest as Stacy and Sally continue to talk."

¹Maniped – slang for a manicure and pedicure

I notice something that smells great, I open my eyes and see the chef has brought out some snacks. I say with a pout, "Wouldn't you know, there's food around and I can't eat any of it because my hands are in water."

Stacy offers, "Sam, just tell me what you want and I will feed you."

Sally says, "Samantha, don't worry about it; let's take a short break and try some of these great looking snacks."

I take my hands out of the water, dry them on a towel, then I dry my feet, walk over to the table and exclaim, "Don't tell me that's Chex mix! I love Chex mix." I load up a plate, mostly with Chex mix but I do add a couple of the finger sandwiches. We sit down at the table and Sally asks, "So when are you going to broadcast the report from my beauty shop on the crazy women."