Chapter 6

Just before Brad was ready to leave to go to the clinic one morning he was surprised to hear his doorbell chime. Opening his door he saw a young man standing there.

“Is that the boat I put it on and where does the old one go?” said this young man pointing at Brad’s boat.

“Put what on?” said Brad.

“The electric start eighteen horsepower outboard motor along with its battery. I was supposed to give this to you,” and he handed Brad an envelope.

Opening the envelope he read the note it contained. “I enjoyed fishing with you and my wife enjoyed the smoked trout. Instead of pulling on a starter rope to start the motor I thought the electric start would make it easier. Take care and catch the big one. John”

Brad just shook his head at John’s generosity.

At work they noticed the new bounce in Brad’s step along with a somewhat constant smile on his face. They asked him what had happened to cause this. He denied that anything had happened or was different. He knew Tessa was the reason he felt this excitement in his life and he was constantly thinking about her

He phoned her later in the week and suggested if she was serious about fishing with him they could go out to the new Chinese place Friday. She could stay at his home and not have to make that early morning drive.

“I am interested in going fishing but by you asking me to stay over Friday night makes me think you may be interested in something else.”

“You could be right on that and I can only hope.” His response caused her to laugh.

At the clinic Brad was in the hallway going to the next cubicle to do an exam on a patient who just had a teeth cleaning when Bernice stopped him.

Handing him a folder she said, “Just for your information the patient you are going to see is Todd Jefferies. He is the son of a good friend of mine. He just came back to the area after going through rehab. He was in the Army and lost the lower part of his left leg because of a roadside bomb. He really is a good kid.”

Brad introduced himself to Todd and shook hands with him. His first impression in seeing this twenty one year old was that he was one good looking young man. That he was dealt some bad cards because of the injury he suffered went without saying.

The dental exam revealed no problems. Brad had time before his next patient which gave him time to ask Todd a few questions. Brad mentally smiled to himself because patients normally referred to him as “Doctor” or “Doc” but Todd referred to Brad as “Sir” or responded “Yes Sir.” It was his military training thought Brad.

“Now that you are back in the area Todd what are your plans or what are you going to be doing?”

“That is the big question Sir. I have the GI Bill or whatever the current version of it is called now and I can go to college but I was never big on book learning. Maybe a trade school of some sort since I think I am good with my hands. So far I haven’t decided what I am going to do.”

“Well I wish you luck and I know you have heard it before but thank you for your service. Oh, and there is no charge for today.”

After Todd left Brad couldn’t help but think about him and hoped Todd would find something to do that could add meaning to his life. He certainly deserved to get some good cards dealt to him after suffering that injury.

Having just finished with a patient Brad noticed that it was near the noon hour. At noon the clinic shuts down for an hour so everyone can have lunch. Brad was starting to walk to the front exit and noticed Ed Olsen at the front reception area handing Emma a package. The package probably contained a dental crown or bridge.

Brad remembered his history with Ed. It was about two weeks after the clinic opened that Brad was given a phone message which said an Ed Olsen wanted to talk to him about dental crowns and if it was convenient Ed could be at the clinic at four thirty today. Brad wasn’t sure what this was about but he asked Bernice to call Ed and say that would it be okay for him to come at that time.

When Ed came to the clinic and Brad met him he saw a man of average height who was somewhere in his mid-fifties. The warm smile on his face for some reason gave Brad the impression that he was an honest man.

After shaking hands Ed came right to point saying, “We just moved to Lake Lancer because the wife wanted to be closer to our daughter’s family and the two grandchildren. My daughter Carol’s husband is Jack Carson who is now working for Eva Cranton, the financial advisor. That article published in Barron’s on Eva being the stock guru for the Wilkinsing Foundation caused a number of people and businesses to want her to be their financial advisor. Eva knew Carol and Jack in school and they kept in touch. Jack like Eva was finance major and Carol told Eva that Jack had become disenchanted working at the large bank because he said there was too much politics involved. With the increase in Eva’s business she offered Jack a job here which he accepted and we followed them here.”

“At any rate my wife had just retired as a fourth grade teacher and I gave my notice to the dental lab where I worked. I am starting to enjoy this retired life but at times it can be boring. I don’t know who you use to make the dental crowns but for something to do and maybe get some walking around money I could make dental crowns for you at a very reasonable price. I am not looking to get rich or put in a forty hour week. Doing this type of work, say two days a week is what I am looking to do.”

There was more of a discussion but the price for a crown or bridge Ed said he would charge was substantially lower than what the dental laboratory they had started to use charged. This would give Brad a competitive advantage in that the price he would charge for doing crowns would be lower than the competition. Because of that Ed and Brad shook hands on the deal.

Now walking up to Ed in the reception area they greeted each other and Brad asked Ed if he wanted to have lunch with him and walk to the diner. Ed said he could go for something to eat as he needed to keep his energy up as his grandkids were wearing him down.

In doing this walk to the diner Brad asked Ed besides the grandkids how were things going for him.

“Things are going good for me, maybe too good. Did you tell anyone that I am doing this dental work for you?”

“I may have mentioned it to Dennis Cole the oral surgeon to whom I referred two patients. Why do you ask?”

“Well he must have told some people because I have been contacted by a dental clinic located in the vicinity of the University’s hospital and they want to refer their work for dental crowns to me. Seems like they had a falling out with the laboratory they were using for some reason. Your work is enough to keep me busy. If I start doing their work I won’t be retired anymore and I have come to like the life I am having now. As the saying goes, “I am two days behind in doing nothing,” and he laughed after saying that.

“To me it sounds like you could use some help.”

“If I was to take on this clinic for sure I would need some help.”

“How would you like to train a nice young man to do that type of work? He is a veteran who lost part of his leg and is looking for something to do with his life now that he is back here.”

“You know someone like that? Helping a vet is the least I can do for what they do.”

“I do know someone but I don’t know if Todd would be interested in doing it. Let me give him a call and explain what is happening. If he is interested I can give him your phone number.”

“I hope he is interested.”

On Friday Tessa and Brad both agreed that the food at the newly opened Chinese diner was a nice change from the pizza and the sangria they had been having. Of course for Brad just being with Tessa was always a treat. The way they acted with each other now that they had done the dirty and were expecting to do the dirty later tonight caused a subtle change in how they talked with each other. The looks they exchanged showed the feelings they had for each other.

At Brad’s home the TV was turned on but it wasn’t watched. They engaged in doing some kissy face before they decided to call it an early night and go to bed. They as it was expected to made love but it was slower and more caring than it was from the week before. If Brad was asked to rate the love making with Tessa on a scale of one to ten he would give it a twelve. Simply put he would sum it up with the old saying that went along the lines of that “Tessa was something to write home to mother about.”

They started fishing at close to seven the following morning. It was a nice day with calm winds and the temperature forecasted to be in the middle seventies. What made the day better was that the fish were biting. Brad had as much fun as Tessa had in watching her being excited when she was reeling in the fish. They caught seven fish and kept five. Brad said he was going to smoke three of them and bake two for dinner.

The water skiers and jet boaters once again were prompt and made their appearance just after ten. Tessa suggested because of the rocking boat made her uncomfortable that they called it a day as to fishing. Brad agreed with her but he did do a slow troll close to shore around the lake which enabled Tessa to see the houses that were there. Steve’s and Valerie’s home with the large pontoon boat parked in front of it was pointed out to her.

Brad explained to Tessa what he was told about this big pontoon boat being there. He said the boat was given to Steve by John Wilkinsing. Steve in turn gave the boat to Doug, an injured Army veteran to use it as a fishing guide. Besides doing that Doug also takes the kids from the hospital and some parents out once a week for fishing. They stop at the park for lunch and his friend Ron grills hot dogs and hamburgers which the kids enjoy since it is a change from the hospital food. John Wilkinsing is paying all the expense for Doug to do this. When Doug started doing this he and Ron were paying these costs this till John went one time with Doug and saw what Doug was doing for the kids from the hospital. John wanted Doug to do this more often and not bear any expense.

Tessa hadn’t heard that story before and said John’s giving back is something other well-to-do people should be doing.

Once on shore Brad cleaned the fish and put three of them in his specialy seasoned brine. He mentioned to Tessa that he liked what she recommended in the way of the kitchen cabinetry and the counter top. He was going to call the contractor Monday and give him the go ahead. Brad thought he saw a little smile on her face when he mentioned what he selected and was going to do.

The dinner later was great as was the weekend since Tessa stayed over Saturday night.