Chapter 5

Dan had gone online and downloaded from his library back north a few of the more recent audiobooks that Jenna had written under this other author’s name. He transferred them to a USB stick and thought he would listen to them on his drive back north by plugging them into his SUV’s audio system.

He did what he said he would do in listening to these stories on driving back and also driving to see the Grand Canyon. He did a tour of the south rim stopping a few times to get a good view and take a few pictures. If he had to describe what he saw he could do it in one word and that was “awesome.” It was his opinion that there were two must-see places in the lower forty-eight that were must-sees, and those were the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone.

Since it was on the way he stopped for one night in Las Vegas. This was a Disneyland for adults. The glitz and glamor were overwhelming. He did notice that the prices for food and entertainment had substantially increased since his last visit. At one of the lounges in his hotel, he was sitting at the bar when an attractive lady innocently struck up a conversation with him. While Dan thought he was a good-looking guy he knew he wasn’t that good-looking. When she suggested that the smoke was bothering her and maybe they should go to his room he knew he was dealing with a pro and she wasn’t a golf pro.

He told her that he thought that was a good idea but said his wife who was due to be here at any minute would probably not want him to do that. This alleged lady promptly excused herself saying she needed to get some fresh air.

Dan made the trip the next day going north to his home and pulled onto his driveway a little after seven. Listening to two of Jenna’s books during this drive back helped pass the time. The stories were fiction to be sure and he could understand why they were popular. He unpacked and was tempted to open up a can of corn beef hash for dinner. Instead, he did a short drive over to Charl’s sandwiches for a fish sandwich and fries. He couldn’t decide if it was BBQ pulled pork sandwiches or fish sandwiches he liked the most.

At his business the next day he was welcomed back by Helen and his workers. They asked him questions about his vacation. He tried his best to answer their questions and showed them on his phone the photos he had taken. There was some paperwork Helen had left for him to review after she gave him a short briefing at what had happened when he was gone.

There were two requests for service which Dan said he would handle as he was anxious to get back into the swing of things. Dan handled both calls for service. One involved replacing the ignitor in the furnace and the other was replacing the furnace motor.

That night he thought he would send an e-mail to Karly but thinking that was somewhat impersonal he phoned her instead. She sounded happy to hear his voice. He told her about his trip to Grand Canyon as well as arriving home safely. He repeated the invitation to her to come and visit when she could. He said he would like to stay in touch with her and would like to do that by doing Skype. That was fine with her was her response.

In checking the club’s web page he noted the golf course was opening in two weeks and that a tournament was scheduled for that date. He emailed in a request to play in the tournament.

It was business as normal in the weeks before the tournament. All of his employees were back from their vacations and were working. Installing the heating and a/c units along with the ductwork in the apartment complex that Bridgeman Construction was building was keeping them busy.

Before heading to the golf tournament Dan check the club’s web page and noted his riding companion in this tournament was a J. Straton. He didn’t know who this golfer was.

After parking his SUV he found his assigned golf cart with his golf bag that he had dropped off already on the cart. He also found a young lady there who was putting on some suntan lotion He shook her hand and introduced himself along with giving her a good look. Joyce Straton wasn’t a spinner but she was close to being one as he would guess her height at five foot three tops. She had a pretty face with short dark hair and a slim figure. Overall he thought she was fairly cute.

The announcement over the loudspeaker asked everyone to get into the carts and then they were led out to the golf tees they were assigned to start to play.

Dan thought he did pretty well in posting a score that was a net sixty-eight. He spoke with Joyce during the round and learned she was an anesthesiologist at the university’s hospital. Her golfing skills weren’t either that good or maybe she was a little rusty in that her net score was seventy-five.

During the awards presentation, Dan’s score in his class was good enough for second place. In accepting the dinner gift he heard a few of his friends kiddingly calling him a “sandbagger.” He debated on asking Joyce if she would like to go with him to use the coupon and decided against doing it. There was something about her and he wasn’t sure what it was that didn’t attract him to her. He had the feeling and maybe he was wrong in having it, that she in some way thought she was above him in the social status. Because of sensing that, he took a pass on asking her out.

Construction was going to be starting shortly on the houses that were being built by Bridgeman on the lots, one of which Dan had committed to purchase. Sally Dodge phoned Dan asking him to stop by when he had time to pick the type of house he wanted to be constructed along with any specific features he wanted. Dan told her he would do it but if it was okay he would stop by in two weeks which she said was acceptable.

As silly as it sounds, Dan spent all his free time at home watching HGTV and making notes on what he wanted to be done in building his house. He had a fairly long list to discuss with Sally of which most of it he later found out was already included in the types of houses that were being built. The extra insulation, walk-in bathtub, powered sunroof, and a few other features were what he told her he wanted to be done over and above was what they said they would normally do. The charges for these additional features were not that great and he was given credit for the items that they weren’t installing.

Dan also gave Sally the listing to sell his house but he asked her to use her best judgment when she listed it as he only wanted the house sale finalized after he moved into his new home. She told him she would inform him when the time came as to the stores he needed to go to pick out certain items and to choose the colors he wanted the walls painted.

In the following months, things continued to be going well. Dan’s business was getting a steady influx of requests for service work. The company’s bottom line was substantially increasing. Dan used some of that money to invest in the stock market. He signed up with Eva Cranton who was a financial advisor located in Lake Lancer and followed her advice in doing this investing. With a rising market, he was pleased with the results. and knew he was not the only investor who was having that thought.