Chapter 78

MONDAY MORNING — SEPTEMBER 23

Breakfast was — well — a riot. Joyce's brush with death was probably on everyone's mind from time to time, evidenced by the amount of hugs she got. She was more talkative than usual, but as she relaxed and occasionally grew still during the day, her eyes became vacant as her mind dwelled on what happened.

Jeb and Annie were happy — exuberant — over moving into their new home. Dave and Evie had given them a short tour yesterday.

Annie asked to be the one to say their breakfast prayer, then everyone lined up to fill their plates at the steam tables. Someone, usually one of the girls, was always next to Alesha Turcott making sure she wasn't intimidated by all the people and the splendor of the retreat, encouraging her to try first this food, then that one.

Jennie nudged Alesha's arm. "Here, take this smaller plate, too."

Alesha looked at her. "I don't think I can eat all I already have."

"Oh, don't worry about that. You're probably hungrier than you realize. Anyway, all our scraps go into the composter. Diana is going to have a greenhouse built. We're going to make our own compost for our plants. We raked a big pile of leaves, but we're going to have to wait for green grass clippings until next spring. Scraps from the table go in there, too."

"That's nice," Alesha said. "I love flowers."

"Try some of the cantaloupe. I've always liked cantaloupe, but Diana showed us how it can be better. It has to be fully ripe. She leaves them out on the counter and smells them every day. When they're ready, they have a much better smell that you learn to recognize. That's when we put them in the refrigerator to cool, then serve them. They're lots better than just serving them straight from the grocery store. Most aren't fully ripe, then."

Alesha accepted several pieces of cantaloupe, wondering how in the world she was going to eat even half what the girls had piled on her plate.

Shortly, she was encouraged to sit between Diana and Arlene. Glancing across the table, she tried to remember the names of the people she had been introduced to. That distinguished looking guy is supposed to be ultra rich according to Jennie. He's dressed nicely, and that must be his suit coat hanging over there, but he doesn't act stuck up. He's laughing and joking with everyone. Now what's his name? I associated it with right. Yeah, that's it, Wainwright. And the lady beside him is Margaret. She said to always call her that. She didn't like titles. And he said to call him, Frank. Oh, Margaret is so in love with him. I like the way she looks at him.

And that little blond, Evie, is teasing Frank unmercifully. She's a riot. Does she ever sit still? She has enough energy for someone twice her size.

Those two pilots, uh, they said their names were ... I associated his name with Wild Bill Hickok. Yeah that's it: Bill and Kathy. They look sharp in those uniforms. And I'll bet there is something going on there. Kathy looks like the cat that ate the canary when she looks at Bill. She's so pretty. Startling herself with that thought, she surreptitiously scanned all the women at the big table. Even Margaret, although maybe a little older, is very pretty. I've never seen this many gorgeous women in one room. I feel like I'm so plain around these women. But the girls did my hair nice, and the pants and blouses they bought me are expensive. But I'm not in the same league as these rich people...

Helen winked at Alesha and grinned. Somehow, that made her feel better. Then Diana went into a long dissertation about the early years of their marriage, but the way she told her tale of woe, it was funny, obviously poking fun at herself and Jeff.

Alesha found herself laughing. When she looked at the grinning Arlene, she was almost certain that Diana's dialogue had been to put her at ease. She could like everyone here — a lot. But I've always made my own way, and call it anything they want, it's still charity. Now that I can hear so much better, I have to start looking for a job. Maybe Jesse will know of something. If not, I'll see if he'll look around a little for me. I'll bet he talks to a lot of people while he's on duty. Maybe I can get a job at one of the ski lodges. They're bound to need someone to clean rooms. I could handle the desk job, too. I like to meet people and I'm darn sure computer literate.

"Would you like some more fruit?" Diana asked.

"Huh?" My gosh. My plate is empty. "No thank you. I can't believe I ate all that food. It was delicious."

Insistent upon helping with cleanup, Alesha managed to rinse some of the dishes. Annie was at another sink rinsing as well. When the last dish was rinsed, she turned around to start something else and stopped. All the girls, including Linda (Madison's daughter) were just finishing wiping counters and the huge table. Everything was in its place, and Laura put the last of the plates in the dishwasher that Alesha had just rinsed. The kitchen was spotless.

Almost stunned, she looked around her at the gleaming, monster kitchen. Was I daydreaming or something? How could we have gotten done so quickly?

Tugging Alesha's hand, Jennie said, "Come on. It's still a while before we have to be in class. We have things to show you now that you're feeling better. You'll love this place. Wait 'till you see the pool room ... The pool is just great. Do you play computer games? We have almost every game there is..."

As the door closed behind Alesha and the girls cutting off the sound, the women grinned at each other.

Annie smiled at the women, the men having been kicked out of the kitchen as usual when cleanup started. "You people know how to make a body feel welcome. I know. Been there. Done that," she laughed. "I have personal experience."

Laura hugged her. "We're going to miss you. But you won't be that far away. We want you to be a regular around here. You don't need an invitation. You're always more than welcome."

Diana took her hand. "Come on, the men are talking in the living room. We'll all go to our suite and have a little gabfest before you go."

Bill, Dave, Jeb and Jeff sat in the living room drinking coffee. "Okay, Dave, tell me what's going on with the move."

Dave took a sip of coffee, leaned back and put his feet up. "Well, as you know, we're going to get Jeb and Annie moved in today. The movers are going to meet us, and I have several people from a crew that are going to help out as well."

"Maybe I need to go with you," Jeff said to Dave. "I think you're right, Jeb. That wasn't a robbery; it was a hit..."

Dave raised his left hand a little. "Hold on there, Boss. I totally agree with you. I've got it covered, though. There are two Denver officers who are going to meet us there and stay until everything is loaded, and we leave. I've got enough boxes and people coming to fill them that all Jeb and Annie have to do is point."

"What are you going to do with your furniture, Jeb? Dave tells me that the previous owners left a lot in your new house?"

Jeb had gotten up to refill his cup, but paused in his pouring. "Well, to be frank with you, other than a dresser of Annie's that is a keepsake, we're just going to store most of our stuff. There's a great big storage building, not to say anything about plenty of room in the garage. We're just going to put most everything in the utility building and worry about it later. Hell, they even left most of the cooking utensils."

"Make damn sure you carry your piece with you, anyway," Jeff said, looking hard at Dave.

"Yeah, I am, Boss. I even tried to get Jeb and Annie to just go on to the new house..."

" ... But we want to go back one more time. And there are some personal things that we want to pack ourselves."

Jeff sighed. "I wish I could go with you, but I've got some things to do today."

"Boss, we'll be fine. I'm taking a bunch of people with us, plus having the Denver officers there. Nobody is going to mess with Jeb and Annie."

Frank walked in and sat just as Dave finished.

"What's that grin about?" Dave asked as Frank poured himself a cup and sat on a sofa near Dave.

"Ah, I just got off the phone with Ray Tingle. He's going to call the chopper pilot and see if he's willing to meet about setting up a flying service. If he wants to try it, we'll have a much shorter commute. If he doesn't, we'll have a shorter commute in Saint Louis. Win, win as far as I'm concerned."

"I thought we were in a hurry this morning," Madison said.

Frank took a sip of coffee and chuckled. "Well, I thought I was, too. But then Margaret told me that I wasn't."

"And what did you say to that?" Dave teased.

"Hell, you know me," Frank said trying to look serious. "I said, 'Yes, Ma'am.' Works every time."

"Yep," Jeb said. "Like I've always heard, they own most of the money in the world, and all the pussy."

"Second that," Jeff laughed.

"So what are you going to do today, Boss?" Dave asked, trying to copy the tone that Jeff had used asking him the same thing.

Jeff, unaware that Dave was teasing him, said, "The Sheriff called yesterday and wanted to meet with me this morning. And I need to get back with the lawyer about the Thompsons' farm, plus Diana said she had a couple of things for me to do. Probably, the Honey-Do list will come first."

"I was just teasing you, Jeff. It's none of my business..."

"The Hell it's not. We're family."

Before they could continue, the women walked in. "Are you guys going to sit on your butts and gab all day like a bunch of women," Diana said as she bounced in and plopped down in Jeff's lap.

"Uump," he grunted, moving her a little.

"What's the matter? Did I sit on something important?" she teased.

"I, uh..." Jeff said, realizing that Alesha Turcott was only a few feet away.

"You are so cute when you blush," Diana said kissing him lightly on the lips.

"Payback," Jeff said, trying to look stern.

"Promises, promises," Diana grinned back at him.

"Okay," Wainwright said, standing, a grin on his face. "I guess we're rolling. We'll see everyone Friday night."

"Bye, Daddy," Linda said kissing her father hard. He had to fight to keep something else from being hard as her breasts burrowed into his chest.

"Bye, Kitten. See you Friday. Study and show them how smart you are."

After hugs from everyone, the four left in Laura's Escalade. Shortly, Dave, Evie, Jeb and Annie were also on their way.

Midmorning, the girls and Doctor Boswell were in class. Turcott had gone to take a nap, saying she was still a little weak. Laura was in the office working on a computer program, leaving Jeff, Diana, Joyce and Caitlin sitting in the living room.

The women had made a snack for themselves and well ... it was hard to think of Jeff's food as a snack, no matter what he said.

"I can't believe you eat that much and don't gain weight," Caitlin said, eyeing the diminishing food on Jeff's plate. "And don't even start with the seven wives routine."

Jeff grinned at her. "I'm just a growing boy," he sniggered, taking another bite.

The security computer chimed and switched to the Sheriff's car as it turned into the driveway. As the camera focused on the Sheriff's face, Jeff supplied his name for the computer. They watched the vehicle wind its way up the driveway, slow as it passed the front of the building, then drive on around to the back.

"When he called, I told him to come around to the back. I'll go and meet him, then bring him in here," Jeff said, getting up.

The Sheriff got out of his car and stood looking around. When Jeff walked out, Tate turned to him. "I guess you've heard it many times, but damned if I can keep from saying it. This place is huge."

"Yeah, it's a little on the large side, but we've been here a while now and we don't notice it as much anymore."

"From what I can see of it, that sure looks like a nice range," Tate said, nodding toward the back.

Jeff chuckled. "It started off to be quite modest, but then my project manager got into it. We're also building one in the basement. Well, were. Dave is trying to get a big barn built for a friend of ours. When that's done, he'll start back on the indoor range."

Tate looked around him again. "Yeah, as high up as you are here, you probably won't see the ground again before spring. It's a wonder that you don't have a foot or two already."

"Yeah, Dave tells me the snow is late this year. We've had a couple of light ones, but he says we'll have a lot more soon." Jeff motioned toward the back door. "Come on in. We can talk in the living room."

Tate opened the trunk of his car. Reaching inside, he brought out a gun belt and holster with a Glock already in it. Slinging the equipment belt over his shoulder, he handed Jeff a new vest for Joyce.

"I thought they were keeping Joyce's pistol until the investigation was over," Jeff said, eyeing the Glock in the belt holster.

Tate picked up a small box then closed the trunk. "Oh, this isn't Deputy Cramer's gun. It's just a loaner for her."

Jeff grinned at the Sheriff, but didn't say anything further about the equipment, just motioned toward the door again.

As they walked into the living room, Joyce stood. "Sheriff."

"Morning Deputy. You're looking well today."

"I feel good, Sir," Joyce responded, but she looked tense.

After everyone greeted the Sheriff, he turned back to Joyce who was again sitting on one of the couches. Realizing that she looked tense, he said, "At ease, Deputy. This is a social call to see how you're doing and to bring your equipment to you."

Tate put the equipment belt and small box on the couch beside Joyce. Jeff placed the new vest beside the other equipment. "Your breast badge and hat badge are in the box. We didn't have another hat that size, so I had to order one. I'll have Deputy Goodman bring it to you when it comes. If you'll call the Sergeant and give him your sizes, he'll send you a replacement uniform as well."