Not long after he got off the phone with Jennifer and Blake the next morning Danny was sitting in the store just trying to take a few notes and organize his thoughts a little about how to go about developing a plan. He really hadn’t gone much further than identifying the problems, but he felt like he needed to keep his sister updated on what he was thinking, and how it would affect her desire to see their father slow down gently.

"Before we get too much further along," Blake had suggested, "let’s bring Phil in on the discussion. He has more experience with developing retail sales businesses than we do. He played a big part in getting Josh and Tiffany’s store organized, and I think he’s got some money in some other stores elsewhere."

"Sounds like an idea," Danny agreed. "I mean, I think I can run this business, at least after a little more experince, but expansion, building, new lines, financing, there’s a lot of things I don’t know."

"We’ve got people we can ask," Jennifer commented. "John especially, but let’s keep this in the family for a while. In any case, we can’t do anything about that part of it until Phil gets back from Alaska. That’s next week sometime. But keep working on it, Danny. It sounds like you’ve got some good ideas so far."

"I’ll keep after it," he said. "I’ll be the first to admit that it’s probably on the back burner until fall anyway, especially with Debbie taking up a chunk of my free time the last couple weeks. But I would like to have some options at least halfway thought out when fall gets here."

All in all, it had been a satisfying discussion. A big part of the reason that Danny wanted to keep Jennifer tuned in was that he already realized that an expansion into a new building was going to involve a large amount of long-term financing. If he could get it through the family at a favorable interest rate, so much the better; he could unbend that much in his desire to not mooch on his sister, and would pay the loan back as if it were from a bank. But long-term financing meant a long-term commitment, and two weeks ago, he hadn’t been able to fully consider that. But a lot had happened in two weeks, and the chances now seemed a lot better.

Probably what he ought to do sometime real soon, he thought, is to get Randy off to the side and get a rough idea of what kind of numbers a new building would come to. But, as he thought about it, doing that involved having some idea of how big he’d want it, which tied in with what he’d put in it. Having been in furniture stores a few times, he realized that furniture used more space than appliances, especially when considered against the cost per unit. This place was a little cramped, anyway. Just as a start, consider one and a half times the current space for appliances, twice that for furniture. So, just for pencil pushing, say a minimum of four times the current floor space. He wasn’t even sure how much that was, so he got up to pace off the store.

He happened to be pacing toward the back of the store when he heard the bell go off as the door opened. He turned around to see who had come in.

"Hi, Danny," Amy said softly. "Your dad was out at the Club this morning, so I figured you were here."

"How are you doing, Amy?" he asked, getting over his surprise a little. Now that she’d walked in, he remembered that she was supposed to be out at the club sometime around now. Two weeks ago that had seemed important – but it hadn’t crossed his mind since Debbie walked through that same door eleven days ago.

"Not bad, Danny," she told him. "I expected to see you at the Club."

"Haven’t been there this summer," he admitted. "I’ve been trying to avoid your folks."

"That’s probably a good idea," she nodded. "Danny, I don’t know how much this means to you anymore, but I’m pretty worried about Marsha. So are they."

"‘Mildly curious’ about covers it," he said. "Amy, a lot has happened to me since I got back."

"I know," she smiled, leaning back against a dryer. "I heard your folks talking about your new girlfriend. They seem to like her a lot. She’s not a nudist, I take it?"

"I might get her out to the Club some time, but I’m not going to push her, and I’m not holding my breath."

"Not into natural stuff then, I take it," she smiled. "I suppose you’d want to get away from it."

"She’s into natural stuff, just different than the kind you and I grew up with," Danny said, not elaborating. He realized that he didn’t want to say too much about Debbie, since whatever he said stood a good chance of getting back to Marsha. And, on that topic . . . "So, what’s the deal with Marsha?"

"I think she’s losing it," she replied. "I mean, I know she used to snap and fight with you a lot, but she’s doing it with me, and she drove Sheena out with it."

"Dad said something about it," he nodded. "Just that it fell through, not what happened, or anything."

"I’m not sure myself," she smiled, "but it must have been pretty spectacular. Sheena is now the most evil bitch on the face of the planet. But then, you’re the most evil bastard on it for leaving her, too. She’s really, really paranoid. I mean, there was a time there she was calling me several times a day to complain about everything under the sun. I didn’t need to set an alarm clock, the phone would do it. She’d call Mom and Dad, like that, too. Let me tell you, I was damn glad to get out to Nevada. I told her that I was doing an advanced seminar in aromatherapy, it was back up in the mountains where I couldn’t be reached. So, now I’m an evil bitch for running out on her, too."

Danny nodded. "Dad said you were out west, but I didn’t say anything. I take it you weren’t studying aromatherapy?"

"No," she giggled. "More of an advanced seminar on oral sex. I made out pretty good. Patty and Shirley and George said to say hi, I told them there was a chance I might be seeing you. Also a woman named Frenchy that I didn’t meet last winter."

"If you’re going back out there, send my regards."

"I leave Sunday," she replied. "Frenchy will be gone, though. By the way, Patty said to tell you she’s on the home stretch, she’s over her target and should make her goal."

"Good news," he said. "I’ve often wondered about her. Tell her the next time you see her I’d better be able to call her ‘Doctor.’ So what are you using for an excuse this time?"

"I’m going to be an instructor at the New Age Life Center, that’s where I had the aromatherapy seminar," she smiled. "I haven’t figured out the rest yet. The Burning Man festival is my break week; I may just stay at the Center and go to the festival rather than come back here. It’s . . . uh, been a little bit hard to be around the folks."

"I can imagine," Danny nodded. "I have told a couple stories about the Redlite around town, but I’ve never even mildly associated you with them. In fact, just to be on the safe side I haven’t named any names except for Jennlynn’s. It turns out there are people here who have met her. I talked to one last night."

"She gets around," Amy laughed. "She does get around. God, I wish I had the guts she has, but with Sean and the kids, I just can’t."

"Your secret is safe with me," he told her. "And like I told you back last winter, if you ever need to talk to someone about it, I’m available."

"That’s sort of what I’m doing now," she admitted. "It’s been hard, especially with Marsha. Going back to Antelope Valley was almost like going home. At least, a real vacation. Three whole weeks without being bitched at, and another seven to look forward to. Maybe by the time I get back to Florida I’ll get lucky and Marsha will be so pissed at me she won’t talk to me either. Danny, I don’t know how you put up with her for so long. You have to be some kind of saint to have patience like that."

"I’ve said to a couple people that it wasn’t patience, but procrastination," he smiled. "There’s a difference."

"It doesn’t matter," she smiled. "Danny, I’m sorry the way things worked out. I’ve often thought I’d be better for you than she was, but I guess it wasn’t supposed to happen that way."

"Guess not," he said. "I guess it was just expected that it was supposed to be Marsha and me."

"Yeah, I guess," she shook her head. "It sure worked out different than I expected. I never figured my life was going to take me through the Redlite Ranch, but so far it’s worked out pretty well. I haven’t been freelancing since last winter."

"Good," he said. "That stuff is dangerous. That’s one real advantage the Redlite has."

"And I don’t run the risk of getting arrested," she nodded. "Boy, would that raise hell with my custody."

"Yeah, it would," he agreed.

"Hey, Danny," she said. "I really better get heading back, I was just going to get a few things and be back for lunch. I’m glad I caught you. Good luck with your new girlfriend. If it works out I’d like to meet her sometime, but not right now, I think."

"Maybe sometime," he replied gently, while hoping not. Amy was in a couple ways a part of his past that he wanted to keep separate from Debbie. "But yeah, not right now, for sure."

"I’ll drop in on you sometime again," she said. "It may not be soon, since I’m not planning on coming back this summer. Look, if you ever decide you need to know something about Marsha but don’t want to talk to her or my folks, you have my number in Florida." She smirked and continued, "and I think you remember the 800 number for my summer job."

"It’s would be hard to forget," he laughed, then got serious. "Amy, I’d be a liar if I said I haven’t worried about you. I’m still worried."

"It’s OK, Danny," she smiled. "Given a choice there’s other things I’d rather be doing, but I enjoy it, and it could be a lot worse. But I appreciate your concern." She let out a sigh. "I really do need to get going. I’m just glad to hear you’re getting things together. I’ll be all right, Danny. I’ll make it work out somehow."

Though he had other things to think about, Amy was very much on Danny’s mind as he rode Keyhole south that afternoon, with Anson at the throttle. The engineer was as sour as usual, so Danny had plenty of reason to keep his mouth shut and think about the implications of Amy’s visit.

A lot had changed in two weeks. Two weeks ago, Amy had been sort of an option to consider. He’d figured on making contact with her somehow while she was out at the club, if for no more reason than to just get caught up on things, not a lot more than they’d talked about this morning. But that was two weeks before, before Debbie entered his life. The best he could consider Amy now was a fallback position if things fell through with his Indian lover, and they did not seem to be heading that way at this point. For that matter, if things did fall through with her, he wasn’t so sure Amy was even a fallback position any more – Debbie had changed his thinking that much.

Looked at objectively, he’d identified four points of concern with Debbie: the alcohol and weight issues were two of them, but were minor since she was aware of them and seemed to have them under control. The third issue, the katara one, he was still coming to grips with, but was comfortable and even impressed with what he was learning. As he’d told her the other night, she might come up with some weird stuff, but he didn’t think it would be anything that would weird him out. The fourth issue was really her concern more than his, the Indian/white issue, and that may have been modified by last night – they just hadn’t had a chance to fully explore it. In any case, it was nothing he was concerned with.

On the other hand, there were a lot more issues with Amy, and worse ones. He might have been able to write off some of the stories from Florida, and the episode at the Redlite last winter as, well, experimentation, but after this morning, there could be no avoiding it: she was a prostitute. Not that she hadn’t been one before, but it seemed a lot more official now. But, good spirits, the other issues getting together with her would raise! Like he remembered telling Mallory, what a nest of worms that would be – including Marsha and her parents; the likelihood of having to return to Florida due to the custody arrangement with her kids. That would louse up anything in Spearfish Lake, of course.

Then why was he even thinking about this issue?

For the same reason it had bugged him ever since Amy had walked into the Redlite Ranch last winter. Was he responsible, to at least some degree, for her being a prostitute? He could have said something. He was in a lousy position to, but he could have. And for the last six months, knowing that she was looking at the idea of heading back to the Redlite Ranch, he could have done something to prevent it, even if it was nothing more than call her up and try to talk her out of it, to get the guilt off his mind. But, no, he hadn’t. Hell, he might even have been responsible a little for her heading back out there in another way – if he hadn’t left Marsha, his ex-wife might not have been such a pain in the ass to her sister to cause her to look for a summer’s vacation as a house prostitute. Hell, maybe even Josh had been a little responsible – he’d started her out liking sex. That was one thing he’d never tell his friend, though.

And, it wasn’t like he had that much against prostitutes. After all, he had friends that were prostitutes, friends who had done a great deal for him in a time of need, friends he respected for a number of reasons – but not, he realized, because they were prostitutes, but what they were in spite of being prostitutes. If he’d heard Amy right, Patty was close to her goal of making a quarter million dollars to get through med school! That was an awesome price she was paying for her desire to reach her goals, but when she was done with it there would be no doubt that she had earned her way. With that kind of determination, there was little doubt that she’d do well in med school, for she’d be able to calculate what her education had cost her in terms of the number of clients served.

But, Amy was different. Amy was a friend, a long-time in-law that he knew well, and she didn’t have the kind of goals that Peppermint Patty had. Oh, she had goals, to care for her children, to live comfortably – but there were other, if harder ways for her to reach them, and this was the way she’d chosen. So be it. It was Amy’s business, and he figured it was his business to butt out. He thought of the number of people that had said they’d thought about warning him about Marsha but figured it was none of their business, either – so he was in good company. But still, he felt damn guilty about it, just like they’d said they felt guilty about not speaking up.

But, whatever happened, there was no point in throwing his body into the breach. "Danny, don’t marry a whore," he remembered Frenchy saying. It would be a huge mistake to marry that one, he realized; he’d just about have to turn into someone like Frenchy’s husband, who he could never understand in the first place. But then, that had been the reason that he’d been reluctant to call Amy all spring, no matter how many times he’d thought about it. The bottom line was that she was a prostitute, had been and was going to be in the future, and knowing what he knew, and knowing that she knew it, there would be little chance to change it.

And, why would he want to? After all, it looked like he had Debbie now. Even if he had some issues with her, it wasn’t a warm-up on the issues he’d have with Amy.

OK, that settled one thing. But it wouldn’t keep him from feeling the guilt of doing nothing to prevent it eating at him.

*   *   *

At Ellen and Ruth’s house that weekend, Danny thought he detected a subtle difference in the way that they talked with him. It wasn’t anything he could put his finger on, but if he had to guess, the tone was more "us" than it was "you and us." Apparently the sixteenth Shakahatche blood, Elkstalker blood, that he carried in his veins, had made a difference, but it wasn’t something he felt like making an issue about. After all, even though his name was "Evachevski," he was equally as Polish as he was Indian. What is your name, Danny? he thought more than once. It was even a trickier issue than it had been before.

Everything considered, it did add some more relevance to the education he was getting in the Shakahatche culture and the language. For only a few hours’ work, and drilling with Ellen, Ruth, and Debbie, he was learning – though not with any great speed – but the old women seemed pleased with the progress he was making. He couldn’t help but wonder if he’d chanced to fall in love with a native bilingual Pole if he would have taken the same degree of interest in the language and traditions. There was no way of telling, but he could say that he’d spent a lot of time picking up Marsha’s sometimes rather peculiar passions and esoteric studies – much of which he felt was so much bovine excrement.

What may have impressed Ellen and Ruth even more that weekend was another spinoff from Marsha. He may have hated the wholesale herbal supplement business, but he did know quite a bit about herbs. Of course, his knowledge was considerably different from that of the old women, but there were interesting places where it intersected. They knew a great deal more about the things that grew wild locally, or were occasionally cultivated, but he knew more about the field in general, and had some practical, if strong, opinions about what worked and what didn’t.

Danny was still turning over some of what he’d learned in his mind on Monday morning. Except for the days that he’d swapped with Stormy the week before, this would be the first time on working the new "morning trick." He’d actually pick up with the second half of it, taking Keyhole north, but when he got back to Spearfish Lake a little after noon he’d be off until close to midnight. Keyhole rolled out at eight, which was an hour before Debbie went to work, and Danny had offered to let her sleep in – but she said she’d rather be with him, and that pleased him mightily. So, they were up and running early, and a little after seven o’clock they were having breakfast at the Spearfish Lake Café.

They were sitting there drinking coffee and talking about nothing in particular when Randy Clark came in. He caught sight of the two of them sitting in their booth, and came over to them. "Boy, you’re missing the excitement," he smiled.

They talked for a couple minutes about Jennifer and Blake heading out on a surfing expedition to Lake Superior, along with Myleigh and Trey. It seemed incredible, since Lake Superior was awful cold, but according to Randy it wasn’t the first time it had been done. When the conversation wound down, Danny asked, "Any chance you and I could get together sometime and talk construction?"

"Could be," Randy said, ears obviously perking up at the possibility of a job. "Anything in particular in mind?"

"At the moment, I’m just trying to get a rough idea of what the cost might be for various sizes and styles of buildings," he replied. "I don’t think anything will come of it before fall, maybe next spring, maybe not even then. This is just one of a number of ducks that have to be gotten into a row. It’s not a priority thing if you’re busy."

"This time of year I’m always busy," Randy said. "This week more so than most, what with heading down to see Nicole. But I never know when I might get a half hour clear."

Danny nodded. "If you get the chance, I’ll pretty much be at the store afternoons this week, then mornings next week," "Like I said, no big rush, though."

"Probably not this week," Randy nodded. "But I’ll put it on my to-do list for next week."

"Good enough," Danny smiled. He glanced at his watch, then looked at Debbie. "Hudaroi, I’m going to have to get moving or Chris is going to be chomping at the bit to get Keyhole rolling. We can do lunch if you want to make it after 1:30 or so."

"Let’s not today, Korican," she smiled, catching the meaning implicit in their Shakahatche pet names for each other. "That’s getting a little late after an early breakfast, and I do like to eat in the break room at the office once in a while, if for no other reason than to throw fresh wood on the gossip fire."

"Works for me," he said, polishing off his coffee. "I’ll grab something at the Frostee Freeze to get me through the afternoon. You want to run after work, before we do dinner?"

"That’s how we usually do it if you’re not out on the railroad, isn’t it?" she laughed as she got up. "I’ll see you right after five."

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