The last notes of Already There died out with a harp run, and their presence seemed to echo even after the strings had stilled. Blake could feel everybody holding their breath as the notes still rang between their ears.

Jennifer broke the silence. "Not bad, folks. What did you think, Trey?"

Blake glanced up at Trey, sitting behind the glass of the soundproof recording booth. "Nailed it like you did the last three times," his voice came from the speaker overhead.

"Anybody else think we need to run through it again?" Jennifer asked. There were two or three heads that shook. "Actually, I think we were a little duller on that run-through than the last one," Shovelhead said.

"Yeah," Randy added. "I think you've got about what you were going to get."

"All right," she smiled and quietly added. "That's a wrap for Whispering Pines. Thanks, everybody. I know it's late and everybody's tired, so let's hold the wrap party till Friday evening. That'll give us a chance to say good-bye and good luck to Myleigh and Trey before they disappear off to Kansas on us."

"Sounds good to me," Shovelhead said. "Lex will like having me around again."

"Make sure she comes Friday," Jennifer said. "We'll probably be having some folks over; we might want to have a jam session."

"That'll be fun," Randy said, getting up and stretching. "I don't think I could hack a wrap party tonight. It'll sure be nice to be back to only ten- or twelve-hour days."

"Randy, I know both you and Shovelhead have put in a lot of extra hours on this on top of your job," Jennifer said. "And you know I really appreciate it."

"Well," he shrugged, "You know we wouldn't do it if we didn't want to."

Blake leaned back and let out a sigh. Whispering Pines had been difficult in its way. Oh, the music wasn't that bad, but the schedule had been pushing it, especially considering that it had to be worked around Randy's and Shovelhead's jobs. This was the busy season for Randy, but it had to be done when Myleigh was available, and that ended this week. They'd been working on the album for almost a year; the music had mostly come from the library, some of it written as much as ten years before. Blake had made up a practice CD of some of those library recordings months before and sent them around to the band members for each to have their input on what could be added. They'd been working them up two and three at a time as a whole group ever since Myleigh had showed up in June, but working part-time they'd put together fourteen tracks in eight weeks. Already There was the last one, although it wouldn't be the last one on the album; they'd purposely saved this one for last. It was a little simpler than some of the earlier stuff and would be easier to pull together when everyone was tired but dialed in with each other. It was only the second evening they'd done it as a group, but they'd pretty well worked out the details the night before. They'd planned on working out the rough edges tonight before recording it tomorrow, but it had gone so well that they'd decided to just go a little late and get it over with.

But, ending Whispering Pines just meant the start of a new period of busy -- a different busy. There was a lot of mixing yet to do on the album, although that wouldn't be the hassle that it had been in years past. Having Trey in the recording booth had already taken a layer of tedious work out of the process, and he'd already pushed a long way toward the final mix on some of the earlier cuts. The kid was a natural at it, Blake thought. Sure going to miss him.

Trey came out of the recording booth looking tired, too. "Went pretty good, I thought," he said to Blake. "You want to get started on the premix at nine tomorrow, or do you want to sleep in a bit?"

"Aw, hell," Blake said. "We hadn't planned to work on it tomorrow, anyway. Jennifer has those phone interviews tomorrow, and Myleigh has a couple too. Let's you and me just take the day off."

"Talked me into it," Trey smiled. "You got anything in mind to do?"

"I just want to get out for a bit," Blake said. "Maybe take the sea kayak out to Horse Island, or something. You want to come along?"

"Sounds good," Trey said, "If you'll keep it down to my speed, and if I can get Nicole's boat again."

"I don't plan on being in any hurry," Blake said. "I just want to get out and laze around, just to unwind."

"Hey, Randy," Trey asked, "You think Nicole would have any problem if I took off with her kayak again tomorrow?"

"Shouldn't be," he said, packing up the bass guitar. "She'll be in conferences over at the school all day. You and Myleigh coming along pretty soon?"

"I'm ready when she is," Trey said. "I don't think it'll be long."

"If it's more than five minutes I expect to be crapped out by the time you get there," Randy said. "Don't worry about waking me up." He glanced at his watch. "Wow, I've got to be out at Three Cherries in seven hours, and that's a forty-mile drive. I'm out of here. See you tomorrow night, I guess."

"I guess," Trey said, and turned to Blake. "How do you want to handle this?"

"Why don't you paddle up here in the morning? Myleigh can drive over," Blake suggested. "I'll make some breakfast, then we can leave the women to yap on the phone while we head out to Horse. I'll pack a lunch. If we feel like it, we can head from Horse over to the north shore, and come on around the west end."

"Big day for me," Trey said. He'd been out in Nicole's sea kayak perhaps a dozen times over the course of the summer, but mostly for short trips. "But we've got all day, I guess."

"If you want, we can come straight back from Horse," Blake shrugged. "Or, whatever. I don't care. Let's shoot for breakfast about eight, that'll give Jennifer some time to get some coffee in her before she has to work the phones."

The next morning, under a crisp, cool sky that already bore the hint of the oncoming fall, Trey pulled Nicole's long white and yellow Nimbus Solander sea kayak up onto the beach in front of Jennifer and Blake's house. Blake's maroon and white Necky Tesla was already sitting on the beach, ready to go.

Breakfast was all ready when he got there, and the four sat down together like they had frequently over the last two months. Before long, Jennifer said, "Well, I guess it's off to the salt mines for Myleigh and me. You two have fun, sneaking out on us like that. I'm going to have to spend all day on stupid questions that people could get the answers to from Annette's story in the Tennessean."

The calls had been steady ever since the story hit the street -- and the Internet. There had been requests for interviews from a number of sources, requests to send film crews, and of course, they tried to do their best with them. Blake knew that the next two or three weeks were going to be filled with those; a half dozen film crews were scheduled in the next two weeks. Much to their surprise, one of the requests had been a very meekly worded one from Hollywood Tonight, and the head producer there was very surprised to have it accepted. They were scheduled for next week, and Blake figured that they would be on their best behavior.

As Trey and Blake settled into the sea kayaks a few minutes later, Trey commented, "I'm surprised Jennifer let you off the hook that easily."

"I'll get my share," Blake said. "This way, I'm not around to get the questions thrown at me directly, at least today. I'd have been somewhere else even if I'd been at home. So, I might as well get out."

"Still a little sensitive about it, huh?" Trey asked gently.

"No, a lot sensitive," Blake said. "Like I told Annette a month ago, it really isn't anybody's business except Jennifer's and mine." He sighed as he snapped the spray deck into place. "I don't know that you know, but I wasn't quite straight with Annette about it not being any big secret. We have gone well out of our way for many years to not bring it up. Until it came out in the tabs last spring there were only five people around here who knew about it, and that includes Jennifer and me. We worked pretty hard to keep it that way. That's part of the reason why I always tried to be the semi-anonymous backup man and stay in her shadow." He got settled and picked up his double-bladed paddle. "There were other reasons for that too, but that's past. The contract situation with Nashville-Murray was really a bigger one. They never wanted to put me under contract, and I don't know that my having been gay had something to do with it or what, but they knew. That bastard Monagan knew of course, and I always figured Oldfield did, but realistically, I think it was more that it was something that they could do to keep Jennifer under their control."

"They figured you were trying to get her out of there, huh?" Trey said, digging in with his paddle.

"Well, I was," Blake admitted. "Jennifer Evachevski was always a lot more than Jenny Easton ever was. I saw that from the beginning. But for a long time, there were good reasons for Jenny to stay there, at least for a while. But like my being gay, the time for that passed." He changed the subject. "Nice morning, isn't it? September is always the nicest month of the year up here."

"Couldn't be better," Trey smiled as he picked up on the subject change. "It's hard to believe that this time next week I'll be back at Marienthal. Back to being a pumpkin."

"You've had quite a summer," Blake smiled. "The Grand Canyon, and now this."

"Best summer I ever had," Trey agreed. "Look, I really have to thank you and Jennifer for that."

"It's not like you haven't worked your butt off along with us," Blake said. "I could never have trimmed Canyon Tours down like you did, increasing its punch along the way. Just defanging it is all I would have done."

"I suspect being there helped," Trey said. They were well off the shore now, turning toward Horse Island laying low off in the distance.

"Oh, it had to have played a part," Blake smiled. "But I could never have worked with Myleigh the way you did. I'm glad she asked you to come. Things are going to be different around here with you and her gone. Still busy, but different."

"Yeah, you're going to be up to your butt in interviews and film crews."

"It had to be done," Blake admitted. "It's going to be a big part of shifting Jenny Easton out of our lives. Then, we've got other stuff to get on to, like figuring out the next project."

"Any ideas?" Trey asked.

"Not really," Blake sighed. "But, I'm not worried about it. This time last year, we were up to our butts in Saturday Night, and all we knew was that the next album was going to be new wave. Oh, we've thrown around some ideas for the next one, and all we're sure about is that it's not going to be old-line. Jennifer made that wisecrack about doing a polka album to Annette, and then it started to make a little sense. It's going to take some work if we do it. We can't do it with the Boreals, at least not without finding some additions." He was silent for a minute before he went on. "Polka music has always seemed a little tinny to me, and I'm sure part of that is crappy recording. I want to think about it some and explore the genre before we get serious. If we're going to do it, it wants to be the landmark of polka albums, not just a me-too. It's a pretty traditional art form, but if we do it, we'll have to inject some new and probably radical ideas. It may take a while to work that one out."

"That'll be interesting," Trey grinned.

"Oh, I think it'll come in time," Blake said. "It's probably further off than next year, though. Back during that weekend when we went surfing, I made a wisecrack that the next album ought to be Surfing with Jenny Easton. That title wouldn't work now, of course, but the idea has some merit. Maybe all instrumental with the Boreals, some ambient surf noise and seaside sounds mixed in, like you and Myleigh did with Canyon Tours. Sort of taking the old stuff the Ventures and the Sandals did to the next step. I don't know, it's still a concept."

"You know," Trey smiled, "Myleigh and I are already talking about the holidays at Buddha and Giselle's again. You might want to poke your nose in there. I have a feeling Buddha might give you some ideas."

"Might just have to do that," Blake agreed. "I've heard Randy and Nicole and Myleigh talk about them for years, but somehow we never got around to going down there with them. I'm just sorry we never got the chance to get out again, but we got so damn busy, what with the two albums, all the publicity stuff, and the tours."

"Yeah, it did get pretty busy there for a while," Trey admitted. "But I learned an awful lot."

"It was pretty good," Blake replied, remembering back. It had been a lot of fun, in its way. As he and Jennifer had done in several years past, they borrowed a motor home from a couple in Spearfish Lake who used it to winter in Florida. In the week after Annette had visited, then two weeks later, they had played a total of eleven shows, just Jennifer, Myleigh and himself. Trey had wound up doing a lot of the driving and stage managing. They'd played one other weekend, at a big show in Illinois that Jennifer had played every few years, and this time, they'd taken the whole band along in a chartered Cessna Citation. It had been a huge crowd, one of the biggest that Jennifer had ever played. It would have been hard to say that the Boreal String Band was the hit of the show, because there were a lot of hit acts. Still, Jennifer and Myleigh's performance of Dawnwalker and Myleigh's solo of Dark Haired Rebel Girl with Jennifer and the band backing her up had drawn absolutely rave applause. "What with the new wave, I don't know how much county fair stuff there'll be in the future. We haven't done much of it in the past, just enough to hear the crowds. Now Jennifer wouldn't mind doing more touring than we've done in recent years, but I'm not sure how new wave will go over with county fair crowds."

"That was pretty much all new wave you played," Trey said. "Except for Fever, which was old-line. I thought it went over pretty good."

"Fever was the first of the new wave," Blake said. "The critics down in Nashville gave her hell about the fact that it was a remake of a 1940s torch song, not country at all. We barely snuck it past Nashville-Murray. They were never too happy that it went platinum on them. They didn't like to be proved wrong. Those tours were before Annette's story came out, and there's no telling how that's going to affect the country crowd. So, we're just going to have to wait and see."

They paddled on for a while, Horse Island drawing closer and closer very slowly over the nearly calm waters of Spearfish Lake. It was indeed a beautiful day, a nice one for just paddling along enjoying themselves. Blake and Trey continued to talk at times, sometimes about music and the business, sometimes about other things, sometimes just staying silent as stroke after stroke of their paddles drew them along. Finally the low, sandy shore of the end of Horse Island was only a few yards in front of them, and they could see the bluff behind and a tree-covered hill rising high. Without much discussion, they started to paddle along the south shore, just watching the wild, tangled shoreline coast past. It was a mile or more down to the west end of the island, and they followed it around most of the way back on the north shore. Finally, three quarters of the way around the island they rounded a small point where they could look back at the sight of the town of Spearfish Lake lying low in the distance. By looking carefully, and knowing where to look, they could just make out Blake and Jennifer's house on Point Drive.

"Don't know about you," Blake said. "It's too early for lunch, but I wouldn't mind getting rid of this morning's coffee and having another cup. I brought a thermos. We can have a cup, then make the crossing over to the north shore of the lake and find some place for lunch."

"Works for me," Trey agreed.

They got out of the sea kayaks, pulled them up on shore, and used the bushes for a moment. The sun was beating down a little now -- though nothing like it had beaten down on Trey in the Grand Canyon a few months before -- so they found a little patch of shade above the beach to enjoy their coffee. "Kansas is going to be tough after this," Trey mused.

"Yeah, no doubt," Blake said. "When I first came here from LA I really thought this was the sticks, but now I can't imagine living anywhere else." He was silent for a moment. "All in all, it worked out to be a pretty good life. A lot better than anything I had any right to expect."

"Not where you expected it to come out, I'm sure," Trey smiled.

"No way," Blake said. "You know, I first went to work for Jennifer when I was about your age, and it led me some places I never expected to go." Again he was silent for a moment. "You got any idea where you're planning on going, after you graduate?"

"It's pretty unsettled," Trey said. "You know I'm thinking about working on an MBA, just so I can stay around Myleigh. I don't know where that's headed, but I keep thinking that we're going to be heading there together."

"I figured that," Blake nodded. "Trey, I've got some ideas I want to run by you. Nothing's fixed in my own mind or Jennifer's, but it's something we're kicking around and something may fall out of it. It's always been pretty convenient to have the studio in the basement. We can run down there and work on an idea, work it up and record it. I don't think we want to change that. But, bringing in the band like we've done the last couple months has been a little different. I don't want to say it's been a pain in the butt, because it's all friends. But in another year, we're going to have a toddler running around the house, and it's going to be more difficult. If we start bringing in other artists and other groups to record for Dawnwalker, it's going to be more than a simple pain in the butt. Among other things it could turn into a zoning issue, and one thing we never want to do is piss off the neighbors."

"Yeah, I can see that," Trey said, wondering where this was headed.

"It's just going to get worse," Blake went on. "Especially if things go the way we want them to. I'm thinking that we might just look for a building around town somewhere, maybe out in the country, where we can have a regular studio, just for recording, and Jennifer and I will just use the basement for workups."

"Makes sense," Trey said.

"The problem is that it just makes things more complicated for me," Blake said. "I mean, for years I was Jennifer's stage manager and her security. I did the recordings, did the mixing, and a lot of other stuff, and then played backup. Now, she wants me to take more of a lead in performances, too. I don't mind that, but with an increased recording and mixing load on top of it, it's going to get out of hand. It got close to being out of hand this year. Like I told you earlier, I could have never handled the job on Canyon Tours. I just didn't have the time for it. I realize that there was nothing planned about Canyon Tours, it was just sheer goddamn urge that couldn't be ignored, but it didn't come at a good time, what with Whispering Pines in production. I really have to thank you for pulling my ass out of the fire on that."

"No big deal," Trey smiled. "I learned a lot."

"Yeah, you did," Blake said. "Look, this isn't an offer or anything, and our ideas aren't even all pulled together yet, but I want you to think about it. I'm thinking that having a sound engineer around who can carry a big chunk of the load in the stage and recording management would be a big help. It doesn't have to be right away, and I wouldn't be surprised that a guy who also had an MBA might be useful, too."

"Blake, that's a hell of an offer," Trey said. "I'd love to say yes, but Myleigh enters into the picture. I'm not sure how, yet, but whatever happens she's a major factor."

"I know," Blake said. "That's part of my thinking, too. Trey, she's awful damn good. Better than she thinks she is. If she were to even meet it halfway, she could have a pretty good career in this business. Maybe not a Jenny Easton level career, but neither Jennifer nor I would wish that on anyone. I'd like to have her a little more available for the band, and a little more available to tour. She's not going to be able to do either very much while she's at Marienthal."

"I don't know if she's going to want to give up Marienthal," Trey said thoughtfully. "Look, all summer, I've seen the difference between Jenny Easton and Jennifer Walworth. There's nearly as big a difference between Myleigh and Dr. Harris. You probably don't see it because you never see her as Dr. Harris, but that's very important to her. Now, I think that if she were to come up with a job teaching English literature somewhere within striking distance of here, she'd jump on it so quick it wouldn't be funny."

"You think so?"

"Sure," Trey said. "Like I said, you've never seen her as Dr. Harris. You have to see what she's like in the classroom. She's just about as passionate about the English literature as she is about the harp. Look, I can tell you stories of how hard she busted her ass to become Dr. Harris, but I'm sure Randy can tell them better."

"He's told me a lot," Blake said. "I'm sure she busted her ass harder than Jennifer or I ever did to get to where we are today."

"Look, you were the one who told Annette that it's hard to give up a label like 'gay.' As hard as she worked to get where she is, it'd be hell for her to give up being labeled 'Dr. Harris.' I don't think she'll ever want to do it. As important as being Myleigh is to her, being Dr. Harris is more important. Think of Myleigh as Jenny and Dr. Harris as Jennifer, and you've got a pretty good idea of what things are like for her."

"I hadn't thought of it that way," Blake said.

"Not surprising," Trey said, taking a sip of his coffee. "It just struck me like that too, although I think she has the two balanced better than Jennifer did or does or whatever. But I know it concerns her. You know the story of her first concert back there at Marienthal."

"Yes, she called us afterward, pretty late, real excited at how well she'd been received," Blake commented. "She was really tickled pink."

"That had to have been after we had a long talk about it," Trey said. "It was the first time we ever talked with each other on a personal level. She told me right up front that she was really concerned about getting into a Jennifer/Jenny situation. Now she's done it, and I don't think it was a clear decision on her part. I know she wanted to consider it carefully. Then, she came up here last winter to talk to you about that concern."

"And when she walked in the door, we hit her with Harp Strings and made the decision for her," Blake said, nodding his head ruefully. "I don't think Jennifer or I even thought about that angle. But she's handled it very well."

"Right," Trey said. "And next week, the clock strikes midnight, the carriage turns into a pumpkin, with Dr. Harris standing beside it. I don't know how she's going to handle it. I can help her out as Myleigh, but I'm not as much good at helping out Dr. Harris."

"I'm glad you'll be there to help when you can," Blake said. "You know, the two of you are pretty close. Jennifer told me that Myleigh said one time that while the two of you were close friends, she couldn't call you a boyfriend, although she'd be proud to if she could."

"The Myleigh versus Dr. Harris thing again," Trey said. "It affects me, too. Badly. Badly enough that we decided to try to keep from going down that road any further, at least until I graduate. It's been hard. I'd love to have Myleigh for a girlfriend, maybe more. Dr. Harris, well, right now, I can't. Professors and students aren't supposed to fool around with each other, especially at Marienthal. After this summer, it's going to be hard to open up that kind of distance from her again, even if it is only until December."

"Hang in there," Blake said. "At least, it is only till December."

"Yeah," Trey said. "But then, there are times that I wonder what I'm doing messing around with her at all. Blake, she awes the hell out of me, much more than Jennifer does, at least once I got to know Jennifer. She is so damn brilliant, she is so damn talented in so many fields, she has such damn drive to do what she wants -- well, piss. I suppose I'm a nice enough guy, I may know something about sound boards and can pull 'B's in business classes, but I don't have that kind of talent, I don't have that kind of drive, and I don't have those kinds of goals. I mean, I've always sort of gotten along, done the next thing that seemed right at the time, no real long-range plans, even now. She's a class person, and I'm a nobody from nowhere. I don't know how I can measure up to her, ever."

"You aren't the first one to get a dose of that from her," Blake said. "Randy was kind of in your shoes when he was in college, the first part, and he sort of measured himself against her, and well, against Crystal too, and figured he came up short. He dropped whatever major he had and took up construction management, then went into his granddad's business. Now he's running it for all intents and purposes, and you see how he busts his ass. I wouldn't want to accuse him of it to his face, but I think he's still trying to measure up to Myleigh."

"I didn't know that," Trey said. "But, it doesn't surprise me. Blake, what the hell do I do?"

"Trey, I can't tell you," Blake sighed. "I can tell you that I spent many years standing in the shadows of the woman I love, knowing I'd never measure up to her talents, doing what I could to support her. I don't see any shame in it. Granted, I have some talents, some things I'm pretty good at, but I've used those talents for her. Obviously, you don't have the same kind of talents. Big deal. You have others, maybe some you haven't discovered yet. Hell, I told you. You're already better at a sound board than I'll ever be. I still know a few tricks that I haven't showed you, but they'll come in time. It may take Myleigh to bring others out. Who knows?"

"I don't know," Trey sighed. "It's just that I always seem to feel like I'm in over my head with her."

"Don't let it go to your head," Blake smiled. "Think about how hard it was for me, especially with having the gay-straight issue to deal with, too."

"There is that," Trey smiled.

"You know what?" Blake said. "It was a hassle. But it was worth it. They're both incredible women, and that makes up for a lot of hassles." He took a long sip of his coffee, finishing it up. "You want to head straight back, or head over to the north shore like we talked about, and go back the long way?"

"Oh, hell, let's go the long way," Trey said. "It's going to be a long time before I'll get a chance to do this again."

"Fine with me," Blake said. "Look, Trey. What I said before still goes, about something up here. If that works out, fine. If it doesn't, fine. It's your life. Do what you have to do. Try to make it work with her, because I think she's worth it."

"I do, too," he sighed. "Well, nobody ever said it would ever be easy."

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