Tuesday was busy but not out of control for Emily and Dave, although Hazel had come up with quite a few ads that had to be made up and they had to add pages onto the paper twice. It was clear that this issue was going to be a collector’s item and Hazel sold that point up and down Main Street. They wrapped it up in good shape, got the pages sent to the printer, and Dave was even able to pick up his kids before JoAnne made it home. That was a heck of a lot better than Emily had ever dreamed after the job landed on her on Monday morning.

Things didn’t go quite as well on Wednesday since Emily had never had much to do with the mailing. Hazel had some idea of what was going on and Dave was able to figure out the label printing program. With that under control and the papers finally at the post office, Emily figured that maybe she’d better find the time to drive up to Borgess Medical Center to see Lloyd and show him the paper. Dave was quite proud of it himself, and offered to drive them up there in his Chevy. Emily was happy to let someone else do the driving for once.

Lloyd seemed weak and drawn, and Emily was sure it was more than the drugs that he was on. This heart attack had given him a real scare, although he now seemed to be on the way to recovery. He gave her a big smile when she handed him the Courier. In huge type across the full page it said, “Local woman averts hijacking”. There was a photo of Southern 111 sitting on the runway at Barksdale, another image of Jennlynn shaking hands with Colonel Hadley, and a smaller photo, her high school graduation photo. “Looks like a hell of a job I stuck you with, but you did real good,” he smiled finally. “How’d you get those photos?”

“Dave called a friend who called a friend at WNN,” Emily explained.

“I’d say you did real good,” he repeated. “Especially to have this dumped on you like this. Emily, I hate to ask this of you, but I don’t see any other way. Can you keep on doing the paper?”

“I figured it would be a while before you’d be back,” she said. “I can juggle the schedule around at the Spee-D-Mart for a while.”

“Thanks, Emily,” he said slowly. “I knew I could count on you. But that’s not quite what I meant. I know you’re not going to be at the Spee-D-Mart much longer. Betty has been bugging me for a while to slow down and take it easy. After this I’m not so sure she’s not right. Emily, my mind isn’t made up all the way yet, but I’m talking about you taking over the paper. I’m not sure how we’d work it out, maybe you manage it for me, maybe you buy me out. This isn’t the time to decide, anyway. But I’d like you to think about it. I’d much rather have someone who knows and likes Bradford take it over than someone from outside.”

“Lloyd, short term, until you get better, no problem,” she said. “Permanently, well, I’d have to think it over, talk it over with Kevin. This is a bad time, what with the knife shop getting going. A buyout might be beyond our reach.”

“We ought to be able to work out something,” he said. “I know there could be a better time for you, but it could be worse too.”

“But Lloyd,” she protested, “I really am just a fill-in. I’m not a professional newspaper person. I never went to college; I’ve never even had a class in journalism.”

“Neither have I,” he smiled. “But you can handle it. This,” he said, pointing at the newspaper laying on his lap, “proves it. Emily, you have the basics, you’re a solid writer, you’re a good businesswoman, you know how small towns work, you know how local government works, and you especially know how Bradford works. I don’t think there’s anyone available who’s better qualified.”

There was heavy silence in Dave’s Chevy until they were out on I-94, heading back to Bradford, but the thoughts were heavy. Finally, Dave broke the silence. “You have to admit it takes care of the problem of what you’re going to do when the Spee-D-Mart closes.”

“Yeah, it would,” she sighed. “I agree I might be able to make a go of it. I … well, I have the feeling that Lloyd has sort of been letting things run on automatic the last few years, if you know what I mean. It’s seemed to me that there are things that we could be doing better if he had more energy to put at it. But I don’t know what those things are.”

“You can learn,” Dave counseled. “Emily, I told you, I’m not a newspaperman, I’m a book editor. But I do know that stuff in small towns gets done in its own way, and it’s not always the way it’s done on a big newspaper. People will know that you taking over is being done under pressure, and will cut you some slack. You’re well known and well liked in the community. That counts for a lot.”

“I suppose,” she sighed. “The problem is that we’re already taking a big risk with the knife shop, and it’s got us pretty well extended. The plan was that I was going to stay with the Spee-D-Mart so there’d be at least one stable income, but that went away. I figured that I’d get another job somewhere. If I do this, it’s another big risk. With the knife shop loan I don’t know that the bank would want to talk with me about another big loan right now.”

“It’s possible you could get Lloyd to carry the note,” Dave suggested. “But I got the impression that Betty wants him free and clear. I think, however, the bank would back you if I guaranteed the loan.”

“You? Dave, I can’t ask you to take a risk like that! I mean, I think I can make a go of it, but I wouldn’t want to leave you hanging in the breeze on it if I can’t make it work.”

“I think you can make it work. What’s more, I watched you the past couple days, and that’s what makes me think it,” he grinned. “On top of that, it’s not really that big a risk for me.”

“But Dave,” she said, “how can it not be a risk for you?”

“Well, first off, I have no idea of what he’d be asking for the business, but it’s not really that big a business. For the sake of talking, let’s say a hundred thousand.”

“That’s a lot of money to risk,” she said.

“It is,” he agreed. “But there’s some real estate involved, I have no idea what that’s worth, you’d know better than I would. That would cover some of the risk. Beyond that, well, there’s something that I don’t think I’ve told you.”

“What?”

He took a deep breath. “This stuff is not quite real to me either,” he said. “As you know, Julie worked for a brokerage firm, Bellinger Gates, one of the better ones, and she was one of the better brokers. She had a private account that she played around with. She had nearly a million bucks in it when she died. With some other things, including some smaller accounts, a block of company stock, her insurance, and a possible settlement, it all adds up to a windfall of several million dollars. I’m not even sure how much, as we likely haven’t found all the pieces yet. It is absolutely a hell of a way to get it and I’d trade it in an instant to have Julie back.”

“Dave,” she shook her head. “I never knew any of that. I always knew you said that money was the least of your worries, but I had no idea it was that much money.”

“I didn’t either, at least not when Julie died,” he said slowly. “Some of it I didn’t know until I was working with our accountant on my last trip to New York. Anyway, the point I was leading up to is that my tax situation is such that I could easily eat a hundred thousand dollar business loss and it wouldn’t cost me a cent. So it’s no risk to me. Now, you went to a lot of trouble and effort for me out of the goodness of your heart, and the only thing you’ve ever asked of me is to lend you a hand when you needed it, so I’m willing to take some of the risk off your shoulders. I mean, I’m willing to look at it as an investment. If I lose it, I’ve lost nothing. But if I know you the way I think I know you, I don’t think I’ll lose on it.”

“Dave …” she said slowly. “I … I don’t know what to say.”

“ ‘Yes’ would be a good word,” he grinned.

“No,” she said flatly. “Not like that anyway. I don’t expect you to just back me with no hope of reward. The way we have the knife shop set up is that it’s a separate corporation that we all own an equal part of. The corporation is buying Jason’s tooling and stock and such, it’s a pretty big note but he’s carrying it. Vicky worked it out with some help from a lawyer. If you want to share the risk, you can share the reward, if there is any.”

“Those are details that can be worked out,” he smiled. “I admit to not knowing much about the details, but maybe we’d better ask Vicky about it to get things rolling.”

“Seems like it to me,” she agreed, realizing that her life had just changed in a direction she had never anticipated. “Does that mean you’ll be a part of the business and not move back to New York?”

“I don’t know,” he said slowly. “That’s still up in the air and it’s flopped back and forth a couple times in the last month. If I do, it won’t be until school is out, but I have to have a decision made one way or another by August, since I don’t want the boys to have to change schools in the middle of the year.”

“I never had it happen to me, but I know it can be a pain in the butt,” she conceded. “I know that you felt at one time that you couldn’t stay away from your job for much more than a year.”

“That part is working out better than I expected,” he said. “In fact, it’s the big argument for staying in Bradford. I’m getting a lot more done in Bradford than I could in New York because I mostly keep my nose to the computer screen. In New York, I was forever having someone plunk their butt on my desk to tell me the latest dirty joke, or I had to go to a meeting or business lunch or show some writer around while I should have been editing. My concern about coming here was that I’d miss out on all of that, because that kind of networking is important if you want to maintain a career in the business.” He let out a sigh and shook his head. “I knew when I came here that not being able to do that kind of networking could in time cost me my career, which is why I was reluctant.”

“Yeah, I guess I see that,” she said. “You’re now saying that you’re not sure you want to continue your career?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It’s an option I’m playing with. When I made the decision to come here, I didn’t realize that I was going to be in the financial situation I’m in. On top of all the money from Julie, I’m getting $90,000 a year from Dunlap and Fyre and banking much of it. If I were to stay here, I’m pretty sure I can do contract editing for them for some time at about that figure and still have half my working time to myself. I’ve always wanted to write fantasy. I’m using my free time to work on a book, and while I don’t want to judge it, it seems like it’s going all right.”

“When you put it like that, I don’t know why you’d want to go back,” she said. “I mean, I know you like New York, but Bradford isn’t such a bad deal in the situation you describe.”

“Right, and in many other ways, not the least of which is that I can be a much better father to the boys here,” he said slowly. “But there’s something that’s happened that means that I may have to go back.”

“What’s that, Dave?”

“Emily, this has to stay just between us for a while,” he said nervously. “I mean, you don’t even tell Kevin, OK?”

“I may be known as a gossip, but I can keep a secret if I have to,” she smiled. “What is it?”

He took a deep breath and almost blurted it out: “Shae is pregnant.”

Emily was incredulous for a moment. She knew Shae and Dave had been getting close – there had been that kiss, after all, and they’d been seeing each other every other weekend – but this was a surprise. “Dave?” she said in a small voice.

“It’s not an accident,” he said reassuringly. “Not really. Just a little sooner than we anticipated.” He took a deep breath and continued, “I only slowly became aware of the fact that Shae has been a very lonely person. Especially in the beginning I was so wrapped up in losing Julie that I was blind to it, so she and Eve really had to lay it out for me. She told me that she’d had a lot of problems with guys, we don’t need to go into why but it’s something that doesn’t affect me. She told me that she had about given up hope on getting married and was giving some thought to taking a swing at single parenthood when Avalon ends its run, which it probably will in the foreseeable future, two or three years at the most, maybe sooner. They’re going on hiatus for the summer and may not pick back up in the fall. I grew up as the child of a single parent, you know my dad died when I was young, and I told her it was no way for a kid to be brought up. And it isn’t.”

“I see people making it work,” Emily replied. “But it is a heck of a lot tougher than having two good parents.”

“Actually, I don’t think Shae would disagree,” Dave admitted. “I certainly don’t want it to happen if it’s my kid involved, and it is. And, actually, I should say they are, since I’m dealing with it from the other end, too. But, at least for the moment, while Avalon lasts, she has a career in New York.”

“I get the picture,” Emily nodded. “She’s not sure she wants to be in Bradford. She’s become a New Yorker herself, and she worked hard enough to get out of here in the first place.”

“You get the picture,” Dave smiled. “I understand perfectly because I’m in exactly the same boat. Shae and I weren’t real good friends when we were in high school, and not because of Denis either. But we’ve discovered that we’ve moved toward each other a lot over the last few years, and New York has had something to do with that. What happens if we’re in Bradford? Well, it’s anyone’s guess. To top it off, Shae’s only real close friends are Eve and John, especially Eve. And they’re in Philly, which is a lot closer to New York than it is to Bradford, enough so that she can spend a lot of time with them, and she does. Sergei and Milla are just about as much her kids as they are John and Eve’s.”

“I remember seeing that when we visited John and Eve that time,” she nodded. “And I can see how you’d be pulled both ways. Have you talked with Eve about this?”

“Frequently,” he said. “Both with Shae and without her. Short term, if Avalon is continued, the boys and I go back to New York in the summer. If it’s canceled, we may try it here. The problem is that while I’ve seen her with Sergei and Milla and that tells me that she’s going to make an absolutely wonderful mom, she’s not going to be happy just being a mom, no more than you could manage it.”

“I remember her saying often enough that she didn’t want to grow up to be a Bradford mom who runs a fork truck out at General,” Emily smiled.

“She still says it,” Dave grinned. “Unless things get screwed way up, she’s not going to have to do that. But she’s going to want to do something in her field, and I don’t think that includes doing local sports in Fort Wayne or anything like that.”

“Dave, I wish I knew what to say,” Emily said. “I’m sure you’ll do the right thing by her and your kids, all of them, whatever it is. If you come back here, I’ll do what I can to help.” She snickered for a moment, then continued, “If all else fails, she won’t have to drive a fork truck at General. I don’t think Hazel is going to want to stay around the Courier very long if Lloyd is gone, and I can see you and me needing a sports editor and ad salesman.”

Kayla was surprised to be asked to babysit Tyler and Cameron again on Wednesday. She’d expected it on Tuesday and hadn’t minded, but had figured that things would have been wrapped up at the Courier by Wednesday.

The boys were all right, as rambunctious and as much fun as a five and a six-year old could be. It wasn’t the first time she’d been asked to look after them, but she really wanted to spend a little time after school on Allison’s Sanctuary to report her success of Monday evening. She’d decided against a general post – in the view of some of the people there it was no big deal – but at least wanted to report her story to Allison and Airclad in personal messages.

Unfortunately, with the boys there it was hard to get online until she realized that Avalon was on. Though the boys were a little past it now – it being more aimed at preschoolers – the fact that they knew Shae and liked her made for some real fascination. Since Kayla knew Shae a little, it was real interesting to see the big woman play a little kid. She really did it well!

But she decided to only keep an eye on Avalon this time – there was no reason she couldn’t check the forum while the boys were there. She knew they knew how to read a little, but doubted they’d be good enough at it to pick out what was going on, even if they were to look over her shoulder while the TV was attracting their attention.

So not long after the show started she was logging onto the forum. The first thing she did was to shoot off a quick personal message to Allison and Airclad, giving a brief summary of the events of Monday evening. That done, she decided to check the forums themselves – it had been several days since she’d had a chance to be on and several message threads had been real interesting.

There was one thread about a boy’s first visit to a nude beach in Australia – it was a sneak visit, his parents hadn’t known about it. It had gone really well! He had been worried that he would have an erection at the sight of all the nude women; that would have been embarrassing. To his surprise, that part of it really hadn’t affected him much. The follow up posts consisted of congratulations, other beach visit stories from other users, and a discussion of guys getting erections in general. There were times that Kayla sort of wished that she was a guy, but she had to admit that in that particular circumstance she was glad to be a girl. It had to be difficult for a boy when he had that visible a signal that he was turned on. She wondered for a moment what it would be like to have that kind of stuff down there, and wondered if guys ever thought about what it would be like to be a girl.

Some did, she knew. The story of Eve was no particular secret in the Holst household, although Kayla had never met the woman. It would make an interesting question to ask her sometime, even though she didn’t think it would be very polite.

After a while she got tired of the trend of the discussion, and decided to look at some of the other threads. But, when she got back to the listing page, there was a little banner across the top of the page “New Personal Message.” That might be Airclad, she thought; she knew it was the wee small hours of the morning almost halfway around the world in Australia. Allison was likely to be asleep.

Her suspicion was correct: “Great news! Congrats! Your folks must be way cool. I’m going to have to work a little harder to let mine see me sometime. Are you going to tell them the whole thing?”

Good question, Kayla thought for a moment. She considered a response for a moment, then typed, “Planning on it but not real soon, I want to let them see me a little more first. How about you?” She hit the “Send” button, and went to another thread that looked interesting.

Once she got back to the index, though, she had another personal message from Airclad – she had to be online right now! “I want to but don’t think my folks would be as cool as yours. It may take a while. It seems so long till summer. I can go running then and get alone. There’s a creek not far off where there’s a neat swimming hole, I went down there a lot last summer to get nude.”

That sounded like fun! It’d be nice to have a place like that – and it’d be more fun to have a friend she could share it with. Once again, she wished that she knew who Airclad was, and wondered if she lived anywhere near close. The odds were against it, though. Besides, they’d have to be a lot better friends online before she’d risk letting her identity be known, much less contact her. It could easily be a trap, so there was no thought of it. But the message demanded some sort of response, so she quickly keyed in, “I’ve got a woods behind the house I can go nude walking in, but no creek, darn. I want to find a place like that this summer.”

She’d just sent the message off when she heard a car door slam, then another. Someone had to be here! In a rush, she brought the personal message page back up, quickly typed, “Someone’s here. Later.” sent it, then brought up a page she’d had minimized. It was on American presidents, like she’d been doing it for an assignment. No time to edit the history now; she hoped she’d have another chance.

She’d just scrolled down the page a little when the door opened; Mom and Mr. Patterson walked in. “Ready to go home, boys?” he asked. The boys both protested that they wanted to watch the rest of the show. “Oh, well, it’s only a couple minutes,” he said. “You don’t mind, do you Emily?”

“Fine with me,” her mother said, walking across the room, obviously heading for the bathroom, while Mr. Patterson sat down on the arm of the couch and watched Shae on the TV screen.

Good enough, it might be the best chance she’d have. Quickly she made the moves to bring up the history file – she’d had some practice at it – and within seconds the record of her visiting Allison’s Sanctuary was gone from the computer. Quickly she closed the windows and turned to look at the TV herself.

“Thanks for watching the boys again, Kayla,” Mr. Patterson said, reaching for his wallet as her mom came back out into the living room a minute later. “It seems to work real good for you to pick them up after school and come here with them. Is it going to be any trouble for you to keep doing it a couple days a week?”

“Not for a little while,” Kayla told him. “But track practice will be starting in another few weeks, and I’ll have to go to that. Are you going to keep on doing the paper?”

“For a while, anyway,” her mom replied. “But Dave, hopefully by the time track practice starts it won’t be an issue.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Maybe by then we’ll know what we’re doing. In more ways than one.”

It took a while to get the boys gathered up, their coats on, and get them out the door. “So how was your day?” Kayla’s mom asked.

“Oh, not too bad, pretty much the same,” she shrugged. “I’m thinking I might just call up Rachel and see if we can get together this weekend, maybe go running or something if it’s nice.”

“No reason not to on my account,” her mother smiled. “It’s nice to have a friend you can do stuff like that with.”

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