by VC Angell
“Sure, I can even contribute some carrots to the stew pot,” Laura said, pointing at the pile of carrots.
“That sounds good. How about we dig a hill of potatoes, grab a couple of the ripe tomatoes, green pepper, and even one of the small zucchinis. I never thought I’d ever want to eat another zucchini. After all, I ate this summer.”
* * *
They work together, creating the stew. As it was cooking, they sat down together at the kitchen table. Jim asked, “How are things going? Did Julie’s information help?”
“I found the DVD the most helpful. I can just listen to it. I still have trouble making any sense out of the books she found for me. The DVD has helped me read a bit of the book.”
“Weren’t the two to be used together?”
“That’s what Julie said. I listened to the whole DVD a few times, and it makes no mention of the book. I’m still struggling with the book. I thought it might refer to the DVD,” Laura said.
“I know Julie is continuing to look for more information for you. She’s very good at that. Other than those two things, how’s life been treating you?”
“Not bad. Oh, I got a chance to talk to Birdie. Your brother Alex had visited her many times. He stopped visiting her, and she saw him on the street one day and questioned him. She said that he told her he was getting it for free now,” Laura said.
“My brother was old enough to be my father. We never discussed things like sex, but he was married and had children. Surely, he was getting enough at home to satisfy him.”
“Birdie is older. Maybe that’s why he went to her. Maybe Alex’s wife couldn’t satisfy him. That seems to be common. I am glad because most of the year, that’s what keeps me going,” Laura said.
Jim thought for a moment before asking, “Did Birdie they what kind of sex he wanted? You said many older women don’t like giving if blowjobs.”
“I didn’t ask. I don’t know. I can ask the next time I see Birdie. Is it important?”
“I don’t know. It might be. I can’t ask his wife, Sally.” Jim fell silent and was in thought. Laura had seen that look even back when they were dating in high school and knew to wait. She took another sip of her coffee and waited.
Jim stood up and said, “Why don’t we pick up the dishes and put them in the dishwasher while I’m thinking?”
Laura nodded in agreement as she stood up. Together they gathered up the dishes and filled if the dishwasher in silence.
With the dishwasher full, Jim said, “It doesn’t make any sense to me why Alex would see Birdie until he found it for free. What could he want that his wife Sally wouldn’t provide?”
Laura shrugged, “I can think of a half dozen different things it might be.”
“I hope you don’t think I’m strange because I want to know what my brother was doing sexually.”
Laura laughed, “Knowing you, I know it’s not that. You’re trying to figure out what his wife wasn’t providing.”
* * *
The following morning as Jim was getting dressed, he noticed that his pants fit slightly too tight. He thought it was too much of last night’s stew. It had been delicious.
As soon as he arrived at the office, Will greeted Jim, “We need to finalize things with the new free paper. On paper, it looks good. The sales staff says that even people who don’t advertise in the Journal would buy ads. If we can’t get it done soon, it’s likely the Journal will go if under. What we don’t have is a name for this new free paper.”
“I have been thinking about that. How about letting the community name it?” Jim asked.
“How would that work?”
“We have to circulate the idea of shopper kind of paper that has a few things in it other than ads. There is an introductory ad with free classified ads for people to sell things. We can figure out what to charge for them later. I have talked to the owner of the radio stations. He wants both the AM and FM stations to stay in the hands of local people. The other stations he owns he will sell to a group that owns nothing but radio stations. From what he was saying, there’s nothing local. They managed out of a central place. They don’t do any local news in a town as small as Alma. They have thought it out completely, but I think both the radio stations and the Journal and the new shopper paper share many things. I’m sure you have some ideas too,” Jim said.
“I’m sure I would too, but you didn’t say anything about how the community would name the new shopper paper,” Will said.
“I guess I’m just excited about the whole idea of combining these things. We will have to advertise about the new shopper and at the same time as people for their suggestion of a name. I’m sure we can get some prizes from our current ad customers. We can set it up so they can send the name into the paper by email or mail it into the Journal.”
“That sounds good, but I will have to work out the details,” Will said.
They continued to talk about the naming contest working out the details. Jim was sure the naming contest would make the new shopper paper a welcome addition to Alma. Most of the morning disappeared by the time they finished detailing the contest.
* * *
Jim called Carol to answer if she was free for lunch. She wasn’t. She had to show a couple of properties. “How about supper tonight?” Carol asked.
“How about leftover stew? Last night, Laura was there when I got home yesterday, covering several things she didn’t want the predicted frosts to get. She had harvested her carrot crop. We took some of it and other things from the garden and made us stew with the bit of pot roast I had left from Sunday. With all the vegetables, it turned out to be too much for us to eat.”
“That sounds great. Why don’t I stop at the liquor store and pick up a bottle of wine to go with it?” Carol asked.
Jim agreed, and Carol said that she’d be there between six and 6:30.
Jim figured that he could skip lunch. Maybe that could be a start to losing some weight so that he would fit his clothing better. Too many big chocolate shakes!
Right after lunch hour, Jim went to see Ralph Hansen. He had asked Ralph to see if he would have enough money and equity by the radio stations. He had also requested Ralph to look over the books from the radio stations to see if there was sufficient income to pay off any loan he needed to buy them. In other words, projections.
“I must say I was surprised by how little the two radio stations produced in terms of income. I see why Sam had to buy more to keep his head above water. I can also see your idea of synergy between the Journal, the shopper, and the radio stations is a great one,” Ralph said.
“I would be a lot more hesitant to do anything without the plant that Liam’s company will bring in. Alma is declining and has been for many years.” Jim left Ralph’s office with the projections in hand.
* * *
When Jim got home after work, he put the remainder of the stew on to reheat. He’s thought it should be better because all the flavors would have had time to blended better. When Carol arrived, she had a bottle of burgundy. She was wearing a dress that accentuated her curves beautifully, Jim thought. They sat down to dinner.
After dinner, Carol said, “That was a great stew. I would guess it was the fresh vegetables that made it.”
“I didn’t realize how much it would make when we brought the vegetables from the garden. They certainly overwhelmed the leftover meat I had, but I thought the flavor was spectacular.”
Carol helped Jim clean up the table and fill the dishwasher. There was a little bit of wine left, so they took their wine glasses into the living room. Carol said, “I thought we shouldn’t make love tonight.”
Jim replied immediately, “You know that I was thinking the same thing.”
Carol’s eyes opened wide in surprise. It looked like she was going to say something, but she didn’t.
“I’ve been thinking about my brother’s murder. Laura and I chatted last night around dinner. She said that one of her friends had Alex as a customer for a while until
he told her he was getting it for free now. I didn’t know if something was wrong with his marriage to Sally. Why would he turn to a prostitute?” Jim asked.
Carol had a puzzled look on her face, and it took her a moment to respond, “I don’t understand why any man would turn to a prostitute.”
Jim scratched his head as he said, “That’s because you’re a woman. You can have sex anytime you want because it’s the women who control access to sex.”
“That’s because we have a bigger investment in it. We are the ones who can get pregnant,” Carol said sharply.
Jim looked at Carol as if examining something foreign to him. He didn’t say anything.
Carol finally said, “Say something! Just don’t sit there!”
Jim thought, “I wonder if that wasn’t the problem between Alex and Sally. They were getting older. Maybe Sally didn’t want to risk another pregnancy.”
“I guess if you don’t want to have sex and don’t want to talk to me, I’ll leave.”
Carol’s comments didn’t fully register with Jim, and he said, “Okay.” It also didn’t register with Jim that Carol had tears in her eyes. He continued to think about Alex and Sally, “How am I going to ask Sally if that was a problem? She might not know about Alex visiting a prostitute or having someone else providing sex. I guess I’ll have to ask Carol what she thinks.” Jim came back to the present moment and was surprised to find that Carol had left. He thought, “I guess I’m just not good company tonight.”
* * *
Things got hectic for Jim. They took up almost all of his time. He called Carol a few times, but his calls always went to voicemail. He turned back to the projects of giving me advertising the paper up and going. Buying the radio stations turned out to be a little more complicated than just handing over the purchase price.
On the other hand, the contest for naming the new free paper was going well. Jim was just finishing a meeting with Will, Joe, Julie, and Helen, taking notes in his office. As the meeting was breaking up, Jim asked Julie to stay. He asked, “Have you found out anything new on dyslexia front for Laura?”
“I just got some new information on dealing with it. I talked to Laura on the phone and emailed the information to her,” Julie said.
“I wonder if emails on her cell phone are harder to read than say written something on paper?”
“I have no idea about that. I never thought about it. It’s a good question. I’ll have to ask Laura unless you want to ask her.”
“No, you better asked her. With everything that’s going on, I don’t have time for anything like that. I get home after work, and my head is still spinning with everything going on here. I have even fallen asleep trying to watch the evening news,” Jim said.
“That sounds like the jobs getting to you.”
“I guess so. I think it’s just juggling all of these things. I’ve called Carol a few times, thinking we could get together and I could relax, but it always goes to voicemail. Since things are so busy, I don’t leave a message. It would be senseless because I don’t know when I have free time other than at the moment when I call.”
Julie looked a bit confused or worried about Jim. He wasn’t sure which.
Julie said, “It sounds like you need to slow down.”
“I’d love to, but everybody’s jobs here are on my mind. I have to make these things work because of that responsibility. I can always go back to being a reporter on a big paper. I have the credentials as a foreign correspondent and as a crime beat reporter. I’m not sure how everyone else here would be able to find a job. I have to succeed.”
“I’m sure when you get things up and running, you will be able to slow down and enjoy things again.”
“I hope you’re right,” Jim said.
* * *
That evening just after Jim finished his supper, Laura arrived. She was carrying a jar of pickles.
“I did some dill pickles. I didn’t have enough money to buy jars do as many as I wanted, so I’m afraid I can’t give you more than just this one,” Laura said, handing the jar of pickles to Jim.
“Thanks for this one. You could’ve asked me. I would’ve been happy to finance your canning project.”
“I’m trying to make it on my own, so thanks but no thanks.”
“Suppers over, but I got I have a pot of coffee left if you’re interested.”
“Sure, that sounds good. And I talked to Birdie, so I’ve got some info for you,” Laura said.
Jim got out a mug for Laura. The two of them then went into the living room to visit.
“This coffee has a different taste,” Laura said.
“It is a flavored coffee, amaretto. I don’t think I’d want it all the time, but it was a nice change of pace,” Jim said.
“I don’t know if I’d want first thing in the morning. It’s kinda sweet.”
“That it is. So how’s the world treating Laura?”
“It’s been kind of slow, but hunting season is coming up. I should make enough into last me through Christmas.”
“I remember you telling me that.”
“I talked to Birdie about your brother. She said that he didn’t want anything special. She thought he wanted to talk more than just screw her. He paid her enough so she could spend a lot of time with him. She said he was a real sweet guy. She said she’s going to miss him,” Laura said.
“You said before that he stopped seeing her because he was getting it free. Did she know who he was getting it from?” Jim asked.
“No, she said he didn’t even hint at who it might be. Sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. I’m just looking for answers about why Alex would be cheating on Sally,” Jim said.
“I don’t think his wife was treating him right.”
“I would agree with you on that after what Birdie told you. I wonder why Sally wouldn’t be talking to him. They had been married years before the divorce. I don’t understand that either. I’m not sure what he was afraid of. She said that’s why they got divorced. I guess I’m just confused, but you did provide me with more information.”
“Are you sure you can believe her? Anyway, how are things going between you and Carol?” Laura asked.
“I’ve been so busy with projects that I haven’t had time to spend with her. I have called her many times, but it always goes to her voicemail, so I just hang up. I am sure she’s busy. She told me that this time year, she is showing raw land to hunters who are looking for a piece of land because most are posted.”
“Don’t give up on her. She’d be a great catch for you,” Laura said.
“Laura, don’t put yourself down either. As far as I’m concerned, you’d be a great catch too.”
“Thanks for the compliment, but as the town whore, it’s not possible,” Laura said firmly.
Chapter 12
Because he was gaining weight, Jim decided against going to his favorite fast-food place and go to the Country Kettle for lunch and have a salad instead. He was pleased to see Carol’s car in the parking lot. Once inside, Jim saw Carol sitting with a couple. He decided she must be working and carefully avoided her. Ted Erickson came in and sat down with Jim. They chatted about the redevelopment committee, and Ted mentioned Liam. They talked briefly about it without much detail in case people overheard them. When Jim got up and ready to leave, he saw that Carol had gone along with the two people she had been with when Jim first arrived.
Back at the Journal, Will came to see Jim. He said, “The bookkeeper tells me we’re going to have to pay more for the paper we print the papers on.”
“I’m still trying to get my feet under me. We print papers for three of the little towns around us besides what we need for our paper. Is that correct?” Jim asked.
“You’re right on. I’ve done some back-of-the-envelope figuring. The price increase will reduce our revenues, but we could absorb that extra cost without raising our paper’s price or the cost to the other papers we print for them. On the other hand, our fi
nances are pretty shaky,” Will said.
“It sounds like you’re saying that there might be an additional increase in costs.”
“With the economy doing so well, there is a heavy demand for paper products of all kinds. We might see another increase in our class of paper before long.”
“It sounds like we need an article about the increase in the cost of our paper because the economy is booming. It can include a pair of saying that we won’t raise prices now, but we will be forced to charge more as paper costs continue to go up. I think you’d be a good want to write that article,” Jim said.
“Consider it done. You’re not as jumpy as Alex was. I don’t know if he is getting older or what, but every new thing that came along like this seemed to bother him.”
“Was my brother acting strangely in any other way?” Jim asked.
“The whole divorce thing made no sense. I think Alex and Sally had been married for about 30 years, and then poof, they were done. It didn’t make any sense to me,” Will said.
“I agree with you. I tried to talk to Sally, and she won’t say anything except that it had to be done.”
“Had to be done? That doesn’t make sense.”
“I don’t know if you know or not, but I was told that Alex was seeing someone else.”
“Yeah, I’d heard that rumor too. Like I hear about you and Laura Peterson.”
“Laura and I were friends in high school, and I don’t give a damn if she’s a prostitute. She is still my friend. She reminds me all the time I shouldn’t be seen with her,” Jim said.
“I didn’t think you were bonking her. But it doesn’t matter since you’re single.”
“Getting back to my brother, Alex, did you ever hear who he might be seeing?” Jim asked.
“I heard a couple of names, but they don’t make any more sense than his divorce. Both the women were married.”
Jim looked at Will, lost in thought, before saying, “The whole thing with my brother doesn’t make any sense to me. He was murdered. Somebody drugged him and then shot him and then put some blaze orange on him trying to make it look like a hunting accident.”