That evening, Gemma entered the classroom and was again among the first to arrive. Unlike last time, however, Professor LeForge was already there, seated at the small table at the front of the room, typing on his laptop. He glanced up at her entrance, sent her a smile, and went back to whatever he was working on. She sat, settled in, and waited for class to begin. As she did, she thought back on Gary Clark’s announcement at the store. Although she wouldn’t be able to see the job posting until the next day, she wondered if she met the minimum qualifications. She hoped so because more than likely the salary would be higher than what she made presently and the benefits package better, too. It would be nice to get a bump in her paycheck. Although the issue of having to be trained by Alma was daunting, she’d cross that bridge if and when the time came. In the meantime, she had to pass this class.
The rest of the students arrived shortly thereafter. She nodded a greeting to the tattooed Josh Miller and when the class began, focused her attention on LeForge.
“I’ve randomly divided you up into groups of four. You and your partners will create a company and as we go through the course you’ll be asked to apply the principles you’re learning to get your company up and running and hopefully profitable.” He added that each business would be given a fictitious amount of seed money from which to buy or lease a building, and to furnish it with whatever they needed.
There were twenty students. They all looked around the room as if wondering who they’d be paired with. He began reciting names. When Gemma’s was called in conjunction with Josh, she felt relieved; at least he was someone she knew to be nice. The other two members of their team were Carrie Farway and Brad Young. Carrie moved to an open chair beside Josh. She had dark brown hair and an eager smile. Brad, however, was one of those LeForge had shamed into removing his earbuds on the first day. He joined them and looked just as disinterested as he had then. The group’s first task was to decide what type of company to create. Gemma had no idea, but Josh did.
“How about we start a tat parlor?”
Gemma shrugged. “That’s okay with me.”
Carrie looked skeptical.
Brad rolled his eyes. “That’s so gay.”
Carrie spun on him. “Don’t ever use that phrase around me again.”
He drew back.
“It’s a slur, you moron. Grow the hell up.”
Josh raised an eyebrow.
As if the confrontation with Brad had cemented her decision, Carrie said, “Go ahead Josh, I think that’s an awesome idea.”
The now sullen-looking Brad put in his earbuds and ignored them while they planned.
LeForge quietly walked the room, listening to the group discussions and answering questions. When he reached Gemma’s group, she did her best to ignore his standing presence directly behind her and failed badly.
He gave the disconnected Brad a brief glance but didn’t address him. Instead he said, “This group has an advantage over the others.”
“How?” Josh asked.
“You have Ms. Dahl, who can probably offer life and work experience no one else here has yet.”
Gemma was embarrassed down to her toes. “I hope so.”
He asked about their company. After hearing their initial plans, he voiced his approval and moved on.
As class ended, he gave out the homework assignment, which was tied to their accounting textbook. They were also told to continue building their companies.
Josh asked her and Carrie, “Do we want to get together online or IRL?”
Gemma was confused.
Carrie saw that and translated. “Means: in real life.”
“I vote for IRL.” Her response drew smiles from her young teammates. “I live nearby. We could meet there and use my dining room table.”
Josh and Carrie agreed and they settled on a time that best fit their schedules.
Josh reached over and pulled the bud out of Brad’s left ear. “We’re meeting at Ms. Gem’s house on Saturday.”
“Yippee,” he replied sarcastically.
Gemma’s disapproving side-eye was mirrored by the others.
“Why are you even here?” Josh asked him.
“Because my witch of a mom said either go to school or get out of her basement.”
Carrie asked, “Don’t you think you should at least try and pass the class, then?”
“She said go to school. She didn’t say anything about me having to pass.”
“You really are a moron.”
“Better than fat and ugly.”
Her right cross knocked him out of his chair and onto the floor.
Everything and everyone in the class stopped.
While the stunned Brad stared at the blood staining his fingers from his bloody lip, Josh said to Carrie in a wondrous tone, “I think I’m in love.”
Blushing, she smiled.
LeForge came over. “What’s going on here?”
Brad picked himself up off the floor and whined, “She sucker punched me.”
“You don’t get to fat shame me, ever!”
“Mr. Young, do you need medical assistance?”
“No.”
“Then head to the restroom and get yourself cleaned up.” He then turned to Carrie. “Ms. Farway. No more punching.”
Her chin rose. “Yes, sir.”
He gave Gemma a speaking look that parents of squabbling children often shared, then returned to the front of the room.
Everyone gathered up their belongings and before Gemma could head out the door, LeForge said, “Ms. Dahl, can I speak to you for a moment?”
She gave Josh and Carrie a wave goodbye and made her way to him. “Yes.”
“I hope I didn’t embarrass you by talking about your life experience.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Good. Just wanted to check.”
They stared at each other for a moment and Gemma, feeling her attraction to him rising, fought to clear her head. “You handled that craziness between Carrie and Brad very well.”
“I’ve been teaching for a long time. You learn.”
“I see.” She added, “I don’t want to tattle, but Brad didn’t participate at all in our discussion.”
“Go on without him. You seem to have two smart teammates. He’ll either engage or he won’t.”
“So, we operate shorthanded?”
“If need be. Sort of like life, right?”
She thought about the years she’d spent raising her daughter, and now Wyatt, alone. “I suppose.”
“Your group will be fine. Are you heading to the parking lot?”
“I am.”
“Okay if I walk with you?” he asked, gathering up his stuff.
Nervous, but determined not to let it show, she replied, “Sure.”
The hallway was crowded with students going to and from other classes. She spotted Josh and Carrie talking. Josh, seeing her with LeForge, gave her a thumbs-up and she hoped her cheeks weren’t red in response.
When they reached the door, LeForge pushed it aside so she could exit first. It was summertime so even at that late hour it wasn’t dark yet. They walked across the lot, and he asked, “Have you lived here all your life?”
“Born in Franklin. Moved to Chicago. Came back to Kansas a year ago. Where’s home for you?”
“Milwaukee. Living in Hays about five years now.”
She wondered why Hays? Not wanting to appear nosy, she didn’t ask. “Ah. My car’s over there.”
“And mine is on the other side of the building.” He stopped. “I’ll see you at the next class.”
Once again, they stood staring for a long moment, until he said softly, “Have a good weekend, Ms. Dahl.”
“Thanks. You do the same.”
Walking away, she felt his eyes follow her retreat. Don’t look back, she told herself. Inside the car, she started the engine. Feeling like a crushing teenager, she drove out of the lot and wondered where, if anywhere, this might be heading.
The next morning, Tamar and Eula shared a silent breakfast. Accustomed to having her home to herself, Tamar was a bit irritated with Eula’s presence, but knowing her cousin had nowhere else to go, she swallowed her pique along with her coffee.
“I know my being here isn’t easy for you, Tam.”
Tamar wondered when Eula had acquired mind-reading abilities. “It’s okay.”
“No, it isn’t, so thank you for your graciousness.”
“You’re welcome.”
“You probably don’t know this, but growing up, I always envied you.”
That was surprising. “Why?”
“Because you were so confident. You knew all the latest dances and you were so tall and gorgeous.”
Tamar looked up from her plate at the unexpected praise.
Eula smiled. “I know. I always acted like you and the others were beneath me, but it was to overcompensate for how intimidating your branch of the family was to me.”
“Meaning?”
“Here I was, an only child. A Nance. Even though Teresa was my great-gran, I was raised in Philly, far away from all the true Julys here. You and the other cousins knew each other intimately. You joked about things, talked trash about each other. And when I would come for the summers, I didn’t feel like I belonged.”
“I never knew that.”
“I sure as hell wasn’t going to admit it, so I threw my nose in the air and pretended I didn’t care, but I did. And as we grew older and my visits became less frequent, I convinced myself that I was indeed better and didn’t need you country Julys.”
Tamar sat back and let that soak in. The truth in Eula’s eyes showed just how honest she was attempting to be. Tamar’s respect rose as did her empathy. “You never acted like you wanted to belong.”
“I was scared.”
“Of?”
“For one thing, how many there were of you.”
Tamar smiled. She got that part. She and Thad were direct descendants of Neil and Olivia’s second child, Neil Griffin July, and his wife, Lacy Trenton. Add in the four descendants of Neil and Olivia’s only daughter, Teresa, the five children from the marriage of Neil’s brother Harper and his wife, Vivian, along with the first Diego children, and you had enough Julys to start their own town. Tamar never thought the numbers were intimidating but to an only child like Eula, they undoubtedly were. “We never knew you were scared. We just thought you were stuck up. Being as poor as we all were, you intimidated us with your nice clothes and proper speech. I remember Julia saying to me, ‘Damn, Tam. How many shoes does she have?’” And Tamar smiled at the memory. “We’d never been around anyone who had more than one pair of shoes, and you seemed to wear a different pair daily.”
“The Nances always had money.”
“We knew that but to actually see it left us intimidated as well.”
“Is Julia going to come to see me before I die?”
Tamar paused. She wanted to reassure her but couldn’t. “I don’t know, Eula. You hurt her pretty badly taking her to court like you did.”
“Hubris, pure and simple.”
“Maybe I can convince her to talk to you on Skype.”
“What’s Skype? I retired from teaching thirty-five years ago. I haven’t kept up with the technology.”
She explained Skype.
“My goodness. And you know how to use it?”
Tamar enjoyed the wonder in her voice. “I do. Amari, Trent, and the rest of the people here make sure I stay current.”
“You’re very blessed to have caring people around you.”
That Eula didn’t pulled at Tamar’s heart in ways she couldn’t have imagined before Eula showed up at her door.
“So, do you think Julia will speak to me so I can apologize?”
“All I can do is ask her. Do you want to do it now?”
“In a little while. I want to finish breakfast and get my thoughts together first.”
Tamar noticed she hadn’t eaten much of her eggs and grits and had taken only a few bites of her toast. “You need to eat more to keep your strength up.”
“Not much of an appetite these days. Probably because I’m at death’s doorway. No hunger in heaven. There might be in hell, though.”
“You might stick around longer than you think.”
“Nice of you to say, but I probably won’t.”
“The doctors could be wrong.”
“True, but First Tamar usually isn’t.”
Tamar stilled. “She visited you?”
Eula nodded. “In a dream, a few weeks back. Told me to go home. And since this is where Madison Nance and Teresa July began their married life together, I came here. To you.”
Tamar thought back on the odd dreams she’d been having lately. The woman she’d been named for had yet to show herself in them but Tamar sensed her presence. Because the family viewed the matriarch’s visits as a harbinger of death, Tamar didn’t really want to see her. In truth, she did though, as long as she didn’t die with the day’s following sunrise.
They finished breakfast and Tamar was loading their dishes in the dishwasher when a knock sounded on the door.
“It’s open,” she called.
In walked Mal.
They eyed each other silently.
Eula, having been told about yesterday’s incident at the diner, stood and said, “I’ll let you two have some privacy.”
Once she was gone, Tamar didn’t bother beating around the bush. “Why Vegas?”
He shrugged. “I have something I need to take care of.”
“Meaning what?”
“My business.”
It wasn’t what she wanted to hear but it had been expected. He’d always played his cards close to the vest, even when he’d been drinking—especially when he’d been drinking. She really wanted to know what was going on with him, but he was far too old to be sent to his room until he told her the truth and she got the sense that learning the truth was only going to make things worse.
“I’ll be back for the wedding.”
“Permanently?”
“We’ll see.”
She sighed with frustration. “Okay. Have you talked to Bernadine?”
“For a minute.”
“Did you at least explain to her what this is about?”
“No.”
“Mal?”
“Look, I didn’t come here for lectures, I came to let you know I’m leaving as a show of respect.”
“Thank you for that.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll see you at the wedding.”
“Okay.”
And he turned and strode out.
Holding in her anger, she put her hardheaded son out of her mind as best she could, and went back to filling the dishwasher.
Later that morning, she and Eula were watching The View when they heard what sounded like car engines revving outside. Sharing a look of confused curiosity, they walked to the front door and what they saw through the screen rendered Tamar speechless. Roaring onto her land were pickup trucks, dune buggies, Jeeps, and motorcycles. Followed by more pickups, motorcycles, and cars of all make and in all conditions. Each vehicle was packed with men, young and old, all bearing the signature dark skin of the Julys. Knees weak, she stepped out onto the porch.
Eula followed and asked, “Are they who I think they are?”
“Yes.”
The Oklahoma Julys were doing wheelies in front of the porch, racing each other across the field, kicking up dust and clods of dirt and grass, and generally behaving like the coyote cubs that they were. The last time they’d visited, for Lily and Trent’s wedding, they’d entered the Dog like a raucous, chanting war party. There’d been drummers and dancing and singers. They’d caused such a commotion that Tamar had to fire her shotgun into the ceiling to bring the situation under control. She knew they’d be coming for Eula’s eventual funeral, but what were they doing in her front yard now—beside acting like the rodeo come to town. The last vehicle to pull up was a big silver and black RV that she assumed belonged to her brother. By then the other vehicles had cut their engines and the occupants were making their way to her side.
“Hey, Aunt Tammy,” they said, wearing her brother’s grin. Each gave her a peck on the cheek, and all she could do was smile and receive the tributes in the spirit in which they were given. Although the visit was bound to cause so much mischief Will Dalton and his deputies would be pulling out their hair, they were her family and she loved them even when she didn’t want to.
A panel on the side of the RV slowly opened and a whirring ramp descended. Seconds later, her brother, wearing a snow-white Stetson, powered his motorized wheelchair down the ramp. Behind him walked his half-Sioux grandson Griffin, who was also the father of Tamar’s great-grandson, Amari. Griffin was one of the few members of Thad’s clan with any sense.
“Hey Tammy,” Thad said as he rolled up and stopped at the foot of the porch steps.
“Hey, Thad.”
“Hey there, Eula.”
“Thaddeus.”
“Sorry to hear about what you’re facing.”
“Thanks, Thaddeus.”
Tamar said, “You didn’t tell me you were coming.”
“Because you would’ve just said don’t. Correct?”
“More than likely.”
“Exactly.”
“And you’re here, why?”
“To celebrate Eula’s life with a cookout, and some dancing and home brew, and who knows what else.”
“A cookout?”
“Brought our own meat, fixings, and grills. We’ll set up everything in the yard and have us an old-fashioned, August First wang-dang doodle, July style.”
“Lord,” she whispered.
“We’ll sleep in tents and in the vehicles.” He looked out at the open prairie. “Might take us a while to dance down all that grass so we can raise the tents, but it’ll be a full moon tonight. Should give us plenty of light.”
She turned her attention to Griffin. “I thought Amari was with you.”
“No, he’s still with my mother. I’ll ride up and get him when the family gets settled in here. This will be a fun gathering, Aunt Tam.”
“Uh-huh, okay. Get yourselves situated and I’ll call Trent and let him know you’re here. Calling Sheriff Will Dalton, too.”
Thad grabbed his chest. “You wound me, sister.”
“I’ll do more than that if you put your mitts on Olivia, again.”
He smiled like the coyote he was. His progeny from his three ex-wives did as well. Tamar shook her head. She and the stunned Eula went back inside.
While Tamar was texting Oklahoma July warning alerts, Eula asked, “Where are their wives?”
“Probably at home, happy the men are away. Most of Thad’s sons and grandsons are either divorced or single. Keeping wives is not a male July strong suit.”
Tamar looked down at Will’s responding text: Oh lord. Alerting my crews. Thx.
Trent: Your house still standing? Lily and I back later tonight.
Seated at her desk, Bernadine read the message from Tamar about the arrival of Thaddeus July and his Wild Bunch and smiled. There’d been no town-wide plans for a big August First celebration because they were focused on Rocky and Jack’s Labor Day wedding, but it wouldn’t hurt to liven things up, and she was sure Thad and his family would do just that. As for Mal, her pity party was over, or at least she’d convinced herself it was. No more moping, wondering, or angst. If he had something to do that needed doing, have at it. She had a town to run and a world to turn. With that in mind, she printed out the lease papers for the Millers. They’d sent her a text late last night to let her know they wanted the space in the hotel for their shop and she couldn’t be happier. As they’d discussed previously, it would be a few weeks before they’d be open for business, but she thought their coffee shop would be a plus for Henry Adams. They’d also be renting one of the upper apartments, and per their text, were hoping to move in as soon as possible. It was her hope that they’d be good neighbors to Crystal, now home getting the last of her packing done. Tomorrow was the big move-in day for her and for Kelly’s Liberian Ladies and Gents Salon. The name continued to amuse her because it was so perfect. She couldn’t wait to see the online website the kids were going to put up on the salon’s behalf.
“Bernadine.”
She looked up. It was Rocky. Bernadine paused because of what she saw on Rocky’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t log into the Dog’s payroll account.”
“Why not?”
“Password’s been changed.”
Bernadine stared back, confused.
“I can access the menus, the website, the vendor files, but not payroll, which means I can’t print out checks for the employees. Mal usually does it and I’ve had my hands full with him being gone so I forgot about today being a pay week until an hour or two ago.”
“Why would he change the password?”
“I don’t know. I had the kids write down the hours they worked and add them up. I can try and compute taxes and all that and pay them with checks out of my personal account, but I’ll need access to that payroll file eventually because the IRS will want their money.”
“Have you tried contacting him?”
“No reply to my texts or calls.”
Bernadine’s mind whirred with possible solutions. “Okay. You go ahead and pay your people and I’ll reimburse you. I’ll also call Lily and Trent, to let them know what’s going on. Maybe one of them knows of a firm that can hack their way in so we can figure out what the heck is going on.”
“I have a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.”
“Don’t go there. I’ll keep you posted.”
She exited, and Bernadine sat back against her chair. Lord, Mal. What does this mean? She returned to her laptop. Because she’d invested in the diner’s rehab, she had admin access to its financial records accounts. She keyed in her password but instead of being allowed in, a message in bold letters appeared on the screen: “Access denied. See admin for further assistance.” Eyes wide, she entered her password again, only to have the denial message reappear. Oh, my god! She tried a third time. Same result. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. She grabbed her phone and called Brain down in Florida.
He answered right away. “Hey, Ms. Bernadine. How are you? Is something wrong? My parents okay?”
“Everyone’s fine, but I have a quick question.”
“Okay.”
“Did you help OG change one of the passwords on the Dog’s computers?”
“Yep. He said he thought somebody had been trying to hack in and he wanted me and Leah to add another level of security.”
Bernadine almost fainted.
Brain, sounding worried, asked, “Did we do something wrong?”
“No, babe. Do you know what he changed the password to?”
“No.”
“Would you be able to go back in and undo the added level?”
He got real quiet. “No. We did do something wrong, didn’t we?”
“No, but he’s gone to Vegas and we can’t get into payroll. No biggie. We’ll just wait until he calls us back.”
“Oh, okay. You scared me, not going to lie.”
She spent a few more minutes asking how he was doing and if he was having a good time with his bio mom. He assured her that he was and she ended the call.
She ran shaking hands down her face. After drawing in a deep calming breath, she called Rocky and had her try and access the financial files as the account’s third administrator of record.
“It won’t let me in,” she said.
Bernadine related the conversation with Brain.
Rocky was quiet for a long moment before saying, “Tell me he hasn’t been embezzling? Oh, god, Bernadine.”
“I know. We’ll keep a good thought until we can get into the account and look around.”
“Jesus.”
After the call, Bernadine hated to think that the man she loved was guilty of embezzlement. There had to be a rational explanation. There just had to be.