Chapter 9
Bob woke up first, on Saturday morning, because he was starting to get cold. The woodstove was starting to die down a bit and needed to be tended. Ann still had a tight grip on his hand. With a little difficulty he pulled his hand away from her and got out of the bed. He watched her sleep for a couple of minutes. He searched in the closet and found a heavy bathrobe and put it on the bed so that she would find it when she woke up.
He quietly walked down to the great room. He put wood in the woodstove, left the doors open a crack and opened the draft to get the fire going so that the cabin would warm up before she woke up. He sat in front of the woodstove for several minutes watching the fire grow. When he could feel the heat radiating from the sides of the stove he closed the doors tight and adjusted the draft.
He looked out the front window and saw that the snow had just about stopped. An occasional flake would pass by the window and the sky was still cloudy. It looked like there was about fourteen to eighteen inches of snow on the ground in front of the cabin. It was quiet outside and there weren't even any animal prints in the snow yet.
He turned and walked to the kitchen area and started to make the coffee. He was on his second cup when he heard Ann start down the stairs slowly. She walked into the kitchen and sat down at the counter.
Bob looked at her for a minute, "I hope you don't have a hangover."
She shook her head, "Just a little headache. If you have a couple of aspirin I think that I'll live. That coffee smells good if there's any left."
Bob got some water and two aspirin and gave them to her. She downed the aspirin and drank all of the water. He poured her a cup of coffee. When he shoved the creamer and sugar bowl to her she shook her head and picked up the cup and took a sip of coffee.
She set the cup down, "I think that I remember waking up during the night and you were holding me. We didn't... I mean nothing..."
Bob laughed, "No you were a perfect gentleman. If you had tried anything I would have slapped you down."
She gave him a weak smile at his attempt at humor, "How's the snow?"
"It looks like we have about fourteen or so inches on the ground," he said, "It looks like it's about stopped."
Ann continued to sip her coffee. She was beginning to remember a little about last night when he tucked her into bed. She wasn't sure if she said anything that she should be sorry for or not.
"I drank a little too much last night. I didn't say anything out of the way did I?"
Bob smiled, "No, you were fine. You didn't say anything wrong and nothing happened."
Ann looked into her coffee cup, "I'm sorry. I'm just tense about the changes coming up in my life. I've owned my business for a little over fifteen years now and now that I'm selling it... well it seems like I'm losing a child."
"If you feel that way Ann, why don't you keep the business?"
"I have to sell it. Medical school will take everything that I get from the business and a lot more. It's time to move on anyway. With my daughter in college the apartment seems so lonely. I think that it's time that I used my education. I have a degree in business; I was planning to get my MBA after Brenda started elementary school. I just hope that some corporation will look at my abilities and not my age."
"Don't keep selling yourself short," Bob said sharply, "The fact that you supported yourself for fifteen years in a small business is a great achievement. Most small businesses are out of business after the first year and almost all are gone by the fifth year. My first couple of years were really rough."
Ann went to the window and looked out at the snow. A small animal had made tracks in the snow in front of the cabin. Other than that, the snow was not disturbed and the scene looked like something out of a picture postcard. As she was about to turn away from the window the sun came out and the snow began to sparkle like millions of diamonds. A feeling of peace came over her and she suddenly had the feeling that she would make it after selling the florist shop. What she had told Bob was true; it was time to move on.
Bob walked up beside Ann and handed her another cup of coffee, "I'm serious Ann; I want you to send me your resume' for that VP position. I think that you're someone that I can work with. I know that you don't know anything about the security business but I think that you'll be able to pick it up pretty fast. I do the technical stuff anyway; mainly you'll just be finessing the clients. Believe me, some of the clients need a lot of finessing."
"I don't think..."
"Don't get me wrong, Ann. By finessing, I mean that you have to understand that some of the clients need to be constantly told how great they are and how much you'd appreciate their business even though you know they're total asses and don't really need all that much security. A lot of my military clients think that they're Superman and they can win a war single-handed. If some new technology comes out, they have to have it. Most of these local leaders don't care what it costs; just make sure they are the first to have it."
Ann though for a minute, "You mentioned the technical end of the business. Is selling armored cars that technical?"
Bob let out a loud laugh, "Armored cars are only a small part of my business. If you need a bodyguard, I can have one of my people protect you and they're the best in the business. If you have a bodyguard already, I can train him to handle almost anything. I have ex-Secret Service instructors on my payroll. If you want a building or facility protected from terrorists, I'm the man to see. If you want a trained driver that can get you out of a dangerous situation, I can train your driver or you can hire one of mine. If you need an investigation, I have ex-FBI agents and forensic accountants on the payroll. If you need a small army I have that too. If you have a Special Forces group and want to make them one of the best available, I'll bring them to the US and train them or you can even use my Special Forces team until I get yours up and running. I can sell you almost any type of security hardware; secure phones, high-tech alarm systems, the likes of which most people don't know even exist, I have secure offices, I install computer security, and I can guarantee a secure Internet, almost anything related to security that you could imagine. I will also take anything that you own, transport it anywhere in the world and guarantee that it will get there. As technology gets better my business grows."
Ann stared at him, "How did you learn all of that?"
"Uncle Sam taught me. I used to be in the Seals. I used to blow up stuff for a living."
"Are... are you sure that you'd want me to come work for you? I don't know anything about such things."
"I told you Ann, all you have to do is get someone to ask for a quote and I'll take it from there. I'll make it so good that they have to take the package. You get 'em in the door and I'll make sure they buy. Marketing is just getting the client to realize that they need what we're selling and, in this day and age, that's not too hard. The best part about the business is that my clients rarely go shopping for a better price. It's hard to comparison shop for security."
Ann turned toward the window and looked out at the snow, a rabbit poked his head out of the woods and looked around before scampering across the open space in front of the cabin. The scene outside the cabin seemed so peaceful that she almost wished that she could stay there forever.
Ann became aware of Bob calling her name, "I'm sorry Bob. What did you say?"
"I was wondering if you shouldn't call the people you're renting the condo from. This snow was unexpected and they might be wondering about you," said as he handed her the phone.
Ann took the phone and called her friend Bea Wilson. Bea and Ann had been friends for almost ten years. Bea had met Ann at a PTA meeting and they hit it off right away. Bea had often tried to match Ann up with some man that she thought would be right for Ann. None of the men was ever the right one for Ann.
After three rings Bea answered the phone, "Bea, this is Ann. I..."
"Ann, my God," Bea interrupted, "We've been trying to get someone out to check on you. The power is off at the condo and we were worried sick about you. We had visions of you frozen to death in the cabin. Damn, where are you?"
Ann explained how she had hit a deer and how Bob had pulled her off the road. She told Bea that she had spent the night in the cabin.
Bea hesitated a minute, "Wait a minute. Bob Long up at the North end of the lake? Hmmm. Tall guy, dark hair, well built? Half of the single women in Hinley have tried to rope him. He's unrope-able. He's a nice guy but he lets the women know right away that he's not interested. I guess he was hurt once too often. No one knows too much about him though. He's some kind of businessman is all that I know. Well anyway, at least I know that you're Ok."
Ann chuckled. Bea was well known for her fast non-stop talking. It was often hard to get a word in edge-wise. Bea also had a heart of gold and would go out of her way for her friends.
"I'm Ok Bea. I'm going to have my car towed into Hinley. It's going to have to be repaired before it's drivable. I'm going to ask Bob Long to take me into town. I'll just have to use the delivery van until the car is fixed."
"Ok Ann," Ann heard her pause and yell at one of her boys for something, "If you need me give me a call."
Ann and Bea exchanged a few more words and then hung up. Ann handed the phone back to Bob.
"Bea said that the power was off at the condo," Ann said.
"I'd better try to get someone up to tow your car into town," Bob said as he started to dial the phone.
Bob paused while the phone rang, "Hello? This is Bob Long. How's the chances of getting you up to my cabin and towing a friend's car into town. She hit a deer and has some front end work that needs to be done to make it drivable."
Bob got a frown on his brow, "Yes... sure... how about this afternoon? Ok that will have to do. Yes I'll be here tomorrow. See you then."
"That was Howie Button, the local tow truck driver," Bob said as he hung up the phone, "He said the county isn't going to be able to plow the roads up here until tonight or tomorrow morning. He said that he would try to make it sometime tomorrow afternoon."
Ann got a worried look on her face, "Can you get me back to the condo? Do you think your car will make it?"
"No way Ann," Bob snapped, "there's no way that you can stay at that condo without power. Stay here until tomorrow. Howie will get your car into the shop to be repaired tomorrow afternoon and I'll get you back in town tomorrow evening. I don't know how long it will take to get your car repaired."
Bob saw that Ann's mind was working overtime, "If you don't feel safe I'll let you tie me to a chair until it's time to drive down the mountain."
Ann flashed him a big grin, "Ok. How will I get my stuff out of the condo though?"
Bob pointed to the shed; "I have a four wheel drive New Holland tractor out there in the shed that has gone through deeper snow than this. It's about halfway between a garden tractor and a farm tractor. I'll drive around the lake and get your stuff and bring it back here and we'll camp out here tonight. Now, get your keys to the condo and I'll go start the tractor and let it warm up."
Bob turned to get dressed for the trip outside before Ann had a chance to answer. After he had his parka on and his boots laced up he went outside. In a few minutes Ann heard the tractor start up and several minutes later he pulled the tractor in front of the cabin. Ann was waiting with the keys in her hand when he walked back inside stomping the snow off of his boots.
"Bob, I don't think that you ought to try it," Ann said, "God only knows how the roads are. I think that we ought to wait until the roads are plowed."
"Nonsense. Now what do you have at the condo that I need to bring back?"
Ann thought for a minute, "I just have the one small suitcase in the bedroom and my briefcase and the papers on the kitchen table. I didn't unpack anything, so there's nothing that you have to get from the bathroom or anywhere else."
Bob took the keys from her, "Now, just tell me the address and I'll
be back as soon as possible."