CH44

June 28, 2001

Kate found her mother in the kitchen making her breakfast before heading out to work. "Oscar is coming today, are you excited?" she asked her with lots of innuendo built in. "What?" Johanna turned to look at Kate.

"It's a simple question Mom, are you excited? You've spent the last week at the high school teaching the kids what to cook from your menu." Kate offered her an out. Johanna instantly brightened up. "That's been fun even if all I did get from that class were two cooks, one hostess, and two waitresses. One cook came from here in Newcastle along with three more hostesses and one hostess along with 2 dishwashers.

Everyone else moved here from Rapid City. It seems I picked a bad year to open a restaurant. The economy is crashing." Johanna was worried about that, a lot, a whole lot. She was even losing sleep because of it, but wasn't telling Kate that.

"Look at the bright side Mom, people are looking for jobs and are willing to move to get them. You might get to keep most of them longer than you think," she said getting her mother to nod in agreement.

"When is Oscar landing?" Kate knew he was coming out today finally. "A little after lunch. He said he was bringing a surprise and wouldn't tell me what it was, only that I would love it." Johanna was still upset about that.

"Well I'm going to go to work. Alexis's last day is tomorrow and after that we're all going on a camping trip," she reminded her. "I'm not sure I should be going, my restaurant opens soon. What if something goes wrong? What if someone quits before I even open? What if…" Kate interrupted her. "MOM Stop! Everything will be fine and we're only going to be gone three days and two nights. You already promised you would go. Your going is one of the reasons Alexis's friends' parents are willing to let their little girls go with Rick. You really want to explain to Alexis that we're not going because you bailed on her?" She was playing dirty and she knew it, but her mother needed to get out of the house.

"We have more than enough space even with Oscar coming with us. You did tell him he was going camping after he got here?" Kate asked her, however Johanna remained silent. "MOM!?" She was upset with her mother. "I'm sorry Katie, I really am." Johanna meant it, though she hadn't told him because she was scared. The only way she saw this working with Kate sleeping above the garage of their toy hauler was for Oscar to sleep with her in her bed, and she just wasn't ready for that yet.

"I have to go Mom. Do not forget to go shopping and fill our refrigerator. We're going to have a lot of mouths to feed for 3 days." Kate pointed at her and headed for work in her Jeep since the new cars hadn't technically been ordered yet. The fleet representative was coming out next week to help her work out what they needed and what they could afford. Plus Kate now knew what kind of money she had to work with for the rest of the year.

Rick was dropping off Alexis for her next to last day of school. The following day would be their much anticipated trip with Alexis's friends. "Remember pumpkin, your friends can not know you are also a bear. This is very important. I know you would like to tell them, but you just can't," he reminded her again.

"I know Dad, Kate told me," Alexis informed him. He was shocked. Kate had told her? When did that happen? "You have a good day at school pumpkin. Remind your friends we are going camping in two days," Rick reminded her of that too. Alexis smiled from ear to ear as she climbed out of the truck and ran inside, anxious to find her friends and talk about their trip.

Rick drove to the grocery store so he could buy enough food and find a way to stuff all of it into his trailer.

Johanna, with butterflies in her stomach, got into her Jeep and drove to Rapid City's airport and found Oscar already waiting at the curb with his suitcase, carry-on bag that had been holding Thor who was presently in his arms, along with his extra large portfolio case. She got out to open the back for him and soon found Thor in her lap trying to lick her face when they both got inside her car. "Thor, let her drive. You can go nuts when you meet Patch again." Oscar pulled Thor off of Johanna so she could drive.

"How was your flight?" Johanna started off with an easy one. "Thor actually didn't put up much of a fuss this time. I think my fellow passengers were a lot happier with me being onboard then the last time," he chuckled which had Johanna smiling.

"So what's my surprise?" She wanted an answer right now. "That's really bugging you isn't it?" Oscar was catching on fast. Johanna however spared him a look while driving long enough to throw daggers at him. "Fine." He let go of Thor so he could reach behind him and dig into his portfolio case. Oscar finally, after moaning about how hard this was to do, pulled out a standard size sheet of paper and took Thor back off of Johanna's lap.

"This is a deal between you and one of the major tour bus companies. One of their routes takes tourists to Mount Rushmore. If you sign this you agree to offer each passenger 10% off of their bills. One of their routes takes them east down US16 towards Mount Rushmore. Before they used to just drive right through, now they will stop at your restaurant coming and going for dinner. If you sign," he informed her and held it up for her to take a quick peak.

She even recognized the name of the tour company. How had he managed to do this? "You're serious aren't you?" Johanna took a quick look at him just to see his face. "Very serious. It's already signed by their president. You sign it, we scan it and send it, and they'll start on the very first bus that comes this way. They average between 50 and 58 seats for each trip. That's a minimum of 50 seats of your 182 seat capacity, likely all adults and senior citizens at that." Oscar was proud of himself. "Of course they're not committed to eating here, only that the bus will stop here."

Johanna was smiling widely, a set number of people who would stop at her restaurant. "How often do they have buses?" She was wondering if she did well enough would she already be booked when the bus showed up and she couldn't serve any of them?

"They have tour buses that go there daily, though this deal is only for 3 of the 6 days that you'll be open. If you want to increase that we would need to negotiate a new contract for more buses," he told her. What Johanna wanted to do was kiss him, but she was too chicken to tell him that.

"Oh, I've got one more surprise for you. This one came in late last night, too late for me to tell you anything about it." He let go of Thor again who made his way into Johanna's lap once more while Oscar searched his portfolio. He turned back around with a much larger sheet of paper this time.

"This is the football jersey that you will be offering for sale at your restaurant. The University of Wyoming will ship them out to you and you will provide them with 80% of all profits of their sale. Here on the sleeve at the shoulder will be the logo of your restaurant. They refused the idea of having your name on them. However I have copyrighted your design so that only you can use it."

"These football jerseys are now a collector's item. They won't bring you much money from selling them, but they are going to be a one of a kind. Right now it only comes in one color," he told her, which had Johanna pulling over to the side of the road.

"Did I do something wrong?" Oscar was sure she was going to like both of these surprises. Just how many restaurants had a tour bus stopping at their place at least 3 times a week? Especially in this new economy. The buses might not be full anymore but people were still going to travel on vacation and need to eat.

Plus just how many universities were willing to allow a restaurant's logo placed on their jersey? Though it didn't hurt when Oscar told them she was going to fire off fireworks for each win the university's football and basketball games had.

Oscar had been surprised when he found out that the university had dropped baseball back in 1996. It had forced Johanna to change to basketball. She was sure Jim was turning over in his grave. Of course she would move to a state that didn't have college baseball.

He had even offered up a possibility of them offering the students a tour up to Mount Rushmore going through Newcastle so they could buy a one of a kind souvenir during spring break. He hadn't heard back about that one yet.

Johanna stopped the car and screwed up all the courage she could muster and pulled Oscar across to her so she could kiss him soundly. She pressed her tongue into his mouth so she could increase the passion of the kiss. She finally broke from the kiss and watched him for his reaction. He was soon smiling widely since it wasn't something he was expecting, but it was something he had wanted to do as often as possible while he was here.

"I should provide you with surprises more often." Oscar wasn't sure how she would take them, but this was a good sign. "I hate surprises so if you do that again I'll kill you." Johanna told him and then pulled him close to her again so she could kiss him once more.

Oscar was smiling, holding onto Thor while Johanna started driving again. He decided that he would keep his secret about a spring break tour bus that would stop at her restaurant coming and going once a year.

He dropped his bag in the downstairs spare bedroom while Thor and Patch ran throughout the house including up and down the stairs. He found Johanna in the kitchen. "Have you eaten?" she asked him and began searching her refrigerator after he shook his head.

However he pushed the door closed. "Talk to me, please. I know Jim hasn't been gone that long. I think you know I'm interested, and for me it's the first time in a long time. I'll back off if you want me to, but I need to know." He was willing to push at least a little. "I like you Oscar, I really do. I just don't know what to do." Johanna gave him yet another semi-mixed message when she took hold of his shirt with both hands and pulled herself into his chest and held her head there.

What she needed was for him to push her a little but not too much to scare her off. What Johanna found was Oscar pushing her away from him a little and having her head tilted up and feel his lips against hers, softly and tenderly.

"I'm here for a week, we can work it out. Maybe the answer will come to you in that time. Doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying to get you to lean my way." He gave her a quick kiss. "Now how's Kate? Are those two still denying there's something between them?" He changed the subject. "I don't think so, not anymore. Katie has been spending most of her days and even nights over at his house. There's definitely something going on. I haven't confronted her about it, but I think she loves him," Johanna confirmed.

"And if Rick asked her about us?" Oscar questioned turning the tables on her. Johanna smiled at what he was getting at. Katie had been teasing her for days if not weeks about what she felt about Oscar.

"What would you like to do 'til Katie gets home and Rick with Alexis and the dogs come over for dinner?" Johanna deflected his question. "Take me to your restaurant? I need to talk to your general contractor." Oscar said and they found themselves in her Jeep leaving the dogs behind to play with each other.

The building looked done as Johanna parked the car not far away. They were soon walking the exterior with the general contractor who told them that the landscape was going to be the very last thing to be completed. Inside they found that none of the tables and chairs had shown up yet. The few booths that they had were in place. The fireplaces were in, the walls were painted, and most of the work was in the kitchen since all of the kitchen equipment was being installed.

The water was connected and working as well as the tankless water heaters. The fire protection contractor was long since done and gone. Everyone inside was comfortable since the rooftop A/C units were currently running while the mechanical contractor was presently balancing the system.

"What's left?" Oscar asked the general contractor. "The tables and chairs are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow as well as all of the decorations." Like the pictures of Yellowstone Oscar had arranged. "The following day will be the food delivery except for the perishables. I'm told those will show up on the 4th," he explained.

Oscar turned to look at Johanna at that information. "I've been out here every day for weeks lately. He told me it would be ready on the 4th so I called for deliveries on the 3rd and the 4th," she told him. "And your employees?" he asked. "All hired and the shirts in their sizes have been picked up. The schedule for opening day has been conveyed to each of them."

"I've been cooking with the kids from the high school in their classroom for the last week," Johanna said to him. "Your jerseys are scheduled to show up on the 4th also with the sale price set by the university," Oscar informed her. "The 4th is going to be a very busy and exciting day."

"And I and my crew are going to be here to taste your cooking before we all go home. We built this place; we want to experience it," the general contractor told her. "And I'll be happy to serve you," Johanna responded smiling.

They were happy with what they saw and learned and headed back home. "Your billboards are up on both highways as of yesterday I was told. Your restaurant on the highway information signs for your exit has been put in for approval. I don't know when that will be approved and added. That sign is out of my hands."

"I know your grand opening banner will be up on the 4th also. Have you got your fireworks for the first night?" he inquired. "I'll show you when we get home," was Johanna's response.

She had used Rick's truck to purchase fireworks worth hundreds of dollars for the first week or longer depending on if Wyoming won a game during that week.

Basketball didn't start until November 13, 2001 against USC.

Football didn't start until September 1, 2001 against Furman.

This all meant that the fireworks that she did shoot off would be only for the opening night for a few months, after that it was up to the university how often she shot off fireworks.

Since her opening night was the 4th of July, Johanna planned on shooting off 16 boxes that each had between 9 and 20 shots. "Oh my god!" Oscar's mouth fell open when she showed him just how many boxes she had in storage at home. "$960 worth of fireworks," she told him, still put out that Rick had purchased all of them instead of her. "I plan of shooting them off for you on the 4th so I'm buying. If not for you I would have spent the same amount and shot them off at home," Rick had told her, defending himself.

"I know local advertising for the event has been done since I asked you earlier. What about clothing for the cooks? White aprons at the very least." Johanna started nodding. "Yep, got that too. Three for each of us."

"How are your nerves holding up?" Oscar knew what was coming was a big day for her. She and Rick had sunk a fair chunk of change into this place. "Honestly? I barely sleep and I pick at my food. I haven't been this nervous since I applied for the bar. My life is about to work out or blow up in my face," Johanna admitted for the first time.

"You'll do fine, plus I'm going to be back there to help you and your staff. Just know that things will go wrong. It's inevitable and can't be helped. We'll iron out the bugs and you'll be operating smoothly in no time." Oscar had told himself he wasn't leaving until it was. Even if it meant staying longer than a week. She had a washer and dryer after all. It didn't hurt that he liked it out here a lot and not just because of Johanna. There was something about the wide open spaces that caused him to smile wide. It was a feeling or more an inner voice that he hadn't listened to for a really long time.

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Kate started going through her "to read" pile when she came across something about staffing requirements.

Search and Rescue: One Deputy splitting his time between SAR coordination and Patrol services.

Civil: One Process Server and one Clerk, with part-time assistance from Administration, Dispatch, and Evidence. Records: Collateral duties assigned to Dispatchers.

Dispatch: Two full-time and one part-time employees maintaining officer safety for Patrol Operations, Civil Process Server, Search and Rescue personnel, and the Sheriff; as well as complying with all public records requests received during the year and mandatory crime reporting to State and Federal authorities.

Patrol Operations: Four full-time employees, three of which operate under contract (BLM, City of Newcastle, and State Marine Board) primarily responding only to life-threatening calls-for-service received during a single shift covering 40 hours per week.

Evidence: One employee maintaining hundreds if not thousands of pieces of property in a manner suitable to the District Attorney's Office and Circuit Court, which also assists with processing civil paperwork.

Court Security: One employees maintaining secure, safe facilities for both Circuit and Family Courts

"SHIT!" Kate literally yelled out loud which got the attention of the people in the office. She re-read it again and started some simple math. She needed at least six full-time deputies, four of which were assigned to patrols. Four civilians plus another two or three full-time employees to man the 911 phone.

Kate had three deputies and four civilians, one of which was full time 911 while one of the other two handled the night 911 calls.

"I am seriously understaffed." Kate hung her head and went back to reading till she found a more recent one. It was an announcement that her budget would likely be lowered next year due to the present economy. It suggested a 10% to 20% reduction next year was to be expected.

To her that meant doing with one or two less people next year. "Might as well get used to it this year and be ready for it next year," she murmured to herself. Still that meant she needed to hire three full time deputies, and one full time or at least part-time civilian.

It did however give Kate an idea. If she was going to have her budget reduced it meant other cities like New York City were going to get hit hard. She got on the phone as she thought of at least two people that might be interested.

"Hi LT, Kate Beckett out in Weston County, Wyoming. Has Montgomery talked to everyone about the economy and the upcoming budget?" she questioned him immediately and listened for a few minutes as LT talked to her about a lot of things.

"I was calling to see if you might be interested in being a sheriff's deputy here in Wyoming. It would pay $19.43 an hour or $41,428 annually since you would be a Deputy Patrol. Oh, and we get brand new 2001 Dodge cars in three months. Four will be Intrepid R/Ts while two will be Durango 4x4s. You would likely end up with an Intrepid since you wouldn't have any seniority," she informed him, and listened for a few minutes.

"I'll fly you out on my dime and let you stay in my spare bedroom while you look around the place. You just need your own car out of Rapid City. It's about 1-1/2 hour drive from Rapid City to Newcastle," she told him and listened for a minute. "Of course. Think it over and get back to me at this number. Keep in mind things like homes cost a whole lot less here than they do in New York City," she advised him. She listened for another minute. "Thanks LT, think it over that's all I ask." Kate hung up and looked up another number.

"This is Sheriff Beckett in Weston County, Wyoming. I need to talk to a Greta Bailey if she is in? …Yes I'll hold."

Kate gave the same pitch to her as she did LT. "Yes, I'm aware you have a daughter. Please keep in mind that housing, school, and daycare cost less here than they do in New York City. You would be a Deputy Sheriff Recruit hence the $35,134 annually. Did I mention you would either get a brand new 2001 Dodge Intrepid or the last PT-Cruiser as part of your job?" Kate was smiling. Brand new cars were turning out to be a hiring incentive.

"Let me do some checking around locally and I'll send it to you. Just give me your e-mail address and I'll do some looking today and tomorrow and get it out to you." Kate offered to send her places to stay and daycare information along with costs.

"Yes, I can help with relocation costs provided we use who I select to move you," she told her and listened for a few minutes. "Excellent, I'll send you the information and let me know what you think." She ended the call.

Kate was done with the "must read" pile and found a new appreciation for the job Roy did. "I'm going out for lunch to look for apartments or rooms for rent. I may have a lead on a couple of new deputies for us," she told them. "Call if you need me," she said over her shoulder.

A quick phone call to the mayor gave her a short list that he knew about off the top of his head. She looked at a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom house. She would need to purchase a refrigerator and a washer/dryer. It was offered at $795 a month and was pet friendly with restrictions. That would leave her around $1 grand after rent.

Two bedroom, one bathroom apartment with or without a garage. $675 a month with garage or $650 without. 875 square feet. It came with all appliances except washer and dryer. The small building had a common laundry room; it was not pet friendly.

Two bedroom, one bathroom manufactured home. $800 a month that included all appliances with washer/dryer. Fenced yard with a garden for vegetables and was pet friendly with restrictions.

Kate was back at her desk with a sub sandwich, chips, and a soda and was sending what she had already found to Greta, along with the website for the local schools.

"Need one more deputy and my civilian still?" she said to herself and prayed the mayor had ideas.