Smith's Monthly #21

by Smith, Dean Wesley

  The Garden was as silent as a tomb, so he moved over and turned the stereo back on for background noise. Music was so much of a person’s life, it didn’t feel right to not have some music playing while he talked with his friends.

  H couldn’t think of how to start into this, so as he moved back to his position leaning against the back bar facing his friends, he just decided to start from the beginning.

  “You know computers can be dangerous things.”

  “I’ll drink to that,” Dave said. As an airline pilot, he had told them more horror stories about computers than Stout wanted to remember. Especially the next time he had to fly.

  “About six months ago, I decided to see how Jenny was doing,” Stout said. “So I looked her up on that Google-thing that Sandy showed me how to use when she installed that computer in my office.”

  Sandy laughed. “That computer was for bookkeeping, not surfing the web.”

  Billy just shook his head. “Stout surfing. Now I’ve seen it all.”

  “Hey,” Stout said, laughing. “I used to surf when I was down in Florida for those jobs.”

  Billy snorted. “Yeah, decades and fifty pounds ago.”

  “Forty-three pounds,” Stout said, laughing even harder. Amazing how good friends could make a person feel better even when trying to tell them bad news.

  Billy raised his glass in defeat.

  “So you found Jenny,” Sandy said, getting him back on his story. “What was she doing?”

  “I actually didn’t find her at first,” Stout said, his stomach twisting. “I actually found an obituary for her husband. He died of cancer two years ago. She was mentioned as surviving him.”

  “Oh,” was all Sandy said.

  “I searched some more, and discovered she had an account on something called Facebook, so I joined up.”

  “The world has ended,” Billy said.

  “My hero is lost,” Big Carl said.

  Fred just shook his head, saying nothing, while Sandy looked proud and Richard and Dave looked worried.

  “So I contacted her and we’ve been in touch for six months now.”

  “No wonder you’ve been in such a good mood,” Richard said.

  Stout let them chatter about his mood for a second until Dave said, “Let him finish his story.”

  “Jenny has two grown kids and a couple of young grandkids. She’s living just south of San Francisco and doing fine. Retired from teaching at the university there.”

  “Is she going to come up and visit?” Fred asked. “I could clean a room in the Golden Dream if she needs a place to stay.”

  Billy just smacked him on the side of the arm and everyone laughed.

  “Thanks,” Stout said. “She actually will be in tonight, and I’ve got her a room at the Comfort Suites down the street from here.”

  Now smiles lit up on everyone, and they all started talking at once about how they were looking forward to meeting her.

  Finally, after the conversation eased, Dave looked at Stout and asked, “So, how come the trip through the jukebox?”

  “I wanted to see if the feelings were still there just from the old memories, or if these new memories were building new feelings.”

  “Getting serious it seems,” Richard said.

  “Skype will do that for you,” Stout said, smiling.

  “The world really has ended,” Fred said, shaking his head. “Our Stout is doing the nasty with a woman on the computer.”

  Stout just laughed. “Only talking. Honest.”

  Everyone but Richard laughed. “So what’s the upshot of this, Stout?”

  Stout took a deep breath and looked at Richard. “Remember when I had you run the bar for a week two months ago? I was down seeing Jenny and getting to know her family. And that went well, which is why she’s coming up here this time. To see my life and meet all of you.”

  “And if this goes well?” Richard asked.

  Stout smiled. Richard was one of the sharpest people Stout knew. And since Richard never took a drink, he often caught stuff others missed.

  “We might get married,” Stout said, smiling. “We’ve talked about it, but nothing firm yet. Waiting to see how this trip goes.”

  Everyone cheered and Stout quickly hushed them. “Jenny is looking forward to meeting you all, but not a word of that marriage stuff, all right? Promise?”

  Six hands went up as one, promising.

  “And if you decide to get hitched,” Richard said, “you’ll need to move down there with her. Right? She’s the one with the grandkids and family.”

  Suddenly even the background music didn’t help the dead feeling of the Garden. Stout made a note to hear the Beatles song playing on the radio to anchor this moment.

  “Actually, we’re planning on living both places,” Stout said. “And doing some traveling. But it will be tough to own a bar and not be here six months of the year.”

  Stout glanced at all six of the sad faces on his friends. The Garden was as much of a home to them as it was to him. Just like he couldn’t imagine shutting this bar down, they couldn’t imagine being without it and all the friendships. And that’s what they were all thinking at that moment.

  No one said a word, so Stout went on with his plan.

  He moved down in front of Richard. “Mr. Richard Cone, sir,” Stout said, acting very formal. “I know you have a great job managing that plant, but I also know you have always wanted to own your own bar.”

  Richard’s head snapped up and he looked Stout square in the eyes.

  A Beach Boys song called “Good Vibrations” was now playing.

  “If this works out between me and Jenny, which I have a hunch it’s going to, would you be interested in buying the Garden Lounge and running it in any manner you see fit?”

  Stout watched Richard swallow hard, his eyes slightly misty.

  Except for the background song, the bar was dead silent.

  Dave leaned over and touched Richard on the shoulder. “I’ll back you if you need the help.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Sandy said.

  “Count me in,” Carl said. “I got some extra if you need it.”

  “Me too,” Fred said.

  “Not me,” Billy said. “I barely got enough to drink and eat and pay my rent to Fred here. But I’ll buy drinks if you’ll serve me.”

  Everyone laughed then, including Richard. Then Richard turned to them. “Thanks. But with my job and low expenses, I’ve been saving for something like this for a very, very long time.”

  He turned back to Stout and extended his hand. “Mr. Radley Stout, if things work out with your new girl, you’ve got a buyer, as long as that damned jukebox stays with the bar. We can’t be changing traditions now, can we?”

  Stout and Richard shook hands as everyone cheered, and it felt as if a huge weight had just lifted off Stout’s shoulders.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  About one hundred and fifteen years earlier…

  September 26th, 1905

  Roosevelt, Idaho

  RYAN WATCHED WITH his stomach twisting as Bonnie and Duster waved goodbye and rode off along the trail and back up the valley toward the Monumental Lodge. They both had three empty packhorses with them, leaving four horses behind for the first winter in the valley.

  The day had dawned cold, with a dusting of frost on everything. Above the mountain peaks the sky was a bright blue, promising another nice fall day, but the sun had barely hit the tops of the mountains so far. Bonnie and Duster just loved getting early starts.

  Talia stood beside him, holding his gloved hand with her gloved hand. Both of them were dressed in heavy clothes, boots, and jackets insulated with future technology, but made to look like 1900 clothing. From what Ryan had heard about the coming winters here in the valley, they were going to need all the warmth they could muster.

  “You as scared as I am?” Talia asked without looking at him as they watched their two bosses ride away. Her breath left a cloud of white frost in the air in front
of them.

  “Petrified,” Ryan said.

  “Oh, good,” she said, turning to go back inside.

  Ryan followed her, shedding his coat as he went since the inside of the large cabin was nicely warm and designed to stay that way with just the heat from the fireplace and a few hidden fans and ducts.

  The summer had been amazing. They had spent the months since their arrival setting up their equipment, getting in supplies for the winter, and exploring the valley.

  They had met Janice and Steven, two historians from the future who had owned the general store here since the town started. Both of them were part of the Institute in the future and two of the founders. They promised to help if anything happened over the winter.

  Ryan had liked them both and all six of them had had many a great meal in their cabin, enjoying the laughter and each other’s company. It seemed that Janice could really cook. So for the winter, they set up a regular Thursday and Sunday dinner together to check in with each other. Their cabin was directly across the valley from Melody Ridge and also had many hidden features to help through the long winters.

  Having them here made Ryan feel a little less worried about the coming winter. But in a number of years, after the town went under water, unless they could solve their math problems, it would be most likely he and Talia would be the only living beings in the valley in the winter.

  That scared Ryan more than he wanted to think about, since even though they could see the Monumental Lodge from their front porch, in the winter it would not be possible to reach.

  Their work on the music had gone well once everything was set up and they were settled. They had managed to record the sounds of the valley all summer to get a baseline for it all.

  And wow was the valley a noisy place. It seemed the extremely steep slopes covered in sharply shaped rocks held the sounds down, including the ten pianos playing every night from open saloon doors.

  Every so often Ryan could actually recognize a song, but that was always fleeting. Mostly the valley just seemed to be filled with music and noise day and night all summer.

  The four of them had made some progress on the math of sound through time, but not enough. Ryan had a hunch it might take them years, if ever, to solve this problem of sound cutting through time.

  They had set up a hidden area lab behind a small empty bedroom that had no windows. And they had wired instruments all over the entire area around their home.

  Twice Duster had made a ride for the lodge with packhorses to get more supplies and equipment they had stored there. They had a large pantry and cellar full of food supplies and enough firewood cut and under shelter near the stable to build a small mountain.

  They were ready, but Ryan just didn’t feel ready.

  He took off his coat and hung it on the peg near the door, then moved to where Talia was putting a kettle on the stove for hot water for tea. He put his arms around her and she turned so she could be in his arms, looking him in the eyes.

  “This will be an adventure,” he said.

  “I know,” she said, kissing him lightly.

  He knew that kiss already, even after only knowing Talia for a few months. Something was wrong.

  He smiled and looked into her wonderful green eyes. “And…?”

  “I’m just worried?”

  “About surviving?” he asked. He was too, but they were far, far more prepared than anything he could imagine and they had this wonderful cabin as well.

  “Sure, a little,” she said.

  He knew that wasn’t the problem, so he said once again, “And…?”

  She shook her head, then looked him in the eyes. “I’m afraid after being so close to me for so long, you won’t love me anymore.”

  Somehow, he did the correct thing and didn’t laugh. But he did smile and she could see he was amused.

  “I’m serious,” she said, trying to twist out of his arms, but he held on and she didn’t try very hard.

  “I love you,” he said, again staring into those intense green eyes. “As every day goes past, I love you more. I am looking forward to being alone with you, working with you, making love to you, for years and years. I just hope you won’t get tired of me.”

  Now it was her turn to smile at him.

  “And if we have issues,” he said, “we are certainly going to have the time to work them out.”

  “Yeah,” she said, laughing. “You have that right. Time is on our side at this point.”

  Then she kissed him hard. And if the kettle hadn’t whistled to say the water was boiling, they might have just gone back to their big feather bed.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  July 23rd, 2020

  Boise, Idaho

  JENNY FIT IN perfectly with the regulars at the Garden. She and Dave and Richard hit it off perfectly, and after just a few evenings, she told Stout she felt like she had always been sitting at the bar joking with everyone.

  And at one point or another every one of his friends told him in private that if he lost this woman, he was dumber than a post.

  Stout had to agree with them, even though Jenny sure didn’t look much like the thin, long-haired girl he had fallen in love with all those decades ago. Just as he had done, she had filled out, and now her once-brown hair was short and silver. And she tended to wear dresses more than jeans. And she wore glasses, those thin kind that professors wore.

  She actually had been a professor for years, teaching music theory and history before she retired to care for her husband in his last year.

  Her husband had been a building contractor, so she and Big Carl seemed to sometimes talk another language that most of the regulars just didn’t understand.

  After four days, it was clear they were going to be together for a lot longer if Stout could just get past one more hurdle.

  Dave reminded him that he needed to tell her about the jukebox.

  Stout had to agree with him. It was important that a future partner would know that he owned—and was about to sell—a time machine.

  So once again he passed the word to his closest friends to come in early in the afternoon to help him out in case he needed it. And he asked Jenny to come with him to open the bar. He said he had something he needed to show her.

  “This sounds serious,” she said, looking at him with those wonderful brown eyes of hers. Those eyes hadn’t changed at all, and her ability to really see him hadn’t changed either.

  “It is,” he said. “And I hope nothing serious. Just something you need to know about.”

  The night before they had talked about him selling the bar to Richard and how happy he was about that.

  And sad at the same time.

  She double- and triple-checked that he was telling her the truth. After the last few days, she could see just how special the Garden Lounge was to him, and how hard it was going to be for him to let it go.

  He told her he didn’t plan on leaving the Garden forever. They would be regulars when they were in town. And he told her that every Christmas Eve they had to be there, no matter what. They could fly back to her kids for Christmas Day.

  He told her she would understand why after he showed her what he had to show her at the bar.

  Christmas Eve at the Garden Lounge was a special time for all the regulars. It was the only time he ever turned on the jukebox and let customers go back to their memories. Richard had said he planned on honoring that tradition, and hoped Stout would be back every year to run the party.

  So as he finished getting the bar opened, everyone sort of showed up at once, laughing with Jenny. All of them knew what this was all about, and they were all determined to help if they could.

  So with Jenny sitting between Dave and Richard at the bar, Stout stood against the back of the bar and had no idea where to start. He just sort of stood there as everyone looked at him. He hadn’t bothered to turn on the stereo yet, so the weight of the silence made starting even harder.

  “Tell her about the glasses first,” Dave said,
pointing at the case over the bar.

  Stout looked into the eyes of the woman he loved and then said simply, “You are not going to believe most of what I’m about to say, but for now just trust me. Okay?”

  She frowned, clearly suddenly worried.

  “Trust him,” Dave said. “He’s not totally nuts, only slightly.”

  Everyone laughed and Stout took the key for the cabinet out of the register drawer and went to get the four glasses.

  He took three down and left the other in the case.

  Then he walked the fine drinking glasses down the bar, putting the one etched with the name Dave in front of Dave, another in front of Carl, and another in front of Fred.

  “I made these glasses for these men years ago for a special Christmas Eve party. I served them drinks in these glasses, and none of them remembers that night. Except Dave, who came back after I closed the bar. Long story, but what this is all about.”

  “If you are trying to explain something,” Jenny said, “remind me to never let you in a classroom.”

  “Now that’s a deal, Professor,” Stout said.

  He pointed at the old jukebox, dark and sitting in the corner. “You understand the power of music. Music can take a person back to a memory, to an emotion, to an experience.”

  Jenny nodded. “There have been many studies on the power of songs to trigger memories to try to help some patients with different forms of brain injury and diseases.”

  Everyone was deadly silent, which wasn’t a normal state for the Garden Lounge, so he just blurted it out. “That jukebox actually takes a person physically to a memory associated with a song.”

  Jenny looked at him frowning. Then she smiled. “Okay, what’s the joke?”

  “Toss me a quarter, Stout,” Dave said, climbing off his stool. “She’s not going to believe you; no one does, until they see it. I’ll go visit Sandy being born again.”

  Without looking at Jenny, Stout tossed Dave a quarter and moved around the end of the bar and plugged in the jukebox.

  “Give us a minute to get earplugs in,” Stout said.