It was a glorious sunny morning and Bobbie rose early and went for a little run along the road. Most of the media fuss about her and Brose was dying down.

On her way back she ran into Rose driving her bike up the hill. Bobbie ran along side her and was out of breathe when she reached the top. “I just wanted to check in with you Rose and you were headed up the hill at a good clip on your bike.”

“I love riding my bike. Mark and I are going mountain biking on Sunday.”

“You have only been here a short time and you have so much more energy and life. You are getting a smile back too. You look great. Mark said you got your high school diploma and made the honour roll and I wanted to congratulate you. How do you like the braces?”

“Thanks Bobbie, Mark helped me study. The braces are a bit of a pain. My mouth gets sore and they are hard to keep clean. I can’t eat apples either. I need to go buy new work pants again. The ones I have are getting too big.

“This really makes no difference to you now Rose, but Trixie got a note from our health insurance and the government is paying for your next surgery.”

“What does that mean for me Bobbie?”

“Don’t worry Rose it just means that you don’t need our insurance to get it done. You could be working somewhere else and get it.”

“Am I going to get fired or something?”

“Oh no, not at all! A little bird told me that you were thinking of going to nursing school in the fall and I want to assure you that you will be able to get your teeth fixed wherever you are.”

“Thanks Bobbie, I think it’s mostly a pipe dream, nursing school I mean.”

“Well, I’ve been talking to my Mom and she can pull strings. Are you sure you don’t want to be a doctor?”

Rose shook her head and laughed and put her bike on the stand. “Have a good one Bobbie!”

“You too Rose.” There were extra cars in the parking lot and Bobbie thought, that’s good, the boardroom rental service is making money. She went upstairs for her shower and saw Johnny was at the door with a box of gluten free biscuit mix.

“I wanted to ask how Tate’s album plans are going. Come in and make your biscuits while I go for my shower. Maybe we can take some over for Quinn and Ray when their done. Ray doesn’t eat gluten either.”

“Tate’s been pretty quiet. No news is good news, I guess.”

Bobbie came out when Johnny was putting his biscuits in the oven. “Those will be great, Johnny. Brit told me they are almost all getting set for the market over at the tubing space. Maybe we can sing a few duets there just for fun.”

I was hoping I could convince you to come to Cid City with me and help Tate and maybe book a few shows.

“I have a lot to do here Johnny. I’m not sure I can commit to all that.”

“This reminds me of when we were teenagers and caught that break right after high school and you had so many other commitments. Now is our chance to really make it Bobbie. I’ve always wanted to do this together. Please don’t make the wrong decision again.”

“Going to University wasn’t the wrong decision. You went away and made your stab at the music industry and it didn’t fly. You went down the drugs, booze and women rabbit hole.”

“Because you weren’t with me! I love you Bobbie. If we’re together, it will be different.”

“What do you mean Johnny? I’m with Ambrose now. You never wanted me back then and when I moved home you got yourself engaged to someone else.”

“I was freaked out Bobbie, I didn’t even love her.”

“Every time we ever got close you ended up with someone else.”

“Maybe I thought that you’re too good for me Bobbie. If we could just be successful together, I know it would fix everything.”

“Oh Johnny, I’m not too good for you. You and I have a huge emotional connection through music but it’s not love.”

“Don’t tell me how I feel Bobbie!” And Johnny stormed out of the apartment.

The oven dinged, Bobbie blinked away tears and took the biscuits out. She stared at them and waited until she felt her self calming down. She was shaken. She hoped that Johnny would see sense. She always had feelings for him. But she knew real love with Alex and she was starting to feel that kind of love for Brose. It was different than with Johnny. To be honest she was sad they never hooked up. They shared such a passion for music. She decided to give him a little time and then take up his biscuits. She played with Fossy awhile, changed his littler, cleaned up a few dishes and packed up the biscuits.

“Knock knock, I bring gluten free biscuits​?”

“Come in Bobbie, That’s a pretty good peace offering, sorry I left you with all the cleanup.”

“I hate when we fight Johnny. We’re known each other so long we know all the buttons to push. I’m sorry I can’t focus more on music right now.”

“I’m sorry I pressured you Bobbie, it was unfair of me to ask you to drop everything here.”

“I get it Johnny. I’ve thought about it too. I mean where would we be if we’d pursued music? Singing at a little festival with Tate was pretty good. Maybe we could learn some new songs to sing at the market.”

“That would be great, maybe we could write some songs too.”

Sitting down, Bobbie said.“You’ve got your little bachelor suite all set up here but you’ll soon run out of room.”

“It’s pretty good Bobbie but you’re right it’s a little small. Effie keeps it clean for me though“

“Effie cleans my place twice a week too. I can’t believe how used to it I’ve gotten. I was never a great housekeeper and she makes me look good. Mink and Chase take care of staff scheduling for me, I don’t know how they do it. It’s just like breathing for them.”

“If you’re not busy, you could come with me and visit your Mom and Aunt Linda.”

“Sure, why do you want to visit?”

“I want to talk to your mom about that woodlot that your Dad owned. It’s just down the hill from your motel, past the foot of the garden. It’s mostly grown up now. That’s why we had to put up such good fence around the motel gardens. Anyway, I want to clear it out for my little homestead. Do you think your Mom would sell it?”

Bobbie shifted in her seat. “I honestly don’t know. I don’t even know if she knows what she has.”

On the way out of the door Bobbie said. “Lets stop and get some flowers to soften her up.”

Johnny Laughed. “That’s a good plan. Maybe a bottle of sherry too.”

Florence and Linda were glad to see them. They were planning to go play bridge that evening. It turns out Florence knew exactly what land she had. “Yes that’s a woodlot next to the Bobbie’s land. Years ago, when it was cleared we had a garden there. I have a good piece of land with what’s left of my family home on too. I haven’t been there in years. I’d like to go out there sometime.”

“Well I was hoping you would consider selling that woodlot. I’d like to build a little place on it. It’s a nice location. Close to Bobbie and not far from you guys.”

“Well Johnny, it was my family philosophy. “Never sell the land” but you are almost family so I’d have no trouble. How about 10 thousand dollars.”

“Are you sure Florence, the wood on it is worth more than that.”

“I’m sure Johnny, I am never going to cut the wood. You just give me a check for 10,000 dollars and I’ll get the deeds all squared away. I’ll pay for all that as a little show of goodwill. Now, Bobbie is your Motel reception area and art gallery set up to host a gala? Planned parenthood is having it’s annual meeting and wants to host a gala as part of the agenda. I told them I know a gorgeous venue with superb catering.”

“No Pressure Mom; I’ll talk it over with my people and get back to you.”

“So Florence do you have a survey plan of the land I’m buying?”

“Walt made sure of that, dear, I’ll just get you a copy.”

Johnny followed her to the den. “This is great I really appreciate it I’ve been feeling a bit lost and I can focus on this now. Do you mind if I get to clearing it right away?”

“In a couple days it’ll be all yours Johnny; go ahead.”