Cotton Grass Lodge by DeNise Woodbury

Nell. I’m sure I have lots to learn, but I’ll be fine. You have a good trip to Arizona.”
    The cab pulled into the rutted gravel parking lot, and Nell’s eyes flicked up and down the roadway. “My daughter is coming to pick me up. I hope she isn’t late.”
    Duncan recognized her insecurity. He sympathized with her, change always comes with uncertainty. But he hadn’t ever been this excited about starting a new project. His pulse thundered in his throat. The taxi dropped him at Carl’s office building.
    The breathtaking panorama of snow covered mountains filled the entire bank of windows at the end of the second floor hall, and Duncan stopped for a moment to stare. After the quiet of the lodge, he felt the bustle of the city vibrate in his chest.
    When he opened the door to the office, Carl turned from where he stood beside his secretary’s desk. In three bounding steps, he covered the short distance and enveloped Duncan in a mighty bear hug. “You made it. One whole week.”
    Duncan extracted himself. “It sounds like you didn’t expect me to make it. I did—last a week—and you’re fired. I told you last week how bad I thought it was. I officially declare Cotton Grass Lodge to be a disaster.”
    Carl stepped back, and his whole body smiled. His short, square stature belied the fact he was a dynamo. He looked as thick as he was wide and not an ounce of fat to be found. He nodded his balding head sagaciously. “I do not believe you’ve properly evaluated the potential of the establishment we now own, so you can’t fire me.”
    Duncan grabbed Carl by the lapel of his fleece vest. He would have continued the farce except both men exploded into gut-busting laughter. “Properly evaluated? You have no idea.” Duncan waved the battered notebook toward Carl. “Cancel all your appointments for the rest of the day. We have some evaluating to do.”
    The two men spent the afternoon intensely pouring over the list Duncan had brought back with him. “At first I thought you’d dragged me into a boondoggle, but the potential is there. If we had some equipment and a crew—”
    Carl laughed at Duncan’s excitement. “Duncan. Slow down. You can’t do it all at once.” Carl leaned across the desk toward his old friend. “Expect the unexpected, we’re in Alaska. Plan for nothing to go the way you plan.”
    “You can’t be serious.”
    Carl stood. “I’m deadly serious. If you can’t be flexible, you’ll go crazy. Have fun my friend, work hard, and we’ll make a little money on this deal.”
    “Okay, give me the list—what’s left?” Duncan took a yellow tablet away from Carl and flipped the page. “I got the boots last week; I don’t really need a jacket and sweatshirts though. It’s summer. Right?”
    Carl shook his head, “Wrong, and you only got one pair of boots. You need a pair of Xtratufs and a dozen pairs of orange rubber fish gloves—to start. You really ought to have a pair of hip-waders and a set of Hellys too.” He took the tablet away from Duncan. “Did you bring any other work clothes?”
    Duncan looked down at his torn pants, “Aren’t jeans work clothes?”
    Carl zipped his fleece vest. “Anchorage’s box stores and the Commercial are gonna love us, there’s always the military surplus, too.” He looked at his watch and grinned. “We might get it done today.”
    They got run out of one store at closing time but they did get all the shopping done in one day. Duncan’s head swam with wonder as he and Carl loaded package after package into Carl’s truck. “Are you sure we have to do all this now?” Duncan asked. “It isn’t like the stores are going to run out.”
    Carl took a deep breath and pointed across the parking lot to two gray-haired ladies loading the contents of three push-carts into a van. “See those two women?”
    “Yeah,” Duncan said.
    “I know the place they keep near Glennallen. It’s a three hour drive from here and believe me. If there was a place