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    A great deal of maneuvering was required for Maggie to get her affairs in order, so to speak.
    According to Enid, Tom Canaday, their handyman and helper, was going to adjust his schedule to spend more time at Sully’s. Tom had a lot of jobs—he drove a tow truck, worked on car repairs in a service station, drove a plow in winter and did road work in summer, which kept him on the county payroll. He did a variety of handyman and maintenance jobs around the area. He’d do just about anything if the money was right because he was a single father with four kids aged twelve to nineteen. Sometimes he’d bring one or two along to help him or just to hang out with him. And now, when Tom couldn’t work, he could send his oldest son, Jackson, the nineteen-year-old.
    Maggie asked Enid if she could come to Denver to pick her up, drive her back to Sully’s where she would get her own car and some incidentals like her cell phone, purse, extra clothes, makeup and the like. Also, she would get some clothing and a shaving kit for Sully, who was not going back home soon, a subject she was not looking forward to discussing with him.
    Enid said she’d be at the hospital in the morning. “Can I see him when I get there?” she asked.
    “You don’t want to see him, Enid. He’s a huge pain in the ass. He’s been complaining and trying to get out of here from the minute he arrived and the fact that he can hardly get out of bed hasn’t deterred him one bit.”
    “Well, I could’ve told you it would be like that.”
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    Maggie was waiting outside the hospital’s front entrance for Enid when who should pull up in a banged-up old red pickup truck but Frank. Maggie sighed. Just what I need—two hours held captive by Frank .
    All the way back to Sullivan’s Crossing, Frank droned on and on about the evils of government in every conspiracy theory ever imagined, including his belief that commercial jetliners were spraying the atmosphere with enhanced jet stream in an effort to lower the temperature of the earth to combat global warming. “Of which there ain’t no damn such thing anyhow.”
    By the time they got back to the crossing, she was exhausted all over again. “I can’t believe you did that to me,” she said to Enid.
    “You find him a little talkative, Maggie?” she asked with a teasing smile. “He got there, didn’t he? We’re a little short-handed around here, you know.”
    Maggie hurried to gather up what she needed and asked Enid to make her a sandwich.
    “Already done, cupcake. Turkey and swiss on whole grain. And I packed up a box of cookies and muffins for Sully.”
    “I’m afraid his cookie and muffin days are over for now. Listen, Enid, we can put a sign on the door. Close up for a while. You and Frank just can’t handle the whole place on your own.”
    “We’re getting by all right, honey. People understand about stuff like this. Tom’s been here with his boy. That camper with the pop-up trailer has even been pitching in. Nice fella, Cal.”
    “Oh, Enid, he’ll probably steal the silver! If we had any.”
    “Nah, he’s a good enough fella. He’s got that spot and asked for a weekly rate. I offered him the house for his shower but he said he’s doing just fine.”
    “He’s probably homeless,” Maggie said. “You know we don’t really know these people.”
    “Tom offered to try to spend some nights around here, but we don’t hardly have anybody in the park anyhow. And besides, we got Cal here if there’s trouble, which there ain’t likely to be. Cal’s got a cell phone.”
    “He’ll probably break into the store and clean us out the first night and—”
    “Maggie, the first night’s come and gone and he’s still here, helping out. You’ve been in the city too long. That isn’t gonna happen, honey. And for sure not in March! No one’s passing through in this muck and mess.”
    But there had been times when the police or sheriff or ranger had to be called, when a few