We stopped by the Butcher’s shop on our way back down to Mickey's; it was mid-day and I was craving liverwurst for lunch. I also picked up some nice steaks to dine on tonight and a meaty bone for Brin. There wasn’t a whole lot I needed on top of that. I did pick up enough steaks to feed everyone I wanted to feed steak to and even had two spares in case Dr. Browne showed up this evening.

As soon as Mickey saw those steaks he was out firing up the grill with a grin on his face a mile wide. I gave the steaks to Cook to prep and wandered around the kitchen to see what else we might be having; well that earned me a firm scolding as I was chased out of the kitchen by a mad woman wielding a kitchen rag like it was a flail.

So I ended up in my reluctant rocker, sipping a beer and contemplating the considerations I’d offer the good doctor and his wife. The need for a doctor in our growing town far outweighed my need to preserve capital; you can’t actually grow your capital if your workers are sick and dying. That was a failing of communist socialism, no matter what they espoused from the podium they really didn’t give a shit about the ordinary person.

So I had to have a doctor and I had a good feeling about this one.

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The Doctor and his wife showed up about a half hour before supper so we were able to throw steaks on for them also. His wife was taken aback by the location but Sinclaire showed up just in time to gently and politely set her straight on the situation. We served beer and wine and began to discuss the deal while we waited for food.

The biggest sticking point seemed to be her fear of living on the frontier, it turned out to be more of a fear of living simple as up til now she’d always had the finest things ready to hand. At the same time neither of them wanted to go crawling back to family to admit their failure. It was also important to note that she didn’t want to sell all of her fine things at auction just to raise the money for the journey. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I would be there at that auction buying up all of her nice things at a tremendous discount.

I used that as the sweetener for my deal. I offered them an opt-out after five years in which I would pay for their return trip home and all of their fine things could stay in the house, but when they were ready we’d ship them to Rulo for them. I also offered them one of the bedrooms to store their personals and heirlooms under lock and key.

But it also had to be noted that all of the servants stayed and that Sinclaire would be moving in immediately and would need use of the study to run our businesses. If they agreed I would pick them up on my way north after my business was complete downriver.

Our food came and we ate. While Mick isn’t the worlds greatest grill master the food was still wonderful and hit the spot. There wasn’t a lot of talking happening while the food was being consumed, in my opinion there really shouldn’t be.

There were a lot of mosquitos around but we stayed on the porch anyway. In my experience mosquitos don’t give a shit about doors and windows – they find a way in regardless. So just get used to them and find something else to complain about.

Sinclaire took the plates in and went to make our after dinner drinks. I availed myself of the outhouse while she was gone to give them some time alone. I went inside immediately after, washed myself up and helped Sinclaire carry the drinks out.

We rejoined the Brownes and I smoked a cigarette while we sipped our drinks. Finally Dr. Browne came out and said, “We’ll take the deal.”

From that point it was all planning. I would clear his debts here in town and at the bank in St. Louis tomorrow morning and Sinclaire would come by to help them pack. I gave Amos instructions to get them a nice tent before we came back through and Doc Browne would put in an order for all the supplies he would need to start up his clinic upon arrival. There were other trivial matters we discussed and I pointed out to him that he could come down here every once in bit to provide services and try to collect on old debts.

It turned out that they had walked down here to the pub from the house so I lined up Amos and Brin to take them back home again. Sinclaire had business back inside the pub so it ended up being just me sitting out back and enjoying the cool evening breeze.

I sat back and tried to sort out my cash on hand and made sure Sinclaire had plenty of the Bank of Rulo checks left to cover all the local debts and various business needs. The bank in St. Louis happily covered Bank of Rulo checks since we had very significant deposit there still. I gave her forty dollars to provide the Brownes with spending money and off I went for a shower to prepare for bed.

The shower didn’t go as smoothly as planned but it’s hard to complain about a willing woman joining you under the cool spray of the shower nozzle. We soaped each other off and did the full rinse and dry thing before we proceeded upstairs to see what the night would bring.

Simply put the night brought all sorts of gentle and delightful joys. I slept well that night.