Chapter 27 - Happy Birthday

Originally published October 9, 2015

The red light on Pete's phone was flashing when he walked into the dark newsroom just before 5 o'clock in the morning.  

He checked the latest state, national, and international news from the Associated Press before punching in his security code to hear the messages. 

"Hello, Pete.  Please join us tonight at Gus & Tom's.  6:30. It’s mom's birthday and I'd like you to be there.  If you can't make it, we understand, but I think she'd enjoy seeing you.  Bye."

Mostly this wasn't a typical message on his phone first thing in the morning.  Usually the voice and email boxes were full of advice on the stories the station should and shouldn't be covering.  Other times there would be cryptic messages alleging wrong-doing or scandals.  So far, none of them turned up anything, but it's the news man's job to check 'em out. 

Jotting a note on his analog calendar about tonight Pete swiveled his chair to the laptop.  It was time to prepare the first newscast of the day. 

After getting the lead story ready, he took a sip of his Diet Mt. Dew and thought back to last Friday.  He had a nice time and couldn't stop thinking about how much he enjoyed his conversation with Jean.  It was like they had known each other forever. 

Pete noticed the calendar was empty at the end of the day, so if news didn't break he might be able to drop in on the gathering after all.  Which meant buying a present.  But what?  He'd have to ponder that a while, it wouldn't do to mess that up so early in their, ah, whatever this is. 

Jeff was working the phones already in the studio.  Station research discovered early-risers were interested in contests and Jeff enjoyed crafting trivia questions to keep them interested.  Frequently, the trivia led to interesting on-air stories and listeners loved those. 

Jeff hung up line 1 and moved on to line 2 while queuing up the next commercial and hitting play.  

"WRSE, Jeff speaking," he said into the phone. 

"Jeff, I know the answer." 

"Great.  And it is.... "  Jeff knew it sometimes made people nervous to call in, so he didn't like to rush them. 

"Dave's Frostop.  Where I remember the home-made Root Beer and delicious made-rite burgers." 

"Very good, sir.  You win.  Who am I talking to?" 

"Dennis.  Dennis Young." came the reply. 

"OK, if you hang-on for a minute please, when you next hear me we will be live on the air.  are you good with that?"   

"You betcha." 

Jeff turned back to the sound board, checked off the last three commercials from the log, and opened the mike and set the sound level for the phone. 

“Good Morning, Roseville!  We’re back and we’ve got Dennis Young on the line.  Dennis, what was the name of Roseville’s first stand-alone restaurant and for what was it most famous?” 

“Hey, Jeff.  That’s Dave’s Frostop and their Made-rite hamburgers.” 

“Excellent.  How did you know that, Dennis?” 

“I’ve lived here my whole life.  As a kid, I remember the Frostop being on the edge of town near County Road MJ.  When I was almost 13, it was moved a couple blocks further out of town.  

Sadly, it closed ten years ago and I’ve not had a Made-rite since.” 

“Tell me about the Made-rite.” 

“It was kind of like an air-popped hamburger except instead of a patty there was a whole bunch of puff-like pieces of beef.  It was moist, but also dry if that makes sense.  When I was real little, mom made me kneel in the back seat facing the rear window so I could use the ledge as a table while I ate.  I’ll tell ya, it was tough to eat without spilling at least some of it.” 

Jeff had the next song ready to go, hit play, and closed the contest for the 5 o’clock hour, “Thanks, Dennis for calling in and sharing a Roseville memories.  If you have one to share please post it on the WRSE Facebook page.” 

After morning drive, Pete headed downtown for his daily rounds at the police and sheriff’s departments, city hall, and county courthouse.  He was trying to think a gift he could take tonight. 

Moss prided himself on his powers of observation and spent several minutes replaying his visit to the Marberg place.  He remembered a small collection of figurines and folk art with all kinds of turtles.  “That’s it,” he thought, “I can get her a hand-crafted turtle!” 

Just before lunch, Moss was heading back to the station along Riverside Drive on the edge of town when he noticed the sign for the Roseville Craft Mall.  It was home to artists and a variety of individual craft booths. 

Inside he found what he was looking for, shelves filled with small creatures – owls, squirrels, and turtles.  He picked out a turtle with a multi-color shell and animated expression on its face.  He thanked the craftswoman, paid for his gift and a decorative gift box and soon was back at work. 

At Gus & Tom’s, the crew was preparing the upstairs conference space for the surprise party.  Streamers, balloons, and various hues of lavender covered the tables and most of the walls.  Addy, the new event planner for Gus and Tom, was sure this party could be the start of a new Gus & Tom’s experience – an adult birthday party. 

Jean was told by her daughters to dress nice because they wanted to take her out for her birthday.  

She didn’t like to fuss, but after everything in the last few weeks she thought a nice quiet night with her kids would be a nice way to spend the evening.  Satisfied everything was clean and tidy around her house, she sat down with her favorite author and began to read. 

The next thing she knew, a horn was honking.  “Oh my,” Jean thought, “it’s 5:45.  That must be Emjay.”  She stood, straightened her dress and went to the door to wave at her oldest.  A quick brush of her hair and fix of her make-up and she was all set. 

Emjay walked in the back door and waited in the kitchen.  She knew mom was usually a couple of minutes late for things like this.  Emjay was pretty happy with herself, certain mom had no idea what was in store. 

30 minutes later, Emjay, Elaine, and Jean walked in the front door of Gus & Tom’s.  Tom greeted them and asked each how they were doing and about the progress of the harvest.  It was almost 6:30 when he turned and showed them to their table... upstairs. 

At the top of the steps, the three Marberg women walked into a room full of people.  Emjay's eyes locked with Jake who helped her secretly get a lot of mom's friends from work to the party as well as some of her close personal friends.  Elaine noticed her aunts and uncles, including Glen, at tables near the windows. 

Jean stood for a moment, looking around the room.  She was more than a little surprised and told herself she would talk to her daughters about this later, but for now she just drank in the room. 

As she finished looking around the room, her eyes met Pete's.  She didn't see him right away, didn't even expect him to be there, but when she saw him her heart jumped a beat. 

Before Jean could walk in his direction, the whole group began to sing Happy Birthday to her.  As they sang, her mind fluttered on the recent news item releasing the song and familiar tune from copyright protection.   

"And many more!"   The thirty or so people in the room applauded as one.  Emjay took a microphone the restaurant owners setup for her by their table and thanked everyone for coming. 

"Thank you so much, It's nice to see family and friends here to celebrate mom's birthday with us.  As you know, we're also celebrating Elaine's return and mom will probably tell you that's her best present this year.  Second, I think, is having all of you here tonight.  Gus and Tom will be bringing out house salads soon, then bread sticks and a pizza buffet.  Enjoy!" 

Pete sat down, putting his hand into his coat pocket to check if the gift was there.  He thought this was going to be a small affair, but he couldn't leave and didn't want to leave before talking to Jean.  

Transfixed by his own hesitation, he picked up a fork and began eating the salad. 

After the meal, Jean took the mike to thank everyone for coming and made her way around the room to greet everyone personally.  She glanced across the room every so often to see if Pete was still there.  He was. 

When she finally reached his table, he handed her the small box and advised her to open it when she got home.  "Happy Birthday, Jean.  I'm not sure who left me the message about your party, but I'm glad I could make it.  You don't need to tell me now, but are free Saturday afternoon?  I thought we could take a drive up to Devil's Lake State Park and stop at some of the orchards along the way.  The leaves should be great to look at." 

Jean looked at him and smiled, "Sounds great, you can pick me up anytime." 

Another friend came by to wish her a happy birthday, so the two smiled and waved.  As Pete headed down the stairs he realized, it would be their second date.

Come back at 3 this afternoon for the next chapter of On the Air.