Chapter 27

In the morning, after all of the work crews had left the TnT Oilfield Service yard in Belfield, Tracy got out his digital camera and asked the company book keeper and administrative woman, to take a picture of him, sitting behind his desk.  In order to avoid too much suspicion and gossip, Tracy would have to wait until his younger sister got out of school and came to work, to then get her to take his picture out beside his truck.  This would have to take place before any of the work crews began returning to the company yard, he didn’t want them to see this going on.

At work, Tracy began to realize that if he were going to go on a date with that 36 year old woman in Gillette, he would have to look older, more professional, and Jewish.  Tracy did some internet searches to see what 30 year old professional men were wearing in New York City.  There was no time to order something off the internet, have it shipped, and have it not fit right.  He thought that he had better go to Herbergers in the Prairie Hills Mall to see if he could find something.  If not, he would have to drive the 120 miles to Bismarck.

When Tracy got off work at 6:00 p.m., he drove to the Prairie Hills Mall in Dickinson, and parked his truck on the west side, near the Herbergers entrance.  When he walked in, there was Rachel, who he had gone to high school with in Belfield, working at the cosmetics counter.  “Hey Tracy!” she said, “Are you here to buy something to wear at Amber and Cory’s wedding?”  Tracy said, “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe.”

Rachel had always thought that Tracy was handsome, but he was always serious, and appeared to be in a bad mood.  She had known Tracy ever since first grade.  In elementary school, she had seen that he was O.K. in sports, but in high school, he didn’t play football, basketball, baseball, or do wrestling.  He just went home after school.  She thought that maybe his father had him work after school, and wouldn’t let him play sports.  That is what happened to some kids in Belfeild.

Tracy had always thought that Rachel was pretty.  She was popular, and well liked.  He thought that she was a little silly, and not very serious about anything.  He could not relate to, or understand, people that did not see that there was something wrong with Belfield.  There were only about 1,000 people living around Belfield.  Why would anyone want to stay around Belfield?  He figured that she was one of those people, like Amber and Cory, that would get married right out of high school, have kids, and be stuck here for the rest of their lives.

Chapter 28

Tracy walked all around the men’s department in Herbergers to see what they had before he decided on anything.  He told the sales girl that he did not need any help when she asked, because he knew that her helping, would mean that she would start asking a bunch of questions.  Mostly what he had at home in his closet were western style shirts, mostly with checked or striped patterns, some with bright colors, Carhart jackets, and boots.  He did not want to look like a farmer or rancher on this date.

Tracy picked out two long sleeve, solid color dress shirts, one white, one light blue.  He picked out one very expensive dark grey Pierre Cardin wool coat, and one light grey wool blazer.  A black dress belt, and a brown dress belt.  A pair of black, and a pair of brown business dress shoes.  This was still North Dakota, and Wyoming, he was going to wear jeans.  He paid for everything that he picked out at Herbergers, $1,000, and then drove over to Runnings Farm & Fleet to buy two new pairs of dark blue denim Carhart jeans.  He felt better already.

The sales girl at Herbergers was very impressed at what Tracy had bought and how much money he had spent, like it was nothing.  She went over and talked to Rachel at the cosmetics counter after Tracy had left.  Rachel explained to her that Tracy worked at his father’s company TnT Oilfield Service, and that they probably were making a lot of money.  It did make an impression on Rachel, the things that Tracy was buying, and she wondered what Tracy was up to.  She had seen Tracy leave and get into a new silver Dodge 2500 mega cab 4×4 diesel truck, which she knew cost about $50,000.

(The characters in this novel are fictional, and are not based on real or actual persons.  The events in this novel are fictional. Any resemblance to real or actual persons, or actual events, is entirely coincidental.)