I woke a little before six and quickly started coffee then showered and dressed. When I walked onto the patio there were two detectives and three uniforms out there, all having coffee.
"Wow, is this a convention or does it take this many guys to take down a crippled up welder?" I said joking.
"We'd need the f'ing SWAT team if we had to bring you in. No, we're here to give you a heads up of what all went down last night. You noticed we had a little extra security around. They'll be around for a day or two, but I think you're all right. The feds raided two compounds or biker clubhouses last night. They confiscated enough dope and illegal firearms that none of the people arrested will be out for a few years. The feds have them all up for organized crime as well. We got the man that you were after and the rifle that was used on your friend. I'm sure there are stragglers out there, but we put a big dent in them."
Another guy showed me his FDLE badge and said, "Your friend Hap let us in his place the other night and we checked it out real good. He was clean. Do you think you could get your other friend to let us in his place? If we come up clean on both of those two places, I think we'll be able to stay off everyone's back for a while. As long as they act civil, we'll let them alone. What do you think?"
"I'll go ask. I know you can get warrants, but I appreciate that you're asking. Bear will recognize that and appreciate it as well. Why don't you give me your cell number so you guys can get. There are people wanting coffee this morning and you're scaring them away. I'll call you in a little while."
As soon as the last car pulled away, the patio was full of the regulars. I had to give them a sanitized version of what was said. I told them to tell Sue that I had to go see Bear real quick, but would be back shortly. I quickly drove to the hospital and went up to his room. The uniform recognized me and let me in.
Bear and I had the conversation then he said, "Get me something to write with. The nurse's station gave me a yellow pad and a pen that I gave to Bear. He wrote the note then folded it up. "Give this to the gate guys. They're going to be busy for about fifteen minutes to a half hour. Wait for them to get back to the gate. Make sure you get this note back and then destroy it after you have it back. Get it done and then call that guy and tell them go check us out. Thanks, this'll work."
On the way up to New Port Richey, I stopped by the house and picked up a breakfast sandwich, explaining to Sue that I had some travel to do yet. She wanted to come with me and I thought that wouldn't be bad, so she grabbed her big purse and we were gone.
Nelda was having a great time, drinking tea and having breakfast with all of the folks. A truck was pulling the trailer out of the slot where Nelda would live. This made her happy knowing our promises were being kept.
When I pulled up to Bear's clubhouse gate, I pulled sideways blocking the entrance then got out holding the note. One of the guards appeared and read the note. He waved at the other guard and he read the note. He sighed real big then said, "Wait here, this will take a bit."
Sue and I waited about twenty minutes then the two guards came back up the road. The one read the note again then handed it to me asking, "How long till the cops get here?"
I told them I didn't know whether they were staged, waiting for me to call or whether they would have to put a team together. I warned them that the cops would have dogs, but the guards said that was all right as Bear was nuts about anyone with dope on them. There might be some smoke, but nothing else.
Sue and I left, driving down the road, watching to make sure no one was at the barn that I pointed out to Sue, then checking again once we were out on US19.
Once we were on the road, I asked Sue if she had her little scissors. I had her cut the note up into tiny pieces and put the pieces into the ash tray. I had her use the truck lighter to start the paper on fire and we watched the note disintegrate. Everything I had promised was done, so we pulled to the side of the road. I called the FDLE guy on my cell and told him that he was cleared to go into the club compound. He thanked me, and I just said, "Be nice, be gentle, show respect. It's all about respect."
He chuckled and said, "We will, I promise."
At home, Glenda said both Sue and I had several calls to return. Ben wanted to talk to both of us, so we called him first. "Good move. You're helping the great aunt of one of the commissioners, and he happens to sit on the zoning board. I'm not sure what all you've done, but it looks like I'll be able to make a deal on the front strip of property you wanted. Since the owner can't steal the old lady's property now, his isn't worth as much. I'll get it bought under the appraisal now. We have all the numbers, so you can begin presenting the numbers to the lady. This is going to be a great deal, I hope you let Beth and me in on it. This is really big."
I called the Major and found that he wasn't happy that we had kicked his daughter out when I thought there was danger. He said she was capable of taking care of herself. I calmed him down saying, "She didn't have her piece with her, and I've never seen her under fire. I like Mickey and would prefer she stayed in one piece while she's getting to know Sue and me." He agreed, but said she was driving today and to expect her later this afternoon.
The Major then said, "The FDLE had taken down some pretty heavy hitters, and you were correct to not trust the Pasco department. Several of their deputies were arrested in the raid. There will be more to this, but it looks like the bulk of it is off the street. And just think, you didn't have to shoot anyone this time."
All I could think of was, "Whew!"
I called the mobile home dealer and told him to deliver and set up the new trailer. He said it would be on its way. Martin was over at the site, cleaning up and mowing the weeds from around where the old trailer had been. There was a long pad there with a little patio pad outside. We would have to get an awning for Nelda.
A courier came to the patio with a bunch of documents. It was the copy of the appraisal and the tax liens. Nelda was watching and asked if this was about her place. I showed her the papers and she asked for a pencil and paper. There is always a big pad on the counter, so I got it and a couple of pencils and gave them to Nelda.
She carefully wrote down the appraisal amount then subtracted the amount of the liens. She looked up at me and asked, "Do you know how much lot rent is for that space?"
"You won't have any rent, Nelda. You can live here for as long as your want, at no cost," I said.
"I figured you were doing something like that, but how do I know it will last?"
I smiled, "Easy, I'll give it to you in writing, along with the title to the trailer."
"Oh yes, Steve, how much is that trailer?"
"It's my gift to you, Nelda, it's my way of apologizing to a citizen that has been badly treated. You'll be helping me far more than I will you."
Nelda nodded, looking over her numbers a while then said, "Do you know how to invest money so I get a regular amount every month?"
"I know someone who does. Sue's uncle does that for a living. We'll let him set you up. You shouldn't need much more than Social Security, I wouldn't think?" I said.
"I don't get Social Security. My husband, did but I only worked for a few years during the war," Nelda said as she looked back at her pad.
I became a little peeved, "Nelda, didn't anyone ever take you up to the Social Security office to find out about your widow benefits, and about any pension you might be eligible for?"
"No, all my close relatives are dead or they don't care. I haven't seen anyone out at the house for over a year. A man comes from the church to take me to the store with my food stamps and the little money I get from eggs."
"Hold it, Nelda did you say you make a little money from eggs?" I asked, thinking an injustice was being done.
"I sure do and I report it on my income tax form every year. Last year, I made almost forty-five hundred dollars. I'm going to have to get those chickens a new home but they have fed me for a long time."
I called Ben and said, "I want you to go down to the tax assessor's office and kick some butt. This lady is a farmer and she can prove it. She pays taxes every year for her egg income and has lived off of it exclusively for several years. I think this lady may be paid up on her taxes after all. Get it done Ben, you can do it, right now."
I looked over at Nelda and said, "Let's go to your house and get a copy of your income taxes for the last few years. While you're at it get a copy of your husbands death certificate and make sure you have your Social Security card. You and I are going to correct some things."
Nelda was almost weeping, "Does this mean that I can't move over here? Do you still want to buy my ground?"
"The deal is still good, Nelda, I just want to get you some honor and a few dollars." I said this wondering at how no one will help old people.
I called my other lawyer and asked him to meet me at the Social Security office. I asked Sue if she would follow me, then take the income tax forms down to Ben at the tax assessor's office. We took off and got Nelda's papers. Sue left for downtown, and I took Nelda to the Social Security office. I introduced her to the lawyer and told her he was going to get her a pension and some back money. I explained that she had her husbands SS card, as well as hers, and that he should investigate how much she was eligible for, since she had worked during the war, plus she had been paying taxes every year. I was sure she had been paying a minimum amount into the Social Security and Medicare fund annually.
Leaving Nelda with the attorney, who was going to bring her to my house when he was done, I went back to the park and found the new home being parked on the pad.
The team leader that had brought my house was there, so I asked him the magic question in my mind. "Can you take off the axle so you can set the house lower? This is for an old lady and the fewer steps she has to climb, the better. Could you do that?"
"Sure, we can do that. It'll cost you a couple of hundred, but we'll do it right now and level it up so she only has one small step. That's a good idea for older folks."
I pulled my wallet out and gave the leader a couple of hundreds and asked, "Even?"
"Sure thing," he said grinning and pocketing the two bills. "I'll even give you a nice little porch for her. It's a good deal."
Sue drove up with a big smile on her face. She said that Ben had been all over the assessor, as there was even a note in Nelda's file about the chickens. "The assessor said that four thousand a year off of six hundred acres didn't make much of a farm, but Ben had argued that it was a homestead farm and that it was the only farm income the lady could generate. He won and the assessor gave me this paid up tax receipt. The land is free and clear."
About ten minutes after Sue and I were having coffee, the attorney and Nelda came back. I invited the attorney to stay for lunch and went in to tell Glenda that we had an extra, besides Nelda.
The attorney said Nelda had past due payments since she had turned sixty-five herself as survivor benefits, as well as her survivor's benefit from her husband since she was about seventy. She should start receiving a regular check for about a thousand dollars a month, plus a lump sum of near ten thousand.
You could tell Nelda was pleased. "Did they bring my house yet?"
I answered, "They are setting it up right now. It has all the stuff you guys picked out. What you need now is to decorate it, and I know a lady that just loves to do that."
Glenda was coming out of the house with some bowls of soup. She put one down in front of Nelda and another in front of the attorney. Sue and I jumped up and helped carry everything else out. I went over to the new trailer to get Martin for lunch. When he came back he said, "Steve is so smart. He has the man out there taking off the axle to the trailer so it will set down lower. Only one step. I'm going to have him do that to ours if he thinks he can. That would be nice, especially when it's raining."
With a quick correction I said to Martin, "There is a downside, Martin. If you needed to move the trailer, you would have to mount the axle onto the rails and that could be difficult and expensive."
"You're right, it would be harder. It just seems like such a good idea though. Nelda, you're lucky to have this guy on your side."
The attorney raised his head from his soup, "You sure are, Nelda. I've never felt like more of a real lawyer, an advocate for people than I did this morning. I used my knowledge to help someone. Thanks, Steve, this was a great morning."
Nelda was excited, "Well, all you young people are just wonderful to me. Thank you for helping me. Now I have to decorate, get my stuff over here and find a home for my chickens."
"I have an idea, Nelda," having a thought about a remote clubhouse that I knew of. "I have some friends up in New Port Richey that would probably like to have your chickens and chicken house. I'll find out, and get them to move both right away."
The day was going well; why not make it even better? I called Hap and told him my idea. He said it sounded good to him. I told him to have Bear's second get a pickup and meet me at my place with at least two more strong guys. He said it would be done.
I told Nelda the chickens would be moved this afternoon. This made her happy knowing another problem had been taken care of.
Tiny called and asked me, "Are you ready to give your presentation? The zoning commission is calling a special meeting to clear up something for the airport. We can get our request in for tonight if you'll do it."
"Not a problem, we can do it," I said confidently. "Perhaps even Nelda will come along. Do you have those drawings and overhead photos? I want to use the drawing with the traffic light for the cross street to the restaurant. That will convince them that we have considered the whole project. I think that drawing even shows a fire hydrant. It'll be perfect."
Sue and the attorney picked up on what was happening and asked if he should draw up some kind of agreement while he was there so Nelda could sell us the property, pending the completion of the title search. Sue said, "I have the title search document."
The attorney took the lead then, "Well then, since the appraisal and survey have been completed, all we have to do is write up an agreement and give Nelda a check and the deal is done." He turned to the lady. "Nelda, can I write up a sales agreement for your property so they can pay you for it?"
Nelda answered happily, "Write it up young man, then we'll go to the bank and put the money away."
Sue called Ben to see if he had put the money that she had requested into her account. He had, so Sue went inside the house to get her checkbook. The lawyer went inside to use one of Sue's computers to type up a simple contract. Fifteen minutes later, Sue was handing Nelda a check and we all had signed the document. Martin and Glenda witnessed our signatures and the land deal was done. Nelda looked at her check with tears in her eyes.
Nelda looked up at me and said, "In two days I went from being so scared I wouldn't have any place to live or money to eat, to this, sitting with friends, with a check for an unheard of amount of money. Everything so far is exactly as you've said it would be. You have really been a friend, thank you."
We cleaned up the lunch stuff, and I asked Glenda if she would help Nelda decorate. She said she would call Alice and let her drive them around later. First though, Nelda was going to show me what she wanted brought to her new house from the old place.
We waited till some scruffy looking guys pulled up in a pickup truck. I told them to follow me. With Nelda and Sue, we drove over to Nelda's, and, first things first, Nelda had the guys chase the chickens into the house while she gathered what eggs were inside.
What a sight. Three burly biker types chasing chickens around in circles until the chickens were all in the chicken house. I laughed out loud and received some dirty looks. I just told them that if they could see the action from my point of view, they would laugh too.
Then Nelda directed them to just pick the whole thing up and put it into their truck. They did. Nelda got a big bag of grain out of the barn and gave it to them, telling them how much to feed every day. She thanked them for taking the chickens, and we went into the house. She told the bikers to make sure they mixed the chicken manure into the dirt for their garden real well, as it was very rich. Nelda placed a couple of dozen eggs on the porch in her gathering basket.
I received a shock when we went into the house, it was almost empty. On the floor in the living room were only eight big boxes. There were no pictures on the walls or knick knacks on the tables. Everything was bare.
Nelda saw our surprised look, "They were going to throw me out, so I've sold everything I could, and packed up everything that was important. I have a couple of unmentionables in the drawers I'll just get, and I'm out of here. Do you think you can wrestle that old swivel rocker into your truck? I'd like to have that, the little table, and the lamp. That's all I want from the place."
While I put the chair, table, lamp, and the boxes in the pickup, Sue was helping Nelda pack up the few things in her drawer and closet. I carried the last of boxes out and Nelda motioned for me to follow her to the barn. "Inside is a bunch of old equipment. There's an old tractor and all the tools my husband used to use. No one ever wanted to give me a price on it, but it's yours now."
When she opened the door she showed me an old iron wheel tractor and several really old pieces of equipment. Several were implements that had been originally pulled by a team, but were converted so they could be pulled by a tractor. Abe would get a kick out of this stuff. He'd probably want to restore it all, then give it to the county agriculture people for their museum.
I drove Nelda to her new place and hauled everything inside. Glenda already had some curtains up in the bedroom and the living room. They still needed something for the big sliding glass door. There were some throw rugs over the carpet in front of some of the furniture. The place was gaining character. I put the kitchen boxes in the kitchen and the bedroom boxes in the bedroom. There were three boxes that were her keepsakes that she would want in the living room. I left Nelda with Glenda and Alice, knowing they would become instant friends.
This move was done. I told everyone I would see them at supper and drove down to the shop. I made sure Tiny had all the drawings for the presentation for tonight, and that Ben would be there. I went back to get Abe and told him I had a nice surprise for him. He would need the big flatbed that had the hooks for the forklift. It was three PM, but I thought we could get the stuff out of there quickly. He brought a couple of his men and followed me out to Nelda's house.
When I opened the big barn doors, I thought Abe would drool. He looked over everything, then got the forklift down and was able to maneuver the tractor out of the barn using the lift to get it up onto the truck. He then stacked all the implements on the truck and tied everything down. We spent another thirty minutes loading up my truck with old hand tools that were hanging on the walls. The place was a gold mine of historic tools. I told the two guys with us that if they wanted to look at the house that they could have anything in there. The one guy looked all over the house and asked how much I would sell him the house for.
When I figured out he meant to move it, I told him that it was his if he moved it. He asked if he could take down the barn too and I easily agreed. He said the place was perfect for his little piece of land. He said the move wouldn't cost that much, as his brother moved houses and this one would be easy to move as it was small. I told him I would write up an agreement so it would be legal.
I took the hand tools back to the house to put in my workshop for right now, and Abe took his new toys to the shop to play with in the near future. Nelda was moved and the usable buildings were being taken care of.
Nelda, Sue, and a surprise guest, Mickey, were going to go to the zoning meeting with us, so we ate early and left in Tiny's big Expedition to go downtown.
The Commission room was pretty formal, with nice seats for the spectators and applicants. The members were all sitting at a big semicircle desk with microphones in front of them, shuffling papers.
The first thing was the rezoning of a single piece of property, just east of the airport, for an air cargo related building. They rubber-stamped it. They called for applicants and Ben stood.
"We are here to make a final proposal on the rezoning of the stated land in the packages you have been given. Twice before, the two pieces of land have been in a request to be rezoned individually. This time a single developer wishes to develop the entire one thousand acres. He has just assisted the landowner on the last of the property to make her taxes current, and to provide her with a fine home that she wanted nearby. She is even here this evening to support the developer.
"I would like to introduce Steven Sharp of S&S Enterprises."
I stood up, put my drawings on the stand that was there and began, "I've been fortunate to be able to acquire this property and wish to develop it into a group of businesses that will be blended into the trees and ponds of the whole land. The front of the main land will have a Holiday Inn Express, with a Perkins restaurant across the street. I'm sure, in time, more restaurants will build in the area. All the way in the back of this property will be a truck body building facility that will produce truck bodies that are proven to save two to four miles per gallon of fuel. To date, the sales have been terrific. But I need more space to hire more people, to produce more product. This place will employ about one hundred people when complete and in full production.
"Over here," I pointed to the far side of the area, "We are going to build a four to five hundred thousand square foot clothing factory. You're probably familiar with the factory we have now that we recently expanded. It is already too small. We should be employing about six hundred people in this new plant. Hopefully more, but I think the people resources will dry up around that number.
Over here in front of the body building area, I will have a truck dealership that will provide sales and service of quality tractors. The facility should eventually employ about seventy people."
"In front of that we will have an RV dealership that will be hidden among the trees, and that will provide employment for about one hundred people."
"Down the middle here, we are going to leave that natural, but clean out the underbrush. This will be a park-like area for employees to take a break and the patrons of the hotel to enjoy. Customers from all three of these facilities will use the hotel, so it should have a fairly good occupancy rate."
"These other areas are yet to be announced. I may move all of my businesses to this one area, but the buildings we currently have are too valuable for us to abandon them."
"I'm sure you can all see that the land will be used correctly, and will never be an eyesore. I understand that we have an agreement on this little piece in front here, but the purchase has not been consummated yet. You should treat this separately, as I do not control the property yet. If for some reason we do not gain control, you as the zoning and permitting department can keep it within what is planned behind it."
"I ask that you approve this request on this final application."
One of the council members asked, "If we don't approve this zoning change, what will you do with the land?"
"The land has already been rezoned for high density housing, so I could split it up into different subdivisions and sell it off that way, or else have one hell of a personal home site."
"That would be a lot of people living out there, wouldn't it? So you helped this lady get her taxes paid? Did you pay them for her or what?"
"The county assessor's office made a mistake and had reclassified the homestead as non-agriculture, when in fact the resident derived her sole income from agriculture."
"What did she raise?"
"Chickens, ma'am, she sold eggs, and lived off what she sold for several years." I said this still thinking how sorry so many people were to not help an old lady.
Another council member said, "I've heard from Mr. Phillips that Mr. Sharp personally took the landowner to the Social Security office to have her benefits restored. He has been the first person to help her since her husband passed away."
Still another council member spoke up, "Nelda is my great aunt. I didn't even know she was still alive. This is wonderful that she's alive, but it's terrible that a non-family member had to be the one to save her from eviction and is now providing companionship to her as well. I think we should approve the request to rezone to commercial and industrial."
A commission member in the center of the semicircle banged a gavel and said, "Let's put it to a vote. All in favor, press your aye button."
Little lights next the 'Aye' sign began flickering on. Only one didn't light up. The center guy looked over at the council member behind the blank light and glared while tapping the gavel on his desk. The light came on.
"All opposed, press the Nay. Of course there are none, so the rezoning request is passed. Mr. Sharp, good luck on your new venture. Ben Phillips, it was pretty sneaky to discover there was a final vote pending to rezone. It wasn't for commercial though. That's all that area needs is more high-density housing. Thank you everyone for attending and good luck. This meeting is adjourned."
I stood there numb. The fight that I had expected had vanished. Ben had found that legal technicality that didn't give the commission any wiggle room.
Whew!
We all left, a little startled that it had been that easy. Tiny was slapping my back, saying that the company was going to be a tremendous success out there. The amount of work ahead of us getting everything going was enormous. I hope we can keep our small company values as we migrate to a larger and larger configuration.
Ben left us for home, and the rest of us traveled quietly back to the park. Nelda was given a cup of warm tea and a cookie by Glenda, who walked her back to her house. Glenda showed Nelda that if she looked out the sliding glass door, she could see the light on the patio, and that as soon as she saw it on in the morning, she should come for coffee or tea. Glenda said that Nelda had a big smile on her face as she headed to bed.
The rest of us sucked down some beer and Diet Coke, while snacking a little. No one was loud or raucous. The win was important, but the enormity of the project had us all a little awestruck.
Tiny said, "This one won't go up like all of your other stuff. This is going to take some time. We don't even have dealerships yet."
"Get the word out, Tiny," I suggested. "Let them come to us. Any manufacturers that think we have to suck up to them for their product, we don't need. Let them come to us. I'd bet that the Holiday Inn people will call us within a month, and that Perkins will be knocking on the door in less than two weeks. Those commission people all get kickbacks for leads. Like I said, let them come to us."
We all gave up and went home and inside to go to bed. Sue and I were a little numb from the frantic pace of late. Mickey was a welcome addition, helping both Sue and me to relax.
As soon as we kissed one last time and snuggled, we were asleep.
I had slept so deeply that I woke with a start. The two heads on my shoulders should feel normal enough, but I was startled anyway. I slowly eased out of bed and went to make coffee. When I came back to use the bathroom, Mickey was sitting on the pot. "Sorry, I needed this spot really bad. Turn on the shower and I'll join you when I'm done."
I had only been in the shower less than a minute when Mickey came in. We washed each other in a teasing manner. I still didn't know how to deal with her, as she had been intimate enough, but she had stated she preferred ladies over guys. When I finished washing her hair and rinsing the conditioner out of it, Mickey turned to me and pulled my head down to hers and gave me a very sweet kiss. "You're so gentle and loving the way you washed me and my hair. You just make me want you. We're going to have to learn how to pleasure each other more than we do right now. I think there's more to us three than we have right now. Come on, let's get. I have roll call at seven."
I helped dry her, then she used the hair dryer to blow dry her hair. I'd have to start getting up earlier if she has to be at work by seven. Poor Sue, her sleep time keeps getting cut by outside influences.
We were on the patio with hot cups of coffee by six ten. The light attracted the people like flies, as usual, with Nelda walking in the back door with Tiny and Ruth. I had a pot of water getting ready to boil for tea, but Nelda chose coffee this morning. Mickey was happy this morning and gave everyone there a hug before driving off to the substation.
I asked Tiny if he had the architect's prints for the body shop. When he started to go get them, I said to wait as the people that really need to look at them are Drew and Jeff. Jeff was in charge of the manufacturing, while Drew was constantly working on the design and supervising conversions.
The thing that I wanted to work out that I didn't know about was the tractor sales. I wanted our sales area to be a custom product. All the manufacturers had their truck lines. What separated them were the engine, transmission, some chassis modifications, and the instruments. All of those were superfluous to our product, the body. I wanted a manufacturer, or more than one, to sell us the chassis with motors, transmissions, and gauge packages. I wanted to add one of our bodies and a custom sleeper. If someone wanted a fuel efficient body for a day hauler, we could do that too.
Since I wasn't savvy to trucks, I needed to go find someone who knew trucks, all of them. Where would you find someone who knew trucks, really knew them? Would it be a mechanic, a driver, a salesman, a fleet owner, who knows? I thought that the place to start would be to go to the Penske people and ask them who would know trucks better than anyone.
Before I did that, I needed to think about what I wanted that person to be able to do. He had to be able to work with Drew and Jeff. He had to be able to lead a group of people to a common goal. I wanted someone as anal as I was about perfection, with a drive to be successful.
I described what I wanted to Phil and he became thoughtful. I did the same with Tiny and he shrugged his shoulders. At work, Abe looked at me and asked if the guy needed to walk on water too. When I went into the motor shop, I asked them to listen to the description of the person I wanted. The two hard core lezzies were looking at each other, elbowing each other, trying to get one of them to speak.
I waited till the shop had gone back to work and asked them to join me a minute in the upstairs break room. "Okay girls, who do you know that fits that description?"
"We have a girl friend, well sort of a girl friend, she's bi, not hardcore like we are. Anyway she knows trucks. She knows how to drive them, she knows how to wrench them, she has some experience selling them, and she used to be in the army, she was sergeant in a truck company. She was caught in an ambush and took charge, fighting off the attack. She would be a match. The only thing is, she's a girl. Trucks are men's things, most guys wouldn't deal with a woman."
"I don't know that to be true with what I want to do," I said, thinking we may be dealing with a different breed of driver/operator. "If this lady is tough enough to do what I want her to do, she might be the right person."
"Crystal would be good for what you want. She's a little different though, you'll have to get used to her."
"How is she different?" I asked.
"She's real tall."
"So is Deanne."
"But she's really thick, you know built big and strong."
"That might be interesting."
"If she gets mad, she might hit you."
"I guess I'd hit her back."
"You really are not making this easy, Steve."
"Does this lady have a job?"
The two broke up at the word "lady." In a soft voice they said, "This person ain't no lady."
"You never know a book by its cover, let me decide that. When can I meet her? We might have a place for her anyway."
They stood up and said, "We'll call her and tell her to come and fill out an app with Ruth. Let Ruth see if she wants to hire her."
"Why don't you two want me to meet her? Do I have man cooties or something?"
"Naw, we just don't want you mad at us for siccing a wild dog on you. If either one of us were to have a guy, it would be you. You're right up there on our list of guys to try."
I smiled at them as they giggled on their way down the stairs.
That was a funny conversation. I was dying to meet this chick. I've met some doozies over the years. A couple of the babes up in Alaska were big tough women with strange needs and actions. There was even one out in Oklahoma who was bigger than most of the roughnecks, and tougher than most of them too. Funny, though, she was a cook and didn't work on the rig.
At lunchtime, I headed home for a quick lunch, then off to the gym. When Sue and I returned from the gym, we walked down to the pool for fifteen minutes of sun per side. Sue said that she was not able to do all of the exercises anymore, but was going to keep up with as many as she could.
Tiny had talked to Jeff and Drew about reviewing the blueprints. I asked Tiny to get the two of them together and give them the plans so they could go over them. Both offered a few suggestions. They worked together here, and they'd work together at the new place.
I cornered Abe and asked him about all of the RV literature he had stashed in his office. He had said he wanted to take a long vacation with Alice in an RV. That time was coming soon and he was trying to make up his mind.
"Abe, how about selecting the best RV company, and then finding me a sales manager that could handle our new place. In the process, pick out the best RV you can find and test drive it for a month. You might need Alice to help you with the evaluation of the RV. When you get back, I'll expect a written report of what you liked and didn't like about it."
Abe looked at me a little funny for a couple seconds then said confidently. "I can do that," then he turned and walked off with a bounce in his step.
Shoot, if I could spend the money for a thousand plus acres, I could spend the money to figure out what RV would be the best.
Before closing time, Abe called me and said, "I've got a better idea. I'm going to rent four different RVs, one each for a week, four weeks in a row. They are all supposedly the best. I'll let you know. Oh yeah, Alice and I are going to begin the test this weekend, okay?"
"Have a good time, Abe, make a good evaluation."
On the patio at home, Tiny and Phil thought I was nuts the way I was going about finding people and selecting companies to work with. I told them that since Abe is such a perfectionist, the RV will probably come back in better shape than when it left. They had to agree.
The evening meal was nice. It was also nice to see Nelda become a part of our group so easily. It made my heart feel good to know she was enjoying her special years.
Sue was sitting with me while we ate, so I asked her my next strange question. "What do you think about adding a section onto the house so we could have some more big bedrooms for visitors? We could take the whole section that you're in and increase your office area by a third. We could also increase our bedroom by a third for a sitting room or a place to read or just watch TV in peace. Perhaps that would be a better way to have a nursery, and increase the size of the bedroom later. We could use the center section for two or three large bedrooms. What do you think?"
Sue thought for a minute and said, "Actually, that's a great idea. Can they do that? Could we integrate the new section easily?
I said, "The mobile home guy has an empty sixteen-foot-wide shell that's the same length ours is. We would join them, seal them, and remodel. We could begin by putting a door between our room and the baby's room. When the baby is bigger, we could move the kid into another room and fill the nursery with another baby. Of course, if we stop having babies, we could make the additional space into a lounge for us."
Sue thought for a minute and said, "I do need more office space. If we were to increase it by a third, that would help out a lot. I also want a better way to park. I think we should take the next space over and build a huge carport for my car, your truck and a couple of spare spaces for our collection of friends. Deanne now has a car, and so does Mickey. You're going to want a car for when your sister comes down too. I'll just go get us a car car. You know, one that's not a convertible, like a big Ford or Chevy, or maybe a Chrysler like Mom's. I wonder if one more space is going to be enough."
I didn't want to move anyone, so I said, "Three spaces should be enough. Twenty-eight feet wide of area should be wide enough for three cars. If not, we'll double park them."
The next morning, I went to the mobile home manufacturer and told him that I wanted the addition. I had already spoken to the contractor who had taken down the carport that we had for Sue.
The addition was joined to the existing unit. I gave the contractor an idea of what I wanted. The baby's room on one end, with the extended office on the other. In the middle, I wanted two bedrooms, divided by a bathroom. He said it would be easy and it would be done in a couple of days.
I took him off to the patio for a few minutes. "We are going to be building some large buildings. You are the first person I think of when I say construction. These buildings will not have to go up in a day, or as fast as I have pushed you in the past. We are going to build a Holiday Inn, a Perkins, a huge clothing manufacturing building, a truck body building plant, a truck dealership, and an RV dealership. I haven't figured out the order that I'll build yet, but probably the restaurant and Inn first, with the body building shortly there after. I think we could use a general steel building for the body building plant and the truck dealership. We might even use the same building method on the RV store but it will have to be fairly big for a maintenance area. I'll hire you to work with the architect on all the projects and you'll be the general contractor later. I need your direction to make sure we have the classiest buildings and shops around."
He said he would look at everything that night and after the normal work day he showed up to talk to me.
"Steve, you've been more than fair from the first day. I love being a contractor and would enjoy building your new buildings. But the problem is my wife. We're battling some cancer issues. We have to take her up to Minnesota to the Mayo Clinic up there to see if they can help her. Just that is going to hurt financially. We've spent so much money to get this far, I can't tell you. I want to do your work, but my wife is more important."
I looked at him thoughtfully, then said, "I've just hired myself a construction planner that is entitled to medical insurance, including dependent coverage."
I stood and motioned to Ruth. She came over and I said, "I've just hired a construction planner that will be a major asset in the months to come. Would you sign him up real quick on medical, as he says his wife has a pre-existing condition?"
"I'll take care of it, Steve. It'll be done tomorrow," Ruth said patting the contractor on the hand. She must have known of his plight. Wish they would tell me these things.
There were tears in the eyes of this dynamic man. Thinking of another way to help him I told him, "Tell me when you need to fly up to Minnesota to the clinic. Either Sue or I will fly you up there, no cost. It will be our own angel flight. Let's get your wife healthy."
Mickey had been eavesdropping on the conversation. She came to sit beside me, hugging my arm. When I looked at her there were big tears dripping down her face. "You okay?"
"I'm perfect. What you just did was so sweet. You and Sue are so special. No one ever knows how special you two are. You may be lucky, and may be able to make a dollar out of a smashed up nickel, but damn you do good with what you make."
I looked at Mickey. "What good is money if you can't do something good with it?"
She hugged my arm then went inside the house. Sue noticed and went in after her.
Deanne came over and asked, "Are you being good or bad to these people out here. They all end up with tears in their eyes after they talk to you."
"Hopefully good, Deanne. Some people just get emotional, you know how that is."
"Do you mean like me getting emotional because I get homesick and you figure out a way for me to spend a couple nights a week at home? Is that what you mean?"
"Something like that, Deanne, something like that," I said.
I joined the general discussion for the evening. There were two big storms developing out in the lower Atlantic that could become bad storms. I wondered if Abe's group or Phil's group was getting more orders than usual. I hope not, because we could only produce just so much.
Tonight, I decided some good scotch on ice would taste great and go down even better. I got a big glass and went outside to one of the big wooden lawn chairs and sat, looking in at all my friends. Man, was I lucky. All of them were special to me, and each of their successes was important to me.
I sipped for a while, then Sue came out to see if I was all right. I pulled her into my lap, telling her how important she was too me. I told her I was so proud of her, and so very happy looking forward to becoming a dad. We kissed a little and both went back inside for some dessert.
That night, in bed with Mickey on one shoulder, and Sue on the other, Sue said, "Steve, you can't take care of everyone. Sometimes people have to do things on their own. You find those that need help and you do help them, like Nelda, the contractor, and so many more. Look at Drew, when he came here, he was so beaten down that he could hardly do what he was best at. You picked him up and found he could do so much more. He's a born leader, he's going to be successful and make the company successful. That's your legacy, Steve, you have helped many."
Sue kissed me tenderly, and Mickey did the same. We didn't do anything erotic; we just drifted off to sleep with our own thoughts.