That's Okay
by: E Walk
(© 2011 by the Author)
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...
 

Chapter 31
Funerals and More Funerals

After I dropped the boys off, I stopped by the house to talk to Mrs. Archer and to see if Bill was still there, perchance.  He wasn't, so I briefly explained to Mother Archer what was going to happen, "Mom, we've been invited to the cabin for dinner.  Jonathan wants to meet you.  You're to bring Dr. Jacobs with you.  I think you are going to fall in love with Jonathan.  The boys already have."

Mother Archer scowled, "What do we need to take?"

"Jonathan didn't say we were to bring anything."

Mother Archer frowned, "Should I call him and check?"

"Mom, Jonathan can't talk, so it wouldn't do any good to call him.  He probably doesn't answer the phone."

Mother Archer put her hands on her hips, "Well then, how did he ask us to dinner?"

"He uses the computer to communicate.  I need to go.  I'll see you this afternoon."

When I arrived at the office, my first client was sitting, talking to Linda when I walked in.  I looked at the clock, "Am I late?"

Mr. Winters laughed, "No, I'm early.  I got bored and decided to come chat with Linda."

I shook Mr. Winters' hand, "It's good to see you, sir.  I haven't seen you for some time."

He chuckled, "That's good.  You would have been hallucinating if you had seen me.  I've been on a cruise around the world."

Mr. Winters was always fun to talk to.  He explained what he needed and I advised him that I would have it ready for him next Wednesday.

When he had departed, I checked with Linda to see if the next client had arrived.  The client hadn't arrived, so I informed Linda, "I need  to make some phone calls, but bring Mrs. Luther into the office when she arrives."

I called and was able to talk to Bill and tell him what we were going to be doing, if he were available. "Bill, I'll explain in detail what's been happening, tonight.  I'm not sure that I even know what is happening anymore."

Mrs. Luther still hadn't arrived, so I called Roy's office not expecting to be able to talk to him. "This is Les Phillips; I'd like to leave a message for Doctor Anderson to call me."

"Just a minute, sir, Dr. Anderson is standing here twiddling his thumbs."

"This is Roy Anderson."

"Roy, it's Les.  You've been commanded by Jonathan Finch, to appear at the cabin for dinner tonight, with your lovely fiance, and her son.  We'll take Kent with us, since the boys will probably be mowing at least one yard."

"Sounds like fun, but who the heck is Jonathan?"

I chuckled, "You'll meet him tonight.  I'm sure you'll love him."

Mrs. Luther arrived, and the rest of the morning was busy.  Linda went to get us sandwiches and I was working and eating at the same time, when the phone rang.  Linda had stepped out of the office so I answered.

"This Les Phillips."

"Les, it's Paul Witmer.  I was just speaking with Mr. Farnsworth and he informed me that you were the executor of Dad's will, thank heavens.  Would it be possible for you to meet with Paula and me tomorrow, so we can make the arrangements for our parents' funerals?"

"Paul, why would you want me there?  I'm not really a family member." 

"Les, you are a family member, as are your sons.  Dad obviously trusted you, or he would never have made you the executor of his estate.  Besides, Mr. Farnsworth thinks you should be there."

"Paul, I'll be glad to be there.  Where and what time would you like to meet?"

Paul answered, "Why don't we meet at Mr. Farnsworth's office at ten?  Do you know where it is?"

I started to laugh, "Paul, I never met Mr. Farnsworth until yesterday.  I have no idea where his office is.  I'm surmising that I may be having dinner with him tonight. If not, my lawyer probably knows where it is.  Are you going to be bringing your families?  It would be good for my sons to get to know their family."

"We hadn't planned to."

"Paul, please do.  Why don't we meet at our house at nine and the boys can get to know their cousins?  Mrs. Archer can make sure that they don't get into too much trouble?  That way your and Paula's spouses can help us take care of what business we need to do."

Paul laughed, "I think I'm beginning to see why Dad thought so highly of you.  We'll see you at nine in the morning."

I was very glad to see my last appointment leave.  I filled my briefcase with work that needed to be done, then secured the files and went to talk to Linda, "Linda, I'll need time to go to at least two funerals and possibly a third, next week.  I don't know the times or days yet.  I'll call you when I know what's happening."

When I arrived at the house, Mrs. Archer and Doctor Jacobs were sitting on the front porch.  Mrs. Archer scolded, "Les, it gets very boring around here when there is nothing to do."

I wasn't sure how to respond, "Mrs. Archer, what do you mean there's nothing to do?"

Mrs. Archer wasn't going to make this easy, "Look, first you tell me not fix dinner.  Now that Mrs. Davidson has passed away, I didn't need to fix her meal.  What did you do with your and the boys' dirty clothes?  There weren't even enough dirty clothes to do laundry, since I didn't have to change the sheets."

I started to laugh, "Jonathan said he would take care of the dirty clothes, so they would be at the cabin when we needed them.  Where are the boys anyway?"

"They're mowing their second yard, and don't yell at them.  I okayed it since they didn't have any homework and they are planning to spend the night at the cabin."

I took a deep breath. "We won't be spending the night at the cabin.  I've made arrangements for you to take care of their cousins tomorrow, while I'm assisting in making the funeral arrangements for Mr. and Mrs. Witmer."

"You what?"

"The Witmer's son called and asked me to help make the funeral arrangements for their parents funerals, since I'm the executor for Mr. Witmer's estate.  It's a long story.  I made arrangements for the parents to drop the nephews off here in the morning at nine, and told them that you would keep an eye on them."

Doctor Jacobs looked at me, "Les, why are you the executor of Mr. Witmer's estate?"

"Doctor Jake, don't ask me.  I have no idea what's happening anymore."

I went to change clothes and was joined by Bill, who hugged me, "I missed you last night."

He was hugging me when we heard the boys, "Dads, we're home. Are we going to spend the night at the cabin again?"

I knew my response was not going to make the guys happy, "No, your cousins are going to come spend the day with you tomorrow.  They are to be here at nine o'clock in the morning.  I told their parents that you would baby-sit them."

David challenged me, "Dad, we only have two cousins.  Eric and Chris who are both eight years old.  What are we supposed to do with them?"

Bill chuckled, "Why don't you make them help you mow your lawns?"

I stopped anymore fun, "Guys, go get changed, so we can go to the cabin for dinner."

We took two vehicles to the cabin, since Mother Archer and Doctor Jacobs had a date to play bridge with some friends, later.  When we arrived, Mr. Farnsworth's car was already there, as was Roy's.

They were talking and I introduced Bill, Mrs. Archer and Doctor and Kent to Mr. Farnsworth.

He laughed, "I'll say this for you, Les, you have some good looking friends.  We need to go introduce everyone to Jonathan.  He's nervous about what's happening."

Darrin ran into the kitchen and hugged Jonathan.  Jonathan picked Darrin up; Darrin surprised Jonathan by kissing him on the lips.  "Come meet the rest of our family."

Jonathan typed.

Bring them here, so I can talk to them as I meet them.

Darrin was practically dragging everyone that Jonathan hadn't met, to meet Jonathan.

Darrin introduced Mother Archer and Doctor Jacobs first and nothing happened other than they shook hands,  When Darrin introduced Bill it was a different story. Jonathan started to type.

The boys were right; you're a stud like they said.

Darrin introduced Roy and Shay and Roy asked,  "Jonathan, why didn't we meet you on Wednesday night when we were here."

Because I was at class.  I have classes on Wednesday nights.

When Jonathan met Kent, he started to type.

Look kid, I'm the boss around here.  Take your four friends and get ready for dinner.  Tell everyone to go to the deck.  We're going to be eating out there, so I don't have to scrub the floor after you people get finished eating. 

Mr. Farnsworth, you know where the bar is, so fix these people a drink. That way they won't realize what a lousy cook I am.

We went to the deck and there was a table already set with everything we would need to eat a gourmet meal, including wine glasses.

After Leonard had served us our drinks, we watched as Jonathan and David appeared and took a turkey out of the Smoker and took it into the kitchen.

It was only a short time before Danny arrived and announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, the chef requests that you be seated at the table.  Mr. Farnsworth, Jonathan would like you to pour the wine while we bring the garbage to the table."

The guys arrived carrying either a bowl, plate or basket of something.  When everyone was seated, Jonathan looked at Bill and put his hands together as if he was praying."

Bill said a prayer and the food was passed and it was succulent.  Shay looked at Jonathan, I know you don't have your computer, but I understand that you can answer by signing?"

Jonathan nodded yes.

Shay signed something and Jonathan answered by signing.

Darrin asked, "What were they talking about?"

Kent answered, "I think my Mother asked Jonathan how old he was and he answered 21.  Jonathan, am I right?"

Jonathan nodded his head yes and started to sign to Kent.

Kent looked at Jonathan, "I'm not very good at signing. I think you wanted to know how I knew?"

Jonathan nodded his head, yes. 

Kent grinned, "My Mother has a brother, Uncle Larry, who is deaf; his family learned to sign so they could talk to him.  I was starting to learn to sign before we moved here."

Mrs. Archer asked, "Jonathan, how would someone be able to contact you since can't talk.  You could hear the phone, but how would the caller know that you were there."

Jonathan went and got his laptop and started to type. 

The best way to contact me is by using Skype.  I have it on all of my computers.  The young guys could even contact me and use voice to talk to me, but I would need to answer in writing.   If you don't already have Skype, it's free and you can talk to any of your friends by either writing or calling them.  All it takes is a headset with a microphone.  That's how Mr. Witmer contacted me to let me when we would be having guests.

David looked at me, "Dad, do we have Skype?"

I shook my head no, "No, I've heard about Skype, but never felt the need to install it on the computer."

Mr. Phillips, it's really easy.  I'll be glad to help you get your computers set up.  Guys, let's clean up the mess that these adults made, so we can go fishing while the fish are still jumping.

The five young guys reacted immediately.  They grabbed everything but our wine glasses, and we could hear them in the kitchen through the screen door talking to Jonathan.

Mom Archer looked at Doctor Jacobs, "Jake, I think I would rather stay here than play bridge.  Why don't you call the Halls and tell them we got caught up in a fishing contest."

We watched as they went to the boat house, When they appeared, the guys were wearing life vests, which we hadn't worn when we were fishing on Wednesday night.  We watched as the boat slowly moved to an area where the fish were jumping.  It was starting to get dark when we saw Denny go overboard.  Jonathan dove into the water to help Denny get back into the boat, and then went to retrieve Denny's fishing rod.

When the boys returned to the house, Kent went to get two towels, so the two unplanned swimmers could dry off before they came into the house.  Denny and Jonathan came onto the deck, wrapped in towels, and Denny announced, "Me and Jonathan are going to take a shower to get the slime off.  It's a good thing we left our clothes here last night."

We went into the house because the mosquitos were coming out.  Denny came skipping into the room, "Everybody, you need to see Jonathan's partment."

Jonathan put his hand over Denny's mouth and signed, "Everyone needs to adjourn to the kitchen for dessert before you depart for the evening."

We went in and the boys served us a sponge cake that was covered with a raspberry sauce that melted in our mouths.  Mother Archer asked, "Jonathan, how did you learn to cook like this?"

Jonathan signed and Shay interpreted for us, "Our parents owned a restaurant before they died and I was injured.  I watched my Mother cook and I always fixed the food when Mr. Witmer had guests, after I came to live here."

Danny asked, "Jonathan, what are we going to do with the fish.  We forgot to bring the cooler back."

Jonathan signed and Shay relayed what he said, "I'll take care of them and clean and freeze them.  We can eat them later."

When we were getting ready to leave, I looked at Mr. Farnsworth, "Len, where is your office and why did you recommend that I be at the meeting tomorrow?"

"Les, chill, would you?  My office is at 600 State Street in Auburn.  You need to be there, because your sons have much to gain by what has happened.  I don't expect any problems, but we need to be safe rather than sorry.  I don't know Paul and Paula and their spouses very well, so I don't quite know what to expect."

I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know them all that well either, but I'm guessing they aren't like Mrs. Witmer.  I guess we'll find out tomorrow.  We'll see you at ten o'clock in the morning."

On the way home, it was Bill, the four boys and I.  Bill turned to the four boys, "You guys will need to stay home from school on Monday morning.  We've scheduled Grandma Hattie's service for ten o'clock."

Darrin asked, "Daddy Bill, why can't we go until at least nine thirty?  We can change clothes in the van like we did after our Mother's funeral.  We can change back after the service when we go to back to school?"

Bill looked at the boys, "We'll have to negotiate about this."

I started to laugh, "The negotiations will need to take place later.  It's time for all good little sons to get themselves ready for bed."

Denny giggled and started to take off his clothes, "I'll be ready to be tucked in as soon as I brush my teeth.  I already had a shower with Jonathan."

Darrin grinned, "Come on, Danny; I'll take a shower with you and David can take one by himself."

After we had the boys in bed, Bill and I went to get ready for bed.  As we were taking our shower, I reminded him, "Remember, you said that you missed me last night.  You need to show me how much since it' going to soon be midnight, Mr. Never On the Weekends."

He showed me how much he missed me, but the session ran a little overtime.  He can never use the excuse of never on weekends again.

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: Well, it seems as if things are still moving along at quite a rapid pace. 

I wonder what the cousins will be like.  I certainly hope they will be friendly.  I am sure that Mother Archer could keep things under control, in any case.  I guess we will learn more in the next chapter.

Darryl The Radio Rancher

Posted: 07/29/11