Love Refound
by: E Walk
(© 2008 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 23
Meetings, Meetings, Meetings

When we got back to Summerhill, Trent went directly to his truck, “I’ll see you all later.  Trevor will be having kittens if I don’t help with the horses.”

Autumn and I went into the house and Spring, Austin and Derek were fixing dinner.  Spring was saying, “Guys, I’m not planning to take anything except my personal things with me.  Adrian has assured me that he has everything that we need so that we can get by and besides, who knows what kind of wedding gifts we might receive.”

Austin looked up, “Dougie, did you hear that?  How soon can you vacate the apartment?”

“Guys, first Austin takes my job and now you want me out of my apartment as soon as possible.  Next you’ll be wanting our son as well.”

Derek started to laugh, “Well, he might be the closest thing that we’ll ever get to having a son.  We’ll spoil him rotten, since I’m an only child and Autumn is Austin’s only sibling.  Let’s eat so we can get back to Atlanta; we need to get your things out of your cubicle tomorrow before you need to be back down here.”

Spring advised me that she had asked the appropriate people to meet us at Summerhill tomorrow afternoon.  She flat-out asked, “Doug, what in the name of heavens are you planning to do?”

I grinned, “I don’t know, because I haven’t had the opportunity to discuss it with Autumn yet.

“I think I’ll wait until the appraisals come in tomorrow, so I can decide what we want to do, before I say anything.  Everything is a pipe dream at this point in time.  I guess you guys will have to return with me tomorrow to find out the rest of the story.”

Austin glared at me, “Sis, how can you even consider marrying some one as contemptible as Dougie?”

“Watch it, Austin, I only turned in provisional grades for you and Derek.  I may change them and then where would you be?”

After dinner, I asked Autumn to join me so we could look around the farm.  We were leaning on the fence and I explained what I had in mind.  She looked at me, “Doug, will we be able to afford to do something like that?  It would be great for all of us, if the Nixons and your Uncle Howie would be agreeable.”

“I think I can swing the deal, even if one or both of them would choose not to be involved.  I want to give them the opportunity to be involved.  I need to get back to Atlanta and call my parents.”

As we were getting ready to leave, I kissed Autumn, “Good night, mommy.  I’ll see you at the hospital at 2:00.  I think we’ll swing by Uncle Howie’s and give them a heads-up as to what I’m considering.  That way they won’t be totally blindsided tomorrow afternoon.  Mr. Nixon can also warn Ms. Lenora.”

Autumn nodded, “That would probably be a good idea.  See you tomorrow.”

When we pulled up in front of Uncle Howie’s place, he and Mr. Nixon were sitting on the porch talking to Mr. and Mrs. Lacey.  When the three of us approached the porch, Mr. Lacey asked, “How’s the new Daddy doing, Mr. Christiansen?  Are you having a christening party tomorrow afternoon, already?  What did Miss Autumn think when she found out that she was a new mother?”

“Parents, to be, and baby Benji are fine.  I just wanted to give you a heads up as to why I would like for you to be at Summerhill tomorrow afternoon.  I’ve invited Ms. Lenora and the Morrisons too.  Mr. Wiser was appraising Summerhill, so I can buy Spring’s portion of the assets from her.  I asked that he provide me with a formal evaluation of your property Mr. and Mrs. Lacey as well as the Morrison’s property.”

The Morrisons have indicated that they are planning to go back to New York to live.  I know that this is presumptuous, but I have the feeling perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Lacey plan to not rebuild if what I heard Mr. Lacey say is correct.”

Mr. Lacey nodded, “You understood correctly.  We were left with absolutely nothing.  All of our livestock and equipment is gone.  We are going to need to start from scratch.  If it hadn’t been for the wonderful people around here, we wouldn’t even have any clothes.  We’ve decided to move back to Atlanta as soon as we can take care of the property.”

“I’m glad we stopped.  Please don’t do anything until after the meeting tomorrow afternoon.  Uncle Howie, I’m considering using my trust fund that Granddad Willingham left me to buy the two farms.  I wanted to offer you and the Nixons the opportunity to buy into the deal.   We could divide Mr. and Mrs. Lacey's farm in half and do likewise to the Morrison’s place.  As you know, I have more than enough to do the entire project by myself.  Think about what I’m proposing and we can decide what we're going to do after we received the formal appraisals.”

“Uncle Howie and Mr. Nixon, please tell Ms. Lenora and the Morrisons what I’m considering.  We need to move now.  Mr. Wiser said something that concerned me.  He mentioned that housing developers were looking at developing areas around here.  What better time for them to move into an area than when people are desperate to move.  Think how the environment would be impacted if they were to buy either the Lacey’s or the Morrison’s properties or both.”

Mr. Lacey started to laugh, “Doug, for a city boy, you sure think like a farm boy.”

“Mistah Lacey, I dun growed up ridin hosses.  Why I started ridin em when I was Benji’s age.  Right, Uncle Howie?  We need to get going.  See you all tomorrow afternoon.”

The ride to Atlanta was interesting to say the least.  Austin flat out asked me, “Doug, does Autumn have any idea as to how much money you are worth?”

“I haven’t told her exactly, but I will when the time is right.”

I dropped the guys off, “I’ll see you tomorrow at ten. I’ll stop and get some boxes and we can put the things in our cars and take them to Summerhill where I can store them temporarily.  I’ll take them to the college as needed.  Don’t do anything I would do guys.”

I called my parents and when I told them about Benji, I didn’t know what to make of the silence.  Finally Dad said, “Doug, your Mother is sitting here just looking at the phone.  Heck, we were beginning to think that you weren’t ever going to get married and now you already have a son.”

Mother finally said something, “Doug, how soon are we going to be able to see our Grandson?”

“We can arrange for you to see him Saturday after graduation.  I have something else I would like to discuss with you.”

I told them what I had in mind and my Dad had some good advice.  “Doug, you should discuss this with the banks.  Perhaps you could secure a loan for the land and use your trust fund monies as collateral for the loans.  Don’t deplete your trust fund anymore than you need to.  Your Mother and I are still going to give Spring’s share of Summerhill to the three of you, now that you have a son, as a wedding present.  Call us and update us on what happens tomorrow.”

After we said goodnight, I took a shower and crawled into bed.  I started to have the strangest dreams.  Benji was standing beside me, he looked to be about four or five. He was tapping me with his finger, “Daddy, when is Uncle Cole coming home?   Daddy, are you and Mommy going to buy me a baby brother?  Daddy, when can I go to school?  Daddy, you do love me don’t you?”

I sat up with a start.  I turned on the bed light and looked at the clock.  It said six o’clock.  I decided to go to the gym because it was too early to do anything else.

When I walked in, Clark was behind the desk.  He looked at me, “Well, well if it ain’t the notorious Dr. Christiansen who had a little boy without even trying.  I understand that Benji’s doing just fine.”

“Clark, you had to be talking Austin and Derek.”

“Nope, we had dinner with Coach Harder and President Harder last night and Doctor Carson dropped by.”

“So, did Andre get the job?”

“Yep.  Now I need to find me a decent job other than working at a gym.  Surely someone will hire an aspiring young man who will have just received his masters’ degree, right Dr. Christiansen.”

“I’m sure that we can find a position as a janitor.”

 

“But Dr. Christiansen, I was thinking some more along the lines of assistant to the Dean of Admissions and Dean of Student Affairs.  I figure you can take care of the straight people and I can take care of the gay people.”

“Clark, you are a work of art.  What would President Harder say?”

“She said she thought it was a great idea, but that I should talk to you.”

I couldn’t stop laughing, “Clark, are you going to spot for me or not?”

“I’ll be with you as soon as I put on a smaller jock strap to make sure that I don’t spring a boner.”

As I was leaving the gym, Clark looked at me, “Doug, I did talk to President Harder about a job and she did refer me to you.  I think we could be a good team, and I can follow instructions and take just criticism, believe it or not.”

“Clark, I know a little about you because I talked to Austin and Derek about you.  I’ll call you after I have had a chance to meet with President Harder.”

“Thanks, Doug.”

I grabbed a quick breakfast and stopped at Office Depot for some boxes.  I had just about finished packing all of my things when Austin and Derek arrived to help me.  They started to fill my car with the boxes.  I had a number of boxes that I left for Austin.  He put his name on them and stacked them against the wall.

The guys decided that they would follow me to Summerhill in Austin’s car so that all my boxes would be gone.  We stopped for lunch and arrived at Summerhill about 1:30.  I was surprised to see that Spring’s vehicle was there. 

She explained, “The electricity still had not been restored to the high school this morning, so classes were cancelled again today.  Trent and Cole are planning to meet you and Autumn at the hospital.  It seems that Doctor Carson invited them.”

The three of us made quick work of stacking the boxes in the garage, and I left for the hospital so I could be there at two o’clock.  I went right to the newborn nursery area and Trent and Cole were already there.  Cole was holding Benji, “Okay, Benji, your Daddy is here, so I guess he will want to hold you until your Mommy gets here.”

Autumn arrived and Doctor Carson came out of her office, “Good, everyone’s here.  Mrs. Lowery is on her way up.  Let’s go into the waiting room since there is no one in there at the present time.”

Mrs. Lois Lowery arrived and Doctor Diane Carson made the introductions. 

Mrs. Lowery didn’t waste any time.  “Autumn and Doug, I pretty much know the strange circumstances around this case.  I would have no problem assigning you custody of Benji if you were married.  The laws are very specific and my hands are tied.  I have investigated both of your backgrounds and think that you would make great parents.  But what if something should happen and you would decide to not get married in the middle of July.  Then what would happen to Benji?  You do realize the real parents could come forward at any time and complicate this matter.  I think that is extremely unlikely though.”

Trent interrupted, “Ms. Lowery, if Ms. Autumn and Mr. Doug were to get married on Saturday, would you be willing to have custody of Benji assigned to them?”

Autumn looked at Trent, “Trent, how could that happen?  Doug is going receive his doctorate degree on Saturday morning.”

Cole answered, “Easy, Mr. C. will be receiving his degree in the morning.  Since both sets of parents are scheduled to be at the graduation ceremony along with some other people, you can all caravan back here and we can have a wedding service at Summerhill at five o’clock.  I’ll even make the arrangements for my grandparents to provide the food for the reception at cost.”

Trent added, “We’ll take care of the wedding plans.  Just think of the money you’ll save.  You won’t have to worry about invitations and the cost of mailing them.  No flowers to buy.  Let us take care of the arrangements and you won’t be disappointed.”

Autumn threw up her hands, “Okay, I surrender.  We can get married on Saturday, but we don’t have a nursery ready for Benji.”

Trent shook his head, “Not a problem, we still have the crib and layette from Trev and me at Fairacres.  My parents wrapped it in plastic so it’s as good as new.  We’ll take care of the nursery.  You two need to go get your marriage license.”

Mrs. Lowery and Doctor Carson were laughing.  Mrs. Lowery giggled, “We’ll even have Benji ready to go to the wedding.”

I looked at the people, “I have no idea what needs to be done to get married.”

Doctor Carson snickered, “The first thing you need to do is get a marriage license.  That’s one thing the guys can’t do for you.  It sounds as if they have the rest all planned out.”

Mrs. Lowery nodded, “I’ll have the papers for you to sign after the fastest shotgun wedding of the century.”

I looked at the ladies, “We need to go.  We have another meeting scheduled at 4:30.  This has been an enlightening afternoon to say the least.”

Cole handed Benji to me and he seemed to be a little agitated.  I handed him to Autumn and it wasn’t until she handed him back to Cole that he settled down again.

We arrived at Summerhill, I was surprised to see that everyone was already there.  Mr. Wiser did not waste any time, “I’m sorry but I only have two copies of the appraisals.  I didn’t realize there were going to be so many people here.”

He handed the appraisals to me and I quickly glanced at them.  I handed one copy to the owners of the properties involved and one to the other prospective partners in the venture.  It was interesting to watch since Mr. Robbie Nixon was involved in both the other two ranches.

I looked at the people, “Do any of you have any questions for Mr. Wiser?”

Everyone shook their head no. I shook Mr. Wiser's hand, “Sir, if you will give me the bill for your work, I’ll write you a check.”

I paid Mr. Wiser and I looked at the Morrisons and the Laceys, “Do either of you have a problem with the appraisals?”

Mr. Lacey answered, “We have none.  I think it is an extremely fair appraisal.”

Mrs. Morrison spoke for them.  “Quite frankly, I think it a very generous appraisal.  Mr. Christiansen, I applaud you for caring enough to step into this mess.”

I wasn’t finished, “So, can I take that to mean that you would be satisfied with the appraisal price if I were to buy it?”

Both couples nodded yes.  I turned to Spring, “Spring, are you satisfied?”

She nodded yes.

I looked at Uncle Howie, “Uncle Howie, are you in?”

He shook his head yes.  

“How about the Nixon family?”

Both Robbie and Leonora looked at Trevor, who answered, “Uncle Doug, we’re in.”

“Thank you, everyone.  I need to take care of the financing.  It’s too late to do anything about it today.  I’ll return in the morning to take care of that and some other things.  Now if you will excuse me, I need to get back to Atlanta.  Autumn, I’ll call you tonight.”

To be continued...

Editor's notes:

Wow! Talk about moving things on a fast track, I think the wedding plans got moving pretty darn fast there.  Benji is going to have himself a real nice set of parents, and it looks like he and Cole are going to get along really well too.  I wonder what will happen next. I guess we will just have to wait and find out.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 05/22/09