Friends and Family Series
Sandy & Dan
By:
Ron Robbins
(© 2011 by the author)
Editor:
Frank Perry
The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's
consent. Comments are appreciated at...
Chapter 8
“Sweetheart, it's time to rise and shine," Sandy said.
I opened my eyes and stretched, turning to Sandy, "You're all dressed. How long have you been up?"
Sandy sat next to me on the bed, and kissed me on the lips. "I've been up for two hours. I couldn't sleep any longer thinking of all the things we have to do today. It took me two hours to plow through, and answer, my urgent messages. I thought I'd let you sleep in. I wish I could stay home and keep you company this morning. I hate to leave you, my love." Sandy kissed me again and stood. "I'll make a few telephone calls while you shower and dress. We can discuss our schedules over breakfast"
Sandy was in the library talking on the telephone when I joined him. I walked over to his desk and kissed him on the forehead and pointed toward the dining room. Sandy nodded his head, as I walked out.
Ludlow followed me into the dining room. "Good morning, Mister Dan; it's good to see you looking so fit; did you enjoy your vacation?"
"It was perfect, Ludlow; it couldn't have been better. Sandy will be joining me in a few minutes; I'd like to start off with half a grapefruit and coffee. Sandy will have his usual dish of melon and coffee to start off with."
"Yes, sir," he pulled out his cell phone and relayed the information to the cook. "Congratulations are in order, sir. Mister Sandy told me about the good news this morning, I'm very happy to hear that you and Mister Sandy are now a couple."
"Thank you, Ludlow. Has he told you he is announcing the news to his family this evening?"
"Yes sir, he informed me that it is to be a formal dinner party. He has ordered the works — champagne, dinner, flowers throughout the house, and a string quartet to play through the evening."
"I hope everyone knows that it is formal," I said. "Yes, sir, I've called everyone on the guest list this morning to let them know the dress code."
Sandy walked in a few minutes later and said, "Sorry to keep you waiting, and thanks for ordering me the melon and coffee. I was on the phone with Hal Golden. He told me we are back on track with the merger. I also talked to Alex Salvage and Sandy. They will be joining us for dinner tonight. They asked if they could bring along their house guests, Bo Richmond and Dusty Taylor; of course I extended the invitation to them and anyone else they thought they would like to bring along."
"I've met Alex and Sandy, but I don't remember meeting Bo or Dusty," I said.
"I thought you had met them at one of my Christmas parties," Sandy said. "They are a super couple. Bo is a gentle giant, a down to earth Southern farm boy. Dusty is a blue blood from Connecticut, and a bundle of charged energy. Their backgrounds are as opposite as day and night, yet, they are a loving couple and amusing folks to have around. When those two get started, you can't help but to be amused. They don't even realize that they're so darn funny. Dusty's sense of humor is a lot like Noel's. Only Dusty's is more polished; in his case, it's inbred."
"Now that you mention it, most of your gay friends are so reserved," I said. "Alex and Sandy are perfect examples. They all seem to take life so seriously."
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
The living room sparkled with a warm glow as the guests mingled. The guest list was quite impressive. In addition to the Dunnlap family, the guests included Drew and Mac Stevens, from New York, and twenty of their senior division executives, plus the top executives of Sandy's corporation. Ludlow closed the living room doors after the string quartet had taken their break.
Sandy stepped onto the dais and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please. I wish to thank you all for joining us this evening. Dan, will you join me up here?" I stepped up on the dais and stood next to Sandy. "This is a very special occasion for me and I wanted you to share with me and Dan, this very special night. For those of you who have had the opportunity to know and work with Dan Kelley, I'm sure you can attest to what an outstanding person he is. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Dan's background, let me give you a brief rundown. Dan's promising athletic career came to an abrupt end when he shattered his knee on the soccer field at Georgia Tech. Although he no longer was able to play, he has used his sports expertise to develop our first boys soccer and little league teams for Dunnlap. Dan came to work for the company and has proved himself to be an outstanding employee. This dinner tonight is to announce that Dan has accepted my proposal to be my significant other and my lifetime partner. We plan to have the commitment ceremony as soon as arrangements can be made. It has been a long and lonely road for me until I found Dan. Now I have found the partner to share my life with."
The guests clapped and congratulated us as we walked around the room.
Ludlow announced dinner. He opened the doors and the guests filed into the dining room.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Shortly after the out-of-town guests departed for their jets. Mac and Drew were saying goodnight to Sandy and Dan. Drew said, "Mac and I want to have an engagement party for you and Dan next weekend; is that convenient for you? We want to invite our gourmet group and our families.
Sandy said, "That should work out fine for us. Dan and I will be spending a few days with Dan's folks in Virginia to break the news to them."
Mac said, "Good; why don't you plan to spend the weekend with us. Call us before you land at Westchester County Airport so we can have the chopper meet you."
Sandy said, "We will confirm everything with you next week."
Sandy and I walked back into the living room where the Dunnlap family had gathered.
Sandy's father said, "Well, son, your mother and I are happy you have finally done the right thing and asked Danny to be your partner. Danny, we are all delighted that you are now officially a member of our family. We wish you a long and happy life together," Mr. Dunnlap said.
"I thank you all for your warm welcome," I said. "Both Sandy and I are pleased with the warm wishes we've received from everyone tonight. I can't tell you how nervous I was standing in front of all those people tonight. I'm still not used the fact that I'm gay. It's going to take some time to become comfortable with that reality."
"I can imagine that it is quite an adjustment for you, Dan," Mr. Dunnlap said. "It is kind of frightening to 'out' yourself in front of all these people, however, in your situation, with Sandy's wealth and position, I don't feel that any harm will come to you."
"I never thought of it that way," I said.
"Well, folks," Sandy said, "I hate to be a party pooper, but we've had a long day, and we'll see you all in the morning. Good night all, and again … thanks for your good wishes."
Sandy and I took the elevator up to the second floor and into his suite. "Thank you for a wonderful engagement party, lover," I said. "I really enjoyed myself."
"Not to change the subject, but I have a lot of work to catch up with, at the Plantation. So if you don't object, I'm going to head over to Pete's after breakfast. I also called Mom to tell her that we would be dropping by for a visit Thursday afternoon and would be staying overnight."
"Look, baby, I have no objections if you want to catch up on that chicken and pig project at Pete's. As soon as the family leaves, I plan to run over to the office and check things out. Do you want me to sit in on the conference with Alex and Pete on Monday?"
"I don't think that will be necessary," I said. "This is a preliminary planning meeting with flow charts and graphics that Alex's team put together. I just want to make sure he doesn't have any surprises that are in conflict with our software program. I think your expertise will be welcomed down the road."
"Was your mom surprised that we are paying them a visit?"
"If she was, she didn't say anything to me. You should know my mom by now. She'll wait until we're face to face before she starts to probe. Having been in HR her entire career, she will look for your body language; she can't pick that up over the phone. After tonight, I'm not worried."
I walked through the connecting door to my suite to brush my teeth and undress. I returned to Sandy's bedroom completely naked, carrying a robe which I tossed on the chair next to the bed and crawled in next to Sandy. Sandy pulled me up close and wrapped his arms around me.
"God, it feels wonderful holding you like this." He kissed me passionately. "I love you so much, baby."
I kissed him back. "I love you, too, sweetheart." I turned and spooned into Sandy's arms. Sandy pulled me close and kissed my neck. "Sweet dreams, baby." Sandy reached over and turned off the lights.
Dunnlap Plantation
Pete said, "I thought the session went well. I can see we need to make some minor adjustments, but on the whole, we're on target."
"Yes, I was very pleased with the run through," I said. "Alex was glad that his guys did so well. Pete, could you spare me some time? I'd like to talk about a few incidents regarding Brian Neely."
"You know I always make time to discuss family matters," Pete said. "Lay it on me, brother."
"How well do you know Brian?"
"I don't know much about him at all, but I've run into him on many occasions at Sandy's office, or at some social functions. He is Sandy's assistant, and from what I understand, he is a competent executive. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I have the feeling that he doesn't care for me that much. It's not anything he says, but it's something I feel. He has made a few comments, in jest, on other occasions that I didn't think were amusing. I don't trust Brian. I know Sandy is grooming him for higher levels, and trusts him, but there is something amiss with him. I don't want to say anything about him to Sandy unless I have something concrete to go on. I know Sandy well enough to know that he would need more than my gut feelings to go on. Does this make sense to you?"
"You're right about Sandy being fair with his people. On the other hand, you are more important than some rising young executive. I think you should tell Sandy how you feel about Brian, and let him decide how he wants to handle it. If Brian has taken a dislike to you, then he could be a problem down the road for the company. After all, you are Sandy's other half and Brian could cause some problems in the future. It could be that Brian feels that you are a threat to his future. After all, he was Sandy's fair-haired-boy and confidant in the past, now you have taken over that role. Brian is a lot like Sandy in his work ethic. They are both dedicated to the company, they are all business. Now, Sandy has his other half to consider. He has someone to come home to at the end of the day. Sandy told me he is not going to remain a slave to the business; he plans to start enjoying a family life and to spend more time at home with you, and to raise a family. I'm sure he is making plans to reorganize his staff, and to turn over more of the day-to-day operations to them. If Brian has a character flaw, Sandy should find that out. I'm sure he does not want to entrust responsibility to someone who had taken a dislike to his partner. That kind of friction the company does not need."
"I see your point," I said. "I will share my feelings with Sandy."
"I wouldn't hesitate to tell Sandy any feelings that you may have picked up about any person in his organization, or anyplace else for that matter. You never know what information Sandy may have, or what some other person has picked up about Brian," Pete said. "The same situation happened when we started this business. In my case, it was impossible to hide anything from Sandy. We are telepathic so it's difficult to keep secrets from each other."
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
The limo pulled into the circular drive stopping at the front entrance of the old farmhouse. The chauffeur opened the door to let Sandy and me out. He opened the trunk and followed us with our bags. "Thank you," Sandy said. "I'll call to let you know what time to pick us up tomorrow."
The maid opened the door, "Good afternoon, gentlemen, you must be Mr. Dunnlap and Mr. Kelley."
I nodded, "I'm Dan Kelley and this is Sandy Dunnlap; my mother is expecting us."
"Yes sir. You can leave your bags here. My name is Rose." We followed her down the long hall into the family room. Mom rose from her chair and met me half way into the room. She threw her arms around me and kissed my cheek. "It's so good to see you again, Danny, you look great." She turned to Sandy and hugged him. "Sandy, how are you?
"Sit down both of you," Mom said. "What can I offer you to drink?"
Sandy said, "I'd love a cup of tea, Nora."
"I'll have the same, Mom."
Mom turned to Rose. "Would you bring us a pot of tea, Rose?"
"I don't have to ask how your vacation was. You both look well rested and healthy. What brings you two to Virginia?" she asked.
I smiled, "Mom you haven't changed, nothing like getting down to business."
"Well, son, I always felt that is was better to get things out in the open right away rather than beating around the bush."
"Mom, I came to tell you that I'm in love with Sandy, and that we plan to have a commitment ceremony in three months. We have already applied for our license in Massachusetts, and with that in hand, we plan to be married. We plan to have the blessing ceremony at Dunnlap Manor in four months."
Mom smiled, "Somehow, deep down, I had this feeling about you and Sandy for some time. I think you made a good choice. I love you, Danny, and I want you to be happy. If you have chosen Sandy as your partner, and you feel comfortable with your lifestyle, that's fine with me. I wish you both a long and happy life together. You have my blessing."
"Sandy, I've suspected for some time that you were in love with my son. I have no doubts at all that you will take care of him. I also know that Danny has been content living with you, happier than I've seen him in years. I feel that your partnership will last, because you both are comfortable with each other, and you each have something to bring to the relationship. A marriage is something that you should never take for granted. It's a give and take proposition; you must learn to compromise, or it will never work. Trust each other and try not to keep any secrets from each other."
"Thank you, Nora," Sandy said. "You are a very observant and wise woman. I can see you've passed that on to your son. We are committed to each other and will make our marriage work for the long haul. We have a lot to accomplish and have set goals for the future. We plan to start a family and to raise them properly."
"I'm so happy to hear that. I know you both love children and I'm sure you will be good parents. They certainly won't want for anything." Mom laughed, "How many do to you plan to have?"
They all laughed. "Well, I think a half a dozen would be nice as a start," I said.
Speaking of children," she said, "Roger and I will be having a blessed event in six months."
"Mom, how wonderful, I've always wanted a sister or brother."
Sandy chuckled, "Maybe we'll catch up to you sooner than you think."
"Roger should be home in a few hours, if you would like to have a nap for an hour, be my guest. In the meantime, I'll see how Rose is coming along with dinner. How long will you be staying?" Mom asked.
"We should be leaving shortly after lunch tomorrow. We need to be in New York by five."
"Good, we'll have some time to talk tomorrow," she said.
"Danny, why don't you hang out with your mother for a while? I can use the time to make a few calls. Just tell me what suite you want us to flop in and I'll be on my way," Sandy said.
"Danny, I've put you and Sandy in the Adams suite. Why don't you take your bags up and hang your clothes up. I'll be in the kitchen with Rose."
Sandy and I took the bags up and hung the garment bags in the closet. Sandy set up his notebook computer on the desk and pulled out his cell phone. I took him in my arms and kissed him. "Thanks, sweetheart, for your support. I won't be too long."
"Don't worry, Tiger, I'll be tied up on this telephone for a least an hour."
Sandy returned Captain Nelson's call. "Yes, Skipper, what news do you have for me?"
"The West Wind is back in her berth in Savannah, and I'm having the crew whip her into top shape. I've contacted your brother to see what changes he would like to make while she is in dry dock. He told me he and his wife will be down next week to take a look. In the meantime, I've called your VP of Finance and informed him of your wishes. He said he will have documents ready for your signature next week. The yacht brokers I've contacted have come up with six possibilities for the ocean going vessel you requested. The prices range from a low of $25 million up to $70 million. I've selected two that look like good possibilities. Number one is the $70 million dollar vessel. The second is $68-million. The latter was built last year and has the newest state-of-the-art technology. The owners had an American designer prepare the interior of the vessel and it is beautiful. But, she is too small for what you had in mind."
"On paper, number one looks like the ideal ship. She is over three hundred feet long, five decks, and sleeps twenty-eight in the owner's party and twenty-one for the crew. In addition to the sleeping accommodations, she has several spacious public rooms. Her cruising speed is twenty-five knots. I can see from her documentation that she is a real beauty, seaworthy, sleek and a top of the line propulsion system, electronics, navigation, communications, machinery, galley, entertainment, security and fire control systems, landing pad, swimming pool. However, the ship was built for an Arabian prince and the interior design and the salons are too ornate and need to be redesigned. We also need to remove the swimming pool to make room for the two twenty-eight ft. tenders and boat crane. In addition, we'll need to redesign the helicopter pad. I think we should install an all-weather hydraulic landing platform that will accommodate a larger helicopter with a hydraulic elevator to protect the passengers during boarding. Not that we will be landing during rough seas, but we always should be prepared for any emergency at sea. I would also like to install a fully equipped surgery on board. With the number of personnel you plan to have aboard in the future, I plan to hire a paramedic as part of the crew. I really can't estimate what it will take to refit this yacht until I do the actual inspection."
Sandy said, "I like what I'm hearing, Captain. Why don't you get back to me and let me know your thoughts after you have made your evaluation. If you think we should look at her, let me know; Danny and I will fly to Turkey if you think she is worth the trip. Have you thought about fitting out a crew for the West Wind?"
"My thoughts were to keep most of the crew with her. My first officer is well qualified to take command as skipper. I hate to lose a good officer, but most of his experience has been with sailing vessels. He knows the West Wind and will take good care of your brothers' family. I want to keep my Executive Officer. This was to be his last year with the West Wind anyway. He wants to serve on larger vessels. He graduated with me at Annapolis and was my Exec on my last ship. He's a super officer and is used to handling large crews and passengers."
"That's fine with me, Captain, why don't you talk to Pete and tell him what you are planning. I'm sure he will agree with your recommendations. Make sure the new captain is approved by Pete before you announce the changes. You go ahead and make any personnel changes you want on the new vessel. You're my Captain, and I have every confidence in your judgment. I happen to like the steward we have now; I've found him to be attentive and discreet."
"Yes sir, I'll do my best and I will make arrangements to fly to Turkey on the next available flight."
Sandy's next call was to his social secretary, Helen Schneider. "Helen, I want you to call the catering service we used for the company anniversary party to see if they can cater my wedding reception. Dan and I will need to firm up the exact date, but for now, see if they will be available to handle the reception. I can tell you that it will be a weekend event, from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. We will also need to hire a wedding planner to coordinate the entire event. I would like to locate three reputable firms to bid on the event. If you don't know of any off hand, check with our PR department for their input. You, Dan, and I will have to come up with the guest list as soon as we can. I'm sure the planners and the catering people will need that first. We need to start thinking about a unique gift to present to each of the guests to commemorate the blessing. Any suggestions would be welcome. I want you to come up with something that will be useful and something they are not going to put away and forget about."
"Can you and Dan spend a few hours with me next week?" Helen asked, "I should have the information you'll need by then."
"I'm sure we can work something out Monday afternoon."
"I'll keep the afternoon open, Mr. Dunnlap."
"Thank you, Helen."
Dunnlap Plantation
Sandy called me at my office. "Dan, I just received a call from the captain, and he would like us to fly to Turkey to take a look at the ship he has found. Can you be ready to leave in two days time? We will only be gone three days at the most. We can fly out on Thursday afternoon and return on Sunday."
"I can make it; I'll let Pete know our plans," I said. "Don't forget to email Helen with the revised guest list."
"Right; by the way, I received a call this morning from Craig Shelby, my European VP of Sales and Marketing. We may have to extend the trip another day and fly into London on the way back. Will you be able to work that into your schedule?"
"No problem," I replied. "When will you know for sure about the stop over?"
"Craig said he would let me know this Wednesday. He has meetings all this week and the only day he has open is Sunday. Craig would not request a face-to-face meeting unless it was something very important."
"I plan to take my laptop and Pete's software program with me to work on. No sense wasting my travel time reading a book. One more thing before you go, I received a call from Doctor Scott MacGregor just before you called. Scott asked if we were ready to start a family because he found two surrogate women who are a good match for us. If we are interested, he will proceed with the paperwork. Are you ready to start raising a family, sweetheart?"
"You bet, tiger, how do you feel about it?"
"You know how anxious I am to have our own children."
"Then call Scott back, and tell him to proceed and I will wire him the $300,000 dollars as soon as he sends me the name of his bank and his routing number."
"I'm starting to get excited about the thought of becoming a father. Children will make our life complete. I'm so happy."
"I feel the same way, baby."
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Sandy was in the library reading a report when I walked in. I kissed Sandy and sat down on the wing chair in front of his desk. "Sorry I'm late, but there were a few loose ends to clear up before I could leave. Did Ludlow give you my message?"
"Yes, sweetheart, he did. Would you like a cocktail before dinner?"
"Yes, love, that would hit the spot right now; any news?"
"Craig confirmed our date for Sunday this morning, so we'll be flying to London on Saturday. He insists that we stay at his place. I checked with our chief pilot and he said it will be a seven hour flight from here to Istanbul, Turkey. How do you feel about leaving five o'clock tomorrow morning? This will put us in Istanbul around 2PM local time."
"That's fine with me. If we wake up at 4AM, we should be on board the plane by 4:45AM."
"I'll call the pilot and set things up. We can have breakfast on board.
"Scott called to confirm that the deed is done; we should know in about five weeks if our ladies are pregnant," I said.
"Well, that is good news. Scott doesn't let any grass grow under his feet. Captain Nelson called early this morning to let me know he is getting estimates from three European shipbuilders for refitting the ship. He is that confident that we'll like his choice. He has begun his search for the crew and his officers."
"Well, I hope we won't have to disappoint him," I said.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
To be continued...
Posted: 06/08/12