Chapter 24

“We’re here,” we heard from the front of the bus.

The bus came to a stop. He led us all out, we were at what he called the Musical Manor, currently where nearly 80 people live, but had room for over 120. We went through the front door, and it was magnificent.

You look to the left and you see many sofas and bean bags facing a TV screen that looked to be nearly 8 ft square. Straight ahead was a grand piano, beautiful and shining black as most are.

To the right was a kitchen, bigger than I had ever seen, I counted eight refrigerators, stoves, dishwashers, with an island, like many kitchens have but it was at least 12 feet long with two sinks, and plenty of room to prepare food for an army, or a musical troupe, in this case.

A beautiful woman I recall from TV commercials walked towards us and asked, “Would any of you like one of our smoothies?”

She was holding a tray of them, and each of the girls and moms took one. Behind her was a redhead I recognized from when Dad sits down and watches FBN. She had more, and I grabbed one with the tint of red to it.

“You’ll like that, Mr. Love, it’s cherry flavored.”

“You seem familiar to me?” I said.

“I had my own shows on the Fox Business Network, until I decided I was tired of it, my name is Trish!”

Yep, Trish Regan, what a knockout. I took a drink of it and it was the first time I had a smoothie that I didn’t want to throw up. In fact, I drank it all.

“That was very good, Trish, thank you! Do you sing?”

“Mr. Thomas has been known to convince me to sing.

Besides tasting so good,” the lovely Ms. Regan remarked, “It’s full of all kinds of stuff to make you feel good, with enough food energy to keep you from needing a meal for hours at a time. Michael, has many of these a day. We always have some in the refrigerator for whoever wants it.”

“Could you please introduce me to these equally lovely ladies?” I asked, realizing I had just done the same thing I had accused Michael of in the bus.

“Certainly, Mr. Love,” she said very graciously. “This is Marie Osmond, who you might know from the commercials for Nutrisystems, but she is also a singer and actress! Next to her is Shannon DePuy, formerly Shannon Bream from the Fox News Network. This is Andrea Tantaros, also formerly of the FNC, and last, but certainly not least is...”

“Kimberly Guilfoyle, the only reason I ever watched news in my life!” I said.

It popped into my head that she was dating Don Trump Jr. son of the outgoing Potus.

She extended her hand, which I took and kissed the back of, to the minor glare of my girl. I proceeded to give my best introduction of my brothers, the four girlfriends, and Sarah and Nevina. I explained the absence of the two fathers.

With April on my arm, they said to look around for a while. When I got close enough, it wasn’t a single large screen TV, but separate screens setup to look like a single one. Wow!

Michael came up behind us and said, “Have you ever seen a TV that big before, Mr. Love?”

He was a bit condescending, but I suppose that happens to anybody who becomes very rich.

He picked the remote and it turned into a single screen before my eyes, very impressive. I had seen all there was to see on this bottom floor, but he directed all of us to the side patio where there were two pools, one for swimming laps and another for splashing around in.

“The new complex will have a 20 lap Olympic sized pool, with up to 16 spas encircling it.”

Most of our girls made a sound that meant they liked that. I must admit, he is a good salesman. He showed us the connection to the parking lot.

“Let me show you the plans for our new facility,” he said as we all went over to the TV again. He turned it off, and switched ‘channels’ to show it, in all of its glory, pointing out the most important features.

“I want a TV like that in my room,” my brother Will said, causing us all to laugh.

“Each of the two bedroom suites will have a 65-inch screen, William, big enough to watch from bed.”

I swear I saw Nancy giving him a tight hug. You dog, Will!

“Let me show you a typical room, although the ones here aren’t as big as those will be,” the multi-billionaire said to us.

The elevator took the 10 of us and Michael, up to the top, noiselessly. Amazing!

“Around here, a closed door is considered a locked door,” and he found an open door, checked and showed us the room.

“This is only about half the size of the suites in the new complex. I spent the money to have every room soundproofed for the luxury of its inhabitants.”

April asked, “What will happen to this home when you have all moved out?”

“Excellent question, Ms. Nicholas, my initial idea was to offer it to the city for a place for kids who need to be watched over.”

“Don’t they call that a halfway house?” my mother asked.

“That is an old-fashioned term, Sarah,” he said, “Nowadays they use the term retraining facility.”

“That sounds like a lot of PC crap, Mr. Thomas,” I said.

“It may be, but the world we live in is changing, whether we want it to, or not.”

He’s trying, and seems to know all the answers. “This is Saturday, where is everyone?” Nevina asked.

“Probably at CAMELOT, have you ever been there?” he asked.

“YES,” I answered for the lot of us. “We’ve been meaning to get back there.”

“Wonderful, let’s all go together, why don’t we?”

“Cool,” Will said.

I don’t know why I was so wary of all this, but I was. I got April and my mother on either side of me and had a quiet conversation during the ten minutes it took to get there.

They seemed to clear my head, and I was happy and ready for the Behemoth ride. We took it with Sarah and Nevina, followed by Charles, Mary, Will and Nancy, with third one being Ken, June, Michael and his wife Jennifer. I had told my brothers to try their best to look her in the eyes, but even I had trouble with that!

After that, we stopped and took a train ride having lunch at the Japanese Restaurant. Since I insisted we paid our own way into the park, Michael would cover the food and I would cover the tip.

Sarah practically slobbered all over the menu, helping me and April find something we might like.

Getting a combination of Yakitori grilled chicken, Tempura battered seafood, Japanese Noodles, Yakumi, Shichimi, and Kakigon, we did a lot of eating off each other’s plates.

I happened to be between April and Jennifer, and without a care in the world, I said, to Jennifer, “Could I have a piece of your breast, please?”

Everyone stopped, as my brain recylcled what I had just said, and I added, “She seems to have enough to spare, doesn’t she?”

That got me a slap on the shoulder from April and a kiss on the cheek from my benefactor’s wife!

She whispered to me, “There’s always room for more, Mr. Love!”

Of course, I didn’t tell April exactly what she said. I would later ... maybe.

“So, how soon will the new place be ready for occupants?” I asked.

“Possibly as soon as February, but I talked to my son, and we have room at the manor if you wish to move in early?”

“What can you do for John and Ty? They both have jobs in Louisville,” Sarah asked.

“I have paying jobs, besides entertainers, but after hearing Ty sing, I have a movie or two for him to be in.”

“Such as?” Nevina asked.

“The moment I first heard him sing, the role of Emile in SOUTH PACIFIC came to mind.”

“That show was when we met, more than a few years ago, Michael. I’m much too old for the role of Nellie Forbush, but perhaps one of your ingénues?”

“If I cast him, the part of Nellie would have to approved by you, Nevina. She can’t be too pretty, can she?”