Chapter 30

Monday morning. Most people hate it, I don't any more. Ashlee was sleeping comfortably next to me but not on me. I got up quietly and used the toilet then went to the kitchen for start the coffee and let the dog out.

As soon as I got my phone on it started ringing.

"Hello"

"Mr. Johnson, this Arnold from the extreme RVs. You left us a message over the weekend. How can we help you?"

"Arnold. Good of you to call. Can I put you on speaker phone while I finish the coffee?"

"Sure."

beep "Arnold, can you hear me?"

"Yes I can."

"Ok, here is the deal. I saw a program on the Travel Channel that inspired me to call you. I have several places here in the US that I want to visit but I hate to fly and I thought that doing it in an RV would be the best way to travel."

"Wonderful. I wasn't sure that the time we took making that show would be worth it, glad to see it is going to pan out. Are you planning on renting or buying?"

"I'm not sure, but I think buying is the way to go."

"Excellent. Did you have a budget set aside for the trip?"

Hmm, what should I tell him? Should I go full disclosure or lean him on? "That is a very good question. Let's say that I have a budget in the 7 or 8 figure range."

Silence.

"Arnold are you there?"

"Yes Mr Johnson. I am here. Would you repeat that last statement, I'm not sure I heard you correctly."

"I was just saying that I have over a million dollars set aside for my trips around the country and I wanted to find out if you had anything nice that a family of three people could travel in without being all over each other."

"Oh yes sir. We can definitely accommodate you. When would you like to take possession?"

"Well that is the big question isn't it? I would like to get it before baseball season is over. My plans include seeing a few baseball games, one of them being in Boston. It would be great if I could get it before the season ends."

"Yes sir. We have several already made and sitting on our lot waiting for a special person to come along and pick one out. If are happy with what we already have done, you can drive it home. If you need other custom changes made, that will extend the lead time."

Ashlee walked in while Arnold was talking and stood beside me. I kissed her on the cheek and quietly said good morning.

"That is wonderful. Remind me where you are?"

"We are in Virginia actually. Is that a problem?"

"No, it just means that I will have to fly out to see you is all." When should I head out there? This week is going to be a zoo so maybe next week. "Arnold, this week is going to be bad for me, how does your calendar look for next week?"

"Let me check it out." You could hear him on his keyboard and mouse. "Next week is fine. Would you like to set a time and date?"

"No, not yet. My time leaving will be dependent upon this week's activities so let's not make anything firm yet. Pencil me in for Wednesday at noon and we can sit and talk over a lunch. How does that grab you?"

"That is fine with me. I know of several nice places around here that I am sure I can get us into."

"Hey, I had a thought. Would you be so kind as to send us a couple of your catalogues to look over between now and then? I would really like to get a head start on this project. Also, please send us pictures of what has already been done so that we can start thinking about it before we leave?"

"Not a problem sir. If could get your address I will have them sent to you right away."

I gave him my address and confirmed it.

"Thank you for calling so quickly on this Arnold. I really appreciate it."

"Not a problem sir. I look forward to doing business with you."

I ended the call and turned to Ashlee. "So, just how big of an RV are you looking at? One of those little ones where we are sleeping on each other or something else?" She asked me with her arms crossed under her breasts. It was a nice view and I gave her a leering grin and moved to her.

"One of the big ones. There is no way that the three of us could survive any length of time in a small RV. This is going to be one of the big luxury ones that will last us for years. How does that sound?"

"It sounds fine but don't do anything without talking to me first. If I'm going to live in this thing, then it is going to need a woman's touch. Got it mister?" She playfully pointed her finger at me poking me in the chest.

"I got it. I got it." I took her hand, the one that she just used to inflict pain upon my chest and kissed her finger, then her knuckles then her wrist and I started to move up her arm. She dropped the other arm from across her chest and by the time I got to her neck, she had the free one around my neck pulling me closer. I found a spot in on the nape of her neck just behind her ear which caused her to moan or sigh, I couldn't tell. She made a noise when I got there. This would be a spot that I would have to remember for use later.

"Jeez, can't you two keep it in the bedroom?"

I pulled away from the neck I was kissing and looked over at the teen that just walked into the kitchen. "Good morning Ms. B."

Harumph is all she said and made her way to the coffee pot. I thought about going back to the neck I was just kissing, but instead I kissed her on the cheek and let go of her so that I too could get a cup of coffee.

One for me, one for Ashlee.

"Do either of you need to go back to your place for clothing? We have an appointment with my lawyer today so we all need to get dressed for going out."

"Don't worry about it, we both brought back enough clothing to take care of appointments like this." Ashlee assured me. Good. One less thing to worry about.

Our morning progressed normally. My face was still all over the news, even more so when you watch the morning news shows. They were convinced that I was a professional who always buys his tickets at the same store every week and that this was not my first time buying them. They still didn't know who I was and that was fine with me. They got some reactions from the crowds of people around their studio. Several people wish me luck with the money. A couple of women wanted my name and number so that they could marry me. One guy even said that the money was supposed to be his.

The reporter asked him, "Why do you think that money was supposed to be yours?"

"Because it was my time. I buy tickets every week and I missed this drawing so that money should have been mine! He stole it from me by using my numbers..."

The reporter got away from him rather quickly as it seems that this guy was a little on the crazy side. Ya, no kidding.

I turned it to a movie channel, I couldn't watch any more of that crap. It was going to make me crazy.

I got bored standing there watching the show and decided that I should go ahead and get dressed. Ashlee beat me to it and she was already in the shower. I offered to wash her back but said it wasn't necessary. Bummer. I like washing her back. I went to lie on my bed while I waited.

When she got out, wrapped in a towel, she came over to me, "I got my period today and I don't want you to see. ok?"

"Ok. No problem. I understand."

She started to get dressed and I went to the shower. I wonder how many more women are going to throw themselves at me? How many more are going to find a way to get close to me through some lawsuit or what not. I really need to make sure Craig is the man for the job. I feel that he is going to be very busy for next few months.

When I was done, I got dressed in a pair of slacks and polo shirt. Might as well look decent when we arrived at his office. Don't want to look like a bum off the street.

Brenda had been busy in the kitchen. She had put a pan of biscuits in the oven and had managed to find pepper gravy to put on the biscuits. "Thank you very much for making breakfast." I hugged her with one arm and put a small kiss on her temple since all I could get was a one armed side hug.

"You're welcome."

I ate well. Not a lot, but enough that I wouldn't be hungry until lunch. Brenda left to get ready and that's when Ashlee came in. She had on a nice summer dress with thin straps showing off the work she did at the gym in her arms and sandals on her feet.

I got her served and when she sat down in the booth along the wall I thought I saw pain in her face. After she got settled and I had served her, I asked. "You ok?"

"I'm fine. Just girl troubles. Nothing that I haven't dealt with since I was 13. I'll be fine." I leaned over and kissed her on the temple and hugged her head while I did it. Women have to be so strong so often, my admiration for them goes up for them often.

I did go back to my room after I ate, getting a bottle of ibuprofen for Ashlee. I put that in front of her and she took it with a thank you and a smile. I can't fix this, but I can help her through it.

Once everyone was fed and dressed, we left on time to get to the office. Craig's receptionist welcomed us in and took all of us to the big conference room and we were quickly joined by Craig. "Good morning Paul. Glad to see you again and under such better circumstances."

"Yes, much better circumstances."

"Who did you bring with you?" he said eyeing Ashlee and Brenda.

"I am proud to introduce you to Ashlee Jones and her daughter Brenda. Ashlee and I are dating and moving right along toward marriage. Which is why they are here with me. I thought they would like to meet you and have you get a chance to meet them."

"It is certainly good to meet both of you." He shook each of their hands in turn then took his seat opposite of us and opened a large binder and started putting out papers. "First of all, I am so happy for your Paul; both for winning on Saturday and for finding someone to care for again. You look like a changed man, better than what I saw before. I'm thrilled for you."

"Thanks."

"Now down to business. You are going to need me as your council so if you choose to do so, I would like to offer my services to you on retainer so if someone decides that they want a piece of you, they will have to come through me first. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good to me. I need someone on my side."

"Good, sounds great. Sign here and if you have your checkbook, I need a retainer in the amount of $10,000."

"How long does that last?"

"Forever. You will just pay for my time when something comes up. That is all."

I shook my head. "Sounds expensive but this is pretty typical isn't it?"

"Yes it is."

I signed it but didn't break out my checkbook yet. I am sure that there was more to come.

"Since you found someone so wonderful to be with again, I went ahead and put a prenup together"

Ashlee coughed, "You did what?"

"A prenup in case Paul gets married again. It is pretty standard stuff these days. I didn't know what information to put down, but while you are here we can talk about it."

I put my hand on Ashlee's arm and tried to calm her down. "I didn't want anything to come between us. If, gawd forbid, you discover what a jerk I am and leave after we're married, I didn't want a drawn out divorce to ruin us. This is simply going to outline what we each are going to take away from marriage if that were to happen."

"Listen here, I'll sign it, but not today. We are going to talk about this because I'm not going to be the one leaving. I'm with you, to the end, so get used to waking up to me day in and day out."

She was serious and the way she said it meant that she was not going to screw up this marriage. When we got around to getting married that is. I finally smiled, "Thank you. This is good to know."

"Ok, with that set aside, can get this moving on?" Ashlee said a little upset.

"Sure. Sure."

"We are going to set up a trust for you Paul to use at your convenience funded with the money from the lottery. The money from your settlement is not part of this, but you can put it in there if you want. If not, then I have a friend of mine here in the office who I would suggest be a good financial manager for you. I have known him for years and he is taking care of the money that we got for the settlement so if I trust him with my money, I think we can trust him with your money too."

"Ok. Did you say he was here?"

"Yes. Let me go and get him."

"Fine."

Ashlee leaned over and whispered in my ear "Be careful with your money, don't trust too quickly when it comes to financial matters."

"I know. I agree completely and if you get a strange feeling, please let me know."

"Will do." She agreed with me.

Craig came back in followed by another man who I recognized. "Paul, Ashlee, Let me introduce you to..."

"Adam Anderson, how are you doing?" I finished for Craig.

"Paul!" Adam exclaimed and moved to my side of the table to where we could do a manly hand shake hug maneuver.

"I haven't seen you in a long time. What have you been up to? Sorry I didn't call you back yet. Craig got me over here before I could call you back."

"So I see the two of you know each other. How did that happen?" Craig asked very bewildered.

"Craig, I am sorry. Adam has been my financial advisor since I work for HR Block years ago. He took my time little investment and increased it substantially. We haven't seen each other in a long time, but we somehow manage to talk on the phone all the time." I said while shaking his hand and patting him on his back.

"Yes we did. I was also there when this guy got married to Samantha," he stopped stock still and looked at me horrified. "I am so sorry. I didn't even think about Samantha. I should have been at the funeral, but I just couldn't make it. I am so sorry for you loss."

I waved him off, "it was quite alright. I understand not making it. I wish I didn't have to be there either, but you know." We laughed gently about it. "It still hits me in the gut sometime, but the great news is that I have found someone else to help me through this." with that said, I turned to Ashlee and did the introduction. "Adam, this is my girlfriend Ashlee Jones who I met at work and we just sort of hit it off. Ashlee, this is as you know, Adam Anderson my long time financial advisor who has helped me manage my money for a long time. And the young lady with her face in her phone is Ashlee's daughter Brenda.

They exchange greetings and then Adam sat on our side of the table. "So what is in the plan for us?" I asked addressing no one in particular.

Adam began. "We are going to create a trust for you and I will be the investment advisor for it keeping you rich for a long time to come."

Craig picked it up from there. "With Adam looking over the trust, he can move the money around but not remove any of it without you knowing about it. I will be the impartial overseer keeping him honest and I will bring in auditors if necessary and as a yearly review that way no one can do anything dishonest."

"That is wonderful to know. I know human nature and this much money can be very tempting. Thank you Craig for thinking ahead and thank you Adam for willingly work extra hard to keep me rich. It means a lot to me. To us." I said motioning to Ashlee and Brenda.

"Ok, then here are the papers to sign." Craig slid across the table a small stack of papers to sign with little post-it notes sticking out the side. "Paul if you would sign at the purple ones, Adam can sign at the orange ones and I am the yellow ones." So it began. I remember signing a stack like this when I bought my house years ago. By the time we were done I had a hand cramp back then and the same came true with this one as well.

"Where is the bathroom?" Brenda leaned over and asked me quietly.

"I think that it is out by the elevator. You may have to ask the receptionist to make sure."

"Thanks."

Brenda got up and left and Ashlee did the same thing taking her purse with her. I turned back to the guys who were finally getting done with all of the paperwork. "Craig, does Ashlee have any access to the trust fund?"

"No. She isn't your wife so she has no access to it at all."

I felt a little dejected, but fine that the money was safe from everyone. "Thanks. Do you have a will in there for me to sign or a medical thing to sign?"

"Yes I do." He pulled another small folder out of the stack and handed it to me. "Here is the will for you to sign."

I opened it up and tried to read it over. It seems as though when I die all of my estate goes into the trust fund which forms a foundation in my name with the purpose of helping people who lose spouses in car accidents with Craig and Adam as the executors. That was fine. I liked helping people and considering how I got all of my money, it seemed appropriate. I signed on the dotted line and slid it back to him. "In case you become incapacitated while traveling and before you get married, who do you want to make medical decisions on your behalf?"

"The only person I would trust with that decision making power would be my chiropractor. He is probably the smartest man I know."

"His name?" Craig asked pen at the ready.

"Dr. Scott Harris. He has a practice out in Blue Springs call Harris Family Chiropractic Care. Do you need his phone number or address?"

"No, a name is fine." Craig made a note then fired up his laptop and typed in the name and printed the paper work out for me to sign. I signed it and handed it back to him.

The ladies came back in and took their seats. "How much is there left to be done?" Ashlee asked.

"Nothing really," Craig answered. "The only other thing left to do is talk about when you want to go downtown and face the music."

I sat back, took Ashlee's hand and sat quietly for a second. "How bad is this going to be Craig?"

He also sat back and tried to take a casual position. "It's going to be a circus. I can almost guarantee that every news outlet in the country is going to be there. Every local channel is going to be there along with some reporters from the national media stations. I could also assume that every morning TV show is going to want to fly you to New York for an interview. It's going to be a circus."

"Anything we can do to lessen the craziness?"

"As I said before, the more you stay hidden, the harder they are going to work to find you. I still think that being out front is the best way to get this all done and over with."

sigh

"Fine. Let's do this on Friday and maybe something will happen over the weekend to take the spotlight off of me. I don't want to be famous. I just want to be home with my new family and see the world."

Craig smiled. "I think that you should use that line in the interview. Tell everyone that you want to be a normal man taking care of his new family and see the world now that you are able to travel to see the world."

Adam echoed it, "I agree. It has nice ring to it and shows how classy you are."

"I'm with them honey. Tell the world that you are a normal man who just wants to take care of his family and see the world." Ashlee, my ultimate backup, helped me make the decision.

"Fine it is settled then. Friday morning. Craig, would you call them when you have time and let them know that we will be down on Friday?"

"Sure thing."

"Anything else needing my attention?" I asked the guys.

"Yes, I have all of your paperwork from the ATF. You are now legal to own every hand held weapon ever created. Congratulations."

He slid over several pieces of paper with ATF letterhead. It had my name on it, their stamp and I was ready to begin buying. "Cool thanks."

"Did you get your passport yet?" Craig asked

"Not yet." I answered him.

He looked at Ashlee, "Ashlee?"

"No. Not yet. How long do they take to get to us?" He asked pulling her phone from her purse and scrolling through it.

"Sometimes as long as 6 weeks." Craig answered her.

"Dang." she looked at me "We should have started the process as sooner. When were you planning on leaving for Europe?"

"Not for a while. We have that build to do in Phoenix and maybe we can get to Alaska before the snow flies."

"Cool"

"Brenda, do you have any questions I can answer for you?" Craig asked the bored looking teen.

She put her phone down and looked up. "No, not really? Well, maybe one thing. When they get married, does that make him my dad?"

It was a good question. I had never even thought of that. I looked at back to Craig thinking the same thing. "Ya, that is a good question. How does that work?"

"The short answer is that you have to adopt her." We all went oooh. "The long answer is that the biological father has to sign over his rights and from there it is a simple adoption after you get married."

"Well that won't be a problem, the biological father is dead."

Craig frowned, "That's too bad. Were you close to him?"

"No. It was a one night stand with a guy I knew from school. I got pregnant and he died later in a car accident."

"Can I get his name so that I can have a copy of the death certificate for the files?"

"Sure." She gave him the name and I sat back trying not to listen. I didn't really want to know since it was not going to be a big deal and he didn't care about his daughter. He left them and didn't help out so screw him. I would be the father to this girl that she didn't have. While Ashlee and Craig were talking, I put my hand on Brenda's knee and squeezed. She looked up and took my hand in hers and squeezed back.

"I think we are almost done here hon. Thanks for being patient." Ashlee said to me bringing my focus back to her.

"It's not a problem. I didn't have anything else to do anyway." I said. "Hey, were you serious about wanting a Mustang car?" I asked Brenda.

This got her attention. "Heck ya I am. When can we go and get one?"

She was almost bouncing in her chair. "Do you want a new one or a classic one?"

Well that got her thinking. "I really like the old ones, but the performance and handling of the new ones just blows them all away. Could it be possible to get an old one but with upgraded and improved suspension for better handling?"

"I'm sure we could. Just about anything is possible." I said smiling at her enthusiasm.

"Yeah." She said with a excited smile on her face.

"Here is another big question, what color?" You know, color is all important these days and I wanted to know if she had thought about that or not.

"Green with two white stripes down the center, like the old racing stripes from the 60's."

Now I was excited. I couldn't wait to make this happen for her. She was going to be really happy and I couldn't be happier to make this dream come true for her. "Ok, here is the deal. I know a guy who has a Mustang that I think he would be willing to sell me. His daughter wrecked it and they are keeping it in his garage." I saw the look on her face when I said wrecked. "Don't get that look, it isn't that bad. Just some sheet metal damage. They were working to replace it when she took off and went to Canada with her idiot boyfriend. So don't worry about that."