Chapter 52

Saturday morning started off strangely. I was naked, alone in a room that I didn't recognize.

Not the way to start off the day.

"Are you going to get up and join us?" A female voice asked while I was lying face down in the bed and now that I have come awake a little bit more, I realized that I am not fully covered by the sheet or blanket.

"No Ashlee, I'm going to stay in bed all day and make love with you until our brains explode."

"I'll be sure to tell her that."

"huh? Ashlee?"

"No Paul, Evelyn, Ashlee's mother. Remember?"

"Shoot" I cried out and then tried to cover my nakedness since lily white ass was on full display to my future mother in law.

"Now Paul. I have seen plenty of lily white posteriors in my life, and yours won't be the last. Get dressed and come for breakfast." Ashlee's mom put whatever she was carrying into the closet and left the room and turned down the hall.

Crap. I can't believe I mooned my future mother in law! How embarrassing. How did I manage to end up in a position like this? Did Ashlee leave me like this? Lord, I hope not. She is going to get a whoopin if she did.

I found my boxers, shirt and a pair of comfy pants. I then went down the hall to the kitchen and found my fiancé sitting at the kitchen table sipping coffee and eating breakfast. So, after taking all of this in, I went to her and kissed her lovingly. "Good morning honey." She said.

"Good morning sweetheart. Why did you let me sleep so long? And why are you awake before me? You never get up before me."

"I know, but mom walked down the hall and I woke up. Sorry to leave you like that. I guess you moved and, huh, revealed yourself." She was smiling. Laughing almost.

"Ha Ha. Thanks for that."

She laughed and her mom joined in the joke of teasing the new kid.

Ashlee regained her composure and said to me, "Have you looked outside yet?" I shook my head; I was barely able to walk. No coffee, no caffeine, I was lucky to be talking at this point in my day. "Well you should, it snowed last night."

"Paul, can I get you something?" Evelyn asked.

"Yes please. Coffee if you have any."

Evelyn patted my hands as I sat there, "This is the country hon, farms run off of coffee."

"Thank you."

Ashlee put her arm around my shoulder and put her head against mine. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, so well in fact that I forgot where I was. Kind of disorientating."

Evelyn said from the kitchen making a second pot of coffee, "Then you need to come down more often."

"Yes, I think we will. I don't know if I said anything last night, but you have a really nice home Evelyn."

"Thank you, and thank you for calling me Evelyn. All I get now a days is 'Ms. Joness.' Makes me feel old." She shuddered at the mere thought of getting old, at least that was my interpretation.

When Evelyn brought over the coffee I took a sip and felt alive again. Ashlee kissed my temple and joined her mother in the kitchen. They started rattling pans and cracking eggs. Very soon after, the smell of cooking bacon filled my nose and I really became aware of the world.

BACON!!!

"Can I help eat anything?" I asked standing near the two women as they were fixing breakfast.

Ashlee gave me an elbow and told me to go and sit down and they would call when it was ready.

I reached in for a piece of BACON, but was rejected and got my hand slapped for my attempt. We all laughed and I ran from the kitchen into the living room. I found a spot on the couch, grabbed a remote and flipped on the TV. I navigated my way to the weather channel and found that it was below freezing and that the area where we were got about an inch of snow. Tomorrow would be in the 40's and most of this would be gone. No worries. We had a good car for the trip and would get back in town before school for Ms. B.

15 minutes passed, "Come get it!" Evelyn called from the kitchen. She then went to the phone on the wall and dialed a few digits and said the same thing then hung up the phone. As I was sitting down at the table with fork in hand, John came in the back door followed by Pedro. We exchanged 'Good Mornings' and they took their seats at the table.

"How bad is it outside?" I asked John.

"Oh hardly enough to call snow. Sure not enough to cancel school on Monday. You kids should be able to get home easily."

"Good, that was what I was thinking."

Evelyn and Ashlee brought over one large platter with bacon and pancakes on it and another big plate with a mountain of eggs on it. John took the eggs serving himself, then passed it to Pedro who got a portion and around the table they went. I got my helping of bacon and a couple of pancakes and everyone went quiet as we dug in.

I ate my fill and tried to start a conversation. "Anyone have plans for today?"

I looked around the table. No said anything. I even locked eyes with my fiancé. She just shrugged her shoulders.

Pedro to the rescue. "Did you see the four wheelers out in the shed? They may be fun in the snow."

"Pedro my man! Now you're talking!"

There was a general chuckle and agreement that playing on the ATVs might just be the ticket to a day of fun.

"Grandpa, is it alright?" Brenda asked trying her best to give her grandpa her best granddaughter baby eyes. She even batted her eyelashes at him.

He knew he was beaten. "Sure honey. Anything for you."

A complete softy for his grand baby. I knew it.

We helped with the kitchen clean up and then we from KC retired to our rooms to get dressed.

ring ringring ring

I picked up my phone. It was Adam. "Hey Adam, what brings you to my phone this fine Saturday morning?" I said the word 'Saturday' with some emphasis.

"I wanted to call you and give you an update as soon as it was confirmed. I have news that I'm not sure how to explain."

"Uh oh. That doesn't sound good."

"No, it's not bad, just really unexpected."

I sat down on the corner of the bed and braced myself for the bad news. "How much did we lose?"

Adam heard the trepidation in my voice and immediately went defensive on me. "No, no, nothing like that. You are still worth more than 200 million."

I gasped, it had been a few weeks since our last meeting and I was close to that number, but not over it. Now, I guess I was.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Well, that is what I wanted to call you about. I made some automated trades and all of a sudden your net worth is now over 200 million dollars. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you."

I took a couple deep breaths and tried to calm my nerves. "Adam, this is huge! You should have called me with news like this. Thank you for finally letting me know." I was all smiles. This was really awesome.

"Yes, but that isn't why I called."

"Ok, let me have it."

"Are you familiar with the company Ralph Lauren?"

"Sure, I wear their clothes all the time. I have bath towels back in KC with their monogram on them. I think Ashlee and I have a set of sheets for our bed from them. Why?"

"Well..." He paused. I waited him out. "You own them now."

"Excuse me. What do you mean I own them now?"

"Well, they are a publically traded company and their stock is traded all over the world and through no real mistake on my part, I bought where it was cheap and sold it where it was high. You can do that now. So I bought low and then tried to sell high. The only problem was that while I was doing that something happened and the stock kept falling and I couldn't unload it fast enough overseas."

"Ok, what is the bottom line Adam. I'm a bit worried about what you are telling me. Cut to the chase."

"You own 38% of the company which is a controlling share of the public stock in the company. You practically own them."

"Hang on Adam." I put the phone down and called Ashlee over from the bathroom where she was getting ready for our play time outside. When she came into the room and saw the look on my face, she knew something was wrong.

"What is it?"

"What do you think of that Polo stuff we have back in KC?"

"I like it a lot. It's really soft and the clothes wear like iron. Why?"

"Adam is on the phone and he says that I am now a major stock holder in the company, enough to control it if I wanted."

She just looked at me. I picked up the phone and held it out to her. She took it. "Adam, its Ashlee. What is going on?"

She nodded her head and said 'Yup', 'ok, ' 'really' and then finally ended it with "When we get back to KC, we need to sit down and talk about this. I don't think we are in a position to do anything with it and I am not sure that we have time to protect our interests in the company from Kansas City. Are there any forms or reports that have to be made to the SEC or government or even to Polo about this. I don't want them thinking that we are doing a hostile takeover or anything. Get this taken care of. I don't want the SEC knocking on our door when we get back home tomorrow. Understand?"

She said thank you into the phone and then hung it up and handed it back to me. "Adam is going to send letters to the necessary parties letting them know that we not trying to do a hostile takeover and get this sorted out. Or do you want to control something you know nothing about?"

"No, you are right. I don't need to own the company and have no interest in running it. Thank you honey for watching my back like that."

I kissed her cheek and then went back to getting dressed. "Hey, what else am I supposed to do for you if not watch your back? That is what fiancés are for ... other than draining your balls on a regular basis." She joke and managed to get a rise out of me with just a look.

"GAWD you are so sexy." She came to me and we exchanged kisses then left the room to join the family in a day outside playing.

When we got back inside, we were all tired, frozen and ready for a shower. I hadn't taken one before we went outside since I knew I was going to get dirty and why should I take two showers in one day. So, I went for a shower and when I got done, Ashlee was just coming in for hers. "You want me to wash you back?" I asked her.

"Not today. If you get in here with me, we won't be done for hours. Go and be with the family."

She stepped into the shower and turned on the water leaving me watching her through the curtain, longing to be there with her. Such longing.

Evelyn was in the kitchen, trying to get things put together for lunch. "Can I help any?"

"Sure, why don't you start pulling lunch meat and bread out of the fridge while I get tea started for us to drink." She turned to me, "You do drink tea don't you?"

"Oh yes ma'am. I definitely drink tea."

"Good." She went back to what she was doing and I managed to find all of the lunch meat and bread in the fridge along with the mayo, mustard, pickles and other stuff that make sandwiches. When I was done, the counter was resembling a Subway.

Brenda came in, John and Pedro came next and I had to go and get my fiancé to let her know lunch was served.

"Be right there." She said from the bathroom.

I went to the kitchen and started making my lunch just like everyone else was.

Lunch passed quietly. All of us were packing in the food from our morning of tearing up the earth on ATVs. It is amazing how much energy you spend having fun.

I helped clean up then we sat around and chilled.

Evelyn, sitting next to her granddaughter, asked "Ashlee, I know it is early, but have you thought where you are going to get married?"

Ashlee held her left hand out and tried to get the diamond to sparkle, which wasn't hard. "No, I really haven't thought about it. I suppose that we could do it anywhere on earth. What should we do mom?"

"Why don't you two run over to the Baptist church and take a look at it. Maybe you could have it there."

"Really? That old place? It smells funny and it's so small." Then she got excited. "Not only that, it is so far away that we would have to fly in everyone and find some place for them to stay for the weekend and there are NO hotels anywhere around here. The only place is yours and that won't work at all."

"Why not?" John asked.

"Well duh, not everyone is into the naturalist lifestyle dad. We can't have them stay there."

Ashlee thought for a minute. "We could have it in KC. Almost all of our friends are there; we could fly in our family and have enough hotel space for them to stay there."

I agreed with her. "That would certainly be easy enough compared to some alternatives."

Ashlee, then jumped in, "Where in KC?"

The group then all when 'Hmmmm.' together.

"Paul," John started. "Don't you go to church there in town?"

"Yes, a little Baptist church near my house, in Blue Springs. We could have it there. It isn't really a pretty church, no stained glass, no amazing architectural items. Just a rather plain church building." I said with disappointment.

Brenda, who had been quiet throughout all of this came up with a great idea. "What about the botanical garden out east of town? Don't they have a wedding chapel?"

"Yes they do!" Ashlee said with growing excitement. "I have seen it and it would make some great pictures afterward. Brenda, you are a genius!"

"I know. It's a gift." She said then went back to her phone.

I knew of the place. The botanical garden is a large garden covering several hundred acres with a walking trail, a working farm and display space for special events. During the summer, it is a beautiful place. The wedding chapel they have will seat just about 100 people with large windows on all sides looking out over the entire garden. The views are amazing! Even I, as a manly man, appreciate them.

"I don't know about you all, but that sounds great." I said agreeing with my woman which is always a good idea.

"Ok, why don't we call them when we get back to town and see when they are available?" Ashlee said now relaxing leaning against the back of the couch. "Yup, this is going to be great."

"Ash, have you thought about who you are going to have stand with you? Your bride's maids."

She stared out into space thinking, "Shoot." She started to get up then turned to me. "Come on, we have to run an errand."

I looked around the room, and then followed her out the door and into the rover. Her father didn't look happy and her mother just looked embarrassed.

Ashlee got in and drove.

"Mind telling me where we are going?"

"We are going to meet up with an old friend who I haven't seen in years because after high school, she was discovered by a talent agent in California and became a model." She turned onto a large road and headed west. "I heard that she kept her parents farm and has moved back to town now that she is, well, old. We are going to go out and see if she remembers me and would be interested in being with me when I get married."

"Has she ever been married?"

"No. Last I heard, she is still single. You will remember her and the raft of famous boyfriends she has had over the years but she never settled down."

"Hmm, ok, so are you going to tell me now?"

"Not yet." She had a devious smile on her face.

She pulled into a farm with a large gate over the road and then we pulled up in front of a nice ranch style house with a horse barn out back and a few horses with blankets on them walking out in their pens. We got out and Ashlee went to the door and rang the bell. Moments later, a woman answered the door, someone you would recognize, but considering the circumstances you wouldn't recognize immediately.

"Amber?" Ashlee asked the lady in the door.

Recognition came over her face, "ASHLEE?!" She cried out and then the two of them were then screaming, crying and bouncing up and down hugging. I just stepped back allowing them their moment.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm in town seeing my parents. I'm so glad to see you in town."

"Yeah, I moved back here years ago after my parents died. I got the whole place and am now a horse breeder."

"Oh my gosh."

"I know, right!" they hugged for a few more minutes then Amber fixed her eyes on me. "Ashlee, who is this with you?"

"Amber, someone you have to meet." She stepped over to me, grabbed my hand and held me. "This is my fiancé, Paul Johnson."

Amber came to me and held out her hand to me. "It is really good to meet you Paul. I would have never expected her to get married. She has always been such a free spirit. You must be pretty special to get Ashlee Jones to settle down."

"It is good to meet you as well, and yes, I am very lucky to have her in my life. She completes me."

"AWWW, aren't you the sweetest thing." She said then pulled me in for a hug. I hugged her back just to be polite. I wouldn't want to piss off Ashlee by hugging someone else.

"Well come in so that we can all talk and catch up." Amber said when she released me and then welcomed us all in. The house was nice, but again, understated.

I saw several pictures on the walls and mantel over the fireplace of a brown haired woman that I recognized. Ashlee and Amber went into the kitchen arm in arm chatting up a storm. I stayed back and looked at the pictures. All the women were the same, and some of the Sports Illustrated pictures I had loved while in college.

"What was her name?" I muttered to myself. I couldn't place it. "It started with an A. Amy, Alice,..." I said several other female A names until it dawned on me. "Amber!" I shouted out loud. "Amber Patterson is her name."

"Yes, I'm right here."

Then it hit me, Ashlee's best friend is AMBER FUCKING PATTERSON!! The boobs that conquered the western hemisphere. The ass that jumped started puberty of an entire generation of young males. The thighs that graced magazine all over the world!

I rushed into the kitchen "You're Amber Patterson!!" I pointed at her, my finger actually shaking. "The supermodel, Amber Patterson!" Now it was my turn to scream like a fan boy!

Both girls turned to each other and started giggling at me. "I think my secret is out." She giggled again as I just stood there like a fan boy at a ComiCon facing James Earl Jones or Lou Ferrigno.

They finally calmed down and Amber turned to me. "Yes, you are correct, I am the famous Amber Patterson who has graced Sports Illustrated, Vogue, Cosmo and countless teenaged boy's walls."

Well I finally came around and grabbed her in a bear hug and spun us around. "This is amazing. I never thought that I would actually meet you in person or even get a chance to hug you!" I babbled on and then finally set her down and she took her chair.

I looked at Ashlee and pointed an angry finger at her, "Why didn't you tell me?"

She just smiled and sipped her tea that the girls have made for themselves. Then they went back to talking. I gave up and walked over to Ashlee and took a seat next to her and waited for these two to bring me in on the conversation.

"So where did you get that ROCK Ash?" Amber asked her after a while of talking.

"Well, we were in New York and we stopped at Tiffany's a couple of months ago. He kept it at our condo until he could ask my father for my hand in marriage."

"Really? He asked your dad? How did that go?"

I jumped in, "Very well. He is a respectable and honorable man if you act like that. I asked, he said yes and here we are."

Amber looked at me, regarding me with suspicion, "really?" She looked at Ashlee, "Is he for real?"

"Yes he is for real. He just asked him and he said yes. I guess this guy has some sort of magical power." She grabbed my arm and hugged me close resting her head on my shoulder. I turned my head and kissed the top of her head then turned back to Amber.

"Would you mind telling me something?"

She sipped her tea and nodded her head.

"Why do you say that you are surprised? What has happened in the past that I don't know about that has clouded your impression of her father?"

She put her cup down and looked to Ashlee for an answer. "How much have you told him?"

"So far, just the bare minimum?"

Ok, now I was stumped. "What are you two talking about? Not only am I worried that I have chosen the wrong woman to be with me, but I'm starting to get upset by all of the secrets."

Yes, my face was getting red and my breathing had increased, but I wasn't about to yank the ring off of her finger and leave her at her parents' house. No, I wasn't there yet, but I needed some answers and real quick.

"Paul." Ashlee started and put her hand on my arm. "Amber is my step sister."

BONG CLANK SPRONG My mind just stopped and someone had to close my mouth for me.

Ashlee gently closed my mouth then snapped her finger in front of my face to try and get my brain working again.

"Hey! You in there?"

"Uh, Ya. What were you saying?"

Amber took over. "Ashlee's dad had an affair with my mom and I was the product of that relationship. The bad part was that it happened at their resort before it went upscale. Back in the day, it was a generally accepted free love hang out for the local hippies. Oops, I guess my mom missed her pill or was taking something else and Here I Am!" She held her arms up above her head and gave a dramatic spin.

"So, how did you find each other? How did you discover that you had the same father?"

"We were born on the same day in the same hospital and the hospital did a blood test and checked DNA. The hospital brought all of the families together and told them. Well, your father Ashlee was none too happy was he?"

Ashlee blushed and said "No. He wasn't. He yelled at your mom and called her all sorts of names and then your father got all upset and the two families have been at each other since then. It wasn't until they got sick that they made their peace with the babies and buried the hatchet. Before that, there was tension."

Amber snorted a laugh, "tension is an understatement."

I didn't want this conversation to head downward and turn into an argument. I tried to change the subject. "Ash, did you ask you sister the question yet?"

"No, I haven't. Thank you for reminding me. Amber, would you be my maid of honor at our wedding?"

She got a big smile on her face, started bawling and managed to say yes. They hugged each other and cried their tears of happiness. "I would love to be with you when you get married. Thank you."

When they got their emotions under control again, Amber turned on me. "Now listen here mister, you hurt my girl, I'll get you so help me."

I took Amber's hand and held it with both of mine. "Let me tell you something. I have only loved two women in my life. I lost the first one in a car accident. The second one is your sister there. I could have hidden myself away after my family's death but I didn't. I asked her out and she said yes when she could have laughed me out of the room. I chose to be with her. I chose to try and love again. Ashlee decided that I was worthy of love and I don't think there is anything short of death that is going to separate us. Amber, please rest assured that my heart is firmly and completely owned by her. Hurting her would be hurting myself and I'm not that sort of guy."