Chapter 37

For the next few days we cut wood and taught Tim how to run the tractor so he could cut the grass. Rob, Tim, and I finished setting and straightening the posts for the blinds and cleared brush around the stands. Kelly and Jenny sent the proofs to Vince and he ordered pictures. The girls took the shots he wanted and sent them down to him.

During the afternoons, we all sunned and swam. Tim and Clair became more open around the rest of us and didn’t hesitate to show their affection for each other. It was nice they felt comfortable with us.

Kelly and Jenny spent as much time working on the flower gardens as they did on their photography. Clair helped them tend to the weeding and such. Tim helped Rob work on the website every evening.

After lunch, we all shot our bows. Clair took pictures of us with her point and shoot digital camera. The six of us ate together, played together, and worked together.

“Honey, the store is delivering the furniture for the trailer today. Do you want to meet them with me?” Kelly asked as we cuddled together in bed. “We should go workout too.”

“You’re right, we should get up. I’ll meet the delivery men with you,” I said as I got up.

Kelly and I sat on the deck off the breakfast nook drinking coffee. Rob, Jen, Tim, and Clair came out to join us. Kelly mentioned the store was delivering the furniture. Jenny and Clair told her they would help set up the trailer.

“I’m going to cut the grass today. I finished the back, but I still have the front to cut,” Tim said.

“I can help you with the lawn,” Rob said.

“Thanks, but I like riding the tractor. It gives me time to think,” Tim said.

“Is everything okay?” Jenny said.

“Everything is great. When you decided to come up here for school, I thought you were nuts. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to live up here. After being here for a few days, I completely understand. This is much better than living down state,” Tim said.

“So, I guess you’re not too bored then,” Jenny said.

“Hell no!” Tim winked at Clair.

“If we were at home, I’d be running around with my friends and Tim would be hidden in his room. Up here, we’re doing things and having fun,” Clair said.

Kelly and Jenny grinned. Clair laughed and stuck her tongue out at Jenny and Kelly. “That’s not what I’m talking about! I like learning to take pictures, work in the garden, and all of the other things we’re doing,” Clair said.

We all laughed when Tim blushed. He excused himself and went to get the coffee pot. Tim topped off our coffee mugs and then said he was hungry.

“Help yourself, Tim. We’re going to workout before breakfast,” Kelly said.

Tim and Clair went downstairs and worked out with Jenny, Rob, Kelly, and me. We decided to add swimming to our routine and went out to the pool. After swimming laps, we all went to get ready for our day.

“Jenny and I are heading over to the trailer,” Kelly said. “The delivery truck should be there in a little while.”

“Rob and I will meet you girls over there in a few minutes,” I said.

Jenny and Kelly left, taking one of the ATVs. They asked Clair if she wanted to go, but she said she had a few things she wanted to do around the house. Tim began mowing the front lawn. I laughed when I saw Clair get on the tractor with Tim.

“Do those two keep you and Jenny up at night?” I said and then I chuckled.

“No, we don’t hear them. They’re good kids. Jenny told me Tim is coming out of his shell,” Rob said.

“Let’s head over to the new property. I want to see how Mitch and his crew are doing,” I said.

Rob and I took the other ATV and headed to the new property. I turned onto the road leading back to the trailer, stopping behind a green pick-up truck. When the man in the truck got out, I saw he was a conservation officer. I shut off the ATV and waited as he walked toward Rob and me.

“Good morning, boys. Do you have the owner’s permission to be on this property?” the man said.

Smiling, I said, “Yes, sir. I own this property.”

The officer took a small notebook from his breast pocket. He flipped through a few pages, looked up, and said, “Are you Justin Rodgers?” I nodded. “Can I see some identification please?”

I showed the officer my driver’s license. He glanced at the photo and then at me. Smiling, he handed my license back to me.

“I’m Rick Cummins,” Rick said as he extended his hand.

Shaking his hand, I said, “Pleased to meet you Officer Cummins. This is my friend, Rob Jacobs.”

Rob stood up and shook the officer’s hand.

“You boys can call me Rick. I noticed the gate open and came back to investigate. I heard this place sold recently and got your name from the county. Gary Turner, the old owner, used to let me hunt here so I keep a close eye on the property,” Rick said.

“You’re welcome to hunt here, Rick. Let us know when you’re going to be in the woods so we don’t interrupt you,” I said.

“Thanks. I have a blind built off the logging road on the west side. If I see anyone who doesn’t belong here, I’ll run them off,” Rick said. “It looks like you have something going on back there. I noticed the road is well traveled.”

“We put a trailer on the property and we’re building a lodge.” I heard a truck and turned around. “It looks like the furniture is here. Let’s get off the road so they can get through.”

Rick nodded. He went to his truck and I started the ATV. I followed Rick back to the opening near the trailer. Rick parked his truck and I pulled up to the trailer. Kelly and Jenny came out to greet us. Waving Rick over, I introduced him to the girls.

Jenny and Kelly shook hands with Rick. I told the girls Rick hunts on the property and looks out for the place.

“How many stands are there on the property?” Rob said.

“I don’t know. I only use one stand and I also spot and stalk. I think Gary has a few stands though. This area is good for deer. I always get one,” Rick said.

“Do you hunt with anyone else?” Kelly asked.

“No, I like hunting by myself.”

“I plan to hunt this year,” Kelly said with a smile.

“Make sure you take the hunter’s safety course so you can get a license. You wouldn’t have any problem hunting here without a license, but it is the law,” Rick said.

“We’ll all have licenses. I know the money goes to the DNR,” Rob said.

“We have to go show the men where to put the furniture. It was nice meeting you, Rick,” Kelly said. Jenny said goodbye and followed Kelly to the trailer.

“I have to get going. Thanks for letting me continue to hunt here. It was nice meeting you boys,” Rick said. We all shook hands and Rick left.

Rob and I went to see how the girls were doing. The men from the furniture store removed the plastic wrapping from the new furniture and carried the things into the trailer. Kelly and Jenny showed them where to put the furniture.

“Do you need us for anything?” I said to Kelly and Jenny.

“Not right now. Kelly and I can take care of this,” Jenny said.

“Rob and I are going to ride up and see how Mitch is doing. We’ll be back in a little while,” I said.

Mitch waved when he saw Rob and me ride up. We went over to where Mitch talked with a man on a bulldozer.

“How are things going?” I said.

“Good. We have the road graded and we’re ready for the blacktop. I think we’ll have the road finished in a few days. I heard from Anne. She said she’s ready for you to go over the design and plans,” Mitch said.

“It didn’t take her long, did it?”

“No, Anne used plans from another lodge she found. She said she thinks you’ll like it. Give her a call and set something up. Once you approve the design, we can get started.”

“Do you think you’ll have it finished before hunting season?” Rob said.

“We have a bit over three months. I think we’ll have it ready well before hunting season.”

“Make sure the lodge is right. I don’t want you to rush to finish it and then have a bunch of things to redo,” I said.

“I’ll make sure to have enough men working on it to finish it on time,” Mitch said.

“Let me know if you need anything,” I said. “Including money. I want you to bill me as you go.”

Mitch nodded. “I’ll send you an invoice in a few days. Thanks, I wish everyone I worked for paid me as quickly as you do.”

“I want to think about putting in a generator. What do you think?”

“Adding a generator is easy. We can make sure it’s away from the lodge so if you have to use it, it won’t be too noisy. I’d recommend using one powered by natural gas so you don’t have to deal with diesel fuel,” Mitch said.

“Okay, let’s plan on installing a generator for the lodge. Do you think we can use it for the trailer too?” I said.

“Yeah, we can install it near the pump house where the power comes in for the property. The generator will have an automatic failover and come on if you lose power.” Mitch chuckled. “You should think about one for the house too.”

“Let’s plan on putting one in for the house too. There’s no rush as long as it’s in before winter,” I said. “I would also like to see how much it would cost to put in a gate for my driveway. I’d want a camera so I could see who’s there and the ability to open the gate from the house.”

Mitch smiled and chuckled. “You’re going to keep me busy all summer. I think I know what you want in the way of a gate and I can certainly install it for you. Do you want a new gate for this property too?”

“Might as well. I’d like to be able to open the gate from the house, trailer, or the lodge. We’ll also need intercom and a keypad so we can open the gates at the entrances.”

“I better get back to work. Is there anything else?” Mitch said.

“Not right now. Plan to meet me at Anne’s office this afternoon so we can go over the plans for the lodge. Talk to you later,” I said.

“Damn, Justin, you’re going crazy with all of this,” Rob said.

“Not really. Mom and Dad are paying for the lodge so adding the other things won’t be bad at all. Please keep it under your hat; no one is supposed to know. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want someone surprising us when we’re running around naked. With the gate, we’ll have control of who gets in.”

Rob nodded. We took the ATV back to the trailer to see how the girls were doing. Inside, Kelly and Jenny showed us how they set up the bedrooms, the family room, the great room, and the kitchen.

“This is coming along great, sweetie. You and Jen are doing a good job,” I said and then commented them on how they decorated each bedroom differently.

Chuckling, Rob said, “I agree with Justin. It won’t look like a hotel.”

“Thanks, we want to get a few things to hang on the walls and some knickknacks. This place looks too sterile. I want it to look homey,” Kelly said. She gave me a hug, grinning as I nodded.

“Mitch said Anne is ready for us to look at the design and the plans. We’re going to her office later today,” I said to Kelly.

“Okay, we can go shopping too. We still have to pick up a lot of things for this place. Are all of us going?” Kelly said.

“Sure, we’ll have lunch in town. We can show Tim and Clair around while we’re there,” I said.

“Clair said she wanted to see the campus. I think she’s considering going to school here instead of Central,” Jenny said.

“How do you think your parents will feel?” Rob said.

“I don’t think they’ll care. Mom and Dad want Clair and Tim to continue with their educations, but I don’t think they care where they go.”

“Are you going to have your sister live with you if she does decide to go to Northern?” Kelly said.

Jenny shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I think it might be good for Clair to live in the dorms. She needs to get out on her own for a while.”

Rob chuckled and said, “You know Tim will probably want to go to the same school as Clair, don’t you?”

“I know,” Jenny said as she smiled.

I moved next to Jenny and put my arm around her. I felt the bottom of her bra strap against my thumb. “I want to thank you for all your help with the trailer. I know Kelly appreciates it too.”

“I’m enjoying it. Rob and I are glad to help you guys with anything you need,” Jenny said. I flexed my fingers and she chuckled. “Are you trying to feel me up?”

Laughing, I moved my hand to Jenny’s breast. “Who me?” I gave her breast a gentle squeeze and then released it.

Kelly and Rob laughed as Jenny faked a pout.

“What’s the matter, Jen, are you pouting because Justin touched your tit?” Kelly said.

“No, I’m pouting because he stopped!” Jenny replied and then she laughed.

“Do you see what you’ve done, Justin? You hurt Jen’s feelings,” Kelly said.

I moved in front of Jenny, and wrapped my arms around her. She started pouting again so I gave her a chase kiss. Jenny put her hand on my hips, pulled me close, and kissed me.

“Should we leave these two alone?” Rob said to Kelly.

“No, I’d rather watch,” Kelly replied.

Before I knew what happened, Jenny and I were kissing and so were Rob and Kelly. We all laughed and then we separated.

“What are you planning to get to hang on the walls?” Rob said as we left the trailer.

“I don’t know yet. Jen and I will find something,” Kelly said.

“I think you and Jen should frame some of the photos you’ve taken. If you don’t have what you want, take more pictures,” I said.

Kelly and Jenny began talking about the pictures. They got onto one of the ATVs and took off for the house. Rob and I followed, laughing at the girls’ excitement.

We saw Tim and Clair sitting by the pool when we got back to the house. Jenny told them we were heading into town and to get ready. We all went to our rooms to clean up and dress.

I drove into town and parked in front of the restaurant we liked. Inside, we ordered lunch and began talking about our plans for the afternoon. Tim and Clair decided they would walk around and check things out while the rest of us met with the architect.

“The architect’s office is over there,” I said as I pointed at a building a block down and on the other side of the street. “We shouldn’t be there much longer than an hour or so.”

“I have Clair’s cell number. We can call her and Tim when we finish,” Jenny said.

“We won’t go too far. We want to look around downtown before checking out the campus,” Tim said.

We left the truck and walked down to Anne’s building. Tim and Clair said goodbye and started walking down the sidewalk. The rest of us went inside and asked for Anne.

“Ms. Oliver will be with you in a moment. I’ll take you to the conference room. Would anyone like coffee, tea, water, or sodas?” the receptionist said.

“I’d like black coffee please,” I said. Rob asked for coffee. Jenny and Kelly asked for water.

We sat down at the large table to wait for Anne. She came in a moment later, carrying several drawings mounted on foam core. She placed the boards on an easel, keeping the drawings covered.

“Hi everyone. I’m glad you could come in on such short notice. Mitch should be here in a minute,” Anne said.

We greeted Anne and the receptionist brought our coffee and water. As she served the drinks, Mitch came into the conference room.

“Are we ready to get started?” Anne said.

“I’m ready,” I replied.

Anne stepped up to the easel and rested her hand on the stack of mounted drawings. She smiled and began talking to us.

“First of all, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity. I’ve headed up several successful projects, but none of them were as exciting as this project is. Based on our discussions, I designed a lodge I hope will suit you needs.

“I positioned the lodge on the hill, overlooking the lake, and managed to keep most of the larger trees,” Anne said.

Anne lifted the cover on the first drawing. I sat back in my chair and gazed at her rendition of the lodge. Kelly put her hand on my arm, squeezing me firmly. I glanced at her and smiled.

Using a pointer, Anne drew our attention to the drawing. “The main lodge room is eighty-five feet by fifty feet. At the peak, the ceiling is twenty eight feet from the floor, slopping to twenty feet at each side. This end of the room has the fireplace. The hearth is thirty feet wide with a four foot slate floor in front of it. The slate chimney tapers to five feet wide as it rises from the floor. The firebox is six feet wide and four feet deep.

“On the outside wall, there is a trap door to remove the ashes. This door next to the fireplace provides access to the wood racks. Are there any questions so far?”

“I don’t have any questions,” Kelly said. I shook my head and told Anne to continue.

“On this end of the main room is the dining area. The table is two pieces and can be separated if necessary. As one long table, it will seat twenty two. This counter separates the dining area from the kitchen and can be used for additional seating. The kitchen measures twenty five feet square.

“Through this door is the pantry and laundry room. Down the hall are a mud room and a half bath. I knew you wanted to use the lodge for hunting so I added a cement block room for arms and ammunition storage.

“These steps lead from the dining area to the second floor. The six foot wide balcony runs the length of the main room as well as over the dining area. There are two master suites above the kitchen and dining area. Each of the bedrooms is twenty by thirty feet including the private baths. Two hallways lead from the balcony to the remaining eight bedrooms. Each of the bedrooms is twelve by twelve feet. There are two bedrooms on each side of the hallway with a bathroom for each pair of rooms.

“Under the bedrooms are three rooms with entrances from the main room. I have one on the end as a reading room with a fireplace, the one in the middle a sitting room. The room closest to the kitchen is a recreation room with game tables, couches, and a wet bar with running water and refrigerators. The liquor cabinets lock. I also have two half baths and a fireplace.”

Anne paused and asked for questions.

“It looks great so far, Anne. I don’t have any questions yet,” I said. I glanced at Kelly. She smiled and shook her head.

“The kitchen is set up for entertaining and cooking for large groups. The gas cook top has eight burners. Below the cook top are three ovens. There are two conventional ovens with broilers and one convection oven. Next to the cook top is the wood cook stove you requested. The vent hood exhausts outside. There is a side by side freezer and a side by side refrigerator. Both of them are commercial grade.

“All of the exterior walls are half log on both sides. All of the interior walls on the lower level are finished with old barn wood. The exterior walls are two by six with insulation. The interior walls are two by four, also insulated. I used drywall for the bedrooms so you can paint them.

I nodded and mentioned how we wanted the bedrooms to look different.

“The windows are triple pane high efficiency with low-E glass. The exterior doors are insulated steel. All of the flooring is maple except for the bathrooms. They’re marble.”

Anne went on, showing us drawings of the finished rooms complete with furniture. She told us all of the furniture for the main lodge was made locally out of reclaimed barn wood and wood from some of the abandoned mines. I haven’t furnished the bedrooms yet because I felt you’d want to decide on the décor.

“This is a wonderful design. I like the open floor plan for the kitchen, dining, and great room and the private rooms if someone wants to get away. I think having the bar the way you’ve planned it is a great idea. We can close it off if we don’t want drinking,” I said. “Rob, do you have any questions about the construction?”

Rob smiled. “This is great. Is there access to the guest rooms from outside, or will people have to go up from the great room?”

“All of the access to the second floor is by the two sets of stairs in the great room and the dining area. Do you want access from outside too?” Anne said.

“I think it would be a good idea.” Rob got up and went to the drawings. He displayed the one of the back of the building and pointed. “How hard would it be to add a deck and a foyer here? The foyer could serve as a second mud room.”

I glanced at Anne and Mitch. “It wouldn’t be any trouble at all. I can make the deck span the back and put in small foyers with doors to the bedrooms,” Mitch said. Anne made notes and agreed.

“How did you manage to do this in such a short time?” I said to Anne.

“Actually, this lodge isn’t my original design. It’s from another lodge in Montana. I made a few modifications, but mostly in trim and accent items. I came across it while researching for ideas,” Anne said.

“I think it’s perfect. How about you, sweetie, do you like it?” I said as I put my hand on Kelly’s arm.

“Are you really thinking of building this? I mean it’s wonderful, but...” Kelly said.

“Will the great room work as a studio?”

“You’re kidding, right? I could have never dreamed of having a studio this nice. We can shoot from the balconies if we need to and the full wall of windows will provide natural light.”

“Anne, do you have something we can send to our parents? I’d like them to see the design before we make a decision,” I said.

Anne opened an envelope and removed a stack of photographs. “These are of the lodge in Montana if they’ll work.”

“Those are perfect. I’ll have them scanned and give them back in a day or two,” I said.

“You can keep these copies,” Anne said.

“How long will it take to get the blueprints from the time we give you the go ahead?”

“The structural drawings are complete. I can make any changes to the floor plan you’d like and add the rear deck and foyers. I have to order them from the original architect, but it will only take a few days,” Anne said.

I turned to Mitch and said, “Can you build this?”

Mitch chuckled and said, “Yeah, but not before the wedding.”

We sat at the table reviewing the drawings for another hour. I felt sure Mom and Dad would approve anything Kelly and I wanted, but I wanted to make sure. Kelly asked Mitch for a rough estimate of the cost. He smiled and gave us a number.

“I’ll have to work out the cost for the changes,” Mitch said.