Chapter 19: Planning, Planning, and More Planning

It was Tuesday morning and the house was quiet. My wife and daughter were lying beside me; still asleep.

There were a lot of things we needed to discuss this morning before meeting with our Oklahoma friends. Obviously that would have to wait until later this morning. Ann and Liz were still trying to recover from the excitement in Iowa and the long drive home.

I started the morning coffee and took a shower. The warm water rejuvenated my body and the coffee stimulated my mind. Whatever would happen during the next few days would happen. Fate, kismet, or destiny had already set the course of our future as a family. So many of the wishes and hopes that Ann and I shared were now within our reach.

We could build a future without puritanical control and discriminatory laws. We would not be living in a world that saw any kind of pleasure as the road to damnation.

We would be living on an island in the Caribbean. The patriarchs of the Reinhardt and Collins families owned the island. That ownership would be turned over to the Moran family within ten years. In the meantime, Ann and I would be the Chief Operating Officers of an exclusive resort catering to families that believed in and practiced ‘family love.’

The resort was still under construction with a completion date of December of next year. So much needed to be done with so little time left to do it.

For Ann and me, staffing the new resort was a priority since it would mean relocating many people to live and work on our island paradise. I reminded myself that ‘Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.’

It was a little after ten in the morning when my wife and daughter joined me in the kitchen. I could tell that they had been up for a while and that whatever they had been discussing was weighing heavily on their ability to be happy and jovial.

“Is there a problem that I should know about?” I asked.

My wife said, “Kind of.”

“Am I to guess what the problem is or are you going to tell me?”

Ann and Liz looked at each other. The both wanted to say something but neither one of them wanted to be the first one to speak. I had faced this type of situation before. An employee wants to talk with me about a problem. When I ask them to tell me about their problem they clam up. They are afraid of my reaction and lose what little confidence they had.

I smiled at my wife and daughter before I said, “Okay, guess it is. I am guessing that you are both having second thoughts about moving to the island. I am guessing that you are afraid to admit this to me because you think I will get upset or disappointed by your reluctance to move.”

Both Ann and Liz were nodding their heads yes.

I said to my wife, “Ann. You have developed, over the last few months, a support group that you will lose if we move. The thought of having to start all over again scares you. You are going to especially miss having Martha and Carol by your side.

“Liz, you are too young to realize that moving is a part of life. You will move many times as you get older and each time you will be leaving old friends behind and making new friends. But right now, at this time and place, you don’t know how you could ever be happy without Grace by your side. You two are more than friends. You are sisters, joined at the hip, two peas in the same pod. Your life will be over without Gracie.”

My wife and daughter had tears rolling down their cheeks. I knew my guesses were spot on. It was time for me to dance in the rain.

“What if I told you that you don’t need to leave your friends and still start a new life on an island paradise?”

I saw hope in the eyes of both my wife and daughter but skepticism from their body language. “We are going to need a staff of people to help us operate a successful resort. We can fill those positions with people we already know and trust.

“I can’t promise you that everyone will accept the idea of giving up what they have here for the chance to do better elsewhere. But I can promise both of you that I will try to get as many of our friends to join us on the island as I can.”

Both of my girls charged me and wrapped me in their arms. Doom and gloom were replaced with hope and joy. Both of my women promised to help me in any way that they could. My wife said, “I mean it Eddie. I will help you in any way that I can.” Liz said, “Me too Daddy, I will help you in any that I can too.”

I hugged and kissed my wife and daughter before saying, “I think we should invite Rolf, Martha, and Grace over to the house as soon as we can and get the ball rolling.”

Ann left my embrace, picked up the phone, dialed, and said, “Martha, we need you guys over here as soon as you can.”

My wife turned to me and said, “They will be here in ten minutes.”

Exactly ten minutes later, the Svenson family was at our back door. A cold front had moved into our area. The entire family was dressed in parkas, gloves, and fur lined boots.

Liz grabbed Gracie in an intimate embrace before taking her hand and leading her to Liz’s room. The last words we heard were Liz telling Grace that she would help her get warm.

Ann was helping Rolf out of his clothes and I followed suit by stripping the layers of clothing off of Martha.

For the next 30 minutes Rolf fucked my wife while I fucked his wife. None of us made any attempt to make love. Pure, unbridled sex was on all of our minds. Moans, groans, and I’m Cumming were the only sounds that came from our mouths.

While we were resting, Ann told Rolf and Martha about our eight day Christmas trip to Iowa. “We spent three days driving and five days with relatives. We spent three of those days at The Farm. It is a resort owned by Grampa and Gramma Reinhardt and Grampa and Gramma Collins.

“And you are not going to believe what kind of resort that they own. Both sets of grandparents are in their 70s now but you wouldn’t know it by looking at them. They each look at least ten years younger than they really are and act like it too.

“They are sexually active and not just between the four of them. The resort they own reflects their ideas about sex and families. The resort is very exclusive and only caters to families that practice family love.”

“You are kidding us aren’t you?” said Martha. “Do they really have a resort for people like us? People that love to share intimacies with each other. Do your grandparents join in with the guests sometimes?”

“We are not kidding you,” my wife answered. They even have a resort in Florida, The Palms, that specializes in the same kind of activity. And lastly, if they know the guest family well enough, they do join them on occasion, but typically the resort is for the families, or other families that they may meet, to have private and secure time to enjoy each other.”

“Is it expensive?”

I said, “Martha, there is an old saying that I think applies to your question. If you have to ask what something costs, then you can’t afford it. That goes for the resorts they own also.”

Martha said, “Maybe we should find some land and start our own resort. Rolf and Al Martinez have already put in their discharge papers to leave the army.

“What do you think oh husband of mine? Do you think that we should try to convince the Moran family to join the Svenson and Martinez families and open our own exclusive family style resort?”

“Martha, honey, I think that would be wonderful. But it would also be totally impossible for so many reasons. Just to find and purchase the land would be more than we could afford. Add to that the construction costs, staffing, advertising, lawyers and accounts we would need and the cost soars into the tens of millions of dollars. And if that is not enough, opening a resort like you are suggesting is against the law in the United States and all of her possessions.”

I smiled at Ann. We both knew that Martha and Rolf had opened themselves up to the possibility of joining us in our new adventure. The addition of the Martinezes was like icing on the cake.

I said, “Rolf, what if it was possible to open a resort together? Would you, Martha, and Grace want to join forces with us and open a lifestyle resort? Do you think that the Martinez family would like to join us in this type of venture?”

Rolf said, “Eddie, I think you already know that I and my family would join you in any venture that you suggest. Alejandro would follow you into hell if you asked him to. But seriously, are you really thinking about opening a lifestyle resort?”

“Rolf, I am not only thinking about, I am actually opening a resort within the next year. The resort is on an island, four nautical miles southeast of Sint Maarten in the Caribbean Sea. Construction for the resort started two years ago and should be completed by this time next year.

“The island is currently owned by Ann’s paternal and maternal grandparents. As she told you earlier, they are all in their 70s and the project is taking up too much of their time. They have hired me to be the Chief Operations Officer of the resort for a period of 10 years. At the end of 10 years, Ann and I will become the owner/operators of the resort.

“As COO, I have to develop my own staff for operations while the grandparents will handle the legal and banking duties.

“Ann and I have been discussing who we want to take with us to the Island. We have already identified several key people that we want on our team.

“Three of the positions needed to be filled yesterday and that is why Ann called you this morning.”

I offered Rolf the position of General Manger / Island Operations.

The next hour was spent discussing the job description, salary, bonuses, and perks. Rolf asked if he and Martha could talk alone for a few minutes. “Of course you can. You can use my office if you want.”

When Rolf and Martha returned to the family room, they were both smiling. Rolf said, “We have made our decision.” Together they said, “We’re in.” Handshakes and hugs followed.

“When do we start boss?” Rolf asked.

“January 1^st. Wait, that’s New Year’s Day. We will start on the 2^nd. Fly to the island. Start making a list of what needs to be done. Fly back on the 6^th.”

“Ah,” Rolf said. “I think we have a problem Ed. I just put in my papers last week and it takes three to six months to actually get discharged.”

It was my turn to use my office. I made a phone call, explained the problem and was put on hold. Papa Collins came back on line and said, “Tell the Lieutenant Colonel and Sergeant Major that their DD 214’s will be given to them in a ceremony on Thursday the 30^th at 1pm in the Commandant’s Office.”

I thanked Grandpa Collins and returned to the family room to give Rolf the good news. Rolf was stunned. “Lieutenant Colonel? Ceremony? Thursday? Nobody could...! But you did! How...? Who...?”

My wife put her arms around Rolf and said, “You are going to be amazed at what my husband can do when he wants to. Just be thankful that he is your friend instead of your enemy.”

“Rolf,” I said. “Can you get ahold of the Sergeant Major and see if he and his family can come over here as soon as possible?”

Rolf called Al and told him to get his ass over to the Moran house as soon as possible. “Bring your family with you. You aren’t going to believe what’s happening!” After a pause, Rolf said, “Of course.”