Chapter 22

The next day they went shopping for a small piece of jewelry. He found that she was more generous than he would have been. She picked out a three-diamond necklace for Betty that was quite expensive. They asked that it be delivered that afternoon with a card from Carl. Brad called Carl from his cell phone and told him what he had done. He explained that the card said that it was from Carl and that he never wanted Betty to know where it really came from.

"I want you to tell Betty that you bought it for her. I want her to think that it came from you. That's a thank you from Amy and me. Maybe that will get you out of the doghouse. And I thank you personally. You've been a good friend over the years and I couldn't have made it without you and Betty."

Carl was silent for a minute, "What did you send? I ought to know in case she mentions it."

Amy pulled the phone away form him, "You'd better learn to take care of that woman, Mr. Samples. We're starting a new business. I'm renting out my husband to teach you guys that don't know how to treat a woman. Since you're a friend we'll give you a two percent discount."

Carl asked again what they had bought and Amy told him and described it for him. He was silent for a minute.

"My God, knowing her, she'll never take it off. Thank you both. I guess I'll be getting a phone call this afternoon."

Brad drove to the car dealership and Amy picked out the jaguar that she wanted. She decided on a metallic gray that she said would be more dignified for an executive woman. Brad insisted that she go shopping for some clothes suitable for the office and had her get a few business suites.

On Saturday morning Joseph and his crew started setting up for the affair on Sunday. He had spared no expense. He had many potted plants placed around the yard and had several tents set up for protection from the sun. There weather forecast for Sunday was for sunshine all day and moderate temperatures. Carl had told Brad that Joseph wouldn't accept any money and he had told him that he was afraid that Joseph was hurting himself financially.

Brad corralled Joseph, "Look, I insist on paying for this. I know that this is costing a fortune."

"No. No. Brad, this is my wedding resent to you and Amy. I am so happy that you have found someone to make you happy. I was really worried about you."

"Look I'm going to pay for this. If you want to give us a wedding present, give us a free dinner at the restaurant. There's no way I'm going to let you pay for this and I demand a itemized bill so that I can be sure that you are including everything in the bill. I just appreciate you agreeing to do this for us. I wouldn't trust this to anyone else."

After about fifteen minutes of arguing Joseph finally agreed to let him pay for the party. He left to supervise the setup. Brad Went to find Amy and find out if she had picked out what she was going to wear on Sunday. He found her in the kitchen cleaning. He walked up behind her and put his arms around her.

"Ummm," she said, "I was wondering where you were. I wanted a man's arms around me so bad, that if you hadn't come by soon, I was going to go out and find a man to put his arms around me."

He asked her to take a break and sit down with him for a while. He told her about how the preparations were going. When he asked if she had decided what to wear she just smiled and told him he'd have to wait and see.

"I just had a fight with Joseph. He was refusing to let me pay for the party tomorrow. I know that he cannot afford to foot the bill for this. I finally made him agree to let me pay."

She smiled, "I like Joseph and his brother. They're good people. I know he thinks the world of you."

"Yes, if it hadn't been for Joseph and Carl I probably wouldn't be here today. For months after Vera died, Joseph would send over dinner and sit and talk to me. A lot of times the freezer would have several dinners in it, and you know how fine his dinners are. He's been a true friend."

"Didn't you say that you own the building that he has the restaurant in?'

"Yes, I built that building for almost nothing. The land that it is built on my father bought from the city at a tax lien sale. It was getting to be a hassle keeping the weeds down and the trash picked up. An awful lot of the material that we used to build it was left over from other projects. When material is left over from a project, it is sometimes years before you get another project to use that type of material on. Storage gets to be a problem and it's costly to store material that you won't have any quick use for. It might never be used years. Construction was slack for a while so I really built the building to keep my employees working. I would have had to pay them anyway or lose them. In the end, I built the building dirt-cheap. It is still a quality building."