Chapter 18

When I hung up after talking to my sister, Susan, I thought perhaps I should look for a bigger place or a way to expand ours so we could have more big bedrooms. We could always use the baby's room for a regular bedroom for a while if we needed it. We might need even more, considering Deanne and using a bedroom for my sister and her husband and one for each kid.

When Sue came home with Mickey they were bosom buddies. Mickey asked me to fix her a scotch and water so I brought her one with water and me a Dewars on the rocks. Yummy stuff.

We sat out on the patio while I told Sue about my sister Susan and her husband and kids coming down a week from next Friday. Sue was excited. I told her I had offered us to fly up to Cincinnati to get them and she really got excited. Sue asked how far it was and I said about six hundred miles. She said that it would be an easy flight up and back.

Mickey asked, "You two have a plane that can fly that fast, three hundred miles an hour?"

Sue smiled, "It was a success present to myself. It's a turbo prop meant for short take off and landings that has a big range and is very comfortable. If you want, plan on flying with us. It'll only be a couple of hours up and a couple of hours back. It's pretty quiet in the cabin and very comfortable."

Mickey said, "I might, I just might. Depends on the duty schedule. Dad won't change anything just for me. I have to swap on my own but most of the guys are good about swapping around."

Without a great pause Mickey continued, "You two are amazing. Dad talks about Steve as if he walks on water then I meet you, Sue, and Jesus, I'm sorry Steve, but I'm in love. You're wife makes me nuts for her. She's self-sufficient, she has her own successful growing business, she has you, she's pregnant and she has all these great friends. I'm just dazzled."

"You just haven't found the man for you yet Mickey. One of these days he'll come into your life and you'll be lost. It'll be all over. There's nothing like having that special person just for you. Until then, you just snuggle up to us and let us be your special friends. You'll enjoy us in there," Sue pointed toward the house, "as much as you like us out here."

Mickey shivered. "I know. Steve has made me wet all day and you've made me gush. Please, let's go to bed, I want to find out."

This sure wasn't the lady deputy that had ridden up to New Port Richey with me. Who would believe?

Sue and Mickey went inside while I cleaned up and shut down the patio. I locked up and went to bed. Deanne had already gone to bed after talking to her folks, happy with the anticipation of being able to stay at home a couple of nights a week.

I went into the bedroom and on into the bathroom to brush my teeth and took a quick shower without getting my hair wet. When I came out the lights in the bedroom were turned way down and I could see Sue and Mickey involved. There was room on the outside of Sue so I slid in next to her.

When the two of them took a breath, Sue turned to me and attacked my mouth. She kissed me and rolled onto me catching my arousal to enter her. She made it plain that she wanted to be made love to by me so I gladly did. When she was laying there gasping, she pulled Mickey to us and said, "Now make love to her the same way, make her scream, make her yours."

Mickey was easy to love. She was hesitant a few times, unused to a man, unused to a man loving her perhaps more intensely than some of her past women. Before she nearly passed out, she screamed, she cried and she had pleaded for more. As she reached her peak, Sue and I were both kissing her.

When we settled down to sleep, Mickey insisted I be in the middle. She wanted to feel me all night long but wanted Sue to be able to feel me too. I was still worked up as I didn't want to come inside her. Sue felt me still hard and realized what I had done. It took her mouth only a minute or two to drain me. I think Mickey was already asleep. Sue and I kissed lovingly and she snuggled to me and fell asleep.

I woke with a start. I felt both girls moving and it was enough to wake me. I listened to hear if there was a noise outside but there wasn't. I stretched back to look at the clock and it was clicking over from five fifty-nine to six.

Time to get up. I slid from between the two and walked naked into the kitchen to start coffee. A sleepy Deanne walked out of her room and up to me to get a hug. She took hold of my morning erection and said, "I wish there was more time, I could use this thing this morning." She gave me a kiss and went on to the bathroom.

Back in the bedroom the two girls were snuggled together so I kept the noise down and hurried through a shower and dressing to get ready for the day.

Out on the patio with a cup of coffee, Glenda showed up in her usual cheery mood. "So did your new toy stay the night or was it the long tall toy's night?"

"My goodness Glenda, Deanne has her own bedroom, but for your information Mickey did stay with Sue and me."

Glenda was smirking, "That lady of yours sure can bring 'em home. You brought this one but then Sue sure did convince her to stay."

Ruth and Tiny came through the door getting coffee from the big pot. Ruth commented, "Get some new pussy last night?"

"Jeez, will you guys let up. My goodness, Deanne has her own bedroom and Mickey was a house guest," I said shaking my head.

Ruth muttered under her breath, "My bet would be bed guest too."

Shawna dragging a sleepy Charlie came to the table and of course Shawna was first to talk, "Hey how was the new pussy, any good, would I like it?"

I decided to not protest or comment. Sue came to the door naked and said to me, "You sneaked off on me. I wasn't done with you for being so good to Mickey and me last night."

Oh shit.

Deanne came out the door giving Sue a kiss on the way by. Then another naked form came to the door and hugged Sue, "Damn a girl could get used to you two."

Glenda on one side and Shawna on the other punched me. Ruth said, "Punch him again for me."

Sue and Mickey disappeared re-appearing in terrycloth robes. They both got coffee and sat down as Sandy, Mandy, Bob and Drew came. Hannah and Jim were walking over as Phil and Judy arrived with the box of breakfast sandwiches and donuts. Debbie and Hank finally showed up saying they would have liked to sleep some more.

Mickey said, "My goodness, this place is busy in the morning."

As she got that out of her mouth Joan, Betty, Tom and Al showed up along with Tiny's folks, Charlie and Matty.

Charlie, the park manager, and Martin were talking about the completion of the boardwalk and pier they had been working on. They had worked on it making it accessible for disabled people. There were a lot of older folks in the park who needed it since they were wheel chair bound. Since we had built the ramp for Charlie, Martin had built four more ramps, making some extra money.

Tiny said that we should hear today about the potential closing with Ernie on the new property. The magnitude of the new adventure had most of us wondering if we could really do it. The only way to find out was to go ahead. Tiny said that he already had several conversations with Ben about the zoning. Ben felt confident it would go through.

I asked Tiny if the architects would have the drawing ready yet and he said they should be ready by Tuesday. I told him that I wanted the presentation to include the two companies' history, the employment record, and the estimated increase in employment. I thought we should portray the upscale RV center and the hotel as well as the Restaurant across the street. If all the zoning could be accomplished we would build the Hotel and Restaurant quickly so the construction people and franchise people would have a place to stay and eat.

As soon as I said that Mickey said, "You mean you're not going to invite them to eat out here?"

"Smart ass," I said looking up at her.

"You feed everyone else it looks like, what's with a few more," she said.

Mandy said, "Wait till he has another of his company gatherings out here. You won't believe it. He gets over two hundred people here, complete with caterers, a big tent and two big bars. He has people parking cars plus people to drive the drunks home. Like I said, you won't believe it."

"Wow, I can't wait. I'll bet this place is a mad house," Mickey said wistfully. "I really like this and all the people that get together. It's the best feeling in the world to be a part of you guys."

Shawna said, "I'll bet you had the best feeling in the world last night honey. I'd bet on it."

Mickey colored red but smiled and said, "You know it."

That shut them up.

People began saying it was time to get going and the group began disappearing,. Betty, Joan and Hanna went inside the house to go to the office in there. Sue told Mickey to come take a look before they cleaned up to go do something today.

At work I had a conversation with Jeff about building a really big facility for the trucks. He would be in charge of the fiberglass people but would need to find and develop a manager to work with him at both places so he could continue to maintain quality while we ramped up productivity. He nodded and said, "I expected this the way you're growing. The nice thing is you trust me to build both of them. At first I thought you might do what a lot of big companies do and blow me off in favor of some college guy. But you're giving me an even bigger challenge. Tell you what Steve, I'll train the best damn fiberglass people you've ever seen for both operations. I'll find us the best people to lead both places and we'll all make some damn good ah, perfect, product."

I slapped him on the back and told him not to hold his breath as it could take a couple months before we even began building.

While I was over there I could see that the super lift group were really busy. Every work area had a lift torn down and there were about twenty lifts in the yard with two more sitting on trailers ready to be unloaded. I wondered if we should expand the group or let us just work from behind for a while.

Abe was happily checking on each project offering a suggestion here and there. His new assistant was busily working with production orders and checking the quality control items. The production assistant was on the phone, probably ordering parts.

The three race-day trucks were all being worked on. The doors were all open as were the sides, ready to replenish everything. They were using sales records plus the basic inventory lists to make sure that the trucks would leave with the right new merchandise. Cases of the race day event T-shirts were being loaded. The T-shirts were really worth a smile. Every week the three trucks had T-shirts people just had to have. The body building area was working on two large boom bodies. These looked a little different and the guys told me the bodies were going through a constant evolution. Every time they could improve them they did. Tiny had told them they were still under budget so they kept thinking of more ways to make the trucks better.

The motor group was loud and raunchy this morning. It was a good thing they all had thick skins the way they ragged on each other. The gay guys were challenging the gay girls then the couples were challenging both gay groups. Sandy and Mandy were now the most conservative of the group as they were nearly as settled down as the couples. Shawna just wandered through the shop helping each one as she went, making sure that quality was the most important product.

I walked through both sides of the admin area noting a training class in one area and a meeting being held in another. Wow, who were all these people? Ruth saw me and said, "Sue's plant people are using the meeting area to discuss how to integrate another line." She said that even with the new building there isn't enough room for all of the activities.

We would work on that for the new building we were planning for Sue. I was amazed that Sue's product was now demanding so much manufacturing space. I wondered if the success would continue.

Around noon Sue and Mickey came to get me to have lunch at the little Greek restaurant, and going back home for a trip to the gym, plus a visit to sun at the pool. Mickey said she was having the time of her life going with Sue through the big factory. She said she was amazed at how the people nearly idolized Sue.

When I got back to the shop Debbie said Ben wanted me to call him. When I called and was transferred to him he said, "I think it's a lock. Three of the five from the zoning board agree the land could be used for manufacturing, retail and the hotel. They have already signed off on spot zoning for the restaurant. If you can buy up any of the other land surrounding your big plot, we could use the same presentation to push it through.

I asked Ben who was the best real estate attorney in Tampa. He sputtered for a little then gave me the name of Abe Cohen. He said Abe knew every piece of land in Hillsborough County. I thanked Ben and looked up Abe Cohen in the yellow pages.

It took a little sweet-talking to get through to Mr. Cohen; he had a real guard dog for a secretary. When I finally got through, I told him who I was and that I was married to a Phillips heir. We had purchased acreage in north Hillsborough and wanted to purchase adjoining land if it were available. We talked for a while, and when he realized I wouldn't give up where the land was until we met first, he finally agreed to meet with me.

I called Ben and told him he was coming with me as a legal witness while I dealt with Mr. Cohen. I had the feeling Abe Cohen made his fortune by sucking after his clients and not necessarily helping them. The closer it came to time to go see the guy the more uncomfortable I became. So I called him and put him off for two weeks.

I went to the Hillsborough County court house records division. The tax rolls had every piece of land in the county described and parceled for tax purposes. I found out the owner, the appraised taxable amount as a guide, and the current state of the taxes. Right next to the land we were buying was a six hundred-acre parcel that was close to being sold for taxes. I wrote down all the pertinent information on that one and also on a very small parcel that was in front of it, between ours and the highway. This land was current in taxes but had had a lot of activity on it lately.

I found the phone number of the registered owner of the land that was going up for a tax sale and called. An old crackly voice answered and said that yes, she was the owner of the land, and that she still lived on it. I asked her if I could come to visit her. She was happy to have me come out. I called Sue and told her what I had found and she said she would come with me.

After picking up Sue, we found the old road that wound its way back to the little house on the back of the land. The property was listed in the name of Nelda Farmer. I drove my truck up close to her porch and walked with Sue to the door.

An ancient lady opened the door before we could step on the porch. "Are you the man that called me little while ago?"

"Yes Ma'am, I am. This is my wife Sue. Can we talk to you for a few minutes?"

"Sit down out here on the porch with me and we'll talk. There have been too many government men out here lately telling me I owed lots of money for taxes. They keep telling me I will have to move. Can you explain all this to me?" she asked.

Sue and I sat on some old chairs across from Nelda who sat in an old rocking chair.

"Nelda, you know that every year you have to pay taxes to the county for the land that you own. I noticed that your land used to be considered agricultural, and it became large area residential, and that brought the land value way up. Did you use to have a lot of animals? A lot of livestock?"

Nelda sat up straight and said, "My Wilbur and I had many beef cows grazing out here. We had a milk cow and a bunch of goats. When Wilbur died, I couldn't take care of them anymore, so I sold them all, but I tell you I've been paying my taxes. I sent my money into the collector early. Now they're telling me it isn't enough and I'll lose the property. Is that true?"

Sue wanted to help. "Yes ma'am it's true. When you sold all your animals you were no longer a farmer. You became a resident only and not eligible for the farm exemption. Do you understand that?"

"I guess I do. Some other man tried to explain it, but he was such a foul mouthed man that I didn't want to listen to him. What can I do? I don't have anything else but this place. Where will I go?" Nelda was almost in tears.

Sue went to her and hugged her shoulders. "Where would you like to live if you didn't live here Nelda?"

"Oh that's easy. I'd live up the road in that fancy trailer park, or perhaps I'm old enough to live in the Hillsborough Senior Tower over on Bearrs."

Sue thought for a moment, "You can live at either place. Can you take care of yourself if you were to live out at the trailer park?"

Nelda stood up and said, "Come look at my house. I keep this up by myself. I keep myself clean and my house clean." She led Sue and me through the house. It was spotless. The furniture was old, the carpet was threadbare, but everything was clean and neat.

We went back out to the porch and Sue said, "Nelda, I want to help you by giving you a fair value for your land. I'll help you move into the trailer park so you live near Steve and me. We'll set up your bank account so no one can take advantage of you. We'll also make arrangements so you can go right into the Senior Tower if you want when the time comes. Would you do that?"

"But who will help me move? All of my memories are inside here."

Sue was near tears wanting to just hold the old lady. "See that truck out there, we'll put everything you want in there and carry you and all of your possessions to your new place. Would you like to see where Steve and I live over there?"

Nelda looked at me and Sue and said, "If you two really live over there, I'll sell you the land and get me a trailer over there whether you help me or not. I'm ready and I don't want some smart mouth man come to take me away."

Sue helped her get her purse and lock her doors. We drove to the trailer park and parked at our place. We took Nelda into the patio and had her sit while I put some water on for tea. Sue took Nelda on a tour of our house and the office area. Nelda even had to see our bedroom and looked in Sue's drawers to look at the bra sizes.