Chapter 99

Adam and his group were halfway to the university when something else popped into his mind.

"Damn," he muttered. Erin looked over as she pulled out a pen and paper.

"What is it?" she asked. "I'll jot it down so you don't forget again."

Adam couldn't help but smile. Karlie, their personal assistant, had conscripted an assistant of her own.

"The meeting with, uh, hell, the guy Cassie is working with," Adam said. "I can't even remember his name, let alone when it is set up. If they scheduled for Friday during your meet, they'll have to make other arrangements."

"You don't need to put off something to come see me swim," Erin said.

"And they don't need to schedule something for one of the few times I'll be able to relax this week," Adam rejoined. "Besides, I want to come cheer you on. We all do. I'll have to miss the morning session because I have classes. So that means you'll just have to make at least the quarterfinals so we can watch you. It would be best if you went ahead to the finals because my Saturday mornings are pretty free."

Erin smiled. Adam spoke like it was a done deal. She knew she would be fortunate to make it out of her heat. The top three finishers from six heats plus the next six best times advanced to three quarterfinal heats. The top eight times from those heats advance to the final on Saturday. She had a better chance of making Friday night's session in the medley relay but only if their freestyler got eliminated from the individual event. Otherwise, the girl would tank the team for individual glory – as she had done several times during the season. The girl was headed to Nevada on a swimming scholarship, though, so individual accolades must amount to something.

Still, everyone had told her they planned to be at her events if they could. The morning session – which started at 8 a.m. – would be difficult for everyone except Rebecca and Rachelle. The session ended at 11 a.m. and the afternoon session ran from 1-4 p.m. The night session was from 6-9 p.m. and included quarterfinal heats in all the individual short and medium-distance events.

Saturday ran continually from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and featured the finals in all events. Erin expected to be watching from the stands on Saturday – if she had any teammates to support. Otherwise she'd be enjoying the last day of freedom with her newfound friends before her high school classes kicked off again the next Monday.

The thought of going back to school made Erin cringe – until she realized it was only for two more months. Then she would be back in L.A. – and with her friends – for good.

Adam arrived back at the apartment and walked in on a bustle of activity. Rachelle and Mary were both there, along with Sarah and Allie. Shelly, Trinity and Erin came in with Adam, although Leslie decided she needed to go back to her apartment to at least make sure it was still standing – and to get some clothes since had borrowed outfits from Allie the previous two days.

Adam couldn't tell what the females were doing but he saw clothes scattered everywhere. It reminded him of his bedroom as a teenager before his mother put a stop to such nonsense. The new female arrivals must have recognized the situation for something other than bedlam because they jumped right into the fray. Adam backed out the door slowly and quietly and headed up the hill to see what Sean and Walt might be doing. He had a few hours before his dreaded night class.

Walt was still smiling so Adam figured everything must have worked out with him and Mary. He didn't ask, figuring it was none of his business. Sean was sitting down with a calculator and a pad of paper. He glanced up when Adam entered, frowned, and looked back down at the writing implements.

"The guy in Dallas wants $25,000 for a vacant lot," Walt informed Adam. "Sean is trying to calculate what owning three-fourths of the block will do for us before we decide."

"Let the group decide," Adam suggested.

Sean rolled his eyes.

"I tried that route," he said. "I got four 'Do what you think is bests' or 'Whatever you decide will be fine by me's.'"

"You don't really believe that, do you?" Adam joked. "All that means is if this turns to shit, they have washed their hands of it. Still, it makes sense if we are planning for long-term occupancy of the houses, if you want my opinion. Actually, it sounds pretty cheap. We can pave or gravel it and use it for parking. There is no place to even think of parking within three blocks. We're going to be out of spaces with just what we have now. I somehow don't think everyone in this group is going to be willing to share cars if it isn't necessary."

"I know," Sean said. "I just hate to pay that much for a piece of freaking dirt. The thing is, that is the only parcel zoned R-3 – that's multi-family residential – because the address is actually on the side street. We could build something there at some point and rent it out. I guess it isn't too bad."

"We also don't need it right now," Adam pointed out. "We can hold off for months if we want to – hell, maybe a year if we have to."

"No, we can't," Walt said. He wore a self-satisfied grin. "It is the best way to get the things I acquired this morning to the workshop."

"Oh," Adam said. His eloquence left everyone stunned.

"You're supposed to ask what he acquired," Sean pointed out. Adam shrugged. He figured Walt would get to that part eventually.

"What did you acquire?" he asked dutifully.

"A bunch of stuff," Walt said with a laugh.

"Wait until you hear this," Sean said, shaking his head. "You'll be amazed."

Adam prepared to be wowed.

"So, I called Steve Rayburn when I got home from class," Walt said. "We talked about the inspection and all that stuff and what he wanted to do with his new shop. Then he dropped the bombshell on me. Did you tell him what we wanted to do with the building back there?"

Adam thought back and pursed his lips. He had no idea if it came up in discussion but since Walt inferred that Steve knew, it must have.

"I guess so," Adam decided on.

Walt nodded before he spoke again.

"Well, you know he already bought a building for his garage, right?" he asked. Adam nodded. "Guess what used to be in that building? Go on, guess."

Adam tried his hardest to come up with a funny answer and failed miserably.

"The Seattle SuperSonics," he went with. It was lame but since they were a relocated NBA team, it made sense to him. Apparently, he was the only one. Blank looks graced the faces of his friends. "Fine, I don't have any idea."

"A woodworking shop," Walt answered. "He had a lathe and a bunch of hand tools that came with the building. Get this: He gave them to us. All it is going to cost us is the price of transporting them. But we need to do it soon because he wants to have his place opened in two months. There was a metal lathe in the back but he wants to keep it. Isn't that awesome?"

Adam's excitement wasn't feigned.

"It's fantastic!" he said. "Man, I love making stuff with wood."

Both Sean and Walt looked surprised.

"You do?" Walt asked. "Why didn't I know that?"

Adam shrugged. It wasn't a closely guarded secret. Then the answer came to him.

"It was something I did with my Dad," he said. "I've only really been able to even talk about that sort of stuff in the last month or so."

He told the guys about the baby bed he made and what his parents had done with it.

"Man, did it get lost with the twister, too?" Sean asked. He hoped he wasn't being insensitive. Adam just shook his head.

"There was a family, a real poor family, a few miles away from us," Adam related. "They needed a baby bed and Dad gave it to them. We were supposed to work on another one at Christmas and finish it last week so it could be ready for the next auction. That bed brought in the most money two years in a row. Of course that was because they saw my Dad bidding on it and drove the price up. He didn't mind. He said it was money well spent if it helped one girl continue her education. He was right. That's why I think it's so important for Allie to get her GED and start taking classes."

"So I don't have to make you a bed?" Walt asked.

Adam looked perplexed. He had no idea where Walt was going with this.

"Shelly, Allie and Sarah came to me over the weekend and asked if I thought I could do it," he said with a smile. "I told them I didn't see why not. I guess Rebecca's bed is huge. I'd have to look at it before I could really do much. I don't think a traditional setup would work for a bed that wide."

"It doesn't have a traditional setup," Adam said with a smile. "I looked while I was up there. It's basically a king-sized and a twin-size foundation with a large one-piece headboard and footboard. The mattress is also one-piece but the box springs are in three pieces. It's pretty ingenious – considering that bed was probably made a hundred years ago. I planned to ask the girls if they wanted me to make something like that once we figure out how things are really going to be."

"What do you mean?" Walt asked.

"I got the impression that they might want to move into the Rayburn place," Adam said. "Honestly, I don't really know. I've found I'm never fully in the loop on a lot of things."

"Why would they want to move there?" Sean asked.

Again, Adam had no ready reply.

"Guys, even with the things they do tell me, I rarely can figure out the whys that go with the hows," he said. "I can say only that there has been discussion – among them – along those lines."

"They probably want more room," Walt said with a slight shrug. "I'm positive this started about the same time discussion of cutting their space in half came about. What about you, Adam? Where would you rather live?"

"I like the place Sean found," Adam admitted. "I mean, Steve's house is OK. It has two bedrooms downstairs and a bigger one upstairs. But I think the way the duplex is laid out is cool. You know, it's pretty ingenious; the way they made it into one house."

"Plus there is the nude sunbathing," Sean said with a laugh.

"There is that," Adam agreed. "If I'm just a visitor, there will be little reason for me to visit you guys in your bedrooms."

Walt wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"To look out your window, pervert," Adam clarified. "By the way, what in the hell is going on down the hill?"

He gestured to the lower apartment.

"They're picking out clothes for the Peaches' interview and photo shoots," Sean said. "At least that's what they told me. Hell, they could be plotting world domination. At least you were smart enough to run."

"I thought it might have been a garage sale or something," Adam joked. "Do you guys have those here? I've never seen one."

"We are far too refined for garage sales," Walt said in a haughty voice. "We simply pass our hand-me-downs directly to the servant class."

The three guys were sitting around studying when Karlie called Adam's cell phone.

"Celina wants you to call her," she announced. He heard the sound of many voices in the background but Karlie hung up before he could respond.

"Crap," Adam said, hitting the button for Celina's number.

"It's never good to have a lawyer on speed dial," Walt remarked with a smile. Adam was glad his friend was in good spirits but his cheerfulness was starting to get irksome. Celina answered the phone herself.

"When is a good time for us to make the call to PlayCo?" she asked. Adam knew no time was really good for him. He was pretty well booked solid until Tuesday. His answer reflected his quandary.

"Uh," he said. He had no idea what the time difference was in Tokyo but he figured it was substantial. "Do you really need me there?"

"I think it would be a good idea," Celina related. "I can handle the initial counter but I think you should be present to gauge his reaction."

"I won't even be able to understand his reaction," Adam said. Celina burst out laughing, which she explained much to Adam's chagrin.

"PlayCo's attorney is from San Francisco," she said. "His name is Karl Wellingham. You will be able to understand him as well as I do. You didn't think I spoke Japanese, did you?"

Adam didn't admit that it was exactly what he thought, not that he'd thought about it much.

"My schedule is almost exactly opposite of Mary's," Adam explained. "I could do it tomorrow morning, but she is in class. She could do it in the afternoon, but I'm in class. The same is true with Friday, not to mention I have other things planned all afternoon and maybe into the evening. The fact is, Celina, I don't have a free moment until Tuesday morning. Then we hit the same problem with my schedule and Mary's again."

"Look, we can probably take care of the call in about 30 minutes," Celina said. "But it would really be a good idea if you were present. I honestly can't see technical questions popping up at this point so Mary's participation could be via telephone if it becomes necessary. What is your schedule like this afternoon?"

Adam frowned. He knew there was no way out of it.

"I can do it this afternoon," Adam said. He had hoped to be able to sit and relax for a moment. He felt as if he'd been on the go since they left for Las Vegas – and he might have been right. "Mary is free, too, if I can drag her away. I really want her there."

"Let's plan on 3 p.m.," Celina said. "I'll call Wellingham's office to make sure he isn't golfing. But if you don't hear from me, I'll see you at three o'clock."

She clicked off without waiting for an answer. Adam shook his head and wondered what happened to manners.

Mary seemed more than willing to abandon the clothing parade – because the big decisions had already been made. She and Adam discussed the situation on the way to Celina's office. Mary was still amazed that everyone agreed to play roulette with that much money.

Celina was smiling and happy when Adam and Mary arrived. Adam was neither. It didn't help much that Karl Wellingham was a Major League, Grade-A asswipe. Adam's temper frayed 30 seconds into the conversation when he felt the need to interrupt Wellingham's harangue about something completely unrelated.