Chapter 15

Vicki drove past the sign proclaiming, 'John's Farm, ' even though she was expecting to see it. She stopped the car and backed up to the gravel driveway next to the sign. The gravel driveway was a bit of a surprise. This was her first trip to the place and she didn't know what to expect. It was definitely rural despite the fact that it was only minutes from a suburb.

She pulled to a stop in front of the house after following the driveway for a hundred yards. The two story structure looked like a farm house was supposed to look. It even had a real porch that wrapped around the outside of the building rather than just a flat spot in front of a door over a set of stairs. There were a half a dozen rocking chairs scattered around the porch.

John stepped out of the house and waved to her. She got out of the car and then reached in for the plate of cookies she had brought with her. By the time she had retrieved them, John was standing next to her.

"I didn't know what to expect," Vicki said.

John said, "I'll show you around."

"Let me put these cookies out for the kids before you do that," Vicki said.

John smiled. He said, "It is their first day at a new school and you've brought cookies for them to eat when they get home. I think they'll appreciate that more than fruit juice and slices of fruit."

"I remembered you telling me about that," Vicki said.

John asked, "Will you stay here until they return from school?"

"I don't think so. I still need to diffuse some of Lisa's anger," Vicki said.

John looked at her and said, "That's the kind of thing Victoria would say."

"Maybe, but I talked with David about Lisa one afternoon. This is self-preservation, not Victoria, at work," Vicki said sadly. "Besides, you were the one who told me that I had to approach this like a guerilla war with random acts of kindness."

John gently took her by the arm and started leading her up to the house. As they walked, he said, "You've managed to keep her off balance for the past couple of weeks."

"She's the middle child and needs to feel special. The spa, shopper, and dance lessons with daddy accomplish that. She did take me by surprise with the invitation to the fashion show last Friday," Vicki said.

She had truly expected Lisa to take two of her friends from the old neighborhood to the fashion show. The invitation had caused her to scramble a bit, particularly in arranging for the press credentials. She had realized that if she didn't keep Lisa distracted, then the entire evening could easily go up in flames.

"Same here," John said while opening the front door for her.

Vicki stepped into the house and looked around immediately feeling comfortable. The living room furniture was familiar since it had once occupied the other house. She said, "Nice."

"We kept the same basic flow for the living room and dining room. The biggest difference is the size of the kitchen and the fact that all of the bedrooms are upstairs," John said.

"The kitchen is bigger?" Vicki asked.

Leading her towards it, John said, "A lot bigger. It is a farm kitchen with lots of room for canning. It has a large walk-in pantry."

Vicki was speechless when she saw the size of the kitchen. She said, "You weren't kidding when you said it was bigger. You could ride a horse in here."

"I guess," John said with a smile.

Dominating the kitchen was a huge industrial quality eight burner enamel stove with two ovens. The stove cost more than all of the appliances in the kitchen of the old house combined. It was a work of art.

"Do you like the stove?" John asked.

"Yes," Vicki said.

"I saw a smaller version of it at one of the kitchen gadget stores and fell in love with it. Then I found that the manufacturer made this larger version of the stove. I bought it and designed the kitchen around it," John said.

Vicki looked around at the rest of the kitchen. There was a full sized refrigerator and a full sized freezer standing side by side. There was so much counter space that she figured John could buy every gadget invented over the next twenty years and still have counter space left. She was really impressed by it.

At the end of the kitchen was a huge antique wooden table. The table top showed the marks of years of use. She set the plate of cookies on it.

"This is beautiful," Vicki said while running a hand over the surface.

John said, "I'm glad that you like it. Let me show you upstairs."

Vicki followed John upstairs.

"There are five bedrooms. I wanted to have a guest room. The master bedroom has its own bathroom. There is a common bathroom with a shower for the other rooms. I'd show you the kid's rooms but ... well ... you know," John said.

"You want to respect their privacy," Vicki said.

"Yes," John said.

They entered the master bedroom. It was basically unfurnished except for a king-sized bed. She turned around taking in the blank walls and empty space.

"I left it for you to decorate," John said.

"Thank you," Vicki said surprised by his consideration.

She looked in the bathroom. It was rather plain with simple fixtures. She was surprised that it wasn't fancier.

"I would have figured you to include a jacuzzi bathtub or fancy shower system," Vicki said.

"Too much work," John said. "I don't want to spend all of my time maintaining things."

"Smart," Vicki said.

John asked, "So what do you think of it?"

"I like it," Vicki said.

Considering how much money he had, he could have built a McMansion. Instead, he had created a basic functional house. The kitchen might have been a little extravagant, but it had been designed to be used.

"I'm glad you like it," John said. "Let me show you the outbuilding."

"Outbuilding?"

John said, "It is a combination barn and storage area. I don't plan on having any livestock, so a barn wasn't really necessary. I did need a place to store the tractors and stuff."

"Tractors?" Vicki asked.

Even though he called it a farm, she hadn't thought about it like a real farm. The image of John riding a tractor clashed sharply with her memories of him hunched over his computer terminal programming late at night. She realized that she still had a lot to learn about the man to whom she was married.

"Yes. We do have a rather large garden that needs tending and a large lawn that needs mowing," John said.

The tour of the outbuilding didn't take long. Vicki had stared at the farm equipment without knowing what each item was used for. She cringed at seeing the dirt bikes lined up along one side of the barn. Just the idea of her kids riding motorcycles made her nervous.

John said, "I think I'm going to get a large fruit press. Our experience making apple juice wasn't exactly the best. When our trees really start producing, we'll never be able to process it all unless we get some larger equipment. Fortunately, we have enough room left for it."

"I guess I'm going to have to learn how to be a farmer's wife," Vicki said.