Chapter 30: Keep On Keeping On

After breakfast I got a call from Bob the owner of the airport where my Gulfstream plane was parked. He asked if I could come by and discuss some matters about the field. I told him that I was free and could see him in about twenty minutes if that would be all right. He agreed and I kissed all of my girls goodbye and headed out to the field. Cathy caught me at the door so she went with me. We arrived at the field and were ushered into the office. Bob told us that he was in over his head in debt and would have to sell the airfield to pay his bills. I had seen this coming since I noticed corners being cut left and right until the operation was down to just skin and bones. I asked him how much he would sell it for and he gave me a reasonable number expecting me to say ouch. I had a quick whispered conference with Cathy and came back announcing "Sold. Have your attorney draw up the papers. As soon as we close the deal you can stay on as manager with a salary as an employee of Greg Thomas Charter Service. He looked like the weight of the world had just been lifted off his shoulders. His wife who had been working there heard us and came running over and gave him a bone crushing hug and kiss. They were two happy people.

As soon as the deal was closed I announced that the airport would be closed for a week for renovations. I was met with questioning looks from Bob and his wife. I told them that the name sign has to be repainted and they would be in the way so they were to take my Gulfstream and spend a week in Bermuda as my guest. They both were flabbergasted since they had been working full time 24/7 at the airfield just to keep it afloat. They hadn't taken a vacation in years. I told them to hurry up and pack a bag and be ready to leave in the morning. I told my pilot to make sure to make the 'mile high club' announcement once they had climbed above 5,280 feet. He knew what I was talking about and nodded his agreement.

The next day I contacted the FAA and registered the new name of Thomas Aviation for the airfield. I also contacted all of the existing tenants advising them that any and all leases and rental agreements would stay in force with no changes except for owner name. Further I announced that all employees of the airfield would still have a job. Little did I know but that meant only one person, Charles (Chuck), who was an A&E Mechanic. Since there was not a lot of work for him at the airport I had him doing maintenance on all of our cars.

While I was filing the papers concerning the airfield I looked at the survey of the property. I was surprised to note that the border of the property abutted a parcel owned by none other than Greg Thomas. Hey, that's me. So I guessed that the Thomas Estate had expanded and then included an airport. The next thing I did was to have one of the taxi ways extended into my compound and connected to my driveway. That meant I could commute to my plane with my golf cart. The purchase of the airfield also included a couple of Cessna 150 training planes which my pilot and co-pilot kept busy giving flying lessons. When Cathy heard about that she pestered me to let her take lessons. Since I could never tell her 'no' she shortly had her private pilot's license. Sally and Chris jumped on the band wagon and got their licenses also.

Since my companies virtually ran themselves I had a lot of free time during which I qualified for my private, commercial and instrument licenses. Naturally I just had to get checked out in the Gulfstream. I surely couldn't let my girls get ahead of the 'old man'. Cathy gets downright irate whenever I use that term.

The airport had turned out to be a good investment. Tracy set up an advertising campaign that boosted income to the point that the business was not only self sustaining but it actually showed a profit big enough to stay ahead of the payments on the mortgage I took out on it. Keeping Bob and his wife on as managers worked out well so I didn't have to go through hiring someone to run the place. One leisure time activity I enjoyed was grabbing Cathy and flying around in one of the Cessna 'puddle jumpers' just gawking at the scenery. She would catch me sometimes staring at her instead of out the windows which got me a slug in the shoulder accompanied by a sexy smile.

I got a call from Loretta Williams. You remember her; she's the case worker with DSS. She asked to come by and meet with Cathy and me. I kind of guessed what she had on her mind but I told her to come on by and we can talk. While we were waiting for her to arrive, Cathy and I had a short discussion to decide if our family could grow some more. We agreed that we could handle another kid with no problem.

When Loretta pulled up out front I looked out and saw that she had TWO kids in her car. I glanced over at Cathy and she nodded her head. When the bell rang I tore the door open to see a very hopeful expression on Loretta's face. I told her "STOP. Go back to your car and bring them in to their new home. Oh, and don't forget the paperwork you already have filled out." She gave me that "Who me?" look and got the two kids and brought them in.

There were a girl and a boy who Loretta introduced as Stacy and Samuel McIntosh. They were twins whose parents were killed in a home invasion burglary about a month ago. It was an ugly scene as the parents were beaten up and robbed. Fortunately the twins were not at home but were visiting mutual friends at the time. As I listened to their story I was sitting there with my pen in hand ready to sign the papers. I told Loretta that Stacy could stay in Chris's room and we could move Samuel into our guest room until we got rooms fixed up for each of them.