Chapter 5

[Chad] The house is coming along fine. Dad says the Mister Charles is at least a week ahead of time and at budget. We had changed a few things that will add some cost but they will come later. Mister Charles suggested that we meet with a landscaper friend of his who has a good eye for design and understands leaving natural areas.

We did and talked with him for a long time including two trips out to our new home. He understood about our private spot. The only suggestion he made was to set up a path to it from our bedroom. There was a set of French doors in our room looking out onto the lake. He built a patio outside the door with three paths. One was simple and led to our private place. The second led directly to the lake, while the third went toward the rest of the house.

He and Mister Charles designed the front of the house to be welcoming and have parking for six or eight cars. Both said that we will have guests and there should be plenty of places to park.

Britt approached Dad and begged the recliner from him. She said it was special to us and we would get him another if he wanted one for out there. She had me work on building tables for the shop. We had one thing different. The entrance to the shop from the garage was through double doors allowing large objects to get in and out easily.

We were searching for a car for her also. We wanted a car that both of us would like and, after a lot of discussion including input from Mom and Dad, decided to buy new. We would take care of it and because we were buying it new would know its history.

We settled on a mid-sized car. The econo-boxes and the big SUV's neither appealed to us. It was a simple four-dour sedan with a sunroof in a medium shade of green. To get exactly what we wanted, it had to be ordered but we didn't need it quickly.

School was coming to a close and Britt would graduate with me with honors. Tobias would be our valedictorian and Jan was proud enough to bust. However, her real thrill was the engagement ring she now wore. Amanda and Tony were talking about marriage, as were Martha and David.

It was going to be an interesting summer for many of us as we made plans. Eric was traveling some but not as much as had been feared. Ben Anderson had talked the senior executives into bringing other engineers to the plant to learn rather than sending Eric to teach. It also gave him the chance to promote him into management at the plant.

Eric purchased a car for Mel and spent a few dollars on his old small pickup. We were talking at Mom and Dad's and he admitted that he liked that old truck. He said, "It's been a good and faithful friend over the years just like your car. Dy likes it, too, for some reason. So, I guess I'll keep it running as long as I can."

"Britt really likes my car. She says it's mostly because of the bench seat but it's been good to us. She is already threatening to have it restored and parked in our new garage as a museum piece! I've told her that I like it too much to do that to the old workhorse. We'll keep it fixed and running well but it's a driver."

"Chad, does it ever worry you about all the money in the trust?"

"Sometimes, I get concerned. I don't want it to change who we are. Money can do that to people. On the other hand, it will make getting through this next period of our lives much easier but we won't live too high. We've bought the house and the car through the trust. It will cover our college expenses but not our living expenses. We'll be poor college students just without the terror of student loans."

"I know that issue. I had two roommates drop out because of their fears. One guy in our class committed suicide because his college debt was so overwhelming. I had scholarships and worked. I only owed a couple of thousand and that pays off next month. Dy and I have been lucky on the house. Her check from the drycleaners and careful spending have worked well. It's also good that we aren't fancy people.

"She's a great lady and I'm proud to have her love and to be her husband. I know it wasn't intentional but fortuitous accidents seem to surround Brit and you. I'm glad we were one of them.

"Now, have you firmed up a date yet?"

"Yes. The wedding will be the first Saturday in June, the fourth. We could be quicker but the house will be completely finished, painted, and furnished by then and we won't be so out of breath."

"Are you still planning to honeymoon there?"

"Yes. The place is truly special to us and we're planning to seclude ourselves for a week. One of Britt's projects is a menu for the week so we can make sure we don't have to leave for any reason."

Eric chuckled. "For the first two days, Dy and I didn't leave our cabin. When we were hungry, we ordered a meal. Then, we came up for air."

I said, "We'll have the lake right there and will be exploring our new home. We will surface a week later for church and lunch with Mom and Dad."

Eric asked, "Britt's real father is a no show?"

"Completely. He moved out of town about a week after her mother was killed but had already released any parental right over Britt before then. The only scary thing is that Mom and Dad could have adopted Britt. That would have disastrous!"

Eric laughed. "That would have caused problems."