Chapter 2

Emily sat at the table crying while she watched her husband and best friend walk from the restaurant quietly talking together. Pete had his arm around Vicky's shoulders as she leaned into his embrace. Ryan started after Pete, striding angrily. He was yelling about losing his business. After several steps he stopped. He looked so defeated and alone that, even in her sorrow, Emily felt her heart go out to him. She wanted to comfort him and make it all better. He turned and started back to the table and Emily.

When Ryan approached, Emily stood and looked at him. She felt empty. Her momentary thought about comforting him was already fading from her mind. She was lost. She had no idea what to do now. All Emily knew for certain was her husband had left her and she was facing life without him. Almost immediately she thought about the censure of her family and many of her friends that she would soon face. The majority of her old friends, at one time or another over the years warned her she was heading for trouble. She snickered when she thought how strange it was that she and Ryan got away with the affair as long as they had. It seemed all their friends knew about the affair. She was surprised it took Pete as long as it did to find out. Of course, some of her friends dropped her when she refused to leave Ryan alone. Many more warned her repeatedly about the mistake she was making and tried to talk her out of following the adulterous path she and Ryan had chosen. She just couldn't give Ryan up. They were lovers constantly from a year before she even met Pete until now. The sex with each other was excellent but the emotional attachment just wasn't right for them to have ever married. No, they were destined to be nothing but lovers and that was the course in life they chose.

Emily and Ryan began their love affair when they were in college. They were positive they had all the answers and would never get caught. As time passed, their certainty of their invincibility only increased. They had the perfect cover; Emily and Vicky were fast friends and roommates, as were Ryan and Peter. It was normal and natural for them to be seen together, with or without a spouse. How had Peter ever found out about their love affair? Well, it wasn't even a love affair. It was more recreation, something to do when they had time and could be alone together. They liked each other bunches, but love? Oh, hell, no. They loved their respective spouses. Today's young would probably call their relationship 'friends with benefits'.

Even now, when they had to take the walk of shame out of the restaurant, Emily and Ryan could not stay away from each other. Emily moved under Ryan's arm as they walked from the restaurant together. Ryan's face showed his anger and Emily's her sorrow at the evening's occurrences. In her own way she really did love Pete. She just needed something different in her life. She needed the excitement of illicit sex to feel really alive and complete. She needed to be FUCKED from time to time and that is what Ryan did. She and Pete made love, a totally different kind of sex but one she needed as much as or more than she needed the rough, dirty, hard sex she got from Ryan.

Ryan helped Emily into his BMW then walked around to the driver's side. Neither spoke a word until they were on the road heading back deeper into the city. Ryan turned to Emily and snarled, "Now what? Do you think that asshole will really take my business? You need to talk to him tomorrow when he's calmed down. After all the work I put into being the little twerp's friend and setting him up with you I can't believe he is going to ruin me like this."

Emily laughed sharply and responded, "I really don't think he'll want to talk to me or you any time in the near future. You know how he gets when he's angry. If I knew how inflexible he was when we set this up I would have kept looking. He has been a good husband, and he was terribly oblivious to us, but his inflexibility on moral issues is just too strong for us to overcome I'm afraid."

Emily sighed and continued, "I thought we were so careful. I still don't know how the hell he caught us. I mean, we were so careful when we picked him out at college and he was oblivious for so long. Hell, if the truth be told, I DO love him a little."

Ryan laughed and said, "Yeah, crap, in college he'd nail you in the apartment then rush off to class and leave you there for me. I can't believe you managed to convince the Boy Scout to use rubbers until you got married so I didn't have to take sloppy seconds! Shit, was he blind. Of course, Vicky wasn't much better. Hell, she'd still be in the dark if Pete hadn't told her tonight. That doesn't help with our problem now, though. What the hell are we going to do?

"I've been bragging to Pete that the company is making a killing but I really just barely have enough to get by, even with Vicky's earnings. I've convinced him I make several thousand dollars more than he does every year but I probably don't make as much. It's really hard to tell, though, because I rat hole a lot of the cash and spend it before the accountants get their mitts on it. Crap, that's why I needed the loan from Pete and you, I had to buy some new equipment and couldn't get the damn bank to loan me any more money. They said my books didn't support any more debt. With the depreciation and loans, the company probably has a slight negative or zero value. I don't even have much of a bank account I can clean out before Pete takes the company. We have almost no savings. About all Vicky and I own is our house and we're almost under water on it. We are soooo screwed if we can't convince Pete and Vicky to get over this. I really don't think I could keep going without Vicky's salary even if Pete doesn't take my business."

Emily gave a little sharp laugh and said, "Yeah, right, you heard her tonight. Do you really think she's going to forgive and forget? Do you think Pete will? You remember how they acted when Sonia and her fiancé broke up while we were in college. They both thought Sonia should eviscerate Todd when she caught him cheating. You've heard them through the year's bad mouthing people we knew that were caught cheating and ended up divorced. No, I think we're screwed. Pete and I make about the same thing so I won't even get alimony if he really does divorce me. At least I can get maybe fifty thousand dollars from my share of the investments. I'm afraid I'll lose the house without Pete's income, though. With my job and the savings I can live ok, but I sure can't live high on the hog like we have been doing."

While Ryan and Emily drove away from the restaurant and continued their discussion Pete and Vicky did the same. Pete stared out the front window of his truck and drove carefully down the street. After several blocks, Vicky wiped the tears from her cheeks with her fingers and turned to Pete. She said, "How long have you known, Pete? I had no clue, none at all. Oh, I knew they couldn't keep their hands off each other and flirted constantly but they've done that since before we got out of college. There have been times I thought they took their teasing and touching too far. I even said so to one or the other of them over the years, but I just had no idea they were lovers and cheating on us."

Pete looked over at Vicky and sighed. "I began having doubts about them almost a year ago. At first, I just watched them myself when we were all together. I never caught them doing anything that could really be called cheating. I was uncomfortable with their level of comfort with each other, but like you, I just thought we were all close. About three months ago Emily and I went home after one of the nights the four of us did the town. We were making love and she called me Ryan, twice. Once she said this was the best since the canoe trip. That almost killed me. Even if she wasn't making love with him I knew she was fantasizing about him while we made love. Then the comment about the canoe trip hit me. Remember last summer when we switched canoes and then got separated? You and I had the camp completely set up and were worrying about Ryan and Emily when they finally arrived. They told us they swamped their canoe and spent nearly an hour finding the equipment that dumped from it.

"After that night, I began calling Emily at work more and there were many times when I was either told she wasn't in the building or I just was referred to her voice mail. I bit the bullet and hired a couple of guys to follow her. It was amazing, they were so confident of their safety they didn't even really try to hide their actions. They met two or three times during the week for sex. At times they did it in one of Ryan's box trailers from work. I have tapes of those trysts. I even have pictures from a time or two they had sex alongside the river and once in our house when Emily was off work, supposedly because she was sick. I got the first proof about seven weeks ago. I have to admit, I held off telling you and filing the divorce papers until I got my ducks in a row. I quit my job today, or rather, today was my last day of work. I bought a 25 acre farm with an old dilapidated double wide modular home on it east of town and closed on the deal last week.

"Now, when Emily and I divorce she will actually have the higher income and I may get some support. When we split the assets I will take the land and she will get to keep the damn house she insisted on buying several years ago. I have never liked that damn house and now I can get rid of it. I may have to pay her something from Ryan's business, but if I do it won't be much. I'm sorry about taking it from you though, Vicky. Are you going to make it ok?"

"Don't worry about me, Pete. We were just barely making it with both of us working but that was mostly because we were trying to live almost entirely on my salary and above our means. I don't know if Ryan was stealing money from the business or what, but he didn't make more than about twenty or thirty thousand profit a year according to the taxes. That's why he had to borrow from you. None of the banks would loan to him. I have caught him bragging about just putting cash payments in his pocket. If he did that, he spent the money on something besides our living expenses or hid them in a secret bank account. You know how he liked to 'big wig' it. He always left way too large a cash tip when we went out and was always throwing money around buying frivolous toys or gambling. Unless he has a secret bank account somewhere we are only a month or two away from default on our home loan. We are probably under water on the home, anyway. So, to answer your question, I'll probably be better off without him, at least economically. I can force a sale of the house to get rid of the house payment, then rent a small apartment and still have more to live on than I do now."

At the end of the month Ryan fought Pete's takeover of his business but failed to successfully protect it. The judge ruled against him and Pete took over the lawn care and landscaping business. Both divorces were slowly working their way through the courts. At first, Emily and Ryan fought the divorces and each of them demanded counseling. Both counseling attempts failed. The evidence presented rapidly let the Judge understand who was really at fault and self-serving lies soon got the Judge on the side of the innocent parties. He was particularly incensed when he found out the two were together since before either of the marriages.

The property distribution hearings were perhaps the worst bone of contention for Pete and Emily. She thought she would be given tens of thousands of dollars in settlements. What she got was ownership of the house in town she had insisted they purchase. Pete got sole title to his small 'farm' outside of town. Because the equity on the house was just slightly higher than the value of the farm, Pete even received a slightly larger share of the other assets than did Emily before considering Ryan's business.

Pete kept the business he got from Ryan. He did have to pay Emily about $13,000 for her share of it. After it was all settled, Pete still ended up with the business free and clear and seven thousand dollars in the bank. When Emily heard the Judge announce his decision she was furious. She was angry Pete spent their savings on the land without telling her and even more angry about the business. Pete grinned at her and said, "Why shouldn't I get something I've wanted for years, Emily? You've had something all along that you wanted—a different cock. We're getting an even division of our marital assets. It's all fair."

Emily shouted through her tears, "You asshole! You know we needed both our incomes to pay the mortgage and make the payments on our cars and credit cards. You know I'll lose the house as soon as the divorce is final. I needed that money to live on until I could work something out. How is that fair? Your little farm is paid off so you will have a place to live."

Pete laughed and said, "Not my problem. You know I never wanted that house anyway. You wanted it and now you have it. Hell, maybe Ryan can move in with you and help with the payments. Oh, wait; he doesn't have a job does he?"

Living seventeen miles out of town and running the lawn care business, Pete rapidly lost contact with his old set of friends. Most of them he didn't miss at all. He did keep in touch with Vicky for about six months after the divorce but they drifted apart. The drift apart began when she started to date one man she worked with seriously. Truthfully, Pete and Vicky never were close friends. She was Emily's friend and he was just along for the ride so they rapidly lost touch.

Emily did lose the house she loved so much and ended up living in a mid range condo. Ryan found a job with a competing lawn care business as a team leader. He lasted three months and was fired. Not only did he misuse his employer's equipment by mowing lawns and doing yard work after hours but he kept the payments. If that wasn't bad enough he got caught making moves on his employer's wife. That lady, however, was honorable and let her husband know what was going on. Her husband and brother had a physical discussion with Ryan that left him lying in a bar parking lot severely injured. After his stay in the hospital, Ryan decided to move to another city where he became a regular in a seedy beer bar and found a job once again with a lawn care company. No further word on him was received by those who knew him in his old location.

Pete's business ability served him well in his new venture. Within the same six months after the divorces were final he stopped the hemorrhaging of the business. For the most part, his crews were good and the men honest. He installed good accounting software and made sure all money paid for work found its way into the till. He got control of expenses. At the rate the business generated profits during the first six months Pete was well on the way to a $75,000 profit for his first year. That would equate to about $15,000 more than his previous salary. The best part of the business was he had an excellent foreman and office manager. He could leave the business to them to operate for several days at a time if he wanted.

While Pete recovered from his divorce he worked on his new home and property. He went to the office almost every day and made unannounced visits to his crews on the job but still had time to spend on his new land. One day, he took one of his tractors and bush hogs to his home to cut back brush and weeds growing in the cleared areas. He was driving around the property lines when he decided to stop and look at the property next door. He needed a break and thought wandering around the next plot of ground would be a great way to spend a few minutes.

Pete moved through the undergrowth toward an old Victorian two story house about 150 feet from the property line. The yard was overgrown and showed no care for years. The house was so sad and droopy looking he felt unhappy just looking at it. Siding was missing, windows were broken and some of the gingerbread had fallen off. The porch floors were spongy. Pete looked through many of the windows. The rooms were dingy and wall paper was hanging in many places. Carpets were threadbare and frayed, the linoleum worn through and torn in the kitchen.

The house was nestled in a grove of centuries old live oaks. At one time the yard was well landscaped. Some of the old shrubs were still living and there was evidence of once beautiful flower beds. There was a three car garage and large barn still standing and in poor shape. They appeared to be easily repairable however. Finally, with a backward glance, Pete returned to his work.

About a week after his exploration of the house next door Pete was once again on that side of his little farm working. He saw a man in a suit walking around on the property making notes and taking pictures. Later that week Pete drove past the property the old house was on. He saw a for sale sign alongside the road and a newer SUV in the driveway. On a whim he stopped and walked toward the house. He found the man he had seen the week before once again walking around in the yard.

"Hello," Pete said. "I was driving past and saw the sign out front. What's the story on the place?"

"Well, it's an estate sale. This is what's left of a larger turn of the century farm. This was the main house. Over the years the owner sold off plots of land until this is the only plot left. It's just this old house on 15 acres. The plot next door with a modular home on it sold almost a year ago and now, since the owner died, his son wants to get rid of the rest of the old farm."

"Doesn't look as if the house or out buildings are worth much. Are they even structurally sound?"

"I don't know for sure. Some spots in the floor felt weak when I looked it over before listing it. Most of the windows are broken out. Even if the structure is sound the old house would almost have to be completely rebuilt. All the porches need extensive reworking."

"Yeah, about what I thought. What is the price?"

"Well, now, that's the best part of the deal. The place is only 15 acres, like I said before. It's priced as if it is just bare land. They're only asking $45,000 for the whole place, as is."

"Well, hopefully whoever buys it can fix up the old house. It looks as if it was a beauty at one time. Thanks for talking to me."

Pete returned to his home and continued his new life. Over the course of the next three months he drove past the next door property many times. One evening he noticed the sign now sported a "price reduced" placard. He pulled into the driveway and once again looked over the place. His business was flourishing. He had more disposable income than ever before in his life. He had no debts. On a whim he pulled his cell phone out and called the real estate office. The farm was now listed for $39,900.

Pete looked around the yard and without thinking he said, "I'll give them $30,000 for the land as is."

"That's preposterous. That's only two thirds the original asking price. I can't submit an offer like that to the family."

"You mean you refuse to take my offer to them? That doesn't seem to be good business practices. That's almost a dereliction of duty."

The agent spluttered and hemmed and hawed. Finally he said, "No, that's not what I meant. It's just that it's much too low. Why don't we make the offer $37,000? I think I can get them to take that amount."

"No. My offer is $30,000, that's all I feel the place is worth."

Two weeks later the real estate agent called Pete and said, "Mr. Dalrymple, I'm shocked. The owner decided to accept your offer on the land. He said it was too low but he really needed to close out the estate. Since you made the only offer, he will grudgingly accept it if you can close on the deal within thirty days."

It was tight but Pete had enough money in his bank accounts to pay for the new property. Thirty days after the phone call he owned the old house and land it was on. If he had an emergency and needed money before he replenished his accounts he could always dip into his small 401K from his past employment. Now, instead of brooding about his past pain, he could fill his free time clearing up the yard and begin his renovation of the old house.

Pete started off slow on his restoration project. He spent one full weekend just walking around the house and two out buildings cataloging what he felt needed repair or rebuilding. He wasn't gentle about his inspection either. He found weak spots and tore into walls and floors to determine the damage. He made sure the buildings were restorable before he even began the project.

To Pete's surprise he found the house sat on a very solid foundation of rock set in mortar. The floor joists were true eight by ten inch beams on 16 inch centers. There was some damage on a few of the mud sills and studs, but all were repairable. He decided all the windows would be replaced with new energy efficient panes. All cabinetry, floor coverings, and walls would be torn out for replacement as would the wiring and plumbing. Insulation would be installed during the work. He even went into the attic and onto the roof to inspect it. New roofing was in order, also.

After listing the damage, Pete spent several evenings planning his renovation and listing, as well as he could, the materials that would be needed. He was lucky in owning the business because he had a tax number and could purchase his materials through the business at wholesale. That would save him substantial amounts on the renovation. He also owned many of the tools he would need for the renovation because his business, in addition to mowing and landscaping, built and installed decks and gazebos.

Pete spent most of the summer evenings and weekends tearing out the damaged parts in the old house. His first step would be to make the house dry, in other words, to make it weather tight. It wouldn't be very productive to do work inside if rain or hail could come in and soak everything. He planned to completely gut the building inside before he began rebuilding it.

August rolled around. Pete was working 14-16 hour days splitting his time between the business and his new project; the old house. He was so busy he no longer thought of his divorce. He was happy once again. On the last Friday in August, just as Pete was locking his business door, an old rattletrap car drove into his lot, pulling up right in front of him. The muffler was shot and it was smoking so badly he almost choked when the wind blew the exhaust into his face.

Pete stood and watched a young couple exit the car, a young man from the driver's side and a young woman from the passenger side. He felt somewhat threatened and prepared himself for an attack. They were threadbare and rough looking. The car was worse. The eyes of the woman were blank and dull looking as was her hair and complexion. She moved slowly, hesitantly, toward Pete. He watched her from the corner of his eye as the young man approached from the other side. Pete hoped they weren't dangerous because he was boxed in between the two people and his building.

The woman stopped about five feet from Pete and glanced at the man approaching. When he was about five feet from Pete the young man said, "Sir, I can see you are preparing to leave. Could we please have a few minutes of your time before you go? I'm Todd Sheppard and this is my sister Gail. Sir, we're looking for work. We'll work hard and we don't much care what we have to do as long as it's legal and pays enough for us to live. I can see you have a lawn care business and we can both do that. I mowed lawns when I was growing up and did other lawn and gardening chores. We've both worked on a farm while we were growing up, also."

Pete relaxed somewhat and watched the young couple. He couldn't tell how old they were for sure but they looked maybe early 20's. Almost before the man stopped talking Pete was shaking his head. He saw the hope die in their faces. They both assumed a more slumped defeated demeanor. He said, "I'm sorry. I have all the help I need. In fact, during the winter I usually have to lay off some of my more junior people. It wouldn't make sense to hire you now, and then lay you off in a couple months even if I did have a spot for you."

Pete heard the woman's stomach growl and glanced at her. She seemed embarrassed and stepped back a couple paces. The young man looked at Pete a moment longer and dejectedly began to turn away. If possible he looked even more defeated and hang dog than when they drove up. The young woman looked at her brother then back to Pete. She spoke for the first time, "Please, Sir? Anything? We're broke, totally. When our parent's died we tried to keep the farm going, but we couldn't. Their debt was too high and the bank took it. Please. We're hard workers." She glanced at her brother once again and continued, "Anything at all you need, I'll do. Just, please, can you give us a job of some sort?"

Todd rapidly turned toward Gail and angrily screamed, "NO. No, Gail, you won't do anything. I won't let you do that."

Pete frowned a moment then he understood. How desperate must they be for Gail to offer herself like that? She didn't look the part. Even now she was looking at the ground guiltily. Pete shook his head and started to leave once again. He said, "I'm sorry, I just don't need you." He stopped again and reached into his pocket. He opened his wallet and pulled a $20.00 bill out. He held it out toward the young woman and continued, "Here. It's not much but take this twenty. At least you can buy something to eat tonight."

The young woman pressed her lips together and hesitated then her stomach growled once again. She reached out and took the money. She gave Pete a sickly smile and said, "Thank you for this, at least, Sir."

All three once again turned and headed toward their respective vehicles. Just before the two siblings got into their car Pete turned from his truck and yelled, "Hey, wait a minute. I might have something for you after all. It's not much and the job won't last long but I can give you a little work. I have been doing the work part time and was going to save the heavier work for my crews later this year, but what the heck. The job is several miles out of town but it is honest work. I'm gutting an old farmhouse to renovate. It is hard, dirty, dusty, work but if you're interested I'll pay minimum wage for the tear down and clean up. There's a yard to clean up, the old house, and two smaller out buildings. Are you interested?"

Todd looked at Gail and raised his eyebrows. Gail nodded her head yes. Todd turned to Pete and said, "Yes, Sir. We're interested. How far out of town are we talking about? We're almost out of gas for the car and we really need to get something to eat. We haven't eaten today and haven't had much the last week."

"It's about 17 miles out of town to the east. That would make it about thirty miles from here though." Pete thought a moment and continued, "Tell ya what. Pull your car up beside the gas pump over there. I'll put a little gas into it so you can get there. That way you can use the cash I gave Gail for food. I'll give you directions to the place and you can meet me there tomorrow morning. I usually work on it weekends and evenings if that's ok with you. This way you can go back where ever you are staying and get a good night's sleep before you come out tomorrow."

Pete drew a map and gave written directions to his place, then left. Todd and Gail jumped into their car and took off, too. Instead of going to a fast food joint or restaurant for supper they went to a grocery store and bought food with their $20.00 that they could prepare, providing more and healthier food. They bought cheap but wholesome items. They bought dry beans, rice, dry potatoes, cheap cans of green beans, and some cheap hamburger. They were starving for meat. They knew it wouldn't keep long without ice but intended to eat it that night.

Neither of the siblings had told Pete they were living out of their car. Instead of spending another night in the dangerous city they took off for Pete's place as soon as they purchased their groceries. Pete's directions were good. They had little trouble finding the old house. They pulled into the yard and found a place to park away from the buildings. They pitched what passed for their tent. Todd carefully made a fire pit and built a fire from fallen tree limbs. Gail cooked their evening meal and they went to bed full for once.

The next morning Gail fried each of them two eggs and the rest of the hamburger for breakfast. After breakfast was finished, Todd and Gail looked around and decided to start work. They weren't sure what Pete would want them to do that day but they could see what needed doing so they began. They had been carrying wall board and trash from the house for almost an hour when Pete came driving up on his tractor.

After Pete stopped the tractor and climbed off Todd and Gail came to meet him. Todd said, "Good morning, Mr. Dalrymple. I hope you don't mind us starting without you. We could see some of the work that needed to be done so we got started. I didn't know what you wanted to do with the trash from the house so we piled it beside the driveway for now."