Edward started to smile. His wife Emily would have a cow when Courtney showed up, if anything ever happened. But that scene would be minor when Doc Cutter and his wife showed up. He played golf with the doctor nearly every week. The last time they’d played, much of the discussion had been about the goings-on in the world.
Doc lived in a luxury apartment building downtown. Edward had been trying to get him to transfer at least a portion, if not all, of the man’s inheritance from the bank he was using to one or both of Edward’s. With the man’s concern about everything, he might just be willing to transfer some of his millions for a spot in the shelter.
Emily despised both the doctor and his wife. “She’ll just have to have two cows,” Edward thought to himself as he grinned. One for Courtney and one for the Cutters. “The ten-person, deluxe, with all the extras,” Edward said aloud. He began entering the information on the website to get an official quote.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
They didn’t feel the effect of storms much in the earth-sheltered buildings they lived in and worked in, but it was obvious when Percy went out the next morning that they were in the middle of a bad storm.
He ran over to the equipment barn to see if the hands were there. They were, dry and secure. Bob Hansen grinned at him. “You’re all wet, boss,” he said, stating the obvious.
“Yeah,” Bernard said. “Why didn’t you use the tunnel? We did. That rain is cold!”
“Next time,” Percy replied resettling his hat on his head. He’d had to grab it when he ran over. The wind was wicked. Looking out one of the open equipment doors, he saw Smitty Smith and John Jacobson both drive up, then into the barn.
“Mornin’ gentlemen,” Percy said when the two had exited their respective vehicles. John a diehard Ford driver, Smitty in his Chevy. Bernard stayed with Dodges. His was parked in the parking lot at the bunkhouse. And of course, Jim and Bob loved their Jeep. Mattie had her old Volvo that was a bit ugly but ran like new, and Susie a Subaru wagon.
Quite an eclectic group of vehicles, particularly when you added Percy’s Suburban and the car he very seldom drove, a mint condition 1974 Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman. And that didn’t include Percy’s other light vehicles, the Kenworths, the Unimogs, the Rokon’s, and the two Bobcats. Though, the last two, the Rokon’s and Bobcats weren’t vehicles so much as pieces of equipment, even though the Rokon’s were capable of traveling almost forty miles an hour, though Percy had never had one of them up to that speed.
Percy turned his attention back to the group as Susie joined them. She, like Jim, Bob, and Bernard, had used the tunnels. Susie really didn’t like using them, but she liked storms even less, and it was storming violently now.
“Considering the weather… and the hail,” Percy added as golf ball sized hail began landing on the ground outside, let’s go through all the mobile equipment and service it. Rearrange things a little in here. Oh. And exercise everything a little. We haven’t used some of the equipment in a while, especially the features of the Kenworth utility truck.”
They’d quit using the utility/service truck in the orchards when Percy bought two three-wheel, hydraulically driven cherry picker style basket lifts. They worked much better in the orchards than the big truck. They were equipped with hydraulic outlets in the baskets to power trimming saws, pruners, and similar items used in the orchard. The operator controlled everything from the basket. The machines were mobile enough to travel throughout the orchard easily and quickly using a hydraulic drive system.
The tree fruit crops were going to be large this year, despite the drought, since they’d irrigated heavily. There had been a lot of thinning to do to ensure a high quality crop. Percy had owned a similar machine previously, but it had quit on him and he’d disposed of it about the time he got the Kenworth service truck. While it worked okay in the orchards, it was overkill for the tasks required. The two lifts were much easier to use than the Kenworth, as they only required one operator. The Kenworth really needed two to be effective.
Despite the fact that the greenhouses were constructed with extruded polycarbonate panels, Percy didn’t want the hands working in them with the hail coming down the way it was. So they worked on the equipment, having a rather good time doing it. There was no need to worry about the damage the crops might suffer. They were not able to do anything about the situation now. Percy would check the fields when the weather broke.
The forecast and Percy’s own weather instruments indicated the same thing. The storm system would continue to dump rain for at least another day. When they’d finished for the day, Percy told everyone they could take the next day off, he’d tend the animals. They’d done pretty much everything that needed doing in the equipment barn.
As he and Susie walked back to the house through the tunnel, Susie asked Percy, “Mr. Jackson, could I talk to you for a few minutes when we get to the house? I need some advice.”
“Sure, Susie. Anytime. You know that.”
When they were in the den, Susie started pacing when Percy sat down behind his desk. “What’s on your mind, Susie?”
“You know, you’ve been like a father to me, all these years. I kind of wanted to say thank you, besides just asking for more advice.”
“Well, thank you, Susie. I’ve never tried to substitute for your father, just be available when you needed something.”
“That’s what good fathers do,” Susie replied. She sat down on the large button tufted leather Chesterfield sofa, her hands going between her knees as she sat on the edge of the sofa. “It’s about Andy, Mr. Jackson.”
“Uh… Perhaps you should talk to your mother about this,” Percy said hesitatingly.
Susie turned red and said, “It’s not about that!” She started again. “It’s that I think Andy may ask me to marry him. What do you think I should do?”
“Susie, that is totally up to you. But if you want some advice on the subject, I suggest you make a list…”
Susie grinned. Percy was big on lists. He made lots of them.
“One side, list the positives if you decide to marry him, and on the other, the negatives. It’s a little clinical and cold, but since you know full well where your heart is, it’s about the only suggestion I can give you.”
“Would you help me?” Susie asked. She smiled again. “You’re really good with lists.”
“I suppose I could, if you want me to do so. Some of the items will be a little personal. You might want to list those after we do our list.”
“Like what?” Susie asked, sitting back on the sofa now.”
Percy turned pink. “Well, there’s sex, for one. Is that going to be a positive or negative? See why you should do this on your own?”
Susie had turned slightly red herself, again. But Percy was right, she knew. Sex was a factor. “A positive,” she said after a moment. Percy was careful not to look at her for a while as they continued with the list.
“Do you both want children, or is there a difference of opinion there?” Percy asked next.
“Well, I kind of want to have… maybe two… pretty soon. Andy is more inclined to think a couple should wait until they are well established. Is there an in-between column?”
“If you say there is, there is,” Percy replied, adding another column heading to the paper on which he was writing. “What do you really want in a husband, Susie?”
Susie sighed. “I guess what every woman wants. Faithfulness. Someone that will take care of me, but not be pushy about it. Someone that can take care of me. I mean, I plan to work and all, for a long time, but having kids, now or later, is a big financial responsibility. Raising kids is a big responsibility. All those things. Oh, and he has to love me, of course.”