Justin Thyme Ch. 18

My deepest, humblest apologies for being so long between submissions! I do appreciate all of the emails and notes from my readers, and as before, I promise not to leave the story unfinished.

Three major things happened since my last submission which prevented my writing. First, my youngest daughter graduated High School with the attendant parties, etc. Second, a young adult book I wrote came back to me from my editor, and I needed to promptly submit my rewrite, which took a couple of weeks, and third, I had a major health issue that put me out of commission for a week, but that is now past, and the prognosis is good. I'm writing feverishly because I want to know how the story ends, too!

I love my readers, and as always, I am most happy to respond to all emails that leave a return address!

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Mom and Dad, along with Grandpa and Grandma arrived shortly after five o'clock, just a few minutes after Susie and Steph left for home. Rosemary and I made sure the place was straightened up, just in case. When I shook Grandpa's hand he held it tightly and looked hard into my eyes as if looking for something from me. He gave me a hug then and walked into the house without saying a word. Grandma gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek and smiled at me. "Don't let your Grandfather get to you, Justin. He has a lot on his mind right now. Everything is good."

Mom hugged me tightly and then said she had heard back from Donna, and that there were three properties we should check out. Donna emailed the info to Jim and to me. I've had so much going on I haven't even checked email for several days.

Dad gave me a big hug and a firm handshake, much like Grandpa did, except after looking me in the eye for a couple of minutes he asked, "Well, are you ready for this?"

"I'm not sure what 'this' is, but I guess I'm ready. We just need to wait for Michael to get here." Dad grunted and gave me a nod. I really wasn't sure what was up. Both Dad and Grandpa acted like this was something terrible, not something good.

We all made our way into the library, and Dad complimented me on getting the chairs. "I'm too old to be sitting on buckets anymore! In an emergency they are fine, but I'm not young like you two any longer."

"Speaking of chairs reminds me," I said. "Helen called earlier and said her parents faxed their signed contract and agreement, plus she has the deposit for us. That has us full for next year." Dad nodded his approval. "She had one request that I said I would run past you. She will be attending summer school, trying to get a head start on med school, but since her roommate is getting married in June she will be losing her room. She offered to pay three month's rent for the use of a room for two months rather than have to stay in the dorm as a single. She said it would be less expensive, plus a lot quieter for studying and safer. Rosemary and I don't have a problem with it. What do you think?"

"But the house isn't ready yet." Mom, the realtor, thinks first of the property.

"I'm not sure it will be all that much quieter with you guys working on the house, will it?" Dad was trying to be practical. "Will you be able to do your work with someone else living in the house?"

"The house won't be furnished until August at the earliest," said Mom.

"You don't have any of the bathrooms ready except the one in your room," was Dad's next response.

I held up my hand to stop them. "I told her all of that. She said when they bought their house it was a foreclosure that needed a lot of work, so she is familiar with living in those circumstances. She said she is willing to bring in an air mattress and sleep on the floor for no longer than she will be here, and she said she could share the bathroom with us. She knows how Rosemary and I have been living here, and said she is willing to do the same, and she said her parents are more than on board with the idea."

Dad looked at Mom and shrugged while Mom looked thoughtful. It was Grandma who interjected the answer. Grandma hardly speaks, so when she does we pay attention. "I'd say let the girl stay, but I wouldn't charge her full rent, let alone three months. If it was up to me I'd charge her for one and a half month's rent. You already have the house full for next year, and this is just extra money. Don't be greedy, especially since she isn't getting what she will be paying for."

"Thanks, Grandma. That's what Rosemary and I talked about when she called. Dad, Mom, is that OK with you?"

"I think that would be fair," said Mom. "You already have cable access for the internet, and you are running the AC anyway. The additional cost for just one would be negligible. I don't see a problem as long as she is OK with how she will have to live." Dad just nodded.

"I'll give her a call right now then and let her know. She needs to have a place lined up by the weekend. I know she'll be relieved."

Mom spoke up quickly. "One other thing to consider, Son. What about Stephanie? What will she think about Helen living in the house with you and Rosemary for the summer?"

I grinned at her. "Thanks, Mom. I appreciate you thinking of us. I talked with Steph just as soon as I got off the phone with Helen. She's OK with it. She trusts me, and she plans to be up here a good bit this summer anyway." I walked out of the library so I could call without all the noise of everyone talking in the background.

"Helen? Justin. I just spoke with Mom and Dad about you staying here at the house for the summer, and everything is good to go except for the rent."

"Oh no. Do you need more?"

I laughed. "No. We won't take that much. It wouldn't be fair to you, and you wouldn't get what you would be paying for. We independently came up with one and a half month's rent and all agreed it is fair, and you can have access all summer if you need it." I heard a squeal of happiness on the other end of the line.

"Oh, good! When can I move in?"

"Whenever you like. We just have to get together and get you a key card. Rosemary and I won't be around for a week or so, so we'll have to make arrangements on getting it to you."

"That's great. We'll work out a time next week. Right now I have to focus on finals, so I'm not in a hurry. I'll call you next week sometime. Thank you so much, and tell your parents I said 'Thanks!'"

"Will do. Talk with you later." And with that we had our first tenant lined up.

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Tom and Mary ended their day as they had the previous day, at Ming Yat. The proprietor greeted them as they walked in the door with a half bow and said, "Welcome back. It is nice to see you again!"

Tom smiled and held out a hand to shake and said, "We thought it would be best to come back again tonight and share with you what you helped to bring to pass. Mary has agreed to marry me," and he held up Mary's hand to show off the new diamond ring they had chosen earlier in the afternoon. "We would like to have one of Mae Ling's tables again this evening if that is possible?"

"Ah, most certainly, Sir. And my I offer my congratulations, Madam? We are honored you would grace our humble house with your good fortune! Please, this way," and he led them to a quiet corner booth away from several families with small children. "I will send Mae Ling to you right away. Thank you, Sir." And with another half bow he hurried away.

Mary reached across the table and captured Tom's hand in her own and smiled up at him. "I can't seem to quit smiling today. You have made me so very happy!"

"Thank you, my dear. I'm afraid you don't know what you are getting into, but you have made me very happy as well. I never thought I'd find someone to love, but you've made it so easy. What time did Stephanie say she would be home?"

Mary looked at her watch. "She said about seven-thirty, depending on traffic."

"Good. We have time, but I really think we should be there when she arrives home. I know she is going to need some Mom time tonight."

Mae Ling came up to the table with two glasses of wine on her tray. "Congratulations to you two! I am so honored to have served you last evening." She made a small bow to Tom and said, "You were to kind and generous last evening. I am very grateful to you."

Tom just nodded. "It was the least I could do since we tied up your table all evening and kept you from waiting on others."

"That was not a problem. You are very thoughtful to think of me. Most do not think about the servers when they remain long at the table. We do not mind you staying, please don't misunderstand."

Tom nodded. "I used to wait tables when I was in college. I remember what it was like, and besides that, you gave us good service. Thank you."

Mae Ling set the wine in front of each of them and said, "Please enjoy the wine as a blessing on your coming marriage. It is on the house with our wishes for your every happiness."

"Thank you," whispered Mary. "That is so kind."

"Do you know what you would like this evening?"

"Yes, thank you. We both have been talking about your 'Special Soup' all day. We would each like a large bowl and a serving of your excellent egg rolls to go with it."

"Very good, sir. And to drink?"

"I think we had better settle for this one glass of wine. We have to drive yet this evening."

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Michael spent most of the time on the flight back to Phoenix looking through a part of the programming the railroad wanted updated. He had pages and pages of documentation to go through. His thoughts kept drifting back to the day try as he might to keep them on the subject. Most of the day had been spent talking with the programmers that made it work, plus talking with Phil and Connie about what they saw as the needs within the IT department.

The last thing he did before catching a limousine to the airport was to meet with Ben and Pete for a quick debriefing.

"Ben, I've spent most of the day with both Phil and Connie, and to be frank I really don't see a nickel's worth of difference between them. Either one of them could handle the department; and from what I saw it looks to me like the two of them have both been propping Abernathy up for a long time."

Ben nodded. "I think you are probably right. Unfortunately, I inherited Abernathy when I took over my position, and I never had reason to get rid of him. They did a good job of covering his ass for several years. Just off the top of your head, what would you do if in my position?"

Michael sat and thought for a minute or two. "I'd promote them both." Both Ben and Pete's heads popped up. "Let me tell you what I'm thinking, and this is just off the top of my head as you asked. I know nothing about their work history other than what little you've told me, but both are obviously very savvy, they both know what they are doing, and they work well together. I know either of them would be disappointed not to get the promotion, but I don't believe it would be a game changer to either not to get it."

"From what I saw I think Phil is a little stronger on programming, but Connie is the stronger of the two on the DB side. If you promote both you have everything covered, and you have the benefit of two minds working together as equals rather than one being subservient to the other and possibly not fully utilized."

"Told you he was smart!" Pete said to Ben. "And he's only been here for a day!" Pete turned to Michael. "Are you sure you don't want to come to work for us? Within five years the department would be yours, without a doubt."

"Thank you, but no. I'm not looking for a job. I like playing around with things, and I'm happy to do some developing, but I'd rather stay on my own."

"OK, I had to ask. Be sure to let me know as soon as you have an answer for us on the programming. We really would like to improve things if we can."

"I'll do that. Whenever you guys are down in Phoenix or Tucson give me a call, and I'll introduce you to Al's, or we'll hit Bill's again."

Ben groaned. "I don't know if I could eat like that again! It was good though!" He stood and offered his hand to Michael. "Thank you again for all you have done for us! We are in your debt. I wish I could take the time to drive you to the airport, but I'm way behind and have people outside waiting for me. Safe travels, and when you are up this way please give us a yell and let us buy you dinner or something."

Pete walked with Michael to the door and saw him into the airport limo before shaking his hand and wishing him the best.

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Jeff and Joanne Thibodeaux sat in their car in the cell phone waiting lot at Sky Harbor International waiting for Michael's flight to arrive. Joanne couldn't help worrying about the upcoming meeting with the Thymes. She just couldn't get her mind around what was so important that they had to be involved. No matter how much Jeff tried to reassure her that Michael was not in any kind of trouble she worried. After all, it was her baby they were talking about. It didn't matter he was nineteen and already out of the house and on his own, besides consulting with a major corporation, she still felt like she needed to care for her baby.

At last Jeff's cell phone went off with a text from Michael and they started for the airport to pick him up.

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Grandpa sat behind the old desk as still and silent as the sphinx, his expressions nearly as hard. I really didn't understand what was going on, but he was not forthcoming at all. When I asked what was wrong he just said, "Nothing. Just wait until Michael gets here and we can talk about it then."

Dad was nearly as bad, sitting quietly, only breaking his silence to ask if I had ordered pizzas. When I assured him I had, that they were to be delivered at six o'clock he just nodded. Mom, Rosemary, and Grandma were sitting over in the corner talking away about the house, and especially the idea of Helen moving in for the summer. Grandma is funny. She can go all day without saying a word and is happy as can be, but start a conversation about decorating and it's like a switch is thrown! She gets downright animated. I didn't fit into that conversation, and there was none coming from Dad or Grandpa, so I just sat there and wondered.

Finally, the doorbell rang at six o'clock on the dot. I got up and opened the door to find the pizza guy there with a stack of pizzas for us. I let him in and led him to the kitchen, where he pulled them from their protective warmers and stacked them on the counter. Once he was gone I started gathering glasses and ice and set out a stack of paper plates and a roll of paper towels to use as napkins. Fancy this dinner would not be!

My cell went off and I quickly answered Michael. "Hey, Michael, what's up?"

"We're on the way. Got held up by an accident leaving the airport. I swear that road in and out is more dangerous than flying could ever be! We should be there in about fifteen or so."

"No problem. The pizzas just got here, so I'll put them in the oven to stay warm until you arrive."

"Good enough. See you."

I walked back into the library, where except for the women it was silent until we heard the front door open and the Tib's walked in. Once the hugs and handshakes were out of the way Joanne said, "This place is beautiful! Michael didn't exaggerate at all."

Grandpa, who was unusually grumpy for some reason, said "We may as well get the tour out of the way first, and then we can sit down and talk."

Grandma gave him a look that would sour cream and said, "We have pizzas waiting on us. I think we should have something to eat first, and just maybe you'll get a civil spirit back in you! This is not a time of troubles, but of good fortune, but you act like you have the devil flogging you ahead of time."

"I'm sorry. I've a lot on my mind, and as Grandma says, this is a time of celebration, not a time of troubles. Please don't let my bad mood sour things. I'm not always this grumpy. Sometimes it gets worse!"

Everyone chuckled a little bit and we all headed for the kitchen.

"Just wait 'till I tell you about Illinois!" said Michael around a bite of pizza. "It's more than we have time for this evening, but you wouldn't believe what that guy tried to do!"

I nodded. "I can't wait to hear it. Things are popping here, too. If you know a good contractor you would like to put on the carriage house renovation I'd suggest you get him moving on things. There's no way I'm going to have time to touch it the way things are going now. We've rented the last room, and she's moving in in just a couple of weeks, even though the house isn't really ready for anybody. She said she doesn't care, that it is so much better than the dorm even the way it is, plus a lot cheaper since her roommate is getting married and she would have to be a single over there."

"I'll ask Dad if he knows anyone. I probably ought to get an architect working on plans, too. We'll have to pull permits for that job. It isn't going to be just light renovations like you guys are doing."

I groaned. "Yeah, I guess so. That's all I need. Inspectors crawling all over the place!"

"What you guys are doing you don't need them, but what I have in mind is more than what you are doing. Besides, we're going to be doing the job right, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Shouldn't is right, but we're talking government. They generally can make a problem if they can't find one. That's my experience anyway."

Grandpa spoke up. "Justin, you want to take the Tib's around and show them the place? Bring them back to the library when you're done, and we'll go downstairs to start things off. I suppose you'd better show them the carriage house, too, although I'd rather not make this a later night than we have to."

I nodded and said, "Let's take a look at the carriage house first, then," and I led the way out the back door, pointing out the pool as we went by.

Jeff and Joanne were both pleased with what Michael had in mind for an apartment, and Jeff had a contractor who also did design work he could recommend for the job, so that was one problem out of the way. We made our way back around to the front of the house so that we could use the 'grand staircase' as Rosemary had started calling it. Joanne and Grandma had a great time talking about the colors in the rooms and wanted to spend time looking at fabric samples and things, but Jeff hurried Joanne along.

"We have a meeting to take care of tonight. I'm sure they will allow us to come back when the house is finished and see it properly. Right now I'm more interested in seeing what Michael has gotten himself into!" Joanne made a face at Jeff, but moved along.

When we made it back to the library Grandpa made a show of looking at his watch. "I'm amazed! I figured Martha would still be talking about the decorating for another hour or so!" Something had a burr up his backside, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was.

"Justin," Grandpa said. "Please open the door and lead the way to the basement. We'll start in the lower office, although there aren't any chairs down there."

I led the way down, and stood at the bottom of the ladder to assist the ladies if they needed it, but even Grandma got down without much difficulty. Grandpa came last.

"All right, Justin, Michael, how about show the Tib's what you found, and where."

I let Michael point out where we found the skeletons and how - much to Jeff's interest -, but Joanne's horror. I think Michael might have played it up a little bit just for her. I showed them where we found the railroad cases, and pulled one of the rolls of coins from the desk to let them see the coins.

Jeff and Joanne were suitably impressed, especially when Grandpa drily gave them the value of the gold in the poke on the desk, plus the value of the coins, and the five thousand dollars in gold coins in Sam Johnson's money belt. Grandpa took over the meeting at that point.