Laura's Big Win (9 page)

Amanda could hardly get the “Yes” out
of her mouth quick enough, but Dennis turned toward Doris: “You
hear some noise in here? Sounds like a cricket to me. Well, I have
to go make a round now. Too bad I’ll be all alone.”

Prompted by the big man’s seeming
disregard, Amanda was bouncing up and down in her seat saying “Me
too, me too.”

“I’m just teasing; of course you can
go, but first: potty check, shoes tied, and you need a ball cap;
sun’s bright today. I have a cap you can use in the carriage house.
Ready?” And after Doris supervised the potty break to make sure
Mandy was truly ready to go, off they went in the big
ATV.

Laura had been sleeping the deep sleep
of the exhausted when the kids had awakened and made good their
escape. She was starting to drift toward consciousness when the
knock at the door came. Startled to awareness, her heart leapt when
she realized her two children were nowhere to be seen. Fearing the
worst, she flew to the door, to find the ever calm Alice Hamilton
waiting for her.

“Is there something wrong? Where are
the kids; are they all right?” the words tumbled out of her
mouth.

“Calm down, please, take a breath.
Everything is fine. Amanda is with Dennis making a security round
of the facility in his ATV, and Jack is with Franz in the Jeep
making a parts run to the hardware store. I can call them back here
at any time, but suggest for now we leave them where they are.
You’ve met Dennis, so you know Amanda is in good hands; you’ll meet
Franz later and I’m sure you’ll find him to be equally reliable. We
do not employ anyone here who could be questionable in any way.
Now, are you rested and ready for some breakfast and 20
questions?”

“Let me at least rinse the sleep off my
face and get a little more presentable; then I’ll be ready for the
day. I won’t be more than a minute or two. I don’t remember when
I’ve had a night’s sleep that good; been a while, and I do feel
much better now even though I have no idea how or why all this is
happening. I’m still very grateful you got us out of that crowd
last night.”

“Later I’ll answer your questions as
best I can. For now, freshen up and we’ll go do breakfast. I’ll
wait here.” That’s what Alice said aloud, while inside she was
thinking that this young woman looked better disheveled and
unmade-up in the morning light than most women would look all day.
Alice wasn’t jealous; she had had her day in the sun; was today
going to be Laura’s? Time would tell.

Laura quickly found the best dress of
what little she had to choose from and rejoined Mrs. Hamilton at
the door to the suite. “I’m sorry, but I just realized I haven’t
called my sister this morning. I tried to talk to her last night
but she wasn’t at home. I really need to let her know we’re okay.
Could I just take a minute to do that?”

“Sure. Take whatever time you need.
Dial one and then the rest of the number. Is she here in
Conyerville?”

“Yes, she is, but I couldn’t get her
husband to understand we were pretty bad off when we got here on
the bus yesterday and needed a place to stay. Again, I can’t thank
you enough for all you’ve done. This will just take a minute;
please come in and have a seat.”

Alice did as requested, and tried not
to listen to the conversation, but Laura’s end was all too clear
and Alice was getting a picture of sorts.

“Nancy? It’s Laura!…..No, we’re fine,
and kids and I…..Yes, I heard we were on the TV news last
night……Lenny said you had enough problems of your own since the
plant closed. I’m sure he didn’t understand the rather extreme
nature of our problem. Anyway, look, we’re doing okay for the
moment. We were relocated yesterday evening by some very nice
people from a place called Windmere; that’s where we are now……Yes,
it’s a little like a fortress, but in fact, it’s been more like a
wonderland so far; I’m almost afraid the balloon will burst…..No,
don’t come out for us…..Let me see if there’s a number you can call
if you need me for something; I don’t have a cell phone anymore,
and I don’t know where Richard is. It’s a really long story I’m not
even sure I understand yet, but I’ll see if these nice people will
let me call again later so I can fill you in a bit on what I do
know. I don’t think it’s a pretty picture, but we’re fine for
now…..Catch you later, oh, and let the folks know when they get
back in the states, okay?…..Love you too; take care.”

That done, Laura and Alice walked
together for the few steps to the kitchen. Doris greeted them as
they entered;” Good morning ladies. Alice, I know what you want; I
heard you coming down the hall and it’s in the toaster. And it
looks like this girl needs a running start on her day. Hi; I’m
Doris Cook; I assume those two children that nearly ate us out of
house and home belong to you?”

“I’m Laura, and yes, they belong to me.
I hope they weren’t too much trouble.”

“Not a bit of it. I get a kick out of
seeing them chow down, both of them; we’ll see how they do at
lunch. But, as for you, how about I clean out the refrigerator and
stir you up an omelet? I assume whole wheat on the toast; you look
positively too healthy to be hanging around us old folks. Time we
put some pounds on you so we don’t feel so guilty.”

Laura laughed at the cook’s accuracy on
the toast, but said “Please, not if it’s any trouble at all. Sounds
great but I don’t want to be a bother to anyone.”

“Not a bother. I get paid to do what I
love to do. Can’t beat that with a stick, and not only that, but
they aren’t a bad lot to know, are they, Alice? I assume coffee
with no sugar, French vanilla on the creamer?”

“How do you do that? Do I look like a
no sugar, one creamer person or something?”

“Practice, honey. I’ve been at this a
long time. Anyway, I don’t know much about how you got here, or why
you’re here, but in my kitchen, you eat, and your kids eat. You
wouldn’t want to jeopardize my job over a couple of eggs would you?
Now, have a seat while I wrangle the range.” and with a twinkle in
her eye she turned to the refrigerator and started rummaging for
omelet fixings.

Laura complied, sitting across from
Alice, coffee with no sugar, one French Vanilla creamer in a large
mug in hand. She knew enough about coffee to know this was not your
average store blend but a rich perfectly roasted mixture of more
exotic blends. The aroma itself was entrancing, and the taste even
better, but more importantly, who was Franz, and why was this
kitchen so large; what kind of place had a cook on duty just to
feed the staff, and who used coffee that good every day? The
questions swirled in her head, to be replaced by the aroma of a
well turned summer omelet; hunger won out for the moment. Doris
Cook was pleased with Laura’s obvious relish of the dish; ‘one
thing for sure, this woman is no scrawny super model, but she sure
takes care of herself. I hope she stays around. Wish I knew what
was going on, but the boss has a great track record so far; guess
we need to trust him one more time.’

Breakfast done and with a fresh cup of
coffee, Laura felt for the first time in several days she could
face the world, even if it brought more travails; she was ready for
whatever Alice might ask. Alice initiated the conversation by
answering the first question Laura wanted to ask: “We were sent to
get you last night by the boss. Your picture was on the local news
and, simply put, you didn’t look like you belonged there. That is
not to say you were seen as better or worse, just different.
Anyway, you’re here now. And in case you were wondering, Franz is
every bit as reliable as Dennis, although much smaller. That stands
to reason; almost everyone is smaller than Dennis,” she added with
a smile.

“First, I would like to hear, in
general, how you ended up in a shelter with two kids and apparently
few belongings. I’m less interested in whom may be responsible for
what, more the general events.”

Laura told Alice about the last year or
so, and mostly about their eviction, her brother-in-law’s apparent
inability or unwillingness to help, and turning to the shelter as a
last means of protecting her children. Although it was clear
Richard has been the primary cause of their present misfortune,
Laura also admitted she had refused to recognize the growing
problem when she knew it posed a danger. Alice simply nodded as she
listened to the story unfold. Usually a calm self-contained person,
Alice Hamilton felt an inner growing need to find Richard Nessing
and back-hand him so hard his head spun around; but, none of that
was allowed to show through during the interview. Alice did file
the thought for future reference, and in a later moment wondered if
Dennis ever hired out to “explain things” to people?”

At the conclusion of Laura’s narrative,
Alice summed up: “Okay, I understand what happened. Second
question: now that you appear to be on your own, how will you
manage? What can you do, what experiences do you have that you can
use to earn a living?”

Laura thought for a moment before
responding. What did Alice want to hear, or did it matter? The
reality did not seem very bright when she thought about it in those
terms. She had found shelter, but now what? Maybe just the truth of
the reality needed to be faced. “I wish I knew what to do. People
don’t rehearse for this sort of thing to happen. We are apparently
safe for the moment, wherever this may be, but you’re right; I need
to support us. I’m willing to do almost anything for my kids sake,
clean, wash dishes, do yard work, and obviously I did those things
as a mother and housewife. But, I also ran the home office for
Richard’s insurance business, keeping the data base current,
invoicing, and things like that. The only thing I didn’t handle was
cash management, but I guess that’s rather obvious. Since he was on
the road a lot I took some day courses in spread sheet construction
and data base management, even threw in one on CAD systems for good
measurement. I haven’t had much of a chance to apply what I
learned, but I’m sure it would come back to me quickly. Anyway,
whatever happens, my kids come first; I’ll have to find something.
I mean, being here is wonderful, but I can’t live on your
hospitality; I need to stand up on my own.”

Again, Alice only nodded in
understanding. “This morning is pretty well gone. Let’s do this: I
need to go see the boss for a few minutes. Why don’t you go back to
your rooms and do a quick inventory of your immediate needs, for
both you and the kids, you know, essential things like underwear,
clothes, toiletries, and so on. We have a laundry room here that is
fully supplied, so you can skip that part of the essentials for
now. But what about shoes? No woman can have just one pair of
shoes, so think about that also. Big as it is, I know that duffle
doesn’t hold enough for three people to live on very long. We’ll
meet here again at noon; may even find out what the kids have been
up to. Okay?”

“Okay. I just hope the kids haven’t
been too much trouble.”

“Not likely, knowing who they’re with.
Dennis and Franz can be a little mischievous at times, so I think
it’s pretty much a match. See you in a bit.”

Chapter 7 – First
Meeting

Roger Brown had retired at age 55, a
successful businessman who had all the means he needed for himself
and his wife, plus plenty to spare for spoiling the grand kids. He
really believed he had “done the dream” with his early retirement.
Always a careful planner in business, he thought he knew what he
wanted to do in retirement. The problem was that he soon tired of
playing golf every day with his cronies, and fishing the lake was
becoming boring. He had read all the books on his “must read” list,
and even the daily business journals he still received were less
than interesting now that he was out of the loop. Then one day he
was teamed with Ryan in a foursome at the Windmere course, and
things changed for Roger Brown.

One of the problems Ryan had to deal
with was his youthful appearance. He knew what to do, no question
about that, but his older clients were concerned about his apparent
lack of seasoning in the business. After all, how much could a
person this young know about what they needed? So, a deal was
struck: Ryan would continue to run the operation, but Roger would
be the “front man”, the guy with the $1200 suit, the mature look,
and clearly a lot of business savvy. Roger loved the deal. Now he
had a challenge ahead of him, learning a whole new business, but
with Ryan’s net under him. A code was worked out for use in
meetings so Ryan could relay his thoughts to Roger while the
meeting was going on, with no one being the wiser. The ruse was
successful enough that Roger got the mention in a trade journal
interview about the up and coming Windmere rather than Ryan. Most
of the top managers in the Windmere organization knew the
realities, and for the others it was of no consequence.

So it was that Alice Hamilton went to
Roger Brown first with her information. Ryan fully trusted Roger
with such operational decisions, but this was one time Roger was
lost. “He told you to do what last night, and they’re here now?”
was the first question. Alice told him everything she knew about
the rescue, which didn’t help except to clarify that Ryan had an
interest in this woman and her children. Roger called Ryan on the
intercom, asking if he had a moment to discuss something. Once in
Rogers’ office even Ryan couldn’t explain why he had accepted
Alice’s rescue offer so readily, but once Alice briefed them on
what she had learned about Laura, they agreed there was potentially
a position for her in the organization, if she was interested.
Having arrived at that decision, they adjourned to the kitchen for
lunch.