Laura's Big Win (22 page)

The remainder of liberation day Laura
spent almost in an afterglow, only a bit of which was due to the
well aged Scotch. The kids heard her out on what had happened, and
seemed relieved that it was over, Jack in particular. She called
her sister to fill her in, and her parents a little later in the
evening. She would not see Ryan for a few days since he was off
again on a business trip with several stops; maybe that was for the
better after what Judge Harry had told her. At least she knew more
of the story, and knowing that much, maybe she could get Alice to
fill in some of the details. There was something else she had
learned, or rather, sensed, about Ryan; from her first days at
Windmere, Laura believed these people held Ryan in some special
place in their lives, seeming at times to be as protective of him
as they would a child. Maybe it was their empathy for him at the
loss of his wife. Whatever it was, they did not appear to be
excluding her in any way. Reflecting on what had happened over the
last few months, she laughed at what a soap opera her life would
make, and there was more to come.

The next couple of months seemed to fly
by, but not without their highlights. Since the divorce, Ryan had
several times suggested they go to dinner in town, sort of a
“working dinner” to review things going on at Windmere that needed
their attention. In retrospect, Laura realized they never talked
about business at all over dinner, and on more than one occasion
had discovered music and a dance floor that couldn’t be neglected.
Ryan made no overt gestures other than maybe a kiss on the cheek at
her door. She sensed that Judge Harry had been right; there was
more going on than she could see, and she would have to be patient.
In the meantime, Ryan had suggested they take the kids to a nearby
amusement park for the day, including Ernie and Vicky in the group.
Laura was well pleased with the way he treated her children,
realizing they were drawing closer to him than they ever had been
to her ex-husband. Ryan seemed to enjoy their company and he seemed
happier than she had ever seen him. It was one of those moments
when the kids were enjoying cups of ice cream, Amanda wearing hers
as much as eating it, when Laura realized her hand was in his; she
didn’t know when he had reached out, or even if he did, but the
hand was there nonetheless. Fearful of breaking the moment, she
glanced briefly at him, only to realize he was looking at her, and
then down at their clasped hands. The important thing was, he
didn’t let go, and when they were leaving and had to part hands to
go through the gate, his hand again sought out hers as soon as the
gate was behind them. It was a small step, she realized, but it was
a step, and again she heard Judge Harry’s words: “…..be patient…..”
Maybe Harry knew something she didn’t, maybe not; she would be
patient and find out.

Opportunities occur when least
expected, and so it was with Laura, an opportunity to repay a
kindness, a deed that in the joyous end became much more than she
had intended. Most Saturdays Laura made sure the kids were well
into whatever activity they chose at the moment, then would go to
her office for a brief review of e-mails and such; it was quiet
time, but seldom did she spend much time there on the weekend; that
was pretty much company policy. Today was no exception to the rule;
after a brief look, she closed down her desktop and decided on one
more cup of coffee. Entering the kitchen, she was surprised to see
Doris rather than Marie.

“Good morning Doris; what brings you
out on a Saturday? Miss us?”

“Nothing that easy. You remember that
company retreat we had scheduled for today and tomorrow? I know you
weren’t very involved with it; anyway, it was cancelled about two
hours ago. Seems they had a fire in their Singapore plant and all
the top brass went there today instead of coming here. Probably a
good idea on their part, but it sort of leaves me with a
disposition problem to handle.”

“Really? What sort of disposition
problem? Anything I can do to help?”

“Probably not. Anyway, the deal is, we
were supposed to have a big steak cookout tonight, you know, open
grill, open bar, that sort of stuff, salad, baked potato with full
boat toppings, all the good stuff. Fernando picked up the meat
yesterday from a butcher we use from Johnson City, then put it in a
secret marinade he concocts; best steaks you ever had when he gets
done with them. So here we are with 75 prime…..and I do mean
prime…..steaks that have to be used today or discarded. Seems
criminal to throw them out, but we can’t sell them or take them
back after being in the marinade, and even if everyone here ate
one, we wouldn’t do much to the pile. I mean, these are thick,
prime Angus, could be used to feed a small army. It just pains me
to think about throwing them out when people elsewhere are going
hungry.”

Laura pondered the dilemma for a
moment. “How many steaks?”

“Seventy-five, plus spuds, salad, and
so on. Everything’s paid for; even though they cancelled they have
to cover the procurement costs. Probably a drop in the bucket to
those boys.”

“How much time before you have to
decide what to do with them?”

“Probably noon time or within a couple
hours of that at the most. You having some thoughts on
this?”

“I am having thoughts on this, yes I
am. I’ll be right back.” Returning to her office, Laura called
Roger at his home. Quickly she made her apologies for disturbing
him on a day off, and laid out her idea. The response was positive
and swift in coming.

“Laura, you are a goddess to think of
this. Tell you what: get the numbers, and if we can’t cover the
multitudes let me know what more it would take. The only thing is,
this is going to take some people to get it done, and except for
Doris and Marie plus their husbands who were already scheduled to
work the retreat, and you can count on me and my wife,…..maybe we
can swing it. Let me know the count as soon as you can. I cannot
believe you came up with this; you are truly wonderful.”

The next call was to the homeless
shelter, and as fortune would have it, the night supervisor she had
met, Angie Costello, was temporarily working days and answered the
call. Laura identified herself, and briefly outlined her plan.
Angie was incredulous this was taking place, and sought reassurance
it was not a practical joke of some sort.

“Okay, you’re telling me you are going
to show up here this afternoon with enough steaks to feed the 59
adults and six kids we have in-house, plus baked potatoes, plus
salad. Is that what I’m hearing? I find this a little hard to
believe. I mean, you know, I want it to happen; we’re really short
of funds right now, but out of the clear blue like this? Come on;
you can’t blame me for being a little gun shy. It would be a really
cruel trick to pull on these people, after we’re down pretty much
to peanut butter or bologna sandwiches. Is this for
real?”

“I assure you, it is for real. I don’t
know just yet how I’m going to get this done, but I will find a
way. You gave me a place to go when I had no place to go, and I
would like to repay you at least a little. So, I need to get off
the phone and try to find some help. This isn’t going to be easy,
but trust me on this. I’ll call you back within two hours with the
details, and after we stuff our faces, I’ll tell you how all this
happened. Okay?”

“I don’t know. This sounds far too good
to be true, but I do remember you, and I know you understand how
mean a trick this would be on these poor people. And I remember
that monster sized guy who came after you, plus getting the air
fixed. Two hours?”

“Two hours, but I have to start now or
I’ll never make it, and I have a lot to do. Okay? Talk to you
later.”

Returning to the kitchen, Laura briefed
Doris on her proposal, and assured Doris she had obtained not only
Roger’s blessing but his assistance as well, and that of his wife.
Now her problem had become one of logistics, how to transport the
food and the grills and other things they would need; good deeds
can be contagious. Comrades in arms looking for a light snack and
cup of coffee, Dennis and Franz wandered into the kitchen,
accompanied by their weekend shadows, Amanda and Jack. Sensing an
opportunity, Laura quickly explained the problem and asked if they
had any ideas on how she could get all this done. It had all the
effect of a toreador’s cape; this was something to do, different,
no doubt a good deed, and probably fun. Dennis was first out of the
starting gate.

“Franz, how about I get old blue fired
up and bring her around? What shape is the tandem in, good enough
to use it for a hayride?”

“Good enough shape after we air up the
tires. You got any of those straw bales left in the field house?
We’ll need some seating, and knowing these girls, probably a fire
extinguisher and restraints before it’s all over.”

“How about the volleyball posts? We can
load them with the hand truck and still leave room for the two big
grills and the charcoal and stuff. Girls: what all do we need to
load? Oh, and Franz, we need the revolver on a post for safety.
Okay?”

“Done. Now if I could just get a cup of
coffee in this burg so I had the energy…..”

Laura leaped for the coffee pot. She
was a little unsure of what had just happened, but it seemed the
process was suddenly out of her able hands. “Dennis, can you
translate please? I think I missed something in there somewhere.
Who’s old blue, or is that ‘what’s old blue’?”

“Go ahead, Jack,” Dennis coached. “You
know all the stuff we got. Can you tell your mother the
deal?”

“Sure thing” Jack replied, anxious to
be a part of whatever these people were up to. “Old Blue is the big
ol’ farm tractor the guys restored; it’s kept in the field house
‘cause it’s too big to fit into a regular garage; I mean, it’s too
high for the door with the stack on. Mom, you should see it; it’s
really neat and it runs great.”

“Sounds good so far. What’s a tandem? I
always thought it was a bicycle of some kind.” Laura
replied.

“Mom, it’s not a bicycle; that’s
silly.” Jack had never actually heard of a tandem bicycle and
thought his mother was teasing him. “It’s a big trailer with two
axles, that’s why it’s called a tandem. And they can haul stuff on
it like the grounds mowers and things like that. Can I help you get
the stuff Dennis?”

“That you can. You think a dozen bales
are enough Franz?”

“Should be. I’ll go to work on getting
the light ready. Girls, anything you need to haul should be in one
of the big plastic carriers; this could get a little dusty before
it’s over. Now, who’s going to help me with all this stuff I have
to do?”

Amanda was quick on the trigger. After
all, her brother had switched associations and got himself hooked
up with the machinery side of things and she didn’t want to be left
out. “Me, me!”

“Okay, let’s get on with it. We have
some wiring to do. Ready?”

And out the door went the four of them,
bent on a mission. Laura was trying to keep up with events but had
the uneasy feeling things now had a life of their own. She
remembered she had promised to call Angie at the shelter to confirm
things, but was interrupted in mid-thought by an incoming call.
“Hello…..yes Roger…..this thing is gaining speed. I think maybe I
just have to get out of the way. Dennis and Franz heard what was
going on, and they and my kids are out doing things with old blue
and the tandem, whatever all that means……Wow, that’s great. I’ll
add that to the list, and Roger, thanks a bunch for all this. We’ll
see you about 2:30 at the shelter.”

Laura’s ears were assaulted by the roar
of engine exhaust as her transportation arrived in the form of a
large blue tractor followed by the long flat trailer. The original
design had been modified with stake sides so it could carry more
bales, and it worked out great that the single tier of bales made
fine seats, with the side boards as backs. While Franz and Amanda
worked to install the revolving warning light, Dennis started the
loading. Marie and Fernando, unaware the original plan had been
scrapped, arrived to start food prep for the cookout. Brought up to
date, Laura suggested one of them retrieve their kids so they could
go along for the ride, while she would help the other do whatever
was needed in the kitchen. Fernando was back in their car in a
flash, while Marie took Laura in tow and headed for the kitchen
storeroom.

“Here, Senora, is where we make things
fly. You and me, we will do the salad. Okay?”

“Fine by me, but why are we in the
storeroom?”

“We need the cutter. Here, we put this
on the cart; then I will show you how to make lots of salad very
quickly.”

Laura helped her load the heavy machine
and wheel it back into the kitchen. Marie opened the large cooler
and pulled out a tub full of lettuce heads, washed and ready to be
chopped. After placing a small metal measuring cup upside down on
the work counter, Marie took a head in both hands, carefully turned
it until the base was straight down, and drove it down on the cup
in one smooth motion. Pulling the head back up, she reached
underneath and pulled out the liberated core. Laura was duly
impressed, but then it was her turn. She missed twice on her first
try, causing minor damage to the lettuce head but none to herself.
Between the two of them, the giggles started, only to be made worse
when they were ready to feed the cutter and realized it worked much
better plugged in. Marie was certainly right about one thing; they
made a lot of salad and in a hurry. The powerful cutter made short
work of the lettuce, while the girls added salad tomatoes and other
ingredients as the lettuce flew. In short order the tub was back in
the cooler and ready for transport. That done, they turned their
attention to packing up the utensils and things they would need on
their road trip, and helping Doris as she needed a hand. The steaks
were already resting comfortably in their marinade containers, and
the loaves that would become garlic toast were split and ready to
go.