by Finian Blake
Terri came up the hill in the cart. She was absolutely thrilled at the studio people’s comments.
“It looks as if we are going to be in a movie. The Inn should have a thirty day rental at fifteen thousand a day. That is a bargain price for the studio, but the Inn needs to get the first contract. I have to put an extra crew on the pub to make schedule but we will make it on time. The studio says that Andrew is missing and Muriel is presumed dead. Nobody can remember what she looks like and the police have gone as far as they can on the issue. Quincy, Marshall, and William will be spending the weekend at the Inn with their wives to work on the initial details. Do you have any news for me?”
“Ralph will be arriving in the morning and we are going to buy an airplane tomorrow. Do you want to come along?”
Terri did not sound happy. “Buy an airplane? What do we need an airplane for?” He had told her earlier but this was the perfect time to push back.
“We need private transport for the deal, plus Frank needs private transportation for his deals. You have given him a budget of a million Pounds and this will be my contribution. Why don’t you come along to Gatwick for the day?”
“I will not try to stop you on this, but do not ask me to participate. I will have enough to keep me busy. I’m not mad at you. It is what you do and we have our truce. If you need my help I will be there for you, but I just don’t need the busy work.” Terri said giving him a hug and a smile. Terri did not hold secret grudges. If she had something to say it would get out up front.
Terri went back down to the pub hoping to find Charlie the general contractor. She needed to step up the pace on all of the projects right away. As the crews finished up at the flat, she moved them on to the pub and the kennel. Terri wanted to have the crews work over the weekend on everything. If some part of the deal went flat, it would not be her end. She needed to check with Tom on his gun shop, Frank on the new Gym, Lynn on her kennel, Martin on the new stable, Beth and Arlene on their improvements and with Susan on the pub. Terri would put all of Charlie’s crews to work plus some of his contacts. Tomorrow she would be talking to the council to move up whatever project that she could and get Susan to use her influence to move the approvals along. Terri would have Charlie stake out the gym and Beth’s addition was ready for excavation but with their success she wanted to add a second story. The plans were already drawn up, and the soils report would be ordered this afternoon. The money was in place, and there were contractors idle. She would run everything through Charlie, since he knew all of the top people in their field. This would give him some leverage with the other contractors later on. Terri would throw in a bonus for early completion promising to cover the over time. Adam hopped on the cart with her for the drive down the hill.
“Tell me what I can do to help you out. I do not have anything going at the moment.”
“It would really help if you could take notes for me. That way I can concentrate on negotiations,” Terri said handing Adam her note book. For the rest of the afternoon, Adam played secretary keeping track of all of the project details. Around three he had the kitchen make some meat pies for their dinner, and by five they completed all of the details for the stepped-up pace on the projects.
Terri was still wound up, so Adam picked up dinner and drove her home. Terri was completely worn out, and Adam forced her to sit down even though she was in the mood to keep working. The day proved to be a big push, for everyone and especially Terri. She was two months pregnant now and needed more rest. Adam cleaned up marching Terri to the shower not taking any excuses. He washed and dried Terri after which he marched her into the bedroom.
“It is only five o’clock. What am I supposed to do?”
“You are supposed to sleep when you are tired. You need to take a short rest. Do you want to do this voluntarily or do I tie you up.” Adam held the sheets back guiding her into bed. He climbed in bed next to her holding Terri quietly. She was fast asleep in ten minutes, so Adam slipped out of bed calling Suki.
“I need your help. Terri is in full over drive. Would you please call the others and meet me at the house?” Adam closed the bedroom door glad that the bedroom was sound proof and within thirty minutes he had the staff in the dining room.
“Terri was totally exhausted after today. I wanted to get everybody together to ask you to keep an eye on her. This pregnancy seems to be taking a lot out of her.”
“What would you like us to do?” Susan sounded deeply concerned. Adam scanned the room. There was a look of concern on everybody’s face.
“I was thinking that we could all keep an eye on her and get her to knock off if she looks tired. As you know Terri only has one speed which is full tilt. I am not suggesting that you baby her. That would make her mad, but I would just like to bring Terri down to the pace of a normal mortal.” All eyes in the room were looking over Adam’s shoulder. Terri was standing in the doorway wearing her robe.
“Is this meeting for everyone, or should I leave.” There was an icy tone in her voice.
“Terri, please have a seat.” Susan stood up to give her a chair, “Of course you are welcome. Adam was concerned about your health. He was pointing out that your full steam mode is not working while you are pregnant. Adam only wants you to slow down and I think that is a reasonable request.” Terri still had a freshly ambushed look on her face. Susan pushed on. “Don’t look so wounded. Adam is concerned about you and the baby. You are not supposed to fly in the first three months, you are not supposed to over exert, and you are not supposed to drink.
“Have you missed anything?” Terri made a sour face.
“Adam has been watching your nutrition.” Lynn started to interject.
Terri fought back, “I can still keep up. You do not have to team up on me!”
“You are a pure handful. It will take all of us to get you down to a normal pace,” Suki jumped in the argument. “None of us would be here if we did not care!” Suki leaned over the table. “If Adam was trying to hide the meeting, he would have had it somewhere else.” Frank had his hand on Suki’s back, and his hand was firmly anchored in the waist band of her jeans.
“You are my only daughter and I feel that I have the right to say that you are screwing up. You are messing with my granddaughter.”
“This looks like a gangbang,” Terri said. “I am glad that Liz and Jennifer are out of town.”
“It is not just you. It’s the baby.” Lynn jumped in too.
“I am going to ask you the same question that you asked me, when you told me that you were pregnant. Do you really want this baby?” Adam said it softly to keep it from being a challenge. It was an honest question. He was surprised when Terri took so long to answer.
“Yes,” Terri said thoughtfully. “I want this baby.”
“Then shape up. You are destroying yourself and the baby.” Adam cut things short at that point thanking everyone for coming.
Frank had to drag Suki out the door. She was highly pissed off at Terri and ready for battle. Frank walked twenty feet with Suki under his arm before putting her down.
Suki flared, “She knows how to avoid these things. Why in the hell did she get pregnant! She surprised Adam with the baby and he is thrilled.” Suki waved her arms in frustration, “I mean would you like to have a baby with me?”
“Since you brought up the subject, yes I would,” Frank blurted out. “I am fifty but I think that I have several good years in me. My one regret is that I have had no children.” Suki studied Frank carefully instantly seeing that he was serious.
“Every baby needs a father. Are you applying for the job?” Frank had not even dared to ask. Suki was half his age and knock out gorgeous, so he could not even imagine her saying yes. Frank was a brave man but just the thought of her laughing at his proposal always froze him in his tracks.
“Suki, will you marry me?” Frank blurted it out. He desperately wanted to make it romantic, but it was not going to happen. She jumped into his arms wrapping her legs around him.
> “Yes, I will. What took you so long?”
Frank swallowed hard, “Fear,” Suki laughed at the comment. She was amazed that a man with his record would be afraid of her.
“Let’s go practice that baby making thing.” Suki backed out of Frank’s grip taking him by the hand. She did not bother to knock on Terri’s door pushing into the bedroom without knocking. Suki jumped on the bed startling Terri and Adam.
“Frank and I are getting married. You pissed me off enough that I finally told him to propose.” She looked at Adam. “God, you men are dense.” Frank was in the bedroom right after Suki. Terri rolled forward and embraced Suki and Adam congratulated Frank.
“We need to celebrate,” Terri gushed.
“Why don’t we plan a party for tomorrow? Terri needs to rest.” Adam said as Terri went into a pout.
“We will celebrate tonight. I am going to get dressed.”
Adam gave in knowing that there was no arguing with Terri now. “I will call everybody and we can go out fancy.”
Suki called everybody and within the hour they drove to a cozy little restaurant. During dinner there were several toasts and congratulations all around. For dessert, Terri passed out cold with Adam rushing her to the hospital. He talked everybody into going home except for Frank, Susan and Lynn. After several tests and two hours’ time the doctor came in the room.
“Terri, you are exhausted. For a pregnant woman, you are pushing much too hard. You need complete rest for a few days. Make an appointment with your doctor, and he can lecture you. I will tell you one thing, if you do not slow down you will lose this baby. You may have noticed that I did not say might lose the baby. Mind your activity. I want you to eat right, no drinking and no flying.” He turned his attention to Adam. “Take this woman home and put her to bed for some rest.” Adam paid the bill gathering up the ladies. As soon as they were in the car Susan started into the lecture.
“Did you think Adam was trying to slow you down for fun? We love you, and do not want to see you self-destruct. You are making these decisions for two. Adam asked you, we asked you and your body told you. If you do not want this baby get an abortion.” Adam shot Susan a harsh look. Terri shook her head no with a look of horror on her face.
“No, I want this baby,” Terri said. “I do not know what is wrong with me. I have to keep going.”
“Then you are going to make me a major bitch.” Lynn started to chime in. “I am with Susan you need…” Terri held up her hand.
“Stop the car. I need to throw up.” Adam pulled over and Terri hung out the door. Terri made it halfway out the door when her dinner left her managing to spray her favorite green blouse. Adam drove straight to the house. Susan took Terri into the bathroom and cleaned her up. Susan stripped off her clothes and climbed into bed with Terri.
“Adam you are in the guest room tonight. Terri needs some privacy for this lecture, and I need to be sure that I do not back her in a corner.” Adam appreciated her concern.
“Thank you I hope it works.” Adam grabbed some clothes for the morning out of the bedroom. “I planned a full day with Ralph. With all that is going on I think that I should cancel.”
“I have some time tomorrow,” Susan said. “Lynn and I will stay with Terri. It may be better that you are away. Go ahead with your plans. I want to take Terri to the doctor personally.”
“I would like to go too,” Adam pressed. “It is more important than what I have scheduled.”
“Lynn and I will cover that. We need to know what is going on with her.” Adam was not happy with that decision, but he was not having any luck with anything that he tried.
Adam was up early. He joined the 'Old Men' and Suki for their jog and when they finished, Suki collared Adam.
“What is wrong with Terri? I know she is smarter than that.”
“Susan and Lynn are going to take her to the doctor. I have been dismissed,” Adam sulked. Suki could sense his frustration.
“I will go too. I have a fair amount of influence with her. Let us help you work on this.” Adam appreciated Suki asking him to let her help, but he was still put off by Susan’s demands.
Adam showered and dressed in the guest bath. He went in the kitchen where Susan was making breakfast. She was wearing Terri’s green silk short robe. He admired her legs as he always did. They were firm and well-toned from horseback riding. Susan was a beautiful woman. She was not thin like a model, which was a plus in Adam’s book. He sat down in a chair with Susan putting a plate of bangers, eggs and potatoes down in front of him.
“I am sorry about last night. I did not mean to dismiss you. Terri lectured me last night. I know you want to come along. Would you let Lynn and I handle this?” She pulled his head to her chest giving him a prolonged hug.
“I never could argue with a warm breast. Thank you for asking. She is my life and I am very concerned.” Susan released Adam kissing him on the cheek.
“We will do our best. Now, eat your breakfast while it is hot.” Adam ate his breakfast and went in to see Terri.
“Susan has asked that I let her take you to the Doctor. I am going to meet Ralph and run down to Gatwick unless you want me to go. I can cancel.”
“No, you go on your errands. Susan and Lynn will be there.”
“Suki will be going along too.” Terri made a face at that news. “You didn’t think that she would take a back seat did you?” Adam gave Terri a lingering kiss and left.
Mark drove Adam to the airport in the Bentley. Adam went in to meet Ralph outside of customs and they were on the road to Gatwick before nine AM.
“Ralph, thank you for coming out on such short notice. We have a cottage reserved for you. I think that you will be comfortable.”
“Is Suki still here? She was amazing. I was hoping that we could get together again.”
“We had an engagement party for her last night. Do you remember Frank our driver?”
“Yes, I remember him.” A look of surprise came over Ralph’s face. “Do you mean that he is the lucky stud?”
“He is indeed the lucky stud. They snuck up on us.” Ralph was very disappointed, since Suki was extremely talented in bed. “What about this Caribou you want to buy,” Ralph asked.
“We have two possibilities,’ Adam said. “Mark is going to drive us to Gatwick for our first stop. I did not want to stick you with something that you could not work with. If neither one works, we will keep looking.” Mark swung wide south of London on M 25 pulling into the maintenance area at the airport. Ralph spotted the two Caribous instantly. One was painted white with a blue stripe and the other was painted with military camouflage with a radar bubble in the nose. Adam introduced himself and Ralph to the salesman Paul. They went into the office so they could look over the surveys. Ralph dismissed the civilian aircraft by examining the paperwork. Paul walked them out to the military Caribou. It went through a maintenance check just before being turned over for sale. Ralph gave the aircraft a close check, finding that it was set up for parachute drops. The inside was olive drab with exposed blanket insulation. The cockpit was reasonably up to date, and there were no missing gauges in the instrument panel. Ralph checked and found that it was equipped with radar and all of the latest navigational equipment, so he asked for a check flight.
The Caribou was serviced and ready to go in an hour. Ralph fired up both engines and called for clearance. He let the engines warm up and brought them to eighty percent power. The plane rolled for five hundred meters and leapt into the air. Both engines seemed eager to perform. Paul had requested some touch and go landings at a smaller airport in Scotland with Ralph following the instructions doing three touch and go landings. Adam was in the copilot seat. They did a short landing and comfortably stopped in six hundred meters. He did another take off and was off the ground in five hundred meters again. Ralph smiled at Adam.
“This one will work just fine.”
On the way back, they discussed price. They arrived at a price of two hundred thousand pounds. When t
hey landed, Adam had Mark drive him to a branch of his bank. He left Ralph with Paul to finish the inspection. Adam returned in a half hour handing Paul a check for the full cash price.
“I will contact you later letting you know exactly which name I want the airplane in.” Paul was excited to find a cash buyer for the airplane. Normally he had to go through the motions of setting up financing which was a pain in the ass. “Ralph I will have Mark drive the car back to the Inn and I believe that I will fly back to Manchester with you.”
“Anything you say boss.” Ralph ran his hands over the controls as if he was exploring an old girlfriend. “This baby has some hours on her but she seems like an old friend.” Adam recognized a love affair in the making.
“Ralph on our way back I would like you to note anything that needs to be done to your new date and I will make arrangements to have her prom ready.” The Caribou leapt into the air making the twenty minutes into Manchester much too short.
Ralph called for a parking spot on the CAA pad. They parked the plane a few hundred feet from the control tower. Wilson was waiting when the Caribou pulled on the parking spot.
“Adam, I received a message to meet you when you arrived. What may I help you with?” Adam was glad to see that their first encounter had not poisoned their relationship. Adam shook Wilson’s hand warmly introducing him to Ralph.
“Wilson, this is Ralph. Would you talk to my pilot and see if there is anything that you would require us to have for operations with this aircraft. I will be happy to have anything you require installed before any further operations.” Ralph and Wilson did a tour of the aircraft while Adam called the maintenance hangar arranging to have a manager come out to talk to them. When Ralph and Wilson returned to Adam, Wilson did not look happy.
“Adam, I see that you want to use a US pilot. In order to do operations in the UK Ralph will require some sort of work permit and hopefully the second pilot will have some sort of British credentials.” Wilson was relieved to see Adam smile.