by Nancy Adams
We started moving a moment later, and made it to our new home in a fairly short time. I guess Dad had promised to pay Emerson's speeding tickets again; he did that, now and then, if he was in a hurry, and our lawyers always managed to keep them off Emerson's driving record. I know, because they kept mine off my record, too.
We each called our parents—Katelynn's had moved into one of the other houses for the time being—and told them that we'd decided we wanted to stay at home that evening, and that we'd be having dinner at six, then told Charles and Pierre (our butler and chef) that we'd be having company for dinner. Both of them went into hyper-drive, as I call it, trying to get a fantastic dinner party together in the few hours notice I'd given them.
Katelynn wanted to jump in and help them. “Pierre,” she said, “what can I do?” I thought the poor man was going to have a stroke.
“Do?” he said in shock. “Mais Non, Mademoiselle, but it is not for you to do! I am the chef, and it is my task, my job, to make for you a din-nair that will cause all of the city to be in envy of you!”
Katelynn's eyes went wide, and she stared. “But—I only wanted to help…” she said.
I took hold of her arm and steered her toward our living room. “Baby, come one, let's get out of the way. Pierre knows what he's doing, I promise.”
He did. Within minutes he had the entire staff mobilized, turning maids into servers and housekeepers into decorators. The dining room had to be specially set up for a dinner party, and the décor used was dependent on the type of party. Since this one was for close family only, the table would be reduced by the removal of several leaves, and a new, smaller tablecloth and centerpiece would be added. Candles would not be necessary, but because we'd be announcing the impending birth of our first child—yes, we told the staff so they could incorporate it into the theme—the chandelier over the table would have some of its crystals changed out to pink and blue ones.
The kitchen staff was incredible, each of the helpers knowing exactly what to do and jumping to do precisely what was needed. I was amazed at how quickly it all came together, but by the time our folks arrived just before six, our dining room had been transformed into one of the most beautiful private restaurants in California. We invited them inside, and I could tell that Katelynn was overwhelmed by their reactions.
Even my own parents, who had lived this lifestyle for many years by this time, were impressed by all that our staff had accomplished. Dad threatened to steal Pierre and send us back Armando, but I told him that he couldn't afford to pay as much as I could. Pierre settled it once and for all by announcing that it was his duty in life to prepare only the finest and most wonderful meals for “Miz Kate-a-lean,” and that he would not leave her for any price.
My blushing bride blushed, and we all had a good laugh. Pierre pretended to be offended, but then he winked at Katelynn, and she finally laughed with us.
Dinner went wonderfully well, and when dessert came, we finally decided it was time to break the news. I stood and tapped a glass with a spoon.
“Okay, okay, now for the real reason we asked you to come over for dinner. If you haven't noticed, the staff has gone to great lengths to put some hints into the décor of the room, but the fact is—Katelynn and I are going to be parents, ourselves. It's official, she's pregnant.”
All four of them were up and on their feet, mobbing Katelynn first, and then the dads were shaking my hand and the moms were hugging me so hard I couldn't breathe! I laughed and celebrated along with everyone else, and Dad made a speech about how this would Change My Life. Jim added in his two cents worth, telling me that Fatherhood Is A Great Responsibility, and then he pounded my back like he was trying to cripple me!
Maybe he was; after all, I was the one who'd taken his daughter from him, and men don't like that!
Pierre brought in champagne and we all had one for a toast, but none of us were really drinkers. I raised my glass with everyone else, and then we resorted to soft drinks for the rest of the evening. Mom and Rebecca began planning a baby shower, and the guys and I decided we needed to be someplace else, so we headed for the den and spent an hour admiring the craftsmanship of the taxidermist who had turned my bear into a rug. Katelynn said the thing gave her the willies, so she didn't want it in the living room; instead, it was hanging on my den wall.
The three of us talked about Dad-type stuff. We decided to build a playground out back of the house, one that would be fun for a few kids to play in alone, and then another one out in one of the common areas of the estate, like a park. That led to the discussion of how there weren't a lot of children in the area, and so we began thinking about taking a couple hundred acres or so and building a small subdivision; If we gave each home ten acres of the prime real estate that we lived on, we could expect to sell them to higher-income execs and entrepreneurs, so we'd almost certainly be bringing in families with kids. That made the bigger playground grow into a park, with picnic tables and pavilions and more.
Before we knew it, we'd decided to launch a new company called SimBur Investments, with myself and Katelynn, Dad and Mom and Jim and Rebecca Burke as the owners and sole stockholders. I would provide the financing to build the homes, and we'd form a finance company to carry the mortgages and earn the interest, sharing all of the profits equally.
Jim agreed to retire from law back in Nebraska and manage the company, because he'd always wanted to be in the home construction business. Dad and I congratulated him, and then we snuck back towards the dining room to see if it was safe to go back in yet. The girls were all smiling, so we joined them and told them our new idea.
“Oh, Baby, that's an awesome idea!” Katelynn said, clapping her hands. “We'd have neighbors, and friends for the kids to play with. Maybe we could put in a small private school, so all the kids could go together? I'd love that!”
I looked at the guys, and they agreed that it sounded like a wonderful suggestion. A community like this would require some annual fees, and we might be able to just add the cost of the school into them without any fuss.
“You know,” my new mother-in-law said, “I spent several years teaching school...”
Katelynn smiled. “Mom, you were one of the best teachers ever! If you'd come out of retirement to run the school, that would be awesome!”
“Well, let's get all of this started tomorrow morning, shall we?” I said. “Jim, we'll leave the research in your capable hands, and you can set up the corporation and such. Find out about the school thing, too, what we'd have to do to make it work.”
Dad spoke up. “Son, if this is going to be big enough to make a school work, I think we might look at actually forming a small community. We've got over twenty five thousand acres, here. If you're okay with it, I'd suggest we raise the invested land to four thousand acres, which would be big enough to make an incorporated township. If we make each parcel from five acres, with an easement for streets. If we built five hundred homes, that would leave plenty for a school, a park and even some stores and such amenities. Make an actual town out of it.”
That idea was met with instant approval by everyone, so we began talking about a possible name for the community. I vetoed “Natesville” instantly, and Katelynn vetoed my suggestion of calling it “Katelynn, California” just as quickly. We tossed around ideas like “Simbur” and “Bursim,” but nobody really cared for those.
Finally I snapped my fingers and said, “I've got it!” Everyone looked at me, and I smiled. “Let's call it 'Grizzly, California.' There isn't a town by that name, and we can put my rug in the town hall!”
Katelynn was the first one to raise her hand and say, “I vote yes!” That didn't surprise me, since it would get that bear out of our house, eventually. Dad and Jim cracked up laughing at her, but raised their hands to vote for it, as well, while Mom and Rebecca just smiled and said, “Whatever!”
Grizzly, California was born that night, and the paperwork was begun the next day by Jim. As part of the deal, I funded the company with a hu
ndred million dollars, and the company leased Jim and Rebecca the guest house they were already staying in until their own new home in Grizzly was finished. A week later, Jim and Rebecca flew home to close up his law practice and start packing for the move and put their house on the market.
(It was a secret, but I bought their house from them through a proxy service, so that they wouldn't have to worry about how long it might take to get it sold. They weren't asking what it was worth, so I told the proxy to just pay full price, and they called us the next day, so excited they couldn't see straight. I had the proxy service go in and remodel it a bit, then put it back on the market at a tidy profit. It sold within a month, and I spent the profits on sending my in-laws on a world cruise the next spring. Don’t tell anyone.)
That night, I let another surprise out of the bag. “Katelynn, why don't you call Corie and tell her the news about the baby. I bet she'd be thrilled for you.”
She grinned and grabbed her phone, and tapped Corie's name to make it dial, and I sat back and watched as Katelynn listened for Corie to answer. When the line began to ring, Katelynn made a funny face, because she could hear another phone ringing right there in the house with us.
Corie answered, and the other phone stopped ringing, so Katelynn instantly forgot it. “Corie, my dear old pal,” she said, “are you sitting down? Well, good, because have I got some news for you! Are you ready? Okay, well—I'm pregnant!”
Corie squealed so loudly that we could hear it without needing the phone, and Katelynn looked up, startled, as the girl she thought was back home in North Platte came running in from our kitchen and grabbed her up in a bear hug.
“You—what the—What are you doing here?” she shouted, as she hugged her best friend right back.
Corie pointed at me. “Your hubby, there,” she said, “has had me transferred out here to the company headquarters! He got the personnel manager, what's her name, to call me and offer me a job in the purchasing department, on account of I went to school for fashion design! I get to go to fashion shows and buy the fancy ladies' clothes for all the stores, now!”
Katelynn stared at me for a long moment, and then came running over to hug me even harder than she'd hugged Corie! I thought she was going to re-break the ribs I'd almost lost to the bear, but she finally let go and I could breathe again!
“You,” she said with a big smile, “are the most lovable scoundrel on earth, and I absolutely adore you!”
Yeah, I know.
Katherine
Chapter Three
That Child of Mine
* * * * *
I watched my son grow up, over the years, and often wondered if I was doing the right things by him. He had been born before we had anything, but by the time he was forming his own personality, we had the first store and it was doing well. By the time he was ten, we had branched out into a dozen stores, and when he was twelve, we had grown to the point of moving our headquarters to San Francisco.
At the time, it was a purely economic decision, based on the availability of products from China and Japan and other countries, products we could buy cheaper there than anywhere else in the country. Our first distribution center was built there, and we added at least one new one every year thereafter, until we could supply stores in every state and some in Canada. We grew so fast that when we got the chance to buy the old ranch that had once been part of the largest cigar plantation in all of the western US, we grabbed it up. The aging movie star who sold it to us was thrilled that it was going to be a private estate, and would probably be annoyed if he had lived to see what we were about to do with part of it.
Grizzly, California would be part of our lives, and I felt that a portion of the idea for it had come from me and some of the stories I used to tell my son when he was young. I loved the stories of the old towns in the west, and often read to him from books about how one city or another had come to be; could it be that some of those stories inspired the idea for Grizzly? I hope so. I'd love to believe that he inherited a part of my love of people and history from me.
Now I was watching him grow even more, into a man that his father and I could be so very proud of. He was running the company, which was giving Norman the chance to spend more time looking after his own health, which was important; I'd almost lost him a few months earlier, when he had a heart attack, and I'm just not ready to give him up.
Nathanael was showing us all that he was more than ready to be a fine man, husband and father, and the young woman he'd chosen to spend his life with was absolutely wonderful. KK (the nickname I picked up from her mom) would be the mother of my grandchildren, and it was so exciting that the first one was already on the way—although, I can't say I was really surprised, since I knew they were wanting to start a family as soon as they could.
Rebecca and I had taken on the chore of setting up the baby shower, and then Nathanael surprised us all once again by bringing in KK's best friend, Corie, and she was thrilled when we invited her to join in with us on it. I got to talk to her a bit that night, and laughed myself silly when we all realized that she'd actually been dressed as one of the servers who was bringing the food out to us, and KK hadn’t even noticed her!
“Oh, my gosh,” Katelynn kept saying, “oh, my gosh, how could I not notice my best friend in the whole world? I feel so awful! You were right there in front of me, and I didn't even see you!”
“Oh, get over it, already,” Corie said, laughing it off. “They had me in one of those Mexican maid outfits, and that cook's hat covered almost my whole head! I don't think my own mother would have known me!”
The four of us decided to make a day of it the following morning, and begin planning. Nate gave us the okay to arrange to fly KK's other friends and relatives out, of course, and so she and Corie started making a list. Rebecca and I began working on games and party favors, and we talked about where to have it, but Corie insisted that we should do it right there at the house. “Sheesh,” she said, “you gotta give the girl a chance to show off her new digs! Everyone will be so jealous, and that's something Katelynn has needed for a long, long time!”
We all went back to our respective homes, and Corie was driven back to the hotel she was in while she looked for a house. We had arranged to meet up at a particular restaurant for breakfast in the morning, and I agreed to drive KK and Rebecca, so I went to bed as soon as I got home. Morning comes early enough, even when you don’t' have a breakfast meeting! I wanted to be up and ready to go before anyone else.
And I was! I had Emerson drive us, of course, since Norman and Jim were going to go into town and start preparing the paperwork for the new community and would take Norman's car. We pulled up in front of Nate's and KK's house at a quarter of seven. She was ready, so we picked up Rebecca about ten minutes later and headed into the city to get Corie, and go to Dottie's True Blue Cafe.
If you're going out for breakfast in San Fran, Dottie's is a place you don't want to miss out on. The most incredible breakfast fare you can imagine, and all served on tables covered with photos of old movie stars, the atmosphere is just amazing. We had to stand in line for almost twenty minutes, but it was well worth the wait, as almost anyone who's ever eaten there will tell you. At my suggestion, we all had the banana raspberry rice pancakes, and everyone loved it!
When we'd eaten, I wanted to get out of the way so others in the line could have their turn. Emerson took us to another little coffee shop not far away and got us down to business.
“So,” I began, “let's talk about who to invite!” I got out a notepad and began writing the names that everyone was throwing at me, and had to ask them to slow down a couple of times. By the time we were all agreed, there were more than a hundred names, and I was beginning to wonder about the wisdom of having it at the house, but apparently KK had talked to Charles and Pierre, and they were confident that they could fit any number up to three hundred, so I let it pass.
“Now,” Rebecca said, “let's talk games! That was always my favorite part of
a baby shower, and I've been to many of them!”
“Diaper races,” KK said, “with a doll! See who can change the baby fastest! Maybe blindfolded?”
“That's a good one,” I said, writing it down. “And I like 'Don't Say Baby.' Everyone gets a diaper pin to put on their clothes when they arrive, and if they say the word baby, whoever hears them and speaks up first can take their pin. Whoever has the most pins at the end of the shower wins a prize.”
“Hey,” said Rebecca, “how about 'What's In The Bag?' We put different baby items into paper bags and everyone gets one, then they try to guess what's in it without opening it.” I wrote it down.
Corie said, “Alphabet baby names. You take turns coming up with a name, and each name has to start with the next letter from the last name. It gets real hard coming up with some of them after the first round, let me tell you!”
We ended up with about thirty games, which we decided was enough, so we moved on to more important matters. “Okay, what about food? We need to decide if we're serving lunch, or just snacks.”
“Oh, do lunch!” Corie said. “Let's show off real good!”
We all laughed, and decided on a lunch of finger foods, like babies would eat. We all thought that would be fun!
We covered a number of other ideas, and then decided, since we were out and away from the guys, to take ourselves a day and go shopping. Naturally, we all wanted to go shopping for baby stuff, and so we looked up the best baby stores in town. One by one, we hit them all, and by the time we were done, Emerson had to call back and get one of the groundskeepers to bring our pickup truck to haul all the booty home!
We bought tons of things that would be needed regardless of whether it was a boy or a girl, like onesies, bibs, pacifiers, mobiles, bathing gear, a changing table, three different playpens and goodness knows what else. It was a great day for all of us, and in between making decision after decision, we talked about things like names for the baby.