Laura's Big Win (37 page)

Stopping for a treat after the school
activities, Ryan was seated where he could observe the playroom,
while Laura placed the order and the kids burned energy at will.
The familiar voice that greeted him was from a temp who had worked
at Windmere several years previous, and who had kept her eye on
Ryan from the outset. She knew he was married at the time, but she
also knew Mary had passed away, and as near as she knew, he was a
single and very eligible man.

“Ryan, how nice to see you again. How
are things with you?”

It never dawned on Ryan this woman was
on the hunt, and he was in her sights. “Oh, Gail, good to see you.
Things are going good for me. And you?”

“Really good, now. I stopped dating the
guy I was seeing back when I was working at Windmere, so my life is
less complicated, and I have some free time to enjoy. I was sorry
to hear about Mary; I enjoyed knowing her. But, life does go on,
like it or not. So, what have you been up to recently? Anything
good?”

“Yes, he has been up to some good
things. He’s really great with my kids, soon to be our kids.” Laura
had come up on them so quickly it was almost as though she appeared
magically. “Ryan, that tray’s going to be pretty heavy. Could you
carry it to the table please?” And with that, things became
perfectly clear to Gail that Ryan was no longer a fish in the sea.
Although they exchanged pleasantries, Gail melted away quickly, but
not before Ryan caught the scent animosity between the two women.
It was not something he had ever bothered himself with, but
obviously Laura did, and he was concerned about allowing any
misunderstanding, however small, entering into their
relationship.

Later in the evening, kids asleep in
their beds, Ryan and Laura were having a nightcap before separating
for the night, chatting about minor things they needed to discuss
concerning their upcoming wedding. Laura remembered the incident in
the ice cream shop earlier in the evening, and needed to clarify
things a bit, as much in her own mind as for Ryan.

“I need to tell you I’m sorry about
that little fit I threw when we stopped for a treat. I don’t know
exactly what set me off, but I want you to know it was my fault and
I won’t let it happen again. It wasn’t very fair to you, putting
you in the middle like that. So, I’m sorry. Okay?”

“I knew something was wrong, and that
you were clearly upset, but I didn’t understand what happened.
Really, all she did was stop to say hello to me. That’s
all.”

“Look, we think differently. Men and
women are just different…..”

“For which I will eternally be
grateful, especially in your case.”

“Me too, but let me finish, okay? What
you heard was her asking was how you were, but what I heard was her
telling you she had dumped her boyfriend, she knew you were flying
solo since Mary was gone, and the way she was standing said she
wanted to take you for a test drive. You were obviously sitting
there waiting for someone since you weren’t in line or eating, and
the only other people in the place were me and the kids. I guess I
saw her as invading my territory, and I know I don’t own you or
anything, so I shouldn’t have reacted so quickly.. I’m sorry.
Forgive me?”

“Nothing to forgive. You do own my
heart, and I guess I’d be a little put out if you didn’t defend
your territory. So, suppose we call it a draw for now. I can put my
class ring on my ring finger and wear it upside down so it looks
like a wedding band, if you like, until I get the real thing. I
know: how about a nose ring with a string on it for a leash? Are we
having a lover’s ‘incident’? If we are, can we practice making up
now? I’d like that.

“You’re smart mouthing me, aren’t you,
and I’m trying to be serious.”

“No, ma’am; I’m being very serious. I
understand the deal, but if you think I’m smart mouthing you, meet
me halfway around the table and I’ll show you what else we could be
doing.”

So ended the discussion about Gail.
Laura satisfied herself that Ryan either didn’t read Gail’s
advertising, or discretion being the better part of valor, had
elected to ignore the signs. Either way, Laura felt assured he was
not vulnerable to approaches from other women, and her concern
receded.

Christmas Day morning saw the four of
them in the cottage. Virtually all activity at Windmere had stopped
for the day. Other facilities would be operating full tilt, but the
home office had done quite well during the year, and in truth,
decided to take the day off. People would check in from time to
time, and being on-call was assigned to top management in three
hour increments so everyone had a fair shot at an uninterrupted
day. It was notable of the Windmere operation that the home office
had sufficient confidence in their operators at other locations
that they could virtually shut down for a while; it was something
developed over the years by giving those operators the confidence
to make decisions based on their training and knowledge of their
operations. The only caveat was that the operator making the
decision be able to justify the reasoning. It was a productive
system that tended to weed out those unable to handle the demands
of being decisive based on the best information at the time. Not
one operator had ever been discharged for failure to act in a
crises, even though not all of their actions had been exactly
correct. It was more important that they be seen as doing something
proactive, right or wrong, than being weighed down with
inertia.

Laura had warned Ryan to be up early or
miss the ripping open of gifts. She was grateful that she had the
income to buy things for the kids, and was equally grateful that
she did not have to justify her purchases to anyone. Ryan was
totally lost about what kids wanted or needed, so the two of them
had done some joint shopping. Although he did come up with a couple
of things on his own, he ran his ideas past Laura before ordering,
just to make sure they were both doing the right thing. It would
not, she assured him, get any easier, because kids grew and changed
so quickly and people who marketed to kids were both greedy and
devious. That aside for the moment, Ryan arrived early enough, and
with a good morning kiss to sweeten his coffee, the two of them
awaited the still sleeping children. They had discovered to their
surprise that as the day of their marriage grew closer, they not
only grew closer to each other, but if they had any apprehensions
about it, those apprehensions diminished in the anticipation of the
many good things that day would bring.

The waiting was soon over as both Jack
and Amanda appeared to pop out of their beds at the same moment.
Laura maintained strict rules on morning hygiene, but that was
disposed of quickly and the kids piled into the living room. Past
Christmas Day activities had virtually been programmed into them:
open things, say thank you, take things to your room if you ever
want to see them again. It was one more thing about Richard that
Laura had learned to loath, but today she was not married to him
anymore and the kids were allowed to be kids. Laura had restrained
herself, and Ryan to a degree, so there was an impressive array of
presents, but not so much as to be overwhelming. The other
precaution she had taken was to remind Ryan that these were kids
and that their priorities were not always the same as the adults in
the room; she did so to protect his feelings just in case he gave
them something that was not an immediate hit. It was an effort
without future justification. At the same time, it was curious to
her that while she knew Ryan had purchased some things, she had
seen him bring nothing into the cottage. There was the usual
assortment of clothing, kid’s books for later reading on someone’s
lap, and an assortment of toys and games. When they had finally
worked their way though about everything, Ryan announced that Santa
had mistakenly left some things in the big house and that he had
brought them along that morning. Asking the kids to help, he opened
the front door and rolled in a four wheel cart Laura recognized as
coming from the kitchen, but laden with several packages instead of
equipment.

“Carefully, carefully. We don’t want
your mom to yell at us for messing the place up.” In truth, the
place already looked like a confetti plant, and Laura laughed at
his incongruous remark.

“Jack, I think this may belong to you.
Mandy, I’ll have something for you in just a minute, okay?” Ryan’s
biceps bulged under the weight of the package. Whatever it
contained belied the pretty wrapping paper. Jack tore into the
paper, to expose a very heavy packing box under it. They virtually
needed some kitchen tools to get the box open, but when the top
flaps finally yielded to the pull of young hands, Jack’s eyes
widened until Laura thought they might meet in the middle; she
caught it with her camera just in time.

“Franz, and Santa, tell me these
engines are pretty temperamental, but once tuned correctly, they
are both powerful and have a high top end. I know you may not
recognize the name right now, but I think you will in
time.”

“Yes sir, I recognize the name, I just
can’t say it very good and I don’t think Franz can say it at all,
but I’ve seen pictures of ‘em on things, mostly carts and stuff
like that. I can’t wait to find something to put this one on and
see it run.”

“Tell you what, Jack; after we get done
here, and you get some breakfast in you, suppose we go over to the
carriage house and see what else may have come along with this and
just got dropped off in the wrong place. Franz said he had some
weird things there, oh, and by the way, here’s one more thing
you’ll need eventually. Your mother said it is a requirement.
Okay?”

Ryan handed the boy a smaller, lighter
package for him to open. Laura was quick with the camera when Jack
managed to free a helmet with visor, chin strap, and flame
painting, from the box. The grin on the boy’s face literally lit up
the room. Ryan was delighted at the way things were working out,
and he had cleared it all before taking the plunge into go-cart
racing for the boy who would soon be his son. In her own wisdom,
Laura trusted this man to do the right things with her only son,
and while she was not exactly entranced at the thought of racing,
Ryan had all the facts on his side. He pointed out how few things
really went wrong in cart racing compared to kids left to develop
bad habits on their own, and he would be there to watch as much as
possible at the local track. It was truly a father-son
moment.

“Thank you sir, this is the bestest
present I ever got from anybody. I promise I’ll take great care of
it, and I’ll always wear my helmet.”

“You’re welcome Jack; it’s my pleasure.
But, remember to wear that helmet or your mother will beat both of
us. Now, I have a little something for your sister, who has been
waiting very patiently. Amanda, can you help me with this
box?”

Lightning couldn’t have been faster to
get to Ryan’s side as they slid the huge box off the cart. It
really wasn’t all that heavy, but Ryan made a show of it anyway.
Laura had known about the engine and the cart awaiting assembly,
but this one was a secret even to her. Finally, with the box placed
in the middle of the floor, Amanda started in with the unwrapping,
tearing through what seemed like layer after layer of paper and
packing material. The pile of discarded material grew considerably
before she came to what looked like the final wrap, a soft cottony
blanket of material gently placed around whatever was contained. As
the removed material started to expose the contents, Laura gasped
aloud. Jack was pretty busy in his own world, but stopped examining
the engine for a minute, and the eager Amanda made short work of
the remaining wrap. There it stood, a dollhouse sized version of
the White House, the place they had only seen from the road, but
which in only a few more days they could enter. The real
significance was probably lost on Amanda, who was simply thrilled
to have the huge dollhouse to play with, but Laura looked at Ryan
for some explanation.

“It took a little doing to come up with
this. After the plans for the White House were drawn up and
construction completed, I took the drawings to a model builder and
asked him to build a replica sized so scale model furniture would
go with it. My plan was to give it to my little girl someday, but
things didn’t work out so well with that idea. Anyway, it’s here
today, and there’s a little girl here; I think she likes it. How
about her mother?”

“You never cease to amaze me. And by
the way, as of this Saturday afternoon, you will have a little
girl. Remember? We’re a package deal.”

“And I like the package very much,
especially what I see from here. Now, before I forget entirely,
here’s the box with the furniture. We can move this whole thing
into the bedroom before she gets too far with it.”

“Ryan, that’s my only concern about
this doll house. There isn’t much room left in here now that we
have managed to gain back some possessions. I’m afraid the house
could be damaged if it stays here; I wouldn’t want that to happen,
and I know Amanda would be upset, so…..”

“Not to worry. Remember our deal: you
do weddings, I do real estate. I’m working on a solution to that
problem even as we speak. Trust me on this; I can work it out.
Okay?”

“Yes, okay. I know you have some way of
making things all work out for us. Guess I should trust you one
more time. But really, are you looking at a place? I know, I know,
that’s your part of the deal, but us girls get curious now and
then. Any hints?”