orchards. We stopped and took a tour of the property, and then saw how they took the grapes and made wine. Julie and I did some wine-tasting, and the kids drank grape juice. Julie was doing her best to see that all of us were having a wonderful time. She was playing up to me, flirting with me continuously. I couldn’t help but have a good time.
At four, we went back to the apartment, showered and cleaned up.
When Larry and Jacky came in, we all went to the Paramount. Apparently this was a place where movie stars liked to hang out. We saw many stars that I recognized, and many that I didn’t. They all seemed to know Jacky and Larry, and I was introduced to many of them. Most people would have been star-struck, but I was too grumpy.
After we were back in the apartment, alone, Julie asked, “Well, what do you think?”
I smiled. “Honey, whatever you want is fine with me.”
She nearly lost her composure. “Brandon, that isn’t good enough. What do you think?”
I tried to maintain my smile. “I am fine with living here while you do your movies, but I don’t want to live in New Mexico!” I figured that I was negotiating and was giving her what she wanted.
“Okay,” she said. “I guess that I can live with that. Why don’t you want to live at their place?”
I had lost my smile. I couldn’t tell the truth; I made up a story. “Honey, Jacky and Larry are nice people; I just don’t fit into their lifestyle. You do, and I understand that. We have to just agree to disagree.”
Julie looked confused. “What do you mean?”
I sighed. “I mean that you and I are different. I am willing to bend if you are. I just don’t want to break either one of us.”
Now she smiled. “That’s why I love you, Brandon; you have both our best interests at heart.”
I wasn’t sure how true that was, but I smiled and took the compliment graciously. I said, “Honey, I just want us both to be happy, and this seems like the best way. I am chomping at the bit to get back to Texas and move into our new home.”
Everything seemed wonderful between us. We went to bed completely happy with each other.
Friday morning we woke up to a knock on our door. It was Jacky.
“Guys, something has come up and Larry has to fly us back to Taos this morning. I hate to do this to you, but I need you to get up and get ready.”
We were all up but Franky. He just stared at us.
Julie asked, “Do we have thirty minutes?”
Jacky smiled. “Sure. It’s seven-twenty; we need to leave here by eight.”
At eight o’clock we were in the van headed for the airport. Larry was all business, no playing around. We boarded the Gulf Stream and were quickly in the air. I could tell by the increased engine noise that Larry was pushing them hard. The flight was otherwise nice.
We landed right at eleven-thirty and were met by a fueling truck and eight heavily armed men. I saw Ashour and Lewis standing in the group. I was relieved; they all looked mean and ready for action. Larry rather quickly introduced us to the eight men and said that there had been an attempt on his daughter’s life in Qatar, and they were going to fly over and provide protection. I volunteered to go with them, but Larry politely refused my offer.
There was a Suburban waiting on us, and Jacky took us back to their cabin. It was an hour’s drive through some of the prettiest country that I had ever seen. Maybe I should reconsider having a cabin here.
At her cabin, Jacky made certain that we were all settled in and comfortable.
About an hour later, Julie was watching Franky, and I took Johnny and Rachael down to the corral to see the horses. One of the ladies had told me that they had a new colt, a baby horse.
Someone walked up beside me and I turned to look. Iit was Jacky. Her bright green eyes were dazzling.
“Brandon, when do I get to see you again?”
She had caught me off-guard, and I blurted out, “I guess the next time that Julie goes to work on a movie.” I caught my breath. I had made a terrible mistake. I needed to close this off and I had just opened the door again.
Jacky smiled. “Good. I was thinking that you didn’t want to see me again.”
I turned slightly from Jacky as my eyes darted around; I was looking for Rachael and trying to tell if she had heard us. She didn’t look up, so I assumed that she hadn’t.
I asked, “Jacky, when is Julie going back?”
She had a blazing hot smile. “In two weeks. She will go do some commercial work. I will set it up. Then two weeks after that, her movie comes out. If you don’t go for that, I can come see you again.”
I called the kids to me. Jacky and the four of us walked slowly back to her cabin.
I looked up at the porch, Julie was watching us intently. I waved and smiled. Julie sort of waved back. At the porch Jacky went inside.
Julie asked, “What did Jacky want, Brandon?”
I smiled. “She told me a secret and I can’t tell you, sorry.” I walked past Julie and went inside.
We spent the rest of that day inside. By dark I was ready to go home.
The next morning, Julie, the kids and I left amidst everyone waving and blowing kisses at us.
We were on the highway headed home when Julie leaned over toward me and asked, “Okay, Brandon, what is the secret?”
I used my own psychology on her. “Julie, I can keep a secret too!”
She punched me in the arm playfully and shook her fist at me. “Brandon, when we get home, you get to sleep in the dog house.”
I smiled. “Okay, she told me that you had a job coming up. That is all that I can tell you.”
“A job, huh?” Julie sat back in her seat. “I wonder what kind of a job?”
I sighed. “I don’t know about you, but I have to go back to work Monday. My vacation days are about all used up.”
We drove into Texas and stopped in Amarillo at a place that was a typical tourist trap. It wasn’t that nice, but there was a lot for the kids to do, and they needed to burn off a lot of energy.
The next morning, we were up early and drove on to Dallas. We got to the Mid Cities area and went to Grapevine, where our new house was being built. It was practically completed. The builder said that we could start moving in Tuesday. I had to hold Julie down; she was so excited that her feet barely touched the ground.
We drove on home and I was ready for bed. I took a shower and went to bed early. I had no idea that Julie called Jacky while I slept.
Tuesday morning the moving van arrived, and surprisingly we had a lot of “stuff” to move. Julie took care of it and by the end of the day, all our possessions were loaded into the back of a moving van. As we had no place to sleep, we went to a motel. I took Wednesday off work and helped set up the furniture in our new house.
I was moving boxes in when Julie’s phone rang. She walked outside to talk to someone. I paid no attention to it.
She came back in all excited. “Brandon, I have a gig. I have to go to San Diego Tuesday and do some commercials. Please come with me.”
I shook my head. “Honey, I don’t have any more days off. I have to stay here, sorry.”
She shook her head. “Do you mind if I go?”
I smiled, shaking my head. “No, honey, you go make us some more money.”
She spun around and threw her arms in the air, startling two of the moving guys. She said, “I love you, honey. I will make us lots of money, and you can quit your job and just stay with me.”
It was after six when the moving guys set the last box down and left us alone in our new house. We had to go out to dinner as the kitchen and dining room were full of boxes.
The rest of that day and that week were hectic. Finding things proved to be quite a task.
Sunday we went to a new church that we had found. Everyone seemed to welcome us and made us feel right at home. The minister shook our hands at the end of the service, and I figured that we had found our church home
.
Monday, I went to work and started on a new classified project.
Gloria come up to me. “Brandon, Henry was sentenced last week to six months in jail. The company let him go.” I was sad to hear that, but I was just happy that it wasn’t me.
I worked extra hard and at four-thirty, I was ready to go home. At five, I left and drove home. It was a forty-minute drive in the traffic. I was starting to hate the traffic.
Tuesday morning, I dropped Julie off at the airport and then went to work.
At noon, I was eating lunch when my phone rang. “Brandon, I am in town. Can you meet me tonight?”
For some reason, I looked at my watch. “I think so, Jacky. Where will you be?”
She gave me directions to her hotel in Dallas and the room number.
I called my next door neighbor and she said that she would pick up my kids and watch them for me.
At five, I drove over to the hotel and went to Jacky’s room. She had on a black dress with lots of diamond jewelry; she looked out of this world.
I said, “Damn, Jacky, I have on blue jeans. Where were you planning on going?”
She smiled. “Anywhere that you want to. I am all yours tonight.”
We went to the hotel’s restaurant and had dinner. Then we went to the hotel’s lounge, danced and drank until midnight. I took Jacky to her room and then went home. I figured that I had abused my neighbor enough.
I took Wednesday off and went back to the hotel. We spent the entire day in Jacky’s room. Her flight was at four, so I took her to the airport and dropped her off. I was ready to slow down a bit.
Thursday I was back at work. I wanted to brag