Ben the architect came in at two o’clock. He and Todd spent the next hour going over Todd’s rough plan. Ben made a comment or two and when it was all said and done, Ben told Todd he could move in when he returned from his honeymoon or sooner as the case may be.
Todd’s plan for the house he explained to Jen later that night, in essence, grandmothers and the cook along with the housekeeper, their rooms would not be remodeled except for new carpet and paint. An electric hoist chair for the stairs would be installed for grandmother when she was unable to climb the stairs. A basement would be dug out and an exercise room complete with hot tub and showers added as part of the basement. The library/study would be combined into an office for himself and Nancy. A separate office for Jen would be next to his. A giant new kitchen with the latest in culinary devices would make any chef smile was part of the plan. The upstairs master bedroom and the kid’s rooms would complete the plan for sleeping. A new enlarged dining room would double for a conference room when needed.
Outside in the back would be a California Redwood deck and wading pool, along with a large hot tub for the kids for him and Jen to play around in. Naturally, a state of the art BBQ would give the master chef Todd a place to show off his stuff.
Todd thought to himself, a nicer place you could not find with a family whose love for each other would be unequalled. I couldn’t be happier he thought. Lovely bright future with a grandmother who loved him very much; and a challenge ahead of him to make the Lincoln Group one of the finest companies to lead the way to the future with fairness for the environment and show a profit for its shareholders.
With Pete coming soon and Damion outlying Todd’s restructuring plan; Alex showing his prowess in the job assigned; Jen and Glenda working on an advertising plan for public support and identity for the Lincoln Group along with Guido on the newspaper side, Todd felt comfortable with his life. He knew the price of stock would tumble. He was counting on that. He and the other principals would reap a harvest when the time came that the stock reached bottom and started back up again. Then they would by all the stock they could afford.
Grandmother left for Florida in early November. Todd moved her two house companions to an apartment. They grumbled a little, but knew it was temporary.
Thanksgiving arrived and Todd spent an enjoyable time with her parents. The house was filled with good smells of turkey cooking and pies cooling. The house smelled terrific and happy voices could be heard. Todd and Doctor Curtis spent some time in the family room talking about his grandmother’s case and other doctor related conversation. After a fine dinner Todd and Jen took their leave and went home to lie around on the sofa.
Taking a rest on the sofa, they talked about Christmas coming and her sister arriving. A sad look on her face as she was thinking about how long it had been since her sister was home. Then she smiled at him and said, “Hey golden boy, how about a romp in the bathtub and a cold shower following.”
He jumped up and headed for the bathroom. Two hours later, waterlogged and satiated from love making, they went to the kitchen for ice cream. They devoured the ice cream and decided to make an early night to bed.
Todd couldn’t sleep as his mind was flooded with memories of the past Thanksgiving Days with his parents and the many sailing trips with his father at the helm. He remembered his father as a simple family man who was a provider and he had strong feelings for conservation that bridged the gap to his son. His mother, a quiet woman, who deeply cared for her family and her grandmother long past was an example to follow. Then there were the days she spent at the winery helping her mother. Other time s she could be found on the boat acting like a mother to both Todd and Penny. In a short time Penny would be returned to its natural dock where it was originally intended to reside.
He was very thankful to his future wife for being there when the boat left for California. As a matter of fact, he was grateful to God and to her parents for raising a wonder girl like his Jen.
Christmas soon arrived amid a snowstorm the likes not seen for a few years. Jen was worried about Jan coming in such bad weather. Todd had giver her a SUV for an early present. He told her they would make it to the airport and pick her up with no problems. She trusted her man and said, “I will relax and let you take care of it.”
Picking up Jan was no problem and a tearful reunion resulted when all met in the baggage area. Jan’s eyes were on Todd and his eyes met hers. Then she turned back to her sister and tears flowed like buckets down their faces.
Christmas was wonderful as the family reunion with the whole family back together again and with the addition of a future son-in-law. Todd was amazed at the two identical twin sisters. Both had the same length hair and no one could possible tell them apart, including him! They told stories about how they would fool their boyfriends and take each other's place once in a while. He was lucky tonight as they were dressed different from each other. He listened carefully to Jan’s stories and life in France. She was so much like his Jen, he thought. I wonder why she isn’t married or maybe she doesn’t have a boyfriend, he again thought to himself.
He enjoyed talking to her as if he was talking to his future wife. I wonder what if I was Mormon, he joked to himself. Sure would be lots of blond haired kids running around and he laughed out loud. Jen asked him why he was laughing and he told her he was thinking about when she was fishing and fell down. Jen laughed and told the family the fishing story and going crabbing.
They left late that night and Jen was so happy she started crying in the car. Todd asked her what was wrong and she told him through tears and sobs that she was so happy she had to cry. He took her home and made gentle soft love to her and they fell asleep cuddled to each other.
Beginning the next week, following a nice holiday with her family, Todd sat at his desk and waited for the stock market to open. From all reports he read, the Lincoln Group would take a big hit today. Throughout the day, the phones were lit up like a Christmas tree. By the end of the day Lincoln stock was down five percent. Todd thought it would go down another two to five percent in the following months and then move back where it was the past August.
The first of the year came and when February arrived, arrived the stock had risen back to where it was in late summer. A nice profit was had by all who bought at the lower price. Todd decided to sell some stock and put it in their foundation to support lobby groups for conservation and especially for cleaner air.
By now the Lincoln Group owned a chain of newspapers; and with Jen and Glenda flooding the market with advertising, it began to pay off with public support. Other companies stood up and took notice of the Lincoln Group. The stock continued to inch upwards.
Todd decided to take on the international side of the Lincoln Group. Their European president was expecting a shakeup of things. He had been working hard to make a strong impression when Todd’s team arrived. Damion had been in contact with him before and subsequently made two trips abroad to meet with him. Damion reported he was a good leader, but lacked the delegation needed to implement policy
On the international front, Todd suggested he take Pete with him and a team of accountants to Europe and check it out from top to bottom. “Take Alex with you too. Leave Pete in Western Europe and I might suggest Damion you see the president of Russia. See if they’re interested in a joint venture particularly in the field of manufacturing and oil and gas exploration. Get a feel for the country and drop down to China and see what our office is doing. Car manufacturing is going to get bigger and we want part of the action. Depending on your time, you might go to South Korea and see Daewoo and their ship building facilities on Koje Island. The South Koreans are a major player in building desaltasation plants in the Middle East. Fresh water is a precious resource and it will become scarcer as time moves on. South Korea has some tough foreign investment laws so maybe you should get Alan and his team to check it out. One only has to look at the Colorado River and you can plainly see the probl
em with our water supply. Anyway, use your own judgment and go on a fact finding trip. By the way have you given some thought to a number two man under you? It seems you are stretched pretty thin and I’d like to hear your thoughts on this idea.”
“Yes, I should probably do that,’ Damion said. “There is a guy in Europe that has impressed me when I met him a few months ago. He’s kept in touch on occasion by e-mail. I will have Alex run a check on him. We could use a guy in Europe. If there is nothing else, I have to see Pete and tell him about going abroad for awhile. Anything else Todd?”
“No, nothing else at this time Damion, thanks for taking so much off my plate these days.”
Todd reflected on the past month. The first of the year was uneventful. Jan decided to stay until the wedding. Mother and dad were happy as was Jen. The twins spent a lot of time together and Jan spent most of her time with her sister and Glenda at the office. Many nights Jan stayed over at the apartment. Maria, now with Jen and living with them, started going to the office too on a regular basis. She was smart and had a degree in marketing.
When just a few months ago the apartment was empty of people except me, he thought to himself, now my future wife lives with me along with her friend and her sister stays with us a few nights a week too. He felt totally satisfied. Grandmother was doing well; business was good; and his life was full of beautiful ladies at home. He truly enjoyed going home and cooking for all of them. Maria was a big help to Luke. She gradually took on the marketing and Luke expressed his thanks. Luke and his wife were not getting any younger and they were giving thoughts of retirement. Todd as a show of his gratitude for their long and faithful service bought them a home on the water in Florida. He set up a trust account with a yearly salary for life. Luke had expressed his love of fishing and he bought them a fishing boat that was big enough to take out to open sea. After the wedding they moved to Florida.
Todd offered Luke’s apartment to Maria and she gratefully accepted. She started night school to get her MBA. Her friends and family were so proud of her back at the winery.
Spring arrived with beautiful weather. The wedding day was not far off. A flurry of activity took place. Todd spent most of his time at the new office. Grandmother’s house was almost finished and it was completed enough for grandmother to move back into with her housekeeper and cook. Todd was happy she returned home. They spent many hours talking. The noise and dust were a problem and the housekeeper made lots of noise much to everyone’s delight. All things considered, they all were happy to be home together again.
Todd chose Alex as his best man. The colonel could not keeps from smiling. He was so proud to have been chosen for the role of best man. On the wedding day he looked terrific in his tux. Unknown to most, but not Jen, was the relationship that was blooming between the colonel and Maria. It would not be long before another wedding was planned.
Pete and Damion cleaned up the problems in Europe. Damion completed his fact finding tour and a meeting of the executive staff produced a plan to make substantial investments in Eastern Europe and Asia.
Any naysayer was not heard from again. The Lincoln Group headed the Fortune 500 Club. Todd and his grandmother were listed in the top five richest people in the world. When grandmother passed on, Todd would replace Bill Gates as the richest man in the world.