Our Journey

by Tey Holden

  “That’s good. The trip will feel shorter for her,” Jo said, looking at the GPS, “although, we’re only two hours away.”

  Chapter 10

  As they pulled into the circular driveway, the beauty of the house amazed them.

  “Wow, what a house!” Kate said.

  “It looks like it’s out the Architectural Digest Magazine,” Jo commented.

  “Do you suppose it’s one of his designs?” Kate asked.

  “I don’t know, but if it is maybe he can design our cottage by the lake at the ranch,” Jo said in jest, knowing that they were still far from making that dream come true.

  A tall woman with short curly brown hair came out to meet them, not far from her another woman followed. The second woman was a bit shorter, and her hair was straight, long, and brown. Jo shut off the engine and got out of the RV. Kate did the same a few minutes later with Mellie in her arms.

  “Hi, I’m Joelle McCallister, Jo for short. This is my wife, Kate.”

  The tall woman shook both their hands, grinning from ear to ear. “Welcome, I’m Waverly Radford, but everyone calls me Wally, and this is my wife and business manager, Dannie.”

  Jo grinned, realizing why Wally was smiling as well. Dannie also shook their hands, and soon everyone was laughing.

  “What do you think were the odds?” Dannie said, making everyone laugh. “And who is this gorgeous little thing?” Dannie asked, tickling the adorable little girl in Kate’s arms.

  “This is our daughter, Mellie. What do you say when we meet someone, little girl?” Mellie hid her face in Kate’s neck.

  “You’ll have to excuse her. She’s usually very sociable, but she just woke up when we pulled up the driveway,” Kate said while adjusting Mellie more comfortably in her arms.

  “She’s adorable! I always thought it was great when ours slept for hours whenever we were on the road. Come on in. We’re glad to meet you,” Dannie said.

  “I love your RV. I always wanted one. What type is it?” Wally asked, and Jo began to tell her everything about the vehicle.

  They were still in awe of the coincidence that they were two lesbian couples. “Pardon our bewilderment when we met out there, but with your recommendations coming from the Army, the last thing we expected was a lesbian couple, and Manny didn’t mention it either.”

  “Well, if you know Manny, you know he planned this so that he could have a laugh later. Kate and I met after my Army days,” Jo explained, “and by the way, we also didn’t know you were a lesbian couple.”

  They laughed. “How long have you been together?” Dannie asked.

  “Nine years going on ten, right babe?” Jo answered while looking at Kate.

  Kate rolled her eyes and spoke to Dannie, “she does that to pretend she’s forgotten that our tenth anniversary is coming up,” she said loud enough to make everyone laugh.

  “A tenth anniversary must be celebrated,” Dannie remarked.

  “Oh, it will be!” Kate proclaimed, making very clear to all who was actually in charge.

  Wally chuckled. “I think you and I have a lot more than engineering in common!” They walked through the living room of the beautiful home and reached the patio.

  “I love your house. It’s beautiful. Oh, my God! And look at this patio!” Kate exclaimed.

  “It’s one of Wally’s designs,” Dannie responded with pride.

  Suddenly, a ball of fire ran downstairs and jumped right in front of them, stopping right in front of Mellie, who immediately brightened up. “Hi,” Annie said to Mellie. “What’s your name?” Mellie smiled, and Annie immediately took her little hand and led her towards the patio. Mellie followed contently.

  The women were astonished. “Well, that was easy,” Wally said, and they all laughed. “Annie is our daughter.”

  Then looking at Dannie, Kate remarked, “she looks just like you.”

  “The spitting image!” Wally added, smiling and looking lovingly to Dannie. “Just like Mellie is of you.” Jo smiled, hearing Wally’s comment.

  “How old are you?” Annie asked. Mellie looked at her moms and then at the fingers on her little hand. There was indecision as to how many fingers she should hold up, and she looked to Jo for help. Jo raised one finger, and Mellie immediately smiled and imitated her mom raising only one finger.

  Annie was delighted. “She’s so cute!”

  “And just how old are you, Annie?” Kate asked.

  “I’m six,” Annie said proudly.

  “Annie, why don’t you bring some toys out to play with Mellie?” Dannie suggested.

  “Okay, but can she go in the pool later?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe later, but we need to ask her moms first.”

  “Kay.” She ran off to get her toys.

  “Don’t run!”

  “She’s adorable,” Kate commented.

  “And a handful!” Dannie added. “The best time is when they’re that age.” She pointed to Mellie, who was nibbling two Ritz crackers at the same time and had part of one stuck to her cheek. “She’s precious. Kate, I understand that you have a job offer at the medical center. May I ask what is your medical specialty?”

  “Pediatrics.”

  “That is wonderful! Our friend Bobby and her partner have three kids. It’s great to have a pediatrician on board as part of our closely-knit group. By the way, Cindy, Bobby’s partner, decided to quit work and be a stay at home mom, so she takes care of Annie after school. Her oldest is in first grade, the other is in kinder, and the little one just started preschool, so they’re all at different stages. If you’d like, and Jo accepts the position, I could talk to her about taking care of Mellie while you work. She’s still on the company’s payroll,” Dannie explained.

  “For babysitting?” Kate asked, astonished.

  Dannie laughed. “Kate, we have a very interesting concept of a company. Cindy is a fabulous web designer, and one day she will again assume that role. For now, we consider her the most important person in the company because she takes care of that which is of most precious to us, our children.”

  Kate and Jo listened, liking what they were hearing. The conversation flowed, and after having lunch out in the patio, they began to discuss business.

  “Jo, let me tell you my story and what is going on right now.” Wally explained to her how Radford Designs had come about after her initial association with Terra Corporation.

  “So, what happened with Terra? Why did you decide to break your association with them?”

  Wally looked to Dannie. “Jo, Kate, we’re simple people. There was a time when we had nothing but our brains and the desire to succeed. Dannie was my driving force. She literally pushed me to pursue my dream, and that’s how Radford Designs was born. There was a situation with Wayne Gordon, the owner of Terra Designs, that made me realize that he was not the type of person we wanted to be associated with.”

  “Wally, I think she needs to know if she’s going to appreciate what’s going on here,” Dannie stated.

  Wally pursed her lips. “You tell her. It still makes me mad.” Wally got up to check on the grill.

  “Wally and I have been married for several years, our commitment is rock solid. A year ago, Pam Gordon, Gordon’s daughter, came on to Wally. Wally immediately told me.”

  “Oh, my God!” Kate interjected, and Jo looked towards Wally.

  Dannie continued. “Yes, she knew Wally was married and had a child, and still she had no regard or respect for us. When Wally told me, I was not concerned. We have both had our share of third party interests, and we trust each other and tell each other everything. However, what did concern us was when Pam threatened Wally. She told her that she would have a chat with her father about the matter and that he would make her change her mind. Wally told Pam that she didn’t care what she did. Needless to say, Pam talked to her father. To our great surprise, Wayne Gordon asked Wally to entertain Pam’s fancy because he had never denied her anything. He told her that no one needed to know about he
r keeping his girl happy. Wally came home fuming and resolved to end her association with him.”

  Wally stepped back in. “Family is sacred to me. I cannot work with people who do not have respect for family values. I would have expected him to put his daughter in her place and to respect my family. Instead, he took the low road. It cost us an arm and a leg to break up with Terra, but we had to. I met with all my friends and told them the situation. I told them that it was okay if they wanted to continue to work for Terra if their financial situation didn’t allow them to jump ship with me.” Wally paused to take care of the flaming grill.

  “They know that this year, there might not be big profits, but I guaranteed their salaries out of my own pocket. As incredible as this may sound, they all decided to stay with me on their dime. We’re a solid group, and they know that I would never leave them out in the cold. We’re in this together. This is who we are, and how we operate. Whatever comes of us will be built on a solid foundation.”

  “So, you and your friends run the company?” Jo asked.

  “Yes, that’s how it’s going to be. We’re still working things out.” Jo and Kate listened attentively, as Wally explained her views.

  “Wally, do you require capital investment? I need to know because if that is the case, I’ll need more data, and Kate and I would need to discuss it. We make our decisions jointly.” Although Jo was the one doing the talking, Wally and Dannie liked Jo’s reply because they appeared to have the same teamwork approach.

  “No, there’s no money investment. What I would like to do is to continue to run Radford Designs, but I need a land developer to do what Terra was doing. In other words, I need to start a developing company, and that is what I would like you to do. I’ll front the money for the initial rental of the equipment and payroll, but you’ll be the one running it. I couldn’t possibly do both things. The two companies would run as independent corporations. My friends Lara and Max will handle all the legal matters. You will receive a salary from your company, just as I do from mine. The others work for me, so they’re on my payroll. At the end of the year, when we determine profits, we’ll all have bonuses. Some years it will be more than others, and I suppose that if we ever have a run of bad luck, some years there might be little profit or none at all.” Wally paused as if trying to remember what else she needed to say.

  “Ah, yes, there might be some travel when procuring bids, and if we get new projects in other locations. If that happens, we need to work out logistics. There will definitely be long hours because winters here start early, and we need to make the most of the good weather. Since I’ll front the money for the rental of the equipment and payroll, it will be subtracted from your profit at the end of the year. That will only happen the first year. After you make the initial capital, you run the company as your own. Dannie is my business manager. I’ll let her explain some extra benefits.”

  “The only benefit we can offer is housing. You’re on your own for medical, life insurance, and retirement, but that shouldn’t be a problem if Kate has health insurance from her job, and you save from your profits for retirement,” Dannie added.

  “Housing?” Kate asked.

  “Yes, we have a house that was formerly a model home. You can live there, rent-free, until you decide what you want to do. The land belongs to the corporation. I built several houses there for our friends. It’s next to our property.”

  Kate looked at Jo, and then asked, “can we see the house?”

  “Sure. Where are you staying?”

  “We were hoping to find a campground nearby,” Jo explained.

  “Nonsense, you’re staying with us. That way, I can show you the blueprints for some of the projects,” Wally replied.

  “I’m sorry for sounding naive, but this whole offer seems too generous. What’s the catch?” The always upfront and to the point Kate spoke in a very firm tone. Jo smiled. She had always loved Kate’s direct approach.

  “There is no catch. There’s a lot of money involved in the deal. I need someone reliable and trustworthy. For that, I’m willing to front the capital for you to run your company. My hope is that you’ll be happy with our association, and that you’ll look at it as an investment in your career for your family, and your future. I’m hoping you will stay because of that—because you feel a sense of loyalty to the company and become a part of our larger family. Loyalty makes a difference because it guarantees that your heart is in what you’re doing. I built my company with my friends because I trust them, they trust me, and we safeguard each other’s interests. If I win, you win, if I lose, you lose. Trust is very important to us.”

  “Well, let’s go see the house then,” Jo suggested.

  “Okay, drive your RV, the house is partially furnished with the essentials, so you can stay there if you wish. No obligation. We would like you to be comfortable since you drove all the way here,” Dannie said.

  ***

  The cluster of houses was like an oasis. Altogether there were five houses in a large land perimeter. All of them close enough to not feel isolated but built and tucked away following the slope of the terrain so as to offer enough privacy for each house. All of them appeared to be huge houses with beautiful landscaping. “Oh, my God, this is beautiful!”

  “Thanks, and this right here is yours,” Wally said. “It’s brand new. In fact, it may need some work still. Touch up details. Left unfinished on purpose for whoever comes on board to add their preferences.”

  Kate looked at Jo enchanted as they walked inside. “This is just unbelievable!”

  “All the houses are Wally’s designs,” Dannie said proudly.

  Kate handed Mellie over to Jo and set off to tour the house with Dannie and Annie. Jo and Wally stayed in the living room.

  “I built this cluster of houses for my friends because I wanted them here. If our association works, we’ll work out a deal for the house, like I did with them. They own the properties now, and they only paid for the land. It was part of the incentive for them to come here. Jo, I’m looking for reliability. I’ve done land development, but designing and building these houses is what I like to do. I need you to develop the land, so that I can build the homes.”

  “Why me?”

  “Manny recommended you. I looked at your resume and liked it. You have the technical skills and know-how, and you’ve led soldiers in the field. I’ll be totally honest with you. I made several calls. Consistently, everyone blindly recommended you. As a matter of fact, I’ve never known anyone who has come so highly recommended. Your former boss, General Thompson, almost ordered me to hire you.” Wally’s comment made Jo chuckle.

  “There’s only one question I have for you.”

  “What is it?”

  “Why did you leave the Army, and later the federal government when you had such a remarkable career?”

  Jo was not about to spill her guts to a woman she had just met. She looked at Wally straight in the eyes, and said, “I was in Afghanistan.”

  “Like Manny,” Wally interrupted, “that’s where he lost his foot.” Manny had never made his foot a secret. In fact, he was very proud to show and tell how he lost it in the service of his country.

  Jo lowered her eyes, and Wally immediately perceived a degree of discomfort in Jo’s demeanor. “Yes, like Manny,” Jo replied, “He was under my command.”

  “I see.” Wally began to suspect that Jo might have also been in the incident where Manny had lost his foot and decided it was best not to pursue the matter. “Look, if you don’t want to talk about it, it’s not necessary really. I understand.” Wally didn’t know what else to say.

  Jo continued. “No, it’s alright. You should know who you hire. I left the Army because I could no longer face the death and devastation I faced in Afghanistan. General Thompson knew me from back then. When Kate started her residency in D.C., I went to the Pentagon for an interview, he showed up at the meeting, and hired me.”

  “On the spot?” Wally asked.

  “Yes, he
knew my military record.”

  “You were his deputy?”

  “Yes.”

  “That was a very high civilian position,” Wally said.

  “Yes, and I left after four years.” She continued when she perceived that Wally might want more of an explanation.

  “After Kate finished her residency, Children’s Hospital offered her a position, and we stayed in Washington. It was during that last year that my job required me to go to audit certain projects in Afghanistan. When I told Kate, she didn’t want me to go. I would have gone, but what she said made sense.” Jo paused to think about what she would say. “When I met Kate and during the first years of being together, she helped me overcome what I faced during my second tour in Afghanistan. She was very adamant in her position that we weren’t going to go through that again, and that I needed to be there for Mellie and her. I agreed and resigned.”

  Wally was astonished that a woman of Jo’s caliber and education would be willing to leave it all for her family. She decided not to pursue any further explanation thinking that whatever Jo had gone through must have been enough for Kate to be so resolute in not wanting Jo to revisit a place, which could open the doors to a painful past. More so, now knowing her relation to Manny in Afghanistan. “If you take this job, we won’t start construction until, at least, April. When we break ground, the hours will be long because we need to make the most of the better weather months. So, we have a short window of time to get the work done. I anticipate that this project will take at least three years.”

  “What happens after?” Jo asked.

  “We’ll look for new projects and submit bids. That will be part of your job too. We want you to manage the land developing company. Something tells me you’re the right person, and that we’ll work well together. Dannie and I will do whatever is necessary to help you and Kate feel at home and comfortable here.”

  Just then, Kate and Dannie were coming back from touring the house. “Wally, it’s a gorgeous house,” Kate said.

  “Thank you, Kate. It’s yours to enjoy.” Then she addressed Jo again. “Take your time to talk.”