by Randy Dyess
”No one wants land around here for anything but hunting,” Ellen continued. “Farming is hard work and doesn’t pay enough for young people to make a living on a few hundred acres. Madill is too far from the big cities for most people to live here and work in Dallas or Fort Worth. They will foreclose on everyone and the county will be stuck with large tracts of land they can’t do anything with. All those family farms will be put on auction and bought for hunting, oil, or something else. This county will dry up once Billy leaves.”
“Granny, how much do you owe?” asked Kelly.
“I got a letter this morning with the balance for the new taxes as well as the back ones.” She looked down and whispered, “I owe $5,678.23. I don’t know how anyone could owe that much for land which has been in my family for years. I can’t image anyone being able to pay it off,” she sighed.
“As soon as we get finished eating, we’ll go back to your place and get the letter and go pay off those taxes,” Mark said, while looking at Granny.
Ellen looked shocked, but said, “I can’t ask that of you two. $5,000 is a lot of money for something you don’t want. It’s way too much money to take from anyone if they don’t want to live on the place. You don’t even hunt.” Ellen looked at them with a small smile on her face, “Are you telling me that you want the farm?”
“We never said you had to give us the farm, Granny,” said Kelly. “We don’t expect anything in return. We have the money and would be more than happy to help you out.”
Ellen misted up. She smiled at the thought of Kelly living on the farm. This might be the start of her dream of someone in the family taking over the place. She smiled the rest of the time at the restaurant. It was as if a weight had lifted off her shoulders. She was sure the farm would have to leave the family after finding out about the back taxes and Billy leaving the county. Now it looked like the farm was safe. It was always her dream for someone in the family to take the farm over and raise their family on it like she, her mother, and her grandmother had. She always dreamt it would be Kelly after having her over for the summers when she was growing up. Kelly had always had a connection with the farm and Ellen always wondered why she never knew it and wanted to live in some big ol’ city. She wished she had approached Kelly and Mark with the offer she made everyone else and now wondered if it was not too late. But she still thought Mark would never want to leave his fancy house in Dallas for a small farm in the middle of nowhere.
On the way back to the Ellen’s place, Mark asked Kelly to find out what bank account Ellen used. They would put the money in her account so she could write out the check. When Kelly wanted to put money into her account a few years ago for her 90th birthday party her mother told her Ellen used the same bank they did. She helped Ellen find the account information and the past due notice. They piled into the car and headed to the bank to deposit the money needed to pay the taxes. While Kelly was filling out the transfer slip, Mark whispered, “Put another $10,000 into her account. We shouldn’t have to worry about her not having money again.” Kelly smiled and added a leading one to the amount she had written on the deposit slip. After filling in the slip, she looked at Mark with an “I’ll pay you back later” smile.
Once they were finished at the bank and the money was transferred, they went to the county tax assessor’s office and watched as Ellen paid off the entire outstanding balance. Ellen beamed and beamed the whole time and cried when she signed her name to the check and handed the check over to the clerk. Mark and Kelly smiled at her and how the simple act of helping her out with the back taxes had made such a big difference in her day. Yes, $16,000 was a lot of money to the vast majority of Americans and even to Mark and Kelly. They both knew it was something they had to do and now they had the money. They were finally realizing it didn’t take money to make them happy.
When they were finished and heading back to Ellen’s place, Ellen asked if they could swing by the farm. Ellen left the farm right after Pa died and moved into a small senior’s complex in Madill and since she no longer drove. I had been years since she last visited the place. She had tried to get a few other family members to drive her out there when they visited, but no one seemed to want to look over the old place. A few of her grandsons did hunt there, but they never bothered to ask Ellen if she wanted to visit the place whenever they were in town. While pulling into the driveway to the old farm everyone saw how run down the buildings were after more than a decade of neglect. “No wonder no one wanted this place. The Farm is just land now. You would have to start over from scratch and rebuild everything if you wanted to live out here,” Mark thought to himself.
”Doesn’t this place look just beautiful?” Ellen said with mist in her eyes.
Mark looked at Kelly, and she had the same look in her eyes as Ellen did and a huge smile on her face. “Granny, I haven’t been here in over thirty years. I had forgotten how great the place is,” Kelly exclaimed. At that moment Mark realized they were not seeing the place as it stood today, they were seeing the place as it looked sometime in the past. Ellen was seeing the place when her entire family lived here and she was happy. She saw her husband in the fields, her kids playing in the yard, and her own parents sitting on the porch waiting for the children to come home from school. She was looking past the current state of the farm and remembering what the place used to be like in its prime.
Mark looked at Kelly and wondered what she was seeing. Kelly was seeing the farm as the farm was when she was a kid playing on the old tire swing hanging from the oak tree out back. She could still see her grandparents sitting on the back porch drinking lemonade while watching their favorite granddaughter laughing and playing. Kelly was also seeing the place as it could be with her own kids having as much fun as she did when she was here. Something was pulling at her. Whispering in her ear that this was the place where her family belongs. This was the place they would be protected from the all of the evil that was about to be released on the world. Kelly never had such a strong feeling about something as she did now about how she and her family needed to live here. Her heart was in this old farm, and she wanted the same feeling for her girls.
Both women went from misty to actual tears when they turned around and looked at each other. “Let’s go to Tommy’s right now and fill out the paperwork,” Ellen said.
Kelly just nodded while Mark blinked and wondered if he had spaced out enough to miss an entire conversation. “What paperwork?”
Kelly and Ellen both turned around to look at Mark with big tears rolling down their faces. “Don’t you feel it?” Kelly asked.
“Feel what?”
“I’m home,” Kelly stated. She turned back around to look over the place that had always been her actual dream. A dream she had kept repressed with the fake dreams of money and a lifestyle she had led herself to believe were more important.
“Yes, she is,” Ellen finished. “She’s hasn’t understood it until now, but this place was always hers in some way. She just clicked here when she came over during the summers. Clicked in a way no one but Pa and me did. Everyone else just came out and played during their stays, but Kelly always felt at home and the place felt more complete every time she was here. I had always dreamed she would take it over, but once she moved to the big city I let the dream die. I thought my dream was lost after you two started having kids and making your way in Dallas,” Ellen said, as she wiped her eyes.
“Let’s get this silly old girl over to her lawyer’s office so she can have her long, lost dream come true,” Kelly spoke, as they all headed towards the car.
The drive to the lawyer’s office was a silent one as everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Mark was playing much of the day back in his mind to see if they had pressured Ellen into this choice. When he took a good look at Kelly and Ellen, he knew Ellen didn’t feel pressure and this was the right thing to do. When they walked into the lawyer’s office, Tommy didn’t say anything as he knew the look in Ellen’s eyes from his experiences with his own grandm
other. Since he already had the paperwork ready from Ellen’s earlier visits, the only thing he needed was their signatures and to warn Mark and Kelly about the past due taxes. Tommy also felt like he needed to tell them about the county and the IRS not liking the fact that Ellen was giving the farm away. They would need to consult an attorney to figure out what they needed to do about taxes. Ellen looked at him with a “figure it out and let us know” look and gave him a copy of the receipt from the tax payer’s office. Tommy smiled and told her he would handle the county and IRS tax issues when they came up while he was completing his part of the paperwork. After finishing up, he told Mark and Kelly he would file everything the first thing in the morning. He would get back to them with the rest of the information they needed for any additional taxes. Tommy said they should have a copy of the final deed in a few days. For now, he would give them a copy of everything so they would have proof if they needed it. Ellen looked at them and gave them the key ring she had hidden in her pocket which held all the keys to the various gates and buildings around the place.
“I knew once you saw the place you would fall in love with it again. Take good care of the place,” she said. “I know it will take good care of you and protect you against the things that are coming up the road.”
Mark and Kelly Mark blinked and looked at each other and silently wondered how much she knew about the collapse they both thought was around the corner. They didn’t follow up with her and took Ellen back to her home. Kelly and her grandmother were having such a good time talking, Mark and Kelly ended up staying at Ellen’s all afternoon and into the evening. Mark finally made them slow down long enough so they could go back to the café for dinner. Everyone knew right then and there the place would become Mark and Kelly’s special place once they moved up to the farm. Mark and Kelly were just hoping the cafe would still be here by the time they moved up here permanently.
While they were driving back home that night, Mark looked at Kelly and asked, “Do you want to explain to me what happened at the farm?”
Kelly closed her eyes for a minute and looked at him, “I can’t explain it. Something deep down inside of me filled me with this overwhelming feeling of safety. It was like someone whispered inside of my head we would be safe there. I can’t explain it any better than that since I have never experienced anything remotely like it before.” She ended up by saying, “I felt at peace.”
Mark shook his head and said, “Ok.”
After a few minutes of absolute quiet, Kelly got a phone call from her mother. “Did you go to mom’s bank and put money into her account today?” Helen asked her daughter.
“How did you know?” asked Kelly.
“I was looking at her account and saw the deposit,” replied Helen. “She has been a little short lately and we have been trying to put a few dollars into her account so nothing would bounce or not get paid.”
“Granny told us about the back taxes on the farm during lunch and Mark immediately told her that we would pay it off right after lunch.”
“I knew she was behind, but $16,000 worth of back taxes? You put $16,000 into her account. You two have $16,000 that you could spare for that?”
“Yes, mom we do. And it wasn’t $16,000 of back taxes, it was around $6,000. Mark made me put an extra $10,000 so she wouldn’t have to worry about money. She doesn’t know we did this so don’t tell her. And if she ever needs more or if you two ever need more, I expect you to come to us. As long as we have a few dollars in our account no one in this family should have to suffer.”
Kelly heard her mom quietly crying and held the phone for a little while as her own tears started flowing again. After she could hear her mom was back on the phone Kelly said, “Mom, we also signed the paperwork on the farm today. We now own it.”
“You did what? You bought the farm? I thought you couldn’t stand being away from the city. What’s going on with you two lately? First it was the kids and now the farm.”
Kelly let her ramble on for a few more minutes before interrupting by saying, “Mom, why don’t you and dad come over for dinner Sunday. There is something we need to tell you and I don’t want to do it over the phone tonight.”
“Is everything all right with you two?” Helen asked, with a worried tone in her voice.
“Everything is fine,” Kelly replied. “I’ll explain more Sunday. Be at our place around seven. Don’t bring anything, just show up.”
“Ok, Sweetie,” replied Helen. “We’ll be there.”
Kelly hung up on her mom and looked at Mark, “It’s time to tell them. They may think we are crazy, but we need to explain what is going to happen over the next few years since it affects them too.”
“I agree. We’ll invite my folks over as well when we pick up the kids.”
The rest of the drive was uneventful after the emotions of the afternoon. Kelly stared out the window at the stars and wished her grandmother would live long enough to see them move out to the farm permanently. Mark stared at the road ahead of him and hoped Kelly and the kids would be as happy on the farm as they were in the city.
They both would get their wish.
Chapter 14
When Mark walked into his office Thursday morning there was already an email from Owen asking him to pop into his office. Mark walked over to Owen’s office and stuck his head in the door and asked, “What’s up?”
“Come in and close the door and I’ll tell you.”
After Mark closed the door and sat down, Owen began, “Where are you on the project plan for the off-shoring?”
“Finished. I’ve also created some supplemental information for you as well. I can give you some more background on the systems if you need it. Why? I thought you didn’t need it until after the first?”
“They moved everything up. I’m supposed to fly to Las Vegas on Sunday night and we are going to start the meeting on Monday. I’m not sure what the rush is all of a sudden. It looks like maybe something’s about to happen.”
“Well, it is almost time for another ‘Computer Glitch’. The fuel shortages almost always happen at this time of the month. I wonder if this one is going to be a big one and they are going to try to figure out a way to hide it.”
“I don’t know,” Owen said. “I just got the email today. I’ve spent all morning scrambling to rearrange my schedule so I can be out of town next week.”
“Do you think this is about the fuel shortage or is it something else? I wonder if they are going to try to jump the schedule up and move us offshore quicker. They’ve haven’t even seen the project plan yet.”
“I don’t know. They are keeping this one quiet. Damian didn’t even know or wouldn’t tell me. I guess I’ll find out Monday.”
“Hey, are you still coming over for the Memorial Day party?” Mark asked changing the topic. “I know Kelly would like to talk to Donna some more about what RJ has taught her.”
“Yep, hopefully I’ll be back by then. I can’t see us going past Friday afternoon.”
“Even if you are not back for whatever reason, we still want the kids and your better half to come over. No reason for them to stay home because Plains has a bee up their butt and you can’t make it,” Mark chuckled.
“I’ll let her know,” Owen laughed. He told Mark that he would look over the material and let him know if there was anything else he needed for the meeting next week.
As Mark was heading for the door he looked back, “I still want to get together and finish the discussion from last week. A lot has changed with us this week and I wanted to fill you in on it.”
“Sure. Maybe we can get together after Memorial Day. There is still a lot I want to tell you as well.”
“Why don’t we have another pool party and everyone can come back over to our place and we pick up where we left off,” Mark said.
Before Mark left Owen’s office he asked, ”Who’s all going to Vegas next week? I have several meetings with Damian, Chris and few others scheduled and if everyone is going to Vegas then my
week has pretty much cleared up.”
“All of the C-levels plus a few other lower levels,” replied Owen.
“Mind if I put in a last minute request for vacation next week? I have so much going on that I need a few days to get everything back in order and it looks like everyone will be gone here anyway. “
“Just take the week off. Tell everyone you are off, but don’t actually put in the request. I’ll back you up. Besides anyone who would care or even notice you’re gone, will either be at the meeting or worried about the meeting. No one will pay attention to you being out. Your staff would just assume you are with us since they know how much we rely on your knowledge to get any systems work done.”
“Thanks. Have a great Vegas experience. Although, the commercial says that everything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. I don’t think it should this time. If you know what I mean?”
Owen laughed and waved Mark out the door, “Get out of here while I try to figure out how to take credit for all the work you’ve done on this.”
Over the next two days Owen and Mark worked together to finalize the presentation to offshore the IT department. Mark had put together a great project plan and presentation. All Owen had to do was go over it a few times and have Mark fill in a few spots he thought the other executives would ask about. The background material Mark had created gave Owen enough material to answer almost every question he thought of. Both of them were sure that Owen wouldn’t have to bother Mark next week, so it left Mark free to do whatever he wanted.
