Adventures In A Pair-A-Dice

by Terry Michael Peters

  I didn’t want to act mistrusting. I reasoned that if he was going to back out on the deal, he wouldn’t have even agreed to meet. I trusted him and had no doubts about his word.

  “You know, sir, this is where it all began.”

  I went on and told Mr. Saxton some of the story I had left out before. We sat there for a couple hours and discussed everything from the adventure to our relationships.

  I explained about Kevin and how Bruce had gotten him involved in something that ended up getting him killed leaving a wife and child behind. I went on to say that I understood that Kevin had actually worked for him as a mechanic at one of his boat facilities.

  With that, Mr. Saxton said he knew who I was referring to. He was totally unaware of his demise. I’m sure Bruce had not offered that up.

  I said that I wanted to find a way of getting some of our reward money to Kevin’s wife. With that suggestion, Mr. Saxton looked me straight in the eyes and asked if I was serious.

  “Yes, sir,” I said. “I had actually been giving it a lot of thought and now, sitting here in this same booth, I am feeling compelled to do so.”

  “You know, I like you,” he said to me. “I wish my son was more like you.”

  He commended me on my generous offer and then assured me that he would not only look into it but promised me that Kevin’s wife would be taken care of.

  “I appreciate that,” I said.

  “Anything else?” Mr. Saxton asked.

  “Yes, sir, there is one other issue.”

  I asked what he knew about real estate. He laughed and then explained that a large portion of his wealth had, in fact, been made in the real estate market.

  “We’re renting this house up on North Hutchison Island in Ft. Pierce and I’d like to purchase the place.”

  “Is it for sale?” he wanted to know.

  “It’s for rent with an option to buy.”

  I explained my situation with Linda and how I needed to make a decision about my future with her in the next six weeks.

  “Good women are hard to find,” he told me.

  “Well, I know that, but I’m thinking worst- case scenarios.”

  “What do you mean by that?” he wanted to know

  I explained how I wanted Linda to own the house either way, with or without me. I wanted her to have a home of her own. Again, he complimented me on my generosity.

  “What are they asking for the place?”

  “One hundred and sixty thousand.”

  “Call me later today with the address and the realtor’s name and I’ll look into it.”

  I thanked him and we agreed to meet the following day at his bank. On the way out to the parking lot I asked him about Bruce.

  “Oh, he’s already back on the island,” he said shrugging his shoulders. “But, he’s alive and hopefully on a new path thanks to you.”

  “Ok, see you tomorrow,” I said, then asked “What time?”

  “I’ll let you know later today when you call me with the realtor’s name.”

  Chapter 14

  I had driven Pat’s truck down from Ft. Pierce and headed off to his shop to return it. Pulling in, I could see him busy at work on one of the bikes parked out front. Pat had the best of reputations as a Harley mechanic and it was common for his shop to be so full of work orders that he would have to push bikes outside each day to make room to work inside the shop.

  When he heard the familiar sound of his truck he turned to acknowledge my arrival. He was with someone so I waited till he was done to talk with him.

  “So?” he said as he walked over to where I had parked his truck. “How’s things on the home front?”

  Again, I knew exactly what he meant. You spend enough time with someone and they don’t even have to explain what they mean with a question like that. I knew he meant the conversation between Linda and me. He knew it was going to happen as soon as I got back.

  Pat and Linda were best of friends and I always figured that if it came down to it he would take her friendship over mine.

  “You know,” I said. “Women.”

  “I know the good ones don’t come along that often,” he said.

  “I know, I‘ve heard that before.”

  “That’s your problem,” Pat said. “You just don’t get it.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, feeling defensive.

  “Look, we’re all in our 30s now and at some point you just gotta grow up. You know she wants a family.”

  “I know that and that’s a lot of it. I just don’t think I’m ready for that.”

  “You’re never ready,” Pat said. “It just happens and when it does you finally realize the things that really matter. So, I hear you’re going to Sturgis,” Pat said wanting to change the subject sensing I was uncomfortable taking that conversation any further.

  “How’d you know that?” I asked.

  “Tom,” Pat replied. “He was in here about an hour ago.”

  “That reminds me,” I said. “Can I use your phone? I need to track him down for a ride.”

  “Don’t bother, he’ll be back.”

  “Back here?”

  “Yeah, he’s bringing lunch.”

  While waiting for Tom I used Pat’s phone to call the real estate office that Mrs. Ashley worked out of when she rented us the house. The phone call confirmed that the house was still for sale but that there were two different parties that were seriously interested in the place and that if it sold we would be notified and have only one month’s notice to move out.

  I then called Mr. Saxton and gave him the information and he said he would look into it. He suggested meeting the following day at noon and gave me the address of his bank.

  On the ride back north to Ft. Pierce I explained to Tom the money transaction that Mr. Saxton and I had worked out. Neither one of us had ever had a checking account before and we discussed how we would be able to access funds if we were on the road.

  We decided to find a national bank and deposit some of the money into two accounts. One in each of our names so wherever we were we would be able to get our hands on it. We didn’t want to carry a whole lot of it with us.

  By the time we got to the house Linda was already home from work. As I was getting out of the car Tom announced that he would see me the following day. I knew he was just affording Linda and me some alone time.

  “Ok, man, tomorrow,” I said. “Say nine? I’ll need this set of wheels.”

  I threw the big old heavy door of the Caddy closed and made my way around to the back of the house. As I suspected, Linda was tending to the new found love of her outdoor gardens and she was busy spreading wood chips around her latest transplants.

  “Hey, looks good,” I said, getting her attention.

  “You think so?”

  “Oh, yeah, really makes the place seem more like a home,” I said.

  I was thinking what a shame it would be to have to leave all her efforts behind if one of the two interested parties purchased the house. I decided right then to call Mrs. Ashley back first thing in the morning and tell her we would buy the house.

  That night, left to ourselves, Linda and I enjoyed our time together and it had me thinking that settling into a lifelong commitment with her might be the right thing to do.

  “I’m leaving now.”

  “What?” I asked. Opening my eyes, I realized Linda was standing beside the bed shaking my shoulder.

  “Tom’s here and waiting on you.”

  “What time is it?”

  ‘It’s nine o’clock.’

  “Damn, I’m late.”

  “Late for what?”

  “Things I gotta do today before I meet with Mr. Saxton.”

  The only thing I really needed to do was to speak with Mrs. Ashley but I didn’t want Linda to know anything about me pursuing the purchase of the house.

  “Just things,” I said as I closed the door to the bathroom.

  “Yeah, well, I’ll see you tonight,” she replied.
r />   When I called the real estate office, the woman that answered informed me that Mrs. Ashley had not arrived yet. I waited a half an hour and called back. The same woman answered the phone and informed me that Mrs. Ashley had yet to arrive.

  She then asked if there was something she could help me with. When I told her that I had spoken with Mrs. Ashley the day before about the purchase of the house, she asked me for the address of the house and asked me to hold while she checked on it. After a couple of minutes she got back on the phone and told me that the house had been sold.

  “What?” I said. “I was told just yesterday that the house was available.”

  “Well, sir, apparently it was sold just yesterday.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  “Yes, sir, I’m sorry. We do have a lot of other similar listings.”

  “No, that’s ok. Thanks,” I said hanging up the phone.

  “Hey, man,” Tom said, seeing how disappointed I was. “We’ll get a nicer, a bigger house than this.”

  “Yeah, man, but Linda’s got her heart into this one.”

  For the first time in a long time something hadn’t gone my way and I was feeling really disappointed. I was mad at myself for not just committing to the house the day before when I had spoken with Mrs. Ashley.

  The bank address Mr. Saxton had given me was on the island of Palm Beach and didn’t look much like most other banks. Finding a parking spot in that area for the big Cadillac wasn’t looking good so Tom suggested dropping me off out front and coming back for me in a half an hour.

  “Don’t you want to come in for this?” I asked.

  “No, man, you handle it”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, now are you getting out?”

  “Ok, I’ll see you in 30 minutes.”

  As I walked through the door of the bank, I saw a security guard take notice to my entrance and he started walking towards me.

  “Can I help you?” he asked as he got within a couple of feet.

  I knew well that not too many, if any, people that looked like me came into this bank. It was real fancy and had an air of sophistication about it. When I informed him that I was there to meet Mr. Saxton he turned and nodded to a woman sitting behind a desk who quickly got up and came over.

  “May I help you?” she asked.

  Again I explained that I was going to meet a Mr. Saxton there at the bank.

  “This way,” she said as she turned and headed towards a door on the back wall.

  As we walked through the door and into a corridor she said, “Second door on the right.”

  “Ok, thanks,” I offered up and proceeded to the second door on the right.

  She didn’t say anything about knocking so I just turned the big old brass knob and pushed open the door. I was surprised to see Mr. Saxton sitting there behind a huge desk.

  “You have an office here, too?”

  “No,” he said with a laugh. “This is the bank manager’s office. He is just letting me use it for a little while.”

  “Come in,” he said. “Sit down.”

  Once I was seated in the overstuffed leather chair, Mr. Saxton asked if everything was ok.

  “Yeah,” I said, “everything is good.”

  “Well, you don’t look like a man who is about to inherit a small fortune. Is there something troubling you?”

  I guess I was still wearing a face of disappointment over losing the house so I explained my earlier phone calls to the real estate office and that the house had been sold.

  Mr. Saxton laughed. I was about to question his amusement when he said “The house is yours”.

  “What?” was the only thing I could say.

  Mr. Saxton then informed me that the day before, after I had given him the realtor’s name and info about the house, he had called them. When they informed him that two other parties were interested in the house he decided to secure it for me.

  “So,” he said, “the house is yours. Right now it’s being processed through one of my holding companies, but it’s yours and we’ll get it all squared away.”

  “I can’t thank you enough,” I said.

  “You know,” Mr. Saxton said, “I like you. We have only known each other for a few months now, but I like you. I wish my son was more like you. You’re the kind of son I wish I had.

  “Now, before I take you into the other room and show you something that now belongs to you, I’d like to express first my gratitude for helping me find and get back my son and secondly, that this small fortune is something that is going to change your life.

  “It could change it for the better or it could change it for the worse. These are decisions that you will have to make. If used wisely, it could last a lifetime if your investments were carefully chosen. That is something I could help you with if you so choose.

  “Money, though, does not bring you lasting happiness. It does make things easier, but I personally know a lot of unhappy millionaires. What truly matters is happiness. All these things that money can afford us are things we only own while we’re here on this earth. When we’re gone they will all belong to others. It’s the love you give and the love you receive that’s all yours and the thing that no one else will ever own. Now, are you ready to see something few ever get to see?”

  “First of all sir, I’m truly appreciative of the fact that you secured that house for me, Secondly, I’m moved by your concern for my well-being and, thirdly, hell yeah, I’m ready.”

  The sight of that much money in cash was a bit overwhelming. Mr. Saxton handed me the keys to four large safe deposit boxes that the money was in along with the paperwork which had the boxes in my name.

  He suggested that I move a little at a time to a more convenient bank where my coming and going wasn’t so obvious. I knew exactly what he meant. I asked about squaring up on the house.

  “Here,” he said after writing down some information on a piece of paper. “Call this number and explain who you are and they will help you transfer ownership of the house.”

  I explained that I wanted to put the house in Linda’s name.

  “Well then, have her call that number.”

  He said he would call ahead and inform them that it would be Linda who would be actually taking ownership of it.

  “Now, here is one of the keys, sir. I’d like you to take out what I owe you.”

  “Let’s do that later,” he replied.

  When I explained that I was headed out on a road trip he assured me there was no rush and that he looked forward to seeing me again when I got back.

  “No, sir, you’ve been straight up with me and I’m wanting to be straight up with you.”

  When I insisted on giving him payment for the house, he insisted on taking no more than a hundred thousand back.

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  “I’m sure,” he said.

  “Again, thank you, sir”.

  Back outside I found Tom double parked in front of the bank.

  “Everything good?” he asked as I got into the car.

  “Oh, yeah, everything’s good,” I said holding up the four keys. “Not only is everything good but we got ourselves a house.”

  “A house?” Tom asked. I then explained what Mr. Saxton had done.

  “I think he likes you.”

  “Us, he really likes us.”

  Chapter 15

  It would only be a couple of days before Tom and I would be headed out West on our run to Sturgis so I wanted to spend as much time alone with Linda as I could before leaving. Tom agreed and suggested that he meet me at the house the day of our departure.

  We spent the next couple hours retrieving some of the money that used to belong to Bruce and opening checking and savings accounts at a bank that had branches throughout the United States. We reasoned that we would then be able to put our hands on it wherever our road trip would take us.

  Using Mr. Saxton’s advice, we each put five thousand in each of our accounts. He had suggested
never transacting anything more than $9,900 to avoid any attention. We figured we would be extra safe about it. Neither Tom nor I were very worldly about finance and we surely didn’t want to take any chances.

  That night I wanted to surprise Linda with the fact that the house was now ours. I thought about putting the key to the house in a box and giving it to her. That idea quickly changed when I thought she might figure it to be an engagement ring. That would have been really awkward so I decided just to tell her instead. I was anxious to tell her and as soon as she walked through the door I handed her my key to the house.

  “You’re leaving?” she said suspecting that I decided to take the money and run.

  “No,” I said, “here. This is the key to your house.”

  “I know. I have one right here,” she said putting the key she had just opened the door up to my face.

  “No. These two keys here open the door to your house,” I said emphasizing the ‘your house’. “It’s yours – no more rent – you own it.”

  She was overwhelmed. Throughout the whole deal with the money Linda had never really asked for much. She just wasn’t that way. I knew that most other things meant more to her but, now, knowing she had her own home brought her to tears.

  “What, you’re not happy about that?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she said, still crying. “I’m happy. I’m very, very happy.”

  She hugged me saying she wanted it to be our house and she emphasized ‘our house’. I then handed her the information Mr. Saxton had given me telling her to call these people and set up a time to sign some papers and do the closing on the house. The next two days passed quickly and there we were pushing the motorcycles out of the garage.

  “I’ll see you in 30 days,” Linda said as she grabbed me by the arm. She then hugged me telling me how much she loved me and to be safe. When Tom fired up his motorcycle I told her I had to go. I told her I loved her, too, and that I would call her.

  As we headed north on I-95 the August sun was already heating the air enough so you could feel it in your lungs when you breathed. I was looking forward to reaching a more northern latitude that would bring cooler summertime temperatures.