“Son, why are you doing this?”
“Because she and her family are all working so hard, to help themselves, I respect that, I think they could have let themselves fall to pieces with all that has happened, but they didn’t. I would like to help give Mel a chance to realize her dream. Mom, I stopped by the Lane farm to say goodbye to Amelia before I left last night, did you know she’s sleeping in a barn?”
“Oh God, no son, I didn’t know that. She probably doesn’t want me to know that, so I won’t feel sorry for her. I asked her to come live with me, but she said it was logistically not doable, because she has chores she had to do after she comes home from work to pay for her room and board. She never complains and is always willing to do anything for her family. She’s very proud, son, she wouldn’t take charity.”
“I think she would accept some help from you. You can tell her she can pay for the classes after she graduates from college.”
The next few weeks were very stressful for Amelia’s whole family. The surgery went well, but it was much more money than they thought. Amelia worried about Deana and the baby. In the next few weeks Deana had the baby, a little girl she named Ellen. Amelia helped Deana care for the baby, she already loved her.
Secret thoughts: (I thought this feeling of gloom I have would pass. I think I need to keep up the act, which I could probably get an academy award for, but I don’t want to make Deana or Roger feel guilty about the money. I get really worn out doing all of Deana’s chores but I’m so tired I fall asleep fast, maybe that’s a good thing because I lay there tortured asking myself why all this has happened and get no answers.)
[ Chapter 15 ]
The next few months flew by for Amelia, she was super busy now, Deana still needed help with baby Ellen, and Ida found two classes Amelia began taking online. Ida did as Chad had suggested and told Amelia that the courses would help prepare her for college and she could pay her back later. At first Amelia didn’t want to accept Ida paying for the classes, when she explained how it would help get the required, basics course completed before when she went to college, she agreed. Amelia tried to get all her work at the farm done during the week, so that she could spend all her Saturday and Sunday evenings, at Ida’s and do all her assignments on Ida’s computer. Ida told her she could take the computer home with her, but Amelia wouldn’t do it. “You won’t be able to email Chad if you don’t have the computer,” said Amelia.
Chad came home to visit a few days before Christmas. He was anxious to see Amelia and find out how she was doing. She had written him a few letters, but they were brief. The first evening he was home Ida called Amelia and asked her to come over. She didn’t tell her Chad was home because he wanted to surprise her.
When Amelia arrived, Chad opened the door. “Chad,” she said so surprised, “your home, it’s so good to see you!”
They hugged and Chad said, “Amelia, you get more beautiful every time I see you. How are you doing?” He asked.
“Thanks Chad, I’m so glad you could come home for Christmas. I’m doing fine. The two classes I’m taking that I wrote you about are going well.”
“I’m happy to hear that,” said Chad, “I think taking them is a great idea. How are your grades?”
“I have an A and a B. I plan on studying like mad for the finals and hope to ace both of them.”
Ida invited Amelia to have Christmas dinner with them, but Amelia said, “I’m cooking for the family with Mrs. Lane and we will be eating at 1:00, so I don’t think I can make it.”
“We’re not going to eat until 5:00 because John won’t be getting home till later in the day, won’t you join us?”
“That sounds great I should be done with everything at home by then,” said Amelia, “I’d love to come.”
“I’ll pick you up at about 4:30,” said Chad.
Amelia and Mrs. Lane had Christmas dinner ready and by 2:30 they had all the dishes done and had opened their presents.
Chad was there promptly at 4:30 and they went to Ida’s. They had a wonderful Christmas dinner, turkey, ham and all the trimmings. After dinner, Ida and Amelia did the dishes, and Chad and his dad went out to get more wood for the fire. Chad gave them the presents he brought. Cologne for his mom, gloves for his dad and a silk scarf for Amelia.
“Chad this is so beautiful,” said Amelia, “I have never had anything made of silk before. It’s so soft and the color is gorgeous. Thank you so much.”
Amelia gave them her gifts, she had a small decorated hand mirror, on one side was a normal mirror and the other a magnifying mirror for Ida.
“Amelia this is so perfect, now I will be able to see when I’m plucking my eyebrows.” They all laughed. Amelia had knitted a cap for John and a scarf for Chad. “I guess great minds run in the same channel, you bought me a scarf and I made one for you,” said Amelia.
“Yours is so much better than mine,” he said, you took some of your precious time to do this for me, I love it he said, placing it around his neck,” he hugged her and said thank you.
Ida and John went to visit some friends after dinner. Chad and Amelia decided to listen to Christmas carols and talked about their days at school, when they were younger.
“Remember all those Sunday afternoon potlucks we used to go to, and all the kids would run around the field and play tag and stuff,” said Chad.
“That was a lot of fun, but I liked our weenie roasts best. You guys would build a fire at the edge of the field. We would bring potatoes and hotdogs, throw the potatoes in the fire, and roast the hot dogs on sticks over the fire. Then see who could tell the best creepy, ghost, stories and scare everybody.”
“I remember once you and my brother Jerry got into a fight about whose turn it was to find more wood for the fire.”
“Yeah, we were never really friends, Jerry and I, didn’t agree on most things.”
“I remember some things, but you were three years older than me and that is a lot at that age,” said Amelia.
“I know, once kids start hitting their teens, they think they are grown up” he said, “I do remember that most of the kids called you, Mellie. Do you mind if I call you that?”
“No not at all, it brings back good memories.”
“You dated Carol, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, she was in my class at school, we went out for about a month or two, then she started going out with Charlie, but we still stayed friends.”
Chad and Amelia talked for hours about any and everything. Ida and John came back from their visit, they all had hot cocoa, and cookies, and then Chad took Amelia home.
Amelia had some time off at Christmas because the construction company had stopped work for a few days, between the holidays. On Saturday afternoon, Amelia went to Ida’s to do her course assignments on the computer. Chad and his father were outside in the barn tuning up John’s truck. When Amelia was finished and Chad and his dad came in, Ida had chili con carnie, cornbread and a salad ready and they ate supper.
After supper, Chad asked Amelia to go to the movies.
“I haven’t been to a movie in forever, I would love to go.”
In the movie, Chad put his arm around Amelia and asked her if she had a boyfriend. She told him no, she didn’t have time for dating.
“What about you, do you have a girl friend?”
“No, I don’t, I move around a lot, when I come here on leave, it’s probably the most time I spend in one place. It would be a lot to ask a girl to put up with “here today, gone tomorrow, behavior,” that I am subjected to right now.”
Chad and Amelia saw a lot of each other in the next few days, since she didn’t have to work. They had a fierce snowball fight in the back yard and came in soaked. Ida chuckled when she saw them out in the snow. They looked like they were having such fun. Amelia was there for supper every night. Roger and Matt did her chores and told her to enjoy herself. It wa
s such a pleasure for Ida to watch Chad and Amelia talk and laugh, she thought it was good for both of them, because Chad takes life so seriously and Amelia works so hard, she thought. Amelia showed Chad her course work online and he was impressed. They watched a few movies on TV. They put on some old records of Chad’s and they danced. “I never knew you were such a good dancer,” she said to Chad.
“I had to find the right partner,” he said laughing.
Amelia wanted to play scrabble, they had two rousing games, and each won one. This third would be the tiebreaker. Chad challenged Amelia on the word winder. “What’s that?” he said, “that’s not the name of anything.”
Amelia got up and pointed to the window and said, “winder is window in farmese.” They just laughed until tears ran out of their eyes. Ida, who was sitting in her favorite chair doing her needlepoint, thought that was both hysterical and clever. She was thrilled to see how well they got along. Chad conceded the game. The last night Chad was there, they went for a walk. It was snowing and they went out to enjoy how beautiful everything looked. They strolled in the meadow. The trees were coated with ice and snow and the starlight make them twinkle. It looked so lovely it was like a winter wonderland scene. They held hands and Chad wanted so much to take her in his arms and kiss her, but something held him back. As they sauntered back, he told her what a fantastic Christmas it was for him, how much fun it was to be with her. “I enjoyed your company, I hope you enjoyed mine too,” he said, “I will wear my scarf everywhere I go.”
“Chad it was the most fun I have had in ages. I wish you worked around here and we could see each other more often, you are such a good friend to me.”
He put his arm around her as they walked. When they got to her front porch, they talked for a few minutes and then hugged each other for a long time. She gave him a kiss on each cheek and told him she would miss him.
“Please be safe,” she said, “and think of me sometime.” He asked her to keep on writing to him and she promised she would. He kissed her hand, gave her a final hug and then he was gone.
Secret thoughts: (I had so much fun with Chad. I don’t think he has any interest in me romantically because if he did, he would have at least kissed me on the lips instead of the cheek and hand. I hope he’s not just trying to entertain me for his mom’s sake because she likes me. I don’t know what to think, really, we might have more than friendship, if not I hope we will always stay friends.)
[ Chapter 16 ]
Deana was back to normal and the baby was doing fine. Amelia kept on working and gave her regular earnings for household expenses. She tried to save her overtime money, for her college fund, as she called it.
Roger and Matt knew that Jerry and company had left the farm but wanted to be certain that Jerry was not going to come back, so they waited several weeks after he was gone before returning to the farm. Roger, Deana, the baby, Matt and Amelia moved back to the farm. It took a lot of work to get the house, barns and fields back in shape. Deana’s father sent some of his men to help and he gave them some livestock, so they could get started again. Deana’s uncle, who was a lawyer was looking into getting the deed to the land changed to be in the names of Roger, Matt and Amelia. At first, the lawyer thought they would claim abandonment, but that process could take from 5 to 25 years, or as in some jurisdictions, 20 years peaceable possession. After doing some research on the documents Jerry had, he discovered the names on the paperwork were bogus and Lynn’s signature did not look like any of the ones the bank had on file when she had an account there with their father. With this information, he proceeded with getting the farm deeded in their names.
Amelia, Deana, Roger, and Matt were sitting at the kitchen table trying to figure out how much money they would need for the coming year. They would have just enough to make ends meet, if Amelia continued to work and contributed her entire salary.
Secret thoughts: (I can’t let them know that I don’t want to work another whole year and give all my salary to the farm. If there was no other way, of course I will do it. Inside I really feel like crying because the prospect of working another whole year and not going to college is stressful. I must get up from this table before I begin to cry. Sometimes I think I might have to run away like my mother did.)
Amelia got up to get a glass of water trying to calm down and gain her composure, when there was a knock on the door. She answered it.
“Mr. Nader, what are you doing here is something wrong at the jobsite do you need me?” asked Amelia, surprised to see him.
“Hi Amelia, no everything is OK, I came to ask your family a favor,” he said.
“Come in,” said Amelia, “and sit down. Can I get you something to drink?” she asked.
Mr. Nader greeted the family, “Hi everybody. Thank you, Amelia, I’m fine I don’t need anything right now. “I came to talk to you because I’ve have had a stroke of luck and landed a big contract for my company. It will mean that I will have to put a whole additional crew together and that means I will need more equipment. I wondered if you would consider letting me rent the construction equipment your father had rather than buying new equipment, you still have it don’t you?”
“Yeah we have it stored in the big barn out of the weather,” said Roger.
I know your father kept it in good condition and maintained it well. He and I were competitors, but friends to, he was a good man and a very hard worker and known for having tip top equipment.”
I have tried to keep the equipment in good running order. I start up the engines at least once a month to be sure the seals don’t go dry. We use one of the backhoes occasionally to pull stumps or dig a fence posthole that’s about all. Why do you ask?” said Roger.
“I heard through the grapevine that your brother Jerry tried to sell some of your equipment, but no one would deal with him. My foreman said he was at our place, but they ran him off, knowing it really wasn’t his to sell. Would you be interested in letting me use your equipment?” asked Mr. Nader.
“How much of the equipment do you think you would need?” Roger replied.
“I will need all of it son, the two backhoes, the rubber tire loader, portable fuel tanks, the generator and the laser. I will be honest with you I bid the job with the intension of buying new equipment, but then I got to thinking and the fact that I might not need all that equipment when this job is over. So rental is the way to go. I thought we could get Lenny, the equipment guy, to work up a price and see what it comes to and if we can make a deal, I could rent the equipment from you and give you a monthly check. That way we would each be getting what we need. The job will take about 18 months to two years to complete if all goes well. Of course, I hope to get some change orders for some extra work so it could be longer.”
Roger, Deana, Matt, and Amelia looked at each other they all knew they could trust Mr. Nader. Roger stood up and shook Mr. Nader’s hand, “Let’s call Lenny,” he said smiling.
As he was leaving half way out the door, Mr. Nader turned and said, “By the way, I want all of you to know, Amelia here is now a top notch operator, she was a little shaky at first, but she learned fast and can compete with any one of my operator’s now.”
Lenny appraised the equipment and gave a price for a monthly rental. After talking it over with the rest of the family Roger, made a deal with Mr. Nader. The rental income was more than what Amelia made. They sat down once more to see how the income from the rental of the equipment would affect them. Roger, Deana, and Matt looked at Amelia. “Sis,” said Roger, “I believe it’s time for you to go off to college.”
Amelia began to cry; she was so happy. They all hugged and kissed, and she told them how much she loved them all.
Amelia was excited, she wrote to Chad to tell him about the possible rental deal. “I am holding my breath until we sign the actual contract papers. I’m so afraid the deal won’t go through, pessimist that I am, I’m trying to prepare mysel
f for the worst, just in case. I didn’t even tell your mom for fear of disappointing her again. Keep your fingers, toes, and eyes crossed for me. (Ha, ha) I will try and call you the second I know for sure everything will or will not work out.”
Amelia couldn’t wait until the rental contracts were signed, the minute Mr. Nader left the house, and she got in her pickup and went over to Ida’s house. She didn’t want to say anything before, for fear the deal would fall through. She burst into the house calling for Ida. “Ida, Ida, guess what? I’m going to college at last, we made a deal with Mr. Nader to rent dad’s construction equipment, and it will bring in more than my salary, so I can save most of my salary for school. I can go to college now,” Amelia gasped out in one big breath.
“Amelia, how wonderful,” said Ida, getting up and hugging her, “let’s get out all your paperwork and get started.”
“Do you think I can still get in and maybe get some grant money to help?”
“I didn’t tell you this Amelia, but when you couldn’t go to school, I wrote to the college in Pennsylvania and told them you had personal problems that’s why you had to decline. They wrote back and said you could re-apply when you worked everything out. Let’s write to the application office and see what your status is and if they will let you start the next semester. Then we’ll start applying for grants again. That will be easy for us, we’re old pros at it,” she said laughing and hugging Amelia.”
Secrets of Amelia Page 9
