Eden

All the "liberated" money was stashed inside the frame of his truck. He and a friend had boxed the frame in and installed lockable doors to secure the cash. Then they tack welded a plate over the end of the frame to hide the locked door. Of course the friend hadn't known why they were doing the work on the truck. He accepted Tom's statement that he wanted to strengthen the frame for some heavy hauling and 4 wheeling after he retired.

Tom arrived in his home town in mid afternoon three days after leaving Ft. Bragg. He had a very pleasant reunion with his parents and other family that night. The next morning, after a leisurely breakfast and more visiting, Tom drove into town and stopped at a real estate office. He knew what he wanted and wasn't going to settle for less.

Two weeks later Tom and his real estate agent found exactly what he wanted. They found a twenty acre plot of ground twelve miles from town on Big Sugar Creek. There was a rough dirt road running past the acreage. The trail onto the place was so rough Tom's truck could just barely make it down it. There was a small meadow of perhaps three acres. The rest of the land was covered in woods and brush. He would own almost a quarter mile of stream front. There was a sharp curve in the stream about midway past his land where it ran into a sandstone bluff. The hole in the bend of the stream was fifteen or twenty feet deep next to the bluff. Across from the bluff was a nice gravel bar. The stream was full of fish. There were bass, some crappie, perch, goggle eye, blue gill, and various other species of fish.

There were no buildings on the property but there were several good places to build a home. After the negotiations were completed Tom managed to purchase the land for $60,000. He paid $10,000 down and obtained a loan for the rest. He didn't want to raise interest by paying cash even though he could have easily done that.

After the land was purchased Tom made a camp on the gravel bar and began unwinding. He spent almost all his time on his land. He walked it several times crisscrossing it repeatedly to familiarize himself with its features. During his walks he looked for the perfect place to build the small home he wanted.

Finally Tom settled on the site for his home. There was a small hill just upstream from the deep hole in the bend of the stream. The hill sloped gently down to the gravel bar on which Tom camped. He decided to build an earth shelter home into the side of the hill. He made sure he placed his home well above the highest possible high water mark then began laying out the house, a garage and yard. Best of all the building site he selected was only about thirty feet from the clearing where he intended to raise a large garden for most of his vegetables. Eventually he planned to raise his own beef, pork and chickens and become as self sufficient as he could.

Since he was retired and had nothing except time Tom intended to do all the work himself on his new home and out buildings. Tom used his father's chain saw and cut the few trees that had to be removed and made them into firewood to burn in his wood stove after his home was completed. After the brush and trees were cleared from his building sites Tom went into town and purchased a used back hoe to dig his house out of the hillside. He paid cash for it. During the process of digging the house into the small hill he removed all the stumps from the trees that he cut earlier. He also used the back hoe to improve his driveway and carry creek gravel to pave it with.

After the house was dug out of the hillside Tom moved gravel to cover the bottom of the cut. He made sure to put his water and sewer lines in the gravel then covered everything with plastic for a vapor barrier. He also placed lateral pipe outside the inner walls next to the hill and ran drain pipes underneath the house to keep the water out of his home. Next he built his forms for the poured concrete walls and floor. Rebar and rewire were laid and fastened together. Tom hired several neighbors and friends of his family to help him pour and finish the concrete.

On the day of the pour the men worked until they were exhausted. Finally after six p.m. they were done. Tom and his three helpers stood drinking a well deserved beer and looked at their days work. Tom had the walls for an earth shelter home sheltered on two sides by the hillside facing more or less to the southeast. About the middle of the structure there was a 45 degree corner to conform to the hillside. His house would be 24 feet deep by 24 long on each back side of the structure. The two front sides were 36 feet in length thus making his home a total of 1440 square feet when completed. As soon as the forms could come off they would pour the floors.

While the walls and floor of his home cured Tom hired a well drilled and ordered the lumber he would need to complete his home. During that time he also built a pole building to store his back hoe and other tools in. Part of the building was partitioned off to serve as a barn for his stock and a chicken house for his future chickens.

After the forms came off the walls Tom covered the outside of the walls with thick tar then put more gravel over the lateral pipe before back filling against the walls. After the walls were completed Tom accepted delivery of the lumber for the front, interior and roof of his home. Once again he paid cash for the material. By purchasing it a small truck load at a time at different lumber yards he was able to safely move some of his stash into the economy once again.

Tom built the roof of his home in such a manner that he had a twelve foot deep covered porch all across the front of the structure. He put gutters along the rear to drain much of the water away from the back of his house and reduce the chances of seepage into the structure. He had a master bedroom with walk in closet and master bath on the east. His living room ran across the front of the structure with a second bedroom and bath behind it against the hillside. On the west of the south facing leg of the house were the kitchen, utility room and dining area. He had a standalone three bay garage attached to the porch with a covered walkway. He put a hot tub on the porch just outside his bedroom with a door from the bedroom to the hot tub area. He enclosed this end of the porch so he could use the tub in the winter.

All these projects took a year to complete. Tom did all the work himself except when a job required more than one person for safety reasons. He was able to use his back hoe to lift the trusses into place and lift heavy items so hired help was kept to a minimum. All during his project he kept in touch with Samantha Peters. The first few times he contacted her was via e-mail but then for some reason he began phoning her. Their conversations became longer and more personal as the year progressed. Tom found himself looking forward to their once or twice weekly phone calls and occasional e-mails. Finally, thirteen months after he retired, Samantha drove into Tom's yard over the much improved private lane onto his property.

Tom was prepared to meet her as a friend and fellow soldier. When she stepped from her truck he stopped in awe. She was wearing short shorts and a loose blouse. It was obvious she wore no bra. Her hair was almost shoulder length and pulled back into a pony tail. She trotted toward Tom grinning hugely.

When she got close enough instead of holding her hand out for a shake she wrapped her arms around Tom and hugged him before stepping back. He looked down and up her body and said, "Damn, woman. I always suspected you were hiding something under that uniform but this is way beyond my expectations."

Sam grinned and gave him a mock curtsy then said, "Thank you Platoon Sergeant." Her grin was replaced by a more serious expression and she asked, "And how have you been since I last saw you?" She held up her hand and continued, "I know from your phone calls and e-mails you've been busy building this beautiful little Eden. I want to know how you're handling retirement. Have you made peace with yourself over what we did in Iraq? I still have nightmares sometimes and I worry."

As they caught up with each other Tom and Samantha slowly walked around the yard looking at the landscaping and workmanship of the construction. After a quick circuit Tom offered her a beer. They sat on his porch drinking the beer and visiting while they looked over the quietly flowing stream. Finally Sam looked at Tom and said, "I hope you didn't use any money on this place you can't account for. The army's still hunting for the missing money from that truck. Somewhere they found a load sheet and know approximately how much was in it. For a while it looked as if Captain Crow was going to be accused of taking it but he managed to deflect that suspicion. Most of the investigators feel like Iraqi nationals embezzled or stole the missing amounts. The investigation is on the back burners now, but as far as I know it's still open."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about Sam. I'm an all American man here. I am mortgaged up to my eyeballs on this place. I did almost all the work myself so only spent about half what it would have cost most people but there is not one penny in this place I didn't earn myself the hard way."

"Good. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you, Tom."

Tom and Sam spent the next week reconnecting and enjoying life. They were both used to exercising so she ran and lifted with him the mornings he did. She even helped him work in his garden and went with him once to a cemetery where he used his back hoe to dig a grave and fill it. After his house was completed he kept the back hoe and went into business using it to dig graves, water lines and construction foundations. He almost had more business than he wanted after it got around how good he was with the machine. Now he was picking and choosing the work he did so he could have the free time he wanted.

The morning Sam planned to leave, both of the retired soldiers were sad. She delayed her departure as long as she could. They were sitting on the front porch saying their good byes when Tom sighed. He looked at Sam and said, "You know, Sam, I really don't want you to go. Can't you stay? You don't have anywhere you have to be do you?"

"No, I don't really. I need to go back home and see my parents, but that is all I have to do. I haven't got a job to go to or any other appointments. I know I need to find a job but I don't even know where I want to settle down. I'm pretty sure I don't want to live in my old home town. I couldn't wait to get away when I joined the Army and I haven't found anything there to draw me back the few times I've been home on leave. Why?"

"Sam, I want you to stay here. I enjoy having you around and can't think of how lonesome this place will be when you go."

"But I can't just freeload on you forever, Tom. I need to find a job, get a place of my own and settle down."

"The place next to mine is for sale. Its 20 acres like this one is but it isn't on the stream. You would only be about half a mile from it though. They even want less because there's no stream frontage. It does front on the highway, though. You drove past the end of it when you came down the dirt road to my place here."

"That would be nice, but how would I pay for it? I don't have enough for a down payment. Is there a house on it? Where would I live?"

"Well, you could live here with me or we could build you something. As for the money, yeah, I think you can swing the purchase and so forth. Wait here just a minute."

Tom rose from his chair and disappeared around the side of his house. Sam heard the garage door open and close. She waited for several minutes then finally Tom returned carrying a duffel bag with something in it. He grinned and walked up to Sam. He dropped the bag into her lap and said, "I've thought about this for almost the whole time I have been retired. I want you to have this even if you do leave."

Sam frowned and looked up at Tom. She began opening the bag. When she looked into the bag she whispered, "Oh, my GOD. I was right. You did it! I don't need this money Tom. Why did you give this to me?"

"Several reasons I suppose. You knew something was fishy but kept your mouth shut. You were guilty by association for that. Besides, you found it and deserve it as much as I do. Now you can afford that land and can stay here. I have been pulling cash from the bags all along and feeding it into my pocket. I have also been using some of it to put into my business account as if I had done work for cash. I have to pay taxes on the money I put into the business account at the end of the year, but that way I clean it and it becomes legal. Sure, I have to give some of it away as taxes but at least I am getting some of it into legal channels again. There's a hundred fifty thou or so there. It's yours whether you stay or go."

Sam looked at Tom a moment then she smiled. She took his arm and pulled him toward her truck. "Let's go look at my land neighbor," she said. "If it's as good as this piece of ground you bought we'll go see the real estate agent afterward."

Sam and Tom wandered around the twenty acres pushing through the brush and brambles until she was satisfied she had seen most of the ground. Like the plot Tom purchased there were several nice spots for a house and there were a couple of briar covered clearings that she could turn into small pastures or large gardens. Sam decided she liked the ground well enough to purchase it so she and Tom drove into town to see the real estate agent. She made an offer of $35,000 for the land. The owner counter offered $40,000 and Sam agreed.

After the negotiations were completed Sam and Tom returned to his small home for the evening. Sam was excited and couldn't stop talking about the possibilities she saw in her purchase. She said, "As soon as I get a place to live I want to get a cow and some chickens like you have then I want to make a garden and grow a lot of my own food. I'm really looking forward to doing this Tom."

After their evening meal Tom and Sam sat on his porch relaxing. He turned to her and said, "I think I want to take a quick swim this evening and maybe just float in the stream for a while. You're welcome to come if you want or you can just hang here."

"That sounds good. I got all hot and sticky tromping through the woods today. I'll bring some soap and take a quick wash there instead of in the shower. Hell, let's take some beer and build a fire on the gravel bar then make an evening of it down there. I really enjoyed the other times we did that."

Tom walked to the stream in the clothes he had on. He didn't own a swimming suit. If Sam had not been there he would have just gone into the stream nude and watched for canoes or fishermen. While she was there he usually swam in the shorts he normally wore. He always went commando so what was the difference between shorts and swim suit except the swim suit dried faster.

Tom was enjoying the cool water when Sam came into view. She wore three small pieces of cloth that were called a swimming suit. They barely covered the center of her magnificent breasts and her womanly center. Tom felt his cock harden as she walked down the gravel bar and into the water. When she was waist deep she did a surface dive and swam under him over to the bluff, did an underwater turn and swam toward him again. He expected her to swim under him once again and surface when the water shoaled. To his surprise she came up under him and dunked him.

Tom came up spluttering to see a laughing Samantha standing in chest deep water watching him flounder around. Her breasts were bobbing delightfully with the waves in the water. Tom finally got himself under control and said, "You're going to pay for that Sam." He then began moving toward her.

Sam kept laughing as she tried to evade Tom. They chased each other through the water for a few minutes before Tom finally caught Sam. They wrestled for a moment before he managed to pick her up and throw her into the deeper water. As he did so he noticed he had dislodged her skimpy top and her breasts were showing. As he threw her his hand caught in her bottoms and pulled them almost off. He caught a flash of a shaved pussy before she splashed into the water.

Sam came to the surface splashing and spluttering as he had done moments before. She swam toward Tom until she could stand. She stood and Tom stared at her breasts. Sam started to rearrange her swim suit to cover her secret places then she stopped. She looked at Tom and said, "Fuck this shit. You've seen it all now and it will be more pleasant swimming nude anyway."

Sam pulled her top from her body then reached under the water and took off her bottoms also. Tom felt his cock surge to full steel hardness. He watched Sam walk toward the bank until just her knees were in the water. She threw her small swim suit onto the gravel bar then turned and walked back to Tom. When she got to him she moved up to him and reached for his pants.

Sam looked at Tom's face as he felt her working to unbutton, unzip, and remove his shorts. When she felt his hard cock Sam smiled and said, "Now, that's what I've been looking for. I've needed one of those for several days. Think I could use this one for a while?"

Tom bent his head down for a kiss as he pulled Sam's beautiful body tightly against his. He pressed his turgid cock into her belly then pulled back and said, "Oh, yeah. I'm sure you can use and abuse me, Sammie. I've wanted you since before I retired but the time just didn't seem right."

That night was the first of many nights Tom and Sam made love, first outside under the stars and then later in Tom's large King sized bed. Sam's howls of passion harmonized with the coyotes in the night air. The next morning Tom and Sam could not keep their hands or eyes off each other. They didn't bother to dress until they decided to go into town for groceries and supplies.

Sam's purchase of the other 20 acres went through without a glitch. She and Tom cleared the briars and brush from the small clearings and planted a small garden and some pasture for the animals she intended to purchase. During the rest of the summer and fall Tom and Sam used his chain saws and machinery to clear around both the plots of ground. They cut the trees into fire wood and burned the brush then built new fences. Their fences were expensive because they purchased woven wire instead of making them full barbed wire.

They went into partnership and purchased a small herd of goats to eat the underbrush as well as a few more hogs and chickens. Sam continued to live with Tom that winter. She drew up several plans for her own home during that time. She and Tom even went to her and his parent's homes for the winter holidays together.

Somehow the next spring instead of building the planned home for Sam, she and Tom decided to enlarge his house by adding another bedroom and a den to it. They built the new rooms onto the end of the house that was not earth sheltered. They connected to the garage making the house almost a "Z" shape. One evening after Tom and Sam stopped working they once again made love on the creek bank after a frolic and nice swim in the deep hole at the bend in the stream.

Sam was lying on her side with her head on Tom's chest. Her left hand was idly playing with his semi-hard cock. She looked at Tom and said, "Tom, I didn't think I could be this happy or content. You found a place as near Eden as I could ever hope for. There is just one thing missing for me. I'm not getting any younger and I still want my babies."

Tom pulled Samantha tighter to his body and said, "Yeah, I know. Sometimes I think about kids too."

"Well, are you ever going to do anything about it?"