A New Life for Dr. Mitchel Ch. 06

"I don't know how long Jimmy wants us to be here, but wolf and I are willing to answer some questions if any of you want to interrupt your meal to ask them."

While Marsh was talking, Becca's phone vibrated indicating she had a priority call. She walked to an exit and took the call. Becca was only gone for a couple of minutes. When she came back Becca told Marsh, "It's all set." Marsh understood.

Before Becca returned, several people had asked questions that Marsh was able to answer quickly and concisely. When Becca came back, there were a few more questions that Marsh or Becca were able to answer. Everyone seemed satisfied with the answers, and soon everyone in the room went back to eating their meals.

Jimmy thanked Marsh for his efficient handling of the question and answer session. Then he led the family back to one of the conference rooms. He asked everyone to have a seat, and he stepped out of the room for a couple of minutes.

Jimmy came back with two men and two women. One of the women was wearing a nice business suit, and the other three had white aprons on. Jimmy introduced Virginia Hastings, the woman in the business suit, as the general manager of the Hole.

One of the men, he introduced as Jack Davis the head chef. Jimmy explained that all of the chefs here were multi-talented. There were usually two, sometimes three on duty, and there was not really a need for a menu. You tell your server or your chef what you want and it will be made. From soup to nuts, Italian, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Tex-Mex, European, Middle Eastern, Latin American... It didn't matter. They even made American food. You know things like apple pie, Cheerios, steak and eggs, gumbo... whatever you wanted. All the chefs could make almost any of these. Some were a little better at one or another, but you just ordered what you want.

The other two employees were introduced as, Sandra Hanson, and David Brown. They were titled as purchasing agents. They were in charge of bringing in the foods and spices needed to make whatever anyone wanted. They made regular orders for fresh meats, fresh sea foods, fresh fruits and vegetables, anything any time of the year. If you wanted it they could have it here within forty eight hours, usually less.

Sandra liked to be called Sandy, and David preferred Dave, and they had contacts worldwide. Since Turner Security had transport planes coming and going to almost anywhere in the world on a daily basis, it was no problem to have someone meet an airplane, and load up a few boxes of whatever was ordered from anywhere in the world.

It should be noted here that just because Jimmy and his family were vegetarians, and didn't use alcohol, didn't mean they didn't meet the taste/food requirements of all of their people. The Hole served several hundred people every day from all over the world, and Jimmy had set this place up to meet their needs.

Jimmy took the time to personally introduce Marguarita to Sandy and Dave. If Mita wanted any kind of cooking related food or spices all she had to do was call one of them and they would make sure she had what she wanted.

To say Marguarita and Marsh were impressed and more than a little pleased would be an understatement. Marsh could have fresh strawberry-rhubarb pie all year long. And Marguarita could have fresh ingredients from Mexico or wherever at any time. Meal-time at the Mitchel/Rosario house was going to get verrrry interesting.

All four of the Hole's management team came over to Marsh and made sure he felt welcome. They assured him that if there was something he liked particularly well, they would make sure he could have it at any time.

Virginia went by Ginny, and she told Marsh that the room they were in right now, or another one just like it, would be reserved for him 24/7. If he called ahead she would set it up for him and any guests or business associates he was bringing in. Further, if he called in orders, and gave her arrival times she would have food ready as well.

Marsh thanked her and assured her he would try to give her reasonable advance warnings. "Since I just found out about this place, it'll take me a little while to figure out how to keep your lives as simple as possible. I will tell y'all the same thing I stress to all my team members. I want us to work together as a team. I don't want you to feel like you're working "for" me so much as you are working "with" me.

Jack walked around the table and took orders from each of the family members there. When he had all of them he left the room and went to the kitchen to make everyone's food.

Marguarita spent about fifteen minutes talking to Dave and Sandy about the things she liked to use in her cooking. They told her the things that were the easiest and which things took a couple of days. They assured her that they would get her what she wanted.

As Marsh listened to Marguarita talk to Dave and Sandy he thought of an idea. Many times as a kid, he could remember hearing Momma Vicky complain about not having this or that from the "old country". He asked Sandy if she thought it would be possible to drop some things off in the LA area.

"Shouldn't be a problem." Sandy assured him. The transports are going through there all the time anyway. She explained that planes had to stop on the west coast or through Bangor, Maine to go through customs, anyway. It would be as easy to drop off items for Momma Vicky in LA, as it was to pick up fish, clams, and lobster, when they stopped in Maine. It was routine.

Marsh was delighted, and assured Sandy that she had just scored some big points with the boss, and that he was going to make the day of his little Italian momma in Los Angeles. He told Sandy he was going to give Momma Vicky her contact information, and that he would try to get Momma to come back here to introduce them as soon as he could make it happen.

Before their food came out, Ginny invited Marsh to take a tour of The Hole. She showed him two more private conference rooms. Then she led him to a stairway that went down to the basement, where there was cold storage, a wine cellar, a huge walk-in refrigerator, and an equally large freezer. There was a dumbwaiter that could be used to send heavy items directly up to the kitchen, and a service elevator that came down from the loading dock out back. Heavy food items could be brought straight from the trucks to the appropriate storage area downstairs.

Ginny showed Marsh where her office was and how to get in any time he wanted. She also showed him the purchasing center, where Sandy and Dave each had an assistant helping them procure anything needed to satisfy the needs of the customers and the chefs, and make sure it was stored in the appropriate location.

There was a private restroom that was not open/available to the customers, or even most of the employees. It stayed a lot cleaner than the public restrooms. Not that she let the public restrooms get dirty. She just kept the executive restroom nicer than the others.

Ginny asked Marsh for his cell phone, and entered her own private cell phone number. "If you ever need anything boss, please call me. For you I'm available 24/7."

"Thank you, Ginny!" Marsh replied. "Please remember, yes, I'm the new boss, but I want you to treat me like part of a team. I'm Marsh."

Marsh and Ginny walked back to the conference room where two servers were delivering everyone's food. It was all very good. Marsh was impressed. He watched everyone around the table and saw that everyone was very satisfied.

Marsh took particular delight watching Marguarita. Whoever had cooked her Mexican breakfast had done a particularly good job. Marguarita looked like she was close to tears a couple of times. It was a first for her. She had really good authentic Mexican food and she had not had to do anything but sit and eat it.

Marguarita ate as much as she wanted, which was most of what she was given, and then got up and walked to where Jimmy was sitting. She hugged Jimmy and kissed his cheeks. Thank you so much, Jimmy this is marvelous. I want to go meet whoever made this food and thank them as well.

Jimmy had one bite left to eat, and then he got up and led Marguarita out of the room and into the kitchen. Jack met them almost immediately and after a short discussion with Jimmy and Marguarita he called one of the cooks over. Her name was Teresa Gonzales, and after a conversation in Spanish where Marguarita profusely thanked Teresa, Marguarita discovered that Teresa had been born and raised only about twenty miles from Marguarita's home town. Jimmy left Marguarita with Teresa and Jack so she could find out all about the food that was served here at The Hole. Teresa told Marguarita about how to order the things she wanted from Mexico, through Dave or Sandy.

When Jimmy returned to the conference room, Marsh queried him about the bar.

"Ah yes," Jimmy mused, "the bar. There is a stand of oak trees on the mountain above your house. One of the big trees got hit by lightning while I was rebuilding The Hole. I got a friend to haul the bottom forty feet of it down here, and another friend milled it. We opened the wall framing enough to get it in here, and then made the doors to fit the opening we had made. Those oak slab doors are not a standard size. Those doors and all the oak tables were milled from that one tree. I was not happy about losing it to begin with, but decided to make the best of an unfortunate situation. There's about a half a dozen that size up there still."

"Sweet!" Marsh responded. "Do you have any idea what that bar is worth?"

"I have no idea, Marsh." Jimmy smiled as he replied. "And I have no plans for having it appraised. It's never going anywhere, and I like it, so it doesn't need to be appraised. I sure wouldn't want to have to buy one like it, though. One of the things I really like is, I have the only one. Well I had the only one. I guess it's yours now."

"Just a minute my friend," Marsh looked Jimmy straight in the eyes. "As I recall, you told me you had a trust drafted, and you and I jointly own the trust, whenever we get around to having me sign the papers."

"Ah yes." Jimmy responded. "Details, details, we should probably take care of that this afternoon, after your tour."

As Marguarita walked back into the room, Jimmy stood up. "It looks like everyone is finished with their breakfast. I've asked one of our pilots to take most of you back to the ranch, where you can all go your separate ways. Be that to work, home or wherever you need to go. I need Becca and Marsh to stay with me, and we'll take a tour of the Turner Company's locations in this area. After that Marsh and I need to get together with our lawyers, and bankers, and get the ugly part of our business taken care of."

"Just so y'all know, this is the first time I've had a family to take out to breakfast, and I really enjoyed it. I hope we can do it frequently from this point forward. Rick, would you take the ladies out to the pad, and help them load up in the 412? I asked Sam Black to fly all of you back to the ranch."

Rick, Marguarita, Sue, Trish, and Jenni all headed out to the helipad, and Jimmy, Becca, and Marsh sat in chairs at the end of the table. Jimmy sat at the head of the table, and Marsh and Becca sat across from each other in the first chairs at the sides. Wolf was lying against the wall behind Marsh. He looked like he was asleep. Marsh knew just how quickly Wolf could be in action, and he took comfort in knowing he had the K9 back-up.

Jimmy sat silently for a few minutes, just looking up at nothing that Marsh could identify. Marsh could almost see the wheels turning in Jimmy's head as he put together what he wanted to say next.

Becca and Marsh both sat quietly with their elbows on the table, and their hands folded in front of them. Jimmy looked first at Becca, who smiled back at him, as he reached out and took one of her hands in one of his. He turned to look Marsh, and took one of his as well, with his other hand.

Looking back at Becca, Jimmy spoke softly. "Rebecca, you're my granddaughter, and I love you. You know that, right?

Becca smiled at Jimmy as she answered. "Of course, grandpa, you've showed me that very well. I hope you know that I love you, too."

"I do," Jimmy replied. "And I hope I never do anything to interfere with that. I need to ask you something, though. Are you OK with what I've done with the Turner Companies? In theory since you're my granddaughter, you should be in line to inherit, but with me bringing in Marsh,....."

Becca interrupted him. "Grandpa! How could you ever think I wouldn't be OK with what you do with your company? I love you just because you are my grandfather. And then because of all the things you've done for me, including the fact that you brought Marsh here, and introduced me to the love of my life! Do you have any serious questions, grandpa?"

Becca stood up and walked around the table to hug Jimmy, and gave him several warm kisses, on the cheeks and one on his mouth.

When she went back to her chair, Jimmy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Becca my sweet girl. You sure make me proud to call you my granddaughter. I had nothing to do with your raising, but your parents did a stellar job of it. I couldn't ask for a better offspring. I feel very blessed to have found both of you."

"Marsh, you were related by being married to my other granddaughter. Neither of us knew that till last week, and as far as I'm concerned you are still related, even if you weren't going to marry this granddaughter. I'm not a religious man, but I'm beginning to believe in divine guidance. You came into my life for a reason. Marsh I had decided I didn't want to know what Rick had found out about Trish. I wasn't going to ask. You did, and I am going to be glad to my grave that you did. There's no way I could have known what a splendid family I have. I sure hope I live a few more years to enjoy my daughter, granddaughter and my son."

"Becca, I'd like you to take us up to the training base, but I'd like you to fly us low over the east side of the lake, so Marsh can see the lodge conference center. Let's not stop there just let him see it. Then we can go up to the base and he can see what all is there."

"After we are done there, we need to go over to the main office, and meet with the lawyers and the bank guy. He's going to be there at 1400 to get Marsh hooked up with the accounts. Come to think of it, did you ever get tied to the corporate accounts and get a corporate credit or debit card, Becca?"

"Not really, grandpa." Becca replied. "You have always been anywhere I was, so you always paid. I figured you didn't think I needed to be on any accounts."

"That changes today." Marsh interrupted. We're gonna need you on most everything. If the founder disagrees, I'm going back to my simple mountain man life in the San Bernardino Wilderness. Have I made that clear enough?"

Marsh was smiling as he looked toward Jimmy, and squeezed the hand that was still holding his.

"Hey, Hey, now," Jimmy blurted. "You don't need to get all testy with the old man. I'm old, and I get to blame the old-timer fading brain syndrome for my fuck-ups. I'm just glad I have you two to make sure I can find my way home at the end of the day. Of course we need to get her included. I'd be surprised if you told me not to have her in the trust with you, eh?

"You're not as much old-timer faded as you are trying to be, grandpa." Marsh emphasized the word grandpa. "We probably should make some provisions for your daughter as well. You know, just in case your private pilot screws up and lands that shiny jet on the nose cone or something like that."

"Hey!" Becca exclaimed. "It wasn't me screaming down the street at house top level the other day at over six hundred miles an hour. - About that. Was it as much fun as it looked like?" Now Becca had a grin from ear to ear.

Jimmy looked between the two youngsters at the table with him. "Now children," he said firmly. "Am I going to have to send you to your rooms, without dinner?" As he finished he knew that was the wrong thing to ask.

"Would you please," begged Marsh. "Hey Becca you want to play doctor when we get sent to our room? I think he forgot we live in the same bedroom."

"Sweet!" Becca quickly replied. "Do you want us to go straight from here, grandpa? I can use a little punishment right about now." Her smile said she was having fun with this.

"Awwwwww shit!" Jimmy said with disgust. "I know better than that. Why do I even open my mouth? Let's get outta here." Jimmy stood and let go of Marsh and Becca's hands. As he walked around the corner of the table, Becca wrapped her arms around him. "I love you grandpa. I will till one or the other of us dies, and then I'll just keep on loving you after that."

Before Becca was finished talking, Marsh had walked around and put his arms around both Jimmy and Becca. "What she said Jimmy, and Becca, too. You two are gonna be cursed with my presence around you long after you're both sick and tired of my smiling mug. Let's go."

As the trio walked to the 230 on the pad, Becca suggested that Marsh and Jimmy should sit on the right side in the back, with the door open and headsets plugged into the communication system. That way Jimmy could act as a tour guide and Marsh could have a better view, than if he was in the left seat up front.

On the helipad, Tom and Ralph were still sitting guard in the Huey. Marsh spoke to them in a greeting and told them he was looking forward to working with them at some future time. He and Becca did a walk around inspection of the helo and then Becca got in the pilot's seat, and Marsh climbed into the back with Jimmy.

Jimmy had modified the 230 so that the doors would lift off easily. He had taken the side rear doors off and stowed them in the back of the helicopter in a place he had specially designed to hold the doors securely.

Jimmy reached into the storage area and picked out a couple of harnesses that he and Marsh buckled into. The harnesses were modified climbing gear with straps that buckled into D-rings mounted into the floor. The straps were long enough to facilitate standing out on the step for observation or to assist in rescue operations. Marsh and Jimmy weren't likely to be getting out of the cabin, but the harnesses added an extra layer of safety. Both Marsh and Jimmy were big on safety.

While Marsh and Jimmy had been buckling up and getting seated, Becca had been going through the pre-start checklist, and had started the process of firing up the turbines. She was soon ready to lift off, and swung the helicopter to the left and across the road. She flew along a nicely graded gravel road that Jimmy told Marsh was the back way into the Turner Training base.

The training base was an abandoned military installation that Jimmy had purchased, from the government after it was closed as a result of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action of 1988, in 1994. It was surrounded by BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land, and Jimmy had secured a lease on a large amount of that at the same time.

Becca began to veer the helo to the right, and soon slowed down and descended to just above the treetop level. They passed the tree line and were now flying over the lake that Marsh had seen the night before, when he and Becca had come up to Jimmy's lake house.

Becca flew low and slow along the lakeshore and she and Jimmy described all the features they flew past. There were numerous cabins along the shore. Some of them were close to the water, and some were almost hidden, back behind the tree line.

At about the halfway point, a mile from Jimmy's house, Becca slowed the helicopter even more. The trees thinned out a lot, and Jimmy described the camp that Marsh could see. There were at least a dozen small cabins clustered around a large log and stone built lodge. The lake-front wall of the lodge was mostly glass. The building had two stories with a large kitchen, dining room, and common room with a huge stone fireplace. On each side of the common room there was a conference room, and the second floor had bedrooms along a wide balcony.