An Inconvenient Spy Ch. 02

By the time we arrived back at the hotel, I felt sure that Natalie and Becky would be lovers soon. That thought was exciting because Becky was certainly a beautiful woman with large breasts and a fine figure. The thought of me also being involved was also exciting except that I would be screwing a friend's wife. I might have a real problem with that.

I should also have guessed that Natalie had covered that base for us. When we were in bed after making love, she looked at and said, "We are going to have so much fun with Becky. She wanted to come up and stay with us tonight but I told her that you weren't ready."

"And what constitutes me not being ready?"

"Well I am sure that you are wondering about fucking your good friend's wife but mainly, you aren't ready for another woman yet until after we are married. I'm not going to risk losing you to another woman."

"There is absolutely no risk of that happening. I have the treasure I have always wished for."

"Thank you, lover; but still, I don't you fucking another woman until after we are married and we can share her."

"Actually my big problem is that she is Tim's wife."

"Oh, don't worry about that. Tim has this hot thing going with his secretary and Becky has been thinking about finding a lover too. Tim suggested that she take a look at you. She did and she liked what she saw in both of us. That was why she was ready to stay with us tonight. But then she wanted to come to our wedding but can't because of a work conflict. But she said that she would be up for a week in September like you suggested. Tim is going to take his squeeze to Vegas for several days then for a convention so she will be free. I told her to just let us know the details. Oh and she needs to get on birth control pills. She hasn't been using them since Tim can't father children."

"That's a nice thought. I would prefer to father my children with you."

"I like that idea too. I am now thinking about four, two years apart. What do you think?"

"I think that is a bedroom decision and therefore yours to make."

"Smart decision. Four it will be then. Now, what are we going to do with all of this money that we suddenly have?"

"I think that we will put some of it into a savings account to buy us our property or house and the rest we will open an investment account and put it away for our retirement and kids and stuff."

"I like that idea. Let's do it."

"Fine. I have also been thinking about something else too. Originally, I planned on us going back up to the village on Friday. That means we would have to do a number of things on Thursday to be ready to meet the boat on Friday morning. But now I think that we take care of things on Thursday and wait to catch the boat on Saturday or Sunday. Then we could look around the area some more."

"Honey, I will go with you whenever you are ready. I just don't want to be away from you that long again. You are so much a part of my life right now, I feel naked when you aren't nearby."

"I feel the same way. Now are you ready for sleep or a repeat?"

"I am always ready for a repeat with you. But this time, imagine that I am Becky. You need to start getting comfortable with that thought."

An hour later, I was very comfortable with that thought as Natalie kept up a flowing story of the things we would do with Becky when she came to visit.

The next morning, we rose and caught a cab to the airport for our flight back. We got to the train station shortly after noon and had lunch in the Italian restaurant which we both liked a lot. Then we paid a visit to our new banker and explained that we wanted some kind of savings account for some of our money that would be earmarked for buying a house and property. He suggested a series of roll over CD's that would earn maximum interest but which would also be available in regular intervals if we found a place. He almost choked when I told him that we had $1.5 million to put aside but he quickly got over it and we signed the account papers.

I had finally looked at those real estate magazines and found that we could buy a nice house and property for around $1 million. With the rest of the $1.5 million we could furnish it and do whatever changes we wanted to make. Then I asked him for the name of a good broker locally. He looked at me and asked if I was willing to work with a young guy who was just getting started. I answered that I didn't have a problem with that as long as he was looking out more for our interests more than his own or the brokerage house. I didn't want to lose money while enriching someone else. He replied that he knew just the person and led us across the street to a well known brokerage office and asked for Michael.

Michael turned out to be about 25 and also turned out to be the banker's son. After the introductions were over, the father left and Michael escorted us to his office. After talking with him for a half hour, I felt very comfortable with his long term, moderate risk approach to investing. He said that he grew up here and knew so many people and that if he tried any other approach, he wouldn't have much of a career for long. He also assured us that his father had ingrained his customer first approach in him since he was young. He was just getting started at the brokerage company and was trying to get to the point where he was paying for himself.

When we left his office, he was paying for himself after we signed over$7.5 million in government checks to our new account. From that day forward, we became his favorite client and he and his wife became our friends and became frequent visitors to our house after we got settled and had kids the same age as theirs.

After that visit, I went to the farm store and picked up the garden supplies I had ordered. The owner had thrown in a few extras and gave me a couple of seed catalogs to use. He also set us up as a commercial account. Then we went to Marie's to pick up Natalie's wedding dress. She tried it on but wouldn't let me see her in it. She did say however, that both my choice and Marie's fitting were perfect. As we were about to leave, Marie said that I needed to call Swede as he had left word that he wanted to see me before we went back to the village. I called him and he was pleased to hear from me. He then invited Natalie and I for lunch and said that he had something to show me. I agreed and said that we would be there at noon.

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping. Since all of my clothes were gone now except for what I had with me, I bought a number of other pairs of jeans and shirts to wear at the village along with underwear, socks and a couple of pairs of boots and walking shoes. Natalie still had some clothes but they were half was across the country, so she bought some new casual outfits to wear and work in also along with some casual shoes and another pair of walking shoes. By the time we went and checked into the hotel, we needed another bag to carry all of our new clothes.

The next morning, we went and bought a small trunk to carry our clothes and the wedding dress. We would be able to use the trunk as a table or storage chest at the village. After we took it to our room, we took a slow drive out to Swede and Doris' house. Once again, we were both enchanted with the area. Doris met us and called Swede from the fields on their cell phone. We had a great farm lunch prepared by Doris and we updated them some about our Denver trip.

After lunch, Swede started talking. "Jeff, after we talked the other day, I got to thinking. I know that the two of you are going to be up in the village for another year or so but I know of an opportunity that you might be interested in. So let's the four of us take a drive and I'll show you what I mean." We agreed and piled into his car. He started driving in the direction of the German village and passed through many of the orchards I had seen before without Natalie.

"Swede, is there a growers association around here or statewide or something like that?"

"Yes, there is a statewide organization and a local chapter here. Why? Are you interested in becoming a grower?"

"Maybe. The main thing is that Nat and I got a contract in Denver to study the fruit industry in the Pacific Northwest and we need to get to know some of the growers."

"Then you need to join the association. You will meet plenty of people and can learn a lot quickly. We all have lots of experience and opinions and are ready to share. But if you are interested in becoming a grower, what I am about to show you might be more interesting than I thought. As we neared the village, he turned off the main road and started up a hill and stopped. "This house is owned by a friend of ours. He has about 500 acres of apple trees down here that he has worked for over thirty years. He thought that his kids would take it over but they aren't interested. They want to join the techie crowd over in Seattle. But he wants to semi retire. For now he wants to keep this part but if we go farther up the road he has another 200 acres of cherry trees he'd like to sell. I'll show you."

We drove up the hill and I could hear Natalie gasp at the beauty of the scenery. He drove to a flattened out place just below the peak of the hill and shut off the engine. As we got out, Natalie gasped again. We were looking down on the village and out over the valley. Below us were rows of cherry trees full of bright cherries.

Swede came over by us and started pointing. "His property runs from the road over to that tree line and down to just above his house down there. He also owns the hilltop but nothing is up there but native trees. He had this area leveled so his kids could build a house here and had the water and electricity run and a septic tank installed before he realized that they didn't want to live here. So he stopped. Basically, it is ready to build up here. Now around here, producing orchards run about $5000 per acre. So this property would be about a million dollars for the trees. He's going to have a hard time selling it because there isn't a house here and people want trees with a house. As a result, when he gets back from Europe, he will probably list this part for around $750,000 to see if he can sell it. What I was thinking was that if you can get financing or have some money to make him a deal, you might be able to get this place for $500,000 before he lists it and save the real estate commissions."

I looked at Natalie and saw that she was about to wet her pants. The excitement was written all over her face.

"Tell me something Swede, I imagine that this gets a lot of snow in the winter," He nodded. "What would someone do if they lived up here?"

He smiled, "Drive around and you will see. What most people do would to build a garage down there at the bottom of the property and keep their truck there during the winter. Then they would have a snow mobile up here with a ski trailer and drive it down to the garage when they needed to go to town. When they came back, they load their groceries and things in the trailer and drive the snow mobile back up the hill. You could ski or snow shoe down but that would be hard to bring things up."

"What is the market for cherries right now?"

"These are special cherries and are just now getting to the productive age. Virtually all of these are exported to Japan and China and bring a premium price. That's why you don't see them in the market in the states. These trees probably produce around $4-500,000 a year alone and that will probably increase as they finish maturing."

Natalie couldn't constrain herself anymore. "Tell him we want it! Well, tell him that we want it if Jeff says so. It is his decision."

I grinned and said, "When your friend gets back, tell him that you have a serious cash buyer but that I want to talk to him and see what we can work out. I love everything about it but I might want to see if he can continue to work it until we come back from the village. I don't want to let it just sit for a year of two."

"I can almost guarantee he will do that deal. He wants to start pulling back in the next year or two and then fully retire in five years. If you are serious about a cash deal with no real estate commissions, all you have to worry about is hammering out the details. I can guarantee that you will make out like a bandit with this place."

Doris added, "And Natalie, you will love the people here in the village. We come over here all of the time and they have so many fairs and events, it is like a year round party."

"Living here is going to be like a year round dream." She replied.

Swede asked again, "Are you serious, Jeff?"

"Yes I am, Swede. One of the things that happened in Denver was that I sold my house in Texas for close to what we are talking about and with our contract and some other savings, we are ready to find a place just like this and build our own place. We have eighteen months to design what we want and get it built. This is just a perfect opportunity for us."

"My friend will be very pleased to hear that. He will be back here in about a month. Plan on getting together when you come out for your weekend off around then. Let's go somewhere and get a beer. I think this deserves a celebration."

"I agree and I'm buying."

He drove us into the village and parked in front of a beer garden and restaurant. We sat outside and a pitcher of dark beer miraculously appeared. It was good and rich like the beers I had tasted in Germany one summer. One beer led to another and people who knew Swede and Doris started joining us. We were introduced as soon to be members of the community and we were welcomed warmly. By 5:30, there were more than a dozen local people sitting around a couple of tables that had been pulled together. At 6:00 platters of sausage, sauerkraut, potatoes and other German delights began appearing. By 7:30, our party of almost 20 people were glowing with pride, with the food and drink and with new neighbors.

I looked at Natalie and she was enjoying herself even more than I was and that was a lot. I knew that we were at home here and belong here. Everything else was just a matter of negotiations. We were invited to visit homes when we were out on weekends and encouraged to come to their monthly festivities. We couldn't promise anything since we didn't know our schedules yet, but we assured everyone that we would be back often. At 8:00, Doris announced that they needed to get home and that I was driving. She told me that Swede was too far gone to drive because he was now speaking Swedish to his buddies. It was then that I realized that while I had been listening to them, I hadn't understood a word I had heard. I suggested that Natalie drive. Doris agreed with me. And Swede and I rode back to their place with Natalie driving and Doris giving directions. Needless to say, we spent the night at their house.

Both Natalie and I were moving slowly in the morning but both Doris and Swede were sharp and ready to get busy after a wonderful breakfast. That also helped us feel more normal and we said our goodbyes and I drove us back to the hotel. On the way, Natalie just rambled on about how wonderful our new home was going to be and how I was going to have to fuck her in every room and underneath every tree in the orchard. I figured that I would be about 60 before we achieved that goal.

When we were about halfway back, I suddenly said, "Nat, I don't know where my head is. You need to call your parents and let them know that everything is alright."

"Oh, I already talked to them. They and my sisters will be here for the wedding. Dan had called mom and told her that I was fine and then I called her while I was waiting for you at Marie's the other day. They had already heard about John and were surprised about us but are just so happy. They are eager to meet you. By the way, no matter how much you beg, you aren't going to fuck my sisters. Well, maybe the older one but not the baby."

"Why would I want to fuck your sisters when I have you, my love?"

"Honey, I am the ugly duckling of the family. They are just gorgeous and sexy as hell too. My little sister is the best looking one of all although she is also a book worm. But I won't let you touch her except for hugs and kisses."

"You amaze me."

"When we get to town we need to see if the courthouse is still open to get our marriage license. Otherwise, we will have to make another trip down this week."

Fortunately, they were open until noon on Saturday and we got that taken care of before we went to the hotel. We were still stuffed from breakfast so we spent our lunch time in bed satisfying Natalie's other hunger. After that, I looked up local architects on the internet and found several in the area. We looked at their work that was shown and we both decided on one in particular who had a style that we liked very much. We made a point to contact him after we made a deal on the property.

That night we went to a simple restaurant and had salad and wine. We had eaten more in the past week than we had in the month on the road together. On Sunday morning, we packed our bags and drove to the village B&B to wait for the boat. Hopefully, they would be able to carry all of the tools and our stuff to boot. I covered the truck with a tarp and we were ready when they arrived. Fortunately, they had a light load of newcomers and we were able to get everything on the boat. We were met at the dock by Sheila who was driving the bus that day and she was thrilled to see all of the tools I brought. We got all of the things on the bus along with the new arrivals and their luggage. On the way up, she asked me to make a brief introduction to newcomers and gave me a schedule of things for the afternoon. Most of the people were from out of state and were on their first visit. I did the best I could to welcome them and tried to give them a rundown on what they should expect to see on the way up and at the village itself. Then I gave them a rundown on the schedule for the afternoon and evening.

When I finished, Sheila motioned me over and said that I had given one of the best greetings she had heard and that I might be called on to help greeting people especially on weekends when there were large groups of visitors. That surprised me but not Natalie who said, "Isn't he wonderful." Sheila nodded with a grin.

When we arrived at the village, we led the newcomers to the dining hall for their first meal. Natalie and I sat with several couples in our age range and got to know them better. One couple was from Nebraska, another from Michigan. The third was from Texas; they were from Dallas in fact. One of the couples asked him about the explosion mystery. Natalie and I remained silent and just listened as we had no intention of offering anything substantial to the conversation.

The man shrugged his shoulders and said, "We heard a lot about it and a lot of it makes no sense. We've had a lot of these kinds of things and most of them are drug related. This one could be that but I think there might have been something different here. For one thing, the FBI was all over the area and never made any public announcements. The sheriff was the only one who talked to the press. That was unusual because the Feds always like to take their credit. I think that it might have been a terrorist thing gone bad and they are covering it up for some reason."

That led the others to talk about rumors of terrorists in their towns. By the end of lunch, the subject had changed and they were talking about the scenery and the village. I suggested that they walk around a little and get settled in their rooms before the orientation. They nodded and we all went our separate ways.

As Natalie and I went to take our things to the chalet we would be living in, she asked, "What do you think about what he said?"