An Inconvenient Spy Ch. 02

"I think that he is pretty sharp and that what he said is accurate enough and vague enough to be satisfy most everyone. If it ever comes up again, we might as well use that story too."

"That's what I was thinking too."

We found that Sheila was waiting with a cart for us to load our things and led us to the house. The garden tools had already been picked up and taken to the storage shed. The chalet wasn't big but it was nice. She lived in the smaller space upstairs and we had the down stairs. We shared the kitchen. She told us that during the week, the staff usually ate in the dining hall because we were working. But on weekends, they usually cooked in their houses. We agreed that that was a good plan and agreed that we would share cooking and clean up duties. Then she left us to unpack and get settled as she went to prepare for the orientation. We found that the closet was adequate for our clothes and the few other things we had brought. Natalie had thought to bring our new sheets and blankets from the trailer and we changed the bed. We also unloaded the cache of wine we brought and put them in the trunk for safe keeping. So we were now set up in our new living quarters and Natalie wanted to christen our new bed; so we did.

After we cleaned up we went out and walked around the area and ended up in the bookstore. There was a young volunteer working and she smiled at Natalie when she recognized her.

"Hi Natalie. Did you guys have a good week out?"

"Yes, we did Heather. It turned out to be better than we expected for several different reasons. How was business last week?"

"It was pretty good. I think you need to reorder some things though. We had a run on certain books last week because the speakers talked on this subject. I left a list on your desk. I leave next Saturday, so let me know if I can help you get settled."

"Where do you go to school, Heather. I never asked."

"I go to the University of Portland."

"Wow, my sister goes there."

"Really; what's her name? It isn't a big school and I probably know her."

"Her name is Cindy; Cindy Crawford." Surprisingly Heather blushed. "Do you know her?"

"Um, yes I do. She and I have had several classes together and um we share several interests."

Natalie looked at the squirming girl and then said, "You are her girl friend, aren't you?" Now Heather was totally red. "She told me she had a girl friend but didn't tell me her name. Don't be embarrassed; I know that she is bi because so am I. She's going to be up her for our wedding this coming weekend."

"Really? Wow. Maybe I'll stay over and go back with her. We haven't seen each other for a month since she was in summer school and I was up here."

"I think they are coming up on Thursday because the wedding is on Friday. I've got rooms for them in the hotel. She's supposed to stay with my other sister."

"Well, maybe we can find some time together."

"If I were you, I'd plan on it. If she hasn't had you for a month, she'll want more than a little time with you." Heather just beamed at the thought.

We left and I asked, "So are there any other things I ought to know about your family before they arrive?"

"Just that we are very close and are really open with each other. That might take some getting used to for you. We don't have many secrets from each other."

"This ought to be an interesting week."

"I think it will be. I'm already excited but a lot of that is because of you."

"By the way, if you are ordering books this week, see if you can get me a book about growing cherries. I think I need to start learning now so I am not a total idiot when we move into our house."

"I'll see what is in our catalogs. If they don't have anything, I check when we go out next time."

We went to the early dinner seating and were joined by the couples from Texas and Michigan. The other couple was going to the later seating. We were joined by Heather after she closed the store. The three of us picked up where we left off earlier and they asked Heather a lot of questions about what to do and where to go to take pictures. Heather was eager to talk about the area and the events. She told them about the two lakes nearby and the waterfall. She also said that they could take some really nice pictures at night after the lights went off. She said to not go outside of the village areas because there were bears in the area especially at night. That convinced the Texas couple to stay indoors after dark but didn't faze the Michigan couple very much as they had bears in their area too.

After dinner we all walked outside in the nice evening air. Heather walked next to Natalie and they talked quietly several times. I didn't try to listen or interfere. I felt sure that I would hear about it soon enough. Heather left us to go help set up the evening service. We waited and then led the other couples to the large meeting room.

After the event, we all went for ice cream and talked some more. I could see some chemistry building between Natalie and the Texas woman whose name was Rachel. Her husband seemed oblivious to anything going on around him. Once again, I decided to wait until Nat was ready to tell me what was going on.

We all walked toward our rooms and said good night. I took Natalie's hand and she took my arm in hers. "I love you." She said simply.

"I know and I love you. Are you getting nervous about the wedding?"

"A little. I think mostly it is because of my family being here and having not met you. I'm not worried because I know that they will love you. I'm a little scared because of how you might react to them."

"What are you worried about most?"

"I think that you might be uncomfortable with how open we are. I mean I expect my older sister to ask how good you are in bed right in front of you. Things like that."

"Well that might be uncomfortable but I think I can get used to it as long as you are there to support me."

"Oh, I'll be there for sure."

"What were you talking quietly about with Heather?"

"She was asking me if it was alright if she asks Cindy to stay with her in her room. She's alone this week. I told her that I didn't have a problem with it as long as the village didn't have a problem with it. They are really a strong couple she said."

"Is that all right with you?"

"Of course, it is alright with me. That's one of the things about our parents; they have always told us to go with our heart and make ourselves happy regardless of whom it is with."

"That I understand perfectly. I think that I never married before because I never met anyone who truly made me happy. Then you came along and you make me deliriously happy."

"I love you." We went in our room and undressed slowly and crawled under the covers and snuggled together.

"So what was going on with you and Rachel?" I asked.

"You noticed; I shouldn't be surprised tough." She sighed. "She asked me if I would like to fuck her husband. I told her no and that the only man I fucked was you. But I added that if she wanted me to fuck her, we could do that. All she said was that she had never been with a woman before. And that was all. But then she started warming up during ice cream. Then I whispered to her that I would only fuck her if you were involved with her too. She got really embarrassed hearing that. I don't know what will come of it but she is certainly thinking about it. I doubt that she will want to; they are leaving Saturday and that doesn't give her much time to think."

"If she did, would you want to fuck her?"

"Only if you were fucking her too. She isn't bad looking and seems to have a nice body. It might be fun to teach her about making love to a woman."

"I'm with you; I doubt that she will decide in less than a week."

"We'll see. Now fuck the woman you love before we go to sleep. Tomorrow we start our new jobs."

We made slow sweet love and then fell asleep together in our first home together.

Monday was our first day to work. I rose early and went to the dining hall and brought back a pot of coffee. We discovered that Sheila was a tea drinker and made her own. I made coffee for Natalie and I and she and I drank our coffee while we dressed and then went to the dining hall to eat. Then I walked her to the book store before going to the storage shed to look at the schedule for the week. I had three volunteers scheduled and it appeared that the goal for the week was to freshen up a portion of the garden and plant some lettuce, radishes, and carrots to be ready in late August and early September. I got one of the new tillers out and gassed it up. Then I arranged with one of the drivers to bring us a trailer of compost to work into the area. While I waited, I went back to the dining hall for another cup of coffee. I made a note to get a thermos and an insulated cup on our next trip out.

When I got back, I met my volunteers; two of whom just started. The other one had been here for a week. We talked for awhile and made a plan for the week. The returnee suggested that we start loosening the soil and then work the compost in. She went to the shed and came back with a grin and the tiller. "Now this is going to make that job a lot easier that using the hand cultivators." The newcomers nodded but didn't realize that they had been doing this job by hand before. We took the tiller to the part of the garden we planned to plant and thirty minutes later, we were raking up weeds and rocks and waiting for the compost.

While we waited, I looked around the garden area and found what looked like the rock foundation for a building of some kind about fifty feet uphill from the top of the garden. The building had been gone for a long time from the look of it. An idea began germinating in my mind but I was interrupted when the truck arrived and dropped off the trailer with our compost. We spent the rest of the morning spreading the compost over the tilled area and also side dressed the existing plants with a layer of freshness. Then it was time for lunch. I told the others that we would till the compost in the afternoon and then water it down well and plant the following morning. They nodded and we put the tools up and went to lunch.

I stopped by the bookstore and found that Natalie had already gone to the dining hall. When I went in, I found her sitting at a table with Heather and two other young volunteers and two other couples that I hadn't met. I said "hi" to her and went to get my lunch and took a seat with Sheila.

"So how was your first morning in the garden?"

"Great, we got the area tilled and a load of compost spread. We'll till it in this afternoon and plant in the morning. From what one girl said, those tillers will cut the time it takes to prepare the beds to about a third of the time."

"I imagine. We have had tillers before and they were great except that they were used and usually didn't last a season. The young people really didn't know how to use them and they wore out quickly."

"Then I will have a training class for them before they can use them."

"That would be great."

"Listen, I was thinking about a couple of things. The first was that what the kitchen wants would require an expansion of the garden. Are there any problems with expanding it?"

"Yes and no. At that site, you can't go down because of the road and on the far side, we can't cut the trees. Uphill is almost solid rock. You can come the other direction about twenty feet or so before you run into some of the plumbing pipes. We would have to check with engineering to find out exactly where the pipes are. So you could expand some and that would be a nice addition."

"What would you think about making a kitchen herb garden along the front of the dining hall. If the herbs were closer, that might help and that space in the garden could be used for other crops. It wouldn't cost anything except labor."

"I like that idea. Let's talk to the head cook after we eat."

"Also, above the garden there is a rock foundation or wall. Have you considered putting a green house there?"

"Actually we have. A visitor who was here last spring builds green house and suggested it. He offered to build one for cost. The problem is that the structure has to be strong enough for the snow loads so even at cost the greenhouse would be $50,000. Then it would take another $50,000 to put up solar panels to add heat for the winter. In other places, they can burn wood for winter heat but we can't because of the forest around us. It is too dangerous. He could actually have it up in less than a month if we could do it. We have it on our long term to-do list but fund raising is always an on-going issue with us so it might be a few years before we can get to it."

"I know a couple of people with some money, would you mind if I contacted them about donating it?"

"Oh that would be wonderful if you could."

"Let me see what I can do?"

"Great. Keep me informed."

I put my dishes in the cleaning area and went over to Natalie who was also getting ready to go. I waited for her and she smiled and took my hand as we left the dining hall.

"Hello lover, have you missed me?"

"I didn't miss you because you were close by but I thought about you all morning."

"That is just as good as missing me. I worked up our book order this morning and found one book on cherries which looked pretty good; so I ordered it for you. It will probably be two or three weeks before it gets here."

"That's great. I probably won't be able to get into it until it gets colder. How would you feel about me spending about $100,000 of our money?"

"You don't have to ask; you make those decisions."

"I want to put up a green house by the garden. They have a plan for one but it will take a few years to raise the money for it. If we go for it now, it can be up before winter."

"Then do what you have to do, my love. We can dedicate it to you."

"Actually, I was thinking that we should dedicate it to John, Bruce, Jillian, and Gwen."

Natalie looked at me quickly and said, "That would be even better. No wonder I love you so much."

"So what were you all having so much fun talking about at lunch?"

"The couples and two of the volunteers had been in the morning session about changes in the concept of marriage and family. It was interesting to see the different thoughts between the older couples and the younger kids."

"Have you changed your attitude about marriage?" I grinned at her.

"Hell no; you are my man and that is that and I am about to wet my panties waiting until Friday. You are probably going to get raped tonight."

"I think I can stand that."

"You better. You're getting married on Friday too."

"Yes I am."

I gave her a kiss and started toward the garden when Sheila called for me. I went back up to the dining hall. She was standing with the head of the kitchen.

"Jeff, Maggie got real excited about the idea of a kitchen herb garden. Show her what you have in mind."

"Hi Maggie; lunch was really good today. Thanks."

"I appreciate it. So what are you thinking? This is kind of steep along here for a garden."

"Unless there is a problem with moving rocks, we build up a wall along here and make a raised bed garden. It can be four or five feet wide. I was also thinking about covering it or part of it with plastic so that we can grow some things during the winter."

Maggie replied, "Sheila, if he can do it, I'm all for it. It would really add to our meals and I think that it would also add some beauty to the front here in the spring and summer."

Sheila responded, "Alright, Jeff you have a project. Draw up your plan and let's run it by engineering to make sure they don't have a problem with it. We can't take rocks from the creek but we have a big pile out back that came from other sources. The work crews can help build the wall."

"Great. Maggie, make a list of the herbs that you want to use so I can plan around your needs."

"I'll have the list in your box tonight."

Then Sheila walked with me toward the garden where we found the head of engineering. She said, "Mike, this is Jeff and our new head gardener. He wants to know how far he can expand the garden this way before he runs into your pipes."

"Hi Jeff, I'm pleased to meet you. We have pipes running along here where you see the change in color of the soil. So if you came to this point, you won't bother anything that we need to do. Actually, it might help a little to have the soil loosened up a little. I should warn you that there is no telling what you might dig up. When we ran some new pipe along here, we found dishes and cooking utensils and other stuff. This might have been a house or an outdoor kitchen for the house that used to be up there. Nothing shows up on the old plans, but then the people who were here didn't keep detailed records of the living areas; only the work area."

"Thanks Mike. I'll stake out what I want to do and let you look at it before we start working on it."

"That would be great. Sorry, I've got to run."

Sheila looked at me and asked, "Well?"

"This adds about a third to the garden area and if we move the herbs to the dining hall, that would about double what we can grow here in the garden."

"That would be wonderful. We'll confirm it at the Operations meeting so that everyone knows what we are doing."

"Sheila, do you have the plans and the name of the green house guy? I want to go ahead with the green house and try to get it up before winter."

She looked at me in shock. "But you said that you needed to contact people who might donate..."

"Sheila, when Nat and I went to Denver, several things happened including that we sold both of our properties, got a life insurance payment for Nat's husband, and a settlement on our pensions. We have some money to build our lives on. We would like to make this an anonymous donation in memory of the four people who were killed."

"I need to tell Monica, but I don't think it will be a problem at all. The board will have to approve it at their next meeting but they have never turned down a donation like this before. So I will let you know at dinner for sure."

"If you agree, I'd like to take Natalie down lake on Wednesday to talk to this guy and get it ordered. Then we can come back up with her family Thursday morning."

"I think that would be great. Frankly, I'm in shock. Things like this don't just happen that quickly around here."

"Things that happened to us don't happen that quickly either."

"We'll talk at dinner."

She wandered back toward her office in a daze and I turned to my volunteers and said, "Let's get to tilling and watering."

Two of them got to work with both tillers and the other one came with me and we put stakes out to mark the new area. At 3:00, Natalie came down with three sodas and two iced teas and some cookies. I introduced her to my kids and we showed her around the garden. Then I walked her up to the place for the green house and told her what I had talked about with Sheila. The opportunity to ride up lake with her family really pleased her. Then we got back to work.

When it was break time, I met her and we went to the chalet so I could shower. When I got out, Natalie said that we were supposed to meet Sheila and Monica in the office for dinner. So we took a bottle of our wine with us. We found Monica and Sheila in the small dining room where the board ate when they met. They had big smiles on their faces as they greeted us and glowed even more when we opened the bottle of wine. Shortly afterwards, one of the cooks brought us our dinner which was fresh grilled salmon. We ate and just chatted while we ate. After we finished, Monica said, "I have to say that I am really impressed at how much you two have accomplished in your first day. You are impressive."

I nodded and Natalie just said a simple, "Thanks."

"Now for the important business of the moment; Sheila says that you want to make this donation anonymously. Is that correct?"