Lost and Found

"I just put in a new underground service for a building at Dillon's orchard. The one just north of town. He told me he'd like to retire, so he and his wife could move west where their kids are. He's had the orchard listed over a year, but nobody wants to give him a serious offer. He said there's a portion that needs to be cut down and new seedlings started, but nearly two thirds are new trees about to go into their peek producing years. There are just under 100 acres of tillable land with it."

"But Peter, we don't know anything about orchards."

"We don't, but Mr. Dillon does, he said they'd stay a year to transition anybody who bought the orchard, and to teach them what they need to know to be successful. Mary, we could get our kids in the country like we grew up, but still near town. We could grow vegetables and sell them onsite instead of the open markets. We could get a team of horses and pull our sweetcorn wagon out to the road like we used to do and use them for advertising in parades. Mary, the possibilities are endless, and we could be together all the time, our kids can learn the meaning of hard work and being rewarded for it."

Mary thought for several minutes, watching Carol play in the back yard with her friends. "How much are they asking? What's the housing like?"

"He wants 380, but hinted he'd drop to 350 for a cash buyer. His listing has expired, he doesn't want to list again through a realtor. Want's to sell on his own, he has a lawyer willing to do all the necessary stuff for $5000, a hell of a lot less than a 7% commission for a realtor. The house is old. With me doing the mechanicals we could build a four bedroom, 3 bath for about 175 to 200. Then when the Dillon's are gone we either tear the old one down or find another use for it."

"That's a lot of money Peter. Then again, we have a lot of money that isn't doing much of anything for us now. The orchard would be paid for, a new house paid for, so no mortgages. We could buy machinery outright the first year and a team the second year. We'd still have over a million left in the bank for operating expenses to start, and 800 acres of prime corn land in Iowa. You know Peter, the ag market is doing well right now. I think we should unload that crop land while we can get top dollar."

After doing their homework they purchased the orchard for the 350,000 the Dillon's wanted. Their son, Aaron was born mid-October, Peter gave his 30 day notice the first week of November, working with Mr. Dillon all winter long learning the trade. As soon as the sale was closed, Peter hired a contractor to dig and put up a basement, another contractor to put up the shell and dry it in before the serious cold came, including all the windows, doors and siding. Pete put temporary heat in the building, installing the mechanicals evenings and weekends. The only thing he had to hire out was the sewer system, you had to be a master plumber to connect to city sewage.

Mary sold her business in mid-December, staying home with the kids, making sure her husband had hot meals, clean clothes, and all the sex he wanted. They were looking forward to the house being done so Peter could be home more. When all the mechanicals were done and inspected Pete hired a rocker to hang and tape, he and Mary took care of the painting. He hired a finish crew to come in and do all the cabinets, bases and trim. Once the flooring was down and the appliances installed they were far enough along for final inspection. After addressing two minor issues an occupancy permit was granted.

Mary announced her next pregnancy in May. About the time they moved into their new home. They chose not to sell Mary's house, keeping it as a rental unit for investment purposes.

The old house was torn down, replaced with a warehouse retail area with refrigerated coolers and walk-ins, keeping the apples and produce fresh much longer. Having the produce and apples for sale inside increased their sales over the previous owners by nearly 30% the first year. A second girl, Rose was born in January of their second year at the orchard. That same January a greenhouse was added to not only start their own crops, but to have a floral center as well. They offered a larger array of hanging baskets than anyone else in two counties. That was the spring they also began hiring high school kids to work summers. The first year they employed six kids, it increased as the years passed. Right after Rose was born they purchased a young team of draft horses, broken and already pulling, the July 4th parade featured a float pulled by the team for Cora's Apples and Veggies. They had decided to honor their Aunt Cora.

Peter wanted a third child, Mary didn't, she had plenty to do with two little ones and the business.

"Peter, we need to consider all of this. We've been blessed to have three healthy children, but given we're brother and sister, that could change with the next child. I think we need to count our blessings and be happy with the family we have."

In the end Peter agreed, that meant there would also be more time for sex. Mary thumped him in the chest and muttered, "MEN."

The third year they added a corn maze and pumpkins, hosting dozens of class trips from elementary schools. Carol was in her glory, she was old enough to drive the horse's evenings and weekends with Peter by her side. She would take wagon loads of kids to the pumpkin patch, they'd pick their pumpkin, take it on the wagon with them and Carol would drive them back to the farm. By the time she was 12 she was harnessing and driving the team by herself. Carol drove the team in the 4th of July parade by herself from the time she was 16, becoming the envy of most of her classmates.

Carol was also driving the team into town to sell sweetcorn at one of the larger gas stations in town. Peter had set it up with the owner for them to set up in one corner of the lot, he would get free corn and the kids could use the bathrooms. Aaron was going with her, though he'd always had chores, it was time he learned the retail side of life as well, and he was to scoop up any horse apples at the end of the day. Town folk would hear the clip clopping of the horse hooves on pavement and know Carol was in town to sell corn. Peter and Mary were always safety minded, but didn't worry about the kids, there was an entire community watching out for the kids with the horse's. When apples were ready she was back in town on weekends selling to the tourists traveling through, as well as a few locals who didn't want to drive to the orchard.

They were known county wide as having the best sweetcorn and widest variety of apples. They had replenished over half of what they'd taken out of the bank, and Peter still had more ideas for business growth. Mary would listen, count the costs and then give thumbs up or down. Pick your own strawberries was one of the more lucrative endeavors, along with fresh baked pies. Mary had a kitchen installed, got it state inspected and hired some older retired gals to come in early. All three were former classmates, all were widows, all were early risers by nature, and all were bored in retirement. Those gals had more fun baking pies than a human should be allowed to have.

Once Mary was done having children and had her tubes tied she became a sex machine in the bedroom.

With the kids in bed Peter would make love to Mary a minimum of three times a week, sometimes more often. Mary still wore exciting panties, some days she wore thigh highs, knowing how they turned Peter on she would make sure her dress would rise at some point during the day exposing them. It was always a signal for him not to come in from the orchard too tired to screw.

She rarely wore jeans anymore, dresses and skirts, always with something sexy and appealing underneath to tease Peter. It wasn't uncommon for Mary to take a lunch out to Peter working alone in the back part of the orchard. It generally included Mary lifting her dress, dropping her panties and giving her husband a nice mid-day fucking. She'd slide her panties back on, kiss her man, then walk back to the house with a tummy full of cum and a smile on her face. Life was good.

Two kids separated because they loved each other, had not only found one another again, but proved their love would outlast those who tried to keep them apart.