Picking up the Pieces Ch. 05

September 2001

Three significant events occurred that month. First, Amanda's adoption became official. They tried to explain what it meant to be Brian's daughter. He would always take care of her, and her last name would be changed to Driver.

As far as Amanda was concerned, nothing was changing. She was now three and a half years old, and had accepted Phillip as a member of the family. She beamed when strangers admired him, "He doesn't talk yet, but I'm teaching him."

Amanda didn't know how difficult it had been to convince the judge to sign off on the adoption. She had called them into her chamber, separately. Brian didn't know how Peggy had answered the only question the judge was interested in knowing.

"Why aren't you married?"

"Peggy is my wife in every way, except that we have not exchanged vows in front of an official. We share the same bed, we're partners in business, and she bore my son. She has a fear of making our union official because of the way Amanda's birth father died. Peggy believes he took his own life because he wasn't prepared for being a father. She feels responsible for his death."

The judge shook her head, but signed off on the adoption. Brian was relieved that he didn't have to tell the judge about Peggy's offer to marry him if it would make him happy.

The second event occurred three days later when terrorist hijacked commercial flights and killed thousands of innocent people. Like most people in America, Brian and Peggy watched the news, and shook their heads in dismay. Like most of their fellow citizens, they had no answers for what took place that day.

The third event took place when they gave Mr. Bennett the final payment for the small house and the land where their business was located. Mr. Bennett actually looked reluctant to accept the envelope.

"We still owe you for the building and this house," Peggy said. "We'll expect you to come to dinner and collect our checks."

"I hate to take your money. Does this empty that cash box?" he asked.

Peggy just smiled at her elderly friend.

March 2002

Phillip became one year old on the sixteenth, and Amanda reached age four on the seventeenth. Their birthdays were celebrated on the same day, a tradition that would continue for years.

In addition to Harry and Mary, three little girls about Amanda's age were invited to the party. She opened her gifts, and brought each one to Brian for him to inspect.

Mr. Bennett dropped by with gifts for the children, but didn't stay long, saying that cake and ice cream didn't agree with him. Prompted by Brian, Amanda thanked Mr. Bennett for his gift. He smiled, saying she was welcome. As an afterthought, she said, "Phillip would say thank you, too, if he could talk. He's only one, you know."

Later, they celebrated Brian's twenty-fifth birthday, and Peggy gave him a special gift, another tradition that lasted years.

November 2002

Peggy called Brian at his office, something she'd never done before. He always called her during his break.

"It's Daddy, they think he had a heart attack."

"How is he?"

"He didn't make it, Brian."

"I'll be there in thirty minutes," he said, wondering how she could remain so calm.

Brian found Peggy and the kids at her parents' house. She went to pieces as soon as she saw him. "Don't let Amanda see me. She won't understand."

But it was too late. Amanda had seen her mother burst into tears. She was mimicking Brian, hugging Phillip, and saying, "it will be okay."

"Where's Mary?" Brian asked.

"She's in her room," Peggy said, trying to dry her tears.

"Amanda, go to your grandmother. Hug her, and tell her everything will be okay."

"Should I take Phillip?"

"That would be a good idea. Your grandmother would like to hug him too."

Brian lowered Peggy to the floor, and held her. "They're both gone. Cry as much as you need to, but don't blame yourself. It's not your fault. Use me, let me hold you, hit me if you want to, but don't blame yourself for what happened."

"I would never hit you, Brian," she sobbed.

"You need to get it out of your system. I'll try to explain this to Amanda, but right now I want to take care of you."

"You wonderful man, how did I get so lucky to have you come into my life?"

"Does that mean you'll marry me?"

He felt her body stiffen, and realized he had said the wrong thing.

"I'll marry you. It will be my honor to me Mrs. Brian Driver."

They kissed, and Peggy cried some more. Eventually, she went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. Next, she went into her mother's bedroom and told Amanda to go with Brian. "Your daddy wants you to help him make supper."

Brian didn't know where to begin or what he was going to say. He avoided the use of words like 'death' or 'heaven', and when Amanda asked where her grandfather had gone; he admitted that he didn't know.

Her question, "will you go away someday, Daddy," baffled him.

"Yes, I'll have to leave you someday, but I'll always be close. You just won't be able to see me."

Amanda cocked her head, as if she was forming a question. "What are we going to make for supper?"

Brian told Peggy about the conversation. "That's enough for now. She's too young to attend the funeral," he said, and Peggy agreed.

Mr. Bennett approached the family at the burial site, expressed his condolences to Mary, and then turned to Peggy. "Let me know if there is anything you need."

Peggy thanked him, and Mr. Bennett moved on to shake hands with Brian. "Don't hesitate to let me know if I can help in any way."

They didn't discuss Mr. Bennett's offer for three days. Peggy devoted almost all of her time to Mary, grieving. Brian returned to work.

"We're going to need to replace dad's truck," Peggy said.

"You must have enough in the cash box to pay for a new truck."

"Yes, but that money is for a rainy day. You know that," Peggy countered.

"We could get a loan."

"We haven't established credit with a bank."

"They would loan us the money based on my salary."

"Not at the same rate Mr. Bennett will give us."

Brian didn't want to argue about such a trivial matter. He invited Mr. Bennett to the house. Mr. Bennett stipulated that payments would be made by check, and that Brian would prepare a financial report for his bookkeeper.

"We could have leased a truck," Brian said after Mr. Bennett left.

"That would have hurt his feelings. Mr. Bennett likes giving us loans. It makes him feel like he's involved with our business."

"Mr. Bennett likes giving 'you' loans," Brian corrected her.

Mr. Bennett was on hand the day the new truck arrived, excitedly pointing to the lettering, 'Driver Markets, Inc.', that was painted on all four sides of the box.

With her father gone, Peggy developed her own network of brokers that specialized in excess goods or companies that were going out of business. She kept Brian appraised as new inventory arrived, and together they established the selling price of each item.

While Peggy dealt with the brokers, it was Brian's job to distribute the items to the dealers. He got along famously with them. Except for two husband and wife teams, they were older females.

Each Friday night, he would unload skids of goods from the truck. First choice for the newest item was on a rotating basis, but all dealers considered it their duty to complain about the established selling price. If the dealer who had first choice turned the item down, Brian would offer it to the dealer next in line. If none of the dealers wanted the item, Brian would move the skid to Peggy's booth. That's when the bidding would begin, and eventually, Brian would accept the highest bid.

It was not a perfect system, but it worked. There was a lot of give-and-take, and everyone had a good time.

Peggy didn't attend the Friday night meetings with the dealers because she thought they took advantage of Brian. He always came home exhausted. She would count the money he had collected, make out a bank deposit slip for most of it, and help him undress. She often said that she looked forward to their Friday night lovemaking. "I get to do most of the work," she laughed.

The business was profitable, to Brian and Peggy, and to the dealers. When one of the dealers came to Brian, wanting to sub-lease her booth to a new dealer, he became suspicious. Why would a dealer want to give up a profitable business? After some probing, he learned that the lease was being sold for a high price.

Peggy was opposed to agreeing to the sub-lease. "If a booth is worth that much, why shouldn't we profit from the sale?"

Brian disagreed. "If the booth is worth that much, it proves that we're doing something right. We're making a good profit, the dealers are averaging five hundred dollars for a weekend's work, and customers are coming in droves. I like knowing that our booths are valuable, but we want happy dealers, and if someone wants out of the business, we should let them go."

A compromise was reached. Booths could be sub-leased, but there was no guarantee that the lease would be renewed. This devalued the selling price, and it gave Brian the opportunity of seeing how the new dealer fit in. It was a small group, and established dealers had a say in whose lease was renewed.

January 2003

It soon became apparent that Mary was fearful of living alone. She was only fifty-seven, and in reasonably good physical condition, but had always lived with other family members.

Brian and Peggy gave up their home office, relocating it to the larger bedroom in the small house where they had first made love. Mary took over the former office, and they disposed of her excess furniture.

Brian suggested that Mary's house be rented. That is when he and Peggy learned that the house belonged to their children. A trust had been established before Harry's death, leaving the property to Amanda, Phillip and any future children born to their daughter.

The house was rented, and the rent, less expenses, was deposited to the children's trust.

Amanda was enrolled in kindergarten. She would be five soon, and her mind was developing rapidly. At least, that was Brian's opinion.

With Amanda at kindergarten a few hours each day, and Mary doing some of the cooking, it freed Peggy to spend time in her office. She spoke to brokers on the phone and sold antiques by appointment.

March 2003

Amanda's kindergarten class was invited to her fifth birthday party, which she shared with Phillip.

Brian had been concerned about how Amanda would interact with her kindergarten class, but his fears were relieved when he watched her in action.

"This is my little brother. He's only two, but I've been teaching him things, and he's very smart," she explained to her classmates.

Being the center of attention for a few minutes agreed with Phillip. Brian was proud to see his son smile at the five year old girls and boys. To his thinking, Amanda was right about her brother being very smart.

July 2003

Brian took Peggy to a company outing. He took a lot of ribbing about having such a pretty wife. "Now I see why you're on the phone every break," said one of his co-workers.

September 2003

Brian didn't leave for work until Amanda was safely on the school bus. Peggy accused him of being a doting father.

"You only have one chance to see your daughter off on her first day of school," he countered.

March 2004

Brian surprised Peggy with a new car. It was a big SUV, and he had paid cash.

"You had no right to trade in my Camry," she said.

"You're upset that we didn't ask Mr. Bennett for a loan."

"He'll be upset when he finds out that we didn't need his help."

"You need a safe car."

"Thank your dad for keeping us safe," she said, and Peggy was the first to jump into his arms, followed by Amanda and Phillip.

Peggy invited two kids Phillip's age to his third birthday party, but he gave the girls in Amanda's first grade class most of his attention.

Brian told Peggy that their son liked older women.

"Just like his dad," she laughed.

June 2004

John graduated from college, wanting a full time job. They talked to him, explaining that they couldn't pay him the salary he was being offered by large companies as an entry level trainee. John pointed out that he wouldn't need training, and would accept a lesser salary because he liked working at the markets and he saw possibilities for growth.

John soon proved his worth, and was rewarded by being treated like a member of the family. His girlfriend often came by at closing time, and Brian would invite them to the house to share a beer and a snack.

December 2004

Christmas tree sales were good for the business conducted inside. The dealers benefited from the increased traffic of families stopping by for a tree.

It was John's idea to place some of the trees at the back of the property where the trees he had planted were growing steadily, but still too young to cut.

John drove the tractor, and invited kids and their fathers to ride in the straw-lined wagon. Brian had watched John interact with Amanda and Phillip, but he was amazed at the way John helped kids into the wagon while doing a sales pitch to their fathers.

John's wagon rides to the rear of the properties became a tradition. If it snowed, so much the better. Hot chocolate and fried dough were part of the tradition. Sales soared, and Peggy had to place a last minute order for another truckload of trees.

John Larkin received a year-end bonus, and announced his engagement to the girl friend, Judy.

February 14, 2005

Brian came home from work early. He sent Amanda upstairs to wrap Peggy's birthday gifts. Naturally, Phillip was curious, and followed his sister.

"What are they giving me?" Peggy asked.

"Nothing special, but I have a surprise for you," Brian said.

"Is it a special surprise?"

"Very special."

"Is it something you can tell me now, or do I have to wait until we're in the bedroom?"

"I received a promotion. I'm going to be Robert's assistant manager. It's a newly created position. I'll have my own office and share his administrative assistant. I got a nice raise too, but I won't get regular breaks so I'll have to call you when I can."

"That sucks," she said, before realizing that his promotion deserved congratulations. Mary came from the kitchen and found them kissing.

"Brian got a promotion," Peggy explained to her mother.

"That's wonderful, Brian. Now we have two reasons to celebrate," Mary said.

Brian had to go upstairs to find out what was keeping the kids. Amanda was wrapping the gifts for the third time, wanting them to look perfect.

"How old is mom?" she asked, watching Brian tie a bow on one of the gifts.

"She's twenty-eight today."

"That's old!" Amanda exclaimed.

"Yes, it is," Brian laughed.

"That's old!" Phillip parroted his sister.

Peggy tried to deflect the obsession her children attached to her age. "Your father received a promotion."

"More money! May I have a new bicycle, Dad?" Amanda asked. Phillip chimed in, wanting a new bicycle, too.

"This is your mom's birthday. Let's sing Happy Birthday to her and watch her open her gifts," Brian said.

The new job was not as exciting as it sounded. The position had become necessary because the department was growing so fast. Robert needed a hatchet-man, and Brian often found himself embroiled in petty conflicts that he hadn't known existed before. He considered it a stepping stone to better things, and did his best to maintain order within the department.

Brian knew that he wasn't devoting as much time to the business as it deserved. He felt that he was losing touch.

"Would you like for me to quit my job and help you run the company?" he asked Peggy.

"I'd love to have you here, but we should wait until we reduce the amount we owe Mr. Bennett. In fact, we need another building, and we could use a forklift."

Brian knew she was right. He had been thinking the same thing. "Let's add two new buildings, one for expansion, and one for storage. We can lease the forklift."

Mr. Bennett granted their request for another loan, saying that he was happy for their success. "You've come up with a unique idea. Instead of hiring clerks to ring up sales, you've given people the opportunity to own a business. It saves a lot of headaches and you make a decent profit," he said, showing that he had been paying attention to their operation.

March 2005

Amanda's second grade class was invited to her birthday party. Phillip, now age four, seemed right at home with the older seven year old kids, especially the girls.

Mr. Bennett dropped by and Amanda told Phillip to sit on his lap, wanting to take a picture of them with her new camera.

Brian overheard one of her classmates ask Amanda if that was her grandfather. "No," Amanda said, "that's Mr. Bennett. He has lots of money."

John and Judy Larkin brought gifts for the kids. Amanda told Phillip to sit between them. He was happy to comply, clowning for the camera.

"She's maturing," Brian said to Peggy. "I think she's ready to hear about death."

"Do what you think is best," Peggy said, showing that she trusted his judgment.

Brian and Amanda went for a long ride in his truck the next day, and when they got back, she was clinging to him like she never wanted to let go. She later hugged Phillip, who was mystified by his sister's show of affection.