Return to the Land

Nixon jumped to his feet and began spluttering. His face was pasty white and he started backing toward his car. "What! How dare you? What right do you have to demand my books and records? We are here to get you to drop this harassing lawsuit not to talk about my business. A business I might add that is none of your business."

Nixon's attorney looked in shock at Roger then he got a sickly expression on his face. He turned to Mr. Nixon and said, "Frank I told you I didn't want you talking. I had no idea...if these people own a significant portion of your business they have a right to see the books. You have a LLC don't you? You know you were supposed to see they got a schedule K1 every year showing the business income they were to report on their tax returns...Didn't you send them the reports?"

Nixon looked more white and stammered unintelligibly. His attorney looked over at Steve and said, "Steve I don't know what to tell you. I think my client and I need to go back to my office and see if we can get to the bottom of this. If you'll excuse us?"

After the two left everyone remained seated staring into the distance. Finally Steve got a small grin on his face and he said, "Well, I think we have...No, I think Mr. Nixon has a pretty large problem on his hands. Are you sure you never received a K1 or distribution from S & N?"

The two siblings shook their heads no once more. Steve looked around the group and said, "Well, I think I've done all I can here today. First thing tomorrow morning I am going to send an official letter requesting the books, past tax returns and other business documents. I will threaten to have the court order such release if they do not voluntarily release the documents. I will also need to know what you want out of this mess now though if he does not pay the $200,000 we discussed today. Give it some thought please. If he did not give you the documents like he was supposed to that means he probably filed fraudulent tax returns and may be skimming like Roger thought was possible. At the very least he is guilty of fraudulently withholding your money if the LLC ever made a cash distribution. If there are significant funds in corporate accounts some of that is yours and you can demand a distribution assuming business operations are not adversely effected."

It was the middle of the week almost three weeks after their meeting before Steve got back to the three. He said the business documents had never been received from Nixon and numerous contacts with him had gone unanswered. He wanted to know what they wanted him to do. The three friends discussed their thoughts on the conference call then Roger said, "I think we need to get court orders freezing bank accounts and investment accounts if it isn't too late. I'm afraid they may try to run. I also think we need to contact the IRS and try for a court order on the documents."

Steve said he would get on it. The next week there was an article in the Springville paper about an IRS investigation of a local business—S & N Enterprises Doing Business as the Starlight Lounge.

The next day Steve called. After the three were on the line he said, "Nixon, his son Frank and his wife were arrested last night. They were arraigned this morning on several charges. The ones that might interest you are Tax Fraud and attempting to flee to avoid prosecution. Both the men were also arraigned for resisting arrest, drug dealing, pandering and assault and battery. Apparently the investigators found some other ladies and their dates that had been assaulted in the club. I have filed another lawsuit for you demanding access to business records and distribution of your fair share of the business profits. I managed to view some of the LLC tax returns at his accountant's office but not all of them. The ones I saw did not show your ownership interest on them. You had been totally excluded, no K1 prepared or anything. I think you will be OK with the IRS but I am not sure at this point if we will ever recoup any of the funds owed you. If he hadn't opened his mouth at your place the other day he might have got away with it also. None of his official records showed your ownership. It's a good thing you kept the paperwork."

The summer was drawing to a close and one of the biggest weekends of the season was upon the three friends—Labor Day. They quickly pushed thoughts of the lawsuit and potential monetary windfall into the background of their thoughts as work took precedence. They had all their boats and camping spots rented for the entire weekend. They even had some people renting camping space in an unimproved area along the river. The store was humming, as was the little snack bar. Late season vegetables were selling like hotcakes. The three had never been happier.

Nights were now cool enough that they were sleeping with the windows open once more and Roger and Allen were thinking about getting back into the woods to cut the next years firewood. They had to cut extra wood now because they were selling some to people who wanted campfires in the campground. All three were making a good living now. Cassie's share came to about $5,000 for the summer and they thought Allen would get about $1,000. Roger was going to get about $12,000. Cassandra and Allen felt badly because Roger was not receiving a larger share of the profits for the use of the land but he was adamant that he would not take more than he was getting.

As the days passed their customers thinned out until near the end of the month they closed the canoe rental. They still rented the fishing boats and camping spaces but the work was light enough the three of them could handle it alone. They had talked about closing the small store and snack bar but the day they first closed it several of the locals came by and were upset it was closed. Some of the campers also wanted in so they decided to leave it open and see if they sold enough to make it pay. Over the next two weeks they averaged a profit of $50.00 per day so they kept it open.

As the colder weather came upon them they stayed busy preparing the cropland for the winter and cutting firewood for the next season. One evening after supper they were sitting on the porch watching darkness fall when Cassie turned to Roger. She said, "Roger I'm tired of sleeping alone. I want to move into your bedroom and I want to get married. Can we get married next week?"

"Sure Honey. We can get married any time and you can move into my room any time. I had been hoping you would move downstairs but I decided not to say anything. I figured you would move when you were ready. You need to decide where you want to go for your honeymoon too. That is if Allen will watch the place so we can take off?"

Allen said, "Yeah, things have slowed down enough now I can take care of everything."

The wedding was small and simple. There was no family on either side so they got the local Minister to marry them in his church two weeks later. All the employees and their families were invited, as were the few friends they had in town. Allen had arranged for a small reception at their campground immediately after. Their first night of marriage was spent in Roger's, now their, bed. The next morning after they had awakened they took off on their honeymoon.

Roger and Cassie spent an idyllic week on the gulf coast of Florida at Bradenton Beach. They slept late, loved voraciously and dined way too well on the excellent seafood. During the times they were not in bed or eating they spent laying around the pool or on the beach catching some rays. When they got too warm they would dash into the ocean for a cool, relaxing swim. Twice they got to play with a Manatee while swimming. They both loved Florida but it was not home. At the end of their week they were both glad to be returning to the hills and streams of their hometown.

The day after they arrived back home the three were sitting along the river watching it flow quietly past. Cassie was sitting on Roger's lap snuggling. From time to time she would lean into him and give him a gentle kiss. His hands would occasionally give her intimate areas a gentle caress. Allen looked over at the lovers and smiled. He said, "Get a room you two. Sometimes you make me so jealous but I am happy for you."

Allen looked out over the river a moment longer then turned back to a blushing Cassie and Roger. He said, "Have you given any more thought to putting in some cabins or at least enclosed camp shelters? I think we have enough wood cut for the next season and we still have enough good weather left to build at least one this fall if we get on it."

Roger leaned back in his chair and pulled Cassie with him. He, too, looked out over the river as he thought once again about the cabins. He knew the three of them could do the construction but did he really want to go that route? He looked down when he felt Cassie move. She was pulled back a little watching his face. She had a look of anticipation, even excitement on her face. He gave her another gentle kiss and whispered, "You want to do this don't you Honey?"

"Yes, I really do but if you don't I can live with that. I just think we could make good money doing the cabins and...well, I know it would be more work but not much really. We could have one of the girls act as a maid or hire one and I am excited about the possibilities."

Roger heaved another sigh and looked over at Allen. He said, "Well, I really don't want to go that route too badly but I tell you what Allen. You take the cabins on as your project. In fact, I think we need to talk about the responsibilities some anyway. I propose dividing the responsibility for the work and supervision of the employees much as we have it now but formalizing to too. Right now which ever of us is handy if a question comes up one of the girls asks us."

I think I want a more structured operation than we have now. I may seem hard about some of this but what I would like to see is this. It is my land and investment—well now it's Cassie's and mine—but I want to be in overall control if there is a disagreement or large expenditure of funds. Otherwise, I think Allen should be the foreman for the campgrounds and any cabins or camping shelters we build. Cassie should be in charge of the marina, store and snack bar. I will be primarily involved in the farming operation and office work. Of course we would always help each other out as we do now. For example when planting the crops and to some extent harvesting I will need some assistance. I am sure on busy days Cassie will need help with sales and you will need help with clean up, opening and closing the campsites Allen. I just think that unless it is an important decision or large task we should supervise the people working in those areas and be responsible for those areas, as I have laid out. Comments?"

Cassie and Allen sat for a moment. They looked at each other then both looked at Roger and almost simultaneously said, "Sounds good. Let's do it."

"Ok then Guys. I'll spring for two small cabins right now. If you are right and they rent well I will either build more or we can put in a couple of duplexes."

By the time it got too cold to work outside comfortably they had the cabins enclosed so they could heat them. That allowed the three to finish them during the winter. They were small but verged on luxurious when completed. Both cabins were about 500 square feet and had a small bedroom, bath, small kitchen/dining area and a small living area with a sleeper sofa. They had a wrap around porch with comfortable chairs on it.

Just before the next season began they began advertising the improved facilities and the cabin availability. To their surprise customers began trying to rent the cabins before canoeing and swimming season had arrived. Many people would rent the cabins in March just to picnic and enjoy the outdoors. They began taking reservations for later in the season. They even began taking reservations and deposits on the few shelters and open campsites, especially for the times around holidays and popular weekends.

Cassie's eyes were glowing the evening she told her brother and Roger that all the improved sites, the shelters and the cabins were fully booked for memorial week and weekend, the two weeks around July 4th and the two weeks around Labor day. She told them that a large percentage of the spaces were booked for the remainder of the summer too. "I have even started a waiting list for improved campsites, shelters and cabins in case one comes open again. I even have some requests for mooring sites for boats. Some people are planning to use their boats to come up from the lake to stay with us."

Roger sat in shock. "I just can't believe that! It's amazing." He stared across their little resort and continued, "I know the Fielding's resort is always busy in the hot part of the year but I never thought we would get so much business here. We're almost a mile upstream from them and the water is not as deep here. Jim and the boys told me we could fill more spaces and cabins but I just didn't believe them."

Roger looked over at Allen and asked, "Do you want to take on more work Allen? We can build three or four more cabins if you want to add to your management load."

The three talked for some time and decided to begin work on three more cabins. They thought they might even finish one or two in time to get some rentals from them before the end of the season.

By July 4th they had two more cabins completed. They even had almost all the time during the rest of the summer booked for them also. They finished the last cabin in time for Labor day. It took longer to complete the second and third cabin because as they were finishing the first one Cassie became ill. She had pains in her stomach and threw up a lot. Finally Roger forced her to go to the doctor. She came back late in the day and walked up to him. She plastered herself to his frame, wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a deep soul searing kiss. As the kiss continued it became hotter and hotter. Finally the two lovers pulled away from each other. Cassie was flushed and panting. Roger's pants were tented out and he was almost pawing at the ground.

Cassie looked at him then said, "The doctor says I'm fine honey. He said my upset stomach will go away over the course of the next few weeks but I'm not going to be able to help you much later this summer and fall." She got an excited, scared look on her face then continued, "Oh, Roger, I'm pregnant. You're not mad at me are you?"

Roger stood in shock. He moved to a chair and sat down then he just stared at Cassie. "You're OK? But you're pregnant?"

Cassie just nodded her head yes and watched Roger. She felt the fluttering of fear in her belly. She began to think 'oh what if he doesn't want a baby? What will I do? How could I do this to him? I can't kill my baby even for Roger!'

Roger began to smile and he held his arms out toward Cassie. She began to smile, tears ran down her cheeks and she lept into his arms. They were sitting there hugging and kissing when Allen walked onto the porch.

Allen looked at the two and felt fear. He knew Cassie had been to the doctor that morning. He asked, "Cassie? Roger is everything OK? There's nothing wrong is there? Why is Cassie crying?"

Roger looked up at Allen and smiled. "No, no nothing is wrong. In fact it's very, very right. We're going to have a baby!"

Over the years the family and the business grew. Roger added a room on downstairs to used for a nursery. Over time he and Cassandra had a total of three children. As they aged they helped in the business. The vegetable sales grew until they began selling produce commercially to a local grocery chain. The resort and food service business grew until they kept it open year around. Allen finally met and married a young widow. They built a small home on some land they had purchased along the river that abutted Roger and Cassie's farm.

Allen continued to run the lodging part of the business and with hired help he and Cassie operated the lodging and recreation portion of the business. Over the years the children of both couples began to assist the adults in areas in which they were interested. As the children took on more and more responsibility their parents did less and less. Of course all the children attended college and took courses that supported their jobs on the resort.

One evening when Roger was 59 and Cassie was 50 they were sitting alongside the river. In the distance they could hear happy shouts of people enjoying themselves at their resort. They watched as their children and employees completed yet another days work. Now they and Allen and his wife only worked when there was special need of their services, when the children needed advice or help with a particularly vexing problem. The rest of their time they spent in semi retirement. From time to time they traveled but mostly they just lay around their resort and enjoyed life.

Roger turned to Cassie. He reached for her hand and held it as he stared into her eyes once more. He said, "Honey, even after all these years I can't believe how lucky I am to have found you. I am still so thankful you came to me that day on the river. I always knew I had made a mistake when I took my MBA and went to work on Wall Street. Sometimes I think I need to go look up the asshole who broke up my engagement to Cynthia again and thank the two of them. If they hadn't dumped on me I would never have been as happy as I have been these last thirty years."

"I love you more and more as the years go past. I hate it when we are separated even for a few hours when one of us goes to town without the other. I had heard for years about finding your soul mate but...well, I think I fell in love with you even before you moved out here but was too hurt by those bitches in New York to see it. We hadn't even gotten married though when I realized we were truly soul mates. I feel so complete when we are together and so, so empty like a part of me is missing when we are apart. Every day I love you more."

Cassandra looked over at her man and smiled. She said, "I know I have told you this before but you know I was in love when I came to you. I just didn't know how deeply I loved you. A few times when I almost gave up before you were healed enough to love me back I despaired. It has all been worth it though. We have this wonderful home and our wonderful family and, most and best of all we have each other. I have never, I will never, I can never love another man like I love you. Many of the men that come here over the years have tried to chat me up and all I felt was a coldness. I could never see them as anything but a customer even knowing how handsome some of them were to other women."

They smiled to each other and reached out to hold hands. While they were staring into each other's eyes they heard pounding footsteps and a small shrill voice yelling, "Grandma, Grandpa. Mommie sayed I can come down to the water and be with you. We got here early and I can be here all day now. Can we go swimming please?"

The little blond haired munchkin crawled into Cassandra's lap as she gave her a big hug. Roger watched her give Cassie a sloppy kiss and thought, 'she looks so much like her mother when she was a baby. If I didn't know better I would think it was Jessica in Cassie's lap. And she is so sweet to her brother and her cousins too just like Jessica was.'

Roger leaned back in his chair and had one more thought before he went in search of his son's and grandsons. He knew it was almost time for their regular family meal held each Sunday afternoon. Many times not all were there but there was always a large crowd. He smiled as he walked thinking, 'the old saying is right. When life throws you lemons smash them and make lemonade.'