Chapter 9 #2
“I’ve already made plans.” He had too, and they weren’t without trouble.
“I’m having the chef make us our favorite meal, and I’ve gotten her roses and chocolates.
Then, while we’re supposed to be school shopping, I’ve made reservations for her favorite play and dinner afterwards.
The hotel was tricky to get, but I finally had to have someone from here call and take care of it for us. ”
“You do like to bend the rules, don’t you?” They both laughed. “I’ll see about getting her some clothing packed away for the two of you so you don’t have to tell her what you’ve done until you’re there. How’s that?”
“That would be wonderful. That black dress that she wore to the opera house last year is my favorite.” She said she’d take care of it for him.
“Thank you so much. I didn’t even think about her having a dress to wear.
It’s a good thing that you’re around. There are days when I have no idea which way is up, but for you centering me. ”
“What a lovely thing to say to me.” He said it was all true. “You Dixon men are all alike. Just about the nicest people around. Speaking of which, Mr. Cullen will be by to see you later this evening. He has a project that he’d like to talk to you about.”
“When he gets here, make sure that he goes to the residence. The last time he was here, there was trouble because he was carrying a gun. I don’t want him to have any more trouble with that.
He’s armed, and I’m as safe with him as I am the Secret Service.
” She said she thought more so. “You’re more than likely right about that.
He’d literally die for me. So are the service men, but I know that he would. ”
The rest of the morning, he went over paperwork and answered a few calls.
Amy came to see him a couple of times, and he always made time for her.
When Anna told him that she was ready anytime he was, he realized that he needed to have a fresh shirt as his was a little wrinkled, and his tie was changed out as well.
The luncheon was going to be a big hit, and he couldn’t wait until it started.
After lunch, it was a major success. He met with some of his men about different things going on, and by the time dinner rolled around, not only was he starving, but he needed a nap, too.
He’d never take a nice snooze in his chair where someone could see him, but he would lie down in his part of the White House for about an hour.
It would put him back on track, and he’d feel better about it, too.
Jamie told him that no one would know and he’d feel like a new man afterwards.
He’d take about two a week and did feel better about himself when waking up.
By the time Cullen showed up, wanting to talk about getting new schools built in their town, he was ready for him.
It was lovely having family be able to contact him, but it was better in person so that he could get a hug too.
And for as much as Cullen was standoffish when he’d first gotten out of the service, he was a different man now.
He gave better hugs than his grandda did, and that was saying a lot.
Grandda Dixon could hug the stuffing right out of a person.
“We need new schools in order to keep up with the kids that are coming to the area.” He agreed with him and told him to do whatever was necessary to make it happen.
“I was hoping you’d say that. I’m running for mayor next term so that I can make things go the right way.
It’ll be the best way for us to get things going in the right direction, and I think that, being Mayor, I can do a lot of things that should have been taken care of years ago. Like when my kids were smaller.”
“You know you’ll have my vote.” They both laughed, and it took them another hour to work things out between the mayor position and the schools.
“There is funding there that you can find, and that’ll be more than enough for you to get the new schools built and supplied.
Just let me know what you need from me.”
“Just your vote of confidence. And since I have it, I’ll be fine.
” After he left, he and Amy went to bed.
It wasn’t all that late, but since he got up at four in the morning, he was tired by the time eleven rolled around.
He was excited for his brother and knew that if anyone could make it work, it would be him.
~*~
Jayden was excited about the new schools. He was still principal of the grade school and loved every minute of it. It had been better when his kids were going there, but since they were all grown and moved on to high school, he was still thrilled to be a part of the school’s activities.
He and Hazel had four children, and he couldn’t love them any more than if he’d only had the one.
As soon as they were born, he started teaching them how to hug and to say ‘I love you’.
He thought that was the only words that a child should know when they were growing up.
He wanted the best for them and thought that he’d achieved that easily.
“I heard that the schools may go up as soon as next year. Cullen has been looking into all kinds of grants that can defer some of the cost of the building.” He told Hazel that he’d been looking into it for years now and thought that he had a good handle on what was going on.
“He said that there are government subsidies that will pay for a lot of the things that the new school will need, too.”
The two of them talked about Cullen running for Mayor and thought that if anyone could do the job, it would be him.
He was not just smart, but he also knew the laws about government facilities, which would help him.
Plus, the fact that he’d been looking into the project since his kids had been in grade school.
Jayden said that Cullen loved to research things and would find anything that he needed to get the project done in a timely manner, too.
“I believe it. Remember when he wanted to put in a garden park for the people who didn’t have room to have a garden?
He got that project up and running in less than a month.
It’s wonderful too to see all those people out there working their soil.
And then at the end of the year, the trade or sell things off to one another, and that helps everyone too.
” Jayden remembered the fresh green beans that he’d been able to pick up for nearly nothing at the end of the year.
Tomatoes too. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to get some more fresh vegetables too.
I swear they tasted better than the stuff from the store. I know that it lasted longer.”
They talked about all the things that Cullen had been doing around town, and was pleased that he was now going to be running the mayors office. Waylon, who owned the hardware store in town, said that he’d run with him as his assistant. The two of them together would make a great pair, he thought.
Waylon was well-liked around town, too. He used to have the granddas work for him in the store, but they were off doing other things now.
He thought it was because of the new cash register that he’d changed out again.
The first one had them writing down everything that they sold, and Waylon would have to put it all in the computer register at the end of the day.
It had been a lot of hard work, but he’d not trade them working for him for any amount of extra work he had to do.
He often told him that they would give away more than they sold, but he didn’t mind that either.
It was great to have them around. Now his kids worked for him along with the other high school kids who needed a few bucks for gas or something.
“Did you hear that old Mr. Appleton passed away?” Hazel said she’d not heard that.
“I guess he was at work when he passed. I think he was like eighty-nine years old and still went to work every day. He was a good old man, and I loved talking to him about the town when it first started to grow. I’m going to miss him. ”
“Me too. He would forever tease me about staying with you as your wife. He was an outrageous flirt, too. His wife had to put up with a lot with him having women in the store.” He ran the grocery store after Mr. Collins had retired.
He’d been an old vampire who found his mate late in life, and that’s what he’d been doing.
He wondered if he’d come back now that the store was going to be put up for sale again.
“We should buy it. That way, I can have something to do in the evenings. Even during summer break. What do you think?”
“I think you have enough on your plate right now, other than running a grocery store that’s too small for this town now.
It should have expanded decades ago, but he never did.
I think he liked the old-time feel of the small country store.
I know there were times when I loved going in there, too.
” He told her that he always had the things that you’d not be able to find anywhere else.
“Much like Waylon. He even has that old-fashioned key maker that still makes keys that you can’t find anywhere else. I love that about that hardware store.”
After lunch, he walked back to school. Most of the kids were on the playground, and he loved watching them having fun.
As soon as the bell rang for some of them to go back into the school, he followed them inside.
There was still a lot of work for him to do, and he only had about five hours to get it done.
He rarely, if ever, took work home from school and thought that was an excellent plan to have.
Jayden was home just in time for supper and was happy that his entire family was there to enjoy it together.