Chapter 9
August was going over his second book when Jack joined him. He still couldn’t believe that she was his after all this time. Every once in a while, she’d put on a red dress, and they’d have fun. The two of them still owned Erickson Landscaping, and he couldn’t have been happier.
“ Are you about finished with your book? I just heard from your publicist that it was going to come out in the fall.” He said that he was just going over some of his notes on it and was just about ready to send it off to the editor.
“ Good. We’ll have to celebrate tomorrow night that you finished a book.
I love giving you a goal to look forward to when you work so hard. ”
He didn’t have to ask her what she had in mind. It wasn’t as sexy as one would think, but just the two of them going out to dinner. Someplace with cloth napkins and a place where they could be waited on. Not too many restrictions, but they still had a good time even when they got home that night.
“ It’s been a long time since we’ve had a real vacation.
How about we plan one with the boys and then have some fun with them.
I heard that Dusty and Shipley are going to DC again this year, and that might be fun too.
I know that the kids would enjoy it.” He said that it sounded really fun.
“ Don’t just say that because you think that’s what I want to hear.
I really would like to go to DC with them and see the sights.
I’ve never been there before. I want to see it all. ”
“ I wasn’t kidding. I think that would be fun.
Maybe we can talk the others into going as well and make a family vacation of it.
Maybe even Locke would be up for that. You know how he loves to go camping.
” They both laughed at that, and she sat down in the chair across from his desk.
“ Something else is on your mind. What is it?”
“ I was just thinking that the anniversary of my brother’s family deaths is coming up.
It depresses me to think that he thought that the only way out was to kill his family and then himself.
I can’t imagine wanting to take the lives of my children over facing the reality of life.
I wish I would have known what he was going through.
I would have tried to get him some help.
” August told her that he hid it well right up until the very end.
“ I know. That’s what depresses me so much this time of year.
It’s been eight years now. His sons would have been teenagers. ” He just watched her as she cried.
“ I love you, Mandy. So very much.” She came around to his side of the desk and sat on his lap.
He loved holding her like this, and when she yawned for the third time, he found himself falling asleep by just dozing off.
“ If you lay here much longer, we’re both going to be sore from waking up in an odd position.
Why don’t we go to the living room and lie down? ”
“ I’d love that, but I have work to do. There is going to be an auction of one of the smaller landscaping firms next month, and I want to look up some prices on what things might go for.
I don’t know that I want any of their equipment, but it might be nice to get a few things.
So long as they go cheap enough.” She stood up, and he watched her.
“ Thanks for letting me vent to you. I know that I’m being a sad sack, but sometimes it just hits me that they’re gone.
No one should have been able to take the lives of children.
I just get depressed about it sometimes. ”
“ I understand. I do too. If you ever want to vent again, you know that I’m here for you.
I love you.” She kissed him on the mouth and moved toward the door.
“ When I see the others tonight, I’ll bring up about heading to DC.
They can talk to their wives, or you can bring it up when you meet with them.
Whatever happens, it will be a good time for us with the kids. ”
Just as he was getting to work again, his cell phone rang. It was Zander, and he wanted to tell him that he was going to be running late tonight. He had some paperwork to file, and the courtroom was busy. He told him that he’d be all right with that and asked if he’d spoken to the others.
“ I have. You were the last one on my list. I should have called you first, as I know you’ll be early, but I wanted to let the others know what was going on.
Did you hear that there was a big to-do at the courthouse today?
Something about renovations going on, and they found some old records that had been boxed up for about fifty years.
I would love to go over some of them sometime, but they’re going to have to have them gone over by the Feds because of where they were found.
I wonder what someone was thinking by hiding them away like that.
” August said that he’d not heard, but he’d been in his office all morning.
“ I’ll let you know what I can find out.
It might be something that you can write about one day when they’re released.
Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to know what sort of judges they had back then?
I would love to be asked to help with them.
It might be an eye-opener to see what judges were doing back then. ”
“ You’re thinking about them being corrupt, aren’t you?
” He said it was what he lived for. “ I can see you going over them with a fine-tooth comb and making up stories as you went over them. I can see you writing a book about them, too.” He said that he’d leave that to him.
“ I just finished my book and was getting it ready to send to the editors. I need a break from writing for a while. Perhaps I’ll be ready to start again when they release them to the public.
I might just see what I can get into with them. ”
“ Sounds great.”
After hanging up with his brother, telling him that they’d wait for him at the restaurant, he nearly forgot that they were having dinner at his all-time favorite place.
Their steaks were great, and he loved their blooming onions.
He could eat an entire one of them by himself.
He might be a little sick afterwards, but he’d enjoy it while eating it.
Getting ready for dinner, Jack had already left by then, and he decided that he was going to talk them into the trip.
It would be fun to get together as a family.
It had been a while since they’d done anything like that, and he wanted to spend as much time with them as he could.
You never knew what tomorrow was going to bring, and he wanted to have as many memories as he could with his family as he could get.
Smiling to himself, he wondered why he was getting to be sounding so gloom and doom and decided to change things around.
He had a great family, and they’d be around for a good long time.
As soon as he was out the door, he realized something else.
How lucky they’d been in their lives since leaving home, and he couldn’t wait until they got together tonight.
It was fun to be with his brothers, and he was glad that they did it every week like clockwork.
He rolled down his window and enjoyed the breeze coming in through it.
Once he was at the restaurant, he was excited to see his brothers.
As soon as he was in the place they reserved for themselves, he hugged them all and told them how much he loved them.
They were a little shocked but told him that they loved him as well.
It was going to be a great dinner, and he couldn’t wait for it to begin.
Since they all had families, they didn’t drink at these things.
He was glad about that. He liked a beer with his steak dinner and didn’t miss it at all when they were all together.
As soon as Zander joined them, he hugged him too and told him how much he loved it.
Zander hugged him tightly back and told him that he needed that.
Just as they were being seated, his cell phone rang, and it wasn’t a number that he knew, so he let it go to voicemail.
They didn’t leave a message, which he was happy about.
As soon as they ordered, their salads were brought to them.
He really enjoyed the house dressing and was surprised when it was different.
Not putting up a fuss about it, he ate his salad with the rest of them just before their dinners were brought to them.
Trading around bites of food with each other, something that they always did, he got to taste Demi’s chicken dish along with Dusty’s mushroom sauce over his steak.
It was all good, and he was happy that he’d gotten the pasta dish with his steak, as it was one of his favorite things on the menu.
“ I was just talking to August about the find that they found in the walls of the courthouse. It’s supposed to be from fifty years ago.
” They speculated on that for a while as they ate, and just like him, they wanted to read over the reports that had been found to see what things were like back then.
“ I’m going to see if I can get with the attorneys who are going to be a part of the files just to see if I can get a first-hand look at things.
There is no telling what sort of stuff they find in those files.
I wonder if some of the people from around here will be in them?
I know that we won’t, as we’ve not been here that long, but I’d love to see if anyone has skeletons in the boxes. ”
“ I wonder how they got into that area in the first place. Makes me think of foul play. I have no idea why, but that’s the first thing that popped into my head.
” The rest of the table agreed with him on that speculation.
“ It could be nothing more than just some old paperwork about the renovations that were going on at that time, but it’s fun to think about. ”