“I hear you have Beverly doing it for you?”
“She’s a dream, Mom. I see now why you used her for the pool. I thought it would mostly still fall to me, and I’m not crazy about all that design stuff. But she just consults when she has a major question or asks Liane decorating plans, and for the most part, she’s doing it all on her own. I’d like to take you up and show you around if you have time?”
“Sure. I’d really like to see your office, though. The inner sanctum as it were?”
He nodded and took me to the door that led to the lower level. There was a keypad lock, and he quickly punched in the number. “Mother, in case anything should happen to me, I want you to know where I keep things. The keypad number is 8-7-4-5 and when we go down, I’ll show you the safe. Liane will know this too, but I’d rather you were a backup.” I understood where all his contingency planning was coming from. We had learned, just too recently, how quickly life could turn on a dime.
We went down wide steps and into what I could only term as a bunker. The walls, ceiling, and floor were concrete with no windows or natural light. “I’m not sure I could work down here very long.”
“Oh, you’d see the logic of it if you were on a monitor as often and long as I am. You have to reduce the glare and eye strain,” he explained. “Now this,” he hit a key, and a bank of monitors came to life, “is the brains behind the business. I design apps for companies.”
“Really? Like I have on my phone?” I was suitably impressed.
“Well, strictly speaking, yes, except you can’t get to these apps. They’re proprietary to the company who hires me. Each company has their own internal servers for their employees. My apps interact with their private computers. There is a great deal of very valuable information passing through those boxes. If it got into the wrong hands, it could do a great deal of damage on a corporate level. Now you understand the reason for the security.”
I nodded and felt pride. I was also relieved to realize that the fences and gate were not to keep family out, but to keep his business impenetrable. “I had no idea you were this successful, honey.” He noticed my term of endearment and beamed with pride. I felt as though we were making real strides. Hawk showed me the safe and gave me the combination. He opened it and went through the papers it held, explaining his holdings and how to access them. I felt trusted and valued that he’d share this with me. “You know, this sort of thing has been on my mind too. There’s so much about the business of running the farm that would stop if something happened to me. Lily is getting married to Brandon, you know?”
“I’d heard through the grapevine,” he said, referring to Liane I was sure.
“It would take a lot off my mind if you would come by sometime and let me show you where everything is kept. I’d feel a lot better.”
“Sure. Be happy to. If you like, I can set up your computer system so that it backs up automatically to one of my servers here. That’s good to have in case of fire or flood.”
“What a wonderful idea! Thank you, that would be great.”
We walked back upstairs, and he laid out the house plans on the dining room table. He showed me the design of the building itself and how it took advantage of the view of the river and countryside. I could see his pride in being able to provide Liane with such a showplace home and was very glad I’d given them that particular parcel of property. Perhaps it was my personal encouragement to keep him close at hand and not move somewhere far away. Seeing the building plans relieved me of that angst.
“Want to take a first-hand look?” he invited.
“Sure, that would be nice.”
Hawk pulled an ATV side-by-side out of the garage, and we bumped and jiggled over the pasture up to the house site. We walked through it entirely, him pointing out the rooms we’d looked over on the plans. Although the house was little more than a shell at that point, its bones were unique and spacious. “We modeled it on architecture we saw on our honeymoon,” he pointed out.
As we headed back to the house, we saw Liane’s car pulling into the drive. She waved up to us and headed to the house with an armload of packages. Hawk stepped on the accelerator so he could get down and help her. As she came back out, he waved her off and motioned that he was coming. It was so wonderful to see the love he had for her.
“You’re a lucky man, sweetheart. You’ve chosen the best wife anyone could wish for you.”
“I am indeed lucky.” I was overjoyed to hear the pride in his voice and an awareness of his blessing. It seemed that Ben knew what he was talking about. I resolved to work on Worth, although he would be more difficult.
I said my goodbyes and headed home. Worth was watching television in the family room and Marga, it appeared, was out somewhere. He watched very little television, so I found this odd.
“Hi,” I smiled as I came in.
“How was the shower?” he asked without looking up.
“Actually, it was very, very nice, to tell you the truth. Liane has charming friends. She got beautiful gifts, and I chatted with her father for a while. He’s an exceptionally nice man.”
“Yes, he is, what little I’ve spoken to him. Letty is making pot roast for dinner. Should be ready soon.”
“Good… sounds good,” I responded. I looked at the television. There was a soccer game playing. Worth hated soccer. “Worth, could we talk a bit?” I asked, motioning at the screen. He nodded and after locating the remote, flipped it off. “What’s up?”
“Have I told you lately that I love you?”
Worth’s head literally jerked backward at my words. He wasn’t sure how to reply, I could tell. “What brought that on?”
“I just think it’s been a very long time since I’ve told you that. I don’t want you to forget about it, or about me.”
His voice was tender. “I never forget about you, Auggie. You’re always on my mind. Especially lately.”
I sighed and sat back in my chair. “Yes, I know, things have been pretty rough for everyone. I’ve needed you, you know. At night, I want to just crawl into your arms and be held.”
“Then why don’t you?”
I searched for the right words. “I suppose it’s because you seem sort of insulated. As if you’re living in a world of your own that doesn’t want any outside interference.”
“Not true. I would love to hold you.”
Tears burned the back of my eyes, but I battled them back. “Worth, women have a different kind of strength than men do.”
“I know that.”
I smiled. “Yes, I know academically you know that, but since you’ve never been a woman, you really don’t know what it feels like. Anyway, there’s something in my core that keeps me going no matter what. But that doesn’t mean that I’m independent. I’m lonely for you. I need your hugs. I need your reassurances that everything will be okay.”