Tow-Away Stowaway

~~~ Monday (cont'd) ~~~

When we pulled up to the cabin, everything looked exactly the same - minus the big black bear. Honestly, I had expected the thing to be larger. A little searching on the internet had shown me that our uninvited guest was fairly normal-sized.

We warily circled around the property but didn't see any other traces of him. I set the grill back up, put the grate inside, and set the lid back on it. I returned it to its place on the porch. I got a rake and a shovel and cleaned up the larger pieces of charcoal and ash. I took them over and dumped them along the tree line to the south.

"Where are we building this house?" Lydia asked.

I laughed out loud and turned to face her.

"Let's take a look and figure it out, I guess," I said. "From what I see on the satellite view, I expect it'll be the parcel we're next to right now."

We started to the northwest. That parcel was just around the bend. While it had a nice view of the large valley - with trees and rolling meadows - it wasn't as nice as the cabin. We moved south. I kept an eye out for our furry friend as we made our way through the forest of saplings to peer down from the edge of the bluff.

"Fuck...," Lydia gasped. "This will be even prettier than our view."

She squeezed herself against me, grabbing my ass, and begging a kiss. I snickered into her mouth. She ignored it and kissed me hard - squeezing my butt hard enough to get a rise out of my cock.

We moved south again to where I thought the next property line was. As we moved deeper into the parcel, the bluff faded into a grassy slope. Below us, the trees were standing tall. That small forest of massive trees almost completely blotted out the view of the lake. Lydia looked up at me with questioning eyes.

"No," I said firmly. "We're not buying that property just to have the trees cut down so that you can see the lake."

"I figured that was what you'd say," she said, smiling. "I like the other one better anyway. The ground here seems to drop as you move back from the bluff. That would make it harder to build on, right?"

"It would add a bit of a challenge," I agreed. "It would still turn out well - especially if you cut the crest of the hill away and built down into the earth. That slope would feel like it was part of your front yard."

"A yard full of trees...," she said.

"Yes..."

"Could you do that with our parcel?" she asked.

I laughed at the way she was already starting to map out everything in her head - almost like all of the decisions were already made. I realized she really wasn't that far off.

"You could," I said. "We're so far from the lake that I think it wouldn't add much. It would give you insulation from the soil for winters though. Let me think about that... Moving the dirt would cost more but you'd get some of that back in energy savings - and it would leave the bluff looking more natural.

We headed back towards the cabin and I studied the terrain a little more closely. The ground didn't drop off as much as it did in the southernmost parcel - but there was a definite grade there. It might be enough to get a full story underground. If we did it right, it might look like a hobbit hole on the west side - and open to a massive set of windows on the east. Although the windows would make the place harder to heat, they would be out of the north and west winds - and you'd get some solar warming in the mornings...

"Do you know where my sketchpad is?" I asked her.

"Yeah," she answered.

"Grab it when we get back and I'm gonna do a quick couple of sketches. We'll need to talk to Ted or Harold to see if they know somebody with a bulldozer. I'll need to show them the sketches to see if they think what I'm picturing will work."

As soon as we walked back up to the cabin, I realized that I'd forgotten to talk to Ted about the hardware to hang the panels around the back porch. For a moment, I wondered - if I wasn't going to stick with the cabin - if I should bother.

It didn't take me long to decide that the next owner would easily be able to remove the panels if they didn't want them - or leave them up if they did. It wouldn't cost me much - in terms of money or time - and it would definitely add convenience - if they were going to heat with wood like I had planned to.

Those thoughts led to how I was going to heat a real house. Natural gas was the cheapest - if I could get a line run down the lane. The next option was propane. That was another question to ask Ted or the girls.

Lydia brought the sketchpad and I scratched out what I was thinking - with an east view, a top view, and a west view.

"A hobbit hole?! Are you serious right now?!"

"You like it?" I asked her.

"I fucking love you so much! I'll send pictures to half of my old classmates and they'll be begging me to come visit..."

"Now...," I hedged.

"I'd never invite them," she promised. "I might invite mom, though, if she ever gets her shit together."

I stared at her. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her tightly against my body.

"How are you so... okay with all of this?" I asked her. "How did you just... climb into that trailer...?"

"Mom's a mess," she whispered. "My friends talked about their moms being a 'hot mess' but they had no fucking clue. My mother's behavior is self-destructive. My ONLY bad decision was not realizing how hot that trailer would get. I should have snuck into the truck instead."

I kissed her on the temple but she grabbed my face and kissed my lips.

"Even if we have to raise two kids in this cabin," she said, "I still made the best decision of my life when I stowed away with you and got the hell out of there."

She squeezed me so tightly that I thought my heart would explode.

"I don't care that we're so radically far apart in age," she whispered. "You are exactly what I wanted - and - so far - you've been so much more than I needed. I love all of our new friends. You know just how to talk to people and help them and make them feel special. I love that so much."

She got a shit-eating grin on her face.

"I want to be just like you when I grow up, Mr. Simms," she said - pouring the honey into her words until it dripped.

I laughed - and then I grabbed her ass, squeezed it, and kissed the shit out of her.

Since I had forgotten so many questions that I should have asked - and since we were taking the chicken breasts to Sue to fix - I had Lydia grab the cooler and bring it to the truck. We climbed back inside and drove back to Kennett.

Lydia took the cooler to the restaurant and ordered us a late lunch that would serve as both lunch and dinner for us. I went to talk to Ted. He had all of the hardware in stock that I needed for the plywood panels. I paid for everything and took it to the truck.

I went to see Melba and asked about natural gas. She laughed.

"We're all on propane out here," she said. "I should have already given you their number."

She went to get their business card. I ran to the truck to get my sketches.

I took a picture of the card while she looked back and forth between the two pieces of paper that I'd drawn my rough drafts on.

"What's with the round door?" she asked.

"Lord of the Rings movie," I told her.

"Never saw it," she said. "Not sure how functional it'll be."

"Yeah, me neither," I agreed. "I'll leave that for the carpenter to figure out. How far am I gonna have to go to find qualified people to build this?"

"Not far," she said. "When you're ready to start looking seriously, I'll put the word out and you should get some visitors."

"Go ahead and put the word out," I told her. "I'd like to be moved in by next winter."

"They could probably have you in there before this winter if you're willing to spend enough," she said, smiling.

"Not sure I want to spend that much," I said. "They don't already have jobs lined up?"

"They've got their regular work and then they've got this kind of stuff," she said. "We could start asking now and you can see how fast it'll all come together. As long as you're not in a hurry, you might actually get them to hurry..."

Her grin was infectious. It was funny how not giving people a deadline tended to make some of them that much more interested in throwing themselves into the task.

"If they get the shell up before winter, there's plenty of guys around here that'll do the interior work rather than fight the freezing winds to work on other tasks - even if it would likely make their spouse happier..."

I smiled back at her and nodded.

I went back out to the truck and hopped inside. Lydia was back a few seconds later.

"Everything good?" I asked.

"Yeah, did you wait long?"

"No," I said. "I talked to Ted, got the hardware for the panels, and then talked to Melba. I showed her my sketches and asked about natural gas."

"For an oven?" she asked

"And a furnace...," I told her.

"Oh!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, she said they use propane."

"Which...?"

"Which means a truck comes down the lane, pumps the tank full, and we call them when it's getting low and they'll come back. Not quite as cheap as natural gas but the closest line is probably in Valley City."

"Shit."

"Yeah. Propane is way easier than wood."

"We could...?"

"Retrofitting the cabin is do-able but I would probably leave it for the next owners."

"Okay..."

"Melba says that she'll put the word out that I want some folks to look at my sketches and bid on the earthwork and the construction. She seems to think that - if I don't act like I'm in a big hurry - we might get lucky and have a shell up before winter. IF - and that's a big IF - we get that done, it's a fairly simple thing to wave cash in front of people and get them to do all of the interior work that has to be done before the drywall goes on..."

"I don't know what most of that means...," she admitted.

"Cross your fingers and say your prayers and there's maybe a 30% chance the house could be up before snow comes. If that happens, there's a 70% chance we could move in... maybe... before spring."

"No shit?!"

"There's a lot of shit between here and there..."

"How much...? Do you even have money to...?"

"It would be easier if I can get utilities to these other parcels and then sell them off. Otherwise, I might have to talk to a banker."

"Okay, wow! That's big, though, right? I never dreamed..."

"Yeah, just keep your fingers crossed that Melba, Sue, and Ted keep sending us the right people - and pray that those people are bored and have bills to pay..."

"You think God would actually listen if I prayed?" she asked.

"I mean, it couldn't hurt. If you do, maybe mention the shitty situation with your mom...? I'm gonna try calling Sue's contact at the power company."

"Okay," she said. "I'll be quiet."

Lydia closed her eyes. I had no clue if she was really praying or not. I hadn't been to church in ages. It's not that I disliked it - I just never seemed to have time. I looked up the contact at the power company and dialed the number.

"Hello... uh... Sarah? Yeah. My name is Lee Simms. I bought a parcel just north and east of Kennett. I'd like to talk to somebody about the possibility of getting power run to our place. Actually, let me start again. I'm living on one parcel. I now own five other parcels around my cabin. I would like to get a line run down Harper's Lane - just north of Kennett. The mailing address is Valley City, if that matters."

I listened as she talked and typed on her computer. She fired back a question.

"Yes," I answered. "I was told to also mention that - if I convince you to run the line - that I would like a fiber line run along with it. We have no cell-service out there and - if there was an emergency - we are completely cut off. If I could get fiber, I could have internet phones - or maybe get the cell-tower folks to give me some sort of an access point. As soon as I get utilities run to these five properties, I plan to market them. That would give you six new customers..."

I listened to her caveats and answered her questions. She took my name and number and promised to call me back before the day was out. As soon as I hung up, I realized that meant that we were stuck in town until the woman returned my call.

I cursed and Lydia glared at me.

"I was praying...," she said.

"Sorry," I replied. "I told the woman that I'd wait for her call and then I just realized that means we're just sitting here until she calls me back."

"Sue said the tractor came in. Want to go put it together?"

"Better than sitting on my ass...," I said.

We bailed out of the truck and went to see Ted. He was smiling from ear to ear. I think he was more excited about the damned chickens than we were.

He helped me carry the kit out to where he wanted it built. He stuck a note on the door of the office that he was out back and then we started ripping straps off of boxes to get the pieces pulled out.

A half-hour before Sue closed, I sent Lydia to order our meals. I ordered some for Ted as well - even though he tried to turn me down. When she returned, we sat in the grass and ate while it was hot. Sue came out a bit later and told us that we should have just come inside and saved her boxing everything up. I told her that I was the idiot driving the train and not to blame the other two. She started looking at the instructions and grabbed some pieces to connect together.

We finished our food and jumped back into our work - now with four of us helping. We chattered and laughed and carried on - and we had the thing together in what felt like no time - even though the day was quickly coming to a close.

I had just started to bitch about the lady from the power company not calling me back when my phone rang and her name appeared on the screen. I hit the answer button and stepped away from the others.

She gave me directions to the company offices and asked me to come in to sign some legal documents to attest my intention to do what I had told her on the phone. Once those were signed, she was authorized to put in the work order to get the line buried. A fiber line would be included. Each property that I owned would have lines run to the edge of the property. I was also required to check over documents about an easement across the front of the four properties in the back. I assured her that I was going to have to put a lane in and the easement was fine. I told her that I planned to come in the following morning. I thanked her and hung up.

I didn't even get to say a word before Lydia had her arms wrapped around my neck. She dangled from the front of my body as she kissed me over and over again.

"Guess you got the gist of it, huh?" I asked, unable to keep from smiling.

"Yes!" she all but screamed.

Ted and Sue were grinning at us.

I looked at Ted.

"The power company is in Cody," I told him. "Since I have to run there in the morning anyway, do you want to go get those chickens?"

He looked at Lydia.

"I can do it," she said. "Sue assured me that I can handle it. You two go get those documents signed and bring home some gorgeous ladies..."

"I'm not quite sure you're talking about chickens anymore...," Ted said, blushing. "There's nothing gorgeous about them..."

The expression on his face was priceless.

Sue was laughing so hard that she was lying on the ground. I held my sides and laughed so hard that I had tears in my eyes. Lydia was on the ground as well - lying on her side.

When we were finished getting a hold of ourselves again, we moved the tractor to where Ted wanted it and then started cleaning up the packaging, extra parts, and everything else. Lydia took out her phone and snapped a picture of the thing. It was kind of cute. It actually looked better on the ground than it had on the computer. I was somewhat impressed with the way the thing worked.

"See if you can move it by yourself," I told Lydia. "That had been one of our questions, right?"

She stepped up to the "yard" end and lifted. It was a bit of a strain but she got it up. She rolled it forward a foot and then back again. She set it back down.

"I couldn't go far," she said, "but I wouldn't have to do it all at once, right?"

"Right," I replied.

"Yeah - that wasn't bad," she said.

"You're stronger than you look," Ted said, somewhat shyly.

"I told her the same thing when she grabbed one end of my sofa," I informed him, grinning.

His eyes widened and he looked at her. Lydia struck a pose and flexed her arm to show off her bulging (kind of) bicep. Sue started laughing again. Ted just shook his head and smiled at her.

Lydia came over and wrapped her arm around my waist, hugging me close.

"Okay, so... Heading home to chop some more wood?"

"Probably should," I said. "There's a couple hours of daylight left."

We said our good-byes, told Ted that we'd be back early in the morning, and headed for the truck. I drove down Harper's Lane, wondering how soon we'd be able to get power at the cabin.

"No bear," Lydia said, as we pulled up.

"Keep your eyes open but I'm hoping he's moved on," I told her.

We changed to our work clothes and started clearing limbs and logs again. When dusk fell, I got the hardware from the truck and worked on the hanging panels with some help from an LED work light. It took an hour to get all of the hardware installed but - when I was done - the porch was really easy to close in. I picked up the sheet of plywood, set it on the little studs, and then clipped the little cotter key things into place to lock it down.

I added the hardware to the panel that would serve as the door, screwed the lag bolts in the post to serve as the hinge-points, and then added the latches. Since we had a curious visitor now, I had added latches to the bottom and the top - in addition to the middle one. During the day, you could just use the middle one to keep the thing from swinging in the wind. At night, you could latch the other two as well - which gave the whole panel more stability. It was simple to operate and I was sure that the new owners would appreciate having it. If not, it came apart pretty quickly as well. All of the panels could be stored in the rafters of the wood shelter that Ted had built for us. It almost looked like we had designed it that way - even though we'd just been blundering through.

I headed inside but didn't see Lydia anywhere. When I hollered for her, she answered from the bedroom. I went to the wash basin and scrubbed myself up. Since we were probably headed to bed - on the mattress that was still laying in front of the fireplace - I didn't bother putting any clothes on. I threw my work clothes over the wooden rack that probably had some loftier purpose when my wife had purchased it so long ago. It was great for holding clothes that I was going to put back on though - which was why I'd kept it.

I turned around as Lydia walked out of the bedroom. My jaw hit the floor and I felt my dick begin to harden.

Lydia had on a black bikini top and a pair of denim cut-offs that were so short that I was certain - if I was looking at her from behind - that I'd be able to see the bottom half of her butt-cheeks peeking out at me. The black bikini and the faded blue-jean cut-off were sexy as fuck but it was the rest of the ensemble that made her look like a street-walking prostitute.

Over the bikini top (which was so small that the swell of her breasts spilled out around every side of the tiny triangles), she had a hot pink mesh cover-up that looked like it had been ripped off for the express purpose of showing off her adorable navel and her flat tummy. The holes in the mesh were big enough to fit your hand through. The whole purpose of the thing was, of course, to draw your attention to how small the bikini was - and to the bulge of her firm little B-cup titties.

Down below, Lydia's legs were covered - top to bottom - with black fishnet stockings. The threads of the netting were thick and dug into her tender flesh like it was two sizes too small. The denim cut-offs had been pulled on over the fishnets. They were loose enough that they looked like they might fall off of her slender hips with the slightest breeze.