Page 5 of Kinsey

“I do.I’m glad I called you.”She was making notes as her grannie told her things that popped into her head.There were other things, too, that she had questions about.Like, if it was all in Kinsey’s name, why didn’t he just sell it if he wanted out?

Meggie thought she had the answer to that.He was a good man, and his family was important to him.The numbers she was getting told her that all of them were going to be wealthy men if they decided to go through with this, and she’d make a bit off of it too.But she’d have to ask her grannie about that.Maybe they had a deal where all the money went to the Pennington family.Making a note to ask her about that, she dug into the paperwork and decided that she wanted to do this overeverything she had going on today.It was something different from what she usually did, she told herself, and that was why she was having so much fun.Here of late, it was difficult for her to get her head into working because she was bored.

Meggie couldn’t remember the last time she had a date.So long as she didn’t count the men who would escort her to functions, it had been years.Usually, she would ask her foreman to go with her, but he’d gotten married last month and it took him off the market for her.Not that she was romantically involved with him, but he was a big enough man that others wouldn’t bother approaching her if they were together.

She was bored out of her mind with the day-to-day work that she was doing.The same stuff day after day, and there was no end to the amount of paperwork that she had to shuffle around.Usually, it was just going over contracts for this or that company.Doing a buyout for another company or two.The place practically ran itself.She would swear that her secretary was giving her things to do so that she’d look like she was needed.

Later that afternoon, she told her grannie that she was going to go to the Pennington home for the family meeting.She asked her if she wanted to go, just to meet the boys that she’d only heard about.While she said she shouldn’t go, Meggie could tell that she really wanted to and talked her into it—it didn’t take much to persuade her to go, so she was happy that she’d not be going alone.

By the time Friday rolled around, not only did she have a better understanding of what had to be done to sell off the land that lay across five states, she had all the rules and regulations ticked off on which rules she could bend a little and which ones that she couldn’t bend at all.Excited to be leaving the office for this trip, she even booked herself and her grannie rooms at the local bed and breakfast that was in town.There were even places that she wanted to go to while there and couldn’t wait to take a little side trip to Amish country with her grannie.She’d heard so much about the place and she was going to make sure that she was able to get some much-wanted cheese and jerky.Oh, she just couldn’t wait to get the meeting going, and then their trip to Berlin County for the rest of the day.

They were driving to the Pennington home, and she had a good idea of where she was going when she got out on the road.It wasn’t a long trip, about forty-five minutes, but it was an adventure for the two of them.She had called before they left her house to see if the meeting was still on, and Kinsey told her that they were set to talk at noon.Would she be there?

“Yes, we’re staying in town, so you can call me at this number and we’ll come over.My grannie has come with me to meet you boys as she’s called you forever.”He said his grandma did the same thing even though they were all grown men.“Good.Then I’ll see you when you call me.Thank you for this.”

“No, thank you.I’ll talk to you later.”She felt herself getting giddy with the upcoming meeting.She didn’t even care if they decided not to sell.She’d had so much fun finding answers to questions she thought that they might have.It was going to be fun no matter how it turned out.

Chapter 3

Kinsey made up a veggie platter for them when the meeting was coming up.He knew his brothers well enough that they’d want snacks even though they’d just gotten up from the table.He even had some dipping sauce to use that he’d picked up at the grocery store.Kinsey was excited to get this thing started and find out what his brothers wanted to do.

Raphael said that he didn’t feel like his vote should count as he was only home eight days a month.But Kinsey explained to him that they all voted, or it was off.He had to have an opinion on where he put his head when he was home, and he said that he didn’t like the house anymore.Since grandma had died, it hadn’t been the same.

“I agree.Nothing is the same since she passed away.Not even when I make some of her dinners do they taste the same when I use her recipes.I can get her sun tea to work for us, but that’s not saying much.We only drink her unsweetened version of it, and that’s not too hard to make.”They both laughed.“Even just baking some sweet potatoes isn’t the same.”

“I do think you outshine her pot roast when you make it.Sometimes when I’m on the road and have to eat, I’ll get some at the diner.I stopped trying to get one like the ones I have at home.They’re nothing alike.Even the mashed potatoes aren’t the same as yours.And they’re just mashed potatoes.”Kinsey thanked his brother for that.Then told him how he’d dried one out once.“I doubt that it was as bad as they said it was.They just like to tease you some.I know that I’d have eaten my share and theirs if they tried that when I’m there.”

“We were having steaks on Saturday.Would you like a roast and all the trimmings?I have one in the freezer from the last slaughter.”He told him that he’d love to have some with everything else.“All right, I’ll get to that then.It’ll be a good meal, and I’ll even make some candied carrots to go with it.”

“Now you’ve done it.I have to go for three more days before I can have what my belly has been craving all month.I can’t wait to get home and taste it all.See if you can get the bread machine fired up, too.I’d love a loaf or two for myself with that gravy you make.Damn, but I want to come home right now and get it.”He told him he’d make extra so that he could have some leftovers when he left.“You do that and I’ll brain any of the others if they say a word about it too.”

They didn’t touch on the sale of the land anymore, but he did have a nice talk with his brother.Sometimes when he’d come home, there were just too many of the others around to have a good conversation with each other because they all missed him.He and Raphael had become close over the years as he’d gone into the service at the same time he had.They didn’t get into the same platoon, but they were able to see each other on other occasions.

That had been three days ago, and today he was getting dinner ready to be eaten before the meeting.When Raphael had come in last night, he’d been surprised by the loaves of crusty bread for dinner.He said that the bread machine could only make one loaf at a time, and he wanted that for himself.He thought the others would enjoy the crusty stuff.

Setting the table, everyone helped with putting it on the table.There were plenty of things for everyone to carry to the dinner table, and he was glad that he had spoken to his brother before assuming that he’d want steaks.The biggest hit looked like it was going to be the candied carrots, and he was glad that he’d made up a lot of them for today.Even the green beans had turned out all right, he thought.

The meal had taken him hours to make and only about fifteen minutes to eat.He always marveled at that when Grandma was cooking.Just how much time was put into a meal after planning it to be gone in less than a quarter of the time.But they were all full and content, and that’s all he could havehoped for.There was plenty enough left over so that Raphael could take some with him to have a nice meal while on the road.

They never talked business at the table.That had been a hard and fast rule when his grandma had been alive.There was a place and time for everything, and at the dinner table wasn’t one of them.Nor did they use cell phones either.Meals were meant for family time and not business.They had continued that well after Grandma was gone, and he loved that they did.

After cleaning up and getting the dining room set to rights, they decided to have the meeting in the dining room.Getting out the platter of vegetables, they were already digging into them even after saying how stuffed they were.It was then that he called Meggie to invite her and her grandma over.He hoped things went as well as he anticipated they would.Getting information was all they needed for now.

“If my vote counts for anything, I think that Kinsey should get double the shares of the sale.He’s been holding this place together since he came home when grandma got sick.”He said that they’d split things six ways or not at all.“I don’t agree.I’ve been here with you the entire time, and I know how much you take on for yourself and don’t tell us about.How long had the hot water heater been going out before you finally broke down and got one?”

“It had been a few months, but I was making it work.”Wylie said that he knew that he had, and it had been great of him, but that was just what he was talking about.“I could fix it, that’s all, and you guys would have had you been here when it finally broke down.”

“I disagree, but I do agree with Wylie.Without you, none of us would have had a roof over our heads the way you’ve been keeping the wolves at bay around here.I know for a fact that I couldn’t have gotten a job outside of this place without you holding up my end here.I know that it was supposed to be for the extra money coming in, but you’d never taken any of the money, so that was a bust.”Ara looked at him as he continued.“You’ve done enough for this farm, Kinsey.To me, I’d love for you to sell it and keep the money, but I think we all could use some of it to start again.I want my own house, a wife, and some kids running around.As it stands right now, none of us is getting any younger waiting for the next bad news to take this all away.I think we should sell while you have someone to sell it to.And by that, I mean so that we can all enjoy the money while we still can.I don’t want to be Grannie, god rest her soul, and hanging onto this place because it was called Pennington.She told all of us to make sure you sold it when a buyer came along, and I think you should do it.For all of us.”

“It’s not that easy.”He went to the door to let in Meggie Gold and Gracie Ruby.After introducing them to his brothers, he sat back and let them do the talking.He was about ten minutes into her talking when he realized that it really was easy to sell it off, and they’d each be millionaires.

She had paperwork for them all.It told how the land was spread out over five states and that each state had rules about selling the land that was in their domain.There were prices that they could get for the cattle, both standing and butchered.There was even a chart on how much the house was worth, the way it was standing, or if they had improvements made to it.

“It wouldn’t take much but time.It needs to have a new roof on it as well as a new furnace.I’d fix those things up before going to the market with it, just because it might make it worth more for the buyer.”She explained how much those two things could cost and how much revenue they’d get back on the improvements.“The buyer might not even want the house there, so it’s a gamble whether or not it matters to them.Even tearing the house down would give the buyers the option of building in the same place or not.”

She talked for nearly two hours, answering questions and telling them things that the paperwork already had in it.Mrs.Ruby also had some input on the sale, telling them that she’d spoken to their grandma and she wanted them to sell.And why.

“She didn’t want you to be raising any more Penningtons on this land.She said that she wanted the six of you to have homes of your own and money in your pockets.”Mrs.Ruby laughed a little.“Your grannie had a good head on her shoulders about the farming industry.She said that it was a dying breed of men that could make it work, and she didn’t want you six dying here like she didwithout anything to show for it.”

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