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-DurtyRiter
The Man with the Jeep
Chapter 59
The next morning came much too soon.
Andrew's alarm went off twice before it registered that he needed to get out of bed and get to work. He didn't even see John's text from last night wishing him a good night's sleep.
Despite his hectic start, he made it to work fine and besides finding himself sleepy during the few moments of downtime he got, he was pleased that he didn't seem to make any mistakes. Those are, after all, frowned upon in legal paperwork.
By the time he made it home, he was ready for an early bedtime.
Before he gave in to that urge, he looked up how much his home was worth versus how much he still owed on it, and was pleasantly surprised. The best part was knowing that because he had done his renovations early on, there was nothing that needed attention to bring it to market condition. In fact, after digging into the market a little more, he discovered that he was ahead of the curve style-wise and the colors and materials he had chosen throughout the house were trending now.
Having figured that part out, now he had to address the other side of the coin: how much was it going to take to set up his new venture?
He came up with a plan and budget for the business itself but found himself short of some key information. Specifically, he had no idea how much rent the new place would be or how much investment it would take to get the building itself up and running, let alone the house that he hadn't even seen.
After dinner, when he climbed into bed and made his nightly call, John promised to call his friend to get some more details and try to arrange to meet him there for a proper tour.
Twenty minutes later, John texted back to confirm that Thursday after work would work for Andrew. It did, so they were set until then.
The next day proved to be a bit of a blur as Andrew was completely preoccupied with anticipation and excitement. Even John had a little trouble holding his attention when they met for lunch.
"You're really looking forward this, aren't you?" he commented.
"Yeah. I'm super nervous for sure, but I just can't help getting excited about the whole idea."
"I bet!"
"There's just so much I don't know though. It's kind of overwhelming. I mean, I'm trying to be patient and roll with it, but it's impossible not to try and imagine what it could be like and try to plan it all out."
"You and your puzzles," John laughed. "You still need all the pieces before you can make a whole picture, you know."
"Oh really?" Andrew said with a raised eyebrow. "Since when do you give me all the pieces to a mystery before you start asking me to solve it?"
"TouchŽ," laughed John. "Well, keep trying to relax so you don't fry that brain of yours, okay?"
"Sure thing, boss," Andrew teased. "Whatever you say."
Thursday did not prove to be a blur at all. It seemed to drag on and on...and on...and on...forever. It was like a time warp where the world seemed to be happening in slow motion. Everything at work was clear and obvious, and he breezed through his workload in record speed. He was so quick he even ended up reorganizing the junk drawer in his desk at the end of the day just to pass the time.
Five o'clock finally rolled around and he was clocked out and halfway to his car less than a minute later. He soon pulled the car into his garage and was so anxious to go that after parking, he went to sit on the front step of the porch waiting for John to show up.
His phone buzzed with a text a few minutes later: `I suppose you are already sitting outside waiting for me to get there?'
`Yeah'
`Thought so. Now go change into jeans and a shirt you don't mind getting dirty.'
`Good idea'
`I know. See you soon. xoxo'
`xoxo'
Andrew dutifully went in and changed as John suggested, shaking his head ruefully that he had been about to traipse around that dirty old greenhouse in slacks and dress shoes.
He was halfway back down the stairs when he heard John pull in the drive, so he just kept going and sailed through the front door, consciously remembering to lock it behind him.
"Ready to go?" John asked facetiously with a disarming grin.
"Yes," Andrew confirmed without equivocation. "Now go!"
"Aye, Captain," John replied gamely.
Before long, they pulled up to the rampant greenery on the side of the highway that hid the nursery. Already there was a generic old Ford pickup. As they parked, a man in blue jeans, a plaid shirt, and worn brown boots got out and raised a hand in greeting.
"Hey Mr. Bradshaw!" John greeted him as he climbed out of his car. "It's good to see you again."
"You too, Johnny," he said with a small smile that Andrew suspected was not his normal expression. Mr. Bradshaw dropped his hand for a shake. "How have you been?"
"Can't complain," John replied. "How are the kids?"
"I don't know if `kids' really suits them anymore, but they are fine. They are that golden age where they know everything so I must be an idiot."
"Rough, but you know that will pass."
"As I long as I don't die first," Mr. Bradshaw groused in moderately good humor.
"I'm sure you won't," John assured him. "Mr. Bradshaw, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Andrew."
"Boyfriend, huh?" Mr. Bradshaw said with a little surprise.
This was not the same kind of surprise Andrew was used to seeing with that announcement. Rather than happy excitement tinged with relief, this one had much more feel of a skeptical reticence. John must not have came out to him before now.
"I see," Mr. Bradshaw continued. "Well congratulations, I guess."
With his initial reaction, Andrew was a bit surprised that Mr. Bradshaw extended his hand to him for a firm handshake of his own.
"Nice to meet you, Andrew."
"You too, sir."
There was no change of expression, but Andrew felt he had somehow passed a test as soon as he used the honorific.
"So, you want to get into husbandry, do you?"
Andrew wasn't sure if the older gentleman meant to use the double entendre or not, so he held his chuckle in. He guessed the guy had a dry sense of humor and knew exactly what he was saying, but better not to risk things by replying in kind.
"Yes, sir," Andrew answered. "It's been a dream of mine for a very long time."
"Done anything like that before?"
"No, sir. I took business courses in college and daydreamed about it maybe too much, but that's the extent of it."
"Business courses, huh? Well I s'pose that's a better angle to take than just loving plants."
"I do love plants, but I didn't think that would pay very well, so I figured I'd better find out how to run a company first."
"Congratulations," Mr. Bradshaw said. "You've just avoided a very big rude awakening. We weren't so lucky. We adapted in time, but it wasn't fun for a while there. You really do need both to make it work. I got the business side down well enough, I guess, but once my wife died, well, I just didn't care about the plants anymore, so I packed up the kids and walked away. This place has been left to rot ever since. Have you taken a look at it already?"
"Well, we did try to look through the windows, but it's awfully dark in there."
"It would be," Mr. Bradshaw agreed. "I have a solution for that, though it took me two hours to find it."
With that, he fished an old key out of his pocket that had an odd-looking blob attached to the ring. While he coaxed the reluctant lock open with the key, Andrew studied the blob.
Eventually he decided it probably used to be a small red rubber rose, though both the form and the color had degraded significantly over time and use.
Mr. Bradshaw was able to get the door open with a small kick at the baseplate before he turned to the young men with him.
"Did you boys bring any lights with you? I know the power was turned off long ago."
"Yes sir," John answered, holding up a large flashlight. "We came prepared."
"Of course you did," said Mr. Bradshaw, again somehow emanating approval without a change of expression.
The storefront proved to be super dusty, of course, but it wasn't very smelly, which was much appreciated by all three men.
Besides the shelving on the wall that went entirely around the room, there were eight low rows of shelves in parallel, four on each side of the middle counter station that was directly in front of the main door. A few circular wire displays were scattered around for good measure.
Though some displays had collapsed, Andrew could now see that the shelves were still full of product, lending a surreal aura to the room.
"Did you just leave everything here?" Andrew asked after a brief debate in his head.
"Like I said, I packed up the kids and left. I just didn't have the heart to do anything else. My brothers-in-law came back a bit later and boarded up the windows and stuff so it would be ready when I came back to it, but I never did. It's probably all trash now regardless."
"Which reminds me: I wouldn't take offense if you want to bring an inspector out here to check everything before you go for it. In fact, I recommend it. I don't want it on my conscience if the roof is rotten and falls on you or someone else. I've enough regrets already."
"Thank you, sir," Andrew responded. "I think that's an excellent plan."
"It is," Mr. Bradshaw agreed. "And make sure they check for termite damage. We never had any problems before, but this is out in the middle of nowhere and no one has done a damn thing with it since the boards went up."
"Yes, sir."
"So, this is obviously the showroom," Mr. Bradshaw said. "You can see the way to the greenhouses right in the middle of the back wall there. To the right side of that passage is the restroom, a small break room, the mechanicals, and the office, and on the left side is a storeroom."
"I'm sorry, did you say greenhouses?"
"Yep," Mr. Bradshaw confirmed. "This is a nursery. You will need greenhouses."
Andrew thought he might have caught a crinkle of amusement at the corners of his eyes, but it was hard to know for sure in the dim light.
"I knew there was one," Andrew replied. "I just didn't realize there were more."
"Yeah, we have three of them back there. That door leads to the first one and then there were two more identical ones added on to the left of it. We can go look at that next, if you want."
"Yes, please."
They trooped through the gloom and after a brief fight with another locked and disused door, they were nearly blinded when it opened out into a long greenhouse. They could see where a few of the glass panes had broken, but it was surprisingly intact overall. Andrew had a little sense of dŽjˆ vu when he saw the table with their built-in irrigation system, remembering their clandestine first look. He made it a point to go and re-investigate them for the sake of appearances.
"I have to say, Mr. Bradshaw, I'm really impressed with the setup here. You have all the irrigation stuff already set up and the tables are good. I would have done it the same way."
"Thanks," he answered just a little gruffly. "Now everything is all computer controlled, so ultimately it was probably just a big waste of money. Live and learn."
"Well, for what it's worth, I would still want it this way. Computers are good for a lot of things, but not in managing life."
Mr. Bradshaw gave him a long hard look before deciding it was an honest compliment from someone who wasn't an idiot.
"I'm glad you like it," he said finally.
The other two greenhouses weren't in as good shape as the original, but Andrew took comfort in realizing he wouldn't be able to run those by himself anyway. Once he got the business off the ground, he could hire more help and tackle those later.
"And that's pretty much it," Mr. Bradshaw said after the tour. "I actually thought it would be a lot worse around here, to be honest."
"How much would the rent be?"
They talked numbers as they made their way back outside, locking everything back up as they went.
"Are you sure about this, sir?" Andrew asked as they re-emerged into the sunlight. "You are being awfully generous."
"Not at all," replied Mr. Bradshaw. "It's been neglected too long, and it would be fitting to my wife's memory to make it useful again. She had a thing for the phoenix. I know how hard it is to start a new business, so I won't be the one to hamstring you before you even get going. You seem a decent fellow, and I figure if I can help keep your hard costs low, it would give you a fighting chance. With a decent amount of elbow grease, it should be enough to get you started. Assuming you're still interested."
"I do really love it," Andrew said. "I can't wait to get started."
"Glad to hear it."
"And you said a house is part of the deal too?" Andrew asked.
"Yes, you did," Mr. Bradshaw confirmed. You can check that out too if you like."
"I'd like that."
"Sure thing. I need to get back, but I s'pose you can check it out without me. I trust this blockhead will bring back my keys after you've poked around," he said, nodding toward John with a sly little smile.
"Yes, sir," John assured him. "I will."
"You remember how to get there?"
"Yes, sir."
"Alright then, I'll leave you to it."
And with that, the man climbed into his truck and headed back toward town.
"Does that mean the house isn't here?"
"That depends on how you look at it," John said. "It is on the property and there used to be a path from here you could take to get there, but it's probably overgrown, if not lost completely, so we'll take the driveway."
"Lead the way."
They hopped back into John's car and made a left turn onto the highway before they turned off again onto the very next driveway.
The term "driveway" was generous in this case. It wasn't much more than two dirt tracks for tires to drive on and the grass and weeds were pretty tall.
John didn't drive very far before they came to a closed gate. It was too elaborate to be plain, but not fancy enough for an estate either. Andrew wasn't quite sure what to think of it. It had "Phoenix Farms" worked into the upper arch, so he knew this was the right place.
John stopped the car and turned it off.
"This is no Jeep," he said with a laugh. "I can't see where I'm going in this, so we are just going to have to walk it after all."
"Okay," Andrew agreed.
They got out and after a little coaxing, John was able to unlock the gate.
They followed the driveway tracks through the waist-high grasses. There were lots of trees around and the path curved a bit, so Andrew still couldn't see where they were going.
While they trekked, John talked about the times he had come to visit with his family, how Mr. Bradshaw made the best barbecue he had ever had, and what a great hostess Mrs. Bradshaw had been.
Daylight was now golden, signaling the coming dusk as the road veered off into the trees to the left. They followed it between a couple overgrown trees and then he saw the house for the first time nestled among the trees.
There, in the gathering gloom, he beheld a faded blue two-story home with a peaked roof and a tall chimney poking out through the top. The angle of the roof was sharp enough that it made the house look narrower than it really was, and there was some Victorian filigree under the eaves as well that were painted a lighter color, though Andrew couldn't tell if it used to be white, yellow, or something in between. The front porch extended across the front of the house and a bit around one corner where it ended against a bay window. The porch had triangular gingerbread corbels at the top of each post and the rail was supported by numerous spindles that were ornate without being overly so.
When coupled with years' worth of leaves covering the roof and porch, the dark windows, and a couple bent gutters, it made a rather ominous first impression.
Luckily, Andrew was able to see past those things and could tell that it wasn't really in terrible shape. On the outside, at least...
As they got closer, he could see that there was indeed some work to be done here, but it was still in better condition than the greenhouses, which was encouraging.
Andrew turned on his phone light to help John unlock the front door, which turned surprisingly easy compared to the nursery's.
He turned the knob and pushed it open when they were stopped in their tracks by a loud blood-curdling shriek.
What do you think should happen next? I look forward to hearing from you!
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DurtyRiter@protonmail.com