Life Renewed

Notes from the storyteller: Hi, Folks. I have been an avid fan of this site for about 12 years but this is my first endeavor at writing anything. So, first, as you will readily see, I really need an editor. Any volunteers our there?? Now, only time will tell if I can ever be able to call you readers fans, friends, or any other term of endearment, but I sure hope so. I am writing this for my pleasure and entertainment and if anyone out there reads and enjoys what I have penned, and hopefully they will, then so much the better. I have never written anything except for college essays and then some technical manuals and operating instructions, both of which were always as dry as a popcorn fart and about half as interesting. Please take note: You will discover within just a few lines that I am not an author, and do not try or claim to be. I would hope that you might find it in your heart to call me a storyteller (as opposed to some other things would be authors have been called in the comment section). I know I do not use proper English or punctuation or sentence structure and I thank God for spell and grammar checkers. I write more like I talk, improper though it may be. I will gladly accept constructive criticism and/or comments even if you do not like what I have written as they all help me in the long run to tell a better story, so I thank you for those comments.

I also thank you beforehand for taking the time to read this, my first story submission. I do hope you enjoy it.

This is not a stoke story nor even a sex story, but a love story from the heart of one who has lived it. It is also fiction and should be looked at and thought of as such. Who knows, it could happen. Does that make it a fantasy? There is minimal and non-descriptive sex in the story. All persons are well over the age of consent in every state and nation.

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James was a large man; not fat, but large. He was a healthy 39 years old, with dark brown hair that sometimes looked black, green eyes, and a dazzling smile that stood a tad over 6 ft. 3 inches tall and was a solid 235 pounds of mostly hard muscle from years of hard physical labor working in refineries and other plants as a welder and pipefitter before rising through the ranks to the level of Project Manager because of his hard work, years of dedicated study, and an uncanny knowledge of the subject of metals, welding procedures, cranes, piping and mechanics. While not an engineer, he had studied engineering during his two years of community college and had trained many a young engineer just starting out in the trade on some of the finer points of design and construction and was well known in his company as a "go to man". He had even compiled a book of technical information he hoped to publish soon for all those in the trade. He seldom both started and finished a project. If he started a project and had it running well, he was often moved to a different project to start or finish it. Lots of times he was called on to take over a project that was either headed South or was already in serious trouble for one reason or another. He had managed and overseen projects all over the Western US, several in South Africa, 3 in the Caribbean, and 2 in Venezuela. He had twice been scheduled to supervise the construction of a new grass roots refinery in Guatemala, providing, of course their government could ever amass enough gold to put into an escrow account in a secure bank somewhere outside that country for prepayment of the project. James was happy that they could not come up with the money due to the stories he had heard about all the terrorism, crime, kidnappings, and other nefarious doings in that country. No way would he ever take his family into such a third world country like that and he would never go where his family didn't go. His family was everything to him and he refused to even consider another project in Venezuela as his wife and three other manager's wives were almost kidnapped while on a shopping expedition once. They never went shopping in that country again, instead they would fly to one of the Caribbean islands that tourists love for their days out and about together.

While never rich or even considered well off, he had been successful in his job and had some stock in his company plus a few investments he and his wife had made over the years paid for with his bonus checks, all solid investments with minimum risk as he now had a "better safe than sorry" attitude after losing a little over $60,000 on "Black Monday" years ago, which would have grown into a very nice portfolio by his retirement time.

Betty, his loving wife, went to each assignment with him no matter where he went or else he did not go. They were so much in love it was almost sickening to those around them at times. Neither would do anything nor go anyplace without first letting the other know and inquiring if the other might want to accompany the one going in the first place. This practice manifested itself when the children got into high school. If they were going to be gone on a project for an extended time James' retired mother and father would close their house up and stay in James and Betty's home so the girls could attend their own school without interruption. The love and devotion he had for his family was evident to all and therein lies the root of all James' problems and his deep depression and his lack of wanting anything to do with other people, being afraid of getting to close to anyone of any age or sex ever again.

Due to heavy job and contract commitments while on an expansion project at what was actually a Mobile refinery operating as Genref, in Marbletown, South Africa, just outside Cape Town, James was unable to get away and return to the states for his oldest daughter's high school graduation. James and Betty decided that she should return home for a month or so to help their daughter with graduation and getting ready to go out of state to a major college in the Northeast to study music. It was on the return trip home from the airport that a drugged-out truck driver crossed the center medium and hit his mother's SUV right on the left front fender at about 80 MPH driving it so far back the brand of the car was almost unrecognizable, killing his mother, father, wife, and all three daughters instantly, along with the drugged-up truck driver.

When the Embassy reached James, and informed him of the news, he dropped everything and simply went the to house the company rented for him to pack a few personal items and get his passport and bankbook, leaving everything else wherever it lay and hit the airport for the first flight back to the states regardless of cost. He had told his second in command to take over and to box up everything in the rented house James and Betty lived in and have it shipped home, reminding him to itemized the contents so it might clear customs easier. This was because he had no intention of ever returning to this part of the world again as it would hold to many memories of the good times he and Betty had shared. Betty had loved this country and they had discussed moving here after their retirement in several years.

When he got back to the states and to his home town, most everyone in town met him with condolences and best wishes as everyone in that small town knew and liked James and his whole family. His mom and dad had lived there forever it seemed and they were well known and liked also. The joint funeral had to be held in the girl's high school gymnasium, as that was the only place in town large enough to hold all the people that wished to attend. School was let out for the day so all the girl's friends could attend the service. There was a large press and media contingent that showed up uninvited and unannounced much to the chagrin of James.

Once the funerals and the burials were over, James returned to his home and walked through the house and decided that he would get a couple of Betty's and each of his daughter's best friends to go through the house and take what they might want, donate what the church could use to them, donate most of the rest to either Goodwill or the Salvation Army, and then simply dispose of the rest however they wanted or thought best. Everything from his parents' home was first offered to their church, then to Goodwill. He simply could not stand the idea of looking at anything that reminded him of his life before this tragedy had struck so hard; not anything material, not friends, nothing. The sudden loss of his entire family caused not only the devastation of his heart but created a black hole that sucked the very life and seemingly even the will to live right out of him. He saw no reason to eat, sleep, bathe, or care for his surroundings. While sitting in his recliner one-night nursing yet another glass of Crown Royal on the rocks, he made the sudden decision that he simply had to get out of that area for parts unknown and unvisited by him and Betty. Not to start over, but simply to run away from the memories here, in what they had always lived in and called home.

It took way too long in his mindset, but eventually he settled his parent's and his wife's estates, collected all the insurances, sold all the cars, and then sold his dad's pickup and boat to a dealer for a quick sale but for less than it was worth. He then listed both properties for sale with the notation "as is where is with all contents." When this was done, he loaded some personal items and some clothes into his newer Ford F250 Super Crew in preparation for his exodus. He had wanted the Power Stroke diesel for its power but he had some concerns about them during the winter thanks to a bad experience with fuel jelling and clogging the fuel system on a diesel pickup some years back while on a job in northern Wyoming. He had bought what was supposed to have been "winterized" fuel in Cheyenne, but it jelled crossing the mountains between Cheyenne and Laramie due to the extreme cold around the highest pass. Thank goodness it was downhill to Laramie from where if happened as he barely limped into town, more or less coasting at less than 10 MPH into a dealer's lot where they removed his fuel tank and cleaned it and changed his filters and gave him enough good diesel to get to a station and told him to make darn sure he got a good fuel stabilizer/winterizer and to keep a couple of bottles in his pickup all the time and to make sure he added a bottle at every fill up. All this had kind of soured James on diesel pickups in the North Country.

Before hitting the road, James had talked to his attorney and told him of his plans to travel and for the lawyer to do his best to burn the trucking company that had hired that driver and had also furnished him the drugs that allowed him to stay awake but not alert and to drive all the hours the company wanted. If he had of had his way, they would have dug up his body and hung him alongside the owner of the trucking company in the town square if the town had of had one and then burn them both at the stake to boot. Such was the hardness of his heart. He told his lawyer to contact him via his cell phone if he was needed for business or an emergency, and then left for parts unknown.

James just took off with no idea where he might he going or when he might get there. He just kind of headed north and west as he had to pick a direction when he got to the interstate highway. He was so lost and lonely and totally depressed and knew it, but did not seem to care. He just traveled and stopped to get fuel and something to eat and then spend the nights in some chain motel or maybe in a small family owned motel if it looked clean. He would stay a couple of days at times to rest and do his laundry but that was about it. His meals were mostly whatever the daily special was at the various truck stops scattered along the highway systems and did not hold any special interest to him as he really wasn't tasting anything, simply doing something that had to be done from time to time. He had crisscrossed the country twice but he did not stop at any of the tourist traps or do any sightseeing other than what could be seen from the cab of his pickup, but he did enjoy the scenery that was available in the various mountains, especially the Rocky Mountains. All in all, James was a mess and did not feel any need to change his attitude or his mannerisms. He was enjoying his solitary trip as best he could and just being alone with himself and his own memories and demons. A time or two he did wish he maybe had a dog to travel with him.

About 16 months after the accident, James had been driving through the mountains and forests of the Northern Rockies for several weeks, just admiring the scenery, when his cell phone chirped. The call was from his attorney at home who told him that the trucking company finally had to file bankruptcy due to his lawsuits and that he was the new owner of the company. James told him he did not want to own a trucking company and the lawyer said he knew that and that he had a cash offer for the company from a competitor. James asked him what the offer amounted to and was told that after his attorney's fee was taken out that James would receive a check for a little over 7.3 million dollars. James asked how long to put it all together and was told that as he had not taken over yet, that it could be done in about a week or so and could be closed quickly and easily when the time came if James had access to a fax and copy machine. James told his attorney to go ahead and put it together and to call him when it was about finished and that he would get to the next town that had a UPS or Mailbox store so he could access their printer, copier, and fax machines or else check into a hotel with a business center in it.

A couple of days later, he was sitting in a cafe in a little mountain town in Western Wyoming enjoying a nice country breakfast when he overheard some men that looked like ranchers behind him talking about a local rancher that had lived alone as his two kids did not want anything to do with the ranch and very little to do with their father. He learned that the rancher had passed away suddenly a couple of days earlier and that his two kids wanted nothing to do with his ranch as they claimed it was so far out in the sticks the six o'clock news did not get there until close to 7:30, and really just wanted to sell quickly and take the money and run back home to live the good life. For some unexplained reason, this perked James' ears up and he listened carefully to see if a contact person was mentioned. He heard a realtor's name mentioned and he decided to pay the realtor a visit. Needless to say, when he was contacted, the realtor was kind of surprised at the speed of an inquiry as this was a large piece of property they were talking about, a little over 5000 acres, 5120 acres or 8 square miles or sections requiring a ton of money or one heck of a line of credit, and it had not even been advertised as being for sale yet. The realtor referred James to the Rancher's attorney as he was handling everything for the family.

When James found the Attorney, he again asked about the property and was told that it was in fact about 5000 prime acres. Prime that is if you did not to want to farm it as it is pretty arid and water had to be brought up from a well for the house and the livestock kept in that area, and that except for 2 fast running little creeks, one over close to the home site and the other up on the East side of the property, that one well was the only water on the ranch so far. He was also told that the land was bordered on two sides by the national forest and on one side by a more or less all weather road and on the last side by a larger cattle ranch. The area across the road was not national forest land but was Bureau of Land Management land that had areas of it leased to ranchers for cattle grazing. He was told the land was really not worth all that much—it was just pasture and trees, with little or no tillable farm land save for some hay meadows and a garden spot as it ground was rocky and the whole area was dry most of the year, and that so far no sign of gas under the ranch had been found as far as he knew. James thought that was about perfect and asked when he might see it.

Before the attorney would talk more, he asked about financing. James told him that that within the next three days he would have plenty of cash for an immediate cash sale, immediate providing the family would sell and let him take possession immediately, meaning that same day, even if the sale had not closed. He just wanted the land quickly and that he would post the full purchase price into an escrow account at the local bank until the actual closing. The lawyer then agreed to take James out to the ranch and if James still wanted to buy the land he would then get the family to meet with them as soon as possible to see if they could finalize the sale. The lawyer was eyeing a quick sale and his fee would net him over a hundred thousand dollars for a few hours' work. No wonder no one likes or trusts lawyers.

James was told that the ranch was about 40 miles from town on a black top road that turned off the main state highway. One must remember that this is ranch country and towns can be close to 100 miles apart so contingency plans always had to be made for about everything in case of an emergency. The attorney laughed and said that many of the ranchers around there had taken flying lessons and had purchased helicopters to get around in the wintertime.

When they arrived at the ranch and pulled into the homestead area, James saw the house and several buildings that looked like barns and equipment storage buildings and a couple of hay sheds. James thought it was just right all over again. Rustic but livable was how he saw it. Isolated away from the world it seemed, just as he thought he wanted it. With time not on their side, the two of them opted to drive up to the top of a couple of the mountains on the narrow gravel roads the ranch had and let James see the boundaries of the ranch and get a visual idea of what he would be buying, and an idea of the enormity of his purchase from a high vantage point. James was awed at the sights and told the lawyer to call the rancher's children and set up the meeting as soon as possible as he wanted the ranch.

On the way back to town, James' phone rang and his attorney at home asked if he was ready to close the legal action and effect the transfer of the trucking company. James told him he would be as soon as he got back to town and then found someplace he could use a fax machine. The local attorney told him to come to his office early the next morning and they would handle everything there and while James was closing the sale at home, the attorney here would see if he could get the rancher's son and daughter to come in and try to expedite the sale of their father's ranch.

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, he went to the lawyers office and an hour and a half later, after various papers and forms were faxed back and forth with signatures completing the sale and nullifying any further claims against the trucking company James might have, James had confirmation that 7.3 million dollars had been deposited into his bank account at home via wire transfer and in another two hours, he was the proud owner of 5120 acres of ranchland nested into the mountains of Western Wyoming, and his bank account had been depleted by 3.07 million dollars ($600 an acre) paid to the rancher's two greedy children, earning the lawyer $184,320 for his work. They had wanted more but after an hour of haggling, they took James' offer as he had cash in hand and they wanted a quick sale, meaning they could have money in their hands perhaps as early as that same day. The idea of suddenly having a million and a half dollars each was just too much for them. Had they waited, they could have perhaps gotten half again what they sold out for. James thought for sure they would both be bankrupt and working at Mickey D's within a few years as he did not see even a hint of responsibility or common sense in either one of them. Oh, well, such is life in the fast lane. The actual closing would be in a month or two as everything had to be run through probate and properly given to the two children before they could legally sell it, but he had stated that he could advance each of them $100,000 as part of the down payment just to help seal the deal. The children jumped on the offer and the checks were written and the papers signed identifying James as the new owner of the ranch and everything found on it.