It was the first frosty Saturday in November and an hour before daylight. It was opening day of deer season and my wife and I were walking along the edge of a four hundred acre pasture. I could see my breath in the cold air by the light of my flashlight.
Kitty's light and crunchy footsteps reassured me she was still behind me. She hunted with a camera and I hunted with a gun. Sharing the same deer blind was not a problem. She took photographs for magazines and I harvested meat for the freezer.
About half a mile from the road where we had parked our truck, I paused at a piece of yellow flagging hanging from the barbed wire fence we had been following. I put my foot on the second strand of wire from the bottom and pulled up with my hand on the third.
Kitty grinned, slipped between the parted strands, and sat the backpack she had been carrying over one shoulder on the ground. She held the wire while I slipped through.
As I straightened up, she whispered, "Is this the new stand"
I nodded. "You'll like it. It even has heat."
Kitty shivered and nodded. "I sure hope so, my feet are freezing."
I chuckled as I led the way along a marked trail headed into the woods. "Your feet are always freezing," I whispered. "Even in bed on a warm night."
"That's why I married you, your warm butt," she whispered back.
I chuckled and nodded as I made a left turn at a marker. Another twenty steps and I stopped at the base of a wooden ladder. Kitty stopped behind me and shined her light up the ladder to spotlight the deer stand. This was her first look at it.
"That's not a deer stand, that's a friggin' house."
"Yeah, with lights, a stove, a bucket to pee in, a water tank, and a bed. All the comforts of home." I told her as I started up the ladder toward the small porch across the end of the building.
"How the hell did you get it in here?"
"Buddy's tractor and my big trailer," I said softly as I unlocked the door. "It took two trips with the supplies, ladder, porch, and all."
Kitty followed me up and then followed me inside. I snapped on a switch and two dim red lights came on up near the peak of the ceiling. We had enough light to see even without the flashlights.
"I'm impressed," Kitty whispered.
"The walls, ceiling, and floor are insulated so keeping your feet warm shouldn't be any problem," I said as I lit a propane infrared heater in the corner. It added a little light and a lot of heat. "It'll be toasty enough to open a window here shortly."
Kitty grinned and shook her head. "You have really out done yourself this time," she said as she eyed the bunk along the back wall, the two high backed swivel chairs and the small sink in the corner.
"I figured we might as well be comfortable and since I bought this strip of land, we can do as we like."
"You bought the land? When did this happen?" Kitty asked with surprise in her voice.
"Right after deer season last year. I went by to see Mr. Cooper to thank him for letting us hunt here and he made me an offer. It was a damned good one, so I took it."
"And you were planning to tell me when?" Kitty asked.
With a grin, I replied, "Like right now."
"Uh, how much land did you buy and for how much?"
"I bought the whole strip between the pasture and the main highway. It's about a quarter mile wide by two miles long. I figure we can build a house up here later, when we retire," I said taking off my heavy coat.
"That's a big chunk of land. Can we afford it?" Kitty asked with concern in her voice. She worried about money a lot more than I did.
"Mr. Cooper wants someone to have it that will use it and keep the hardwood that's on it. He hates pine trees as much as I do. I figured that cutting the existing pine will pay for more than half of it. The bank figured the same way and gave me a good deal on financing."
Kitty stood there frowning at me. "Over the summer, I had the north end cut and paid the bank more than we originally figured. I figure this coming summer they can cut the rest of the place and pay most of the note off."
"And you figured all this out by yourself without consulting me," my wife said softly.
"Actually, Mr. Cooper had already had the timber appraised and added twenty percent above that to the price. He really wanted us to have the place," I said as I unzipped my heavy coveralls.
"Uh huh," Kitty said still frowning.
I grinned at her. She looked so cute standing there with her arms folded across her chest. The thick insulated coveralls and heavy coat made her look round and hid all of her sweet curves. She always joked about falling down and rolling a mile before she could get stopped.
"You love this place and have said so many times," I said softly.
"Yeah, I love to camp and hunt here. I love to wander around and take pictures but I never thought about buying it."
"You also like the privacy," I said with a grin as I remembered our lovemaking and naked hikes.
"Yeah, that too," she said and smiled for the first time.
After a moment, she unfolded her arms and sighed. As she unzipped her coat she said, "It's done and so far we're ahead on the deal so I shouldn't complain." She paused and gave me a hard look. "Next time, talk to me first and don't just drop it on me like a rock."
"Yes, Dear," I said and chuckled.