The wedding at Islands Estates had been a tremendous success. Our houseguests eventually returned to wherever they had traveled from and things took on a semblance of normalcy, as much as one would expect around here.
Dennis returned to Nashville to play music with his friend Waylon. Marie went on the road, for the summer, with a group from Jacksonville. Karen took summer courses at Gainesville, hoping to hasten her education. Gerald and Susan, Dennis's mother who had recently divorced her husband, moved into the boathouse, which was a much bigger place than the other apartment.
Helen Blossom had completed her required classes at Stetson and by mid-summer had taken The Florida Bar Exam. When I asked how she felt that she did, she simply said, we have to find her an office. Sure enough, she was a full-blown 'Esquire'. Of coarse, that required a little congratulatory party. So, Rita and Camille and I went over to her house and we fucked each other senseless for hours.
Camille and I began working earnestly on the Palm Coast Development project. Planners and contractors were hired and work began on the marina portion. Roads were designed and a water main system was devised and civil contractors were solicited and retained as work started. It would be a tremendously expensive undertaking, but the long-term profits would prove to be enormous.
Rita had indeed become pregnant on our wedding night and our first child was due in early March. Almost the same day as Caroline had been born. With Camille and I spending so much time on the development, Rita took over duties as wife and mother and along with Louise ran the household. Caroline was in good hands.
My plans to extend the northern boundary of the estate, one mile, were being executed and Gerald was to begin construction of a new stone fence soon. The existing iron fence was in need of extensive repair so it was decided we would build a new stone fence, replacing the old iron fence, along with the new extension. This would require nearly four miles of eight-foot high stone walls to be erected. I instructed Gerald to hire as many masons and laborers as necessary to complete the project. We bought a rock-hauler trailer for the big Peter-Bilt tractor and hired a driver to transport the stone from the port in Fernandina. It took 240 loads of stone for the fence and took the masons a year and a half to construct.
We had purchased a bulldozer and a track-hoe for the site-preparation necessary.
We cleared some thirty acres for the construction of a horse ring, pasture and stable. Dad was proud of me; I was spending his money with reckless abandon and having a ball.
I hadn't been playing music much, but now and then, one of the groups in Jacksonville or Daytona would be a man down and give me a call. The Beatles and Rolling Stones and a whole bevy of bands from Europe were taking the country be storm, and the music was changing. I kept learning new stuff all the time.
One afternoon while Caroline and I were out for our daily walk around the yard, Louise came rushing out of the house to tell me that Dan Holiday had been involved in a serious wreck in St. Augustine and Lisa wanted me to come and sit with her at the hospital while he was in surgery. I handed Caroline over to Louise and made a dash up to the car park and throttled the old Ford Crown Victoria up and laid rubber for Flagler Hospital.
As I rounded the corner into the emergency room, I looked up and saw the doctor speaking to Lisa. Before I could reach them, I watched as Lisa collapsed into the doctor's arms. My friend's father had succumbed to his injuries. I helped the doctor to ease Lisa into a chair and he called for someone to bring some smelling salts to revive her. After she came around, the wailing started and I called for Louise to come and help me to bring her back to the estate.
We helped with the arrangements and after the funeral; Lisa came to spend a few days at our place while the reality of her situation settled in on her. Camille and Rita both spent a lot of time with her and after a couple of weeks; Lisa asked if I would drive her up to her house in St. Augustine. She still didn't want to go there alone.
We left the estate around 8:30 in the morning and I drove up the coast to The Ancient City. Lisa and her dad lived in a house on the bay on Anastasia Island. The house was large, stately, and in terrible repair. It seems that Dan had let the old place run down. Lisa told me she wanted to stay here, but it would cost a fortune to fix the place up. Then she told me her dad had pissed most of the money he had away on junkets to Las Vegas and Atlantic City. She plopped down on the sofa and flung her face into her hands and started to wail again.
I sat next to her and put my arm around her shoulder. The howling lasted for a half hour or more. Her mascara made long dark trails down her face.
"What am I going to do, Cool?" Lisa sobbed.
"We'll figure it out. Don't worry," I soothed.
"That's easy for you to say, Mr. Rich Kid," she railed on. "I have exactly nine hundred and sixty bucks in the bank, and a jet airplane, that has a twenty four hundred dollar payment due on it next Friday. How would you feel?"
"How much is against the jet?" I asked.
"About eight hundred grand," she said, dejectedly.
"I'll buy it from you," I said. "I always wanted an airplane."
"Then what do I do to make a living?" she asked.
"Fly the plane for me. I'll pay you what ever you say," I said. "How about a thousand a week to start? Plus I'll give you whatever the plane is appraised for."
Brightening up a bit she said, "Looks like you got yourself a deal, Rich Kid."
"What's this Rich Kid shit all about, TRAILOR TRASH?" I asked.
"Only kidding," she whined.
"All right, show me your house. I want to see what has to be done to make this place livable," I said, standing up.
The old house was great, although in need of serious attention. As we walked through the high ceilinged rooms of the house where Lisa had grown up, she told me little stories about things that had happened over the years. I listened attentively as she rambled on about her mother and her dad. She was missing them desperately. We climbed the stairs to the second floor and up to the widow's watch on the roof. We looked out to sea and the wind whipped through our hair as we leaned against the rail, which was about to fall off.