Charley pulled in to the driveway of his farm, once again admiring the old, two story farmhouse sitting on the ridge, overlooking the farm below. When he got the property it was in pretty bad shape, he even considered tearing it down. In the end, he decided to restore it, adding a lot of upgrades. The project took three years, because he had just started out in business and couldn't afford to do it all at once.
Rose was in the midst of getting her new office up and running, and paid little attention to what he was doing. Charley suddenly realized that pretty much summed up their life together. Rose only paid attention when it concerned her directly.
He'd been a little disappointed when he showed it to her, and all she said was "it looked nice." He had considered making it their home, but by then his stores had really taken off, Rose had started realizing profits from her office, and she wanted to build, something brand new, just for them, and the children they expected to have.
Rose wanted to wait until her office was sound financially, but the first quarter it showed black she threw away her birth control pills. They hadn't married until they were twenty-six. Now she was twenty-eight, and she told Charley they needed to get a move on, she didn't want to still be having babies at thirty-five.
They had decided on three, but when Faith was born, something had gone wrong, so she had her tubes tied. Charley had wanted more, and even brought up adoption, but Rose quietly deflected the conversation until he dropped it.
He had to admit, in his eyes his daughter Faith was perfect. As Rose got more deeply involved with expanding her business, he spent more and more time with his daughter. He absolutely hated dropping her off to daycare.
He had five women working for him full time at the store, including the hardware store manager, and four more part-time. He had eighteen men working in the commercial end, mostly drivers and receiving. When he built a midsized building beside the store, they really didn't notice because he was always expanding. Many thought it was going to be an office.
When it was done, he called all the people that worked for him to a meeting.
"I know you've all been curious about the new building. It's a daycare center for Barton Enterprises. It's not open to the public, it's only available to employees."
His employees were stunned, especially when he gave them a tour. Capable of holding fifty children, with an extensive outdoor playground and a completely equipped kitchen, all state of the art.
One woman, her budget already stretched to the limit due to child care costs, asked what kind of prices he'd be charging. He grinned.
"Well, it's absolutely free, but you do get an employee discount."
It took them a few minutes before they caught what he said. Then the tears started. Some of the men even sniffed. He was in effect giving them a hundred dollar plus raise per week. This was not quite the generous act most thought, Charley did it specifically to have Faith close.
So he hired four women, and a part time cook. The cook was given detailed instructions on the kind of lunches and snacks to be served. They had to be flavorful, nutritious, and sourced as locally as possible, and using the bare minimum of prepackaged items.
Soon the employees were clamoring to dine with their children, and he had to extend the cook's hours and add tables. When the number of meals hit sixty, he hired her an assistant. Many ate outside if the weather was nice, on the tables scattered under the trees. Amazingly, close to half of the meals were vegetarian, and no one complained.
He'd hired professional child care providers, and while much of their day was consumed by play, educational grounding was integrated. By the time many of them went to public schools, they could already read and write, and most knew basic Spanish, and good study habits were ingrained in them. The Bartonians, as the school system nicknamed them, tended to stick together, bonded through shared learning, maintaining friendships that lasted lifetimes. Plus, they skewed the performance tests necessary every year, raising the school rating to the top. Manners were also instilled almost from birth, until please, thank you, and you're welcome became automatic responses. Of course, when his other stores found out, he had to duplicate it for them. He spent roughly four hundred thousand a year to maintain them, all out of his own pocket. Of course, he got a nice tax break.
All this because Charley wanted to keep Faith happy and close.
...
He unlocked the door, and decided to open a few windows and air the place out. The breeze felt so good he left them open for the night. Normally not a drinker, he'd remembered to stop and get a twelve pack, along with some coffee, creamer, a few snack items. He placed everything in the kitchen, stared at the beer for a minute, and made a cup of coffee.
He took his cup outside, sitting in the porch swing, rocking slightly. He suddenly remembered cuddling Rose on this same swing, right after the house was done. They were naked, giggling, looking at the barn, memories coming back. They'd had a lot of good times in barns.
He half smiled at the memory, then sat back and reflected, wondering, trying to pinpoint any sign that should have told him his marriage was over. Looking back, he could not find one instance. Then he remembered a few smiles, and when he asked, she'd just said she was reliving a pleasant memory, but she never volunteered which memory it was. Was she thinking about her lovers then?
His musings were interrupted by his phone. He'd forgotten to turn it off, and was about to do so when he saw the number.
"Hello?"
All he heard for a few seconds was sobbing, before she blurted out he'd hit her.
"Amanda!," he said, in his CEO voice, "who hit you?"
"My husband. I told him about our lunch, and how I intended to leave him. He lost it and punched me in the face. What should I do?"
"Are you out of the house?"
He got as tearful yes out of her. She was in her car.
"Good. Now, listen to me. Drive straight to the hospital. I'll be there as quick as I can. Do it, Amanda, if you want my help. Go on now."
He hung up, glad he'd decided on coffee instead of beer. Once in the truck, he called the sheriff department on the non emergency line. He got hold of the senior officer in charge, and was assured a female deputy would be there when he arrived.
He just barely beat the cruiser into the parking lot. Amanda burst out of the car, and rushed up to him and the deputy. The whole left side of her face was swelled, and her eye was completely closed. A thin trickle of blood was still seeping from a corner of her mouth.
They escorted her into the emergency room, and Charley sat for forty minutes, until the deputy came back out. She was a Bartonian, one of the originals.
"He's broken her cheekbone, Charley. She wants to talk to you before she presses charges. What the heck is going on?"
Charley shrugged, then told her a modified version of the truth. "I had lunch with her today. I guess she needed a father figure to confide in. Her husband is an apparent would be swinger, and he was trying to get her on board with the idea. I gave her some advice I don't think he liked."
Carla Martinez laughed out loud. "Swingers? Are you serious? In our little berg?"
She wasn't expecting the pained look on his face. "Sometimes, you don't really know people, Carla. They can hit you with all kinds of nasty surprises. Come on, let's go talk to her."
Amanda was on pain killers, looking wan and pale. She tried to smile when she saw him, but winced in pain. "What do I do, Charley?"
"First, you file charges. If you don't, I won't have anything to do with you ever again. You didn't deserve this Amanda, and you can't let him get away with it. Has he ever done this before?"
She flinched, but nodded. "Not like this, but he has slapped me a couple of times."
Charley looked over at Carla. "You hearing this? Go get that asshole!"
Carla looked at him in surprise. In all the years she had known him, going back to when she was eight, she'd never heard him curse. Her cop instincts kicked in, and she knew there was something deeper going on.
"I can't. Charley. First she has to give a statement, and agree to press charges. Until she does that, our hands are tied. And she has to tell the truth."
Charley looked over at Amanda, knowing that her safety was more important than his pride. "She will. Anything you want to know. Right, Amanda?"
"But Charley..."
"No buts. Your safety means more to me than anything else, understand? Now, I'll leave the room so you can give your statement to Officer Martinez. And I'll be back, when you're done, to check on you."
"Thanks, Carla, for doing this." He walked out, leaving two stunned women. Carla feared the worst. If this man, who she respected more than anyone she had ever met, was having an affair with this young woman, she would be shocked. But police work had taught her to expect the worst.
