Chapter 10
The rain had moved out overnight, the sun brilliant, but still too cool for the pool. Di and I decided on a walkabout.
With a breakfast of French toast with peanut butter and Karo syrup, Di's favorite, we headed out and spent the day exploring the property's fields and forests, birdwatching and looking at the fall wildflowers, mostly yellow, orange and gold asters. The lake, with its pastoral beauty, provided many observations of wildlife, waterfowl, deer, rabbits and squirrels. We had been taking and enjoying these trips since an early age.
After a shared shower we grilled hamburgers. Even with cool temps we ate on the patio and huddled close watching the sky darken. Going inside we made hot cocoa for Di and coffee for me to warm up and sat around the table playing Scrabble.
Di won and not because I let her. Not to take anything away from her play, as she is very intelligent, but I drew lousy letters and was never able to get rid of all my tiles. Grinning broadly, she kidded me about my grumbling. On a rematch she did it again. She laughed as I crowned her champ.
We ate Little Debbie oatmeal creme pies on the couch watching TV, 'Yellowstone'. A little before 10 pm we switched the station ABC's KWTV Channel 9 Portland. Channel 9 showed the live power drawing during the news.
I knew there would be a second or less delay in the actual action being made and the signal reaching the TVs. This would not be a problem as I would exert influence prior to each ball being captured.
There were two clear containers. The one on my left held white numbered balls, 1 thru 69, and the one on my right numbered red balls, 1 thru 26, (the powerball). Both the white and red balls were agitated by forced air and at specific regulated time one white ball would shoot up a vertical pipe and start rolling down the tube, traveling to the final resting place and would continue at predetermined intervals until five white balls were at rest. Then in the other container one red ball, (the powerball), would be forced into a pipe shoot to the top and roll down the tube, traveling to the resting point.
I looked at my ticket, memorizing the numbers and their order, 2, 53, 18, 62, 7 and the powerball, 3. When the presenter started her spiel I started concentrating on the wildly flying balls and the number 2, when the ball entered the tube I switched to the number 53 and so on for the next three times with 18, 62 & 7. Next I switched to the red balls, concentrating on the number 3. A red ball shot up the vertical pipe and started its roll down the tube coming to rest at the bottom.
The presenter announced the winning numbers and they were displayed on the TV screen: 2, 53, 18, 62, 7 and the powerball, 3. A perfect match to numbers on my ticket.
Di sitting close beside me, clapped her hands and exclaimed, "YOU WON!"
"No Baby, We won. It shall always be us in all things."
She kissed me and told me of her eternal love. She asked what 'we' were going to do? I told her for now it was time for her to go to bed. I had some work to do in the office. It might be late before I turned in so for her to go on to sleep.
With another kiss she went to bed and I to the office. Before placing the original powerball ticket in the office safe, I signed the back of it and made several copies, front and back.
Pouring a whisky I sat down at the desk, powering up the laptop. The Powerball Lottery allowed six months for the winner to claim his/her prize. So I had plenty of time and the first order of business was to retain an attorney to represent me when I presented the ticket to the Oregon Lottery Headquarters in Salem.
Salem was the capital of Oregon but not the its largest city. Salem came in a distance second to Portland which was four times its size in area and population. Portland was 110 miles north of Eugene and Salem about half in between. All three cities were about sixty miles inland from the Pacific Ocean and connected via Interstate 5.
Oregon lottery winners must publicly disclose their first name and the first initial of their last name. The location where the winning ticket was purchased is made publicly available. The QuickStop Market, one of many in Eugene, was on the opposite side of the city from our home and miles away.
Eugene was a large metropolitan city whose demographics were 44 square miles with a population of 180 thousand. Even with the city's size and complexity increasing the chance of privacy, some lottery winner information may be subject to the federal Freedom of Information Act requests.
Therefore while some information may not be automatically shared with public, requests for information may be granted. To claim the prize a completed form must be submitted along valid identification. From these anyone wishing to gain my personal knowledge could have access through the Freedom of Information Act.
I wanted an attorney from a large city, distant from my home in Eugene, representing me to retain as much anonymity as legally possible. I researched Portland attorneys specializing in domestic business and tax law. I chose an attorney with an A+ Better Business Bureau rating and accreditation.
Gordon Dremmel had a great reputation of being smart and ethical with many good reviews. He was not part of a law firm conglomerate with a stand-alone business and him as the only representative. I would call tomorrow for an appointment.
I checked my email and saw one from Libby Walleyer. She gave me the date, a little over a month out, she would be in Eugene. I told her I'd make 7 o'clock reservations at a local restaurant, Elizabeth, a fine, high end, Italian ristorante, for that date. I gave her directions and told her I would be waiting. If she did not like Italian let me know and I would change the reservations.
Making a mental note to call Elizabeth for reservations I shut off the computer. In our bedroom I pulled the covers over Di, peed, brushed my teeth, washed my face, undressed and got into bed. Sleeping Di snuggled close and I dozed off with her behind against my thigh and my hand on her hip.
The next morning, rising early, I had coffee on the patio enjoying a beautiful dawn. According to the weatherman, today was another pool day, possibly the last one of the season. Di and I would make the best of it. Di woke and we had breakfast. She got ready, heading for the pool while I made calls.
Gordon Dremmel's secretary said he could see me at 4 tomorrow. I reserved a table for three at Elizabeth for the date and time of Libby's visit. Libby expected me to be alone but I would not exclude Di. I was not interested in starting any sort of relationship with Libby and the dinner engagement was only a way to thank her for her help. Maybe Di's presence would make that apparent.
Allowing for traffic it was a two to three hour drive from home to Dremmel's office bearing any congestion then locating the office and any difficulty in finding parking. We would need to leave no later than 1:00. I projected the meeting with Dremmel would take the better part of an hour and I did not want to make the long drive home.
I called the McCutchen, a luxury 5 star hotel, downtown Portland and booked a room, tomorrow night. I reserved a table for two at the renowned Happening, acknowledged as one of the best steakhouses, in the Northwest. Normally for both the hotel and restaurant it would have been very difficult or impossible to get reservations on such short notice.
All 5 star hotels hold a couple of rooms in reserve for last minute VIPS. These extra rooms, usually penthouse suites, would normally be vacant anyway with their hefty rates. Restaurants regularly make arrangements providing an extra table, to accommodate last minute VIPs.
