Page 42 of Miles. Alton & The 9:04
The smile left Mary's face.She wasn't sure about his train of thought or why her family had to eat in the barn.He held up a finger, then went to fetch his phone.He came back to show her a photo of a barndominuim.
“Oh,” Mae said.
“If I get it at about this size, there can be two bunk rooms, one for the boys and the other for the girls,” he said.“Three bedrooms for your brother, sister, and parents, which would make it five bedrooms, plus a play area with games, a big screen TV, and several bathrooms.It can also have a large kitchen with a big picnic-like dining table.If I add in on this end the large garage door, we can do some special coding with the walls for your engine, but my fear would be the diesel fuel smell.”
“Thom, this is kind of genius, but expensive,” she said.
“Naw, Adriano has plenty of these plans, which would take care of the up-front cost or getting a building schematic,” he said.“Or I can simply order the metal building, pour the foundation, and get a crew in a few weeks later to frame it out.It can all be done in less than a month, if all goes well.Jeremy did one in his backyard for his campaign headquarters, and it works well for when his in-laws come for a visit.”
“A month?”
“Yeah, kill two birds with one stone and pour both foundations, but the tracks have to be laid for your engine,” he said.“Maybe two months.I'm going to give myself four, but I know several train company track men who help me maintain the 9:04 line who can come through and lay track for your engine off the 9:04 line in a weekend.I just need to think about it, so I can get it right.”
“Or we can head to bed and think about getting married in the morning,” she told him.
“No, you don't understand men, Mary,” he told her.“Your father and brother are going to want to come and see where you've moved to or if I have you living in some shack.It's going to take them a month to coordinate everything because everyone is going to want to come and see.I have 45 days from the day I meet them until their arrival at best.I have to get the foundations poured.They are not coming in my house or playing with my trains, Mary, and your Mamma is not going through my underwear drawer.”
“What is with your fixation with the underwear?”
“Moms check those kinds of things to see if their daughter married a good wiper,” he said.“I have bidets in this house!No one is checking my underpants, Mary!”
“Dear God, man, relax,” she told him.
“I can't.I know pugnacious men, and they are bitches,” he said.“I have to be ready.I have to be ready to defend our castle and our lands.”
He stood in the middle of the floor, his hands on his hips as if he were William Wallace ready to make a stand against David the Bruce.
“Calm down, Braveheart,” she said, rising to pat him on the chest.“A step at a time.”
“Not calm.Thom needs a plan,” he told her, reaching for his phone.
She watched him carefully.He made four phone calls back-to-back at 9:30 at night.When he hung up, his forehead was furrowed, his eyes were set, and in that second, she saw the face of their son.A warm feeling hit her center, and she was more certain now than she'd ever been in her life.Thom Brown was the right man and she'd chosen well.
Her father was about to meet an adversary he couldn’t best.Thom Brown was planning for war.She had no doubt that he would be the victor.
Chapter Fourteen – Scrum
