Building on Dreams

Chapter 7 - Planning a Secret

Susan's prediction about Monday morning proved correct. Greg could vaguely remember her getting up at some hour that felt like the middle of the night and probably was. But when his alarm went off at the usual time of six thirty, he became aware of the sound of a car pulling into their gravel drive. Greg arose quickly to take a look, and sure enough it was Mitchel, returning their car. He parked it as usual in their garage, before exchanging it for his own car, which was parked alongside the fence at the side of the house, and driving away. Greg glanced back at the clock. Susan's flight left at six am, which meant she was already in the air. He said a quick prayer for her safety, followed by his usual morning prayers, before heading to the shower to begin his day.

The morning routine of getting the children up, ready and off to school made the next two hours pass incredibly quickly, and Greg spent another two after that on the phone. With his movie project with Andrew the script writer, his meetings with potential producers canceled, and Susan away for three days, Greg saw this as the perfect opportunity to make a start on his personal project of their new home. He began by making and checking on appointments for things he hoped to do while Susan was away, the first of which was to enlist the help of a realtor specializing in open land in the area.

Greg met the realtor at ten, and together they toured a number of available parcels in the area so he could get an idea of current land prices and terrain where the parcels were located. They were finished by mid-afternoon, after which Greg drove into the valley for an appointment with Denis his accountant. He brought with him a copy of Susan's offer letter, her first paystub and sign-on bonus information, and explained to Denis what he wanted to know.

"I should have that for you by the end of the week, next Monday at the latest," Denis promised.

"Very good. We have our regular meeting next week to go over my accounts. Can we set some time aside to go over it then?"

"Certainly," Denis agreed.

Greg thanked him and left, feeling pleased with all he'd accomplished before heading home, picking up Jessie, and arriving at the house just as Zackary got home from school.

"Where have you been?" the boy asked curiously.

"Out," Greg said vaguely.

"Doing what?" Zackary asked.

Greg considered the young man who'd first been born to him as a son.

"Can you keep a secret?" he asked.

"From who?" Zackary asked in surprise.

"Your mother. I am arranging a surprise for her on an enormous scale," Greg told him.

"What kind of a surprise?" Zackary asked.

"Something she knows I am doing, but not the details or the precise plan," Greg said. "I wondered if perhaps I could share it with you. It could be a surprise from us together. Are you willing?"

"Maybe. It's hard to agree until I know what sort of a surprise it is," Zackary said.

"Very wise. Zackary, you asked me once, if in our first life things had been different and we'd lived longer in our forest home together, how you would have been raised. My dream, my desire at the time was to teach not only about religion, but about many things a man must know. I can still do that if you wish," Greg told him.

"What kind of things?" Zackary asked. "And what does this have to do with the secret you're keeping from Mom?"

"I'm getting to that, and I will tell you, if you are certain you want to know. Do you?" Greg wondered.

Zackary considered his mother's new husband who was also his step dad. They hadn't had much of a relationship in the past, but he supposed that was what Greg had in mind.