Lydia's Dream Ch. 09-10

She let out a sigh of relief. "That would wonderful, James. But you have the hard part."

He smiled, "That's just the story of my life, I suppose."

Mom replied, "Awww, poor baby." Pam glanced at me and grinned.

I added, "I'll go by Gino's tomorrow and get a fresh turkey."

Dad said to Pam, "They always have the best meat and poultry in the area. I've known Gino for more than 30 years and have never had a inferior product from him."

Pam asked me, "Does he supply your restaurants?"

"No. We offered him the business one time but he's too small an operator. He wanted to concentrate on being a retail butcher. I think that's perfect for him and his customers are very loyal."

Dad added, "He and Sylvia have put three kids through college and they're all doing great in their careers. They already have four grandchildren."

We had coffee as our last course and then dad paid for the meal. The food and service were excellent.

While the ladies went to the necessary room, Dad and I stopped to congratulate Ray on creating such a fine restaurant. He was very pleased with our compliments and we promised to come again.

As Dad and I walked to the reception area, he asked me to call him tomorrow. He wanted to bounce a few ideas off me and decide how to approach Brett.

I told him that I wanted him to judge a little cooking contest. He squinted and asked, "What?"

"I'll give you the details tomorrow."

"Okay. Give me a call."

The ladies returned and we left for home.

****

Later that evening, Pam and I were enjoying a glass of wine in the library when she again brought up the idea of volunteering.

"Your mom gave me more information while we were in the ladies room. There are so many heartbreaking needs that I never imagined. I want to help. Would you mind if I devote 10 to 15 hours a week to help out? I promise not to neglect you."

"Sweetheart, that'd be fine with me. I have to be at the office most days anyway so you can do what you want to help out. I'm sure there's a big need."

"Thank you. Your mom is going to take me to a couple of the ones she helped and introduce me. We're going to do that one day next week. Tomorrow, I'll go to the bank and fill out an application."

"Tell me, what did you whisper in Dad's ear that caused him to laugh so loud?"

She grinned. "That's our secret and you don't need to know."

"But I noticed he's now letting you call him James. No one has ever been allowed to call him that."

Pam giggled and said, "Again, that's none of your business."

Later that evening, as we retired to bed, I asked to see the book she had taken. Pam walked to her closet and retrieved it. As she said, it was just a small black soft-sided notebook with names, what looked like phone numbers and symbols. The symbols were triangles, squares and special characters like ^ > # and ~. Obviously, they meant something to the policeman.

"Let me take it to the office tomorrow and have it copied. I don't want to trust this to anyone with no backup."

"Good. But let's get it turned over quickly so Cramer doesn't look for me."

****

Tuesday was very busy for both of us. We were up early and jogged one lap after our first cup of coffee. Pam opted for cereal and strawberries for breakfast and I toasted an English muffin. As I was reaching for a small jar of Georgia clover honey, Pam stopped me.

"Tom, I was going through the cabinets yesterday and found a jar of the French honey you told me your dad used in that special meal. It was hidden in the back. I think Lydia must have saved it for you." She opened the cabinet and handed it to me.

I held it and stared at the label as I thought about Lydia. Hiding it to surprise me was something she would do. I was always finding little surprises she had left for me around the house. I opened the honey and its taste brought back many memories.

On today's schedule was Pam's application at the bank and a call to Wendy from the church to confirm the lunch for tomorrow with several of the ladies. I also asked her to call her mom and see if there was any possibility for her and Rudy to come for Thanksgiving. Pam was thrilled with that idea.

My schedule was to go by the bank to sign the credit card authorization for Pam to be added, participate in a staff meeting with the management team, call Dad to discuss what was on his mind and a visit to one of the restaurants to start meeting with employees. And I had lunch scheduled with Cheryl and Ron and a turkey to pick up at Gino's.

It felt good to be back and working. I can only take so much vacation at one time, even if it is with the new love of my life.

"Hey Pam, why don't you come by the office around 11:30 and go to lunch with Ron, Cheryl and me?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am. It's time for you to start meeting my team."

"What should I wear?"

"Sweetheart, we're just going to be at the Rudder and it's always casual. How about jeans and a sweater?"

"Can I drive Angel?"

"Of course. We have nice, safe parking behind my building. No one will bother her there. Plus, I have insurance that covers anything that could happen. Please don't worry so much about her."

"Well, it seems to me that you worry about her when I'm driving."

"Pam, I worry about you, not the hunk of metal. You are the only thing that's not replaceable. I love you very much. If it's any consolation, I also worried about Lydia every time she drove her. I guess I just worry about the people who mean the world to me."

She finally smiled. "Well, okay. I understand. Can I have a kiss?"She snuggled into my waiting arms and we shared a very passionate moment.

****

Our team meeting was scheduled for 9:00 am and I arrived thirty minutes early. I asked Cheryl to increase our lunch number to four people since I had someone coming that I wanted her and Ron to meet.

"Ron said that you might have a new lady friend. Is that right?"

"Yes, and I want you to meet her. She'll join us for lunch."

"Tom, I'm delighted for you. What's her name?"

"Pamela but she goes by Pam, except with my dad. He insists on calling her Pamela."

"Oh, why's that?"

"At dinner last night, he told her she was too elegant for a Pam."

"Your dad said that?"

"Yes, I couldn't believe it. And, to beat it all, she's calling him James."

"NO! No one has ever been allowed to call him James. She must be some lady."

"Yeah, she whispered something in his ear last night and he just roared. But she won't tell me what she said. You think I should worry about the two of them?"

"No, Sarah has him wrapped around her finger pretty tight."

"You're right about that. Oh, could you call Gino and ask him to save a 16 to 18 pound turkey for me? Tell him, I'll pick it up around 2:00 pm."

I walked back to Ron's office just to let him know I was there. He was on the phone again, talking to one of the chefs. In my office, I glanced through the emails and didn't see anything important. After quickly checking the stock market, I reviewed my holdings statement from Merrill Lynch. They had done a solid job managing my investments, even through the recession and slow recovery.

A few minutes before 9:00, Ron came in and we dialed into our conference call system and waited for the others to join us. While we waited, I told him Pam would be joining us for lunch. He smiled and said, "Great!"

Sharply on the hour, the beeps started when the team joined our call. We required all restaurant managers and all chefs to be on the call unless someone was on vacation. In that case, a sous-chef or assistant manager would participate to represent them.

Our calls always started with a review of safety. Our employees were constantly exposed to sharp implements, heat, heavy trays and slippery floors. Our guests could be exposed to spoiled shellfish and various bacteria that naturally occur in uncooked or improperly cooked food. Safety was a big concern for us and we put all our efforts into preventing incidents.

We had a safety consultant who randomly visited our restaurants to observe our personnel as they worked and to offer recommendations. We also, of course, had random audits from the health department and were given a score that we must display for our guests to see. We decided, when Dad opened the first restaurant, that any score short of perfection would not be acceptable. Recently, most all of those scores were perfect and we took quick action to make sure any shortfall was addressed immediately. On this call, there had been no incidents at any of the restaurants to report.

The next subject was my proposed contest.

"Guys, let me tell you about a little contest we want to run over the next 30 days. My objective is to have us create a couple of new menu items that will continue to enhance our reputation as the place to go for fine dining.

"What I'm proposing is that each of the chefs put together a three-person team that will create two new dishes from non-traditional meat or fish. You can use bison, elk, venison, ostrich, emu, alligator, rabbit, boar or bear or any other meat that you know is available from an authorized supplier. For fish, use anything that is not poisonous and that has a neutral or pleasant taste when prepared. Blowfish are out of bounds and I don't want to hear of any of your friends dropping off animals they've shot!"

Everyone laughed but I knew I needed to say that.

"Each team can order sample sizes of different meats or fish. There must be two sides and appropriate garnish and you have to pair a wine with each dish. The entries will be judged by my dad and one person to be announced at the last minute."

Tim responded, "Tom, you don't trust us to know the mystery judge?"

"Nope." Everyone laughed because they knew I was right.

Judy asked, "Is there a price point you want us to target?"

"Good question, Judy. Let's shoot for $28.00 to $32.00.

"Now, for the good part. The team with the most points from the judges will get two extra paid vacation days for each member to be used within the next 12 months. Are there any other questions?" There were none so we moved on to other matters.

Ron described our plan to remodel The Meeting Place. "We're going to be down a week between Christmas and New Year's Day next year, not this year, guys. We will be painting, changing out some of the kitchen equipment, replacing the tables, chairs and flooring and redoing the whole look and feel of the rooms. The plan will be to let off as many people as want to be off, either through vacation or unpaid time off. For those who want to work, we will reassign them to Bistro or Rudder to help with the on and offsite catering we always do around year-end. So, please feel free to inform your personnel starting now so they'll have plenty of time to decide their vacation plans next year. Now Tom wants to discuss a couple of things of a personal nature."

"Guys, as you know all too well, I've had a very tough time these last few years dealing with Lydia's death. She was the love of my life and will always be part of me. However, at the cabin this week, God has helped me see that I must put her loss behind me and get on with the rest of my life.

"I plan to meet with a lot of our people over the next couple of weeks to express my regrets for the way I've treated them and not been there for them. Cheryl is now scheduling time for me to sit down with you and the others I know I mistreated. Please assure your folks that I greatly value them and want to talk personally with them and thank them for the great job they do. In that meeting, I will also apologize for my actions. This is not any sort of critical review of their actions so head off any of those rumors if they start. Understand?"

Everyone responded yes and several said how much they appreciated me doing those meetings.

"Now the last thing before we go. I've met a most remarkable young woman ten days ago." There was a loud positive reaction from everyone from "yes," "great," "way to go," and "congratulations."

"Our new relationship feels very right to me. Over the next few days, I'll be bringing her by to meet you and as many of our employees as possible."

Tim from Bistro asked, "Did she have lunch here yesterday with Donna?"

"Yes she did."

Tim came back, "Guys, you're going to be amazed. This young lady is absolutely gorgeous. The server was Vivian who, as you all know, is a tough cookie to impress. Well, Vivian was blown away by her personality and elegance. Tom, you've done well."

"Thank you, Tim. She and Donna had a great lunch there. Ron, is there anything else we need to discuss?"

"That's it. Everyone have a great day. I'll be issuing the weekly stats this afternoon and, as you'll see, we had a super week. Take care everyone, and be sure to tell all our employees how much we appreciate them. Goodbye."

"Ron, after lunch today, I'll drop you and Cheryl off here and then take Pam over to Gino's to pick up a turkey. What are you and Jane doing for Thanksgiving?"

"The kids are coming and we're planning a nice but noisy family day. With six grandkids, there won't be a moment of silence all day."

"That sounds like fun. I want to have you two over to the house for dinner sometime soon so Jane and Pam can meet and get to know each other."

"We'd like that very much."

"I know you always work on the Friday after Thanksgiving but I want you to be home with your family this year. You work too many hours and you need to begin taking it a little slower. Your family is a lot more important than anything around here. I'll pick up the slack, if anything happens."

"You sure about that?"

"I am. I'll send an email to everyone giving the details. But you're not to do any work between Wednesday evening and Monday morning. Understand?"

"If you say so. Thanks very much. I appreciate it."

I returned to my office and sent the email to our staff and other key people in the organization about Ron being off and me being their point of contact until Monday.

My cell phone rang. "Hello, Tom Sumter."

"Tom, this is Jason at the bank."

"Hey buddy. Did Pam get by?"

"Yes, I don't think my bank is going to be the same."

I laughed, "What does that mean?"

"She swept everyone here off their feet. I noticed her as soon as she arrived. She's a beautiful woman, but I don't need to tell you that."

"Was her application okay?"

"Good. We've had several tellers who previously worked in restaurants and they all did well. They are experienced listeners with good customers skills."

"What about the aptitude tests you always give?"

"She aced it with a perfect score. I asked a couple of the tellers to interview her and they came away impressed. One of them had family in Greenville so they talked like old friends. I interviewed her and offered her a position. Because she's new, I asked her to work part-time, 24 hours a week until she can get the experience she needs. I have another part-time teller here who's been with me for a year, and I want to make her full time."

"Was Pam okay with that?"

"She seemed to be. She said that she also wants to do some volunteer work at a couple of charities so part-time might be the ideal thing for her."

"Did she accept your offer?"

"Well, she said she wanted to talk to you first."

"Oh, okay. She'll get back to you shortly, I guess. She's having lunch with me."

"Sounds good Tom. And thanks for sending her our way. I think she'll make an excellent teller or customer service rep. See you later."

"Take care, Jason."

It was now nearly lunchtime and I heard laughing out at Cheryl's desk. I walked out and found Pam and Cheryl trading war stories... about me! I realized I was in for a rough time.

Chapter 10

Knowing may be worse that not knowing.

Pam was standing in front of Cheryl's desk and gesturing with her hands while describing our run from the bull and scrambling up the ladder in the barn. Cheryl struggled to control her laughter.

"Oh, hi Tom. I was just telling Cheryl how we almost got our tails kicked by the bull."

I added, "Cheryl, I thought we were goners. Pam had already run me to death; but then I had to immediately turn and run up a hill and several hundred yards to escape certain death."

Just then Ron walked in and I introduced him to Pam. They shook hands.

"Pam, it's great to meet you. Tom has kept you a bit of a secret until this morning, but now the world knows about you. I'm very happy for both of you."

Pam replied, "It's been kind of a whirlwind relationship. We met only 10 days ago and I'm trying to learn what I got myself into. Maybe you two can tell me all his secrets and things I should know."

"Tom doesn't have secrets as far as I know," replied Ron. "There're no skeletons in his closet because he dumps them all on me and Cheryl every day." Everyone chuckled.

Cheryl added, "Tom is not shy about telling you what he's thinking, good or bad."I broke up this "bash Tom" session by asking if everyone was ready to go.

As we drove the fifteen minutes to The Rusty Rudder, Pam gave Cheryl and Ron a brief overview of her background and they shared theirs with Pam. Ron had worked for our company for 30 years and was hired by Dad shortly after the first restaurant opened. Cheryl joined us 23 years ago and was also hired by him.

The lunch was good as usual. Pam had the grilled flounder. Cheryl and I had the sea bass and Ron had the jumbo Georgia wild-caught shrimp. A number of servers stopped by the table to meet Pam and she showed a genuine interest in them as they talked. I was very pleased with the way she interacted with everyone.

After coffee, we walked to the kitchen to meet and greet the cooking staff. Because of health regulations, we didn't shake hands with anyone but the greetings were all enthusiastic and personal. Pam told them how much she enjoyed the flounder.

I drove back to the office to drop off Ron and Cheryl and told them I'd be back after we picked up the turkey.

"Pam, bring Angel and follow me over to Gino's. It's only a couple of miles."

"Sure, but let me fill you in on a couple of things. The bank interview went well and Jason offered me a job for three days a week; so he wants me to be part-time. I'll have to work some Saturday mornings. Is that alright with you?"

"I expected that. This schedule would leave you time for the volunteer work you're talking about."

"That's what I was thinking but Saturdays are our time and I just wanted to be sure you're okay with me working some of the mornings."

"Yes, we can work around that. Thanks for being concerned. What else is going on?"

"I called mom and they're planning to come tomorrow evening and spend the weekend with us."

"That's fantastic, sweetheart! It'll be good for them to meet my parents and maybe we can get Rick and Donna over one day to meet them. I'm a little surprised Rudy could get off with such short notice."

"Mom said he was off this week anyway plus the plant is shutting down from Thursday through Sunday. Something about inventory control and giving employees the holiday off."

"Yeah, with this slow economy, all the car companies are taking down time. Even the VW plant here is going down for a few days. Did you call Wendy about lunch tomorrow?"

"Oh, yes. That was the other thing I wanted to tell you. She's invited me and several women from the church to her house for lunch. I promised to take a pasta salad."

"That's good. It'll give you a chance to talk and meet a lot of new friends. You'll probably be there all afternoon."

"I hope so. The ladies seemed really nice when I met them Sunday."

"Oh, I just remembered. Tomorrow is Wednesday. We have cleaning ladies that will come at 2:00 pm and they're usually there a couple of hours. They have a key and the security code so you don't need to be there."