Cabin Fever (13 page)

Once breakfast was on the table, she sat down with the guys. They kissed her on the cheek, then dug in.

“Mmm. I think Sandra should cook for the duration of our vacation here.” Patrick wiped his mouth.

“Uh huh. That’s only because you want junk food,” Sean said.

“Eggs are healthy,” she protested.

“One out of three items on this plate,” Sean said, pointing.

“Don’t see you balking,” Patrick muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

Sandra giggled.

After they finished eating, Sean put the dishes in the dishwasher, then his cell rang. “Hello. Great. Anytime, as long as the weather hold ups. See you then.” He disconnected.

“Who was that?” Sandra asked.

“Another contractor.”

“Hoped that was your uncle,” Patrick blew out an exasperated breath.

“Don’t get me started on such a good morning,” Sean said. “I just asked for another contractor that deals with DIYers. He could tell us what we can and cannot do and where we can cut corners.”

“Good thinking.” Patrick got up and stretched. “In the meantime what do we do here?”

“I can teach you guys how to ski,” Sandra offered, patting Sean’s shoulders.

“I’ll pass.”

“What? You were both so eager before.”

“I watched the ski channel earlier. I can’t see how standing on skinny wooden sticks, flying down a hill at more than sixty miles per hour can be entertainment.”

“Fiberglas.”

Sean blinked at her. “How’s that?”

“Skis are made of carbon fiber and plastic.”

“Whatever,” Patrick came to stand beside his buddy. “I agree. I’m not in the mood for thrill seeking.”

Sandra made chicken noises as she followed them into the living area.

“Okay, since we are now officially spa owners, let’s put a plan together.” Sean grabbed a pen and note pad.

“Don’t you think we better find out if this place will be worth it?” Patrick asked.

“What do you mean?” Sandra settled into the chair by the fireplace. “Hmm, maybe we should keep the furniture. That will save us
some
cash.” She patted the chair arm.

Patrick chuckled. “We have to arrange an inspection. Suppose they find foundation issues, plumbing, or termites.”

“Leave it to Patrick to put a positive spin on things.” Sean threw the note pad down. “And I already found termites.”

“See there. I’m being practical. You’ve seen those DIY shows. A bunch of people find a piece of property and they want to open a restaurant. They renovate the place, or try to. They find all kinds of shit and then the inspector comes and determines their property is over a sinkhole that is about to collapse any minute.”

“Gee, they could have used you on the Titanic,” Sean shook his head.

“I doubt very seriously this place has any major issues like that,” Sandra said. “How long has Uncle Travis had it?”

He tapped his chin. “I think, twelve years.”

“And how long has it been out of commission?” Patrick queried.

“Two seasons.”

“Hmmm. I don’t think anything major could happen like Patrick’s been describing in that amount of time.”

“Thanks Sandra. I need some positive juju.” Sean said.

They all laughed.

Seconds later, Sean’s cell rang again. “Hello! It’s about damn time! Yeah, I’ve been waiting for your call.”

Patrick laughed. “Looks like Uncle Travis is going to get read the riot act.”

“Sounds like it.” She chuckled.

Patrick squeezed in next to Sandra on the chair. He put his arms around her and kissed her cheek. “Did I tell you I loved you?”

“Yes, but a girl likes hearing it again.” She giggled, kissing him back.

“To be perfectly honest with you, I wasn’t sure about the whole thing myself. But as Sean and I talked, it seemed logical to me too.”

“Oh?”

“Sean suggested it first, but we’ve been kicking around the idea for months. He thought about our relationship, and it was the only conclusion he could come to also.”

Sandra nodded her head. “I see.”

“One of us dating you and the other sitting on the sidelines, was not an option.”

“So all or nothing?”

“Right.”

“Are you sure?” Sean’s holler into the phone grabbed their attention.

“Uh oh.” Sandra said.

“Okay man. I’m having someone come in. I will email you everything. And when I want that grant deed turned over to me, you better have it, like yesterday. Good. Bye.”

“Wow. That was intense.” Sandra said. “Make any headway?”

“Uncle Travis assured me the cabin is as sound as a dollar and whatever extras that come up that seem out of the ordinary, he will address for us.” Sean sat on the couch facing them.

“Really? And you trust him?” Patrick asked.

“Do we have a choice?”

“Wellll….”

“Oh no. I’m not walking away from this. Now it’s the principle of thing.” Sean pounded his fist in his palm.

“Then I guess we better start putting a business plan together.” Sandra got up stretching. “Why use our own money for operating costs. Let’s consider incorporating and find investors.”

Patrick nodded. “You think big.”

“I’m sure we can go online and find help in writing one,” Sean agreed. “This is exciting. I’ve never been a business owner before.”

“I have a cousin who owns a couple of them.” Sandra rose. “I’ll call him, and he can give us lots of advice. The great thing about getting this place together is that it will give us plenty of time to do research before we open.”

“Want me to grab the laptop?” Sean headed for the stairs.

“Sure.”

Patrick scooted next to Sandra and put his arm around her shoulder. “I’m also happy that you’re eager to have both of us at the same time.” He kissed her cheek. “You are eager?”

“Well, I thought it over, and I’m actually looking forward to it. As long as you two don’t have a problem sharing me, why not?”

“Not at all. We both have the woman we love.”

“And I have two men who love me. Not many woman can say that.”

Patrick brought her head closer to him and kissed her again, deeper this time. “Nope, they can’t.”

“Ahem.” Sean interrupted them. “Let’s give the girl a break for a day at least.” He set up the laptop and began typing. “No matter what the pros need to fix, there are a lot of projects I think we can handle.”

Patrick looked from one to the other. “Like what?”

“Yeah, I’m curious, too.” Sandra peered over Sean’s shoulder. “Tile. I know nothing about tile.”

“Oh, Sandy. Tile is nothing.” Patrick joined her. “You watch those DIY channels, too. It’s a piece of cake. Besides, haven’t you seen the floors? They need new hardwood, too.”

Sandra groaned. “See, that’s the problem with DIY shows. People like us watch them then we see a potential project and say, ‘Hey, we never did a room addition before, but after watching
Add A Room
, we’re gonna try.’ Then you end up spending more on getting the problems you caused fixed than the original project.”

The men stared at her.

“What?” She shrugged, looking back and forth between them.

“Boy, I didn’t realize the can of worms we would be opening, hammering a few nails.” Sean said.

“I’m just being cautious,” she huffed. “I think Patrick was onto something earlier. We need to be careful approaching this. This isn’t putting together an entertainment system.”

“She’s got a point,” Patrick contributed.

“Point well taken,” Sean agreed.

“A pleasure to meet you folks.” The little man reached out a hand. “I’m Ralph O’Connor. I also do the zoning in these parts.”

Patrick glanced over at Sean and recognized his
You’re about to get an ass beatin’ if you have bad news
face.

Sean took his hand and shook it. “Okay. All I want is a fair price and bid.”

“You got it. And I can’t wait to look over your cabins.”

“Cabins!” the trio shouted.

“Yeah. This main one and the three little ones about three miles from here.”

Sean groaned and put his head in his hand.

“I knew it!” Patrick said.

“I want to punch someone.” Sean slammed his fist into his palm.

The other two backed up and stood in front of Mr. O’Connor.

After a few hours of driving around the property and listening to O’Connor go on and on about how this was the best investment anyone could make, they returned to the main cabin while he made some calls.

“This trip is more enlightening than I ever thought it would be,” Patrick said.

“Okay, folks. I got the breakdown and lowdown on the place. Follow me.” O’Connor grinned and led them outdoors to one of the cabins.

Despite the quaint sound of the word—cabin—they weren’t little. None of them was less than nine hundred square feet. Uncle Travis actually rented them out to vacationers during fishing season since they faced the lake. Each cabin had a theme: moose, bear, or wolf, each featuring the head of its namesake animal over the fireplace.

They strolled into the Moose Cabin. “How gross,” Sandra said.

Patrick chuckled. He thought they were cool.

“So are you guys going to do the repairs yourselves, or hire a contractor? I can recommend a couple who can do the job at a reasonable price and not cut corners,” Mr. O’Connor said.

Sean sighed. “I take it all these cabins are in need of repair?”

“Oh yeah. But you’re sitting on a gold mine here.” O’Connor shuffled through his notes. “This property was last appraised seven years ago at fifteen million. Now, as you realize, things appreciate or depreciate in value, especially with the economy the way it is. But I can safely say maybe twelve million now.”

Patrick high-fived Sandra.

After a complete tour of the cabins and main lodge, they thanked Mr. O’Connor and told him they would keep in touch. Patrick and Sandra headed back inside and waited for Sean to follow. After a few moments, he rejoined them, arms loaded with rolled-up blueprints and plans.

“Mr. O’Connor really came through. So what’s the damage?” Patrick asked.

“For everything from roofing to the beams to the hardwood floors in every cabin,” Sean sucked in a deep breath, “Two-million, four-hundred thousand.”

Sandra sat back in her chair and let out a low whistle. “Well, if the property is paid for and appraised at fifteen million seven years ago, and he thinks it only depreciated by three million, we can definitely use the equity. Provided Travis hands it over to you.”

“And I wouldn’t tell him any current information until the last minute if I were you. Well, this definitely solves the money issue as far as repairs go,” Patrick said.

Sean narrowed his eyes at the two. “I guess there is no turning back. We’re in the health spa business. Scary.”

“We’re here to help you. You’re not alone in this.” Patrick expressed his new enthusiasm.

“That’s right.” Sandra affirmed.

“Besides, Uncle Travis said he would help with unforeseen issues. He used to run this place. We can re-hire his old staff to run the behind the scenes stuff. That way you can concentrate on other things. I’m sure they would appreciate their jobs back,” Patrick said.

Sean nodded. “You’re a lot smarter than you look, Patrick.”

Patrick gave him a playful punch in the shoulder. The three reviewed the blueprints for the lodge and cabins. They had more planning to do.

***

“Have you reached Travis yet?” Sandra cuddled on Patrick’s lap, more comfortable there than she’d ever dreamt she’d be. Even with the drama unfolding with the lodge, they’d all managed to find time to get even closer.

Sean looked like he wanted to give the older man a piece of his mind—again. But, as usual, his uncle seemed to have disappeared. He paced, the phone cell in his tight grip.

“Still ringing. The bum.”

“Wow, he went from trifling uncle to bum in less than two days.” Patrick laughed.

“Travis.” Sean reddened.

“Houston, we’ve made contact,” she whispered.

“Yeah, we had a contractor come out and a found a few things…. Uh huh…. No, you didn’t tell me about the other three cabins. No…. Maybe. I’ll see. I’m going to, don’t worry. And stay by the phone.” He disconnected. “Oh, didn’t I tell you about the other three cabins?” Sean said in a mimicking tone.

“So what else did he say?” Patrick asked.

“His offer still stands. He’ll help out wherever we need.”

“You’re not going to tell him about the spa health resort idea?” Sandra hoped he’d wait.

“Nah. Let
him
be surprised for once.”

After hours of going over blueprints and searching the Internet for business models, the three of them crashed in the den.

“I’m pooped,” Patrick said. “We might have to stretch out our vacation. We can’t just leave next week. We got too many things to set in motion if we’re to get this off the ground.”

“I thought about that,” Sean reached over and nibbled on her earlobe. “Do you mind spending maybe another week or so with us up here in this lonely cabin?”

“No, of course not.” She kissed him on the lips to erase any doubt.

“I’m too tired to sleep,” Patrick said.

“Me, too.” Sean winked. “Let’s find something to occupy ourselves.”

“Let me slip into something more comfortable first.” Sandra climbed to her feet. “I’ll be right back.” She headed upstairs before they could think of any reasons to delay her.

After all, a girl likes to look nice when she sleeps with her two best friends together for the first time.

“I must say this is a vacation I will never forget.” Patrick got off the couch to pace the small living space. Sandra had just agreed to sleep with them.

“You said it. Who would have thought we end up sharing the love of our lives and going into business all within two weeks.” Sean threw some ashes on the fire to bank it. “I don’t want this place going up in flames. We haven’t checked the chimneys, yet.”

Patrick stared at his best friend. How could he be so calm? “I apologize for doubting you.”

“Doubting me? For what?”

He gestured toward the stairs where Sandra readied herself…for both of them. “Doubting this would work. It just goes to prove one can be more open minded than he thought.”