EARLY DAYS CORRESPONDENCE by BOOMERCAT RATED FRPT

As she settles into a new life on Tracy Island, Grandma writes a letter to her friend.

Dear Tina,

It was good to hear your voice, even if we were cut off. The so-called ‘emergency’ turned out to be nothing. Virgil had fallen from a ladder, but his ego was more bruised than his body. Of course, his brothers, once they were sure he was all right, were merciless in their teasing. He took it all with good grace, but I could tell he was embarrassed, poor thing.

Anyway, I really wanted to talk to you. I have so much to tell you about my first days here in Paradise. And it really is a paradise. It’s just as we had imagined. The island itself isn’t all that big, just a few square miles, with that volcano dominating the landscape.

Oh, and it is definitely landscaped. All those years ago when Jeff took me to see it, it was just a pile of rocks jutting out of the ocean. But Jeff spent a lot of money and time having it transformed. He brought in all manner of palms and other tropical plants. That dear little engineer of his, ‘Brains,’ put in a desalinization plant that could supply enough fresh water for a major city, and seeded the entire island with a fertilizer that made the plants just explode.

When Gordon arrived on the island, he decided it was too quiet, and so he and Scott went off to the illicit animal markets of Singapore. He bought up every endangered bird he could find that he thought could survive in a tropical setting. I am so proud of that boy. He’s turned our home into an endangered bird sanctuary.

He built an aviary at first. He needed to keep the birds safe until there was enough habitat for them to survive. Much to Jeff’s dismay, in addition to adding a whole forest full of fruiting plants, Gordon also snuck several loads of insects onto the island. He released his flocks about two years ago, and they are all thriving.

He’s recruited his brothers to help him manage his little ecology, and I must say, if I had not seen the island before, I would have thought it was always the lush garden that it is now. When I walk out onto the patio, the air has this incredible scent of flowers, and the birds are all singing.

I thought it would be unbearably hot, but with the constant sea breeze, it is really quite lovely. And you should see the house. It’s everything you said it would be. You know, I’ve known intellectually that Jeff is a very wealthy man, but he has never flaunted it, and to me, he’ll always be my sweet little boy.

Well, this house flaunts the wealth quite nicely, thank you. I don’t have a bedroom, I have a mini-mansion all to myself. I can practically hear echoes in the bedroom itself. Jeff insisted that it have all the amenities. There is a huge media center on one wall. The bed itself could fit the entire family with room leftover for a few friends too. The bathroom is bigger than your entire apartment. It has a tub with Jacuzzi, a shower AND a sauna. The dressing room is separate, and there is a walk-in closet. My poor clothes take up only one little corner of it. I have a balcony that overlooks the garden. I have a separate sewing room. I have a sitting room with ten-foot couch and two recliners and a rocking chair if I’ve a mind to rock. If I weren’t in shape I would probably exhaust myself walking from one side of my suite to the other.

All of the boys have similar set-ups. I know you thought it odd that they would set aside their careers to come live with their father, but honestly, there is little you could want for here. And their father keeps them busy. They are all working for Tracy Enterprises now, mostly helping Brains with research and development. They seem content enough for the time being, but except for Alan, none of them have any female companionship. I suspect that that will eventually change, but at the moment, they are okay with things as they are.

You’ll no doubt have noticed that I said except for Alan. Well, you know I mentioned that Mr. Kyrano has a daughter. She’s a lovely little thing named Tin-Tin. She’s actually Gordon’s age, but it’s Alan who has won her heart. They look very sweet together, but for some reason, Alan isn’t as attentive as he should be. He keeps up this foolish macho attitude that I fear will result in him losing her. Personally I intend to see to it that that doesn’t happen.

Remember I told you that I was quite intimidated by Mr. Kyrano? I wondered how a simple farm wife could possibly compete with a worldly, four-star chef. Especially given how Jeff has always raved about his cooking. Well, I needn’t have worried. Mr. Kyrano is a lovely man, very gracious, and totally willing to share his kitchen with me. If fact, he confided in me that he wanted to learn several of my special recipes because for all that Jeff and the boys will eat anything he puts in front of them, he knew they missed my cooking.

Well, my second day there, I put on my apron, and baked up a slew of hamburger buns, then for dinner I made my special sloppy joes. You know how the boys have always loved those. Mr. Kyrano watched me very closely, and when he tasted the sauce, he nodded his head, and got out a few pans of his own, and made potato chips. My hand to God, he made honest-to-goodness potato chips! They complemented my sloppy joes perfectly. We looked at each other, and we knew right then that we would make the perfect culinary team to keep my boys fed.

And let me tell you, I wasn’t disappointed in their response. I thought they’d beat the building down getting to the table. Virgil was practically in tears of joy. I must say, I worry about him and little Gus. If little Gus ever dies and goes to tapeworm heaven, that boy will balloon up like the Goodyear blimp. That night Scott went toe to toe with him, and between them they ate over a dozen sandwiches. The rest of the boys weren’t far behind, and I think they would have eaten even more if I had made more buns.

Mr. Kyrano watched the feeding frenzy without a remark, and afterwards he and I agreed that we would make up the week’s menu together. I’m dying to watch him work. Jeff says he does amazing things with pork, so tomorrow night, he’s going to make the entrée, and I’ll try to keep up with the side dishes. I haven’t been this excited about cooking in years, and I feel like I have my own private cooking show going on in the kitchen.

Well, that’s for another day as they say, and I wanted to tell you how good it is to be back with my boys. I had barely unpacked before Scott came in to help me put up my pictures on the walls, and we had a lovely talk. He is such an amazing man. He told me all about the jet he was designing. Of course, I could care less about the jet, but his enthusiasm, and his happiness at getting to tell me all about it just filled my heart. We talked for hours about this and that, and I loved him for taking the time for me, and I think he loved me for taking the time for him. It was good.

The next day, Jeff took me for a walk around the island. He showed me all the little nature trails that had been built, and took me to this lovely little grotto. It was thick with ferns, and had this wonderful view of a waterfall. He told me that the water was pumped up from the desalinization plant, but I told him I had no interest in the nuts and bolts of the thing, I was only interested in the beauty. Jeff smiled, and I could see that he loved the beauty too. He’s a good man.

Of course, then this bug flew into his face and he was dancing around swatting at it. Swearing a blue streak too. For my life, Tina, I don’t know why he has such a thing about bugs. I can remember him as a boy collecting fireflies in a jar, and laughing at how ladybugs tickled his hand. Somewhere along the line, he must have had a bad experience that I never knew about, because he certainly hates bugs now. It’s probably a good thing that Gordon was off somewhere when we got back to the house, because I suspect that his father would have had some harsh words for him if he’d been there.

After Virgil had his tumble off the ladder, he took me aside, and asked if I’ll like to see the painting he was working on, so we have an appointment after lunch. I’m hoping that this has been orchestrated by Jeff to give each of them some time with me. They are all so busy that I know unless it’s been pre-arranged somehow, Virgil will only be able to spare a few moments. Normally, I don’t like being ‘managed,’ but under the circumstances, I’ll make an exception.

For now, I must leave off, as Mr. Kyrano and I are going to make something called a clafouti for tonight’s dessert, then we’ll work together to whip up some lunch. As you can tell, I am settling in, and you were right, as usual, I had nothing to fear. I will write you soon. Keep yourself well, my dearest friend.

Love,

Ruth