Chapter 2

Day 2 as a Millionaire (Wednesday, March 11, 2009)

I hear birds singing as I wake to the dim light of dawn. I hear my body finish telling me that it is laying on the most comfortable bed it's ever experienced. I open my eyes and look around finding myself in a large room with a pleasing pattern of wall paper all around. The woodwork around the doors and windows has a deep luster of polished cherry wood. The bed is at least a king sized four poster canopy bed with a western style fringe. As I sit up, I see that the floor is a highly polished hardwood with beautiful Persian area rugs on each side of the bed.

As I rise and head for the bathroom to take care of essential morning business I see through the window that the sky is a brilliant blue and clear of any clouds. The rain storm has washed the earth and in the rising sunlight everything looks new again. Even my old Dodge wagon with over 200,000 miles on it looks bright. Its blue is shining with remaining moisture in the sunlight peaking over the distant hills.

My mind finally pops into gear and I recall the events of yesterday. First, I receive the multi-multi-million dollar check from the lottery. Then I meet a troubled lady on the highway and help her out with a ride. Now I find myself in this beautiful turn-of-the century mansion.

Besides the basic toilet fixture the bathroom contains a gorgeous replica of an early American tub updated with Jacuzzi jets and upsized for the modern American Physique. It also contains a large marble tiled shower that is built into the bathroom in such a way that no curtain or shower door is needed. Having slept in the nude I am ready to step into the shower and do so. The water is almost instantly hot and the two showerheads pulse in a massaging spray that thoroughly stimulates and relaxes my body. After enjoying the spray massage for a few minutes I use the supplied shampoo to clean what remains of the hair on my head that suffers from at least three generations of male pattern baldness.

Turning off the shower I reach around the corner and pick up one of the thick luxurious bath towels sitting on a convenient shelf. After absorbing the shower water from my body, I retrieve my razor and other toiletries. My face still grows a full complement of hair which I let grow into a full beard that is kept well trimmed. By the time I have dressed in jeans, a golf shirt, and tennis shoes the smells of coffee and breakfast are wafting in from somewhere.

I hung the used towel on a convenient towel bar; put my dirty underclothes into a Wal-Mart bag I brought along for that purpose, and then hung my pants and dress shirt from yesterday on a hanger in the closet. I am ready to face the new day.

As I am coming down the curved stairway I hear the sounds of tableware being placed somewhere below.

"Good Morning! I hope you slept well" I am greeted from below the balcony as I reach the floor.

I turn and respond "Fabulous, and a Good Morning to you too". I see the black haired beauty from last night sitting at a desk with a large flat screen computer monitor, a black keyboard and mouse.

"You didn't even check me in last night! How did you know you would even get paid?" I queried.

"I wasn't too worried about that. I knew that anyone who was a friend of Missy would not take advantage of me. Your willingness to help her in the middle of a dark rainy night more than made up for any financial risk I might stand" was her earnest reply.

"Well, why don't we lay that to rest by checking me in now? Here is my bank card. Let's go ahead and write it up for the next three nights too and we'll see where we go from there" I suggested, handing her my Master Card.

"I expected you would be on your way right after breakfast. What is going to be keeping you here for another three nights?" she asked.

"Well, I like to explore new areas with my camera. I also have a feeling that Missy is going to need some more help. As her close friend, perhaps you can guide me in helping her out a little without impinging on her self-respect and pride. From what she shared with me last night, it's obvious that she has some real challenges to deal with and I would like to smooth the road for her a little where I can. Her gritty self-determination has inspired me and I don't want to see her knocked down by her situation. And thirdly, I need to enjoy a few more nights of that comfortable bed."

"You seem to be very perceptive regarding Melissa's situation. You are correct that she will be reluctant to accept help from anyone. Even as her close friend, it has been impossible to get her to accept anything from me." was her warning.

"Missy should be here any moment now. She called me a few minutes ago saying that she had completed her chores, cleaned up, and was heading over for breakfast. Why don't you go into the dining room and get yourself a cup of coffee while you wait. I've just got a few more entries to make here to keep my record keeping up-to-date. The dining room is just through there" she pointed to the doorway directly across the foyer from the front door.

After she handed back my card, I followed her directions finding a huge old Oak table surrounded by twelve matching chairs. There was a small table along the wall to the left with a couple coffee makers with a group of half a dozen coffee mugs sitting beside them. There were three places set at that end of the table. The sounds and odors of breakfast in the making came through the doorway directly across from the entry way I had just entered.

I filled a mug with coffee and seated myself at one of the places set for breakfast and looked around. The room is elegantly decorated with antique fixtures, decorations, and some amazing paintings. It is truly museum quality arranged for utility as well as beauty.

As I waited, I called up my neighbors's son to see if he'd be willing to keep stopping by our house a couple times a day to feed and water our dogs for another few days. Promise of another fifty bucks was all it took to gather his enthusiasm.

I hear a car drive up outside and come to a stop with a skid of gravel. A door slams and I hear hurried steps coming to the door. The door bursts open and I hear Melissa's voice tense with excitement. "You're not going to believe what arrived in my mail yesterday" she shouts out as she comes through the foyer into the dining room followed shortly by Emma.

"I can't even guess what would have you so excited" exclaims Emma. "Please sit down! I'll get you a mug of coffee, and you can share with us."

As Melissa approaches, I stand and pull out the chair next to me which she takes and allows me to push forward as she sits.

"Thank-you" she says as she makes herself comfortable. "And Thank-you" she says as Emma places a mug of coffee in front of her. Her body is obviously tense with excitement and as Emma takes her place beside her she begins.

"I've told you about my parents being killed in a head-on collision by a car skidding out of control on the ice. Well, their insurance company finally completed their investigation and has decided to reimburse their estate for the value of their totally destroyed car. I just received a check from them for fourteen thousand dollars. I had completely forgotten about the value of their car and their life insurance was just barely enough to pay off their outstanding debts and their burial costs. I received only about $5,000 from their estate which has long ago been used up in the operation of the farm. With this money, I should have enough to pay for Trudy's operation. Isn't that great news?"

"That is fantastic" I agreed.

Emma nodded and suggested "Lets get started on our breakfast so that you can get in to Dalles and give Trudy the good news" as a young lady in her early 20's came through the door from the kitchen with a tray with three covered plates on it. She placed one of the plates in front of each of us and removed the cover. On each of them was a stack of thick airy pancakes, a serving of scrambled eggs, 2 pieces of beef bacon, and a scoop of hash brown potatoes. From a nearby side cupboard she removed a serving pitcher of syrup, a bottle of ketchup, and salt and pepper shakers.

As she was doing this, Emma introduced her "This is my oldest daughter Adrianne. Since she graduated from college last spring with a degree in accounting, she has been helping me with the business. She is an excellent cook, and her breakfasts are considered the best in town by all our neighbors as well as most of our guests. She has become a key member of our staff and I am hoping she decides to remain here with me until I retire."

"I'll have to admit some surprise as I did not think you looked old enough to have a child in College. Congratulations on your completion of College Adrianne" I said as I rose to shake her hand.

Adrianne left and returned shortly with a tray loaded with a bowl of strawberries, and a bowl of Fresh Tomato Salsa which she placed on the table near us and placed a serving spoon in each of them. She also had a pitcher of orange juice which she offered to pour into a glass for each of us.

I told her "Thank-you. I expect to be enjoying several more of your fabulous breakfasts before I leave."

With surprise, Melissa exclaimed "I thought you would be heading home today. By the way, you never told me where you live last night."

I replied "Well secondly, I live in Dayton, just up the road from Walla Walla. And, as I told Emma earlier, I find your town very photogenic. I have a hobby, or maybe even a calling, to photograph the glory I find in the world around me. I am hoping that you and Emma will help me find some of the beauty in the region that I can capture with my camera."

"I also intend to finish what I started in getting your car fixed and back to your home with you. I hope you won't object to riding back to Dalles with me. I'm looking forward to meeting your daughter as well. She sounds like a lovely part of this town which I should see before I leave."

"Well, if you insist ... I really wasn't looking forward to driving the old farm truck to The Dalles, and I sure didn't know how I'd get the car back home. I'd thought about asking Adriane to ride along with me to drive the car home but figured she would probably be busy around here."

"By the way; where is Beverly?" Melissa asked.

"Beverly is Emma's other daughter who is Trudy's age and the two of them are nearly inseparable most of the time." She explained for my benefit.

"Bev is with her uncle in Bend until the weekend" Emma replied. "He is supposed to bring her back by five on Friday. I hope he gets here on time for a change."

The two of them talked about various acquaintances and things they were doing as we finished our meal. I simply enjoyed the view. Melissa was dressed in a print dress which was snug enough to reveal her shapely body. Her blond hair was cut quite short for easy care but long enough that it still looked very feminine. Her bright blue eyes sparkled this morning in contrast to the teary-eyed look she had last night.

Emma was dressed in light tan colored slacks and a yellow shirt. Her curly black main surrounded a perky little face with an upturned nose between her emerald green eyes. She was slightly built even though she was of average height. Her friendly attitude brought it all together very nicely.

As we were finishing up, Adriane reappeared to remove our used dishes then offered to refill our coffee mugs. Emma accepted a refill, while both Melissa and I declined. I suggested it was time we hit the road and Melissa agreed standing up and heading toward the door.

"Take it easy, but have fun" we were admonished by Emma as she followed us to the foyer bringing along her coffee.

"Bye now. We'll see you tonight; hopefully not so late this time." I replied.

As I unlocked and opened the passenger door to my car, Melissa retrieved her purse, her day-pack, and a small suitcase from the truck. I took the pack and the suitcase and placed them in the back seat. I went around to the driver's side while Melissa reached across and unlocked the door for me.

Just then my cell-phone began to ring. It was the Les Schwab store in Dalles. They wanted to know what to do with the car that had just been towed onto their lot. I asked them about the condition of all the tires and was told they were all on the verge of collapse. I then asked for some options on replacing them and was given three price quotes. One for retreads, another for top-end tires, and a third was half-way between. I explained the options to Melissa and asked for her decision. She said "Until I received the insurance money, I would have asked you to find out about a used tire to replace the blown out one since I would have been hard-pressed to come up with $25 to pay for it. Now I feel like we can at least afford a set of the retreads. Please tell them to put those on the car"

That's what I told them, hung up, and started the car.

"Just a minute!" interjected Melissa "I just remembered that Trudy wanted me to bring her disk walkman. She said she left it in Beverly's room last time she was here. I need to go back in and get it." She jumped out of the car and ran up the steps and through the front door.

I took the opportunity to dial up the Tire Store again.

"Hello, I just talked with someone about replacing some tires on a 98 Pontiac Grand-Am."... "Yes the retreads."... "Is there any way you could put the top-line tires on the car and let me pay the difference so that the bill still shows the amount you quoted for Melissa?"... "No. She's just having some financial struggles. Her daughter needs an expensive operation and I just wanted to help her out without demeaning her self-respect"... "A Special Sale Discount? I guess that would work. The bill would show the regular price for the top-line tires and then show a Sale Discount leaving the price the same as the retreads would have been? Great lets do that then. Here is my bank card number to charge the difference to..."

I had just put away the phone when Melissa bounced out the door and down the steps with a CD player and ear buds in her hand.

As we left town and I sped up to highway speeds Melissa says "Last night all we did was talk about me and my problems. Why don't you tell me about yourself?"

Do I want her to know I'm a millionaire yet? I haven't even got used to the idea myself. I think I'll save that for a time when we've got to know each other better.

"Well," I began, "I am a fifty eight year old widower who is self-employed in several different businesses. I love capturing beauty in photographs. I have three adult Children, 4 grandchildren, and 2 dogs."

"I have recently begun to profit from my collection of photographs with some creative internet web marketing. I'll have to show you some of my collection some time. I sell residential real estate in Walla Walla. I also teach people how to become wealthy. We spent the next forty five minutes discussing various subjects from work, the economy, politics and religion. Too soon we were exiting the freeway into The Dalles and Melissa was providing directions to the hospital. It was mid-morning when we arrived at the hospital.

"I will be busy with Trudy going through several diagnostic tests the rest of the morning. You are welcome to come along if you wish." She invited.

"Although I am not averse to spending the morning with you, I have several things to take care of. Could we meet for lunch and see where things go from there? How is the food in the hospital cafeteria?" I responded.

"The Cafeteria is actually quite good, for institutional food. The prices are very reasonable too. How about we meet in the cafeteria about one o'clock? The cafeteria is in the basement of the hospital."

"That sounds good. See you then." I replied as I pulled into the covered main entrance to let her out.

I first went by Les Schwab to see how things were going with Melissa's car. It was sitting out front with shiny new tires on it. I went in to see if they needed a signature for my portion of the tire bill. When I asked about it, I was directed to the assistant manager. When I told him why I was there he replied "That won't be necessary. When the manager heard about the situation, he insisted that the store would pick up the extra cost of the tires. She has been our customer for several years and we like to take care of our customers. There will be no extra charge."

"Thank-you. And please extend my thanks to your manager for his generosity. We will probably be back in the early afternoon to pick up the car."

"What brings you to our town?" he asked.

"A couple things, actually" I replied, "I brought Melissa back to see her daughter in the hospital, and to get her car. In addition, I'm always on the lookout for people looking for an opportunity to make some extra money."

"What kind of work do you do?" he asked with curiosity.

"I guess you could summarize it by saying I teach people to become wealthy" was my reply.

"So you teach people how to make money?"

"Not really. Everyone knows how to make money. You just hire yourself out to perform a service for someone who will pay you money for that service. Some people's skills are more valuable and are therefore paid more for them. Others are only worth minimum wage."

"Becoming Wealthy is something totally different. It requires a completely different mindset and adds certain skills and activities beyond just that of performing a service. I have studied the lives and works of many famous people starting with the book "Think, and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill and discovered a program to generate Wealth"

"I know several people that would be interested in that; Including myself. How does your training work?"

"If you are free for an hour and a half after work I could give you the Generating Wealth 101 step in the program. It will give you enough information to determine whether you can get with the program. Perhaps at lunch you could give a few people a call and invite them to come too. Make sure you encourage them to bring their spouses or significant others" I suggested.

"That sounds great, where will we meet?" he responded.

"Is there a Shari's restaurant in town? They usually have a small conference room we could use."

"Yes there is. It's just down the street about three blocks. And they do have a conference room. Do you want me to reserve it?"

"That would be great. Could we start about 5:30? We need to get back to Grass Valley this evening and I don't want to be too late."

"Sounds good. I'll call them right now. They know me because we have occasional Les Schwab staff functions there in their conference room." He proceeded to make the call and was able to make the reservation for us.

I spent the rest of the morning making some more calls, including Willamette Industries Personnel office, and Regency Blue Cross. I visited some farm and heavy equipment dealers as well as the local feed stores and hardware stores. I wanted to be more familiar with the agricultural environment in the area. In the process, I was able to invite five more individuals who said they would be at Shari's this evening at 5:30.

Soon, it was time to head back to the hospital cafeteria. At one pm on the dot I walked through the double doors into the cafeteria. At a table near the entry I saw two blond look-alike ladies. The face of one of them broke into a brilliant smile of recognition when they saw me walk through the door. The both stood up as I approached the table.

Melissa introduced me "Leon, I'd like you to meet my daughter Trudy."

I held out my hand and Trudy reached out and I grasped her hand. Holding it I said "So this is the Angel you were telling me about. I'm very happy to meet you! I hope you heard some good news as they did their evaluations this morning."

"I'm pleased to meet you as well. Actually we did have good news. It looks like the prospects for a full recovery of my eyes is likely after the operation. And with the insurance settlement money mom got yesterday we should be able to proceed without delay." Trudy replied with a big grin.

"We have one more test scheduled for this afternoon at 1:30, and then Trudy can check out of the hospital. We can probably set up the appointment for the operation in Portland before we leave too." Melissa added.

"Well I've received some good news too, which I'll tell you about later. We better get our lunch eaten because 1:30 is not far away" I replied, finally releasing Trudy's hand.

We quickly went through line picking up the items we each wished to eat. As we approached the cashier, Melissa started to open her purse. I held back her hand and said "Lunch is on me today. I insist".

She acquiesced and moved past the cashier. She and Trudy returned to the table where they had been sitting and had left their drinks while I paid the bill.

We all set to devouring our meal with little conversation since we did not have much time.

As we emptied our trays, I asked "Would it be OK if I followed along for this final test? I don't have much else I need to do until this evening at 5:30."

In unison their response was "No problem". Trudy added "They just want to look into my eyes again after they have fully dilated from the eye drops they put in just before lunch"

About 20 minutes later we returned to Trudy's room where we collected her belongings and the signed paperwork authorizing her discharge. As we were heading out to the business office to complete the discharge, Melissa asked me "What was the good news you had to tell us about. You never got around to telling us at lunch."

"Well, I made a few calls this morning. I have a friend who works at Regency Blue Cross. After verifying with Willamette Industries that all of their employees and their families are covered by an excellent health program with Regency Blue Cross, my friend was able to tell me that if you asked the Hospital to contact them to fax a copy of Tom's Insurance card he was pretty sure they would pay the entire cost of her hospital stay. He also thought that if you could get the hospital to give you a copy of that fax, you would be able to use the information to get Regency to pay almost 100% of the costs of Trudy's operation. Apparently, Tom never told you that he had full medical coverage for himself and his family."

I was surprised by a squeal and Melissa turning to throw her arms around me in a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. As she released me she steamed "That rat! I've been worried about this operation for months and he just let me keep worrying without a word that his insurance could cover it. I could just kick him for that!"

With that we turned and walked through the door into the patient's business office where just as my friend predicted, the hospital arranged for Regency to take care of the entire bill. They even issued a check reimbursing Melissa for the $500 she had had to pay to get Trudy checked in.

As we walked back to the car I asked them "What are we going to do for the afternoon? I need to stay for a meeting I've scheduled for 5:30 to 7 this evening at Shari's. I guess I could take you back to your car and you ladies could head home."