Heather Gates, Ep. HG 10, Heather Had A Busy Few Days With Others

Late Sunday afternoon, Heather stopped by the stable to check on Sunshine’s cycle and do a few chores. As she arrived, she noticed that Cletus was rubbing down Shadow and Maggie following their trail ride. Cletus confirmed that Christopher and Nicole had been for a ride and left a few minutes before Heather arrived.

“I’m sorry I missed them,” Heather added.

“Nicole had not ridden in a long time, so Maggie was just right for her,” Cletus said. “They seemed to have a good ride out to Cardinal Corner and back.”

“That is a nice ride for a first time out.” Heather fell into the routine of finishing up the horses, to keep Cletus talking as much as to be helpful. “I think tomorrow will be Nicole’s first day on her new job at Big Thunder.”

“Yes, I heard them mention that as they were finishing up here. Miss Nicole is a nice lady. I hope she comes back and rides Maggie, again.

“I hope so too. I’m sure she will.” Heather knew that Maggie, an older gray mare, had been a favorite of the mother of Cletus many years ago. His mother was now in the nursing home, but had ridden regularly on their farm as long as she could. Because Maggie was so gentle, they often used the gray mare for inexperienced riders. It normally worked out well.

The Bevins family had purchased four horses, including Maggie, along with the farm when the older couple had moved to the Nursing Home. Cletus became full time working for Bart Bevins and helped out wherever Bart or Diane needed him. This was now his home, as well, in effect. He was very happy with the arrangement, as were they. Heather enjoyed working with Cletus. He was a good worker, and told funny stories. With his missing front tooth, and bib overalls, most folks thought of him as “the hillbilly,” she knew, but to her he was a friend and co-worker at the stable.

After school on Monday, Heather was going about her work at the stable when Diane walked in from the parking lot. To Heather, Diane said, “Matt, Susie and the kids arrived this afternoon. Why don’t you take a few minutes and run up and say hello? They’d be happy to see another of their cousins. Christopher stopped by for a few minutes, just as I was leaving. They will be staying at the Inn, of course.”

“If you don’t mind, I’d love to do that.” Heather finished up the task she was working on. “I won’t stay long, but it would be good to see them.” She rode her 4-wheeler the half-mile up the side path to the Inn. It had only been since the 4th of July weekend when they visited briefly before that she had seen them, of course. They had been living in the Boston area and were now moving to Oak Springs permanently. Matt was heading up the new Internet Service Provider business for the community, under The Bevins Trust umbrella of businesses. Matt was Karen’s oldest son, about 34 or 35. Matt and Susie had two children, Tyler, about 6, and Emily, about 3.

Heather saw Karen with her grandchildren on the swing set near the house, so she headed in that direction. As she approached, and greeted Karen, Matt and Susie were just coming out of the house and they all exchanged greetings.

Matt, responding to Heather’s question, said, “We’re tired, of course, from driving, but the kids were really good and this last day was not too long. It was actually a really good car trip, overall. We’re just happy to be here now. Mom always makes us feel so welcome.”

“It will really be nice to have you around all the time now.” Heather said. “If I can help you get settled, in any way, with the kids, or whatever, don’t hesitate to let me know.”

“Thank you,” Susie replied, “We just might take you up on that!”

As had become their custom recently, on the fourth Tuesday of each month, Paul and Heather talked about the day’s trustee’s meeting in the evening. Paul pointed out that with three months left until the end of the tenth year of the Trust, the trustee’s were both looking back and looking forward. Three of the trustees who had served all ten years were retiring: Carter Ogden, George Chambers and Virginia Hollingsworth. They would be replaced by family members of the next generation, Jennifer, Christopher and Matt. The two remaining external trustees, Lyle Cunningham and Harry Flanders, would be continuing. Much of the meeting, Paul said, was devoted to talking about and considering issues related to “intergenerational transfer” for the Bevins Trust. Both the retiring trustees and the new trustees were a part of this meeting and would be as well for the next two. Karen would become the new Chair of the Trustees, replacing Carter Ogden, on November 1, with the start of the new fiscal year. Paul mentioned that Carter Ogden was at the morning portion of the meeting, but seemed to be weaker, and tired more quickly, each time Paul saw him.

Heather asked about the “intergenerational transfer” concept. Paul explained that during the previous ten years, the generation of the four children of Frank and Mildred (McDonald) Bevins had been ‘in charge’ of the operation of the Trust, under the Trustees. Over the next ten years, however, most likely, some or even potentially all, of the ‘in charge’ responsibilities of the Trust would transfer to the next generation. “Your generation,” Paul emphasized to Heather. “It was made clear in the meeting, and we all agreed, that planning for this needed to begin immediately.” He went on to mention that Karen, Bart, Diane, Peter and himself would all be wanting to retire one day. “And, any one of us could become ill or incapacitated, or even die, over the next ten years or so. What would happen in that case? Who would take on that set of responsibilities?” That consideration had been the topic of discussion in the afternoon workshoop, led by consultant, Neil Harms. He gave us homework, Paul added, and the results will be part of our meetings in September and October, as well.

Paul also mentioned that earlier in the day, Christopher had reported on the Ten-Year Report that everyone had contributed to that he was compiling. He was still working on completing that. Also, Matt had made a presentation on the new Internet Service Provider (ISP) business he was here to head, “Winslow and Bevins ISP.” They hope to have the city offices wired this fall, and begin to expand service to other commercial businesses, as well as some residential, in the spring.

“We’ll be talking more about the ‘homework’ I have to work on. But, about now, you need to get ready for bed, and for school and work tomorrow!”

[Continued in Episode HG 11]

This series of stories in the life of Heather Gates, a fictional character in The Homeplace Saga series of family saga, historical fiction stories (home blog found at thehomeplaceseries dot blogspot dot com), is being created as a way to use a minor character in the early writings to expand those stories and share details omitted in those earlier writings within the original overarching themes. These newly included details may have been left out of the earlier stories through editing or they may have seemed unrelated to central themes at the time. With the expansion of the entire Saga, over the years, it has become obvious that filling in some of the gaps in the story for overall better understanding of the individuals, their families, and their interactions would be useful to The Homeplace Saga body of work in total. These episodes parallel the timeline of “The Homeplace Revisited” novel in this series.