the next trip to Carmel Bill left his fishing gear home and took Gertrude, leaving the two children with Bill's mother. When Bill traveled alone to Carmel he slept on the beaches, not because he couldn't afford a cabin, but because he loved the freshness of the salt air and the freedom of the beaches. Now, with his wife along, a cabin was a necessity. "There's a nice set of cabins on the highway just outside of Carmel," he said as they passed through Monterey. "We can stay there."
"We can if they have a vacancy," responded Gertrude.
The place Bill chose was the Carmel Cottage Courts, a group of single overnight cabins snugly nestled among tall pine trees.
"My, isn't this pretty," commented Gertrude as Bill turned off the highway into the courts. "I wonder if they are modern?"
"I wouldn't say so," answered Bill, pointing to the center building displaying a large sign reading "BATHHOUSE".
"Humph. S'pose they have running water?"
"Maybe. You want to go on? We can go into town, to the hotel."
"No. Let's ask what they have. I kind of like it here. It's very pretty."
Bill brought the car to a stop in front of the cabin marked "OFFICE." "I'll see what they have."
Rolling down her window, Gertrude watched Bill as he stepped from the car and walked to the office door. The gentle sea breeze, alive with the fragrance of the towering pines, filled the car and spoke to her senses. Rays of the late afternoon sun shimmered down through the pine bows and cast patterns upon the tan sandy soil. "How quiet and serene," she thought. A gray squirrel jumped down from the nearest tree, extracted a seed from a fallen pine cone before bounding back up the tree to an overhanging limb. Gertrude watched as the squirrel, sitting on its haunches, cleaned and stored the seed in its cheek then descended for another. "Oh, the children would love you." she said aloud. The sweet freshness of the gentle breeze upon her face and the soft rustling sound of the pine bows lay in the back of her mind as she took in the scene around her. The cabins appeared to be small yet inviting in their rustic style. She counted, "Three over there in front of the bath house and three behind it" It was a small court, she thought, very neatly laid out beneath the towering pines and obviously done so with preservation in mind. "This cabin," she thought, "must be where the owners live. It looks rather large, three bedrooms, maybe."
The office door opened and Bill came toward the car.
"Do they have a cabin?"
"Yep. That one right there." He pointed to the cabin closest to the bath house. "Good. That's the one I wanted." Bill got into the car. "How would you like all of these beautiful cabins and all that goes with them?
"What in heaven for? To raise squirrels? Oh, Bill you should've seen the cute little gray squirrel which jumped down in front of the car to get a nut out of a pine cone. The children would have squealed with delight at seeing him."
Bill again asked his question, "How would you like to own all this?"
"Are you serious?"
"Yep. The guy in there," he nodded his head toward the office, "says they're for sale."
"Well who would manage them? Certainly not us."
"Why not? Nothing to it." He started the engine and slipped the clutch easing the car to the nearby cabin.
"Bill," her voice was stern, "we are not going to own nor manage these cabins." Thinking that Bill was possibly teasing her, she asked, "Are' they really for sale or are you just kidding me?"
"I'm not kidding. They are for sale. I told Tim, that's his name, I'd talk to him while we are here."
"Well, you weren't in there long enough to find out anything. Did he just come out and say they were for sale?"
"As a matter of fact he did. He asked me if we were touring, and when I told him no, that we were looking to settle in the area, he said they were for sale. He also mentioned something about a divorce and having to liquidate all assets. I thought I'd talk to him tomorrow."
"Oh, Bill. I don't know. What would we do with them. We don't know anything about running a court."
"Well, we can always learn."
"Oh, Bill, you are impossible."
"Well, it's a nice house. Looks like the other cabins from the outside, but it must be a lot larger .. We can take a look at it tomorrow. Okay?"
"Oh, I suppose so."
It was on their way home from Carmel after a full day of conversation with the owner of the cabins, and exploring the area that Gertrude said, "I'm still not satisfied with his price. He's got to be hurting, and I don't believe his story of an unfaithful wife. As sure as it takes two chickens to make a stew, I'd bet he is the unfaithful one." She shifted her sitting position, bringing her body more squarely to Bill. "Let's suppose for a minute that he is being sued for divorce and not the other way around. In that case she is going to get it all, and she doesn't want the property. She wants the money. You know what any decent judge will do, don't you?" She didn't wait for an answer. "He'll decree the courts to sell the property and distribute the money. Probably three-fourths to her, and one-fourth to him." She scooted back into the seat, facing the front of the car, her head tilted back onto the seat. "After all she had six kids ....my God...and has to support them. I really don't believe his story, and I'm sure you can get his price down. "She spun her head toward Bill. "Why, did you see him perk up when you told him the sale would be on a cash basis? Oh, I just know he's playing some kind of game."
"Maybe .so. Come to think of it I did notice his reaction to the cash offer.
Kind’a gave himself away. Not much of a poker player." Do you think you can trust him?"
"I'm not worried about that. We'll handle everything through Pete," referring to the Munroe's lawyer.
"Well, before we do anything you've got to get his price down."
"Ya know Gertrude, I didn't think the price was unfair."
"That doesn't make any difference. Whoever buys something because the price is fair? He's in a spot. I'm convinced I'm right, and you should get him down to his lowest dollar, even lower if possible."
Bill studied her last remark before asking, "Are you sure you want to consider buying the court?" "Yes. Why do you ask?" .
"WelL, I sort of got the impression you're looking for a denial from him based on price."
"How can you be so foolish? Of course I'm all for buying them, but at our price, not his. As a matter of fact, you may be surprised to learn that I like the idea of owning the courts. I'm not crazy about having to manage such an operation, but the added income could be very nice. And, the house is nice, even if it has only two bedrooms and looks like a cabin."
"I can always add on a bedroom." "Yes. I know."
CHAPTER TWO
Bill met several more times with the owner of the court before coming to an agreed selling price, which was also acceptable to Gertrude. She had been correct in her assessment of the situation. Papers were signed, the school in Hayward was completed, the Oakland house put up for sale, and arrangements concluded for relocating the family
