Free Secrets of the Spiral Tower by Joe Woods Page B

later. Okay?”
    “Yes. But I’m not going to make breakfast with Daddy. I’m just not up to it.”
    “That’s okay. There’ll be plenty of time later. Just bring him by the office if you can.”
    “Will do.”
    Willow moved from the bar stool to a big recliner in front of the TV. Finding the remote, she clicked on Fox News. A female radio talk show hostess railed against President Obama for getting us involved in the Afghan war. Talking out loud, Willow said: “I’m so tired of hearing nothing positive every time that TV comes on. Whatever happened to reporting on County and State Fairs, tractor pulls and craft shows?”
    Looking around the large room, she thought, Connor hasn’t changed anything in this house. It is still nothing but a man’s cave. It really needs a woman’s touch .
    Although the walls were very clean, she could see painting them brighter colors and placing some of the artist’s work hanging on her walls in New York, on both sides of the large windows. I’m going to put improving this place on my to-do list. But now I’ve got to concentrate on Daddy and getting my own house plans in order .
    Rising slowly she thought, I could stay here all day but that wouldn’t accomplish anything. She turned toward the stairs and saw a large official-looking envelope on Connor’s desk addressed to McKenzie Towing. Picking it up, she wondered if she should open it or not. Realizing that the envelope wasn’t sealed and was addressed to McKenzie Towing, she rationalized, why not open it?
    Maybe this will help me understand what’s going on in the company. Daddy always wanted me to take part so maybe this is the place to start.
    Still, she hesitated, wondering if it would be an invasion of privacy. Practicality won out. It is addressed to McKenzie Towing so that means it is addressed to me.
    “ So, here goes,” she said softly.
    Carefully she pealed the tab back and pulled out several legal-looking documents. The subject, “Transferring Mineral Rights on 640 Acres of land owned by McKenzie Towing to Connor Peppler” appeared at the top of the first page. Then she started reading.
    W hy would McKenzie Towing transfer these rights to ‘exclusive’ control of Connor Peppler ? This seems odd . Does Daddy know? This looks like Daddy’s signature but does he realize what he has signed? I’m probably getting excited about nothing so I need to take my shower and go visit Daddy. But I want to find out more about this. What does a transfer really mean and how will it impact McKenzie Towing and me?
    *   *   *
    After finishing her shower and blowing her hair dry, Willow headed for Rupert’s assisted living complex. It was now 10:45 in the morning, quite a bit later than she had planned on arriving. But, maybe now she could talk to Mr. Bruce Taylor, the administrator. Knocking on his office door, Willow entered asking, “Mr. Taylor, may I visit with you for a few minutes?”
    “Yes ma’am. Would you give me about five minutes to complete this phone call? Please have a seat.”
    “Thank you.”
    After finishing the phone call, Mr. Taylor said, “I don’t think we have met.”
    Willow extended her hand across Mr. Taylor’s desk. “That’s right. I’m Willow Kingston McKenzie, Rupert’s daughter.”
    “Oh, I’m delighted to make your acquaintance. Let me tell you at the outset, Mr. Rupert is a very interesting and entertaining member of our family.”
    “Thank you Mr. Taylor. I’ve always thought of my daddy as being interesting. It is good to hear that from someone else.”
    “Ms. McKenzie, I’m fairly new to the community and wasn’t aware your father had such an impact on the towing industry. Don’t know if you know or not, but several of our family members have shared quite a bit of your daddy’s history with us. They all love and admire him very much. When we get everybody together in the fellowship hall, he invariably winds up being the center of attention. If he doesn’t start