“I just don’t want to see my Daddy and Jacob fighting. I love my Dad and I love Mr. Jacob too.”
“I don’t want to see them fight again either, Junior,” I said, knowing I had to figure out a way to get my family back on the right track.
After our heart-to-heart, Junior felt better. He went back to watching a movie with Montana as I thought about what he shared with me. He was right. We should all have a sit down and put everything on the table. I reached for my cell phone from the coffee table. I was about to call Jacob and run the idea by him, but my phone started ringing in my hand.
“Hello,” I answered.
“Hey. What are you doing?” asked Jacob. I could tell by his tone that he wasn’t in a good mood.
“I’m sitting here with the kids talking. Are you okay?”
“Get dressed. I want to take you all somewhere,” he said ignoring my question.
“Okay,” I said without pushing the matter. “We’ll be ready by four.”
An hour later, I boarded Jacob’s private jet with two excited kids. On the drive over to the jet, Jacob had told me that we were going to take a trip, but he didn’t say where we were going. There was an oversized bag full of gifts sitting inside Montana and Junior’s seats.
“Go ahead and see what’s in the bags,” Jacob said as the kids stared at the gifts and then looked to me for approval.
“You can open it,” I said to Junior.
I walked with Montana over to her large pink bag and opened it for her. Inside was all eight of the American Girl dolls and what had to be all of the accessories. I smiled at how thoughtful Jacob had been.
“I remember you saying that you wanted to get her one for Christmas,” Jacob said.
“Yeah one. This is too much for her to have at one time,” I said, knowing that no toddler needed all eight of those expensive dolls complete with the accessories.
“No it’s not, Ma. I can have them all,” Montana said as she admired one box after the next.
“I had the other accessories shipped to your house. They were too big to fit in the bag. They should arrive within the next week,” Jacob said.
“My God, Jacob!”
“I wanted her to have it all. You can put some of it up and give it to her later, if you think it’s too much at one time,” Jacob said as he smiled widely at Montana, who was confident that she could play with all eight without a problem.
“Wow!! A PlayStation Five! None of my friends have this,” Junior said as he opened his box that contained the cutting-edge game console and a variety of never-released games for it.
“Well little buddy, this game is special. It was made just for you. It won’t be in stores for a few more years, but I have a few connections at Sony that put this one together for you. It has your name on it,” Jacob said as he pointed to the inscription on the front of the PlayStation that read “Especially for Junior.”
Junior hugged him and said, “Thank you so much, Mr. Jacob. What does this one do different from the PlayStation Four?”
The two of them talked about the game while I helped Montana get the doll she chose to open out the box. After a while, the pilot asked Jacob if he was ready for takeoff. We put away the bags and got the kids in their seats. Once the plane was in the air, I asked, “Where are we going?”
“A few places, but first I want to show you my family’s first office in Miami. I want to show you where it all began,” Jacob said as he slipped his hand into mine. I leaned over in my seat and kissed him as Junior and Montana giggled. It wasn’t long before Montana was asleep holding onto her Addy, the doll. Junior was busy reading one of the game boxes the entire flight.
When we got off the plane, we were ushered into the back of a limo where we were taken to see the first building that Turner Enterprises ever built. It was an old insurance company that Jacob said had been around in that same building, for over seventy years. He was proud that the first building his family built was still in use. From there, we went to see the first Turner Enterprise office. Then we went on a tour of the current hundred thousand square foot facility.
It was inspiring to hear all the stories Jacob told of his family’s sacrifice to get from that original building to the current facility. Junior and Montana’s eyes lit up whenever he showed us a new office or boardroom. We left Turner Enterprises and went for dinner. After dinner, I thought we were heading back to the jet, but Jacob pulled up to a huge house that had a For Sale sign in the yard.
“It’s twelve thousand square feet. Plenty of bedrooms,” Jacob said as he gazed at the house. “From the backyard, you can see the entire city,” Jacob added.
The intriguing villa-like home had tall glass windows surrounding it. The landscape was creative and immaculate. The elegance of the home reminded me of an Italian resort I’d seen in a travel magazine.
Every other place we’d been that evening held a special meaning, so I asked, “Is this one of your family’s properties?”
“No.”
“Well, what is it about this place?”