The cooking week guests would arrive soon.
Ivy heard a car in front of the house, and she turned to see her brother Forrest parking in front. He waved and walked up the palm tree-lined path.
“What a surprise,” Ivy said, greeting him.
“I had a consultation here and it ended early, so I thought I’d have lunch with Bennett. We got fish tacos from Rosa’s food truck, then went to see that bunker. Bennett took me through it. I hope you have some time to talk about it.”
“Sure, let’s go inside.” She took off her gardening boots by the door and carried them inside toward the kitchen.
Bennett found the bunker so intriguing, he had been taking people down to see it. Mitch, Sunny, and even Boz from the planning department. Darla had peered down the chute, though she wouldn’t climb down into it.
While her brother talked about his impressions of thebunker, Ivy put her boots outside the rear kitchen door and changed into low-heeled boots. They moved to the kitchen table and Forrest reached for a chair.
“No, take that one,” Ivy said, pointing to another.
“What’s wrong with this one?”
“It’s been…unsteady.” She smiled and sat down. “What do you think we can do about the bunker? I’d like to preserve it.”
Forrest laced his fingers. “I think we can if we moved the main structure closer to the front of the property. However, you’d need a variance from the city to do that.”
“Boz might be favorably inclined.” At least, she hoped he would be.
“We’ll also need to have the existing structure examined and make reinforcements as needed.” He paused. “Do you know anything more about it, other than what’s there?”
“I contacted local and state historians to inspect it. We know the Ericksons were hypervigilant about protecting art, culture, and people from harm during the war. The bunker was probably a private effort, but it might have been part of the protection efforts here on the West Coast. A team of history professors, graduate students, and other experts are piecing together a probable story based on historical facts and timelines. We hope to learn more soon.”
“A civilian effort?” Forrest shook his head. “I don’t know. The construction looks like the work of the army’s engineer team that built others on the coast during that time. I could be wrong, though. And you need to have that tunnel checked out. That was a clear addition, likely by a private party constructed either at the time or later.”
“We haven’t found anything that would indicate people had been down there after the war. The magazines, thecanned food, the logs, they all date from the end of the war. Nothing later.”
Forrest nodded. “I imagine no one wanted to go down there after the war ended. They had lives to get back to.”
“Assuming we’re able to shore up the bunker, I don’t know if we would allow the public in or limit entry to researchers and historians.”
“We have a lot to figure out before that,” Forrest said. “There’s much more down there than initially meets the eye.”
Ivy wasn’t sure what he meant about that, but she understood a decision on the bunker would come later if they could work around it.
“We had another idea,” Ivy said, shifting the conversation. “What about a community garden on the back part of the lot?”
“That’s an interesting idea. How much land do you want to dedicate to that?”
“Think of this as the starter project.”
“Sounds like an idea of Shelly’s.”
Ivy leaned forward and put her palms on the table. “She’d like to teach people how to grow food they can eat, ranging from kids to retirees. It would be for people who want a hobby or those whose budget is constrained.”
“It’s a good idea,” Forrest said, clearly considering it. “Shelly knows what she’s doing. Her horticulture training isn’t wasted. She’s done wonders with the nearly dead landscaping that was here when you guys arrived.”
Ivy recalled what a mess the grounds were in. “A lot of what we serve here comes from her gardening efforts.”
“I’ll get the right people out to inspect the structuralintegrity and survey the lot again. I’ll have to readjust the estimate.”
“Do you have any idea of extra costs?”
“Not until we know what we’re dealing with. I’ll be as kind as possible, but I must pay my workers.”
