Larkspur (5 page)

Sam blew out a frustrated breath.

“
What are you going to
do?” Barry asked.

“
We’re going to leave the
site,” Sam said. “We’ve met with the employees and they
agree.”

“
Without all the state
projects, you’ll have to lay people off
and . . .”

Barry stopped talking when Sam turned to
look at him.

“
Guess you know that,”
Barry said. “Whatcha going to do?”

“
We’re going to tighten
our belts and move on,” Sam said. “We’ve done it
before.”

“
You can’t bluff your way
out of this one, Sam,” Barry said.

“
Why not?” Sam chuckled.
Barry smiled.

“
I’ve been at this game
for a long, long time,” Sam said. “We make our decisions one at a
time. Taking on the project was a good decision. Leaving it is also
a good decision. I’d guess that, in six months or so, the state
will want our help again. It will be up to us to decide if we want
the work.”

“
And in the meantime?”
Barry asked. “Family company. You have a lot of mouths to
feed.”

Sam nodded. They continued walking around
the lake. At the parking lot, Sam held out his hand for Barry to
shake.

“
You really want to take
this on?” Barry asked.

“
You’re kind of a worry
wart,” Sam smiled.

“
It’s my job,” Barry
smiled.

“
Whatever happens, we’ll
be fine,” Sam said. “It’s change, that’s all. As long as we’re
making our own decisions, based on what’s best for us, by our own
values, I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

Barry nodded and got in his truck. Sam went
around to his truck and got in the driver’s seat. Barry honked
twice and raised a hand in “good-bye.” Sam sat for a moment and
then turned his truck toward home.

Chapter Two
Hundred and Fifty-one
Returning the
favor

Three days later

Wednesday midday — 12:07 p.m.

“
There he is.” Sandy
jogged to open the door of her salon for MJ.

MJ nodded to Sandy. He remained silent as
Sandy shook the snow from his outdoor coat and hat. He didn’t say
anything when Jill came out from the back. He just kept
nodding.

“
Are you freaked out?”
Sandy whispered as they walked to the back.

“
No,” MJ said.

“
Why aren’t you talking?”
Sandy whispered.

“
Habit,” MJ whispered
back.

Sandy looked up at him and he grinned. She
chuckled. Jill gave him a hug. MJ put his hand on her belly to say
hello to the boys.

“
Where’s Delphie?” MJ
asked.

“
With our lunch.” Sandy
smiled.

“
You mean she’s in some
conversation with the sandwich clerk’s dead great aunt’s sister,”
MJ said.

“
No,” Delphie yelled from
the back. “She’s cutting the homemade lasagna.”

“
Who made it?” MJ
mouthed.

Sandy pointed to herself and MJ looked
relieved. Delphie’s lasagna was only a tiny bit better than her
casseroles, which wasn’t saying much. They took seats at the round
table in the back of Sandy’s salon. Still in LA, Mike’s head and
shoulders appeared on the laptop via Skype. Delphie sat down next
to the computer and then popped back up to get the rolls from the
microwave. Everyone filled their plates before looking at each
other.

“
What’s going on with
Charlie and the kids?” Mike asked.

“
We haven’t heard anything
about it since Sunday,” Sandy said.

“
Weird,” Mike
said.

“
What did you find out?”
MJ asked Delphie.

“
I got the household
budget from Sam,” Delphie squinted. “It’s more than we thought. I
gave it to Sandy.”

“
Why is it more?” Mike
asked Sandy.

“
Little expenses, mostly,”
Sandy said. “Hot tub, house cleaning, garden stuff, groceries, and
then the kids.”

Sandy swallowed her guilt. They had the most
kids, the most mouths to feed, and spent the most on them.

“
Listen,” Jill said. “We
are all in this together. Jake, Sam, and Honey aren’t taking Lipson
salaries. It’s our turn to support them for a change. I’m kind of
glad too. Jake and Sam have been so generous. It feels great to
return the favor.”

“
But our kids,
they . . .”

“
They bring so much joy to
the house,” Delphie said. “I love having them. So don’t think about
it. We are all in this together.”

Mike and MJ gave a casual nod, while Jill’s
head bobbed up and down with emphasis.

“
Plus, MJ and I have
babies,” Mike said. “They’re more expensive.”

“
What did you figure out
for Katy’s horse?” MJ asked.

“
Colin’s going to take
care of it,” Jill said. “There’s a deal at the stables where you
get half off your boarding if you help clean out the stalls. We’re
going to pitch in with that so it will reduce our overall fee.
Colin said they felt like they owed us.”

“
You practically raised
Paddie when they were having marital problems,” Sandy
said.

“
I guess,” Jill
said.

“
The LC wants us to be
horse trained,” MJ said. “Some of the guys have never been on
horses. The team’s going to use all four horses for
training.”

“
Right,” Jill said. “That
will help out with the fees too.”

“
Katy doesn’t mind?” Mike
asked.

“
Katy?” Jill smiled. “No.
She thinks things are better if they’re shared. She’s thrilled.
Plus it’s good for the horses to have a lot of
interaction.”

“
She’s a special girl,”
Sandy smiled.

Jill nodded.

“
Okay, we know how much we
have to cover,” Sandy said. “Do we agree on the charity
fund?”

“
We don’t use the charity
fund,” Mike said.

“
I’d rather go without
something than dip into our giving fund,” Jill said. “There are
people who
really
need the help.”

“
Especially now,” MJ
said.

“
Then we agree,” Sandy
said. “What can everyone put in?”

“
My salary is split in
two,” MJ said. “Half goes to my sister and brother. My younger
sister just graduated college and is looking for a job,
but . . . She found a nanny job, but not a real
professional job. My brother’s waiting tables. He’s graduating
early in a couple of months, so he’ll have that,
but . . .”

“
They need half your
salary,” Sandy nodded.

“
Sorry,” MJ
nodded.

“
No,” Sandy said. “You’re
very generous. Thanks for putting it in.”

“
Of course,” MJ
said.

“
What about the apartment
building?” Mike asked. “Don’t you have tenants there
now?”

“
The building’s about half
full,” MJ said. “But Jake says not to expect a profit for another
couple years. ‘We grow slow.’ That’s what he said. We want to give
great customer service. If we screw up now, it can really ruin our
reputation. It’s just not worth it. Or that’s what Jake said before
all of this. I don’t think anyone could have predicted
this.”

MJ’s eyes flicked to Delphie.

“
I didn’t,” Delphie
shrugged. “It’s either too close or I’ve been distracted
by . . . everything
or . . .”

“
No one blames you,” Jill
said.

“
I should
have . . .” Delphie started.

“
Stop it.” Mike’s voice
was firm. Everyone stared at the laptop. “It doesn’t help. Plus, if
we hadn’t had Jake’s prediction and your follow up, people would
have died. I’d rather never go out to eat again than have people
die.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“
I’ll go next,” Mike said.
“I gave the money I got from the art museum sale to
Otis.”

“
Why?” Jill blurted
out.

“
He’s still in hot water
over our stepfather’s theft.” Mike sneered at the word
“stepfather.”

“
He is?” Jill’s voice
betrayed her surprise. “Why didn’t
you . . .?”

Jill stopped talking. Her face flushed and
she looked down.

“
Mike’s given me the
details of his commissions,” Sandy said. “They’re going to be a big
help.”

“
Later,” Mike mouthed to
Jill.

She nodded.

“
Why isn’t Val here?” MJ
asked.

“
Val’s money is going to
the school,” Mike said.

“
We’re not willing to cut
back at the Marlowe School yet,” Jill said. “People need quality
day care, more so when things are tight. Val’s generously stepped
forward to help support the school.”

“
I’m teaching weekend
retreats through this month and next,” Delphie nodded. “Six total.
They sold out in a number of hours.”

“
I thought you couldn’t do
more than one of those a month,” Mike said. “They were too much,
too exhausting.”

“
They are tiring,” Delphie
said. “But . . .”

She shrugged.

“
I’ve been through this
kind of thing before,” Delphie said. “Sam and Celia had this
problem when they took over the airport work. They had to expand
the company, buy new equipment, and hire people, but they didn’t
get the money until the work was done. I led groups almost every
weekend for the better part of a year just to keep food on the
table. I’ll do it again.”

“
Speaking of food, did you
get a chance to look at our reserves?” Sandy asked.

“
The chest freezers are
full of food from the garden,” Delphie said. “Last fall, Val and
Sandy stocked the pantry with pasta sauce, jelly, peaches,
and . . . well, everything they could put in a jar
or can.”

“
Jake and I are going out
this weekend to see if we can bag a deer,” Mike said.

“
With the bison we have
left, a deer would be enough meat for most of the winter,” Jill
said.

“
I’m going with you guys,”
MJ said. “Me and Troy. Between the four of us, we can get four
deer.”

“
And you think you will?”
Jill asked.

“
Troy’s a great shot,” MJ
nodded. “If we don’t get enough, the twins have a late-season bow
license. They’re going out later this month. They were going to
take Nash and Teddy.”

Sandy nodded.

“
We’re going to be sick of
wild game,” Jill said.

“
Nah,” Sandy said. “It’s
just a chance for us to try out new recipes.”

“
No more eating out,” MJ
said.

“
No more eating out,” Jill
nodded.

“
What about you, Jill?”
Sandy asked.

“
The rehab business is
going pretty strong,” Jill said. “Some of the Lipson employees are
coming over to help with drywall, painting, and stuff like
that.”

“
That’s an expense,” Sandy
said.

“
But it means we’ll finish
jobs early,” Jill said. “Finished jobs are paid jobs. Jake’s not
going to be able to help because he’s out looking for work for
Lipson. We agreed that I can put all of what I make into the
household. I’m working to complete the plans and get them approved
so that I’m just going to oversee things after the boys are
born.”

“
I’m going to work part
time with Jill when we get back,” Mike said.

Sandy bit her lip and looked down at her
spreadsheet.

“
What about you, Sandy?”
Delphie asked.

“
Can you spend those gold
coins?” MJ asked.

“
No,” Sandy shook her head
and looked miserable. “Most of them were taken by the Feds. The
rest are tied up in trust funds for the kid’s college and for the
non-profit I want to start. Plus, I can’t touch the money for two
years or the Feds will come and take all of it. Same with Andie’s
money.”

“
My diamonds are the
same,” Jill said. “If I try to sell them, I lose all of them by the
terms of Celia’s will.”

“
Our pots of gold are
off-limits in one way or the other,” Sandy said.

“
Who needs them?” Delphie
asked. “We can do this. We have a place to live.”

“
Most of our food,” Jill
said.

“
What’s left?” Delphie
asked.

“
Well, groceries. Even
with the stores, we need flour, sugar, eggs, . . .
uh, heat for winter, water bills, gas and insurance for all the
cars, clothing, and . . .” Sandy rubbed her
forehead.

“
Did Jeraine ever pay Jake
for the house?” Mike asked.

“
He did,” Jill said.
“Jake’s using the money to back the company health insurance. If
the company runs out of money, the employees at least will have
health insurance.”

“
Good thinking,” Sandy
said. “And, shoot.”

“
No pots of gold,” Delphie
said.

“
I’m taking in two other
stylists,” Sandy said.

“
Really?” Jill
asked.