Authors: Sherryl Woods
“Absolutely not,” Adelia snapped. “I don’t want the entire family involved in my marriage. It will only make things worse.”
To be honest, though, she wasn’t sure they could get any worse. Ernesto might be living back home, but he was sleeping in a guest room because she’d refused to allow him back in her bed straight from his mistress’s. His presence was a matter of appearances only and not a first step toward reconciliation. They both recognized that. She had no idea how long they could continue to live the lie.
“You know I just want to help,” her mother said gently.
Adelia released a sigh. “I know you do, but the best way is to leave us alone, Mama. I’ve told my sisters and Elliott the same thing.”
“You’re isolating yourself from the family,” her mother accused.
“For now, maybe it’s necessary,” Adelia said. “Sometimes all the hovering is more than I can handle.”
“And what about your children? Do you not want us to be there for them, either?”
“Only if you can be supportive without making comments about their father or our marriage. It’s confusing enough for them, as it is.”
“All the more reason to settle this quickly and get things back on track,” her mother said decisively. “You owe that to your children.”
Adelia nodded agreement, because there was little choice. She wondered, though, what she owed herself.
* * *
“You’re looking a little shell-shocked,” Erik noted when Karen walked into the kitchen at Sullivan’s. “Rough morning?”
“A duty call with Maria Cruz,” she said.
He grinned. “Have you been mistreating her precious son?”
Karen lifted a brow. “Not that it would be any of your business, but no. And we had a perfectly lovely visit.” Well, they had, she thought, more or less. At least it had ended on an upbeat note.
She glanced around the kitchen. “Where’s Dana Sue? I didn’t see her in the office when I came in.”
“She went with Ronnie to look at the space we’re thinking of buying for the gym. Maddie went with them, too.”
Karen frowned. “You decided to buy space? I thought you were planning to lease.”
“The numbers make more sense if we own, according to Maddie and Helen.”
“Has Elliott gone with them?”
“I’m sure he has. He and Maddie are the ones with the real understanding of the kind of space needed.”
“Is it here in town, on Main Street?”
Erik shook his head. “It’s in town, but over on Palmetto, not far from The Corner Spa, as a matter of fact. Everyone seemed to think that would be another advantage, especially for Elliott, since he needs to get back and forth between the two places.”
Karen hesitated for a minute. “Erik, do you need me right this second? Could I take a run over there? Fifteen, twenty minutes, no more.”
He frowned at the request. “I haven’t stirred up another hornet’s nest between the two of you, have I?”
She shook her head, managing a weak smile. “Not this time. In fact, I was thinking maybe if I went over there, I could show my support. I’ve been so negative, I think Elliott might appreciate the fact that I’ve almost accepted this.”
“Almost?”
“I still have reservations. I can’t deny that, but I’m trying, Erik. I really want to be behind my husband a hundred percent. I’m not there yet, but I am trying.”
“Then go,” he said at once, giving her the address. “Hurry back, though. There’s still a lot of lunch prep to do.”
“I’m sure if I linger too long, Dana Sue will drag me back with her,” Karen told him, taking off the apron she’d just donned and heading out, not bothering to grab her purse before she left.
She spotted Mary Vaughn’s fancy Mercedes a block down from The Corner Spa. Since no one was outside, she guessed they were still viewing the inside of the property, another large Victorian on a street that was becoming a mix of residential and commercial. Other than The Corner Spa, most of the commercial uses were for offices for insurance agents and Realtors. Helen had moved her law practice into one of the smaller houses a few months ago, as well.
When Karen stepped inside what looked to her like a home that had been seriously neglected for a very long time, Elliott flashed a welcoming smile, which quickly faded to a look of concern.
“Everything okay?” he asked, stepping away from the others.
“Erik told me you all were looking at property,” she told him. “I thought I’d come check it out for myself.”
He seemed uncertain whether to take her words at face value. “That’s it?”
“If this gym is going to happen, I need to find a way to accept that and show you my support. I do have questions, though.”
He smiled. “Of course you do,” he teased. “You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t have a million and one questions. How about I answer all of them tonight? Frances is eager to babysit again. We could go to Rosalina’s.”
“It’s a date,” she said.
He gestured around as the others wandered off to another room. “What do you think?”
“It looks very sad to me,” she said candidly. “Is there money to fix it up?”
He nodded. “Mary Vaughn says it’s a steal, and Helen and Ronnie think in the end, even with the improvements needed, this makes more sense financially than the lease we were originally looking into. Ronnie will give us a deal on supplies for renovations and help with the work. He thinks we can do a lot of it ourselves, though we’ll have to bring in Mitch Franklin and his electrical and plumbing contractors, like they did at the spa.”
“It sounds expensive.”
“Like I said, I have to trust Helen and Ronnie on this. They say the numbers work in our favor. I’ll tell you all about it tonight.”
She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I’d better get back to Sullivan’s. I left Erik on his own.”
“I’ll pick Frances up on my way home,” he said. “See you around seven.”
When she would have taken off, he pulled her back and into his arms for another kiss. “Thank you for stopping by. It means a lot to me.”
She could see in his eyes that it truly did. “I should have gotten on board sooner, for your sake.”
“No more doubts?” he asked.
She sighed. “I never said that, but I’m going to work on keeping them in check.”
“That’s a start then,” he said, looking relieved. “And I’ll try to make sure to reassure you, so you have no reason to worry.”
She nodded. It was one of the better deals she’d struck today.
* * *
Helen and Ronnie had prepared a comparison of all the figures for buying the house on Palmetto versus leasing space on Main Street. Elliott took those with him to dinner with Karen. Her appearance today at the walk-through had given him hope that they could move forward without it causing further dissension in his marriage.
Sitting close to her in the booth at Rosalina’s, though, he was having a hard time keeping his mind on numbers. He was far more intrigued by the scent Karen wore and the heat radiating from her thigh pressed against his. She, however, seemed totally focused on the pages he’d spread out on the table. He heard her gasp and knew she’d reached the bottom line.
“Elliott, that’s huge,” she said, her expression shocked.
“I’m not investing all of that,” he reminded her. “There are partners, remember?”
“I know, but even with six of you, there’s a lot of money that won’t be paid off for years. You won’t be operating in the black right away, businesses never do. What if you have to keep investing more and more just to keep the doors open? Where is it going to come from? We don’t have it.”
He could see the panic rising in her eyes again and knew that his determination to move forward with full disclosure at every stage had probably been a mistake. He’d been lulled into a false sense of complacency by her earlier reaction to the property the group wanted to buy. Still, he also knew he’d had no choice but to reveal everything.
“There will be enough capital for a year from the initial investments,” he said confidently.
“And then?”
“We’re all convinced from our projections that we can be in the black by then.”
“What if you’re not?”
“We will be,” he said impatiently. “Our estimates have been very conservative, and we have The Corner Spa’s history to guide us.”
She closed her eyes, clearly trying to fight down the panic. “You’re sure?” she pressed eventually.
“I am,” he said. “More importantly, Helen, Maddie and the others are. We’re not going into this lightly, Karen. We all have a stake in its success.”
“But you stand to lose more. The others have successful businesses of their own. They probably have savings to fall back on. We’re just starting out.” She met his gaze. “And what about a baby? How long are you willing to postpone that? I thought it was something you really wanted, for us to have a child of our own.”
“I want it more than anything,” he said sincerely. “You know that.”
“More than this?” she asked, challenging him.
“Does it have to be an either/or thing?”
“For now, yes,” she said.
“But even if you were pregnant tomorrow, it would be nine months before the baby arrives.”
“Do you have any idea how naive that is?” she said wearily. “There are doctor visits, pregnancy vitamins and other expenses. What if things don’t go smoothly and I have to go on bed rest?”
“You didn’t with either Daisy or Mack,” he reminded her, determined to remain logical in the face of her dismay.
She scowled at him. “I was younger then. Everyone knows that risks can increase with age. What then, Elliott? We couldn’t manage without my income, not with everything else tied up in this business.”
He sighed and relented. “Okay, you’re right. But I’ve told you that there will be more income. I’ll have more private clients than ever.” Of course, what he had yet to explain was that some of that money was committed to paying back his partners for fronting him the additional investment.
Though his reminder seemed to silence her, he could tell she wasn’t totally convinced. “What?” he prodded. “Let’s get it all on the table.”
“You told me that you weren’t going to consider tapping into the house equity,” she began, holding his gaze.
“And I won’t. I know how opposed you are to that.”
“Then where’s the additional investment money coming from, Elliott? I know you. Your pride won’t allow you not to contribute what you consider to be your fair share. Where’d you find it? You didn’t ask your mother or sisters for a loan, did you?”