Mindset (16 page)

“Quite a lot, actually.  I looked into both renting and purchasing options for office furniture and equipment.  There’s really not much difference in price for what we need with the exception of a copy machine.  If we get a heavy duty one, it’s really expensive whether you rent or buy, so I’d like to suggest that we get a smaller, desktop model for small jobs like running off tests and strategy work for the kids and go to a printing shop for bigger jobs like fliers to advertise our services.  There is a broad range of costs associated with telephone systems, but for our needs, I think we can get a lower end system with multiple lines, included a fax line and message system.”

“I wasn’t satisfied with the prices of office furniture for either renting or buying, so I kept looking and found another option.  There’s a local company who specializes in buying office furniture from places that for whatever reason, are going out of business.  Then they turn around and sell it for a profit.  I went to look at some of it, and a lot of it is in very good shape.  I think that’s our best bet.”

Both women just stared at her.  “What?” Eva asked.

Callie cleared her throat.  “Eva, I don’t want this to come out wrong, but I’m stunned.  You were all, ‘I don’t know much about any of this but I’ll help any way I can’ and look at all you’ve done!  I could not have done better myself, and I have a college degree in this stuff.  Your advice is smart and savvy.  You have a natural business sense, girlfriend.  Aren’t you clever!”

Eva blushed at the praise then smiled.  “It was actually a lot of fun.  And I want to do my share in this.  I want to be more than just a financial backer.  I don’t know how to teach kids to read, but I’ve been thinking that I could man the phones and do the receptionist and secretSans-serif work at least for awhile.  That would still free me up to keep up with cooking at the ranch and also maybe I could take a couple classes at the Community College.  I don’t know what I want to study yet, but I heard the first two years of college are just basics, and you don’t have to declare a major until later on.”

Callie smiled.  “Score another one for Granddad!  I think that’s fabulous, Evita!  Trish, what did you find out?”

“The estimates I had were fairly accurate, but I found out that there’s a Scholastic Warehouse in El Paso that has huge sales twice a year, once during winter holidays and again in a couple of months from now.  If we can order most of the stuff we need through them, and I think we can, we can save fifty to eighty percent on most books.  New arrivals are only twenty percent off, but the majority of what we need is older stock.  The only exception is the high/low readers.  Those are high interest, low reading level, and they are essential to what we’re doing.  We may have to get those elsewhere, but they’re still not super expensive.”

“Lastly, I wanted to talk about our timeline.  School will be out in a couple of months.  What do you think are the chances of us being up and running for the summer?  If we can swing it, it would be a great time to open our doors by starting with summer reading camps.  Since kids are out of school, we can hold different camps throughout the day and bring in more money since we’re not limited to after school hours.  Plus, parents are always looking for things to sign their kids up for in the summer, and we could offer fun and educational options to both struggling readers and kids whose parents just want them to read more.  What do you think?”

Callie smiled and answered, “I think we’re going to be very busy between now and when school lets out for the summer.”

****

“Come on in, Trish, the door’s open,” Callie called out.

“Well hi, cutie pie.  You must be Trevor.”  The five year old hugged his mother’s leg while Callie bent down to stroke his  silky, blond hair so much like his mother’s.  “And this lovey dovey must be Alexa.  Hey baby girl!”  Big blue eyes, also like her mother’s looked back at Callie and smiled, showing four front teeth, two on the top and two on the bottom.”

“You could call her Lexie.  She’s my baby sister.”

“I’ll remember that, Trevor.  Thanks.  Come on out back, Trish.  The men are barbequing, and Eva just took out some snacks.”

“Well, if it isn’t Trish the Dish,” Jake said as he smiled at the new arrivals.

“Jake, is that you?   I haven’t seen you in ages.  How are you?  And Josh!  How nice to see you, too.  Of course, neither of you could ever hold a candle to this guy over here.  Hi, Mr. Scanlan.  How have you been.  Do you remember me?”

“Why, Trish, of course I do.  Course, the last time I saw you, you were just a kid.  Now here you are all grown up and with kids of your own.  I’ll be darned.  And I hear you have two college degrees and are starting your own business.  That’s wonderful.  Come have a seat over here in the shade and introduce me to your kids.  And honey, seeing as you’re all grown up now, it’s time you started calling me John.  And who is this handsome young fella you have here?”

“This is Trevor.  Trevor, say hello.”

“Come on over here and shake my hand, boy.  How you doing?”

Trevor tentatively reached out a timid hand, and John shook his whole arm around until he laughed. “I’d love to sit down, but first I need to go back out to the car and get the potato salad and dessert.  Son, do you want to stay here for a minute?  I’ll be right back.”

Trevor looked on the verge of refusing when John intervened.  “Hey Trevor, you want to go see the rabbits with me?  You can pet them if you like.”  Trevor looked up at his mother to see her smile and seal of approval and walked over to John, who held out his hand.

“I’ll help you, Trish.”  Jake rose from his seat and followed her out to her car.  As she opened the door to an older model Buick and bent down, Jake reached for the baby.

“Here, let me take this pretty little girl off your hands for a minute so you can get whatever you need to get in there.  Come on, Sunshine.”

“Oh, she doesn’t like to ….”  Trish was amazed when Lexie went immediately into Jake’s arms when he held them out to her. 

“I can’t believe she went to you.  She never goes to people she doesn’t know.  She doesn’t even go to a lot of people she does know.  You always were a charmer, Jake.”

Jake gave her the slow, sexy smile she remembered so well.   “Well, it’s nice to know I haven’t lost my touch.  Can you get that, or do you want to hold the baby and I’ll carry the food?”

“I’ve got it, thanks.  Besides, the salad and dessert together don’t weigh as much as Lexie does!”  She smiled.

“Callie told us about your husband, Trish.  I’m sure sorry for your loss.  Are you doing okay?”

The smile vanished.  “Mostly, I’m okay.  Good days and bad.  I guess, I’m more worried about my kids than anything else.  Lexie doesn’t seem much affected, and she wasn’t even a year old when Pete died, so I don’t think she really knows what’s going on. But I worry about Trevor.  He’s a deep thinker, and sometimes I worry that he’s hurting and not saying anything.  He’s kind of quiet.  We’ve started grief counseling, and I hope that’ll help.  He’s never really talked about it much, and he never asks about his dad.”

“Well, kids are pretty resilient.  And they’ve got you.  They’ll be alright in time.  I was older when I lost my folks, but I know the pain of loss.  I don’t think there was such a thing as grief counseling back then, but we had our grandparents, and they got us through.  You’ll get your kids through, too.”

“Thanks, Jake.  I hope you’re right.  Sometimes, I can’t help but worry.  I’m an only child.  I don’t know a whole lot about raising boys.  I hope I don’t ruin him somehow.”

“You’re not going to ruin him, Trish.  He looks like a fine boy.  You should bring him over here from time to time.  I’ll show him how to ride a horse, and my granddad would love to have the little guy around.  He loves it when little kids like Trevor and Lexie come to see him.  He’ll have Trevor singing his ABC’s in exchange for candy in no time.  Right, Lexie?”  Lexie treated him to another smile, and they all headed back into the house.

 “Granddad, the girls and I have an announcement to make.  We are officially starting our own business together – we have our business license and everything  –  and we plan on opening our doors Memorial Day weekend.  We have a plan, and now we just have to find a building.”

“Ladies, I may be able to help you with that…”

“Let me guess, Josh, you have a friend who deals in Real Estate, right?”

“As a matter of fact, Eva, I do.  He specializes in business properties.  I’ll give him a call tomorrow.”  Eva just shook her head and smiled.

“Sounds like you girls are going to be busy between now and then.”

“We sure are, Granddad, especially Evita.”

“Oh?  Why’s that, hon?

“Well, John, aside from getting the Literacy Center up and running, I’ve decided to take a couple of classes at the Community College.  I have an appointment with a guidance counselor tomorrow morning.”

“Well, that’s just fine, Eva.  You’ll never regret it, honey.”

“Wow, Eva, that’s great!  Do you know what you plan on studying?”

“Not yet, Jake.  I’m hoping talking to the career counselor will help.”

“You’ll figure it out, Eva.”

“Thanks, Josh.”

The back door slammed, and Cade walked out.  “Sorry I’m late.  I had a couple of things to do.”

“You’re just in time, son.  You remember Trish, don’t you?  She went to school with Callie.  And these are her kids, little Lexie and this big guy here is Trevor.”

“I petted the rabbits.”

“Good for you, Trevor.  Did you see the calf, too?”

Trevor looked over at his new friend who answered, “Not yet, but I thought we’d go over after supper and feed him.  Would you like that, Trevor?”

“Yes sir, Mr. Scanlan.”

“That a boy.  Did you shake Cade’s hand?  Remember what I told you about handshakes.”  Trevor reached over to Cade’s outstretched hand and squeezed for all he was worth.  Cade played right along and shook his hand.

“Wow, Trevor, that’s some strong grip you got there!”  The boy just beamed. 

Chapter 14

It was time to start dinner by the time Eva returned from her appointment at the Community College.  “Hey, girlfriend.  Where have you been all day?”

“At the college.”

“I thought your appointment was in the morning.”

“It was.  I’m just now getting home.  It’s been a long albeit productive day.  I took a bunch of placement exams and ended up getting credit by examination for quite a few courses.  Looks like I’ll be starting college as a sophomore, instead of a freshman.  And I’m signed up for a history class, an English class, and since I need some elective credits, I also signed up for a self-defense class.”

“You have had a busy day!  Good for you!  And aren’t you smart, testing out of so many classes!  Wait till Granddad hears.  Oh, it’ll just be the two of you for dinner tonight.  Cade and I are going out.”

“Really, Callie?  No wonder you look like the cat that swallowed the canary!  I guess you brought him around to your way of thinking?”