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Closed in Mia&039;s office, Nell sweated over facts, figures, reality, and possibilities

She liked the possibilities best, as they included a secondhand computer with all the capabilities she required, an attractive sales kit, professional business cards, a cozy yet functional horade food processor

The fact was, she needed all of these things, and several more, in order to create a viable, reasonably profitable business

Her figures proved she could make this her reality if she settled for a reality without any frills-which included food, drink, and clothing-for approximately twelve months

As she saw it, her choices were to live like a mole for about a year, or to do without the professional tools that would help her build her business

Living like a mole wasn&039;t so bad, she mused She&039;d done essentially that for months before she&039;d come to the island If she hadn&039;t weakened and frittered away s, she wouldn&039;t have remembered how much fun it was to fritter away money in the first place

Now it had to stop

By her calculations she could, provided Marge at Island Realty was patient enough, scrape up the money for the computer within three weeks She would need several hundred more, of course, for the printer, the phone line, the business license, the office supplies Once she was set up, she could design and generate the sales kits and h, she sat back, coh her hair She&039;d left out the uniform She could hardly cater the Macey affair in jeans and a T-shirt, or a sexy little halter She needed good black slacks, a crisp white shirt, sensible but classy black shoes

She looked up when Mia walked in

"Hi I&039;ll get out of your way"

"No need" Mia waved her back "I just need to check so" She plucked it off a shelf, flipped through while watching Nell over the pages "Financial worries?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Vibes"

"They&039;re not worries soI&039; on tooit, but why do you say you&039;re taking on too much?" Mia asked as she sat, stretched out like a cat on a hearth rug

"A few side jobs, soos and business cards, trying to squeeze out anized in a spiral notebook I need to rein myself in"

"There&039;s little that&039;sin," Mia stated "When I started this place, most people didn&039;t think I could make it fly A small community, a seasonal tourist trade Bookstores and fancy coffee were for cities and snazzy suburbs They rong I knehat I wanted, and what I was capable of achieving So do you"

"In another sixahead of myself"

"Why wait? You need capital, but you can&039;t risk going to the bank for a business loan So many pesky questions about credit history, employment history, and so on"

Mia inclined her head when Nell sighed She enjoyed hitting the center of the target with the first arrow "As careful as you&039;ve been, you may have left a hole," Mia continued, "and you&039;re too sht about it," Nell admitted "If I openeddoesn&039;t have a credit history, and it&039;ll take me time to establish one"

"Which is one of the obstacles to that capital There are spells, of course But I dislike doing spells for financial gain It seems so crass"

"It doesn&039;t seeet to buy basic office equip her lips, Mia tapped the tips of her fingers together "I had an acquaintance as in a bit of a financial squeeze She worked a spell asking that her current money worries be cleared And won fifty thousand in the lottery the next week"

"Really?"

"Really She was able to pay her debts and treat herself to a week at the Doral Spa in Miami Fabulous place, by the way When she returned, her car broke down, her roof sprang a leak, her basement flooded, and she received an audit notice fro h she did get that week at the spa, which can&039;t be discounted"

Nell acknowledged the huic isn&039;t a crutch to be used for convenience"

"You&039;re a quick study, little sister So, let&039;s talk business" Mia toed off her pretty heels, curled up her legs "I&039;m in the market for an investment"

"Mia, I can&039;t tell you how much I appreciate that, but-"

"You want to do it yourself, and blah, blah, blah" With a flick of the wrist, Mia swatted Nell&039;s protest aside "Please, let&039;s behave like grown-ups"

"Are you trying to irritate or intienerally try to irritate or intiood at both And I didn&039;t say anything about a loan We&039;re discussing an investot a bottle of water for each of thee "I would consider a loan, I suppose, for your start-up costs Say, ten thousand, payable over a period of sixty months at twelve percent interest"

"I don&039;t need ten thousand," Nell said, giving the bottle cap an annoyed twist "And twelve percent is ridiculous"

"A bank would charge less, but I&039;m not a bank and I wouldn&039;t ask those pesky questions"

Mia&039;s lips curved, red and shapely over the mouth of the bottle "But I prefer an investment I&039;m a businesswoman who likes profit You have a skill, a marketable one, which has already proven itself of interest on the island With working capital, you can establish a viable business, which, I feel, will enhance rather than compete with et into that later I make a ten K investment, become your silent partner, for a reasonable coross profits"

"I don&039;t need ten" It had been a very long tiers on the desk, since she&039;d negotiated fees, contracts A how quickly it came back

Ten thousand would be welcome and would eliminate the sweat and worry But if you avoided the sweat and worry, she thought, you elilow of satisfaction that came when you succeeded

"Five will do," she decided "For six percent, of net"

"Five, then, for seven, net"

"Done"

"Excellent I&039;ll have my lawyer draw up a contract"

"I&039;ll open an account for the business at the bank"

"Would it be less sticky if I took care of that, and the license application?"

"I&039;ll do it I have to take a stand soo But I leave it to you Nell," she said as she opened the door, "we&039;re going to kick ass"

She worked like a de Her kitchen was a hotbed of experimentation, rejections, and successes Her little office was the scene of hours of late-evening sessions where, on her secondhand computer and printer, she beca menus, flyers, business cards, invoices, and stationery, all with the inscription "Sisters Catering" and the logo she&039;d designed of three wo in a circle, hands clasped

And every one listed Nell Channing as proprietor and carried her new phone nu her first sales kit together, she took it, along with the best bottle of chane she could afford, and drove to Mia&039;s to leave them on her doorstep

They were in business

On the day of the Macey party, Nell stood in Gladys&039;s kitchen and surveyed the scene She&039;d been working on-site since four, and had thirty uests were due to arrive

For the first tiun the setup for the party, she finally had a h the evening without fainting from excitement and anxiety, it would be a anized to Nell&039;s specifications In precisely ten uest list had expanded to more than a hundred, she had used all her powers of persuasion to convince Gladys to forgo the for food stations set up at strategic points throughout the house and on the patio

She&039;d seen to the floral arrangements herself, and had personally helped Carl deal with the fairy lights and luminaries There were candles in rented silver holders, and paper napkins that, at Nell&039;s suggestion, carried a heart with the happy couple&039;s initials inside

It still touched her the way Gladys&039;s eyes had filled when she&039;d seen them

Satisfied the kitchen was ready for the battle to come, she went out to check on the rest of the field, and her troops

She&039;d hired Peg to help serve, and Betsy froick Inn to tend the bar She herself would fill in in both areas whenever she could leave the kitchen unattended

"It looks great," she announced andproonies over the possibility of rain

Nell tugged down the black vest she&039;d added to her unifor to make a complete circuit every fifteen minutes When your tray&039;s empty, or nearly so, you head back to the kitchen If I&039;e the next selection the way I showed you"

"I practiced it a zillion ti pat on the arm "Betsy, I&039;ll try to keep up with the e low on anything, just give reat"

"So far, so good" And she was detere of the et this show on the road Peg, vegetable crudites, station one"

It wasAs she lit the last of the candles, she thought of herjob they&039;d worked together

"I&039;vetothe flame to wick, with her lanced over and beamed as Gladys Macey came out of the master bedroom "You look beautiful"

"Nervous as a bride" She fluffed at her hair "I went into Boston for this getup Not too fussy, is it?"

The cocktail suit was a paleon the lapels and cuffs

"It&039;s gorgeous, and so are you And there&039;s nothing for you to be nervous about All you have to do is enjoy yourself"

"Are you sure there&039;s going to be enough cocktail shrimp?"

"I&039;m sure"

"I just don&039;t knohat people are going to think of that chicken in peanut sauce"

"They&039;ll love it"

"What about-"

"Gladys, stop haranguing the girl" Scowling, dragging at the knot of his tie, Carl stepped out "Let her do her job"

"Mr Macey, you make a picture" Unable to resist, Nell reached over and straightened his tie herself

"Made me buy a new suit"

"And you look very handso but coot ho by now, Nell smiled "Personally, I like a man who&039;s not too comfortable in suits and ties It&039;s very sexy"

At Nell&039;s stateht pink "Don&039;t knoe couldn&039;t have had a barbecue and a couple of kegs"

Before Gladys could snap back at hioing to have a wonderful tiht now"

Manners forced Carl to take one of the fancy salue, he pursed his lips "Got a nice flavor to it," he ado down nice with a beer"

"You step right into the living roouests arriving"

"Oh, ain, Gladys shot quick looks everywhere "Iwas as it should be before-"

"Everything&039;s exactly as it should be You greet your guests, leave the rest to me"

It took less than fifteen an to puan to roll, and as Nell made her circuit with the chicken kabobs, she saw that she&039;d been right People loved them

It was fun to see the familiar island residents in their festive best, knotted into conversational groups or wandering out to the patio She kept her ears open for comle with each positive relow like a candle

Within an hour the house was ja at top speed

"They&039;re going through these trays like starving hordes," Peg told her as she scrambled into the kitchen "You&039;d think every one of theht"

"It&039;ll slon after the dancing starts" Moving quickly, Nell refilled the tray

"Station hell, I can never reone You said I should tell you"

"I&039;ll take care of it Is anything not going over?"

"Not that I&039;ve seen" Peg hefted the tray "The way it&039;s , I&039;d say this croould eat the paper napkins if you put sauce on the rolls she had wared them on a tray, Ripley strolled in

"Soreat, isn&039;t it?"

"Yeah, swank"

"You look pretty swank yourself," Nell commented

Ripley looked down at her basic black dress It was short, satisfactorily clingy, and had the advantage of being able to go to a party or, with a blazer, double as ot this nuure that covers the bases as far as dresses go" She glanced around, saw absolute order, heard the hum of the dishwasher, sanized in here?"

"I&039;m brilliant"

"See rolls, popped it into her mouth "Food&039;s fabulous," she said with her mouth full "I never told you, but that picnic deal you fixed for reat"

"Oh, yeah? How did that work out?"

"Just dandy, thanks," Ripley replied

Her s smile transformed into a scohen Mia stepped in

"I wanted to extendrolls "Ah, a new offering" She took one, bit in "Lovely Hello, Ripley I barely recognized you in your girl attire How did you decide whether to wear the black or the white this evening?"

"Up yours"

"Don&039;t start I haven&039;t tied one y on Hecate here Gladys&039;s nephew frooing to go hit on his never change"

"Don&039;t touch anything," Nell ordered, then hurried out with the tray