he replied with a grin, “but Paul has an eye for both space and cost. He’s been a good addition to the team.”
Kevin stepped through what would someday be a patio door. “Of course, partner, when you get tired of Africa, we’ve got a lot of work to do here.”
James laughed. “I think you’ve got things well under control.” He looked around the staked-out lots and thought about what this place would look like in five years, full of homes and families and kids, a place for dreams to be born. It felt good knowing the business here had thrived while the work in Africa had thrived as well. There were times when he could see God’s hand at work and this was one of them. Instead of building only here, they were building both here and overseas.
The doorbell rang.
Rae was sprawled on the couch with the book that had come in the mail that day. It was Tuesday and it had been a long day. She had decided on the drive home that it was time to pick up the final part of life she had left idle since Leo’s death, the book she had been working on. When she had found the package with the medical text waiting for her on her doorstep, it had solidified her decision.
She glanced at her watch. She wasn’t expecting anyone.
With some reluctance, she put down the book and went to get the door.
“Dave.” She was both surprised and pleased to see him.
“Dinner?” He was carrying a pizza box from the place down the street and his smile made her grin in reply.
“You angel. Sure. It’s what? Only ten o’clock?” she teased.
“I just got off work, and it’s time for congratulations.”
“Oh? You won your case?”
He rolled his eyes. “You, my little friend. When were you going to call me?”
Her…oh, the stock that went public…Her smile widened. It had been such a long day she had actually forgotten. “It was only a little killing,” she demurred.
“Sixty-four percent in one day. And you had an even hundred thousand on the line. I would have brought ice cream as well, but they were out of pralines and cream. You look good,” he said, seriously.
She wasn’t in the mood for serious tonight. “Thanks a lot, friend. Go get silverware, the game’s on.”
He moved around her town house with the ease of an old friend, finding plates and napkins, the pizza cutter he had put in her stocking last Christmas.
The living room coffee table had served as a table for many such late-night dinners. Dave discarded his suit jacket and tie, rolled up his sleeves, kicked off his shoes. He settled on the floor, using the couch as a backrest. “Who’s winning?” The Chicago Bulls game was muted on the TV.
Rae handed him one of the sodas she had snagged from the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, helped herself to a slice of the thick-crust supreme pizza. “The Bulls are up by eight in the third quarter, the Sonics are having a bad night.”
He nudged the book on the edge of the table around so he could see the title. “Cell Microbiology?”
“Research for my book,” Rae commented easily, sinking back against the pillows she had pulled from off the couch. “This pizza is great. Thanks.”
“No problem.”
“What were you doing at the office till ten o’clock?”
“Some pro bono work. Yet another father not fulfilling his child support obligations.”
“Will he come through?”
Dave shrugged. “I can force it here as long as he doesn’t go underground with a cash job or change states.”
“You’ll let me know what the family is short?”
Dave nodded. “The fund got enough cash?”
“Eight thousand. It will last about another ten weeks.”
“Let me know when it runs dry. I’ll match you again.”
“Thanks.”
Dave nodded.
Rae smiled quietly at her friend as he snagged the remote and turned the sound back on. They frequently supported families they knew were in financial need. He was as generous as she was, he just didn’t like people to know it.
They watched the game and ate pizza, the silence between them that of old friends. “So, have you thought about coming with us?” Dave asked finally.
Rae laughed. “Lace sent you, didn’t she?”
“Rae, you did not come last year. We understood. But you need a vacation. I’m not accepting any excuses this year. If I can get a week off, you can, too.”
“Dave, I’ve got new clients to deal with, a load of new stock issues to evaluate, and a market that’s so high it makes me cringe. I can’t afford to be gone a week.”
“That is exactly why you have to come. There is never going to be a good time to take a break. When the markets are good, you’re worried about them dropping, and when the markets correct, you’re worried about losing other people’s money. You’re coming.”
She tipped her soda can toward him. “When did you get so pushy?”
He chuckled. “Rae, I’ve always been pushy, you just like me too much to care.”
Rae sighed. She had thought about the problem at length. She did want to go…. “I’ll call Jack tomorrow and see if he’s free.” Jack had been her and Leo’s first backer in the business, and as an experienced stockbroker, she trusted him to keep the accounts stable while she was away from the office.
“He is. I already called him.”
Rae chuckled. “I should have never given you that power of attorney.” It had made sense at Leo’s death to have another partner officially on the books in case something happened to her. Dave had been the natural choice.
“I’m your biggest backer, not to mention one of your more wealthy clients. You have to listen to me,” Dave replied with a grin.
She thumped him with a pillow. “I think it’s time I get some new friends,” she remarked and had to duck when a pillow came back at her.
“The doctor said fresh air and rest?”
“That’s taking a little liberty with his prescription, but yes, that’s essentially it. That, and some medication that is making the pharmacist rich.” James was sitting at the dining room table at his sister’s house, his chair turned and his legs stretched out before him, watching her finish clipping pictures for the Sunday school class she taught. He had managed to sleep until ten and for once had awoke with some energy and only moderate pain. Either the medicine or the downtime were helping. He had eaten lunch with Mom, then come over to see Patricia and the kids.
“Then camping fits the bill. Come
