Chapter 12

Rebecca

My mother really surprised me this evening. She hardly ever asserts herself or goes against anything my dad says or does. Yet twice this evening she took him to task for things he was saying and doing. She made it clear that there were areas where she had a degree of expertise and had something of value to contribute. She also asserted that Rory and I were way too mature to be regarded as children in any discussion about our future or the future of the companies we might one day be expected to run. My dad had to admit that on both occasions she was right and made it clear that he agreed with her about our maturity.

I sort of knew my dad loved me and was proud of the way I had faced up to things after my brother's death, but to hear him voice it made me very emotional. My mother on the other hand has always been supportive but did not wear her heart on her sleeve. She cuddled me and encouraged me but seemed content to remain in the background. Tonight, when she stood up for me and told me I was her darling daughter of whom she was so proud I wanted to go over and kiss her. It also occurred to me that when she spoke about her love and admiration for Rory that I had an ally whom I could talk to and who would see that we were able to express our love freely if she could.

My thoughts about this were interrupted when dad called us to order so that we could discuss what Rory was proposing with his credit Union for small businesses. He outlined his plan much as he had put it to me. My Father, did as I had done and spoke about the difficulties of getting any business to risk this kind of investment in the present climate. Rory in turn pointed out that we would be offering a better return than most of the banks and at the same time creating and sustaining markets and services that we all needed.

Dad agreed that this was true, and we could probably have made the case if there was some way we could lay hands on a considerable sum to show that the bank had funds to begin with. While McFarlane industries could probably offer a fair sum, it would not be enough to impress or encourage other investors. What we needed was several million pounds as a starting point and he could not see where a grant like that might come from. Rory could not reply to this and it looked as if his project might be a non starter. That is when my mum spoke up once again.

"Now that I have heard what Rory is proposing I think I can come up with a source of funding that might get the project off the ground, for I think he has an excellent concept."

My father looked at her in surprise.

"If you can do that Ruth then I am sure we are all agog to hear what you have to say." He told her.

"You know that when I married you, I was a rich young woman in my own right. My Father and mother were both wealthy, so my grandparents set up a trust fund for me to avoid taxes and death duty," she said. "I gained control of this money when I became twenty one and when I married you David I made it available to you to draw on it to bring to fruition your plans for what was now our business. I am pleased to say you have used it well and we have prospered."

"Yes, my darling you did," My dad replied. "But most of it is now tied up in the businesses we run and it would be hard to untangle it without causing grave harm to some parts of our enterprise."

"I know that." My mother told him. "But I also told you a few years ago that my mother's brother, who was a bachelor, had left me a considerable sum which I would like to keep in a separate account so that I could use it for my charitable work. I did say though that you could draw on it if we ever needed it for our business."

"Yes, I remember that," my father told her, "but I don't remember you telling me what the inheritance amounted to."

"No I didn't," My mother replied. "For at that time the estate had not been settled and I was not sure myself. When it was settled, even after death duties it came to three million pounds and the lawyer handling the estate, said that my uncle had left the investment of his money to a young broker who seemed to have a flair for increasing his client's wealth. He said if I had no immediate plans for it, I could do worse than leave it with him. I checked the brokerage out and found out what he said was true, so I took his advice and left it with them. It has continued to do well and despite several sizeable donations to local charities it has continued to grow.

My Father leaned back in his chair and said,

"Ruth, this evening you have sprung so many surprises on me that I am amazed," he told my mum. "You never said that it came to a sum like that."

My mother looked at him and said,

"David you never asked and you agreed that I could use it as I wished and I did so. It wasn't my intention to deceive you, but you never showed any interest in the matter afterwards"

"You are quite right my darling, it is just that it never occurred to me that it would be such a large sum," he told her. "But you seem to have managed it well enough on your own. So what are you proposing now?"

"Through my charity work," my mum told us, "I have formed a large network of connections, some of whom have real political clout. I think if I were to put two million pounds into this venture as starting capital, and then approached some of my political contacts I could put this across as an example of the prime ministers Big Society in action. I could put it forward as a worthwhile local experiment and seek a grant from them to see if the experiment would work. If it did, I would point out then they could set it up in other areas."

We all looked at my mother in awe. Then I remembered my dad saying that when he started dating her, he discovered she was not as shallow, flighty, or scatterbrained as he had thought. She was now proving that he was right and had depths and a generosity that was amazing. I wondered how much she had given to others in money and in energy to make an impact on her community for the better.

Rory intervened at this point and said.

"Mum, I am overwhelmed by your offer, but I hope you do realise that there is a great deal of risk involved."

"Of course I do," my mother told him. "But if I can get others to match my initial investment, then from the moment that happens the Credit Union will start paying me interest at around three percent which is sixty thousand a year. This is not a bad return in the present climate and can be left in the kitty to further strengthen the bank's credibility."

"If you can do that Ruth, then with four million in capital plus what McFarlane enterprises and one or two others could be persuaded to put in, I think we would have a viable proposition to attract others to put in sums large and small. I would have one condition to attach to this however," my dad said.

My mum looked a bit worried and asked,

"What would you want David? If you tell me I will do what I can to meet it."

"I would want you chairing this project and using your considerable talents to push it through. I would also want you to have your own secretarial assistant and a small team including Rebecca and Rory to help push it along. It will be good experience for them and we can make sure that it does not interfere with their studies."

My mum's smile lit up her face. It was obvious that she was pleased at my dad's proposal and she agreed to it at once. But a worried frown appeared on her face, when my dad told her that they would have a lot to discuss tonight. He wanted to know how she would further the project and about the talents and contacts she seemed to have been hiding all these years. I smiled inwardly remembering what else my dad had told me about his relationship with my mum. My imagination started to run riot as I saw him possibly spanking her for her misdemeanours before rewarding her with several massive orgasms for what she had proposed and was able to do. Then Thinking of spankings, my mind turned to Rory.

When the discussion had finished the staff had left for the night and Mum and I went through to the kitchen to make some supper. On the way, she asked Rory,

"Do you intend to stay the night here son, or are you taking my daughter back to your place?"

"I think it would be safer at my place, Rebecca has enough clothes there for tomorrow and if we need anything else we can pack it before we leave."

Then I will drop you both off, and pick you up in the morning for school. Does your mum know you will both be coming?

Rory smiled at her and said, "She is expecting us unless she hears anything to the contrary."

"Good," my mum said. "Tell her I will be over early enough to have a word with her before she goes off to her cleaning job. There is something I want to talk to her about."

"Ok!" Rory said.

When we got through to the kitchen I turned to my mum and pulled her into me. I hugged her and kissed her and said.

"Mum, you are truly amazing, I love you, but I am only beginning to realise how much."

My mum hugged me, and kissed me back.

"I love you too Becky and I am only now realising how quickly you are growing up," she said. "You are not a child anymore whom I can control and tell what to do. But I hope we are now going to be friends who can talk to one another and share things when we need to and listen to advice when we have to"

I smiled at her and still holding her, I said,

"You know mum. I was just thinking those very thoughts that you have expressed. As I listened to you tonight, I thought to myself, my mum is an ally someone whom I can share things with and can talk to when I have problems or need advice."

As I said this, I could see tears springing to my mother's eyes.

"Oh Becky darling," she said. "You don't know how happy it makes me to hear you say that."

"Oh yes I do," I replied, "For it makes me just as happy to know that I can do it."

She pushed me away with a sniffle and said.

"Come on, let's get the supper on the table" then she grinned and said with a wicked smile, "I think we just might have a man each who is eager to bed us."

"Mu-um!!" I said, but I was grinning as I said it

Rory

I was pleased with the way our discussions had gone. Ruth had been the surprise package of the night. I have liked her from the start, but she always seemed to be in the background, never pushing herself forward or asserting herself. What I saw tonight was a different woman. She had stood up for herself and for Rebecca and I. What is more, her offering to fund the project was amazing in its generosity and if she can really double it with grants we really will have a working capital which might enable us to help keep some small businesses afloat.

As I thought about this, I realised that Rebecca and her mum were taking longer than usual to bring out the supper to the table. It dawned on me that Rebecca was probably as surprised as I was regarding her mother's actions. They were probably having a very good mother and daughter discussion in the kitchen. Just at that they reappeared and Rebecca had a huge smile on her face and her mother was looking equally pleased. And talking about being pleased, I am so glad Ruth took it as a great compliment when I said it would be easier to call her mum than to use her first name. I am going to have to start thinking of her as mum number two, from now on. I get a feeling that she is going to act more like that as well since she seems to like me so much.