Chapter 34

After I had made up my mind not to reveal anything about my other self, life continued as normally as it could be under the circumstances. With the undertaker I fixed a time for Joe's funeral and contacted Esther letting her know the time and the place. Since I was on the phone to her she was able to give me the time and place of her son and daughter in law's funeral which fortunately was two days before the date set for Joe's.

I told the girls that I had contacted Esther and that she was coming to the funeral and told them when we would be going to the one which Esther had arranged.

"If we are down there anyway, Katy said, "We should offer to bring back Esther and her grandchildren to our place even if it means taking two cars. We can put them up for two days and the kids can have some time in the pool to take their minds off things."

"That would mean they would have to attend Joe's funeral," Alice said. "Esther might not be too keen on them having to go to another funeral so soon after their mum and dad's."

"We can always arrange a babysitter, I am sure you could get one of your student friends to do that," I suggested.

"I could try," Alice said. "I know a girl who runs a sort of student babysitting service so that they can earn some money doing it."

"See if you can fix it up and we will then get on to Esther and suggest it," I told her.

I contacted the Reverend John and gave him the time and dates and asked if there was anything he could do that would help us in any way.

I had a bright Idea, so I told him about having Esther and her grandchildren to stay until the funeral and asked if he thought his daughter would babysit them while we were at the service. I pointed out that if she could do this it would give us a chance to meet her and fix a date when we could interview her about the job. He said she was free that day and would certainly do that for us. We could then fix up a date to meet her again.

When I put the phone down I told Alice and Katy what I had done and they both agreed with me that it was a good idea. The undertaker had put funeral notices in the paper telling people the time and place of the funeral but we phoned round all our friends and notified them of the time and place and invited them back to the hotel for a coffee and sandwiches afterwards.

I also contacted the people who worked for Joe and Isa and told them the same things. I also arranged to see them the next day and talk to them about the future. When I told the girls this, Katy Immediately said that she should be there too, she also suggested that we should take Alice along because she was a very bright girl and we would need all the brains we could to make sure we handled things well. I agreed with her.

When I got back in touch with Esther, I told her what the girls had suggested and extended the invitation to stay on for a few days after the funeral. I pointed out that she would probably need the break, the kids would enjoy themselves and that we would love to have her. I also said that it meant she would have company instead of sitting at home on her own and worrying. After a bit of persuasion she agreed to stay for a few days and I told the girls of her decision. We would get the attic rooms ready for the children, we could move into Joe and Isa's room and Esther could have ours and that would mean the minimum of fuss as all these bedrooms were already in use. The girls were pleased when I broke this news to them and with the arrangements we had put in place.

The next morning we met as arranged with the office staff who were obviously anxious about the future of the company. So I decided to start by trying to reassure them on that point.

"The first thing I want to say to you is that if it is possible, and you can work out a way to do it, we would like to keep the company running. I have to say at the very outset though, that the prognosis on my aunt is not very good and even if she does recover, she may never be able to return to work here. I must also tell you that we are probably fully committed to University studies for the next three years at least and will be attending Edinburgh University. However, if you think it would help to have one of us working at the firm till we get things organized than I have volunteered to be the one who takes a year out. Now it is your turn to tell us whether you can keep the place running and in profit without Joe and Isa being here."

The rest of the morning was spent in discussion with the staff. It seemed that they each had their own sphere of responsibility and there was unanimity among them, that the oldest person working in the company, whose name, somewhat ironically was Grace Elder could step into Joe's shoes as she always stood in for him when he was away. There was another young man, Walter Smith, who had worked closely with Isa and was being groomed to take her place if she decided to have another child.

After an hour and a bit we broke off for coffee and I had a quick consultation with the girls. Like me, they felt that if we accepted the plans outlined by the staff and appointed two people to replace the ones who were going to fulfil the roles which were the responsibility of Joe and Isa, then we could keep the company running with a minimum of effort from us. I asked Katy if she wanted to be the one who outlined what we had in mind as Joe had been the senior partner in the firm. She deferred to me, however, and said I was much better at this kind of thing that she was

When we resumed our discussions, I outlined the ideas we had spoken about during the coffee break and asked the staff for their opinion. There were one or two questions about things but generally they were very happy with what we come up with. Since that was the case I suggested that we break for lunch and then we would meet with Grace and Walter to discuss the fine details of what was being proposed.

I phoned the Italian Restaurant which Joe and Isa had frequented and had taken us to on occasion and asked if they could give us a table for four that day. It turned out that they could and I suggested to Grace and Walter that we continue our discussions over lunch at the company's expense.

During lunch Katy and I explained that until Joe's will had been read then the exact position would not be clear as to how we would proceed. In view of the position with the company our lawyer has given us a heads up. Isa would inherit a third and Katy the rest. But if Isa is rendered incompetent by the accident then she has named me as the person who is to control how her money is spent and how her care is managed. If she dies then the whole of Joe's estate is left to Katy. Whichever way things go, since I am Katy's fiancé, then control of the family assets remains with the family and the financial status quo will be preserved. If this is the case then we need to keep the company running so that when things become clearer we can play a more active part and perhaps look at an increase in funding if that is necessary.

Grace and Walter assured us that the company had a big enough portfolio of assets which would keep it in profit for as long as necessary unless its investors took cold feet because the top management had been wiped out. They did not think this would happen because of the way they had managed things in the past and kept their customers informed. They had a good record of returns even in the hard time and thanks to Isa, excellent customer relations.

"I have learned a lot from her in the past year," Walter told us, "and she has helped me develop a good rapport with them over that time. I think they will have confidence in the firm to handle things, so I don't think there is a danger of a sudden flight on the investment side."

Grace assured us that it was much the same on the advertising and graphics side. They had enough work to keep things running smoothly for some time to come. If we can get two good people to work in the spots we are vacating, then I am confident we will pull through whatever happens she told us.

Since the restaurant manager assured us there was no need to rush away as there was usually a lull in business until after three once serving lunches was finished we decided to take a bit more time. So we ordered extra coffees. Walter and Grace asked us what we were reading at the university. Katy explained that she was hoping to do Law and go on to take Accountancy as she wanted to play a part in the business when she finished. This was what her father had advised. I told them I would major in psychology. Alice told them that she was doing chemistry and then going on to medicine.

Grace laughed and said that Katy and I could make a valuable contribution to the firm and we could always look to Alice to keep its staff healthy. We parted on good terms and set we would meet again at the end of October or when they were interviewing candidates for one or other of the vacancies.

When we got back to the house there was a message on the answer phone. It was from Wendy Wilson, the minister's daughter, saying that she would babysit for Esther's family for us and asking if she could see us beforehand. I got back to her and asked if she could come the next day so we fixed a time and date. I also suggested we should interview her for the job of looking after Sinead at the same time. Rather nervously she told us that she was interested and that she had already asked her tutor from college and the headmistress of the school she worked in for references and could bring them along with her.

She arrived next morning at the arranged time of eleven and turned out to be a very nice looking young woman of twenty two. She had dark hair nice brown eyes a pretty face and a shapely body.

"This is going to be a very informal interview," I told her. "I can say from the outset we are very impressed by the kindness of your father and his willingness to put himself out for us. So knowing that you are his daughter and that you have been brought up by him, is for us, a reference in itself. Katy, my fiancée, and Alice, a friend who is like and older sister and lives with us as an adopted member of the family are through in the kitchen setting up coffee and biscuits. If it is ok with you we will interview you there around the kitchen table."

Taking her through to the kitchen I introduced her to Katy and Alice. She held out her hand to shake hands with the other two but Katy took it and pulled her into a hug.

"We are so pleased to meet you and so glad that you are willing to consider helping us to look after Sinead. It was very kind of your dad to let us know we had a possible candidate from a member of his family"

Alice came forward and hugged her too. " While we are grateful that you are going to consider working for us, or should I say working with us to take care of Katy's little sister, we would like you to know from the outset, that if you get the chance of a full time job in teaching at any time, we will not stand in your way. We realise this is a temporary arrangement only for as long as you need it."

Wendy smiled, "All of you are being very kind, and instead of feeling nervous about being interviewed, you are making me feel that I am doing you a favour, instead of things being the other way round. I get the feeling that if you find me suitable, this will be more like working with friends rather than an employer."

"That really is how we want it to be," Katy told her. "As you know this is a very distressing time for us and if my step mum does not recover, we will be left with the big responsibility of caring for my little sister, who is sleeping at the moment, but we will introduce you to her later."