Chapter 21

IF WE THOUGHT that getting the fabric shipped to the manufacturer in Singapore and getting the racquetball tournament out of our way meant we could slack off, we were sadly mistaken. We were looking at the last week of summer and trying to get everything done that we hadn’t done all summer long. We got confirmation that the fabric had been received and we would receive the first prototype outfits within a week. Friends were coming back to Seattle for the start of the school year. Sandra had volunteered to help with freshman orientation, so she came in on Tuesday. She was going to be a dorm monitor this year, foregoing the opportunity to move out on her own.

“The way I figure it,” she said as we all sat down to dinner on Tuesday night, “I’ve spent the whole summer taking care of kids. And I got free room and board for it. I might as well do the same this fall and winter. And guess what! I get free room and board for it.”

“How can you stand going back to the dormitory?” Melody asked.

“I’m going back to the dormitory,” Kate said. “I kind of like it.”

“I would have gone back if other things hadn’t claimed my attention,” I said, smiling at Lissa and Melody. “Which reminds me—I’ve got funding for room and board in my scholarship. I have to go in on the first day of classes and get it moved to my account. Then it should go straight to the mortgage, I suppose.”

“Yeah,” Melody agreed. “I’d like to put everything we make on that debt if we can.”

“Hmm. I see your point,” Lissa said, “but let’s consider it another way. We took the loan to invest in Ice Queen Sportswear. It should be the business that pays it back, starting as soon as there is an income. Until then we’re writing checks on that account. I don’t think we should strap ourselves for living expenses in order to fund the business. We should put it in our household account and make sure that we don’t fall behind on things like maintenance, childcare, and food.”

“I’ve never seen anyone eat as much as you and Tony do,” Sandra said. “How do you pack so much away?”

“We put in two hours a day of intense physical training,” I said. “Lissa and I have a very similar metabolism.”

“Put the money in the food budget,” Kate said. “It’s so much fun to pretend to have a vote!”

“Well, since you don’t officially,” Melody said, “I’ll vote my share on your behalf. Not that it makes any difference. Anytime a solid argument is put forward that makes sense, we all agree.”

“Paradise?” Sandra asked. “You don’t have any insurmountable disagreements?”

“If we can’t agree, we adjourn the meeting to the hot tub and take up the matter there,” Lissa laughed. “Speaking of which, anyone interested tonight?”

“What? Get naked with the four of you? Sure!” Sandra said. “Except that I’ve got firsties coming in at seven o’clock tomorrow morning and I’d better go put up welcome posters and get my own room in order.”

“Need any help?” Kate asked.

“Could always use a hand,” Sandra said. “Want a lift?”

“Sure.”

Well, it doesn’t work all the time.