Home in Carolina by Sherryl Woods

Author:Sherryl Woods
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: MIRA
Published: 2010-07-02T22:00:00+00:00

13

When Ty arrived at the spa for his first session with Annie, he was surprised and somewhat dismayed to find his mother still in her office.

“You’re working late,” he said, standing in the doorway. “You can’t do this, Mom. You’re going to wear yourself out. You need to leave here on time, get home and spend time with Jessica Lynn, Cole and your husband.”

Unsaid was the reminder that she wasn’t some young kid. She’d been in her early forties when she’d had Jessica Lynn and Cole. If Trevor could wear him out, there was no telling how exhausting those two must be for his mom. Not that he dared to say any of that. As tactless as he could sometimes be, even he knew that suggesting she was old was not smart.

“You’ve taken up handing out marital advice?” Maddie queried, looking amused.

“Sure,” he said, grinning. “It’s a lot easier when you have no real experience, I think.”

He studied her, genuinely worried by the exhaustion in her eyes. Maybe he needed to have a talk with Cal. Perhaps Cal could get her to ease up. “Why are you here so late, anyway?”

“Going over the books,” she admitted with a sigh. “It’s been a tough couple of months.”

Ty frowned. “Is the spa in financial trouble? I thought it was a roaring success.”

“It has been until recently, but you know how things have been with the economy. For a long time it’s been really tough out there. Women aren’t treating themselves to facials, massages and manicures the way they did when we first opened. The trainers aren’t as booked up, either. I think a lot of businesses are going to be slow to recover.”

“What do Helen and Dana Sue say?”

“That we’ll weather this. It’s not as if we’ve had to lay anyone off yet, but I’m feeling the pressure to be creative with how we allocate our money. And we decided not to expand and open another spa the way we’d been talking about. It’s just not the right time.”

“I could invest, if what you need is an infusion of cash,” he offered. “I’m still making more than I know what to do with.”

“I don’t want an investment, but there is one thing you could consider.” She handed him a computer printout. “Annie says this piece of equipment would be a help to you, but I can’t squeeze it out of our budget, not when we don’t have that many clients who need it.”

Ty barely glanced at the page. If Annie said it would help him, that was all he needed to hear. “Order it,” he told his mother. “Give me the bill when it comes in.”

“You sure? Just like that?”

He grinned at her caution. Ever since she and his dad had divorced, she’d been prudent about money. It was one of the reasons she’d made such an excellent manager for this business venture she’d gone into with Helen and Dana Sue. His mom could squeeze a dollar till it squealed. It was also why she and Cal did well, despite Cal’s modest salary as a teacher and coach.

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