Book Two

ChapterTwo

“Really, that’ll be the only business in town that does that. Does she do orders? Like, if I ask her to carve something?”

“Yes, she does. You can either bring her a rock of your choice, or you can let her choose.”

“I have the perfect rock. Does she need a sign for the shop as well?”

“Yes, I believe so.”

“I will get in touch with her. Offer her a deal. For a discount on a sign.”

“I don’t remember her number. But I can tell you she has talent. She is in the wedding on Sunday; you could talk to her then.”

“Do you want the truck signs to be simple? Or like her sign is going to be.”

“I think the same. I would like to pay in advance.”

“Two signs per truck is what most people do. The Average size is eighteen by twenty-four. Those are sixty dollars each, including tax, plus I gave you a discount because you are ordering four. So, the total would be two hundred and forty dollars even.”

“Are you allowed to accept tips?”

“We are. Here we share tips as we all work as a team.”

They had budgeted four hundred dollars for signs. So, because he was bringing her daughter business, she decided to spend the whole thing. The rest would be a tip. “Ok, I want you to charge the card I’m using four hundred dollars. Take the two forty off the top, the rest goes as a tip to be shared.”

“Understood, Ma’am”. May I ask why, ma’am?”

“Sure. You are bringing my daughter business, and if you tell everyone why there is such a large tip. They might decide to bring her business. She just needs a rock. The customer can pick it out, or she can. There is a rock store in the pack. That’s why, sir.”

“Yes, ma’am. There will be a sample of her work at the wedding. It’s the cake topper.” “Yes, ma’am. May I get that card number? As per company policy, you will not be charged till work has started. Which will be Monday. If your daughter has a design in mind, tell her to bring it.”

“Not a problem. Here is the number of the card.” May read off the numbers he needed, and then they hung up.

Jim said, “That was very generous. Why so big a tip?”

“Because he is bringing my daughter business. They share tips. So, I saw it as an investment in her business. She is a very talented carver. There will be an example at the wedding. It is the cake topper. Made from stone.”

Just then, Jim’s manager came in. May woke up George. “Sir, ma’am, if you want to come back in a few hours, you may take the truck.”

“We will come back after school lets out as the owner is on her last day of school.”

“Yes, sir. Did you get your signs ordered?”

George looked at May, and she responded with, “Yes. I gave them a big tip because they shared the tip. He tells them why we gave such a high tip. More business for my daughter.

“Ma’am, may I ask what she does?”

“She’s a healing carver. She carves and is very talented.” With that, she and George got up and left. They would get insurance when Ni was with them. So, they went back to the pack house. George had told Danny to meet them in the dining room so they could catch up.

While his in-laws were at the dealership and doing their thing. He was meeting up with the alpha. When was finally called in. He bowed and said, “Alpha, thank you for seeing me. I wanted to talk to you about housing for Niomi and me.”

“Your wedding isn’t for a while, though. Why ask now?” Ben asked. “And call me Ben, it’ll make things so much easier. This isn’t formal, so don’t like using formal titles.”

“Ok, Ben, you know how Niomi is opening a business in Felicia’s old house? Felicia even gave her title. So, if she wanted to do anything to the house, Niomi could without any questions. What we want to do is build our house in the back. We had Goldie draw it up because, as Niomi said, she’s got mad drawing skills. So, she helped bring what we were picturing out of our heads. Here’s the plan. When he saw the rooms. He saw a pen on the desk and said, " May I?” Ben nodded. Danny continued. So, kitchen here. Dining table here. The living room will be something else. Maybe some kind of waiting area. We haven’t totally decided. It was a showroom, but some things happened so that the area feels different. But there’s a bathroom over here. Stairs are here, but to finish the first floor, these sliding glass doors become Solid oak, with a sign that says private. Now we have our room here. Hallway to include two bedrooms and two kids’ rooms. Spiral stairs at the end of the hall. Up to the living room. On the upper floor.” He continued as he flipped the page over. “This room here is her workroom, no door between the two. Next to the workroom is still an office, but it’s my office. Bathroom here, this room here, the storage room is to be her meditation room. I was going to ask you to give us this house instead.”

“It’s very practical. I like practical. There’s one thing I’d change. Put your bedroom here. With a bathroom. You can put the door to your bedroom here. Then you have two choices. One uses the spiral staircase here. Or put a real staircase here, widen the hallway, and put your three rooms here. Living room here with a sliding glass door. Out into the back yard. Because if we’re removing trees anyway, we might as well give you enough space for kids to play, and because of the way the backyard is due to the house. It’s a private yard. We’ll repurpose the trees we cut down to use on your house. We’ll put a sliding glass door here with a porch.”

“How big of a back yard? Big enough for a seating area and a fire pit above ground, one of course wouldn’t want to hurt the forest the Goddess has given us.” Danny sincerely.

 “That could be doable, especially for one of our healers. Does she have signs?”

“May and George are taking care of that.” They plan on moving her in before the rehearsal. Oh, May asked me to check the time on that?”

“7:30 pm, dinner will be before instead of after. You are all to sit together. There will be a long-reserved table at the front. Will you be moving in before you marry?” asked Ben.

“No. Not to my knowledge,” replied Danny.

Just then, Lissa walked in. “Hello, gentlemen. I hear there are plans for a possible house to be a shop?”

“Yes, dear. We have completed the plan. Changed a few things, not too much. And negotiated. He sold me a couple of extras. Which I need to add on. “

“Very smart, Danny, that will help in Business. Have you chosen a school to get your MBA? You are a natural. To help you two, we will give you a scholarship. May tells me you two are going to be perfect together. Mates, married couples, and partners. She’s ordered the signs. Ben Niomi wants to take the GED. As she doesn’t need more schooling for what she’s doing. Also, I think we need to start on this house right away. Like Monday. Obviously, this weekend is out. Don’t you think?”

Ben thought for a minute and said, for something like the GED, as they are moving Niomi starting today and into tomorrow, up until dinner. But the building can start as soon as we get this to our builders.”

“Is this finalized?” asked Lissa.

“Messy, but yes,” Ben replied sheepishly.

Lissa looked at it and raised an eyebrow. “Good thing I can understand messy. How much yardage are we removing?”

“Well, I hadn’t figured that out. Here’s the map. It sounds like you are getting it started. Maybe you and the head builder can figure it out. They want a backyard plus a patio in the back for a fire pit and seating. He’s looking for above ground. So, the forest is still protected. I’ll tell the builder, He’ll know what to do. These are rooms for pups.” Danny nodded. “Got it. Leave it to your Luna. Ben, help him pick a college. Either something close or online.” She said as she left the room.

“Boy, when she decides to take control of something, she does.” Ben half-whispered.

“I heard that!”

Ben cowered, and Danny laughed. With that, they started to look at colleges. They decided online would be best. They found the best one and enrolled him right away. His start date was the next week as they made it just under the wire. Danny stood up and said, “Thank you, Alpha Ben. I need to go meet my in-laws. What should I tell them about the GED?”

Tell them. She can take it whenever. Tonight, Tomorrow, or Monday. Sunday is obviously an off day for everyone, as people will be getting ready for the wedding. If you want to stop by Luna’s office and check on a possible finish date, you may. But link the in-laws first.”

Danny nodded and did that. “George, I’m on my way but need to stop by Luna’s office, and I’ll be right there.”

“Ok, we’re waiting,” George responded.

Danny walked in and found Luna and a man in a construction outfit looking over a map. The plans had been redrawn. Lissa said, “Perfect, I was hoping you’d stop in. We have a couple of questions.”

The head builder looked at him and said, “Hello, you must be Danny. I’m Harry. Now, how big do you want the living room?”

“Same as the one in the current house. Do you make all the bedrooms and rooms about the same size?” Danny asked.

“For the most part. Do you want a storage area or shelves under the stairs?”

“I think Shelves. For books. Then, do the average sizes of rooms. We like the master bed and bath that’s in the current house, and by that I mean size. The three rooms off the hall can be ten by ten. As kids will be sharing that one bathroom, or whatever size you do those middle bathrooms for. I just realized we didn’t put windows in. Someone got a pencil?” the builder handed his over. Danny marked the sliding glass door, patio, firepit, and backyard. Then he marked windows, two on the one wall of the living room. One big one in each of the bedrooms. High windows in the bathroom. A window at the end of the hall, and then he flipped the paper over. Added a window at the top of the landing. As the other side was facing a wall. Then erased the window on the wall and added a skylight. The next room was theirs. “Where will the fireplace go? Because that decides where we put the bed. I want the bed across from the fireplace.”

Harry pointed to a spot on the wall that made the most sense that wasn’t across from the door. So, Danny marked that fireplace. Drew a square and wrote bed. Looking at Harry saying, “for my reference for drawing the rest of the placement of things.” Harry nodded. Danny continued. He drew another window on the wall to one side of the bed. “Bathroom?” Again, Harry pointed near where the downstairs bathroom was. Which wasn’t too far from the fireplace. Which would be nice. He decided that someplace where his wife could soak her muscles after carving would be good, so he added a large tub at one end. A standing shower, double sinks. And a skylight so they could look at the stars or the moon. Made an arrow and wrote inset lights. Looked at Harry again and asked, “Are fans standard in the bathrooms for steam, I mean?” Again, Harry nodded. Danny moved back to the bedroom. Decided that the walk-in closet could be over the one bedroom and part of the hallway. “Is this ok, Harry?”

Harry replied, “We’ll have to make it match the bottom, but that might be good for the lady to have her vanity. We could make this side perfect for your wife. I’ve already noticed some of the things you’ve thought of for her. Skylight over the large tub that she can soak in. I see where you are going with this, sir. I have a wife and a mate myself. I give you my word. I will build this room with every consideration I’d give my wife. I noticed no offices, sir.”

“Only I will have an office, and that’s next to the big room here. She has a meditation room here.”

“Sir, I’d like to put a fireplace in your office. You’ve barely thought of yourself. I can see how much you love your mate. Her meditation space, there’s already a window, but would you like a skylight there too? So that moonlight can enter if she’s meditating while the moon is up?”

“That Harry is a great idea. Alpha wants you to repurpose the trees that will have to come down to help build the house.”

“Yes, sir. If that is all we’ll get started on this now. Can you link me an estimated time of when you’ll be done. She’s moving in this weekend. But she’ll be sleeping in my office.”

“We’ll get the fireplace done there first. Seeing that’s the only change in the main house. I’ve already linked my team, and they are already on their way over there. I’ve got another crew starting to take down the trees. Another readying this door here and putting up a cover to keep dust out. I will head over as soon as we’re done here.”

“I trust you Harry. I think you get what my vision is. And I appreciate the fireplace. My soon to be wife is the stone carver.”

Harry nodded and said, “Understood sir. If I have any questions I’ll link you. But the fireplace will be done by either tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest.”

“Thank you Harry looking forward to seeing your handiwork.” Danny said shaking the man’s hand. He passed George and May.

“Very good, Danny, you handled that very well. Let me go with you to talk to George and May. Did you get a college picked out?”

“Yes, I’m enrolled online and start next week. Alpha said she could take the test whenever.” Danny replied.

At that moment, they arrived at the place where George and May were. George is sleeping, and May is making notes about things that her daughter would need and what they could give up. She looked up and saw them sitting down. “Luna, it’s nice of you to join us. I swear this man can sleep anywhere if there isn’t something to do.” May laughed. “But we don’t really need his input. “George! Do you want to know what’s going on? And maybe have an input on things?”

“You got this right, May? Remember, today is her last day of school.”

“Yes, George, I know. Just go. I’ve got this.” May said, rolling her eyes.

“Ok. If you’re sure.” George said. Then May gave him a look, and he stayed awake and took part.

May started. “We have bought her a new silver truck. I’ve ordered signs for both trucks. They are magnetic, so if you must get a new one at some point. You can just move the sign. They are also going to do the business sign. She just needs to bring the design with her on Sunday. I’ve also got some business for her. The guys at the sign place share tips, so I spent all four hundred with only two forty on the signs for the trucks. I believe they want to trade labor for labor for the business sign, if that is ok with you, Danny. I’m ok with that. I think Ni will be happy too. The dealership manager said it should be ready in a few hours, right dear?”

“Yes, he said he’d mind link me when it was ready. The truck will be in her name. So, we need her when we pick it up. She’s driven some. She knows, but has just not a lot of experience. But when she’s driven with me as I’ve been preparing for this day. She’s not a crazy driver.”

“Ben has said she may take the GED whenever. Today, if she wanted. You could even pull her out of school, get the truck, and then come here. Take the practice test and test while Danny and you all move things. I’ll even get Chris and Joe to help. I believe they are free today.”

May looked worried. “May don’t worry, honey. She’s finishing school today anyway. Taking the GED is like graduating anyway.” George comforted his wife. She just nodded. “We will have to get insurance for her, too.”

“We can have the agent meet you here. Get it done, and then she can go to Alpha’s office.” Lissa said. George, May, and Danny nodded.

Danny said, “My turn. Here is the reason you beat me….” Suddenly, he got a link from Harry.

“Danny? Harry here. We should be done in two weeks, most likely. We’ll get the frame and everything like that done that way. If it is raining, we can still work on the inside. Oh, and the fireplace is almost done. There’s one crew building the chimney and one crew doing the inside part. This should be done by this evening. We saw the space where the old desk was. So, we put it behind the desk.”

“Thanks, Harry, I’ll let the family know.” And the mind link cut off. “As I was saying. You beat me here because Alpha Ben liked my proposal and even suggested a couple of changes, and I was able to sell him on extras we hadn’t planned on. It all went through; in fact, that link was from Harry, the head builder. He said done in two weeks tops. He saw how much I was putting in for Ni, and he wanted to put a fireplace in the office for me, which should be done this evening, as I had told him she was moving in before the wedding and wanted to be all moved in by dinner tomorrow. So, he said he’d get the fireplace done first. Get things cleaned up. I guess they have a crew for that. He’s got a bunch of guys and women, too, I guess, working on this. The backyard will be private because of how the house is. Which will be nice. We went over each room. That’s the other reason I took so long. The trees that are coming down are going to be repurposed into the house. No tree will go to waste. They are going to take down the door and place a cover over it. So that no dust goes into the main part of the house. As far as my MBA, I have enrolled online, and the program has given me a scholarship to attend. I will also start next week, as we just got in under the wire. I think that’s all I got. Did I miss anything, Luna?”