California Girls(91)

“There are some high-end items that should be locked up.”

“I trust my guys,” he said.

She looked into his dark eyes. “Yes, but it’s not just your guys back there. The public can wander around at will. I know you’re losing money from theft. You need to figure out how much.”

He handed her a sandwich. “Smart and beautiful. I’m one lucky guy. What else would you do differently around here?”

She gave herself a second to enjoy the compliment. Daniel was always generous with them and she was actually starting to think he might mean what he said.

“The concession stands need to be fixed up. They’re looking old and tired. A fresh coat of paint would help and maybe some new signage. Nothing fancy. Also, you have a ton of land out here and not all of it is chewed up by the tracks.”

“Chewed up?”

“You know what I mean. You have natural wilderness. This is LA. We love the outdoors.”

“You don’t.”

She smiled. “I tolerate it. My point is, you’re not making any money from the unused land.”

“What do you suggest?”

“Spend a couple thousand dollars to section off an area, put up some inexpensive fencing and rent it out.”

His brows drew together in confusion. “For what?”

“Weddings, parties, corporate retreats.” She felt her eyes widen. “Oh, wow. You should offer corporate bonding exercises. That would be a great way to grow the business. Corporations are always looking for stuff like that for their executive teams. It’s way more interesting to ride a bike than do some trust exercise. And you already have classrooms and decent bathrooms. They could make a day of it.”

He stared at her. “You’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“Not really. I’m just brainstorming. My point is your inventory control sucks and it’s costing you a lot of money. Fix that. Then we can talk about ways to grow the business. I think you could even have weddings up here.”

“The bikes are loud.”

“The bikes stop running around six. So all the weddings would start at seven. No biggie.”

“Ali, you’ve come up with a half dozen ideas in ten minutes. You’re good at this.”

“Thank you.” She waved her sandwich. “Oh, what about a Christmas village? You know with cute shops and reindeer and Santa.”

“No Christmas village.”

She slid onto his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. “You say that now, but I’ll bet I can convince you.”

“You probably can.” He kissed her. “The confidence is very sexy, just so you know.”

Confident? Her? She nearly laughed out loud only to realize she was feeling kind of confident. Inventory was her thing, so that wasn’t a surprise, but the rest of it had just come to her.

“You’re good for me,” he said right before he claimed her mouth with his.

As she kissed him back, she realized he was good for her, too.

*

Finola told herself she wasn’t going to faint. She’d had a protein drink a couple of hours ago and later tonight there would be actual food. She would be careful, though. After five days of no solid food, she didn’t want to get sick. That would hardly support the image she was presenting to the world.

She was buffed, spray-tanned and had endured a painful facial that had left her skin glowing. All that was left was for her to finish her makeup, then put on her gown.

Her mother stood in the doorway to her room. “I’d forgotten what it was like to get dressed up,” she said with a sigh. “So much work, but it’s worth it.” She crossed to the mirror over the dresser and studied herself. “Not that I would look like I used to.”

Finola put her hands on her mom’s shoulders and kissed her cheek. “You look great.” She paused. “Mom, are you dating?”

Mary Jo met her gaze in the mirror. “My goodness, no. Dating. At my age.”

“You’re in your fifties. You could live to ninety. Are you sure you want to be alone all that time?”

“I’m not alone. I have my girls and my friends.” She sighed. “Besides, love is complicated.”

Finola smiled. “It is, but sex can be easy.”

“Finola Louise!”

“Come on. You can’t tell me you don’t miss it. Find some nice man and take him for a test drive. You know what they say. Use it or lose it.”

They were still laughing when Zennie arrived. Finola saw that her sister had actually put on mascara and used hair product so her short cut was spiky. She carried a dress in a plastic garment bag.

Zennie and Mary Jo looked at each other for a second. Finola felt the rising tension in the room.

“Mom.”

Finola willed her mother to try to let it go.

“How are you feeling?” Mary Jo asked. “I never had morning sickness when I was pregnant, but I was an emotional mess. Show me a kitten and I would cry for hours.”

Zennie laughed. “That’s what I’m dealing with, too. Everything is drama and I can’t handle it.”

“Wait until your boobs start hurting. It goes away in a few weeks but until then, it’s like knives.”

“Thanks for the warning.”

They smiled at each other and Finola relaxed. While they chatted, she wrestled her way into shapewear, then slid on the Rachel Gilbert black-and-silver sequined gown. The sucker weighed several pounds, but she didn’t care. It was gorgeous and suited her. She wanted to make an entrance and photograph well—nothing else mattered.