Ruth Scofield - In God's Own Time

“I see.” She plumped another pillow behind her back. “What’s wrong, Clive? Isn’t Serenity as nice as the photos?” She spoke of the private resort property on an outer island that Clive had gone to investigate for the Neels Corporation, one of their oldest clients. She’d planned make the trip a month ago before her mother’s illness had sprung up.

“Nothing like that, Meg. The place is even lovelier, though it’s a little overpriced and needs a bit of updating.”

“No hidden swamps, sink holes, big-time hotels falling over the property line or anything?”

“No, that isn’t it.” He laughed at her penchant for looking for the worst possible feature of a location before working up to the best. “Serenity passes muster on all the check points. Flowers, sun and sea from all sides, just as promised.”

He launched into a discussion of the finer points of the conference resort he and Meg were recommending to the Neels corporation. “The only problem is the place is really too large for their needs at present and Lazarus Neels is jumpy about the price being over their heads. You know how he hates long-term debt”

“Old Lazarus putting on the breaks, is he?”

“A bit. Wish you’d talk to him, Meg. He seems to listen more closely to the positives when you do the presenting.”

“Did you remind him of the climb their company has made over the past three years?”

“Yes. And his daughter Jane did, too. She’s excited about buying Serenity and sees all the possibilities. But the old man remains overcautious. I tell you, Meg, if we don’t wrap this baby up in the next month, Lazarus will back out of the buy altogether.”

“But if they continue to go forward at their current rate, they’ll grow into it within the next three to five years without breaking a sweat. In which case, they’ll be very grateful to us for finding it for them.”

“I know, I know. Said all that. Sounds better coming from you.”

“Hmm. Perhaps we could suggest offering something to ease him into it.”

“Like what?”

“Like a time share for the first five years.”

“You’re kidding.”

Meg didn’t answer as she thought rapidly, tapping a pencil against a discarded magazine.

“You are kidding, aren’t you Meg? He’d never go for it. Times shares…” He sounded as though she’d said something disreputable with a nasty smell to it.

“Not the old kind where a corporation holds the strings, Clive. I’m thinking of time shares with another company—one, or at most, two other companies Neels would retain control over the property.”

“Something more like a lease?”

“Something in between, I think. If we find someone Lazarus respects, someone reliable, of course, with whom he’ll be comfortable. A mid-sized company, though smaller than Neels, would do it. It would give Neels all the right buttons. Prestige and all that.”

A long silence followed. “Just might work. Jane understands the potential of owning Serenity,” Clive enthused. “The idea of having their own conference and training center located where there’s sun, sand and water in a continually warm climate makes her feel they’ll have something, a place for learning and for holidays to entice their employees and clients alike to stay loyal to them.”

“Her instincts are right. Overall, a good choice I should think,” Meg agreed.

“But we have to convince the old man…”

Meg sighed. “All right. Will a phone call do it?”

“It may. But Lazarus plans to be in New York for the Lansing and Jonas meeting, and I thought—You know he likes you, Meg. Thinks you’re a ‘fine piece of womanhood.’”

“That old flirt,” Meg responded with a laugh. Then she pursed her mouth in thought while her usual excitement rose. This had been her package from the beginning, and she wanted to see it through. The best part of any deal was tracking it to a successful conclusion. Besides, it was unfair to put the Neels off any longer, or Clive, for that matter. He had his own accounts to see to.

Clive was still talking. “And since your mother is so much better, I’d hoped you might fly in for a face-to-face. It would only take a couple of days, Meg. I’m convinced you’re the one to cinch the deal.”

Meg rolled off her bed, reaching for a pad of paper from the side table, already thinking of a company in the north of England that might be interested in joining Neels in an island venture “Well, give me a day to make some arrangements here, okay? I’ll call you when I know I’ll be coming.”

Meg hung up, wondering how her mother would react to her leaving for a few days after promising her a whole month. Perhaps Sandy or one of her mother’s other friends would spend a few days with Audrey while she was gone. Two days should do it. Three at the most.

But there was a larger problem looming than what a mere two days could cover, and Meg hadn’t yet given much thought to the answers. She couldn’t stretch her leave of absence from work much longer than the month she’d asked for, yet the idea of leaving her mother to live entirely on her own again concerned her. She and Jack were Audrey’s only living relatives, and neither of them were within easy distance. Besides friends, who would be close by for her mother when she returned to England?

Perhaps it was time they found someone to share her mother’s house or else suggest her mother move in with Jack or Meg. Although Audrey wouldn’t welcome either suggestion, Meg was sure. Audrey loved her independence.

She made a note to talk with Jack and Kathy about the matter and closed her notebook.

But it wasn’t the problems surrounding her mother’s care or the usual excitement of finding all the components necessary to complete a business agreement that crowded her mind as she fell asleep later. No, she had no doubt those solutions would work themselves out with a little extra finesse on her part What made her heart flutter was the knowledge she would see Kelsey again in only a few hours. She wondered why that was still true after all these years, why she hadn’t fallen out of love with him. Or why she’d never found a man to supplant Kelsey’s place in her heart.

But she hadn’t, and that was that. Now she wondered what bothered him, what was on his mind. What did Kelsey need from her?

What if Lissa and Aimee had told him of their proposal?

She sat straight up in bed, wide-eyed, suddenly feeling overwhelmed with—not anxiety. Of course not. She was a grown woman and experienced in worldly attitudes. Such a small thing to cause a tizzy.

Her hands flew to her flushed cheeks, and she jerked them away, then dropped them into her lap.

Oh, what if they had. How mortifying! For her and for Kelsey.

Oh, Father, please, please don’t let either of us be embarrassed in this situation. The girls are so young and they haven’t a clue as to how I’ve felt all these years. Or Kelsey, either. Please, Lord, help me to think clearly in the morning and not hope for the impossible or…anything at all…or make an utter fool of myself.

She lay back down, curled on her side, with the sheet pulled up to her chin. Well, she’d just have to laugh it off. Surely she and Kelsey could share the joke together like the old friends they were.

They didn’t have to let it create a mountain of embarrassment.

Turning over, she punched her pillow. She’d wear her new buttercup yellow dress with the high waistline. It didn’t make her figure look much slimmer, but it went well with her coloring.

No—she’d wear the navy linen. She looked slimmer in it.

By eight the next morning, Meg had settled for a casual soft blue print skirt with a solid blue knit top to match her eyes. Betty Jean’s Café sat on a corner in the old part of town only two blocks from church. It boasted an old-fashioned family menu in a sixties setting Most of its customers came from long habit and loyalty. Meg slipped into the booth opposite Kelsey at exactly the appointed time.