Rose of Sharon |Courting Trouble BK 2|

Chapter 17 (Part 2)

Katrina placed the last of the items to be auctioned in a box and brought them down to the ground floor. Everything was gone. She had left the bed though, the one thing that she could hold on to and her bedroom furniture that she would need in the next couple of weeks. Everything else was going out to an auction and with the proceeds that she got from that she would remodel the house to suit, her new tastes and evolving situation. For one, she was going to turn the room next door into a nursery. She would build an adjoining door in addition to fixing it. The nursery furniture she would make herself, at the workshop that is, that was running in back in her new country side home.

Yes...that cot would be perfect. She may have not used it as a child but she would make sure to complete in time for this baby to use. As the last of  the boxes left with the auction's crew men Katrina looked around and smiled at the empty space. An empty canvas that was waiting for her to fill in. What colours would she go with? She had always loved neutral colours but with baby now on the way she suddenly felt a need for a warmer atmosphere. Where black had reigned supreme she would fill it with earthen tones, with gold and soft colours that would appeal to their soul.

The foyer would definitely need to be yellow. A light soft yellow that would glow in the light of the huge crystal chandelier above her. The grilling would also be golden and the panels a rich honey that was closer to oak than it was to yellow. Yes, she could now see it. The citrus colours in the bathrooms, the cream and black kitchen, with the highlight of it all being the soft yellow, gold and black living room. It would be perfect just like her new shop now was with all those pastels that were now gracing its walls that were not covered with glass.

As she turned to walk back into her room, the door bell rang  and she moved back to open it.

"Alice?" She gasped in pleasant surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't I just drop in to say hi? Anyway where is my greeting?" Her stepmother beamed at her.

"Mom." Katrina laughed as she walked in to her waiting embrace, "but really what are you doing here. Does dad even know that you are here?" She asked as she stepped from their embrace.

"That old man? He doesn't faze me."she joked. "I was in town so I decided to drop by and say hi. Apparently, you are not as excited to see me and I see that you don't even have seat to offer me. What have you done or are doing with this place anyway?" She said taking in the emptied space.

"Mom...That's not the case." She laughed. "and it's not like you to sulk."

"What choice do I have when you up and leave and do not even bother to stay in touch?"  Her eyes were still roving and running all over the place.

"Did dad send you to spy on me?" This time, her eyes stopped their wondering and turned to face her, squinting as she thought hard on the question that Katrina had just asked her.

"I am sure he knows that I am here and hopes that I will pull some strings to his advantage but no, I have come here on my own terms and with a business proposition in tow. Anyway, where can we sit down and actually talk business?"

"Okay..." Katrina said taken aback by her sudden forwardness. "The lawn chairs are still there so we can use that." She said leading past the foyer and through a corridor that was hidden behind the staircase. "I hope that you don't mind being outdoors though. That's about all I can offer at this point." She added as she opened the door that was leading out into the backyard.

"No not at all. Any place will do for what I have to speak to you about. So, I went past the location and I love what you are doing with the place."

"You know about the place?" Katrina asked, surprised that her stepmother was familiar with the location for her new shop.

"Even without the benefit of your father's snooping and your grandmother's snitching I bet you, I could have found out all that on my own. Someone can just look up your website and find all the details. It is not like you are really doing a very serious job of keeping things private."

"No, I actually want people like you to find out."

"People like me?" Alice smiled.

"Grand mother told me. Congratulations by the way. When should I expect my baby brother or baby sister to come by?"

"Some few weeks after you I think. Actually that was one of the reasons I came by. I would like you to custom make a nursery set for this little one. The beddings too and tapestries. You make that too, don't you?"

"I do. I now have some seamstresses in addition to the carpenters so that can work marvelously."

"Great. The next thing I want to talk with you about is an investment. I know that you have just registered this as a small business and it is lovely that you are starting small. However I am sure that the orders turning into somewhat of a mountain that is impossible for you to keep track right?" Katrina nodded wondering where all this was leading to. " Anyway we were wondering, that is your grandmother and I, if you are willing to make it into a company.  We want to invest in you. Being business women and all we know a good venture when we see it."

"I am sure do and I appreciate it. However, what happened to me asking you two not to interfere?"

"I know we promised and that's why we are both willing to be silent partners. That is how much we believe in your dreams." She said as she handed her a dark folder. "As the eldest daughter, you are set to automatically inherit twenty percent of the companies assets that are now in trust with your grandmother. She is willing to give them to you now that you have shown initiative so you can have some say in the runnings of Maracheli industries." Alice told her.

"But won't that bring down her shares from sixty percent to just forty percent?"

"Exactly, so that means that neither your father or grandmother can make decisions about the company alone. Unless they team up together or loop you in to their cause that is." Alice smiled.

"And father is actually okay with all of this?"

"He doesn't know. Imagine his surprise when he finally finds out." She beamed, her smile growing more diabolical by the minute."You may not want to do anything about all this right now but the shares are already in your name so you can't really refuse. My investment on the other hand is really not a big deal. Compared to all these, it is just a very small part of all that she is now giving you. So, will you consider it?"