Page 71 of Sea Breezes at The Beach House Hotel

“Oh, my! Thank you! Thank you! You know we’ll pay it back, Rhonda, as soon as our house sale goes through in January,” said Nell. “Clint and I had a long talk about my doing this, and we’d already decided to put the house in my name only for right now because of Clint’s legal fight with the company. We also agreed it was only fair for me to have the chance to work out a deal on my own. He knows it’s an opportunity for the kids and us. He trusts me to handle the details. That’s important to me.”

“Give us the word, and Angie and I will round up some helpers,” said Liz. “Mom and Rhonda are paying for the house painters and the landscaping. We’re going to have a couple of painting parties with friends of ours that we’d like you to meet.”

“Wow! It sounds as if you’ve got everything worked out,” said Nell. “Rhonda, I’m going to fax you some papers, and when I get into town, I’ll sign the loan agreement.”

“That will work,” said Rhonda. “I can easily handle the money end of it. We’ll hire the lawyer to oversee the loan papers when he works on the sales agreement.”

“I like that we women are able and fortunate enough to make this work with elbow grease and a lot of luck,” I said.

“Thanks for everything. Love you all,” said Nell. “I’ll be arriving late this morning. Clint may have to stay until Christmas.”

Liz ended the call, and the four of us gazed at one another.

“I love our family,” said Liz. She glanced at Angie. “Meeting you as my roommate was the luckiest day ever.”

“Look at what’s happened to the four of us since then,” said Rhonda. “It’s too early for a cocktail, but how about another cup of coffee?”

“Hear! Hear!” said Angie. “And I brought Grandma DelMonte’s sugar cookies.”

“Oh, my! Who can resist those,” I said, hugging her. I loved our family too.