Thursday Nov 27

Bobbie woke up feeling a little guilty. She was taking Maddy over to Charlie’s to spend the day with June, Suzy and the babysitter Joanne. She hoped it wasn’t too soon after her little brush with homesickness during her sleepover there. Everything was still so new for Maddy. She probably hadn’t even really come to terms with her mom’s death. Yesterday, just before supper Maddy asked her if her Mommy was ever going to visit. It just about broke Bobbie’s heart. Bobbie also felt a little guilty for not mourning Etta’s death like a parent losing a child. She’d have to talk to Barb and Trixie about it later.

They ate and got dressed and ready for their day and they went down in the elevator. “I’m going to see Suzy”.

“That’s right Madd, you will see Suzy and Joanne and June and then after lunch all your other cousins will come home from school and before you know it, I’ll be there too.”

They were mostly quiet as they drove over. She gave Maddy another hat like the one she was wearing for Suzy and Maddy was excited to give it to her. They parked and Bobbie undid her seat and Maddy jumped out of the car and skipped up to the front door. Suzy pushed it open and stood there.

“Look Gramma made us hats; this one can be yours. They match.”

“Thank you Gramma.”

June called out for them to come in and close the door to keep the cold out. Bobbie went inside too.  She had a bag of Mini muffins she made for their snack later and she gave them to June. “June, I can’t thank you enough for taking Maddy for the day. I was wondering how you have been feeling lately?”

“Thanks for asking, I’m mostly over my morning sickness so that’s a relief. I’m just worried I’ll eat too many Christmas cookies. Maddy is no problem Bobbie, Suzy is so much happier when she’s here. Joanne does most of the heavy lifting anyway.”

When she was satisfied that everyone was settled in, Bobbie said goodbye and left to go to the condo development to meet with Trixie and Barb. She stopped on the way to get London Fogs and took the tray of drinks and some of her muffins for the meeting.

Hi Bobbie, we’ve got sort of an office in here. Thanks for the tea and muffins. We’re starting the meeting on a high note.

They sat down and Bobbie pulled out the muffins and used the drink tray as a plate. “So, I can’t thank you guys enough for sorting this all out for me. I’ve been trying to get Maddy comfortable and settled in. It’s such a big adjustment for her. She asked about her mum last night. I told her to think about her when she went to bed and she might see her in her dreams.”

Trixie frowned. “I was a little older than Maddy when my mom died but I would have liked Gramma to talk about her a little more. Actually, it was your dad that told me the most about her.”

“I have Etta’s photo albums and her lawyer gave me a box of letters that I’m to read or give her on her birthdays. I feel a little bad that I’m not mourning the loss of Etta more. She was my child.”

“Bobbie, you mourned the loss of your daughter most of your life.”

“I suppose. Off and on.”

Barb hugged her. “You are doing an amazing thing, taking care of Maddy the way you are. You have a lot on your plate though. You have to let us all help. Charlie and June love having her and Charlie said you pay for their babysitter anyway.”

“I know, but they didn’t sign up for this.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Don’t be silly Bobbie, Maddy isn’t that much of a burden. Now let’s talk about these condos of yours.”

They showed Bobbie the all notes that Townes left and the records of the builders and all the permits. “This is great guys. So, it’s all in order and we’re moving into phase three. You’ve done a lot of work. I should be paying you. I could give you a condo…”

Trixie patted her hand. “Don’t worry Bobbie I’m deducting my regular fee along with enough to pay Barb as an assistant.”

Bobbie laughed. “I should have known. I see there are notes here about some advanced sales of condos.”

“Yes, half your staff want to cash out their RRSP’s for a down payment on a condo.”

“Oh no, I wanted them to keep the money for retirement. It’s only been a year; surely, they don’t’ have enough money in those RRSPs. Can we loan them the down payment or something?”

“The Condos are a good investment. And it’s not really our business how they use the money. They will have plenty of time to save for retirement. Apparently, we pay them enough that they have some savings to add for the down payment. Effie wants a 2 bedroom one for herself and she’ll let Roger stay there as long as he works at the motel. Mark wants a 2 bedroom and Will wants a penthouse suite. I think Gary is helping. He helped Quinn and Ray with the farm.”

“Well, we helped Quinn and Ray with the farm too. Maybe we should give him a deal.”

“We helped them because of the Twins; Will is fine.”

“Oh, all right. I guess you’re earning your pay with all this Trixie. So Drey doesn’t want to buy a condo?”

“He hasn’t mentioned it. Not everyone wants to own property.”

“True, what about the business on the main floor?”

“The Cool Bean coffee guys want to set up a coffee shop. They want to be on an end unit to have a drive through component. I rented another space to an artist collective shop. And the Growers Collective farm people from the market want to set up a small independent grocery.”

“That’s cool; I was hoping the rent we collect from the business on the main floor can help us keep the condo fees low.”

Barb shook her head. “We are keeping this office and finishing the rooms back there as a small apartment where we think the building manager should live. The fees from the business owners will pay for the manager.

“Do we know who the building manager is?”

Barb and Trixie looked at each other. “Well, I’m going to interview a few people and hire one soon. On my TV program.”

“That’s wild Trixie, when is your first show.”

“I’m going to spotlight the Starlight Condos, so tomorrow, Aunt Bride is coming on so I can explain how to set up a small co-op sales business. And then the following week I’m going to interview three candidates for building manager to demonstrate how to interview and hire and all that.”

“It sounds a little like Squid Games or something.”

“They are not going to compete for the job, I have someone in mind, the other candidates are actors and I will explain that it is a simulation.”

Barb laughed. “I think Bobbie is on to something; you could have a contest and then when you pick the winner you can exclaim “YOU’RE HIRED!”