Dani grinned, then quickly sent him a reply assuring him that she had everything under control. The girls were doing great, and everyone was safe and sound. She wished him good luck in court and crossed her fingers that all their interactions could be conducted quickly and efficiently via text. As long as her boarders remained on the straight and narrow, maybe she wouldn’t ever need to have a face-to-face with the ex-cop.
Chapter 4
Although it was barely 10:00 a.m., the scent of sautéed peppers and onions drifted through the air. Dani inhaled the tantalizing aroma as she hummed along to “Come Rain or Come Shine,” which was playing softly on the kitchen’s sound system.
“You’ll never guess who is in my differential equations section.” Without waiting for Dani to respond, Ivy continued. “Regina Bourne. And she asked me to be in her study group.” Ivy beamed as she assembled the Grill Murrays, beef tenderloin sandwiches, destined for the lunch-to-go sacks. “She’s the first girl in the history of the Normalton University to be elected homecoming queen three years running.”
“Impressive.” Dani finished tossing a huge bowl of broccoli-and-cashew salad. “But is she good at math?”
Dani turned toward the enormous pan of seven layer bars and began to cut them into squares. She was glad that Ivy couldn’t see her concerned expression. The girl was a brilliant student, double majoring in economics and mathematics, but because she was always the youngest person in her class, she tended to be a tad naive. And Dani had a bad feeling that Regina might be taking advantage of her.
“Hmm. Hard to say,” Ivy mumbled around the handful of nuts she’d just thrown into her mouth. “Monday was the first day of class.”
“You might want to wait a bit to commit to a study group,” Dani cautioned as she finished with the dessert and started packing the lunches in her specially designed red-and-white bags. She offered two lunch choices per day—one indulgent and one healthy. The Grill Murray was the former. “You know, see who might be able to help you as much as you could help them.”
“But that’s the thing.” Ivy crossed to the sink and ran her hands under the tap. “I don’t need help with my studies. I need help with my social life, and that’s where Regina shines.”
“I see.” Dani nodded, impressed with her young friend’s perceptiveness. She was silent as she packaged the fresh fruit cups and oatmeal carmelitas, then said, “I guess as long as you’re both getting something from the relationship, there’s no need to worry. But remember that when you follow the masses, sometimes the m ends up being silent.”
“You are so not funny.” Ivy threw a broccoli stalk at Dani, then shook out a paper sack before placing the Fowling for U sandwich, a turkey sub with lemon basil hummus and balsamic onions, inside. “How many of each are we making?”
“Twenty-five healthy and forty indulgent.” Dani stifled a yawn. They’d started cooking at 6:00 a.m. She checked the time. Fifteen more minutes and the customers would start stopping by for the to-go lunches. “I’ve noticed that we run nearly two to one.”
“Not that your cooking isn’t totally worth it, but I’m a little shocked that students are willing to pay ten ninety-five,” Ivy commented.
“A fast-food lunch costs seven or eight bucks.” Dani opened the massive refrigerator and added the final batch of filled lunch sacks to the shelves. “And even my indulgent selection is way better for you than greasy fries and burgers.”
“Definitely.” Ivy nodded vigorously. “It’s awesome that you have the perfect location here. The house is midway between most of the student apartments and the NU campus.”
“And your idea to distribute flyers in those apartments was brilliant.” Dani grinned. “Especially since I had three serfs, I mean employees, to slide them under each and every door.”
Ivy hopped off her stool and stretched. “I’d better get into the shower if I’m going to make my noon AMALI class.”
“Amali?” Dani asked. The summer session had only started yesterday and she wasn’t familiar with all the girls’ courses yet.
“Asian, Middle Eastern, African, Latin American, or Indigenous cultures,” Ivy explained. “NU’s attempt at providing a politically correct, diverse education. Three hours are required for graduation.”
“What did you pick?” Dani tilted her head. Ivy wasn’t fond of studying anything that wasn’t related to math or business and usually tried to wiggle out of what she called “breathing for credit” courses.
“The only one that seemed even a tiny bit relevant to my future career was Japanese communicative strategies, so I took that.”
“Sounds fun,” Dani teased.
“I’m sure it’ll be fascinating,” Ivy said dryly. “But on the bright side, the professors who teach stuff like this are so afraid of hurting our itty-bitty self-concepts that they grade really easy and no one gets below a C. Which means as long as I sit in back, I can catch a nap if it gets too boring.” Ivy wiggled her fingers in farewell and dashed out of the kitchen.
Dani smiled and shook her head. Having Ivy, Tippi, and Starr as boarders wasn’t anywhere near as problematic as she’d feared. The three college girls were good kids, and she had to admit their rent eased a lot of her worry about starting a business versus taking one of the HR jobs that she’d been offered.
Between inheriting Mrs. Cook’s property and the girl’s payments, the amount she’d needed to borrow to start the company had been cut in half. She truly was fortunate.
Dani had found a picture of Geraldine Cook that appeared to have been taken ten or fifteen years prior to her death. In the photo, the seventyish
