Amy's Dilemma. (Book 4 Of The Arlington Series) (complete )

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

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After arriving home Amy was first kept busy helping Adam and Ruth. Adam's parents had suggested that they switch houses. The little house just wasn't big enough for their growing family. Amy helped with the move and also helped Adam with the dairy, while Ruth, who was recuperating from child birth, took care of the four children with Beth's help. She herself kept her room in the main house and once the move was completed Adam put her to work reorganizing the dairy and farm accounts putting her education to good use. The system she put together made it a lot easier to see their income verses their expenses. This allowed them to put their money to better use and made the dairy and farm more profitable. When Benjamin and Delilah's baby was born she spent a lot of her free time with them because Delilah had a slow recovery. She got very close to her little nephew Benjamin Kurtis. She poured out all the love in heart she would have given to Jacob.

Soon Amy was doing the accounts for Benjamin's, Caleb's and Jasmine's businesses as well. Before long her reputation began to spread and she realized that she was going to be able to set up her own business. The question was where?

The question of where Amy would locate her business was soon resolved with very little effort. Benjamin allowed her to move into his Law office and turned a small storage room into an office for her use. He had some old filing cabinets and an old desk which Amy cleaned up and restored. She painted the room a pale mossy green and the file cabinets dark brown. The desk just needed polished and some new drawer pulls. Benjamin had the name of her business added below his on the front window. It now read: Benjamin Arlington: Attorney At Law and Arlington's Accounting. She was on her way.

As Amy's business grew she became increasingly busier. It was often well after dark when she got home. Her parents were very concerned that she was on the road alone so much at night. They wanted her to cut back but she knew that she couldn't if she wanted to succeed. Once again Benjamin came to the rescue. He suggested that she move into the apartment above their offices since Caleb and Jasmine had moved out into their new house. She jumped at it. It wasn't the solution her parents had in mind though and they tried to talk her out of it at first. She wouldn't budge. She told them that she was twenty-eight and it was time that she got a place of her own. They were a little angry at Benjamin at first but they came around when he helped them realize that she would no longer be driving home at night and the town was as safe and quiet a place as the farm. Besides they knew practically everyone there so she would be well looked after. If Amy had heard that last statement she would have punched Benjamin. It did the trick though.

Amy's parents helped her move her bedroom suite into the apartment. They also went shopping for some used furniture and with her brother's help moved it in as well. She already had the linens she had prepared in her hope chest. She didn't intend to use them until she got married but it didn't look like that was going to happen anytime soon, after all she had no prospects, and she needed them so she got them out. She also had some dishes her mother had helped her collect and she put them in the cupboards along with some pots and pans her mother had given her from her own stock.

On her first evening alone she sat in her living room and looked around with pride. Then it hit her. She was happy. When she first came back she missed Jacob so much that she didn't think she would ever get over him. But she had. In fact she wasn't sure when she ceased to think of him in that way or when hearing his name stopped bothering her. It didn't and that was all that mattered.

Amy settled into a routine. She had enough clients that she could pick and choose her work hours to suit herself so she didn't have to work so late into the night as she used to. She spent her free time hunting for things to decorate her apartment with like pictures and picture frames for family photos or visiting the homes of her different family members. She spoiled her many nephews and niece as well as her little cousins. In fact they often took turns having lunch with her on school days.

Another change came to her family. A dual complex at the edge of town became available so Caleb sold his old barbershop and used the money for a down payment so that he and Jasmine could set up their barbershop and beauty salon side by side. The family worked together decorating them.

Both shops had to be plumbed and have sinks installed. They both had hardwood flooring in good shape so they sealed them and put a heavy coat of wax on them for easy cleaning. At the back of each shop there was a small supply room. A door was put into the dividing wall between them and a laundry room with shelves for supplies was put in one and the other was made into a private bathroom.

The barbershop walls were painted white and pictures of barbershop scenes, which Caleb had collected and brought with him from his previous shop, were hung along the walls. The tools of his trade were arranged neatly on shelves in a corner where the barber chair was and a price chart with the different haircuts available was hanging on the wall above them. A couple of gleaming white cabinets contained his linens. The barber chair was covered in bright red vinyl and four red vinyl chairs were placed randomly around the room for waiting customers with small tables between them with a checker board on one and a chess board on the other. They mounted a magazine rack by the door. Caleb's Clip & Shave was painted in big bold red letters on the front window of his side.

The beauty salon walls were painted in a light pink rose. There were cabinets already there. They took them out and painted them white. When they were dry they put new hardware on them, the door handles and drawer pulls were gold roses, then they reinstalled them and packed them with Jasmine's supplies and linens. Her salon chair was deep rose vinyl with matching chairs installed under a couple of hair dryers. Similar chairs were placed against one wall for waiting customers. A couple of tables were placed at each end with magazines on them. There were magazines showing different hair styles and some showing the latest fashions and home decorating ideas. The latter were donated by Delilah. A long mirror framed with gilded gold flowers brought from her old shop was hung above the chairs as well as a mirror which was mounted on the wall behind her salon chair above the sink. The Gilded Rose Beauty Salon was painted in delicate gold script on the window on Jasmine's side. In no time the work was done and the shops were ready to open.

It was decided that they would have a grand opening day. A banner was strung across the front of each shop as well as a sign announcing that they were open. The family light heartedly argued over who would be the first customer in each shop. They decided that Caleb and Jasmine would each draw a name out of a hat. Caleb drew Seth's name, so he got a free haircut and shave. Jasmine drew Amy's and she got a free shampoo, haircut, and style. Unbeknownst to Amy all the women wrote her name on their slip and put it in the hat. They felt she deserved to be the first because of all the hard work she had done for everyone. After that appointments were made and it looked as though everyone in town hadn't had a haircut in ages. Of course it was mainly curiosity over the new shops that drew them in. They both hoped things would slow down to a nice steady flow instead of this flood.

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Author's Note: Singleness often has its rewards.

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