#rivervale_lodge

"... exactly why I..."

then finally, "Dagmar? Can you hear me?" Jaymes says

A pause. "....yeah?"

"Come on down, honey, we'd like to talk to you, please" Tove says

She trudges downstairs, shoulders curled.

"Okay, your dad and I have been talking ..." Tove says, "I understand you got 70 bucks? from mowing?"

"And some from washing Vali's car."

"I could earn 600. That's, like, 30 lawns."

"20 if they're big ones."

"And Mrs. Bayless said I could come back!"

"Her yard looked like a lot of work" Tove says

She groans and nods. "Totally should have asked for more."

"Rain will kill a lot of your business in the next week" Jaymes says flatly. Something is bothering her dad, she's not sure what.

"Maybe. But... but if I make it, can I go? There's gonna be the whole roster of New York Liberty there, and the Rutgers team and their coach..."

"And this is important to you?" Jaymes says

"I wanted to show you I could earn money before I asked you..." She fidgets, and nervously chews on a knuckle.

"I could make all the money, it wouldn't coast you nuthin'..."

"I could do it. It won't be any burden at all, I promise."

"You're a good kid" he says , "And yes, you could do fine. I'm proud of your drive. But you shouldn't have to. And I'm sorry about that."

She fidgets. "Please let me try?"

Tove puts a hand on Jaymes' shoulder, "Actually, what your father and I agreed to is that if you got up to two hundred and twenty five dollars, we'd cover the rest."

Her eyes widen. "Really?"

Jaymes nods, "We figure between the three of us, we can do it. Now, understand, you have duties at the lodge, hyou agreed to those.. so try to find others to take your patrols for those two weeks."

She nods, fervent.

For such a solidly-built girl, right now she seems almost made out of spun sugar and air.

"And bad behavior can still kill this" He warns

"Yessir."

but he doesn't seem too stern as he says it

"Now,' He says "I don't want to mess this up, so let me know, what paper work do I have to sign for this?"

"There's a web site, and a scholarship form, and I gotta get Coach to sign it, too..."

"Okay, I'll need to know how to get to that sight, the URL... " He looks at Tove.

Tove nods "We can help you with that."

"Uh-huh..."

"Maybe... maybe Sally Mae can help?"

"We're not asking Sally Mae for money" Jaymes frowns.

"I don't think that's what she meant" Tove says

"With the paperwork?"

"Oh.. well, if need be," he says "Anyway...keep an eye on the weather reports it may hurt your business," a nod "But you've to a great start so you should hit that 225."

"I can work hard." She nods. "I'm not afraid of work. Not lazy."

At that, a bit of a smile, "Not one damn bit."

A nervous smile back.

Tove says "Must be something in the air around here then" She hugs them both, "We got this. WOuld you mind if your father and I asked around if anyone needed a lawn mowed? See if we dcould sort of advertise for you?"

She nods. "That'd be okay. I could maybe make some signs? With my cell phone number on them?"

"Not crazy about that..what if some weirdo tries something?" Her father says

"Oh... well, I'd kick his ass?"

"How about we set up a website with an email just for the business and advertise that?" Tove suggests

She herself does a lot of online business so...

Jaymes isn't convinced, but looks to Dagmar "What do you think?"

"Sure. So, like, I could get a catchy name..."

"If I was a boggan, I'd do a Samwise pun..."