Free Full Circle by Mona Ingram Page B

possibility of
romance. She sighed softly. In the space of a few hours her dreams had taken a
sharp turn in the other direction, and they didn’t include romance.
    It was what
she wanted...what she’d worked for ever since she left Willow Bend...wasn’t it?

Chapter Eight
    The two
friends sat on the porch after Rafael left, lost in thought. Sofia finally rose
and took a few weary steps toward the front door. She opened the door and
golden light spilled onto the porch. “Can you take tomorrow off?” she asked,
turning back to where Bella sat in the dark. “We need to talk, but too much has
happened and I can’t think straight.”
    “I was just
thinking the same thing. We can talk things over while I do some cutting.” She
glanced at her watch. “I’ll call Graham right now and tell him I won’t be in.”
    * * *
    “I’m probably
repeating myself” said Bella the next morning, “but everything has happened so
quickly it doesn’t seem real.”
    Sofia nodded.
She looked tired, worn down...not her usual bright, up-beat self. “It seems too
good to be true” she said, gathering the offcuts from Bella’s work and cutting
them into strips which would be made into scrunchies. “But we can’t deny the
fact that Rafa’s offer comes at the precise moment we need help.”
    “That’s true.”
Bella carefully laid the cut pieces aside and started to lay out more fabric.
“But I’m not sure if I want him as a partner.” She paused and looked over at
Sofia. “Does that sound crazy?”
    “Not at all.”
Sofia got up and helped Bella smooth out the layers of fabric. “From the way he
was talking, he’d want a legal agreement.” She smiled across the table. “Not
like us; we never even shook hands.”
    Bella smiled,
acknowledging their informal partnership. “True again, but then he’s talking
about taking this to a whole new level.”
    Sofia
frowned. “You’ve seen the figures recently. Do you think we could make enough
profit to support three partners?”
    Bella continued
to lay out pattern pieces, but there was an underlying current of excitement in
her response. “Yes. I think we could do very well.”
    “Hmmm. I’m
still not sure if I want a full partner, but without his money, we couldn’t
expand.” Sofia started to label and bundle the cut pattern pieces. “What if we
borrowed his money...all legally documented of course...and agreed to work with
him for a set period. I don’t know how long, a year maybe. He would have some
sort of a title and take a salary. After that time, if we all agree he could
buy in and become a full partner.”
    Bella looked
up, not trying to hide her surprise. “Boy, you’re more than just a pretty face,
aren’t you?”
    Sofia flushed
at the compliment. “Does it sound like something he’d consider?”
    Bella raised
her shoulders. “I don’t know, but it’s the best solution yet. Why don’t we see
what he says tonight?”
    * * *
    Rafael
listened to their proposal with a faint smile. Bella had wondered if he’d be
angry, but could detect no sign that they’d offended him.
    He held up a
hand when they’d finished. “Let me just think about this for a moment” he said,
then sat perfectly still, his eyes fixed on some distant point. When he finally
moved, he smiled. “I have to admit” he said, “I didn’t like the idea at first,
but it has merit. It gives us all a chance to see how this new arrangement is
going to work. The only thing I would like to change is your plan for me to
loan you the money.”
    Bella’s heart
sank. Was he going to make some sort of stipulation that would squelch the
deal?
    “We’ll draw
up a business plan, take it to the bank, and let them loan you the
money. I’ll guarantee it, of course. That way, if after a year we find that our
partnership isn’t working, you’ll have a track record with the bank and you
won’t lose your financial backing.” He stood up and held out his hand. “Ladies,
we have a