Free Love Promises (Sully Point, Book 4) by Nicole Smith Page B

she said, moving to sit down in a
chair by the fireplace. "That child is determined to try my last nerve
tonight. She always seems to know when we're going to have company, I swear she
does. I can't ever get her to sleep on time on those nights."
    Maggie and Eric sat down on one of the couches
that faced each other.
    Cody glanced at his watch and stood up.
"Excuse me, guys. Need to finish off dinner."
    When Eric looked surprised, Julia smiled at him.
"I don't cook. Or let's put it this way--I'm a terrible cook. Cody, on the
other hand, is quite good at it. Learned from his father, and Frank is an
excellent chef. Cody decided to use the grill tonight, even though it's
freezing out on the deck. Steaks and sauteed mushrooms, along with his
delicious potatoes au gratin."
    "Sounds yummy," Maggie said. "Eric
cooks a bit, too."
    "Just a few dishes I learned from my mother
growing up. She always said I might need to impress a girl someday."
    "That sounds like Maggie. Don't you only know
how to make a few things?" Julia asked, handing them both glasses of wine.
    "Yeah. I never really focused on it."
    "So together, you sound like you'd make one
good cook."
    Maggie felt herself blushing, even as Julia smiled
at her. Eric took a sip of the wine and said, "That's really quite good.
I'm bringing the wine for Thanksgiving. I'm assuming the wine shop in town, the
one we visited yesterday, is the best place to go?"
    Julia nodded. "Yes. George and Al will fix
you up. They have a wonderful selection."
    Eric said, "Julia, I need to discuss
something with you. I want to provide computers to the people you guys are
helping at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I thought we might be able to get them
here by Christmas with some contacts I have, and with your help."
    Her dark blue eyes opened wide. "Computers!
Now why on earth didn't I think of that? What a marvelous idea. We already have
a database with information about the families who need the most in town. And
I'd bet that few of them have computers--maybe some crappy computers--but not
anything useful. I think you're right, that we could get them here by
Christmas, but only if we start immediately. Can you come down to my shop first
thing in the morning? We need to get the orders in now, before
Thanksgiving."
    "That's not very far away."
    "Well, they can get started on the orders. We
can put together my information with your contacts, Eric, and see what we come
up with," Julia said. "It's a wonderfully generous thing you'd be
doing. And it will make a difference in people's lives."
    "What will make a difference?" Cody
asked, taking off his jacket from being outside. "The steaks are resting,
so we should eat in about ten minutes."
    Julia told her husband about Eric's plan to gift
computers to needy families. Cody frowned. "I don't know if that's a good
idea."
    "What? Why not?" Julia asked.
    Cody took a glass of wine from the tray on the
coffee table and sat down on the couch across from Eric and Maggie. "You're
not considering people's pride or the fact that having everything given to you
is not the best way to go. Look, we do have families that are low income here
in Sully Point. But they are also proud people. Don't you remember Julia, the
first year we gave away presents to the kids? It was okay to drop off a box of
food, but the toys were too much. We had to meet with each set of parents.
These are proud people."
    Julia looked stricken. "I had forgotten.
But--computers, Cody. The kids in those homes deserve the same chance in life
as the other kids with more money. They need exposure to computers if they're
going to compete in this world."
    "I don't disagree. But maybe giving them, for
free, is not the answer."
    Eric looked thoughtful. Maggie knew that Cody had
not come easily into Julia's mountain of money. He'd been resistant as hell.
But it seemed like he'd learned how to use money, and that he had thought
through a lot of the issues around it.
    "What do you recommend?" Eric asked.
    "I can think