Key Of Valor - Key Trilogy 3 Part 28

"Very cla.s.sy," Malory agreed. "Maybe Brad will give Flynn lessons on how to prepare dinner for a woman."

"That's part of the problem. I'm the beer, burger, and station-wagon type. It was wonderful, absolutely wonderful, but the way a really good dream is."

"What's wrong with that?" Dana demanded.

"Nothing." Zoe puffed out her cheeks, slowly expelled air. "But I'm starting to get some very serious feelings about him."

"I repeat. What's wrong with that?"

"Let's see, where should I start? We're barely from the same planet. I'm trying to get a business started, which is going to involve every minute I can squeeze out of the day, and that's after raising Simon, for about the next ten years. I have three weeks left to find the last key to the Box of

Souls, and if we were playing Hot and Cold right now, I'd have frostbite on my a.s.s."

"You know, you never hear about people getting frostbite on the a.s.s," Dana commented. "I wonder why mat is."

She selected one of the fancy tins of tea she'd decided to carry and set it on a shelf of the rack. Turned her head this way, that way to critique its position.

"On a more serious note." Malory's voice was dry as she placed a hand-thrown bowl from her new stock on a shelf. "Neither the business nor Simon is a reason not to have a man in your life, if you're attracted to the man. If you believe he's a good man."

"Of course I'm attracted to him. A woman in a coma would be attracted to him. And he is a good man. I didn't want to believe he was, but he's a very good man."

Zoe put one of her scented candles on the shelf. "It would be less complicated if he wasn't. Then I could probably carve out just enough time for a hot, sweaty affair, and we'd both walk away from it without any regrets."

"Why are you already thinking about walking and regrets?" Malory asked her.

"I've had one constant in my life, and that's Simon. I've got another now, with both of you. They're both like miracles. I'm not banking on a third."

"And people call me pessimistic," Dana muttered. "Okay, here's an idea." She set another canister on the rack. "Consider Brad a big boy, so if you both decide to have that hot, sweaty affair, you're both responsible for the outcome. Oh, and don't forget to fill us in on all the deets. Next, remember that you may be up to bat for this round of the quest, but the three of us are still a team, which means you're not the only one courting frostbite at the moment."

"Good points," Malory agreed as she put a hand-painted tray on the rack, then nodded in approval at the apothecary bottle of hand lotion Zoe added. "I think it's time for an official meeting. We'll put six very good heads together and see what kind of storm we can come up with."

"Maybe it'll break the logjam in my head." Zoe added a dish of fancy soap, another candle, men stepped back as Malory set a long, slim vase and a pair of white porcelain candleholders on the rack.

"Not such a jam," Dana disagreed. "You're pursuing theories, thinking things through, lining things up. It's taking on form, like this rack. A little here, a little there, then you step back and look at the whole, see what needs to be added or adjusted."

"I hope so. Needs books," Zoe commented, with a nod toward the rack.

"First shipment next week." Dana moved beside her, rested an elbow on Zoe's shoulder. "Jeez, I know it's just a kitchen rack, but, d.a.m.n, it looks terrific."

"It looks like us." Pleased, Malory slid an arm around Zoe's waist. "And you know what's going to look even better? When people start buying."

UPSTAIRS, Zoe stood on the stepladder to hang the storage cabinets above her shampoo bowls. As she worked, she ticked through the ch.o.r.es she'd set for herself that week.

She needed to log some more time on the computer. Not only for research but to try her hand at designing the menu of services for the salon and day spa.

She wondered if she could get paper close to the same color as her trim. Something distinctive.

And she was going to have to decide, once and for all, on her prices. Did she undercut the rates of her compet.i.tor in town by a few dollars, or did she charge a few dollars more and make a reasonable profit?

She was using higher-end products than the other salon in town, and they cost more money. She was certainly offering her customers a more attractive atmosphere.

And the other salon didn't serve the customers-clients, she corrected, "clients" was more sophisticated. The other salon didn't serve its clients iced mineral water or cups of herbal tea as she planned to do. And it didn't give them a heated neck roll filled with relaxing herbs while they had their nails done.

She hung the cabinet, swiped her forearm over her brow, and started to back down the ladder.

"What a wonderful color."

Caught off guard, Zoe grabbed the ladder and stared down at Rowena.

"I didn't hear you..." Pop out of thin air?

"Sorry." Rowena's eyes danced as if she guessed Zoe's thoughts. "Malory and Dana told me to come right up. I've been downstairs admiring what you three have done. I wanted to see your s.p.a.ce. As I said, the colors are wonderful."

"I wanted them to be fun."

"You've succeeded. And what did I interrupt?"

"Oh, I was just finished. Storage cabinets, for shampoos, conditioners, that sort of thing. My shampoo bowls will go right here."

"Ah."

"And, well, the stations for the stylists." She gestured. "The stationary hair dryers over there, the reception counter, the waiting area. I'm going to put in a sofa, a couple of chairs, a padded bench. And that room that angles off down there, that's for nails. I ordered this heated ma.s.sage chair for what I'm calling the Indulgence Pedicure. The standard pedi will be good, but this one's going to be a knockout. It'll include-you couldn't possible care."

"On the contrary." Rowena wandered over to look at the area, then moved through to another room. "And this?"

"One of the treatment rooms. Ma.s.sages or facials. Across the hall's for the wraps. I'm going to offer a detoxifying wrap and a really terrific paraffin job. And I'm using the big bathroom for exfoliating treatments."

"It's very ambitious."

"I've been planning it in my head for a long time. It's hard to believe it's really happening. We plan to open by December first. Rowena, I haven't neglected the key. I just haven't figured it out."

"If it was easy, it wouldn't be important. You know that," Rowena added, giving Zoe an absentminded pat on the shoulder as she wandered back to the main salon. "None of this was easy."

"No, but it was just work. Step by step." She smiled a little as Rowena turned, lifted a brow. "Okay, I get it. Step by step."

'Tell me, how's your son?"

"Simon's fine. He's with a friend today. We had dinner at Bradley's last night."

"Did you? I'm sure that was enjoyable."

"I know there are things you can't tell me, but I'm going to ask anyway. It's not for me that I'm asking. I'm not afraid to take my lumps."

"No, I don't imagine you are. You've had plenty of them."

"No more than my share. I agreed to do this thing, just like Malory and Dana did. But Bradley didn't sign on. I want to know if something's making him have feelings for me, feelings I'm supposed to use to find the key."

Rowena stopped at a mirror, fussed with her hair in a timeless female gesture. "Why would you think that?"