LITMIR.BIZ

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door. “What about our parishioners?”

      She kissed him on the cheek. “I have to go. We can talk about it later.”

      ***

      Morris Banks stood and reread a thick file while he waited in Lyza’s office. She’s not going to like these numbers, but she has to know. How this conglomerate will ever recover from Leesa’s mismanagement is beyond me. Lyza’s got a family; she’s got distractions. Her heart seems to be in the right place, but it takes more than that to run an international business.

      Lyza rushed in. “Good morning, Morris. Sorry I’m late.”

      Morris stepped out of her way. “No problem. I brought the numbers you asked for yesterday.”

      She sat behind her desk. “What’s the bad news?”

      He smiled. “I guess you already know. The past few months, we’ve lost a lot of money. We’re still solvent, but we have to plug some gaping holes, where dollars are pouring out at an alarming rate.”

      She motioned for him to hand her his file folder. “Show me the problem areas.”

      He handed it over. “One problem is the number of people leaving the ship. We announced the five percent raise and offer to those who have recently left. In a few days, we should know the response. Everything I’ve heard from my ranks is positive, so I think that may have stopped the loss of experienced personnel.”

      Lyza looked up. “That’s good news.”

      Morris rubbed his chin. “A few projects cost way too much to keep. Before I tell you the bad news about your project in Switzerland, let me just tell you that the oil production in Australia has exceeded all expectations.”

      Lyza looked him in the eye. “Now tell me the bad news.”

      Morris pointed at a line on the sheet Lyza had taken out of the folder. “This was your project, and your father wanted it to be a great success, but it’s costing way more than it’s making. The ski resort at Zermatt has to go.”

      Lyza didn’t bat an eye. “All right. It’s gone. What else?”

      Morris pointed at another line on the page. “Well, another loser right now is Kramer’s Island. I know that’s Leesa’s answer to Disneyland, but since the roller coaster accident, it’s losing money.”

      Lyza slumped in her chair. “That amusement park was Leesa’s dream. She loved working on it, developing it. You know she did everything from the ground up.”

      Morris shrugged. “Well, it’s more money down the drain.”

      Lyza handed the folder back to Morris. “I’ll think about it. What else?”

      Morris leafed through the folder. “There are twenty projects we can abandon, sell, or stop production.”

      Lyza leaned forward. “Let’s get the directors together. We’ll make decisions by the end of today—that is, all except for Kramer’s Island. That one stays.”

      Morris stepped back. “Really? Of course, it’s your call.”

      Lyza stood. “I know, Morris. I want to take advice, but I feel I must keep Kramer’s Island. Leesa will be back, and she would never forgive me if that one went. In fact, in the interest of Levi Lane, I feel it would be best to sign Kramer’s Island over to her personally.”

      Morris started for the door. “That would make her personally liable for any expenses.”

      Lyza folded her arms. “Then we can make it effective in five years. She should have it off the ground way before then. If she wants to take over sooner, so be it. After all, it made money before the accident. It’s just a matter of time before it’s up to speed.”

      Morris opened the door to leave. “Okay, I’ll get directors together with advisors and report back to you.”

      Lyza stopped him. “Morris, as of today, corporate jets are grounded until further notice. That’s one expense we can cut right now.”

      Morris blinked. “All of them are booked solid this week.” Grounding corporate jets for just the rest of us, I’m sure.

      “We can fly commercial. One other thing—be sure Bill is in on everything that’s going on. He was Father’s right-hand man, and he’s been here from the beginning. Don’t underestimate him. Stop by and talk with him on your way out.”

      Morris took that as his cue to leave and stepped into the hall. “Thanks for your time. I believe you’re on the right track. I must confess I was worried when I heard you were coming back.” She said ‘we’ can fly commercial. I’ve always trusted Bill. It’s a relief that she’s relying on him, too.

      She laughed. “I don’t blame you.”

      He stopped. “You’ve changed, Lyza. And it’s more than maturity.”

      She smiled. “Oh, yes. It’s much more.”

      Marriage must agree with her.

      Chapter Five

      Leesa couldn’t get away from Kayla.

      “Come on, girl. When you gonna loosen up? We been doin’ this all week, and you still not talking to me?”

      When will this woman leave me alone? What do I have to do to make it clear I don’t want her so-called pain killers? Leesa stabbed the white piece of paper into the grass with her stake. “I’m here to work out my community service. I don’t want any trouble.” She glanced around to see Joe handing out plastic bags from the back of the van.

      He caught her eye and yelled, “What are you two talking about over there? Get to work, or I’ll write you up.”

      Leesa searched the ground for more trash as Kayla moved away. If that woman gets me into trouble, I might have to be here next week, too. Cook said that Aaron told her next week I could be lucky and pull office work at the rescue mission. Leesa wiped the sweat off her forehead. I don’t want the woman to be an enemy. She could beat me into a puddle in a matter of seconds. If I ever get off this crew, I hope I never see her again.

      Joe motioned the women to come to the van. “We’re quitting early. You have a class on safe driving for the rest of the afternoon. Everyone get in the van. We’re going to the courthouse for your class.”

      Leesa looked forward to the air conditioning. As the sweat dried, she felt dirty. If she could just wash up, she would feel better. But that’s not going to happen.

      Thirty minutes later, they pulled up to the courthouse. Officers met the van and escorted them to the fourth floor classroom. Leesa looked at the floor all the way, afraid she might see someone she knew. Her hair stuck to her scalp. She felt grit all over her, and she could smell herself. Disgusting. I’m disgusting. I just have to get through this afternoon, and hopefully Aaron got me a better community service job.

      The hot and sweaty group of workers walked into a room already filled with people who looked clean and smelled good. Obviously they didn’t get the cleanup job. She looked around the room for an inconspicuous place to sit. Officers led them to the front row, indicating their seats: front and center.

      Officer Johnson looked to be in his late forties. At five foot ten, he had gray hair and mustache with a scar across his chin. “You’re here for mandatory driving instruction. Today you’ll watch a forty-five minute video and then take a test. If you pass the test, you will have fulfilled your required classroom time. However, if you fail the test, you will come back until you pass. Everyone understand?”

      He pressed the ‘pause’ button on the remote and strode with a definite swagger to the back of the room. “All right, now watch. No distractions, or we’ll pull you out of class for the day and you will have to return.”

      “Now watch the screen.” Officer Johnson pushed the ‘play’ button.

      Leesa leaned

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