Asher waved to Marcus for coffee. “So, did we get any confirmations from the choices?”
“I was just going to tell you,” Sienna chimed in from her side of the table, “I’ve received three confirmations and we’re waiting on the other two.”
“Which two?” I asked, piling fruit on my plate. “I didn’t think about if they don’t all agree. Will we need more back-up picks?”
“Not surprisingly, the two we’re waiting on are the two you added last night.” Sienna took some fruit as well. “The other girls had been pre-warned, so they had time to think about it.”
“In answer to your question about back-up picks,” Aunt Victoria said, “we’ll go back to the two women we picked.”
“Fair enough. When are we planning on doing this?” Asher buttered his toast. “Don’t forget, we need to get the huts completed first.”
“Good point, Ash. How much time do you think we need to finish? We have to hire on more staff and plan activities.”
“Don’t forget the ball at the end,” Aunt Victoria added. “Who’s going to run your activities?”
“No idea. I thought you could help me with that,” I suggested. “Where’s Murphy, by the way?”
“She wanted to sleep in, but I need her to get up so we can leave soon.” Aunt Victoria picked up her cell. “I’ll call her and, if that doesn’t do it, then we may need to send in the military.”
“Did she take sleeping pills?” Asher frowned. “If she did, then you will need a blow horn.”
“She may have. I know her sunburn was hurting.” Aunt Victoria looked at her cell. “She’s up-- no blowhorn needed.”
“Sure, she is. I’ll go wake her up for real.” Asher stood and headed for the upper level bedrooms.
“Oh, Asher, don’t get her angry. I’m the one that has to fly back with her,” Aunt Victoria called out to him.
We laughed listening to Asher laugh as he ran up the stairs.
“He’s going to get her mad, I just know it,” Aunt Victoria shook her head. “Sienna, what else do we need to go over?”
“I’d like a list of activities you want the women to take part in. They are my responsibility and liability while they’re here.” Sienna turned her laptop toward me. “I need your signature on the contract, then we can move on.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like my attorney to look this over first.” I flipped through a few pages on the touch screen.
“I already had the family attorneys look it over and make changes,” Aunt Victoria said. “You should look it over yourself, though, to be sure it says what you want.”
“That’s perfectly fine with me. I’ll email it to you now.” Sienna took the laptop back. “I think if you have the facility ready and the activities set and approved, then we should be able to do this in, maybe, two or three weeks.
“I don’t believe things will take that long on my end and I’d like to get to this sooner, but I will keep you updated,” I assured her. “If we can get it done, will you be able to move it up on your end?”
“I could make it happen in a week to ten days, earliest.” Sienna looked to her laptop screen. “A fourth girl just agreed.”
“Who can resist this face?” I joked.
“They haven’t seen your picture or been given your name,” Aunt Victoria added. “I thought it best to not have the Hawthorne name influence their decision.”
“Then, how did they say yes to this?” I asked, surprised. “Have they been told anything at all?”
“I’ll send you the bio your aunt put together.” Sienna clicked a few buttons.
“I got her up. Doesn’t she look so cute.” Asher pinched Murphy’s cheeks.
“Knock it off, Ash. You’re such a pain.” Murphy pushed him away. “I need coffee, then I‘ll be ready in, like, fifteen minutes.”
“The boat from the marina will be here in thirty minutes, so get your coffee and get ready,” Aunt Victoria ordered. “You look like a lobster, Murphy.”
“I definitely sat in the sun too long. You should have stopped me, Sawyer,” Murphy whined as she sipped her coffee. “It’s your island. You should have warned me.”
“Murphy, don’t be ridiculous. You’re a grown woman, you don’t need someone else telling you to stop laying in the sun,” Aunt Victoria scolded. “I’m going to tell you what to do now, though. Go get dressed or I’m leaving you here.”
“Fine, but I don’t know what I can wear over this sunburn,” Murphy growled as she left the room.
“You know, you need