the three of us could do the rest. Paint. Replace the kitchen tile . . .”
“Yes, yes. We’re on a roll.” Madison rubbed her palms together. She liked having a plan of action. She was at her best in motion. Brainstorming with her sisters was not the worst idea in the world. There was trouble at the Moonglow Inn, but there were also answers. Fingers crossed they could find them together. “Keep going.”
“What do we sell in the pop-up store?” Shelley asked. “What services can we offer?”
“I can offer my kites,” Gia said. “But my inventory is pretty small since they’re handmade.”
“That’s your livelihood.” Madison shook her head. “We can’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re putting in your own money to catch up on the back payments.” Gia fingered the woven bracelet at her wrist. “I can do this. Let me do this.”
“You’re just getting your business started. It’s not wise to deplete your inventory. You need something to live on.”
“I can give up my new apartment,” Gia said. “Move back in here. And I can let go my roommate who I hired to help run the kite shop part-time.”
“Ouch.” Madison winced.
“If you fire your assistant, then you’ll have to spend all your time at the kite store,” Shelley pointed out. “When would you have time for the renovations? Or your fiancé? Or finishing the quilt?”
“I’ll do it,” Darynda piped up. “I’ll run the kite store and free up Gia’s time.”
Madison looked at the elderly woman and shook her head. Darynda might be in great shape, but at her age, things could go wrong at the drop of a coin. Grammy, a case in point. “Not a good idea.”
“Madison,” Darynda said. “Let me do this . . . for Helen.”
“It’s too much to ask.”
“So only you get to make sacrifices?” Shelley launched in on her. “Only you get to martyr yourself for the cause?”
“I’m not . . .” Madison clamped her mouth shut. Shelley was just trying to get a rise out of her. “Fine. I accept your offers. Yes. We’ll put kites in our pop-up store. Yes, Darynda, please help Gia with the kite shop. Yes, Shelley, you can run the inn.”
Everyone stared at her.
Great. What had she done wrong this time? Madison resisted rolling her eyes. “That is, if it’s okay with you all.”
“It’s more than okay, Maddie. It’s nice that you’re letting us shoulder some of the burden.” Gia smiled, and it felt like a gift-wrapped package. “We feel useful.”
“Wow, is this really happening?” Shelley pulled an incredulous face. “The Moonglow sisters becoming a democracy? Never thought I’d see the day.”
“Watch it,” Madison said, feeling weirdly lighthearted. They were joking about it. That was positive. “I reserve veto rights.”
“I knew it was too good to be true,” Shelley mumbled.
“Baby steps,” Darynda said.
“Back to the pop-up store.” Madison motioned for Darynda to write it down. “I can make door wreaths to sell. People go crazy for my wreaths. It’s sort of a mystery to me why, but hey, if it works, it works. What about you, Shelley?”
“I suck at arts and crafts. The only reason I can quilt is because Grammy insisted I learn,” Shelley said.
“So, we make quilts.”
Gia looked alarmed. “How? There’s no time for quilting. Not in the midst of renovations.”
“If we got on it seriously, the three of us could crank out a quilt in a week,” Madison said.
“That’s assuming we work ten hours a day. A brutal pace.” Shelley wriggled all ten fingers. “Especially for these fingers. Remember how stiff your finger joints get when you quilt for too long without a break?”
“And what about my wedding quilt? We have to finish that for my wedding,” Gia said.
“The wedding quilt can wait.” It would suit Madison just fine if they never finished that damn quilt. “You’re not getting married until next September, right?”
Gia made a face.
“Right?” Madison repeated.
“We need to finish the wedding quilt for when Grammy wakes up.” Gia reached in her purse and pulled out the letter Grammy had written her.
Just Gia. Why hadn’t Grammy written a note to Madison? A pang punched her in the heart. “If Grammy wakes up,” Madison said.
“She will wake up.” Gia stubbornly set her jaw.
“She’ll understand that saving the inn is more important than finishing the wedding quilt,” Madison said firmly. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Shelley, is there anything else you can offer for the pop-up?”
“Yoga classes.”
Lame idea. There was no space for yoga classes in a pop-up store, but Madison