The tiny castings of torsos were interesting. Alex had made models based on himself, Mary and Heather. They showed them to the group.
“Nice. These are plastic?” Saul asked.
“Yeah. We can get them in gold-filled, 14-karat and 18-karat.”
“I made them this size as drop earrings,” Heather said. “A little smaller, they´d be good ear studs, but you lose detail. Make them bigger, you´ve got a pendant. We really wanted to see if they worked at all.”
“This full-length one of Mary is very good. Did you do one of Anne?”
“No, we could only get so much out of them as samples. Actually, we could use the moulds of these samples for production, up to a point.
Will said, “My only objection is that they are just made from a computer image. I don´t think you did much work on them, did you?”
“You mean to give them some extension or so the light would enhance the detail. No, we didn´t and I can do some of that, but there´s a limit. The moulds are pretty precise, but you´re talking tolerances they can´t hold yet,” Alex said.
Heather said, “You´ll see, Will, that the computer can do what you´re looking for. On this, I´m limited by what the medium I´m creating for can do.”
“Will, these are really for the campus market,” Saul pointed out. “I agree they aren´t art by our usual standards, but they also are erotic and still in good taste, which the other stuff in the market is not. I think we should bend a little. Anne, what do you think? The market for this is mainly women.”
“I say, let´s order a few in gold-filled for the campus market, and put them in the catalogs as available in 14- and 18-karat. See what happens. Also, let´s go with the one of Mary for now, we´ll do one of me if it takes off.”
“Anne, why not sell the earrings by the each?” suggested Tom. “Some people might want to mix and match.”
“Good. We´ll do it. Heather, let´s see your beef cake.”
“I protest your sexist, derogatory remarks.” Saul said, with a smile.
“You´re right. Heather, male Life Studies. What you got?”
Heather handed around sheets of drawing paper with reproductions of original Life Studies of Anne and Mary, and with similar studies she had done of the four men.
Will looked at them critically. “I can see the differences between the copies of my drawings and your graphics, Heather, but it´s hard to spot. This is nice work; I take back everything I said when I was looking at the castings. You were right. And the copies of the Life Studies look good, too. Do you have an original handy, Alex?”
“Here. I didn´t give it to you right away because you wouldn´t ever see them together anyway. If the copies are good enough, it doesn´t matter if they are a little different.”
“Right. Yes, I like these. Anyone have a reason we shouldn´t try and sell them?”
“I think the sooner we get them out the better,” said Saul. “How are we doing with the stationery?”
“Good,” said Alex. We´re starting to get repeat orders now. And the catalog sales are pretty good, only we really need a way to get onto other campuses.”
Tom said, “That shouldn´t be hard, we´ve got the Life Study images, we control those. The problem will be the local capture business for stationery. Quality control and making sure we don´t get some dealer who uses the originals for blackmail.”
“I could build something into the software that deletes the image when you print. No archiving,” Alex said.
“Or, we can set it up to save only on our own server,” said Tom.
“We can do that?” Saul asked.
“Sure. Not too difficult,” said Tom.
“Have to look into it,” said Alex.
Sigrid said, “Okay, we´ve settled the easy stuff. Tell me what to do with profits before I leave for Brazil.”
“You won´t get far on two hundred dollars.”
“Try me.”
The phone rang, Saul answered. “Hi, Dad, right on time. I´ll put you on the speaker. Guys, I talked to Dad about the profits thing. He knows we have a business meeting Fridays, so he said he´d call.”
“Hi, everyone. Is Heather there?”
“Yes, Harry.”
“Heather, I love you as Ceres. We´ve got all four pictures up in the living room. As soon as Alex sends me a copy, I´ll return the original on loan to your gallery.”
“Thanks, Harry. Will, say ‘Thank you´, too.”
“Thank you, too, Harry,” said Will. Harry chuckled.
“Now, the question is what to do with your profits. Saul told me about your discussion last week, and I´ve talked to your folks. Here´s what we´re prepared to agree to; see what you think.
“We would like to see you put at least one-half your profits back into the business in whatever way gives you the best results, the best tax position. That´s really just our advice, we can´t force you. You could use the rest for maintenance or improvements to the house. Sigrid, show these as loan re-payments to me, or as improvements to the main office. Whatever works.”
“Okay, Harry, I´ll have to check that out, see what´s legal.”
“Now, I have written letters to your folks that when I sell the house, or when you no longer live there, or latest five years from now, I will distribute the amount you have put into the house in equal shares to each family from any profits on the sale. They have said they agree to this, and it´s just a formality to put it in writing with agreements and such. Do you agree as well?”
“Show of hands?” asked Saul...”Yes, Dad, everyone agrees.”
“Good. You´ll get a letter from me with all this stuff in it. Sign it and send it back... Have you done anything about incorporating yet?”
“Harry,” Sigrid said, “We´re meeting the lawyer next Tuesday to sign the papers. Still Waters Art, Inc. We´re all directors, chairmanship rotates monthly. Anne is President, Saul is Chief Operating Officer, I´m Treasurer.”
“Okay. Good. A woman president helps with the SBA, if you need it. I guess Anne or Saul signs my letter. Better have a motion of the board recorded authorizing that. Anything else? If not, I´ve got to run.”
“Bye.”
They all grinned at each other.
“What´s Project One, Tom?”
“Sauna. I´ll make some calls later today and have them fax me some details. We´ve already agreed on size and layout.”
.oOo.
“Sorry I´m late,” Mary said, “I was on the phone with my folks. I can´t believe it, they´re coming east to visit.”
“When? Tell us.”
“They said they´ll be here for the State Western Pleasure Riding Show and take me back for a couple of weeks´ vacation. They´re bringing a truck and trailer and we´ll take Hero and The Bay with us. I know Aunt Bessie´s got a good trailer. Dad said they´re going to leave real early and take a week or so to get here, just drive slow, look at scenery and relax, he said. I asked Mom, ‘You´re going to take vacation?´ You know what she said? She said, ‘Mary, I figured out that after the last eighteen years I have almost nine months vacation coming.´“
Mary´s voice faltered. “Then she said, ‘Honey, if I hadn´t been sick, I could have had another baby on my own time´.” Tears ran down her cheeks. “It´s going to be some vacation. I´ve got two mothers. One of them is brand new.”
Saul hugged her, held her until the tears stopped. “Dinner´s getting cold, love.”
“Thanks, Saul. I love you. Someone pass a hanky?”
“Mary,” Anne said, “You and Will were talking about him going, too. You still want to do that?”
“Can you spare him, Anne? I mean, I don´t want to walk off with one of your loves.”
“If you could, he wouldn´t be my love. You know that... Will, still want to go?” Anne asked him.
“Oh, sure. Mary´s taking the horses so they can learn what cows are. I need to go so I can learn what ranching is, a little. We´re going to Kentucky again next weekend on another commission, but you know I´m starting to get inquiries about painting western horses. I don´t have a clue about what they do.”
Saul smiled and said, “This is just an excuse to spend two weeks with Mary and call it a business trip.”
“No argument on either point,” Will grinned.
“Oh, cut it out, all of you,” Anne said. “Will´s going because he wants to go and needs to go. And I want him to. That´s the end of it.”
Sigrid said, “I probably can call a lot of it a business trip, Saul. I hadn´t thought of that.”
.oOo.
Work on the sauna went quickly; it was mostly pre-fabricated. They removed part of the southern outer wall so the sauna could extend beyond the line of the wall and still be under the main-floor overhang. They added showers along the western, inside wall and dug a dry well outside for another. A glass wall protected the study area from the showers.
The inaugural party took place on a Saturday night. They went into the cabin, gasping at the fierce heat. There was room to relax and lie down on their towels.
“I never expected it to be this hot. The thermometer only says 100º,” Heather said.
“That´s 100º Celsius. In Fahrenheit it´s 212º. Hot enough to boil water,” Sigrid explained. The thermometer and a hygrometer had arrived from Sweden, a gift from Aunt Karin.
When they had been through the process twice, they collapsed on the Big Bed, watching a movie; snuggling and dozing and loving. In the morning, Anne said, “Heather, you get through the sauna all right?”
“Oh, boy. I was so relaxed, I slept like a log. I´m for more of that.”
.oOo.
@“Funny how things work out.”
“What´s that mean?”
“When we moved here, I wasn´t sure how well it would work out. I wasn´t sure you guys would be able to handle seven days a week.
“You mean, on campus we were only together on weekends, had the rest of the time free?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it# has @worked out. I think you´re forgetting how much time we spent together. We got together off and on all week long.”
“But not constantly.”
“For me, anyway, the move´s been a good thing. I´ve been busy as hell doing the things I love to do when I´m not studying. It´s made me look at things a whole new way. I don´t think I know where I´ll end up much more now than I did on Day One, but I feel good about what I´m doing – where I´m going.”
“Some wise man said, I think, ‘It´s not where you´re going that´s important, it´s how you get there´.”
“Whether he said it or not, I like it. I´m happy. If I can go on being happy, I´m home free.”