Read Online Offerings by Richard Smolev - Free Book Online

awesome is that? Dr. K went through the roof when I told him. We’re thinking of Brahms, maybe Mozart, something elegant and serious. What do you think? This is so cool.”
    Kate wiped her hands on a small towel before taking Sarah in her arms. Peter rushed in from the patio. The three of them hugged and smiled and then hugged again.
    “Wow. I can’t believe it. I am so lucky.” Sarah was usually so tightly wound about her music, so conscientious about her practicing that she seemed much older than twelve. It delighted Kate to see the child in Sarah come through so brightly. Sarah bubbled with a broad smile, pulled her hair back into a ponytail and slapped Mack’s right hand when he rushed into the kitchen to join the celebration.
    “Luck had nothing to do with it, Sarah. You’re graced with a remarkable amount of talent and you’ve worked incredibly hard to refine it.” Kate saw her own ambition spilling out of her daughter. “You earned the honor,” she said. “Stay focused on your music and your life will be filled with more moments like this.”
    Peter suggested they all go out to dinner the following night to celebrate.
    “Give me a couple of days. I have a flight to Switzerland tomorrow night. What do you kids want me to bring you back?”
    “Holy cow, Mom. Not again.” This time it was Mack who spoke up. “Siena is going to think you’re a burglar one day and bite you.”
    “I’m working on a deal that’s making me a bit crazy, guys, but it will be over soon. We’ll have that big dinner when I get back.”
    “It all sounds pretty intense.” Sarah seemed concerned about Kate. Intense was a good word. Offensive might work. Demeaning also fit. The Majik deal felt like ever-contracting rubber bands. But Kate wanted to change the subject. She held up a hot dog roll as though it were a champagne glass. “To the one and only Sarah Brewster, cellist extraordinaire.” Peter applauded and then joined in the toast.
    Sarah blushed. Mack bit into his before holding it aloft and said, “Here’s to my wiener of a sister” and then burst into giggles. Kate was relieved that for the rest of the meal, no one spoke of Switzerland, or Majik, or anything other than Sarah’s news.
    When the table was cleared, Sarah rushed off to practice. Brahms. Kate knew Mack needed both some attention and some space, so she said he didn’t have to help clear the table and instead could shoot some baskets with Peter. When they were done, Peter asked Kate if she wanted to go uptown for ice cream.
    The evening air still was moist from an afternoon shower. They held hands. Kate rubbed the inside of Peter’s elbow with her free hand. They talked about Sarah, whispered about the progress she was making, as though talking too loud would break the spell.
    Peter finally said what he’d been holding in. “The paperwork is about ready for the loan on the Leger. Before I ask you to sign anything, though, we should talk about how I need to spend a small part of it.”
    Kate’s first reaction was to say no to whatever he wanted to spend, to hoard every dime they could get their hands on.
    “Cass and I each agreed to put three hundred into Ascalon as a loan to get us through the end of June. Payroll, rent, some taxes. Nothing more than that. A real loan, not equity.” By the time he finished speaking his voice was a whisper, as though he was telling secrets.
    Kate had seen this before, the almost religious fervor of entrepreneurs convinced they needed just a bit more time or one more turn of the wheel for their fate to change.
    “You won’t spend three thousand dollars to send Mack to camp, but you want to throw a hundred times that into Ascalon? Tell me why that makes sense.”
    “Please, Kate. Lighten up. It isn’t just me. Cass feels the same way I do.”
    “Cass has a lot more to fall back on than we do.” Not long after Ascalon went public, Peter’s partner married one of the Johnson girls of the Fidelity Johnsons. She