“Could you show me how?” Boom leaned forward over her plate eagerly, icing-covered fingers forgotten.
Elisa laughed. “It’s been a long time, but I might remember some of the simpler recipes. If it’s okay with your dad, maybe we can make it a weekend thing.”
“Spa day at the kennels.” Lyn tapped the table. “I’ll join you ladies, if you don’t mind.”
“Sophie, you come, too!” Boom grinned at them. “It’ll be a girls’ day.”
Not a one of the guys said a word.
Elisa hoped it was all right. It was one thing to work for them on a day-to-day basis, but getting more involved with Boom might not be what Alex wanted. But when she looked over at him, he gave her a slow, warm smile and…ate another strawberry vanilla roll.
How that was a turn on, she had no idea. But it so was.
“The supplies expensive?” asked Brandon.
Elisa shook her head. “Sugar, olive oil or almond oil or grape seed oil, a couple of essential oils like lemon or peppermint. That’s about it. Could make bath salts the same way, with Epsom salt instead of sugar and a little bit of baking soda.”
Brandon tipped his head sideways. “Could make the place a little classier. Make enough to have at the washup stations we’ve got by the kennel and class areas and put it on the kennel’s accounts.”
Both Sophie and Elisa voiced caution.
“Hold up, that has to be justified as a business expense…”
“They’d have to be properly labeled in case people have allergies…”
Brandon held up his hands in surrender. “Whoa, it was just a thought. I figured if you ladies liked them, clients would, too. Most of them are of the feminine persuasion.”
“True.” Elisa chewed on her lip. She’d only ever made them for herself and her roommates, but it wouldn’t take much to research for use at the kennels. She’d really enjoyed making them before and hadn’t been allowed to continue when she’d moved in with her ex. “It wouldn’t take much to print proper labels, but you want labels so you’re protected from liability. I’ll look into it before we put those out.”
Sophie nodded. “I’ll check to be sure you can actually write those things off as expenses.” She paused then turned to Elisa. “I do their accounting for them, but I am useless at organization and business administration. There’s a lot more to it than most people realize. I’m so glad you’re here.”
Elisa smiled, a peculiar bubbly laughing feeling rising up from deep inside. “I’m glad I’m here, too.”
Chapter Twenty
Why am I here again?” Elisa stood in the middle of the mats at Revolution MMA dressed in a Revolution tee and black yoga pants.
“Because I wouldn’t leave any person alone with this many kids.” Greg waved vaguely at the currently closed front doors to the school. “Alex is going to cover parents’ night for us, and you’re going to be his wingman. Person. Buddy.”
Elisa had a sneaking suspicion she was being set up. But then she didn’t mind, either. The week had gone by in a blur as she had started to fall into the rhythm of routine at Hope’s Crossing Kennels. Each day started early, with breakfast and private training appointments. There were open mornings some days to work on the various projects she was developing for the business, and then afternoons of public classes. She got to see Alex every day, but they had very little alone time. With Boom back in school, Alex was busier helping his daughter with homework and spending quality time with her. Oh, Elisa had been invited a few nights to play board games or watch movies, and those had been wonderful.
But she didn’t think any of that had prepared her for a night with Alex overseeing the well-being of other people’s children. Gary and Greg obviously thought she was ready.
“A couple of things to keep in mind. The kids arrive in their Revolution uniforms to keep things nice and neutral. Different families have varying resources and the uniforms mean no kid has to miss out on parents’ night because their clothes might be different from the other kids’,” Greg said as he walked to the middle of the mat. “During class or parents’ night, the kids’ belts always come untied. Our instructors always have the child face them at an angle where their parents can see everything, and they retie the belt for them at arm’s length with very clear motions. If a kid’s gi has come loose, the instructor sends them back to their parents to get them straightened out. Those ties are too far inside the gi, and not every kid wears a shirt inside.”