Chapter 1

Mary surprised her assistant Mycah on Friday by closing the office for three days.

“That’s enough for today,” she proclaimed. “You’re doing incredible work on this.”

“Thanks.” It felt good she had noticed. “I can put the electrical needs for the outside terrace onto the computer tonight.”

“No, not tonight. Go home. No work. Take the weekend off. In fact, I’m closing the office on Monday, too. We’ve been working several weeks without even a one-day break. I think we need three days off.”

What brought that on?

“I need to get home today and straighten up my house. Addy is coming home this week, so my sister and her family will be over for dinner on Sunday.” Mary seldom talked about her private life, so when she did, Mycah paid attention. “I may be a little distracted for a few days. You’ll have to keep the work on this job up to date until she leaves.”

“It won’t be a problem. Jason calls every night to report on what’s been done. I need to put our new decisions onto the blueprints and make sure they realigned the hallways if we’re going to put that elevator up to the third floor.” Jason Adams was the on-site supervisor for their company and could access the cloud-based Ross server so everyone could stay current with any changes.

“Thank you. I’m not sure how long Addy will be here. She usually doesn’t stay long.”

“Not a problem. I’ve got enough to keep me busy for another monthor more.”

Mary, the owner of Mary Ross Interiors, kept her personal life mostly to herself. Some knew she was divorced and had a daughter that had gone off to college, but that’s all they knew. Said daughter, Addy, hadn’t been around in all the three years Mycah had worked here, so she didn’t know what her story was, but wasn’t going to pry. Mary would tell her what she wanted her to know.

The project they had been working on for over two months was an old estate mansion up north near Plattsburgh the owner wanted to turn into a five-star resort hotel. “Money is no object.”

Mary and Mycah had spent a couple weeks up there exploring the mansion and its property, taking measurements, and checking what was already there. There were twenty-seven bedrooms, each with their own dressing room, which would be turned into bathrooms, as there were only four bathrooms on the upper two floors and those would be turned into storage rooms. The third floor had rooms that would be suites: two and three bedrooms connected to a large sitting room. The second floor had several bedrooms that could be connected into double-rooms, with a locking door between them. All the fireplaces would be refitted with gas burners.

The first floor had a marvelous, large living room, a giant dining room that was big enough to hold almost seventy-five people, and a kitchen big enough to serve them all. There were also two large rooms that had been libraries or salons; one that could be turned into a game room, the other into a cocktail lounge. There were also several rooms on the basement level that would become a gym and sauna. In addition, there were rooms for several staff to stay, some full time. There would eventually be a heated, Olympic-sized swimming pool, walled in with glass, looking up the side of the mountain behind them.

The workers were there already, tearing down a few walls, removing old wallpaper, stripping wood work, priming walls for repainting or papering, and basically cleaning out everything they wouldn’t be using. As soon as they had finished, the electricians and plumbers started. Mary and Mycah would have to be on site for at least the start of the kitchen renovation.

Tonight, however, Mycah was going to relax. The women she spent time with were getting together. She hadn’t seen most of them since this project started, so this party came at just the right time.

* * * *

Mycah looked around the room. Fifteen or so female professionals, all in their late thirties or early forties, who hung out together to form sort of a club. There were three lawyers, a professor and a few teachers, a store owner, a musician, and several executives. Mycah was an architect. They were all lesbians, almost all single, who got together to party, go out to eat, see movies, and generally keep boredom from their lives. With this group, each knew there were other women around for support if needed.

At some point, they had all dated each other, maybe that’s why they got along.

Currently, there were four who were coupled…at least for the time being.