And made small talk until Finn arrived. “Hey, gang.”
They clapped.
Finn rolled his eyes. “I’ve only been away from this place ten days.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Oliver rose and hugged him. These two were the closet friends among them. “We missed you.” He gestured to the counter. “We got a breakfast cake, cinnamon apple, your favorite.”
Scarlet said, “Do you want to have the meeting or the cake first.”
Finn smiled. “Let’s get to the meeting first.”
The two sat with the four others.
Scarlet said, “We have two things to do today. First, we want to catch Finn up on what’s happened since he’s been out.” She gestured to the other side of the gym area. “We’ve started the construction for a second coffee/juice area for clients. The company we hired agreed to do it when we’re closed. You can see the progress later.”
“I’m glad to hear we’re moving ahead with that.”
“They’ll work from 6-11 at night and Sundays.”
Juliet smiled at her. “That’s a great find.”
“Next up,” Scarlet said scanning the whole group. “We need to talk about hiring security for this collective. We mentioned it right after you got hurt, Finn. But we never decided anything. Then you and Oliver went away. Daisy proposed we hire a security guard for after dark and Sundays. We’ll vote on it today.”
“I’ll start.” Daisy sat forward in her seat. “I for one don’t want to be endangered in any way. I have a kid to raise. And I checked with the police. The only thing they do after an incident like this is drive into the parking lot a couple of times a night. And only for a few weeks. Then we’re on our own. So I’m a yes to private security.”
“I have a question.” This from Juliet. “If we have a guard, will he or she carry a gun like the police?”
Heath spoke up. “He’d have to, wouldn’t he?”
“I morally object to guns,” Juliet put in. “But I’m voting yes because I’m scared.”
Daisy said, “We’re all a little scared, Jules.”
“What about the rest of you?”
Oliver said “Yes,” and Heath echoed it.
Finn agreed, too. He zeroed in on Scarlet. “You’re the last one, Scarlet. What do you think?”
Scarlet’s heartbeat sped up. No one had any idea how much she was against this. “I hate guns, too. But I don’t have analternative. We need armed protection, at least until Finn’s attacker is found.”
“So that’s all of us.” Daisy sighed. “How do we go about this?”
Heath spoke up. “There are security firms in Rockford that provide this service. My office used Kirkland Security when our medical building was bombed. A former Secret Service agent runs the place. I was in on the hiring. We had no more incidents after that and we kept the guard on.”
“Would you take the lead on this, Heath? Maybe pick another one of us to help you. I think we should trust a couple of us to make the decision on who it will be in order to hurry up the process.” She scanned the room. “Does anyone volunteer to work with Heath?”
Oliver said, “I’ll help you.”
“I’m proposing that we let Heath and Oliver hire the guard. No need for all of us to interview one.”
The group voiced a unanimous yes.
“I’m glad this is decided,” Daisy said. “I feel better already.”
“I’m glad, too,” Scarlet added. “Is there anything else we need to discuss?”
When no one spoke, Scarlet said, “Then, let us eat cake!”
