Page 33 of Lorna's Savior
“I don’t, but thanks, Mom.” Andy grinned at her.
“But, that doesn’t mean you can’t help out here today,” Levi laughed as he slapped him on the shoulder. “Do you still remember how to use the cash register? I know you don’t know about any of our products, so I won’t throw you to the wolves that way.”
“Sure, I can run the register. Is it always this busy? I was standing out there for over an hour before Livvy found me.”
“Yeah, we heard her scream, then she ran out of here like her ass was on fire,” Ren admitted as he threw his arm around the youngest Ball child. “By the time we went to investigate, she had you dragged in here already.”
“I saw him on the security camera. I actually watched him for at least ten minutes before I realized it was actually him.” Liv, her nickname from her actual name of Olive, admitted.
Just then, a customer came up and asked a question. Everyone went in different directions, and Andy headed behind the counter to the register. He didn’t have a break until hours later. He drew on the bottle of water his father handed him, and shook his head.
“Are you always this busy?”
“Yes. And this is the actual physical store, Liv runs the online store.”
“You have an online store?”
“Yes, I don’t know how much your Aunt Helen told you when you were there a few weeks ago, but your father and I operate this location. Pippi and Olive brainstormed the online store. Pippi’s driving down from school, she’ll be here by supper time.”
Andy interrupted them as he looked at Olive. “Are you going to school?”
“Just the local community college. I’m taking courses to bring the stores into the twenty-first century, but behind the scenes.”
“I believe I understood that.” Andy grinned. He looked at his two brothers, Renegade and MacGyver. “And you two, how are your stores doing?”
“Great, we’ve taken our stores in a whole new direction.” Ren grinned. “We still grow our own herbs, to provide to the manufacturers, and still make our own organic products, but Mac and I have two stores.”
“So, what direction did you go in?”
Ren grinned. “Because we’re in Colorado, we’ve been working with the proper authorities, and we’ve set up several greenhouses, and follow all the government regulations.
Andy frowned at his brothers. “Aaaannd?” he drew the word out, waiting for the answers.
“I...” Ren grinned. “...grow and distribute medical marijuana.”
“And I...” Mac laughed, “...distribute CBD products.”
“What’s that?”
“Basically, marijuana’s healing properties, without the THC. Meaning you can’t get high off it.” Mac held up his hands. “It’s closely monitored by the government. Since medical marijuana is legal in Colorado, we jumped on the bandwagon with it. We’re making a killing in sales. In six months, we make more in that than the other products do all year. Don’t get me wrong, they do a brisk business too, but not as much as the other.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, remind me to show you the books,” Levi said.
“Why would I want to look at your books? I have nothing to do withPure Sunshine.”
“Not directly,” Sunshine said. “But you still get a profit check.” When it looked like Andy was going to balk, she held up her hand. Andy knew that was the sign to shut up, and go with the flow. No matter what he said, he’d be vetoed. So, he only nodded.
“As a family, we decided that though you have nothing to do with the business, you still have something to do with the family. We know that if any of us called, you’d be there in a heartbeat, so you get a cut of the profits. Your father has been putting it away in an account for you for years.”
Andy took the phone his father handed him. He frowned as he looked at it. “What’s this?”
“The account I set up in your name. We’ve been depositing money in there for fifteen years. All profits. And, that’s after we’ve rolled some over into improving the fields, building more greenhouses for Ren and Mac, and ourselves.”
“Holy shit,” Andy said as he looked at the bottom line. “That’s insane.”
“That’s life, kid,” Sunshine laughed. For the first time in his life, Andy realized that his mother wasn’t as wacked as he thought she was. He could see her in a whole new light. Shaking his head at his discovery, he went back to the register. They worked non-stop for the next six hours. By the time they closed and locked the door behind the last customer, Andy was exhausted. Shaking his head at the pounding on the front door, he watched as his father looked through the glass, grinned and opened the door. His sister, Pippi, launched herself in and hugged their father. He must have whispered something to her, because she whipped her head around and screamed.
