Harvey and Lori Ferguson Ch. 7 More Decisions Pt. 1

Harvey Ferguson had a decision to make and he had thought about it for weeks before he planned to talk with Lori about it. He knew he should have told her right away since it would definitely affect her too, but he was one to mull things over a long time. Although Lori had high intelligence—she’d always aced her studies with time to spare in school--she tended to be emotional and would push for quick action. Harvey wanted to figure out what the pros and cons were before bringing it up for discussion. Logic and caution were his hallmarks.

He was now a city planner and had been approached by another company with big plans and they wanted him for the project. It was early morning as he sat at his drawing board. The prospect of this project was exciting and challenging. But it meant moving out of the U.S. and away from Pleasantview. It was a Saturday and Lori was getting ready to go clothes shopping in Bluewater. Harvey decided to go to the gym in the hope that it would fine-tune his brain as well as the rest of his body. 

 

At Amelia’s Closet Lori ran into Chelsea’s mother, the infamous Jenny Lomax Hammond. Lori knew that Chelsea and Jenny were estranged, but the woman had always been nice to Lori and she seemed eager to talk. While there Lori noticed Dylan Ottomas, Brian's older brother, shopping nearby. She kept running into him and it unnerved her although she wasn’t sure why. The last time he’d barely noticed her but this time he was watching rather closely as she conversed with Jenny.
  
When Jenny left, Lori noticed to her relief that Dylan had gone, too. Stopping at the new restaurant Le Magnifique! she was happy to see Elle’s mother, Bobbi Jo Cooke.
 

After her meal she got up to visit the powder room and ran smack into Melanie, who had just had her baby a couple months ago. Lori had not even seen little Scarlett yet and Melanie said she and Harvey must come over.
 

“That would be great but I’ll have to check with Harvey what day we can come,” Lori told her.
 

“No problem, give me a call tonight or tomorrow after you’ve talked to him. I’ve missed you!”
 

Lori still had more errands to run, so she could not stay with Melanie while she dined, but they hugged and she promised to phone her. 

Next she went by Chelsea’s new flower shop. It was doing quite well, evidently, and she had to compliment Chelsea, the place was beautiful. She chose some fresh flowers and some silk ones to bring home.

Meanwhile, that same morning Harvey worked out at the 1-2-3 Gym and couldn’t help thinking it could be a much better place and make more money if he was the one running it. Elle Lomax was there and they spoke a few minutes after their workout. When he left there he stopped off at the Good Eats Café for lunch, still thinking about the gym and how he would change it if he owned it.

When he got back home Lori was still in Bluewater Village so he read for relaxation but pondered a bit more. Should he choose to take Lori and go to the island of St. Marisa to plan virtually a whole city there as the architectural company wanted? It was the opportunity of a lifetime, he knew. Or should he stay here with family, make less money and run the gym where he could enjoy one of the three hobbies he liked most after gaming and just above fishing? Of course, the owner might not want to sell it, but Harvey was willing to give him a very good price and he knew the man. He was not too ambitious or business savvy, that was why the gym was not doing all that well.

By the time Lori arrived she was carrying bags of new clothing and a lot of flowers he had to help her bring in so he waited until supper to tell her about the job offer. Neither of them had ever lived anywhere but Pleasantview except for their time at the University. She seemed very quiet.

“Living on the island would be wonderful—like living at Twikkii all the time,” she said, “And it would really be a feather in your cap. Besides I know you are dying to prove you can do it.”

“Well, here’s the thing…”

And he told her of his other idea regarding the gym. Again she listened silently without interrupting. This was unusual for Lori. When she did speak she sounded a little less cautious. 

“That sounds like a wonderful thing for you to try, too, Harvey. And we could stay right here in this house. Of course,” she paused, looking serious, “it would be a gamble and you would probably not make as much money as you do now. At least not for a while. But I don’t care about the money, really, you know that.”
 

Harvey smiled slightly,
 

“I know you think you don’t care about money but you are used to having money.”
 

He was referring to the fact that her father, John Lassiter, was a billionaire. He had quite a few lucrative business investments in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, plus he’d inherited land and money from his mother. The Lassiters owned a second home on Twikkii Island, and whatever they needed they could have. Their house was no mansion, but it was quite large and right on the water. Of course, Harvey’s parents were on the water, too, but the house was more modest and his father was a retired private investigator, so he was no billionaire nor even a millionaire.
 

In point of fact, neither Harvey or Lori had ever had to worry about money except when they were starting out and buying a home. Her father would be leaving all four of his children a great deal of money and, in fact, was gifting each of them quite a bit of this every year.
 

“It helps with my taxes,” he always claimed.
 

“With what investments we have and the money Daddy gives us we should be able to take a chance on the gym, don’t you think?” Lori asked.
 

“Well, I believe I’m going to talk with your father. He has owned and run several businesses.“
 

Lori laughed,
 

“That’s the thing; Mom says that he always preferred to take over a business, get it on its feet and then he would get bored and sell it—at a large profit—just so he could do the same thing with the next company. I guess  he would be the best man you could talk to about it because basically that’s how you’re thinking: I can make this gym better.”
 

She grew quiet again.
 

“What do you want to do, Harvey?”
 

“I don’t now, I’m still trying to decide. You know me, I’ll need to think about it some more. I don’t like to rush into things. I want you to think about it too, honey, I need to know your honest opinion after you’ve done that.”

Lori nodded. Harvey waited for her to say something else, but she kept her own counsel. He knew she would tell him eventually a little more of what she was thinking, but it was really unusual for her to be so reticent. More than unusual, it was almost odd...

Next update: Harvey and Lori Ferguson Ch. 7 More Decisions Pt. 2