Return to Love

“Actually,” said Regina, “we need to do that now. I’ve been looking into getting our website back on track, and we should get all the updates done at the same time—save money.”

“Speaking of which, I got information about the seminars at the community center you mentioned—the ones I signed us up for.”

Regina looked up from the tiles she was laying out. “Excellent. I’ve been working on the paperwork, but it’s like figuring out tax forms. Why didn’t they teach us this business stuff in college?”

“At least you went to college.”

“Girl, you did, too. You just took your classes in different places one by one. Then you taught yourself. I admire you for that.”

Amelie looked up from her necklace and smiled. “Thank you, sweetie. About the name, we need to get something Black in there, let people know that there are some sisters up in here with some culture.”

“I agree with you there. I actually want to do some more African sculptures. When the front is redone, we can put them in the window with some of your work that has the cowrie beads. More than half of what we do has a Black flavor. We need to find a way to announce that.”

“And we need some incense.”

“No.” Regina groaned and waved her hand in front of her face. “We have enough smells in here with the paints and the clay and your soldering and the hot glue.”

“That’s why we need the incense.”

“No, our classes will pass out from all the fumes.”

The door chime sounded as a couple came in. Amelie winked over at Regina; it was Regina’s turn to see to the customers. She pushed her mosaic onto the table, grabbed a wet rag to get the mastic off her hands and got up to approach the couple.

“Good afternoon. Can I help you find anything today?”

Regina showed them her various mosaic pieces and then the beadwork. They stopped for a long time in front of one of her favorite mosaics, a large piece of a woman in a sarong looking over a patio at the ocean and horizon. They seemed interested in it and took one of her business cards from the counter. They even looked over her portfolio of in-home installations, but Regina couldn’t tell if they would come back.

By the time she was done, Amelie had already begun wrapping up her project and getting ready to leave for the afternoon, as usual.

Mr. Lundstrum came in just before she left.

“Regina has our rent check ready for you, Mr. Lundstrum.”

“I do. It’s under the register,” Regina said.

Their landlord was an old man and walked with a cane. It was clear that he hadn’t had the ability to look after this place for a long time. But he was pleased with the upgrades they’d made and liked having them as tenants.

“Come, my dears. I have a bit of hard news.”

“What is it?” Regina asked, worried that something had happened to his wife, who was also getting on in years and was not as agile as her husband.

“Well, this won’t be easy for you to hear.”

He settled down in one of the chairs at Regina’s worktable and sighed heavily.

“You know I’ve been waiting for you to come up with the down payment on this place. You had first refusal.”

“Oh, no.” Regina could tell what he was getting ready to say, and her heart sank.

“What? What is it?” Amelie hadn’t caught the clue.

“You’ve taken another offer on the house, haven’t you?”

“I’m sorry, dear. I just had to.”

Amelie turned to Regina. “What are we going to do?”

“Mr. Lundstrum, can’t you give us more time? I have an installation in a couple of weeks. That’s a couple of thousand dollars. We can give you that. It’s not the down payment, but...”

Regina didn’t know what else to say. Thankfully, Amelie stepped in.

“We have a good portion of it saved up, and we’re looking for a small-business loan now. Just a little more time is all we need.”

“I’m so sorry. My granddaughter starts her junior year at American University in a couple of months, and we’re strapped. Retirement and the rent on this place haven’t been enough, with school bills and all. We needed somebody who could pay now.”

The old man took off his glasses and wiped his eyes. His sight was going, as well.

“Gentleman in a fine suit came in willing to pay more than we’re asking—pay it now, one time. Wife and I couldn’t say no. Was like looking a gift horse in the mouth.”

“Oh, no,” said Amelie. “What do we do now?”

“Isn’t there anything we can do, Mr. Lundstrum? Anything?” Regina asked.

“I’m so sorry, girls. We just had to take it. Wife wouldn’t want me to tell y’all, but the savings is almost gone—with the economy and all. This way we can pay tuition and put some in the bank to replace what’s gone.”

Regina sighed heavily. “I understand.”

“We wanted it to go to you, help y’all out. But weren’t no way we could wait. Look, I know it’s hard. You just forget about the rent this month and the month after that.”

“We can’t do that,” Regina said firmly. “Can we contact him, Mr. Lundstrum—the gentleman who’s buying the place? I know it’s a long shot, but maybe if he hears us out, if he knows how much we’ve put into this place already, maybe he’ll let us have it after all.”

The old man patted his pockets. “I know I’ve seen his card. Had one of those little cases you hold business cards in. I think I gave it to the real-estate agent we got to handle the sale for us. I’ll get it for you, but dear—” he looked at Regina “—don’t hold out hope for that. He’ll want more than you were going to pay.”

“I know you’re right,” Regina said, “but we have to try.”

“I’ll bring you the information tomorrow.”

“When do we have to be out?” Amelie asked.

“Six weeks from the first of next month. I wanted to give you some time to find someplace new to sell your things.”

“Six weeks for upstairs, as well?” Regina asked.

“Yes, ma’am, the whole building’s gone. He worked for some kind of investment firm. He’ll probably turn it into another restaurant or something. Said he had someone come check it out just a couple of weeks ago.”

Regina went to the cash register and returned with the rent check.

“Here is this month’s rent. We wouldn’t think of not paying it.”