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Grace and Donald drove for a couple hours, the
first, almost in silence. Grace had to think. She had to come
to terms with not having Marley in her life. No matter how much of a
mean streak she had in her, and even if she acted like a hypocrite at
times, and even though she didn't have any faith in her as a minister of
God, they'd had the same parents and her Mom had asked Marley to take care
of her. She finally spoke, Donald heard her saying, "When
we decide on a wedding date, we'll have to invite Marley." He
thought she'd lost her mind for a moment but she was the love of his life
and if that's what she wanted, that's what she'd have.
They drove through a wonderful little town
in NC and thought it was about the most friendly and beautiful town they'd
ever been in. They spent some time going from shop to shop and
meeting people, they went to the Chamber of Commerce and asked about the
possibilities of new businesses in their town and talked about housing and
jobs, they came out of that office feeling very hopeful that they'd found
the place where they wanted to work and live.
After a couple of days of enjoying the town,
they decided it was time to drive back to their college town where their
best friends were and ask them to come and at least take a look and see
what they thought of their choice of towns.
Ben and Hope were so glad to see them.
They had held off making any decisions until they heard from Grace and
Donald. The four of them went back to the little town that Grace and
Donald had fallen in love with and together they made the decision to try
and find work there. It didn't take long until the girls both were
working as secretaries in an attorney's office. They got a room
together at a boarding house and loved living there together. But of
course they spent most of their time there talking about their men and how
they longed to be married and in their own homes.
The guys got rooms in a motel just out side
of town and started looking for work. Donald found work first, he was an
accomplished piano player and a wonderful singer, so when they
attended church that first Sunday morning, they noticed an ad in the bulletin
for a piano player and choir director. It was a huge Methodist
church and the pay was pretty good so Donald asked to speak to the pastor
after church and walked out an employed man. Now that left only Ben
to find work.
Ben was in charge of their finances, they
had pooled all their money and on Monday morning bright and early he went
to the local bank to get a savings account started. It was to be the
business fund and when they had enough saved they would look for just the
right building for their boutique. As Ben was about to leave the
bank he noticed a sign that said, Teller needed. He applied and was
hired, starting the next day. So now they all had employment.
What a happy little group they were. God had been so good to
them. They had found the perfect town and each of them had
employment and a place to live. Now it was a matter of just saving
all their money until they could get a business going.
They all did well with their jobs and Hope
did some modeling for a local department store to make extra money while
Donald and Grace took some singing engagements in churches around the
neighborhoods. It seemed their savings grew so quickly. They
were thrifty and didn't waste any money. They always paid tithes and
gave offerings and helped out in the community out reach center.
They soon become a part of the community and was loved and respected by
every one. Yes, this would be a good place for their boutique.
There was not another store in town like the one they wanted. They
would cater mostly to the ladies of the town, but also have a line of
children's and men's clothing. The women wanted to have a line of
designer purses like no one else had. Shoes was a must! They'd
have the most sought after shoes for the ladies. And they wanted to
eventually have some fashion shows and make up classes for the
ladies. Maybe in time they would even have a hair salon in their
shop. Oh they had big dreams but the men were a little put off by
all this 'woman stuff'. They were happy to take care of the business
end of the boutique but they wanted something more for the men of the town
too. Plans started to come
together. They knew it would be awhile before they could actually
get started but they were so excited about their new adventure. They
would start out small and go for the ladies plans first and when they were
successful enough to add on to the business, they would add a men's
section and then look forward to the other things they all agreed should
be a part of the business. Within a
few months, wedding plans were in the making. They would have an
open church double wedding. The families of both couples would be
invited. The ladies of the church planned a reception for them and
one of the church members owned the florist shop in town so the flowers were
supplied at a very good discount. The girls decided they would not
spend money on traditional wedding gowns, but would wear nice white
dresses and the men could just wear dark suits. They wanted to keep
the expenses to a minimum. A nice wedding but the most of their
finances would be best used for starting the business.
In
a little less than a year they were able to rent a building that would be
just right. Part of it could be used almost immediately and there
was plenty of room to grow the business as the money was available.
The two couples walked through the building and held hands and prayed that
God would bless their efforts in making this business a success.
They all felt that they were in His will and were happy to be getting
started.
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