by Gavin Green
***
Brody frowned as he faced the mirror, and once again shrugged his shoulders to make the formerly comfortable dress shirt sit properly. "No, I don't have anything like that," he said, carrying on the conversation he was having through the Bluetooth, "I just have the two standard rasps."
He had been having a quick chat with Simon that Sunday morning after cleaning up from his early chores. During his phone conversation, he smelt the breakfast Kate and Alana were cooking and wanted off the line. He and his cousin had gotten onto the subject of masonry tools, which Brody was interested to discuss further, but he was also starving.
"Hey cuz, I need food in my belly, and you need to hit the sack." There was another pause of listening while he strained the shirt to button around his chest. "Alright, man, cool - I'll talk to you later on." Brody frowned again at the reflection, and then made his way out of his bedroom and followed the aromas to the kitchen.
Kate was in a wonderful mood that morning, and decided to treat Alana and Brody to a good breakfast. Alana, knowing she didn't have Kate's skill in a kitchen, still chipped in with some of the simpler duties. The air was filled with a variety of delicious scents as Kate tended to multiple pans and griddles. Alana was setting cups out and Kate was flipping rashers when their attention was brought to Brody.
As he walked in, wearing only sweatpants and a half-buttoned shirt, he inquired, "Darlin', did you wash this shirt in hot water?" Brody's head was down, watching his big fingers fumble with a button. When he didn't get an immediate reply, he looked up. Kate and Alana were frozen in place, staring at him. "What?" he asked.
Brought out of her gaze by the sizzle of the food in front of her, Kate stammered, "Eh, no, love; you, em… you know I'm careful with the loads."
Brody looked down again at his shirt, flexing and squirming at its uncomfortably snug fit. "Yeah, you are, sorry to ask. It's just that it feels a size smaller now." He looked back up when Alana make a soft grunting sigh. "You okay?"
From the kitchen table, Alana waved him off nonchalantly. "Just a trifle; I think I sat on a sponge."
Kate quickly interjected. "Brody," she began, shifting his curious look from Alana to her, "have you been working out more? I hadn't noticed much until now, but you look... bigger." She felt her blush rise to her cheeks. "I mean to say - no complaints, love, but you might need larger sizes if you keep adding muscle."
Brody glanced back down, and then back to Kate; her face was smiling and embarrassed, but her eyes held a meaningful look. The mostly-cardiovascular workouts and much healthier food should have been trimming Brody, not adding muscle and size. With logical assumptions ruled out, he quickly caught on; the extra bulk and definition must have been a side-effect of his own recently discovered 'gift of stone'. "Ah... you're probably right. I'll just go change real fast - be right back."
Kate returned to tending to the various foods and waited for the inevitable. "Jaysus, Katie, why do you let him leave the house?" Alana asked rhetorically. "Now I understand the big meals. You need to keep your strength up."
While Kate moved the food to serving plates, keeping her back to her friend to hide her red cheeks, she said, "You're incorrigible, Lana."
"Seriously, I'd slap my mam to be that shirt. Better yet, I'd slap yours."
Brody soon returned with a full sweat suit on just as breakfast was served. Everyone had their fill and enjoyed Alana's colorful stories during and after the meal. Noticing the time, their guest made her temporary farewell, and said she'd see them at church in a couple of hours if the rain didn't wash it away. After they watched Alana pull away into the foggy, wet morning, Kate boldly relented to urges and initiated a brief but intense carnal interlude with her brawny lover in the entry hall.
After a few handshakes and short greetings once inside the big Ballaghadaere cathedral, Brody and Kate sat next to Liam and Cora, with the other McCarthy's in the next pew forward. He and Kate's father sat next to each other and discussed the donkeys until Cora brought the church bulletin to their attention. In its community notes, there were accounts of parishioners who found that their mortgage debt had been paid by anonymous benefactors.
Also mentioned in the bulletin was the huge donation, again by persons unknown, of toys for the Christmas drive. Any families in financial strain were welcomed to meet with the pastor discreetly for anything they might need. For the sermon, Father Doyle talked of the kindness of strangers, and of answered prayers. Brody noticed that Kate was euphoric throughout the service.
When mass concluded, Brody and Kate made the last of their invitations for the big Thursday meal. Talking with his neighbors George and Ruby Moynihan after they accepted the invitation, Brody made a deal with them for a small amount of their hay and barley harvests. They would have sold off those crops anyway, and Brody had new pets to feed.
Kate spoke with Father Doyle about tables; he told her he'd bring some with him on Thursday. Brody and Kate begged off lunch at Gil's pub from various invitations, said their farewells, and ran out to their car in the cold, pouring rain.
Kate hurried out to check on her new pets while Brody got the fireplace going and began making hot chocolate. After returning and hanging her rain gear, Kate retrieved both of their laptops from the office and waited for him on the couch while she soaked up heat from the fire. Brody carried in two large, steaming mugs and they both settled in comfortably next to each other.
"Very well," Kate said after a sip, "would you like to begin, or shall I?"
"Normally, I'd say ladies first, but I have a few little ideas before we both reveal our big plans, okay?"
"Sure," she nodded with a grin, "but I didn't know you had opening acts before your finale. Now I feel unprepared."
Brody feigned offense. "I offer my apologies, madam. Now, if you're done being sassy, these little ideas need your full consent, mostly because they involve your family."
"Let me guess… You'd like to sell them for medical experiments?"
With a chuckle, Brody responded, "Uh, no."
"Aw, that's too bad," Kate said with a mock frown. "I would have said no to dear da and my oul wan, but I'm betting we could get a few fair bob for Jane."
Brody's grin grew even wider. "I bet we could, but I actually had something better in mind for her. The other day, Jane talked about not having a car and going off to university. I remember you telling me that your dad getting sick set them back financially, right?"
"True, although insurance covered most of his health bills. Still, I think they have enough to help with the cost of uni." Kate took a quieter tone. "Love, I hope you're not thinking about paying off the rest of her school expenses. Da's pride wouldn't allow it."
After a sip from his mug, Brody gave a small shake of his head. "No, I wasn't thinking that. But I do know she needs a car. I bet we could find something used but reliable for her tomorrow, and I'll just follow you home in it. We can keep it out in the garage until her birthday next week. Or maybe not even wait, and give it to her Thursday. Would that be alright with your parents?"
Kate pursed her lips. "Hmm… I'm sure mam would have her reservations, and da would wonder if it wasn't too much of a gift. But you could tell them you haggle well and got it cheap."
"Well, I'm not bad at haggling, but that's beside the point. Is this a good idea or not?"
"I think we'll have to fend Jane off with brooms for wanting to hug us time and time again. I think it's a brilliant idea."
"Okay, cool." Brody blew off some cup steam, took a gulp, and then said, "The other idea has to do with Christmas. I thought that we could offer everyone babysitting service."
Kate frowned. "Alright, now explain that."
Brody grinned at his own idea and Kate's confusion. "Okay, here's the plan. For Christmas, we get your parents a nice vacation package, like to Greece. I remember your mom saying to your dad a while back that she wanted to go there. They'd probably worry about Jane being on her own if she wasn't away at school yet, so we'll offer for
her to stay with us. You wouldn't mind that, would you?"
Kate's face lit up. "I love that idea, and Jane staying here is fine by me, especially since she'll have her own car." She shook her head. "And to think I was only going to get her a new Sunday dress."
"Glad you like it, because I had something similar in mind for Jack and Fiona. For them, though, we get some fancy Ireland resort deal with one of those balloon rides. Of course, we'd watch the kids, but I refuse to have a doll party with Ella. "
Kate chuckled. "I’ll only agree to that if we can do the same thing ourselves sometime!"
Brody caught her infectious grin. "I was thinking the same thing when I got the idea." He drained his cup and sat back. "Okay, that was my little stuff. Now show me what you've been working on, my sexy lady. Wow me."
Kate began with their basic ideas of both investing money and anonymous community service, with a way to incorporate both. Brody requested that she kept to the plain concepts because of his lack of knowledge in the confusing financial fields. It was simply explained that Kate had created a private foundation in both of their names, and named it The Rose Foundation, in honor of Brody's mother.
With the foundation, they had the freedom to offer funding to nearly any organization or institute that was eligible, or even forming qualifications for scholarships. They could offer one-time amounts or make annual contributions. They could even get advertising for funding events and sports if they chose, but only to have other needy groups or charities that they might not have been aware of petition them. The foundation wasn't allowed to take in any external contributions, which they didn't want anyway. The Rose Foundation would be public, but the owners of it wouldn't be.
Kate then showed Brody the logo that Alana had drawn. She was quite artistic; Kate told him to expect some sort of knitting for Christmas. The simple yet striking design was going to be on the foundation website, and also any public banners. The website itself was ready and only needed to be released to the web. As for the foundation, all it needed was signatures and monies to be applied to it, which Kate would do the next business day.
The necessary applications had already been sent and stamped. All they need to do was to sign their names and agree to an amount for tax purposes. Of course, Brody would be involved, at least in what the foundation was funding and agreeing to new clients. The only minor concern was Kate's strategy for investing in foreign markets, so she wished to have Jamal's number for professional consultation if needed. She made it clear that it would be a dream job for her; it involved finances, and offered creativity and the freedom to make their own choices.
Kate closed her laptop and set it aside. "So, does this appeal to you? Do you like my plan?"
Brody sat silently for a moment, unable to find the words. He settled with, "You wowed me."
Kate clapped her hands together just before she gave him a crushing hug. "I was hoping you'd love it," she said into his neck, "and it's something we can share and enjoy together."
As she pulled back, Brody said, "Darlin', it's an awesome idea, and it's perfect. It's gonna make my ideas sound kinda simple."
"Oh, that's only because my concept is in a complex field. I'm sure your plans are grand, just as always. Go on and tell me, love; it's your turn."
Brody explained how he had already started making arrangements for his simple plans, which were twofold. Both ideas directly involved one of the popular radio shows from a station based near Sligo town. It had a good listener base in Ballaghadaere.
The first idea was to give away a house for Christmas, one of the properties Brody recently purchased and was having refurbished. A furniture voucher would also be included. He'd already spoken to the marketing people at the station, and was going to let them set the criteria for the event.
The second idea was more detailed, but mostly for the radio station. Brody wanted to promote what he called 'holiday helping hand'. Since Ireland's holiday season began on December eighth, the radio show would start it then. The on-air personalities would ask for emails from people (or someone they knew of) who were having financial trouble. Again, Brody would leave it to the station as to who was chosen to receive a hand. A number of emails would be read on-air daily up until Christmas, and possibly phone calls made to the sender of an email for verification, or at least just for ratings. All the recipients would have to do is come to the station with proof of their bills.
Brody then mentioned that the station might ask for a private benefactor to be available for audible agreements. Both he and Kate were hesitant to be that on-air voice; his American accent would be conspicuous, and she would be too nervous about having her own voice go out over the radio. As an alternate solution, Kate suggested that The Rose Foundation be stated as the patron; individual hardship grants were legal, and it was a great idea to get the foundation's name out to the public. Brody loved her idea, and would inform the radio station in the morning.
"Like I said," he concluded, "it's not as big as your idea, but I'm excited about it."
Kate reached out to gather their cups for a refill. "Love, I think those are truly brilliant concepts! And it's all so much better that we can integrate them into foundation marketing." They shared a quick kiss before she went to the kitchen.
Brody sat back contentedly with his socked feet up on the coffee table. "So we'll just make a day of it," he called out, "and take care of a whole bunch of stuff while we're up in Sligo. First the radio station, and then we'll find a car for Jane. We can have a nice seafood lunch at a fancy restaurant, do some shopping, maybe catch a movie, and then pick up Jane's car on the way home."
"Sounds grand," Kate said as she returned with refilled mugs. "Any plans until then?"
Noticing the thrum of heavy rain outside, the dogs asleep on the big throw rug in front of him, and the warm glow of the fireplace, Brody replied, "I think we've earned a lazy day."