***Willow Pond***
The gallery opening was 4 days away.
Jennifer had finished her secret project, and couldn't wait for the big reveal.
Things had gotten a little better at work for Jonathan. However, he was still stressed and tense.
Jennifer was meeting him for lunch, and working at the gallery today, setting up for the grand opening.
She headed to the gallery first, and walked in.
"Jennifer, I am so glad you are here". Lauren came out from behind the desk.
"Hi, is everything alright?"
"Yes, but there are a few things we need to go over".
Sienna came back from the bathroom just then.
"Hi Mrs. Hart, great to see you".
She came and hugged Jennifer.
"Hi darling, so good to see you".
Jennifer returned the hug and then joined Lauren in her office.
"Mrs. Hart, I hate to complain, but something isn't right here. I was looking over the books of what we have spent so far, and it seems there is money missing. I looked in the vault and couldn't find any misplaced cash. But our bank statements and our receipts aren't matching up. I am not pointing fingers at anyone, but I don't want to open with things not being on the up and up".
"I understand. I tell you what, give me copies of the bank statements and the receipts. I am meeting Jonathan for lunch today, and I will have him get his best accountant to give it a look over and see if they can find something".
"Thank you, I appreciate it".
"No problem. Who has access to the money?"
"Me, Sienna, and you and Jonathan".
"Ok, well I am sure it's just an oversight. Never hurts to have a second set of eyes taking a look".
"I agree".
"Sienna sure was in a good mood this morning".
"She is amazing. I am so thankful that you guys found her and put her here".
"Glad to hear it. She really is a sweet girl".
Jennifer and Lauren went over the details for opening night.
"We also received a phone call from some other vendors who want to partner with us. They are giving us incentives, such as products from their lines if we agree to have a place where we can leave their flyers about their products and if we agree to sell their products in our gift shop".
"Well, we can definitely look into that".
After Jennifer and Lauren were finished, Jennifer went to check on the secret project, and Lauren made her copies of all the bank statements and the receipts.
Jennifer took the files with her, said goodbye to Lauren and Sienna, and then headed to Hart Industries to meet Jonathan.
***Hart Industries***
Jennifer came upstairs and went to Jonathan's office.
He was sitting at the desk, talking on the phone.
She went over to him and leaned down and kissed his forehead. He pulled her on to his lap.
She wrapped her arms around him and he kissed her neck some, and smelled her hair.
"Yes, John, I agree. That does sound like a great idea. We should definitely explore that".
She leaned over and nibbled on his ear lobe.
"Well, it was great to talk to you, John. Draw up that proposal and we can discuss it when it's ready".
He hung up the phone and gave her a long, passionate kiss.
"Hi".
"Hi yourself. Ready for lunch?"
"And dessert".
She chuckled and kissed him.
"Listen darling, I stopped by the gallery this morning. Lauren said she thinks there is money missing, something isn't adding up. So, I told her you would put an accountant on it to verify or figure it out. She made copies of the bank statements and the receipts".
"I sure will".
They headed to the Bistro for lunch, and then Jonathan took Jennifer back to her car.
He got out and went to open the door for her.
"Darling, if you promise to be home as early as possible, I promise to put on something more comfortable, and make your evening as relaxed as possible".
"I promise that after dinner, we will have a hot tub date".
"Oh, I am going to hold you to that".
She kissed him a few times and then headed home.
***Willow Pond***
Jennifer pulled out all the stops and made a most elegant dinner for her and Jonathan.
They were going to have homemade crab cakes, shrimp skewers and wild rice, with a chopped salad.
She put on a bright blue nightgown, and was waiting for him on the couch when he got home.
"Hi darling". She ran to him and kissed him and then made him a cocktail.
They sat on the couch and she gave him a chest rub while he drank his cocktail.
"Darling…the accountant looked over the receipts and the bank statements, and it seems that $1400 is missing. He found it in the bank statement."
"Well, then it's either Sienna or Lauren. And it can't be Lauren, because she's the one who told me about it, so why would she tell on herself?"
"Unless maybe she was trying to set Sienna up?"
"I like both of them, I hate to think of either of them doing anything like that."
"Well, everything there is all on camera. So, I think tomorrow morning, I might just take a trip to the gallery with you, and pull the tapes".
"I think that's a marvelous idea".
She went and got their dinner out of the oven, and they ate in the den while they watched a movie.
As soon as they were done eating, she went upstairs to change and he went outside and turned on the hot tub.
She came back downstairs with towels for them, and she had put on the bikini that Jonathan loved, the shimmery blue sequined one. She was in the hot tub and had her eyes closed when he came back and joined her.
He climbed in and pulled her to him and kissed her.
She sat in front of him and he rubbed her back, hitting all the spots that he knew she liked.
"That feels wonderful.."
"So what is on deck for the gallery opening?"
"Well, we are going to have cocktails and appetizers in the main room, and you and I are going to welcome everyone, make some announcements, and thank them for coming. And at some point, I am going to unveil the surprise exhibit".
"That sounds great".
"Darling…what are we going to do about the missing money?"
"Well, I think we will decide that after we watch the video. If we don't see it happen, we can't accuse anyone. However, if we see it, they can't deny it".
"That's a valid point".
He finished massaging her back and they both sat back against the jets.
Jonathan was quiet for a bit.
"What's wrong?"
"I just realized that Max has a birthday coming up."
"Oh darling….that's always a sad time for you, isn't it?"
He nodded.
"I miss him so much".
"Me too. What day is his birthday?"
"I'll have to look it up. I never get it right. It's around the 20th".
She snuggled up against him, and held him close.
"You know darling, if I am really quiet and I try really hard, I can still hear him say "Hey Mrs. H., how ya doing?"
"Yeah, and I can hear him say "Right away Mr. H."
"He loved you so much".
"Yeah, but he loved you more, darling."
"I never thought that. I mean, he took you in, he gave you an education, he gave you the startup money for your company. In turn, you took care of him as much as he took care of us. All I did was marry you".
"Best decision of my life".
"Aww, mine too". She kissed him and snuggled him some more.
"I miss him and you scheming all the time".
"Scheming? We never schemed".
"Yes you did. Like that time he planned your anniversary gift to me? You guys were having secret conversations for weeks and every time I would come in the room you would stop talking. And you and he would always cook up something elaborate for my birthday".
"Yeah, I guess we did scheme".
"I miss his gravelly voice, and the way he genuinely wanted to take care of us, regardless of what we asked him to do, he was game."
"He was the best".
They looked up to the sky.
"Miss you Max".
"Miss you Max".
A few seconds later, there was a very bright lightning flash.
They both smiled.
***The next morning***
Jonathan and Jennifer got up together and got ready. She fixed them breakfast and then they went to the gallery.
They parked and went inside, and Jonathan headed straight for the control room.
Jennifer met with Lauren in her office, and they talked about things, but all Jennifer told her was that an accountant had been assigned.
Sienna got there around 8:30.
"Hi Mrs. Hart! I am so glad to see you! I got approved for an apartment. I move in next week. It's furnished, and it's across the street from the beach, and it's just so cute".
"Congratulations! I am so proud of you!"
Jennifer hugged her warmly.
"I bought a new dress for the opening tomorrow night. I am so excited. I haven't ever been a part of anything like this".
"Openings are exciting, aren't they?"
Jennifer and Sienna worked on a display case all morning, and Lauren took an inventory of the gallery to make sure it was all perfect.
The secret display was covered by black boards all the way around. Jennifer checked it to make sure Jonathan couldn't peek and see what was behind it.
She and Sienna finished the display case, and then she went to check on Jonathan.
"Hi darling…did you find anything?"
"Not yet. But I think I might be figuring out who, without seeing them doing it".
"What do you mean?"
"Lauren. She keeps glaring at Sienna. And she went through Sienna's purse but didn't take anything out or put anything in".
"What? Why would she do that?"
"I don't know. But I don't think we can confront her about it. It's not business, it's personal. I suppose we could warn Sienna, but that's about all we can do".
"Maybe I can take her to lunch and talk to her…. Or maybe we can call everyone together and tell them to make sure they lock up their stuff for the opening tomorrow night. Something like that".
Jennifer went over and started scratching and rubbing his back while he was watching the video.
Suddenly, Jonathan saw something.
"Right there. There she is. She just took several hundred dollar bills and put them in her pocket".
He rewound it and showed Jennifer.
"Damn. I hate that she is doing this to herself".
She turned to look at Jonathan.
"Are you going to say something, or do we say it together?"
"I will say something to her, but I am waiting till after the opening. I want to take this tape and have it analyzed so that we can say we verified it".
She nodded.
"I'm also going to get a lot of extra cash and have it on hand for tomorrow night. And I am going to tell her it's one amount, but it's really going to be another, and then at the end of the night we will see if there's any missing".
"You are so clever".
Jennifer went back to the front then, and helped Sienna organize the front desk.
When they had a moment alone, she turned to Sienna.
"Sweetheart, I am just going to caution you to make sure that you keep your things locked up at all times when you are here. Especially tomorrow night".
"Yes ma'am. I found some lockers in the break room in the closet and I bought a lock yesterday. I am going to put it on there and lock my purse in the locker for tomorrow night".
"Good plan".
Jonathan came out and he and Jennifer walked the gallery. He liked everything.
"Darling, did you see the secret project on the tapes?"
"No. I purposely didn't watch that camera view".
"Good".
They finished their tour, and then went back to the office.
Lauren was in there, sitting at the desk.
"Well, I think we are in great shape for tomorrow night. If everything goes as planned, the gallery will make a nice profit".
"I cannot wait".
Jennifer and Jonathan exchanged a knowing glance.