Chapter 287

• Over the next few days Ben pushed himself into his old routine. Get up, work out, breakfast, check the trade blogs, work in his office, eat, and go to bed. The new element was Beth's visit Tuesday night and she picked up right away that he'd had some kind of emotional setback. She didn't press but she promised herself she'd speak to the others to find out what happened. It pulled her out of herself to worry about Ben and that in itself was therapy for her.
• While Tina wasn't happy she picked up on Ben's mental state and didn't push when he asked for a postponement of her visit to the following week.
• Daphne came to visit him Friday afternoon to speak with him about renovations. She'd received the guidelines and requirements for building a daycare to handle twenty children and the team she'd hired to do the renovations were suddenly indicating they'd need a lot more money. She was feeling a little frustrated and cheated and had lost faith in them. She wanted Ben's opinion on the work required. She laid out the plans on his kitchen table and he made notes. After an hour of review Ben brought out a large sheet of paper and his pencils and rulers. He quickly sketched out her floor plan and showed how he would redesign it to meet the guidelines and make better use of her space. It wasn't a lot different than her original idea but there were a few brilliant adjustments Daphne immediately seized upon. The visibility was much improved so they could see the children from almost any area. The expanded washroom facilities were safer and child friendly. It was a better plan.