Saving Forever - Part 1 by Lexy Timms Read Free Book Online Page A

her purse to get change for the parking me ter. They had just spent the last fifteen minutes in silence. She had pretended to focus on the roads; her dad appeared busy on his phone.
    She tightened her jacket belt and walked around the car to the parking meter. As her father got out, he slipped his phone into his breast pocket.
    “The parking garage is less than a block away.” She pointed in the south east direction. “People will be able to park there. From previous experience, I’ve dealt with a taxi service and have been able to hire two or three drivers for an evening. We pay the taxi a flat fee for the evening. It’s only for driving people home.” They began walking to the old theatre, passing beautiful old, heritage houses and offices as they made their way. “It’s a bit of a cost but a big win in the end. People who have been drinking don’t risk driving, those who took a taxi down get the benefit of not having to pay for one home – which tends to get them spending more at the benefit and it gives them something to talk about. It sounds silly, I know, but it works.”
    “It’s a great idea.”
    She glanced over at her dad, surprised at the compliment. “I did a charity stint out in LA about two years ago, for a fire station actually. One of the firefighter’s brother-in-law owned an independent taxi service and offered to have three of his drivers work the evening. He paid them their hourly service, got a write-off for the time and money spent, and the drivers made a boat-load off the tips. Everyone was happy, so I tried the same thing at my next contract and it worked great again.” She shrugged, now embarrassed for telling him the whole thing instead of taking credit.
    “One of the nurses on the post op floor… I think her husband owns a taxi service. Or her brother or something.” He shook his head and scrunched one side of his mouth.
    Charity knew he was trying to go through a previous conversation and remember who the connection was. He did the same thing when she lived at home and Mom used to always tease him and ask if he was rewinding the video in his brain again.
    “It’s her sister’s husband.” He waved his hand.  “The nurse’s name is Anne. She’ll be going to tomorrow night’s cocktail party. I’ll introduce you to her.”
    “Perfect.”
    The concert hall was built out of old limestone, the early nineteen hundreds era of gallant stone and design. Ivy had spent the past few decades trying to take over the outside of the building but had recently been removed and the building sandblasted to look like it originally had.
    “The new owner is an architect. He gutted everything inside but still kept the theme. Wait till you see it. It’s not completely finished but Mr. Bott assured me it will be done in the next three to four months. The majority of the construction part is done, it’s just the painting and flooring now.” She pulled a key out of her pocket and a small note with the alarm number on it. “Let me just get this security-thing turned off.” She unlocked and slipped inside to punch the numbers in while her father waited by the door.
    She flipped a bunch of the switches for the lights on and pulled the heavy antique original door open. “Come and see.”
    Her father raised a weary eye as he stepped through the doorframe but his face lit up at the size of the entrance.
    “Mr. Bott kept the coat check area original.” She pointed to the oak -sided window with two old wooden openings for people to pass and collect their coats through. “The ceiling is the original double story height and the main floor is actually below ground. The theatre was built to house most paying customers up here and for drinks and box office seats. Wait till you step through the frosted glass doors and see.” Charity glanced up at the doors, seeing the bright reflection of the chandelier prisms through the frosted glass. Like thousands of diamonds . “Come see.”
    Her father went ahead