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Going back to the hotel, they made arrangements to have a limo come and pick them up before dinner.

The woman at the desk said that she knew the restaurant they were going to and they had good food.

She also told them that they were usually up for private rooms as well.

Tabby didn’t know if they’d have something like that as Amy was taking care of the arrangements for the place, but it would be nice to have a room all to themselves while there.

They needed to get together and meet, and that would make it perfect.

Going to her room, she decided that it was early enough that she could get a nice nap in.

Mandy said she was going to take one as well and laid down on the other bed.

Neither of them had been sleeping all that well, and it was starting to pull her down.

After setting her phone alarm and having the hotel call her so she could get up in time, Tabby stripped down to her panties and bra and laid out on the bed.

It was no time at all when she felt herself drifting off to sleep.

Waking up when the phone rang for the alarm, she was a little worried when she didn’t know where she was.

Once she got it settled in her mind, she got up to take a nice shower.

Mandy was already dressed and ready. While she didn’t know what her parents were going to be wearing, she decided to wear a nice warm skirt and sweater so she’d not be chilly.

The temperature had been dropping once the sun went down, and she didn’t want to be too cold on the way home.

The limo pulled up in front of the hotel just as she was getting off the elevator with her family.

“How much do you know about this family, Tab?” She told Earl that the only people she’d been talking to were Amy and her husband, Fowler.

The others she didn’t know all that well at all.

“I’ve been reading up on them. They’re supposed to be like the richest people in the world.

Billionaires several times over, I read. ”

“Amy told me once that they were doing all right financially. That’s why they were giving us such a good deal on the plant we’re building.

” She told them all some of the other perks that, as a business, they’d be getting.

Some that she’d not even told her dad about.

“I never bothered with looking them up—I suppose that I should have before signing any of the contracts, but I have a gut feeling about them that makes me think they’re going to be the perfect partners to go into business with.

I believe that our attorneys would have looked into their background before okaying the contracts. That’s what we pay them for, correct?”

They pulled up in front of the restaurant just as the others were going inside.

Good, she thought, they didn’t have to wait around for them to be there.

And they did have a private room, which from the looks of all the place settings on the table was going to be quite the crowd of them having dinner. ”

~*~

Edgar was running behind. He hated to be late for things, and this dinner was important to the family.

But there were things that just kept him from leaving work early enough to go home and change.

He reached out to his brother to ask if he should come on in or just wait until the next time they were in town to have dinner.

“How far are you out?” He told Fowler that he was about twenty minutes from the place.

And in that time, he’d have to run home and change out of his jeans and shirt.

“Come like you are. If anyone gives you any shit, like Mom or Dad, I’ll take the heat for it.

I explained how important this was for all of us, didn’t I? ”

“You did, but I got hung up at the hospital on one of the things you had me checking out. I swear to you, Fowler, there is some hinky shit going on there that I can’t wait to talk to you about.

” He told him that they’d talk later but to hurry.

“I’m pulling into the lot right now, so I should only be about another three minutes tops. ”

He was able to time it well by having a seat at the table with his part of the family.

They were nice-looking people, and as soon as he sat down, he looked at his parents and winked.

They didn’t look upset with him, but perhaps he might still be in trouble.

Fowler introduced him to the others at the table, telling them that he’d been working up until a few minutes ago.

“I didn’t know you gentlemen had jobs.” Sheppard, as he was introduced to him by that name, said he was sorry. “I shouldn’t have said that. We were just talking about how much you’re worth on the way in here. Please don’t take offense.”

“I didn’t. And yes, we’re wealthy beyond anyone’s dreams, but we still work daily.

I have a job of keeping the charities straight and how they’re using the money that we donate.

Reading over contracts to that might cross our desks at some point.

We don’t toss our money at anything without keeping an eye on it.

” He asked if they’d have that much time invested in the warehouse.

“Of course. It wouldn’t be mine to watch over, but Amy and Fowlers.

But that doesn’t mean that we all won’t have a vested interest in it.

I might be asked to go over the books at some point—if there is a problem.

I’m not saying that there will be; I’m just saying that we all keep track of what we invest in.

It’s a family project like everything else we do. ”

“I like that idea. I might not have lost so much money when I first started investing had I taken as much care as your family does about investments. I didn’t lose my shirt, but enough that it stung a little when they went belly up after two years.

” Edgar waited to speak until after his and Sheppard’s orders were taken.

He asked him if he had anyone investing in his family.

“I consider the warehouse an investment. Even though it’s ours, I can see the potential of doing it right the first time.

However, I will tell you this, I’m nervous about this project of my daughters. It’s a great deal of money.”

“On that project, I’m a little more aware of things.

I was asked to do the projected sales of the place over the next five years, then ten more down the road.

You’re doing the right thing. It will increase your leverage of hitting all the markets with a thirty percent increase in sales you have now.

And over the next ten years, you’re looking at about another sixty percent increase on top of the thirty you’ve already.

The money that you’ve put into this deal will be back into your accounts by year seven.

That’s one hell of an investment, and whoever started it should get a raise. ”

“Thank you. You’ve no idea how much hearing that from someone else means to me.

I’m not as young as I used to be, and making up for the losses of this investment would hurt badly at this point in my life.

” He told him he was going to be in good hands.

“So my daughter keeps telling me. She tells me all the time that she knows what she’s doing with this, and I want to believe her, but like I said, I’m not as young as I used to be. ”

“You’re going to be just fine. She’ll do right by you because she can think outside the box.” He told him how his older son doesn’t think outside the lines at all. “Then he’ll fail.”

Sheppard laughed. “Are you always so honest about your speaking?” He told him that regarding money, he was forever serious. “Yes, I suppose you would need to be as wealthy as I’ve read that you are. We know that you’re not human, but exactly what are you?”

“Dragon.” He took his salad from the waitstaff and looked over at Sheppard when he seemed to be frozen in staring at him. Taking the salad, he nudged the man a little to get him going and then handed off the part of his meal that was in his hand. “Do you have a problem with us being dragons, sir?”

“Problem? No. I don’t…you’re dragons, all of you?

” Edgar nodded and said that with the exception of the wives of his brothers, everyone at the table in his family were dragons.

“I’ve never…what I mean is I never…a dragon?

Are you larger than…please forgive me. I’m trying to imagine you changing into a great dragon. You’re large, aren’t you?”

“We are.” He let the man stare at him for a few seconds before he turned and looked at him. “I can show you mine if you’d like. I mean, we’d have to go outside. I think that the people that own this place would be a little pissy if I shifted in their place of business.”

Sheppard let go of a small burst of laughter.

Then, the longer he sat there, the more he laughed.

Edgar wasn’t sure if he was thinking he was joking or not, but it was funny to see the man lose control of his mirth.

Finally, he slapped him on the back and told him that he liked him.

Edgar told him that he liked him as well.

Tucking into his salad, he was going to make sure that he was able to show the elderly man his dragon if he didn’t do anything else.

The rest of the family was scattered throughout the dining area.

He noticed that the daughter, he thought her name was Tabby, was sitting by the women in the family.

Mom and Dad hadn’t been able to make the dinner, but he was sure that his mom would be having as much fun as the women all seemed to be.

Earl, the oldest son of Sheppard and his wife Gina, seemed to be taking cues from his sister and enjoying talking to his brothers.