Later that evening, Livia was scrolling through the jobs board on Tabula while she got herself an evening snack. Hyrum strolled into the kitchen for a drink of water.

“What are you up to, Liv?” he asked.

“Looking for a job,” she said.

“Last I heard, Delores was hiring—” he said.

Livia looked away from her screen. “Really?”

Delores was a florist that Justin frequently ordered from. One of Livia’s jobs as an intern was to oversee deliveries. He liked to send flowers as a way to comfort people after injuries, relapses, funerals, and disappointing trial outcomes. Livia was naturally interested in the plants since her mother was a beekeeper and Hyrum worked in agriculture. Livia had developed a rapport with Delores and even helped her resolve a waterline issue in one of her greenhouses.

“Yeah, you should apply. Word is she’s stretched for competent help,” Hyrum said.

Livia nodded. “I’ll go in tomorrow morning and see if she’s still accepting applications. She’s not listed on the job board. Thanks, Hyrum.”

He gave a half-smile. “No problem.”

Hyrum's half-smile meant he wasn’t happy about something. Livia studied him. “How’s work going, Hyrum? You’re gone a lot.”

“I hope that’s no longer true once this week is over,” he said. “I’m trying to convince the Senate to provide funding for several agricultural projects that will help the community.”

“Are they being difficult?” Livia asked.

“As always,” Hyrum said.

Livia frowned. “That’s stressful.”

“How are things with Corvin?” he asked.

“Good,” Livia nodded.

“And the contract?” Hyrum asked.

Livia sighed. “Is giving me lots to think about.”

“You should ask a couple of people from each House what’s standard,” Hyrum said.

The stairs creaked, and Caecilia shuffled down the stairs. Livia worried she wasn’t feeling well. Then, Caecilia gave them a soft smile. “Mind if I watch the news?”

“Go ahead, Love,” Hyrum said.

“They should have an announcement on the budget,” she said, hopefully.

Hyrum sighed. “We thought that last night too.”

They were waiting to hear if the Senate inspection had resulted in any funding for Hyrum's work.

Caecilia settled on the couch and turned on the television. Hyrum's face softened, and he strode over and settled on the couch next to Caecilia. Livia hesitated to join them. Caecilia had settled her head against Hyrum's shoulder, and they looked cozy together. She worried her presence would ruin that. So, she stayed in the background, returning her attention to the job board.

There her focus stayed until, to her surprise, the news turned to a report on Hyrum's proposal to the Senate to fix the dairy. Did they impress them enough to win a grant?

“Do you think they’ll approve it, Hyrum?” Caecilia asked as they went over the details of the proposal.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“No,” he said bitterly. “They’ll reject it.”

Livia’s heart clenched in sympathy for her brother. It wasn’t even his job to entertain the Senators that morning. His partner had called out sick. It wasn’t Hyrum's fault.

“The Senate has decided, in an unprecedented decision, a partial approval.”

Livia’s eyes remained riveted to the screen as the reporter explained the Senate had refused to cover the first-year operating expenses for the dairy. However, they had approved all the funds necessary to repair and upgrade the dairy to federal and state operation standards.

Caecilia jumped to her feet and squealed. “Hyrum! This is wonderful!”

Hyrum wasn’t excited, but he rose to his feet to stand next to his wife. “No, it isn’t. I have no idea how I’ll afford to hire and pay workers. They might as well have said no.”

Caecilia threw her arms around his neck. “No, we’ll find a way. You’ll see. Everything will work out.”

“How?” he asked, placing an arm around her back.

Livia offered, “You’ve already had people come and work on the gardens in exchange for taking food home. Maybe they can work in the dairy in exchange for butter and milk or whatever.”

Hyrum frowned. “No one will agree to that.”

“I don’t know,” Livia sighed. “Corvin and Lars’ welfare budget was just turned down—”

As if mentioning Lars summoned him, a video clip of Lars appeared on the screen. His deep, resonant voice was rough with frustration as he spoke of the difficulties that faced those of lower income in his House. Often they had multiple degrees and qualifications, but there was no industry in Caesarea to support these types of workers. So they were migrating out of the community. He feared that if they weren’t appreciated for their skills, they would go rogue.

Hyrum sighed. “They need to create more jobs, and then when they get the chance to do that.” He gestured to the screen. “They refuse to put out the money. They’re doing the same thing to his House that they are to the dairy. We could put so many people to work if we had the money. Livia saw it when she visited the office. I can’t be the farmer, the tour guide, the janitor, the secretary, and the hostess all at the same time!”

“Maybe if we promised Lars some of those jobs would go to Lupus House, he’d help us get educational funding,” Caecilia said. “They don’t get awarded unless the Tullian family is involved. It’s a different process, but you’ve already worked with the school board to set up those internships and are running school tours. It makes sense you’d bring some of their talent in to manage the paperwork involved and to expand your educational programs.”

Hyrum sighed. “Cil, we’ve talked about this before. Lars has been super kind but he’s not interested in my ideas. He’s made that super clear since the moment we got here.”

“I could ask Corvin,” Livia offered. “See if he’d ask Lars if he’s interested in talking—”

Caecilia froze. She looked at Hyrum hopefully.

Livia backtracked, wondering what she’d done wrong. “Unless that’s not something I should do—”

“No, that’s actually how things are done here,” Caecilia said. “Corvin wouldn’t think it was weird, and neither would Lars. Hyrum wants to do it his way because our way seems unethical to him.”

Hyrum glared. “It was unethical. You wanted me to ask Alia, a child, to take a message to him outside her typical page duties. You shouldn’t use children as business pawns. At least not until they are of age.”

Caecilia sighed.

“But I’m of age, and Corvin is…so that’s not a problem, right?” Livia asked.

“Fine,” Hyrum said. “At least Corvin isn’t afraid of me and can stand up for himself. Unlike some people connected to Lars.” Hyrum glared at his wife.

She rolled her eyes. “Alia is not a pushover. Livia contact Corvin,” Caecilia ordered. “We’ll sort it all out, Hyrum. You’ll see.”

Livia decided to slip up to her room when Caecilia wrapped Hyrum in a lingering hug. She crawled into her bed and got as cozy as she could. She was going to text Corvin and then realized the conversation required a call. Corvin answered after a few rings.

Livia dove right in. “Can I ask you something Businessy?”

“Businessy. I’m interested. Go on.”

“So, we saw that your welfare plan got rejected on the news.”

Corvin sounded discouraged. “Yeah.”

“Have you come up with another plan?” Livia asked.

Corvin sighed. “Believe me, Liv. It’s on the agenda.”

“We saw your Dad was stressed out over it.”

“Yes. It has been the worst problem he’s had to deal with this year,” Corvin agreed.

Livia thought over her phrasing and then offered, “Hyrum has a problem too. He needs workers, and he needs a way to pay them.”

“Liv, we don’t have the money,” Corvin said, frustrated.

“Hear me out.” Livia pleaded. “Hyrum doesn’t have cash, but he will have product. If people work for him, he can pay them in milk, produce, and honey. It’s not much, but it might be enough to keep people from going hungry. Is it that bad yet?

“Let me have a conversation with my dad,” Corvin said. “I’ll text you back his answer.”

“Okay!” Livia said, excited. “Thanks, Corvin.”

Later that night, Corvin texted: Dad is interested. He’d like to talk to Hyrum. He’ll contact him tomorrow probably.

Livia sighed with relief. She texted back: That will be great. Thanks. I’ll let him know.