Donnie arrived early for his appointment with his accountant, Greg Slater. Normally he'd be struggling to arrive on time, but Greg was an old family friend, more of an uncle to him, so he wasn't going to take any liberties.

"Donald," Greg exclaimed as he opened the door to his office and beckoned Donnie in. "It's always a pleasure to see you."

Donnie grasped his outstretched hand. "And you, sir."

Greg shook his head. "You don't need to stand on ceremony with me son, I'm not Adam."

"If you were I wouldn't be here," Donnie said grimacing at the mention of his godfather.

Greg gestured for him to sit down, and then took his own seat behind the desk. "So what can I do for you?"

"Well, I have a cash flow problem."

"Then you probably need a financial adviser."

"Yeah, I know but I can't really afford a financial adviser," he admitted. "You know the industry, I was hoping you could give me some informal advice. Advice from someone I trust."

Greg nodded. "Go ahead."

Donnie laid his paperwork out in front of them. Spreadsheets of his debits and credits, his future projects, his future projections. Greg looked through them, umming and ahhing as he contemplated the figures.

"Well you seem on course to pull things around in the springtime, and you should be in the black by the summer." He gave him a sceptical look. "If your figures are correct that is?"

"They are, and they don't take into account any extra work I might take on." And they don't take into account the jobs that will inevitably fall through.

Greg sniffed, pushing the paperwork away. "So what's the problem?"

"I feel like I'm coasting, I'm not getting anywhere," he said his frustration slipping out. "I'm playing catch up all the time."

"So what do you want to do?"

Donnie shrugged. "That's the thing, I don't know but I have to do something. I don't want to just get by from one day to the next."

Greg turned his eyes back to Donnie's paperwork studying it some more. "Over the year you're breaking even, you're making a living. If you want to do more than that then I think you need to diversify. Your business is seasonal after all."

"Yeah that's the problem, no one wants their garden landscaping in the winter."

"So you need to offer them a service they do want, or you have to take the hit."

"What do you suggest?"

"I'm an accountant," Greg said wearily. "I can't advise you, I can only offer my opinion. Could you do home improvements, retile bathrooms, fit kitchens, that kind of thing? There's got to be a market out there."

"Yeah, I guess." Greg wasn't telling him anything he hadn't already thought of.

"Don't just guess, go and do it. Even if you just cover your overheads for now, any profit you make in the summer months will be just that, a profit."

Donnie nodded. "Could you go over my accounts. I think they're up to date but I don't want any nasty surprises."

"Donnie, I'm paid to do your accounts."

That was true, and Donnie suspected he was paying bottom dollar thanks to Greg's friendship with his parents. If he'd truly wanted to branch out on his own he'd have cut all family ties, but then he'd have been putting himself on the back foot by doing so. His parents had well-connected friends, it would have been stupid not to make use of them.

"Thanks," he said looking around Greg's office, paying attention to the personal touches that had been added since his last visit. There was a photo montage displayed on the wall, dominated by Greg's wife and daughter. The soft lighting gave away that the pictures were taken at a professional photoshoot.

"How come you're only in one picture?" he asked.

Greg chuckled, "If I had my way I wouldn't be any of them. All that beauty and there's my ugly mug spoiling it."

Donnie laughed before looking more closely at a picture of Greg's daughter Shannon. He couldn't remember when he'd last seen her or even asked after her. A couple of Christmas's ago maybe?

"You must miss her," he said casually. "Shannon, I mean, now she's away at college."

Greg lightly touched a picture of Shannon on his desk. "She graduated last summer. I had hoped she'd come home but she's got a job working for Qatar airlines. She's all over the world but never here."

"Right." He didn't have to be Einstein to hear the unhappiness in Greg's voice. "But she's happy? That's the most important thing."

"Yes, I suppose it is but she's got this boyfriend." Greg paused, his mouth turning down. "He's older than her, about thirty, and I honestly can't abide the man."

Donnie smiled. "Isn't that a 'dad' thing?"

Greg shook his head. "No, she had a boyfriend in college and I liked him. Admittedly, he was dull as ditchwater and scared of me, as he should be. And I liked Joseph, obviously." Donne smiled at the mention of his cousin Joe, even the most over-protective father would approve of him. "But this guy, he's an arrogant asshole, the way he speaks to her sometimes...I don't like it."

"Well, she's bound to dump him before long."

"I don't think so," Greg said with a deep sigh. "She seems pretty smitten. I've tried telling her he's too old and I don't think he treats her right, but do you think she listens to me?"

"Nope, and the more you criticise this guy the more she probably likes him."

"Yeah, that's what Debbie says as well," Greg said, referring to his wife. "She's coming home next month, alone thankfully."

"Maybe you and Debbie can work on her then, try the subtle approach."

"I guess we can try," Greg said sounding more optimistic "And if we all put our minds to it, I'm sure we can get some work put your way. There's gotta be some folk we know wanting home improvements this winter."

Donnie nodded, trying to seem grateful. He needed more work, however, now the prospect had been raised, all he wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep through the bad weather. Inwardly he groaned. Annalise was right, but knowing it and acting on it, were two very different things.

~~~

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