Charlotte Morgan and the Lemonade Stand--Chapter 4--We Want to Earn Some Money

 This is my next book. Charlotte Morgan and the Lemonade Stand.  

It is still in the work-in-progress phase. The cover I am posting here is a temp cover derived from the first book.  But I like sharing my work here first.

The book is leveled for third grade readers and up.

I am using the #steemiteducation tag because the book is about using math and earning money.   Click here for chapter 1. Chapter 2, Chapter 3

Summary: Charlotte needs to earn money to pay for her mothers shoes her dog chewed up.  And now she finds that her puppy has chewed more shoes, and Charlotte is now even further in the hole.

  Chapter 4 We Want to Earn Some Money  

 “Hey Dad!” I shouted as we entered the kitchen back door. 

“Hey Tambourine!” Dad had his head in the refrigerator looking for something to eat. He calls me Tambourine because when I was two or three I would walk around the house banging a tambourine and the name stuck. 

“Can you get us a package of plastic cups.” 

“What for?”

 “We want to do a lemonade stand.”

 He closed the refrigerator door, “A lemonade stand? What prompted that?”

 “Gavin is running a lemonade stand down the street, and he seems to be doing pretty well.” Sally joined in, “And we want to earn some money.” 

“Certainly nothing wrong with that,” Dad replied. 

“And when you do earn the money you can pay me back for the shoes Charlie damaged,” Mom’s voice came from the hallway. She walked in with another shoe. My stomach fell to my knees. 

“What’s this about?” Dad asked. 

“This is the second shoe I have found today that Charlie has chewed up. You missed the first time this morning because you were out on your run. But I am thinking that since Charlie is supposed to be Charlotte’s responsibility that she should earn some money for the damage that Charlie has done this morning. Or she should do extra chores around the house to help pay off the debt. And I’m sorry to say that would mean no club meetings and no friends over because Charlotte will be too busy with her extra chores around the house.” Mom looked at Sally and Aaron. 

“Do they have to go home now? Can we meet and figure out how to earn back the money?” I asked. 

“They don’t have to go home now, but there definitely can’t be any meetings during the week as there has been recently. Figure out how to earn the money either by earning it yourself or by doing a lot of extra chores around the house.” 

I looked at Charlie who was sitting on his bottom with his head bowed. I think he knew he was in trouble. And now I was in trouble. The Number Investigators would not be meeting until I paid my mom back. Sally and Aaron stood quietly by me. 

My dad broke the silence, “So how about this? It shouldn’t be that much money to buy you the items for a lemonade stand. But you have to set it up and run it, and you pay your mom off first. Dad looked at Mom, “How much does she owe for the damage?” 

 “I think $50 is fair. That will allow me to replace one pair of shoes for work.” 

My head hurt.  Fifty dollars sounded like a lot. We had already calculated $32, but $50 from a lemonade stand? I wasn’t sure about that. 

I nodded my head, “Yes sir, I can do that.” 

“Well, get in the car. You and I are headed to the grocery store. Sally and Aaron can catch up with you later.” 

“Yeah, we’ll come back later to help you,” Sally replied. 

 “I have to head to my game anyway, I’ll come help and bring Marcus with me,” said Aaron.

 “Let’s go, Tambourine,” Dad grabbed his keys. I followed, realizing I was now $50 in the hole, and my friends would soon be banned from the house.