Page 30 of Never Fall Again
“Just because I’m the CEO doesn’t mean I have carte blanche to hire the Quinns.”
“But what if the Quinns were available?” The idea had been simmering for a while, and now it refused to be silenced.
“The Quinns are the best. They’ll be booked more solid than anyone else.”
“Not necessarily.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, that I happen to know for a fact that my house is the next thing on Cal’s schedule.”
“So?”
“So?” Was Bronwyn trying to be dense? “So, we switch it up. Have them build Favors first.”
Bronwyn stared at her. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out.
Landry waited.
It felt like twenty minutes, but according to her watch, it had only been one minute—a very long minute—before Bronwyn spoke. “You can’t.”
“Wow. It took you a whole minute to come up with that crushing argument? Seems a bit weak. Like maybe you know I’m right and you don’t want to admit it.”
Bronwyn shook her head. “I was there the night Dylan died. I know what you left, I know why you left, and I know”—she pressed her hand over her heart—“how much having your own home means to you. I can’t delay that. Why would you even ask me to?”
“Why? Because that home will cost money. A lot of money. I don’t believe Cal is jacking up the prices or doing anything sketchy. But everything costs more these days. Every nail. Every piece of Sheetrock. Cal told me even the cost of outlet covers had gone up.”
She took a breath. Bronwyn had dug in. It would take more than an impassioned argument about construction supplies to sway her.
“I have the money. I’ve saved for three years for two things. Attorney’s fees and construction loans. The attorney’s fees, at least so far, have proven to be far less than I anticipated. Which is good because the building will be a lot more.”
Bronwyn pounced. “All the more reason to build it now.”
“All the more reason to rebuild Favors now.” Landry picked up a vase from the table. She’d given it to Bronwyn for her birthday.“This is how I make money.” She waved the vase around. “I make things. People buy them. If there’s nothing to buy, guess what? I don’t make any money.”
“You have inventory—”
“That will be wiped out by Christmas. You know it as well as I do. The guests who come between now and Christmas will shop. They usually clean out my inventory, and that’s when I’m not in the hole. I rely on that Christmas rush. I plan for it. I prepare for it. And I know what it does to my bank account.”
She set the vase down, to Bronwyn’s obvious relief. “The bottom line is simple. I’m in trouble either way. I’ve been at my wheel every spare second of the day, and I’ve done the math. If I work nonstop for the next six weeks, I still won’t be able to replace the inventory. So even if we manage to sell it, even though we have no store and no means of doing so, I will take a hit this year. A big one.”
Bronwyn dropped her head onto the table.
“And that’s okay. If we focus on rebuilding Favors, it does two things. It gets me back in business sooner, and the small delay in starting my house gives me time to recover from this unexpected loss.”
“I don’t like this.”
“I know you don’t. But sleep on it. Please. I think you’ll see that I’m right.”
Ten
“Why are you nervous?” Landry asked Bronwyn. “Afraid they’ll say no?”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
“A lot of Quinns will be here.”