She sat up and cleared her throat. She wasn’t ready for this. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Chapter 9
“How was your weekend?” Carly handed her a cup of coffee as she walked into the staff kitchen. She leaned her back against the kitchen counter and waited.
“Good.” It was better than good; it was wonderful. To have Simon in her life again would be way too easy but Ruby wasn’t ready to take things back to where they once were. She was much more cautious than that. “We did a bike ride over the bridge, had lunch and on Sunday, took the dogs to the park for a picnic.” She sipped her coffee and waited for the dark brew to hit her bloodstream. “Did you know he had a dog?”
Carly shook her head.
“He rescued a Frenchie. A deaf dog. Named him George.”
“That’s nice.”
Ruby agreed. “Yes, it is. I didn’t think he was that into animals. It was always my gig.”
“I guess you wore off on him then. Now listen, before you go and get stuck into day to day work, we have a meeting with Graham Charters from the fundraiser. He wants to discuss ongoing support for the shelter. I’d like you to be there since he mentioned you when he rang to make the appointment.”
Regular donations were always gratefully received. “Sure. Call me when he arrives. Now I’d better go and see how the weekend crew survived.” Ruby headed to the working end of the shelter where the animals were cared for and housed.
It was almost lunchtime when Carly called her on the phone. “Time to shine, girlfriend. Our visitor is here.”
“Be right there.” She took the dog she was grooming, gave him a hug and handed him over to an assistant. “I’ll be back later, you sweet boy.”
Graham stood when she walked into Carly’s office. “Ruby. Lovely to see you again.” He reached for her and gave her a quick hug as if they’d known each other for ages.
“Nice to see you too, Mr. Charters.”
He laughed. “None of that, it’s Graham. I suspect you and I are going to be great friends. At least I hope so.”
Ruby sat in the chair opposite Carly’s desk, the metal scraping on the floor as she turned it around. She settled into the buttery leather cushion and waited for their visitor to follow. He put his phone on the desk, unbuttoned his jacket and eased into the chair.
“Your donation was very much appreciated, Graham. I can’t tell you how much we rely on members of the community to keep the shelter going.”
“I’m more than happy to help. As I mentioned the other night, if it wasn’t for your shelter letting us adopt little Bubbles when we lost our son, I doubt my dear wife Laura would’ve survived the pain.” The look of sadness in his eyes tore at Ruby.
“That’s so sweet. I’m so glad things are working out for you. We all love a happy ending for our fur babies.”
Graham sat forward, a smile lighting his face. “And that’s what brings me here today. My wife and I were talking and we want to do something lasting in our son’s name. He loved all creatures, dogs especially but he couldn’t have one because of his health. I would like to be the shelter’s benefactor.”
Ruby shared a glance with Carly. “What exactly does that entail?”
Carly smiled. “Usually it means that they assist with the financial side of the operation. Something we would appreciate very much, Graham.”
A lightness settled on Ruby’s shoulders. With Graham helping them, things could only get better. “Oh. How lovely. Thank you.”
“But I don’t want to play a small part in this. Most benefactors write a check and that’s it. Laura and I want to be more involved. We’d fundraise regularly, something my wife is extremely good at. We’d also put your profile out there to more people. Try and raise the awareness to adopt, that kind of thing. I’m semi-retired and Laura hasn’t been in the public eye for a number of years. Not since our son got really ill. But now she feels that it’s time to make a difference and because of Bubbles, we want to help you.”
Ruby held her hand to her heart, the emotions welling in her throat. “That is so nice of you, Graham.”
“But that’s not all, ladies. I know you mentioned the real risk you run of losing this property and I wanted to do something about that first. I feel it’s in your best interests to have a permanent home, one that can’t be taken away from you.”
“We’ve thought about it but even with the money we raised last week and your very generous donation, that’s not possible unless we go far out of town and that in itself creates problems for us as far as rescuing and adopting goes.” Carly shrugged. “The best we can hope for is our landlord having a change of heart and giving us a longer than expected lease.”
“Would you be prepared to move the shelter – still in Sausalito but to the other side of town just off of Highway one-o-one?”
Ruby stood and paced the office. “But that’s prime land. I doubt we could afford that. Maybe for a year or so, but then we’d be out of money again.”
“No you wouldn’t.” Graham smiled at the two of them. “My company is in the process of closing on a parcel of land in the area that I think would be perfect. The buildings might need some work to make them suitable for you, but there’s water on site, and plenty of room to grow. I’m prepared to offer the land to the shelter for free if you like it and to make my shareholders happy, you’d be required to meet, shall we say, some specific targets otherwise I’m afraid the rent would be the going rate.”
Ruby’s mouth dropped open. “What did you say?”
Carly grabbed her arm. “Seriously?”
Graham stood up. “Seriously. But even if you didn’t meet the targets, at least you’d have a permanent home.”
Carly held up her hand. “Hang on. Let’s go back a bit. You said, ‘meet certain requirements.’ Please explain that part.”
“Well, as much as I’d like to, I can’t just give you the property rent free or we’d get swamped with requests. If we could make it look as though we’re doing a service to the community at large, I’m sure I could get it past the board to give you a free or at least a nominal lease for many years to come.”
“What kind of service?” Ruby’s voice came out squeaky with the hint of panic rising. For a mere second, it seemed as though all of their dreams were about to come true. Now she wasn’t so sure.
Graham clasped his hands together. “How many dogs do you usually rehome a month and how many do you have now?”
Carly spoke up. “Average? Maybe forty-five cats and dogs on a good month and presently we’re housing around seventy.”
Graham smiled. “How about you push that up to, say sixty animals rehomed a month? I don’t mind helping with advertising and promoting. I have contacts that I can pull in.”
Ruby chewed on her lip and stared at him. “Like run an adoption promotion kind of thing?”
“Sure. Letterbox drops, advertise in the papers or on television and radio. Cut the adoption price down for one week a month to build interest. If you don’t have to pay a lease, you could probably afford to cover that drop in revenue. You can advertise on Facebook and hold a pot luck dinner so people can meet the dogs in a more casual setting. Whatever works. I’ve heard of a shelter in Washington that matches their dogs up from on-line applications and delivers them all over the country because not everyone has access to a shelter like this. That’s an idea too.”
“We don’t have a truck for that kind of thing.”
Carly nodded. “But you do, right?”
“I own a transport company. I’m sure if you decided to go that way, we could work it out. It would mean more office work for you to arrange things but it’s a good idea. Worth considering.”
“I agree.” Carly tipped her chin at Ruby. “What do you think? Do you want to try and see how we go?”
“But what if we can’t do it? And how many times do we have to rehome sixty animals? Is it a target we have to meet each month?”
“No.” Graham looked between them. “I’d like to see y
ou meet sixty to start with and then set a target based on how many you have in on any one day. Say a percentage. It’s good business to have a healthy turnover and I feel it could work for the animals too. They don’t like it in here anymore than you like seeing them dumped.”
Ruby ran her hand over her hair, thinking about his words. He was right. If there was a way to speed up the adoption process and get them a cheap or free permanent shelter, she was all for it.
“But how can you afford to give away such an asset?” Ruby knew exactly how much land there was worth. She dreamed of having enough money to buy and knew she never would.
“I’m a wealthy man, Ruby. My company deals in property all the time and to be honest, the tax write off wouldn’t hurt me either. In fact, you’d almost be doing me a favor. And as I said, we want to be the shelter’s benefactors in our son’s name to keep his memory alive. Now he’s gone, there is no more family. We need to give our money where it will be most useful while still making our shareholders happy. Please say you’ll agree.” He cleared his throat as his eyes filled with sudden tears. Graham stood up and walked to the door where he pulled out a tissue and dabbed at his face before turning back to them.
Tears welled in Ruby’s eyes and she couldn’t get the words out. She blinked and glanced at Carly who had tears streaming down her face before focusing on Graham again. “What can I say but thank you. Thank you so very much.”
He held his arms open and she launched herself into them, hugging him as hard as she could. Ruby had liked him on sight and now she knew he was her kind of person. The kind who cared about animals as much as she did.
When she calmed down and let him go, she grabbed a tissue. “I don’t believe this. I’m totally blown away.”
Graham cleared his throat. “I’m glad you’ve accepted our offer. Laura will be so pleased. When you have time, I’ll take you out and show you so you can make plans. It’ll be a big move and you’ll probably want to make changes before you take over. I’m sure things are going to work very well for the future of the shelter.”
“And all we have to do is find homes for sixty animals before we can move in.” Ruby had a moment of panic at the thought of not meeting his target. She brushed it aside. With all of the resources available to them, there was no excuse to fail.
“No, you don’t. You can move in and still be trying during the crossover. It’s merely an incentive for you to work harder and for my board to agree.”
* * *
“How did she take it?”
Graham sat down in front of Simon’s desk. “Very well. They were over the moon. It makes me feel good about the future for them, Simon. I decided that to get this past the board, they should have targets to meet to prove they were doing the community a service. I think they’ll do it too.” He proceeded to fill Simon in on the details.
“I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t make those figures if you’re willing to help. Advertising costs a fortune these days. I can chip in too if you like.”
“I think you’ve paid enough already, don’t you?”
Simon shrugged. “At least let me help on the administration side of things then. It’s a lot for Carly to take on. I can use some of our programs to match dogs to the right owners. That kind of thing.”
“You can run that past the girls if you like. Make sure you aren’t treading on anyone’s toes.”
Simon made a mental note to talk to Tyler and see what they could pull together. They knew people now, helpful people.
“Laura is excited to be involved too. I’m thinking of taking her out to see Ruby next week to choose a friend for Bubbles. Why not have two thoroughly spoiled dogs instead of one? I just have to find the right time to broach the subject with my dear wife. It’ll bring those memories of that dark day back.”
“Understandable but I think it’s a great idea. You didn’t tell her I used to own the land, did you?”
Graham shook his head. “I saw no reason to. You didn’t want that to be public knowledge, I gather?”
“No. I’d rather not. It was nothing to do with me and I’d like to keep it that way.”
Graham put his fingers together in tent fashion and clicked his tongue. “A word from a wise old man, Simon. Secrets never do any good in a relationship. If it were me, I’d tell her. You have nothing to lose.”
You have no idea, Simon thought. I promised her I wouldn’t do anything that smacks of me buying her time and this might not go down well. I don’t want her to take it the wrong way.
“Leave it with me. Now, you came to sign the papers for the land. Liam has them all drawn up so it’s only a case of you and I putting our mark on the deal.”
“Let’s do this then. I can’t wait to go and tell Laura to start planning what she’s going to do for the foundation. She’s already talking to old friends, planning lunches and dinners to fundraise and lift awareness of the plight of our homeless and neglected animals. I haven’t seen her so animated in years. It looks as though I’m getting my wife back at long last.”
Simon buzzed his lawyer and the papers were soon signed and exchanged. He shook Graham’s hand.
“Pleasure doing business with you, Simon. You won’t believe how much this is going to change everyone’s lives.”
George took that opportunity to wander in from the basement room and sniff at Graham’s leg. Graham looked at Simon, his eyebrow raised. “Yours I gather? Haven’t seen him before.”
“He is. He usually spends the day with Mom but since they’re on holiday, he’s with me at the office. No manners I’m afraid. Hard to train a deaf dog but we do the best we can.”
Graham leaned down and patted George who rolled over and presented his belly for a rub. “You big softie.” He stood and grinned. “Like owner, like dog I’d say. I know you’re doing this for Ruby, Simon, not for me. Tell her soon so it doesn’t become an issue between you. I like her a lot and from what I hear from your parents, you still do too.”
“It’s history, Graham. Not sure if it’s possible to fix it.” Simon had always trusted Graham with business advice. He was the one who got him into land purchases when they made it big. An old school friend of his father’s, he’d offered advice freely. But they’d never really gotten personal before.
“I know your parents were bitterly disappointed when you two broke up. Please don’t let money come between you again. I’d like to see everyone happy and since I don’t have my own son to advise anymore, you’re going to get my words of wisdom whether you like it or not.”
“You’ve always been good to me with business. Tyler and I both appreciate it.”
“I had good business support growing up and I like to share my knowledge where I can. That reminds me—tell Tyler the mansion next to yours is coming up for sale soon. I don’t believe it will go on the open market either. It’ll be by tender only but I do have contacts.”
Simon rolled his eyes. “Like he’ll listen. You know how hard it is for him to spend his money.” The only thing he opened his wallet for were sailing skiffs and computers.
Graham laughed. “I do but between you and I, we can get him in with a chance on this deal. It’s perfect for him as an investment in his future. You know how much your property has risen since you made the purchase.”
“I do.” Although that wasn’t the reason he’d bought the place.
Simon shook Graham’s hand and walked him to the door. The fact that the property next door had a boat house at the bottom of the garden might be the only thing that would convince Tyler it was the home for him. His present loft apartment wasn’t ideal but he’d gotten it cheap and that was why he stayed there. “I’ll let him know but keep me in the loop anyway. Love to Laura.”
Simon walked back to his desk, his mind churning over with Graham’s words. Yes, he should tell Ruby he used to own the land. They were connecting again and he liked that feeling and didn’t want anything to undermine that. Not because it was a secret but because of the trust issue. She’d be
en hurt before because he didn’t trust her enough and he wasn’t going to go there again.
But something niggled in the back of his mind. Would she take this in the manner it was given or would she automatically jump to the conclusion that Simon was doing a swift deal here to help sway her back into his arms. Either way, this could go sour on him. He dropped into his chair and turned around to stare out the window. How on earth was he going to decide the best course to take?
Chapter 10
Ruby called him that evening when he was kicking back on the couch with George for company watching television. He’d left the timing of the dates up to Ruby as she had a lot on her plate. Tonight she wanted to rest up and do shelter stuff.
“I had a wonderful time yesterday and I wanted to let you know. Thank you for taking me somewhere I could take my fur babies, Simon.”
He smiled, finding it hard to keep the ridiculous grin off of his face.
“And I love George. He’s just adorable.”
Simon glanced at the dog in question, rubbing his ears. “He is rather lovely, isn’t he? It was a bit of a challenge at first but we’ve managed to work around each other. Mom spoils him rotten of course and looks after him during the day for me. He runs that household.”
“It’s easy to see why. He’s a great character. Listen, I have some exciting news.”
And she wanted to share it with him. That made him even happier. Even though he knew what it was, he needed to hear it from her lips. “You have my undivided attention.”
“We had a visitor today. One of the gentlemen at the fundraiser stopped by. A local property developer. You might know him.” She barely paused for breath, let alone his answer. “He wants to be our benefactor.”
“That’s wonderful news, Ruby. You’ve worked so hard for the shelter.”
“Yeah, well. You know how much it means to me. But get this – he’s donating a block of land for our permanent home.”
Second Chance Billionaire (The Billionaire's Club Book 1) Page 6