Coming Home: Family Bonds Four

by Aarsen, Carolyne

  “Any problem with that?” Her father quirked a questioning eyebrow toward Larissa.

  “I have a problem with it,” Garret said, his tone firm. “We are the owners and partners of this business and need access to all the information we can get. Besides, it’s archaic.”

  “Archaic?” was all Jack said, the one word holding many implications.

  “And the audit?” Garret pressed. “That’s even more important.”

  Jack frowned just as Orest interjected. “That’s not necessary.”

  “Why is this a problem?” Larissa asked, puzzled at Orest’s continuing resistance.

  “We’ll deal with this later,” her father said, shooting a warning glance at Larissa as if reminding her of her place.

  Larissa held his gaze. For a moment she was tempted to back down, wondering herself why this was necessary. It would just cause hard feelings.

  Except Garret thought it was important. And it was.

  She looked from her father to Garret, her mind ticking back over all the work Garret had done and was still doing for the inn. How many evenings had she heard the mower going or seen him hauling bags of leaves and weeds he had raked and pulled up?

  She thought of the consulting they had done for Pete’s conference, the painting, the shopping.

  Garret had been a true partner in every sense of the word while her father, in all the years he’d had ownership of the inn had never done half of what Garret had.

  So who had more right to make a few demands?

  Then Larissa heard Garret’s sigh and she felt her own resolve stiffen. “Why not talk about it now? We’re all here.” Larissa ignored Orest’s pained look and instead looked at her father directly. “Having the audit done is a business decision. Plain and simple.”

  Orest’s face blanched and he turned to her father. “Jack, I have done nothing that needs to be examined.”

  “Larissa, I can’t believe you’re doing this,” her father protested. “Orest has been a long-standing staff member. Faithful and dependable. He’s an old friend of the family. This makes it look like you don’t trust him.”

  Larissa looked at Orest, his dear familiar face and for a moment felt her resolve wavering. Could it be that Garret was wrong? After all, he said he wasn’t a bookkeeper.

  At the same time, even if everything was on the up-and-up, wouldn’t it be a good idea to have this done? And then she looked at Garret who gave her a slight nod, as if encouraging her.

  She took a deep breath and then looked at Orest, avoiding her father’s gaze. “This isn’t anything personal. We’re not trying to besmirch your character, Orest, but I believe this has to be done.”

  “You don’t have that kind of authority,” her father blustered. “You’re not a partner in this inn. You only hold a two percent share.”

  Larissa’s heart turned over at her father’s bald comment. Though part of her knew it was true, she felt as if he had put her into her place. A very small, two percent place.

  “But her share is important,” Garret was saying. “You and I don’t agree on this matter. So her share tips the balance.”

  Her father’s irate gaze ticked over Garret. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that right now Larissa holds all the cards. I want the audit. You don’t.” Garret turned back to Larissa. “It’s your call, Larissa. You make the decision.”

  Her father frowned, obviously uncomfortable with this turn of events. “I already said I don’t want to discuss this further,” Jack said. “Orest. Garret. If you’ll give me a moment with my daughter,” he asked.

  Garret was about to stand up when Larissa put her hand on his arm to stop him. “There’s nothing more to discuss,” Larissa continued, feeling a sudden and exhilarating sense of freedom. And, she had to admit, power. “Garret and I both want the audit done. I’m not changing my mind on this.”

  Her father folded his arms over his chest as he held Larissa’s gaze. “You’re really siding with Garret?”

  Larissa looked from Garret to her father and though her heart was pounding so hard she thought it would burst through her chest, she felt a smile pull at her mouth.

  “I’m not siding with anyone. I’m making my own choice for the good of the inn,” she said, her voice quiet and surprisingly calm considering her heart was beating like a bass drum. But as she drew in a ragged breath, and another, slowly she felt a deep sense of peace come over her.

  Her father kept his gaze on her, but she didn’t back down and then she felt Garret’s hand brush her back. A gentle touch but it warmed her soul and kept her from looking away from her father’s piercing gaze.

  Then Jack slapped his hands on the table. “Then I guess this is how it will have to be but I want you to know that I don’t like it.”

  “Duly noted,” Larissa said, experiencing a surprising adrenaline rush over her victory. And for the first time in her life she felt as if she was her own person.

  “Is there anything else that needs to be covered?” her father asked as he glanced at his watch. “I’m meeting Baxter at the mill in half an hour.”

  “Not much more to talk about,” Garret said, his hand still resting on Larissa’s back.

  Orest got up, rearranging the papers on the table and then shoved them in his briefcase. He looked across the table at Larissa, his expression pained, as if she had just kicked him.

  “I’m sorry you feel the need to do this,” he said, sorrow edging his voice.

  “And I’m sorry this is such a problem for you,” Larissa said. “It doesn’t mean we don’t trust you. It’s not personal at all.”

  Orest shook his head, as if he didn’t believe her. Then he followed Jack out of the office.

  The clicking of the door was followed by a moment of silence and then Larissa turned to Garret, a few doubts snaking their way up her resolve.

  “We did the right thing, didn’t we?”

  “You did the right thing,” he said, giving her an encouraging smile. “It was all up to you. But you know that I support your decision and I’m proud of you.”

  Larissa’s smile broadened and she felt as if all the twists and turns of her life had brought her to this place.

  And it was a good place.

  “Things will work out, you know?” she said, touching his cheek, stroking an errant strand of hair back from his forehead.

  Garret nodded, but Larissa saw a tightness around his mouth that was new.

  “Is something wrong?”

  He glanced at the papers on the table and sighed. “I’m glad we’re getting an audit done, but it doesn’t change a really important fact.” He looked back at her. “Unless things change drastically in the next couple of weeks, we’ll have a tough time paying the regular bills.”

  His words were like a chill in the office. She tried to shake the reality off.

  “It will work out,” she said, placing her hand on his shoulder. “I know it will.”

  He gave her a crooked smile. “I’m glad you’re so full of optimism.”

  “Why shouldn’t I be? I have a great partner who has a great vision.”

  He just laughed at that, gave her another quick kiss and then left.

  But as he did, some of the warmth left the room as well. Larissa hugged herself and walked to the window, trying not to think about what Garret had just said.

  Just outside the window she saw a young couple walking down one of the paths, then disappear around the bend. Two younger women stood on the bridge, taking pictures of each other. A group of older men stood in the parking lot, laughing, chattering.

  Everyone looked so happy. And they were happy because they were here.

  Unless things change drastically...

  Garret’s words resounded through her head and she laid her forehead against the cool glass of the window. Were things really that dire that they wouldn’t be able to meet their financial obligations?

  She didn’t want to think about what that could mean. All she ever wanted t
o do was run this inn. It was her legacy to her mother. Now Garret was back in her life and together they were working on her dream.

  It was as if all the things she had ever wanted were now coming together.

  Dear Lord, she prayed. Help me to trust that whatever happens will happen for the best. Help me to know what to hold on to and what to let go of.

  And she didn’t want to think too hard about what that might entail.

  Fourteen

  “So what did you want to talk about?” Garret folded his arms over his chest, his wooden chair creaking as he leaned back, staring hard at his steaming cup of coffee. Trying not to wonder too hard why Jack wanted to meet at Mug Shots instead of at the inn.

  When Jack had called him last night with a request to meet him early this morning, Garret had asked why. Jack had simply said he didn’t want to have this conversation in front of Larissa.

  Now Garret sat across from Jack in the back corner of the café, a bit removed from the usual chatter of people coming and going. The scent of bread baking wafted through the room, counterpointed by the ever-present smell of coffee.

  Smelled like home, Garret thought.

  Jack tugged on the cuffs of his shirt, then rested his arms on the table, hands stacked one over the other. “I may as well come right to the point. I want to buy your share of the inn.”

  Garret heard the words but it seemed to take a few more moments for them to register. “Why do you want to do that?” According to Larissa her father wasn’t that interested in the inn, so why would he want full ownership? It didn’t make sense.

  “I have a few plans I want to capitalize on and in order to do that, I will need majority ownership of the inn.” Jack leaned forward, his chair creaking as his eyes held Garret’s. “I know that the inn wasn’t your first choice. I know you bought it from Baxter for the express purpose of flipping it.”

  Garret held Jack look for look, trying not to let the man intimidate him. “Yes. That was my original plan,” he said. No need to hide that fact. “But things have changed for me.”

  “I take it one of those ‘things’—” Jack lifted his forefingers making air quotes “—is your renewed relationship with my daughter.”

  Garret didn’t like Jack’s tone of voice, but chose to ignore it. “Yes. My relationship with Larissa is a factor. Plus I’ve found I really enjoy working at the inn and I really enjoy working with Larissa. She has a real heart for the place and has helped me to see it as more than just a business.”

  Jack nodded, as if he understood what Garret was saying. “Her mother felt the same way before she got ill.”

  In spite of the history between them, Garret couldn’t help a flicker of sympathy for the man. From what he remembered about Larissa’s parents, they did love each other deeply.

  Then Jack folded his hands together and dropped them on the table, as if putting an end to the reverie. “But we need to move on and, for me, that means purchasing your share of the inn.”

  Jack seemed adamant, which made Garret curious.

  “Why do you want to do that?”

  “Baxter is finally willing to sell his share of the mill. I need to finance my purchase of that.”

  A strange sense of déjà vu washed over Garret as he took a quick sip of his coffee. A few weeks ago he had come to this very place to do exactly what Jack was talking about. Buy out Baxter’s shares in the mill.

  Garret felt a bite of irritation that Baxter hadn’t approached him about selling his shares as he had promised. Even as the thought grew right behind it came another question.

  Is that really what you want?

  “How would purchasing my share of the inn help you finance buying out Baxter?” he asked, keeping his focus on the topic at hand. If Baxter was selling his shares, Jack would be the logical purchaser anyhow.

  “I want to sell the inn and I can’t do that if I only own forty-nine percent.”

  His bald statement was like a body blow.

  In his dealings with various petroleum companies, Garret had been party to a number of business deals and takeovers. But never as an owner.

  Now he understood why even some hard-nosed businessman could blanch and recoil at the thought of their business being dismantled and sold. And by one of the owner’s relatives.

  His heart broke for Larissa.

  “You’d really sell the place?”

  “It hasn’t meant anything to me since my wife died and I can’t believe it means anything to you.”

  At one time it didn’t, but Garret’s involvement in the inn had changed him. Had made him part of a community. As he had told Larissa, for the first time in his life he felt as if he was truly rooted in a place and had an investment in seeing it succeed.

  But was it succeeding?

  “You and I both know how precarious the financial situation of the inn is,” Jack continued, as if sensing Garret’s hesitation. “If you sell it to me, you’ll at least recoup some of your investment.”

  Jack’s words were like a cold dash of reality that only underlined Garret’s own misgivings. All the hopes Garret had pinned on the conference had been dashed. The inn wasn’t coming around as he and Larissa had hoped.

  “But Larissa...what will she do if you sell it? This inn is her life.”

  “This inn has sucked too much out of her already. It’s time she put it behind her and moved on with her life. This was not what I had planned for my daughter.”

  Garret was surprised at the bitter tone that had crept into Jack’s voice. As if he resented the place the inn had taken in her life and for a moment he wondered if Jack had felt the same way about his wife’s involvement in the inn.

  “I know the inn didn’t do as well after Pete’s conference as I had hoped,” Garret said, holding on to his gut feeling that this inn could make it. “I’m still optimistic we can turn this place around.”

  “Garret. Be logical. You know how the financials look. You’ll have to have twenty conferences like Pete’s before you can even begin to pay back the operating loan. And how feasible is that in a town the size of Rockyview?”

  Garret pressed his lips together, trying not to let Jack’s reasonable tone get to him. “Once Albert has finished his audit, I am sure we’ll be able to come up with a solution to the financial problems of the inn. At one time it made money. It can again.”

  “Maybe, but will it be enough for you to take care of Larissa?”

  There it was again. The idea that Garret was unable to provide for his beloved daughter. That he would never be able to make enough to keep her in the manner to which she was accustomed. As if Larissa was a child who

  “I have my own money yet,” Garret snapped. “I’m not the broke laborer who wasn’t good enough for your daughter. I’m not the guy you told your daughter was willing to leave her for a measly ten thousand dollars.” As soon as he spoke the words he wished he could take them back. This was not what he was here to talk about.

  Jack sat back, his features tightening at Garret’s accusation. “What are you talking about?”

  “I think you know.” Garret leaned forward as if to press his point home. “Why did you tell Larissa you gave me ten thousand dollars when we both knew it was only a grand which covered my wages and some holiday pay? Why did you convince her it was some kind of payout?” The questions burst out on a wave of anger and as soon as they came out, Garret pressed his lips together as if to prevent further outbursts. He was crazy to bring up the past like that. What did it matter anymore? He and Larissa were together now.

  Jack sat back, sucking in a quick breath. “She told you, did she?”

  Garret’s only response was a tight nod.

  Jack rubbed his hand over his chin, but then he lowered it and his eyes were unapologetic. “I had to. I had to protect my little girl.”

  “From what?”

  Jack waited a moment, his gaze steady and uncompromising. “From you. From getting involved with someone who wouldn’t be able to give her a good life.
”

  Jack’s words were so close to the ones Garret had repeated to himself as he left town, that Garret felt his heart turn over.

  “How did you manage to convince her of the amount? She said you showed her the check.”

  “A simple matter of adding a zero in the amount and changing a word.”

  Garret stared at him, stunned that he would resort to deception all in an effort to protect Larissa from him.

  Didn’t you feel the same way?

  “All I’ve ever done has been for Larissa,” Jack said. “I let her play around with this inn because it’s what she loves to do. It was her way of staying connected to her mother. But the longer she runs it, the longer you both run it, the more equity you burn up, the more money you’ll lose. Let me buy it from you and you can do something else.”

  Garret looked away from Jack and his oh-so-reasonable arguments to the window overlooking the valley. He saw the mountain where the Shadow Woman was just starting to show herself. His mind didn’t want to acknowledge what Jack was telling him.

  If he sold the inn what would he do? He was starting to make plans for a life with Larissa. He and Larissa were building dreams around their plans to make the inn a retreat. A place where, as Larissa had said, people find rest. Peace.

  The same peace he had found. Working outside on the grounds nourished a part of his inner being that had lain fallow since he left the ranch. When he was outside, it was as if he could feel God’s touch on his soul.

  He didn’t want to lose that.

  He turned back to Jack, shaking his head, negating Jack’s seemingly levelheaded comments.

  “I can’t do that to Larissa,” he said. “And I don’t want to do it to myself. I am convinced we can make this inn profitable. I’ll know more once we get the external audit done.”

  “The audit won’t show you anything different from what Orest can show you.”

  “Probably not, but I asked Albert to give us a financial plan that might give us some direction. Something Orest seems reluctant to do.” Garret dragged his hand over his face. “We just need to do something different, that’s all. Take a different tack. Take some risks. Try something new.” He stopped himself there, hating the note of desperation that had crept into his voice. While part of him was confident in the inn’s potential, his rational self wondered if he was getting distracted by his feelings for Larissa. And her feelings for this inn.