by B. B. Hamel
I turn around and open a cabinet. There’s an insulated coffee mug in the corner. I grab it, put in some ice, and fill it halfway. “There,” I say.
“You just added ice to the wine,” she says, horrified.
“True, I did. But this wine cost eight dollars, so I suspect it’s okay.”
She makes a face. “Oh, no. I drank cheap wine and liked it.”
“You’re officially a normal person now. Congrats.”
She laughs and snatches the mug. She takes a sip and follows me out the back door. We head through my lawn and out the back gate.
“Where are we going again?” she asks.
“It’s not far.” I put my arm around her and steal the mug. I take a sip and we walk down a path that winds into a wooded area that skirts along behind the houses in this little development. Soon, the moon is mostly blotted out by the trees, and she holds my hand tight, the mug in her other hand, as I use my phone to guide us along.
“Not much further,” I say.
“This is spooky. Like, Blair Witch spooky.”
“Oh, god. Great reference. Also, we are really old.”
She laughs. “You’re old. I’m still young, remember? I don’t own anything.”
“Right. Good for you. I’m so proud.”
She cackles as we round a bend in the path. The sound of water rushing becomes audible and soon we step out of the tree line and up toward a long, rushing river.
I lead her along to a pile of huge rocks. We climb up and sit down, staring out at the river that rushes out through the woods. She leans back on her hands and smiles at me. “I remember this place,” she says.
“I thought you might.”
“We came here once. Back in high school.”
“Yep.” I grin at her. “You were pissed at your brother.”
“God, yeah. Shaun… he was such a dick back then.”
“They all were.”
“True.” She tilts her head and smiles. “But Jacob and Brent were older and they didn’t bother with me at all.”
“You’re the baby in the family, right?”
“Right. I’ve only ever been close with Shaun. I get along with Delia, but, you know. She’s four years older, so.”
“At least you have siblings.” I shrug a little. “I’ve got no one, just my dad.”
“And a house. And a purpose in life.”
“Oh, stop. Family’s important.”
“I know. My family reminds me how important they are all the time.”
“Do you really hate it that much?” I ask.
She frowns and shakes her head. “No,” she says. “There’s a lot of privilege that comes along with being a Lofthouse, and that’s really nice. I mean, living in the manor is like living in a luxury hotel year-round. I didn’t realize people had to cook their own food until I was like fifteen.”
“Oh, god,” I say. “Seriously?”
“I know, it’s awful. I shouldn’t have said that.”
I laugh and shake my head. “You’re so out of touch. Yes, us poors have to cook our own food.”
She glares at me. “You know what I’m saying. I just… grew up in this little world. It’s all I knew.”
“I get that. It’s sort of the same for me.”
She tilts her head. “Really?”
“Sure, I mean… there’s a reason I didn’t go to college.”
“I always wondered that,” she says softly. “I mean, you had the best grades, best SAT scores. You could’ve gone anywhere.”
“Maybe not anywhere, but yeah, I had options. Except my dad didn’t want me going to college. He wanted me to stay right here and work at the business with him. And since he doesn’t have a college degree, he doesn’t think I need one, even if the world’s changed.”
She nods a little, staring out at the water. The moonlight reflects off her beautiful skin and she looks incredible sitting there, her long, thick hair streaming out behind her.
“We’re both trapped in different ways,” she says.
“I think everyone is,” I say. “At least, most people are. And very few ever escape their circumstances. I mean, I was born to do what I’m doing… and now I’m doing it. Some people think that’s a tragedy, but I don’t know. It’s almost comforting.”
“Is it?” She frowns at me. “Tell that to people born in horrible circumstances.”
I nod a little. “Good point.”
“But I’m not in horrible circumstances. That’s the problem.” She shifts and puts her legs out, sighing. She leans her head on my shoulder and I put my arm around her. “I’m a rich girl with rich-girl problems.”
“Does that make them any less real?”
“Not to me,” she says.
“Then there you go. I’m sorry you’re struggling right now. I understand what you feel. I’ve been living in my father’s shadow now for too long, and I’m ready to move past it, but it’s hard.”
“Look at us. We’re quite the pair.”
“True.” I hold her tight and for a while, we just sit and watch the river flow. But soon the night gets cooler, and we’re nowhere near dressed warm enough. So we get up and stumble back to the house. By the time we make it inside, she’s shivering a little bit and the wine mug is empty.
“Come on,” I say, leading her toward the living room. “Let’s get you home.”
“Think the driver’s still out there?” she asks, her voice a little slurred.
“Probably. He wouldn’t leave you, right?”
“Shouldn’t. Not if he wants to keep his job.” She grins at me. “I’m just kidding. You can drive me home.”
I look out the blinds and spot the car still in my driveway. “I can, but he’s there.”
“So reliable.” She sighs.
“Hey, why don’t you ask your siblings?”
She frowns at me. I turn to her, head tilted.
“My siblings? About what?”
“Investing,” I say. “I mean, they all have money, right? Run it by them, see what they say. And maybe your mom might want to pitch in, too.”
“No, she won’t, but my dad might.” She frowns at me. “My siblings, huh…”
“Give it a shot. I mean, they’re the richest people you know, right?”
“Probably,” she admits. “Richest people I know that might give a crap about this town at least.”
“There you go, good enough.”
“You’re smart, you know that?” She walks over and presses herself against me. I can’t help but feel a stirring as her body feels warm against mine. I kiss her softly, just a brush on her lips.
“I know,” I say.
She laughs and pulls away. I watch her leave my house, skip down the steps, and get into the back of the car. The driver pulls off and I see her wave from the back seat as I close my door.
11
Lora
I wake up with a mild hangover the next day, but it doesn’t bother me much. It’s been a while since I drank that much. Probably because I spend all my time moping around the manor and I don’t like drinking alone.
As soon as I’m up, I shower, get some food from the kitchen, and start planning. I curl up in the solarium with my laptop and some coffee for a few hours until it’s a reasonable time in LA.
I pick up my phone and call Shaun. He answers on the third ring. “Hey there,” he says. “How’s it going?”
“Hey, Shaun,” I say. “Is this a good time to talk?”
He laughs. “Since when did you care about that?”
“I have a business proposition for you.”
“Oh,” he says. “Really now?”
“I know, I know. Your loser little sister can’t possibly have something worth your time, right?”
He laughs gently. “Come on, Lora. I don’t think of you that way.”
“It’s not too far from the truth. You’re only a few years older and you’ve done so much more.”
“True, but not because you’re a loser. I’m just extra aw
esome.”
“Oh, right, I forgot.” I sigh. “Are you going to listen to me?”
“I promise I’ll listen.”
“Okay, so. I mentioned the warehouse, right?”
“You might have, but mention it again.”
I give him the quick rundown of the place. He makes a few interested noises, up until I get to the part with Uncle Ron.
“Wow,” Shaun says. “He is such a dick.”
“I know, right?”
“And he totally forgot he asked for the truck because he was probably wasted when he told you to get it for him.”
“Right, that’s what I was thinking. God, what a dick. Did you know Dean insisted on paying?”
“For the truck?” He whistles. “You might have a winner there, Lora.”
“For once in my life, I actually believe he cares more about me than about my money.”
“That’s great,” he says and laughs. “It feels good to be valued as a person and not just a bank account, right?”
“I imagine this is what you have with Klara.”
“I hope so. Although she thinks I’m a hunk and is using me for my body.”
“Oh, gross.”
“Kidding. She’s sitting right here.”
“Tell her I said hi.”
Shaun says something away from the receiver than comes back. “So listen, I can guess where this is going. Uncle Ron asked for some crazy amount for the warehouse, right?”
“He wants $2 million?”
Shaun makes a noise. “That’s actually… not too terrible. I mean, that place is huge, right?”
“Massive,” I say. “And in good shape, too.”
“Huh. Honestly, I bet that’s what he paid for it. Probably just trying to get his investment back. After all the rent he made, of course, which is probably a lot.”
“But it’s sitting unused in a dying town. It can’t really be worth that much, right?”
“Maybe not,” he admits. “You can probably talk him down some.”
“I could cover half the cost. But I need investors for the rest.”
“Ah,” he says. “So you’re willing to sink, what, seven months of income into this place?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Come on, Lora. That’s nuts.”
“If we talk him down a lot, we might be able to do better.”
“How about this. You agree to sink in half a million, so about four months of income. I’ll drop $200,000, which is no big deal, because our production studio is going great.”
“Wow, really?” I ask him. “No kidding?”
“Seriously. You don’t even need to pitch me. If you need the money for a project you’re excited about, I’ll put in the money. I have faith in you.”
I laugh, feeling stupid. “I was so nervous about this conversation. I thought you’d grill me.”
“Nah,” he said. “I’ve gotten so many breaks over the years. Now it’s your turn. I’m happy to help.”
“Do you think the others will feel that way too?”
He hesitates. “You mean… our siblings?”
“Yeah. I planned on asking Jacob, Brent, and Delia to pitch in, too.”
“Hm,” he says. “I think they’ll be a harder sell. Brent will probably throw money at you just because you’re the baby and he’s never spent any time with you. But Jacob and Delia might be tougher.”
“I have to try, right? If they all go in for two hundred, I’ll have a decent proposal for Uncle Ron. It won’t be two million, but it’ll be good.”
“Tell you what. I’ll get them all together on video chat, and you can do a little presentation. Think you can handle that?”
“Sure,” I say. “When? A week?”
“How about tonight?”
I frown. “Seriously?”
“Yep. Tonight. Get everything together. Make it nice.”
“Uh—”
“Good luck!” He hangs up the phone.
I stand there staring at it for a long moment before I call Dean.
He picks up right away. “Hey,” he says. “You just can’t get enough of me.”
“No, I really can’t,” I say. “You’re gorgeous and smart. God, you’re just the best.”
“Uh oh. You want something.”
“Do you know how to put together a business proposal?”
He sighs. “I do.”
“I need one by, like… tonight.”
“Lora.”
“Yes?”
“That’s a lot of work. And I have a job, you know.”
“I know.”
He sighs. “Should I come to you?”
“Yes, please.”
“See you soon.”
“You’re amazing!” I hang up the phone. I feel a pit of nervous excitement in my stomach. I love that Dean’s coming over to help, but this is a business meeting, and we’re doing something serious. We’re not just going to sit around and kiss each other all day… I mean, unless he wants to, then we can totally do that.
I pick up my laptop and start doing research as I wait for him to show up.
Dean comes twenty minutes later, and we instantly dive into work. There’s no bullshit, no joking around, he’s all business and it’s actually kind of hot.
“First thing’s first, we need financials,” he says. “So start searching for that stuff.”
“Financials?”
“Sure, projections of what you think we can make. Guesstimates, really, but base it on other numbers.”
“Okay, right. Sure.” I hesitate. “How do I do that?”
He laughs. “Just do some Googling, you’ll figure it out.”
For the rest of the day, we barely speak. He gives me data to find and tasks to complete, and I go ahead and get it done as fast as I can. Meanwhile, he starts building a presentation.
We take a short break for lunch, but we dive right back in. I get a text from Shaun around three.
Shaun: They’re all in and all excited. So how does 4:30 your time sound?
Me: That’s an hour and a half.
Shaun: Yep. You can blame Jacob for that. Apparently he’s busy tonight.
Me: Oh, god. I won’t be ready.
Shaun: Do your best.
I show Dean the conversation and he only nods. “Better skip ahead,” he says, and we get back to it.
By the time 4:30 rolls around, I’m exhausted. I’ve never worked so hard or so fast on something in my whole life. We spent all day scouring numbers, researching markets, getting pricing on equipment, hourly rates benefit pay, state laws around minimum wage earners, liability insurance, everything. It’s more data than I’ve ever collated before, more data than I even knew I could put together.
But it looks good. I mean, not perfect. There are gaps here and there. But for a single day… it’s pretty solid.
“So, okay, before you get on the call, one more time. When do you project you’ll be profitable?”
“Two years,” I say. “And then I’ll be profitable. From there, we’ll hire more full-time staff with better benefits. I’ll only upgrade equipment as necessary and keep overhead as low as possible.”
“Good,” he says and grins at me. “Okay. I think you’re ready.”
“Dean, I’m terrified.”
“Don’t be. They’re your family.”
“That’s why I’m so scared.” I shake my head. “The Lofthouse clan isn’t exactly friendly when it comes to business.”
He pulls me against him and kisses my head. “I promise, you’ll be okay. Want me to stick around and coach you through it?”
“No, that’s okay,” I say. “I’ve already taken up your day. How’d you get off work, anyway?”
“Sick,” he says and fakes a cough. “Really sick.”
“Poor guy. Better go home and rest.”
“You sure?”
I nod once. “I need to do this part on my own at least.”
“Okay then.” He stands and hesitates. “Good luck, Lora. I th
ink you’re going to do great.”
“Thanks.” I smile at him before he turns and leaves the room. I wait a long beat then look at my laptop. There’s a meeting link from Shaun in my email and I click it, my stomach doing twists and loops.
My siblings appear on my screen. Shaun grins at me and they all greet me at once, a joyous cacophony. I realize that I haven’t seen them all in person in forever. “It’s totally weird to see you all together,” I say. “Even if we’re not together.”
“I’m in sunny Cali,” Shaun says, holding his laptop up to show us the view from his balcony. It’s all sand and waves. “And you’re all jealous.”
“Not me,” Brent says. “I’m in gorgeous… Virginia. Not far from you, Lora.” He laughs. “I should’ve just come in person. Mom would’ve loved it.”
“Honestly, uh, this is probably easier over the laptop.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Jacob says.
“Seriously. Just pitch us, you’ll be fine.” Shaun grins at me. “You ready?”
“I’m rooting for you, girl,” Delia says and grins at me.
I take a deep breath and nod before pulling up my presentation. I share my screen and dive right in.
The next forty minutes are a blur. Everything I went over with Dean comes pouring out of me. I don’t think I’ve talked so much about money or business or anything else in my life. When I get to the last slide, I take a deep breath and let it out as the relief of just getting through the presentation comes flooding over me.
“That’s it,” I say, flipping the screen back to my face. My siblings stare back at me. “What do you guys think?”
“Wow,” Shaun says and starts laughing.
“That about sums it up for me, too,” Jacob says. “I’m really impressed, Lora.”
“How’d you learn all that stuff?” Delia asks.
“Put me down for whatever Shaun’s offering,” Brent says, frowning. “I gotta get going.”
“Really?” I ask, shocked.
“Absolutely. That was one hell of a presentation, Lora. I’m impressed. Nice talking to you all.” His face disappears.
Jacob sighs, and shakes his head. “Of course he just disappears like that.”
“Oh, come on, he’s busy,” Delia says.
“You’re always defending him.” Jacob rolls his eyes. “Just because he’s the oldest.”