“Call him.” Brit told Holly she didn’t want to bother him. “Call him. That way, he can walk away from the people I have him talking to, and they can talk about it. Call his office so the deal will go better. Not that I don’t think Raven can help you with this, but you need to talk it over with Dwayne. I know he’s good for the money, too.”
Picking up the phone, Brit called his office. She was glad when his secretary answered. After telling her that she wanted to talk to Dwayne but at his desk, she laughed, telling her that he might need it about now. Apparently, it wasn’t going well for the business he was supposed to be talking to.
“What are they doing that has you so frustrated?” Dwayne laughed and told her they were breathing. Holly asked for him to be on speaker. “Okay, when you’re finished, I have something I need to talk to you about too.”
“All right, love. Holly, Mr. Dillon is a no-nonsense man that I actually like. However, his son is an ass that needs to get his head on straight before he wheels and deals his father into the poor house.” She asked him what was going on. “His son wants to expand the business by double. There isn’t the need for it. They get what they have orders for out in a timely, well-spaced timeframe. Then there is the fact that the employees are happy and working well. Not only that, but his business has taken a downturn since his son, who I think is sabotaging the company with his attitude, has been helping around the plant. And by helping, I mean he’s been telling the employees he’s going to be in charge soon, and there are going to be cutbacks. I would love to tell his father that, but I don’t want bloodshed in my office.”
“Do you think it would be all right if I spoke to him? Tell him he has a phone call from…I don’t know, his wife.” He said he could do that and set him up in an office for it. “All right, Dwayne. Good job on this. I’ll talk to him. You tell me what you’d like to see happen, and I’ll make it work.”
“I’d like for him to sell shares of the business to his employees. That way, they can have a say in who replaces Mr. Dillon when the time comes. If anyone knows the business the best, it would be them.” Holly asked him how that would work. “They’d take a small cut in pay to be able to pay for their portion of whatever he’s willing to give them. I think he’d be better off selling them at least seventy-five percent. That way, he makes a profit, and they do as well. Profit shares would be paid quarterly. That would be, if all of them wanted in on it, about five grand a quarter, for each of the fifteen people that work there. Like I said, the business is doing well, but not enough to expand. If they expand, believe it or not, they’ll not be able to hire anyone to work the extra area. That will cause trouble with them when they have to do twice the work in a much larger area.”
When he had it set up for Holly to call the man, Dwayne asked Brit what she needed. She told him everything that was going on. The profit that she could make off one rental, as well as how much things were going for right now. The auction would end in an hour, she told him.
“How much total if you were to bid highest on all of the cars?” She told him what she’d figured out. “See, I knew you’d have that number too. We’re going to do well together. Put in a higher bid on all the cars. I can see you’re going to need a larger warehouse. I have just the property for it.”
“I’ve not won yet, you know.” He told her he had faith in her. “I’m glad. Okay, can you wait on me to do it? I know you’re busy.”
“Margaret has just gotten Mr. Dillon into the other office, and I don’t want to spend any more time than I have to with his son. So this is perfect.” He asked her if she was putting in the bids. “I know you’re going to do this. I think it’s a perfect investment for us. But you didn’t have to call me, Brit. If you think it will be a good thing to put money into, then I’m all for it as well. You know your business better than I do.”
“I know, but it could be a disaster too.” Dwayne told her he doubted it. “You have more faith in me than I do.”
Winning the first car, she was happy with that. If she won the rest, that would be something she’d deal with as they won. Right now, she was dancing around the office talking to Jamie and Raven about it.
“There are twenty-eight cars and trucks. The one I’m most excited for is the nineteen twenty-two Ford Huckster. I have pictures of my grandma sitting in one as a teenager.” When they were halfway through the list, she was winning them all. Calculating how much she had spent, she started figuring out how she was going to get them here. Some were drivable, but others were not. Then it occurred to her to see where the cars were. “You’re not going to believe this, but all the cars are on a single lot about an hour from here. I should have checked that before I started bidding.”
Dwayne laughed. “I have to get back now. Mr. Dillon is headed back into the conference room with a little pep in his step. You let me know about the cars, honey. I want to know how you’re doing on each car. Even if you say you’ve won and leave it at that for me.”
After hanging up, she watched the rest of the cars going her way. When they were down to the last two, she was outbid on both of them. Brit was willing to go more on them since she’d gotten such a good deal on all the others.
“Can you go up on your own, or do they have a set price?” She said it was a set amount. Sippy had shown up about ten minutes ago and was watching the sale over her shoulder. “Go up to that amount, but add a buck to it. That’s what I do sometimes.”
After putting in her next bid on them, she watched as the clock counted down on the sale. With these two, if she won them, she was going to make all her money back on a single rental, not including the buyer’s premium and the cost of the new building. Brit not only won the last two cars, but she got them for the dollar more that Sippy had told her. Reaching out to Dwayne, she told him she’d gotten them all.
This calls for a celebration. My deal went through as well. Not only that, but Mr. Dillon is going to sell the seventy-five percent to his workers, and he’s fired his son. Whatever Holly said to him, it worked. This is just what I needed. You and I are both winners in our day. She told him she was going to make arrangements to get the cars here. She had thirty days. Good. Long enough for us to get a building up and working. We’ll take a trip to the lot and take some pictures of your new rentals so you can put them on your website. I love you, my dear. This is just what I wanted to hear.
She made arrangements to have the building put on the property Dwayne had told her about. Paying a little extra wasn’t necessary, as it was a downtime for the company, and they were more than willing to get it done on time for her. They would also hire some of the pack to work on it. A good day for everyone.
When Dwayne showed up a little after five, she and Jamie were ready to go. He’d gotten Raven to get them reservations at one of the nicer places in Columbus, and they were going to spend the night at a hotel and go to the zoo the next day. Since it was Saturday, they were going to enjoy whatever came their way.
The restaurant was very posh. As they were being seated, Mr. Dillon came over to talk to them. He said he and his wife were celebrating as well. Their son, Parker, had moved out today.
“He was too old to be there anyway. I was happy when he said he was too upset to live at home anymore and was going to move out. I think when he left, he thought we’d be begging him to stay, but neither of us said a word.” Jamie asked if they’d changed the locks. “We did. We really did. Most fun I’ve had in a good long time. And I have Addington to thank for it. And especially you, young man. You saved me a lot of heartache with this.”
“It was my pleasure.” He asked the older couple to join them, and they agreed readily. Brit didn’t mind—she was just happy they were having a good day too. “No business at the table now. I’d like it to be just two families celebrating life.”
“I couldn’t agree more. No, I can’t.” Dinner was fun. They ordered appetizers for the table and shared them with each other
. Jamie had fun, too, trying things he’d never had before. When the check came, Mr. Dillon insisted on paying for their meal. “It’s the least I can do after you asking us to join you. I don’t think I’ve had a more enjoyable meal in a long time.”
“We’ve enjoyed it too.”
They were leaving when Mr. Dillon asked what they were planning tomorrow. He had a business deal he wanted to go over with him. Before he could tell him they had plans already, his wife spoke up.
“Parker Dillon. You are not going to make them miss their trip to the zoo because you want to work on another project with this young family. You’ll talk to him on Monday, on a workday.” She kissed Dwayne on the cheek, as well as Brit and Jamie, thanking Jamie for telling her about his trip. “He’ll work you like he works if you allow it. Weekends and after five are family time. No matter how good the deal is. Good night, all of you. He’ll be calling you on Monday morning, eight sharp, and even then, he’ll have been up for hours waiting for you to enter the office.”
They were all laughing as they headed to their cars. As they were getting into the car to drive to the hotel, Jamie asked if they could find a place to get some ice cream. Instead of driving to the place, they walked there, and each of them got a cone the size of their heads as they continued window shopping along the busy streets.
~*~
“Hi.” Brit looked up from her computer when Sasha spoke, telling her she was sorry but didn’t hear her come in. “You were buried up to your ass in whatever you’re doing. I know that because you kept saying that over and over. Did you fire her yet? I would.”
“My inventory control person, Sara. Yes, I fired her. She wasn’t using the program to take things out of inventory, so a few things were double rented. I paid a great deal of money for that program and then had Matthew tweak it for me. And I want people to use it.” Sasha asked if Matthew had tweaked it or rewritten it. “He started out just tweaking it. Then he told me I was better off starting from scratch. The one I had wasn’t accounting for the inventory I had coming in unless I put it in manually. But I’m sure you didn’t come here to talk to me about that.”
“I didn’t. Your sister is here with us. She has a favor to ask you. By the way, I don’t know if you heard or not, but Howie is going to be in a hospital setting in prison until his hearing. He’s caused some trouble at the local hospital, so much that they’ve asked to have him moved.” She asked if her sister needed her to hurt Howie. “No. Nothing like that. She and the others will take care of him once he’s on the other side. Their side. But the favor is a big one. Bree has been visiting places around town that she’s helping. The soup kitchen is one of the places she’s gone to and done a little moving things around. Also, the veteran’s hospital in Cleveland. Bree is having a lot of fun, she told me.”
“What’s the favor? Does she want me to volunteer there too? I’d do just about anything for her right now.” Sasha said it was nothing like that. Not yet. “Then tell me. She’s my sister, and I miss her. Whatever she needs, I’m there for her.”
“She would like you to fund the local nursing home to have someone come in and have activities for them. That’s not what she came to me about, but that is a good idea. They have the crafts there, but no one to lead them to do things. They’re bored, she thinks.” Brit made notes on the things Sasha told her about. “There is also an opening for a cook there. She said you know someone that would fit perfectly for them.”
“Mr. Caldwell.” Sasha said that was him. “Yes, I just spoke to him a couple of days ago. He’s looking for a place to lay his hat. I wonder if they’d allow him to live there while he cooks for them. He doesn’t really need the money, but if they could give him space to work and to live, he’d be happy to help out there.”
“Bree said she’d nudge the right people for him to have that.” Sasha looked in the direction of the bookshelf. Brit waited. Whatever her sister was saying to the other woman, she was liking it. “Your sister is brilliant, by the way. I love her way of thinking outside the box with things. All right. She said there is a building in the downtown area that would be perfect to put on plays. For the elderly to come and watch, she told me. Her way of thinking is that children can put on plays for them, then have a nice lunch with the residents at the nursing home.”
“I have a list of buildings we already own. Where is it?” Sasha gave her the address, and she was disappointed to see that Raven and Sawyer owned it. “They’ll get to do this and not me.”
“Not necessarily. If you go to Raven about it, she’ll be pissy about you getting in first on the deal. I’m betting, knowing her, that she’ll donate the building to the nursing home so they can use it for all kinds of things like the one Bree wants.” Making her notes, she knew just what she was going to name it too if she was allowed. “Bree said for you not to name it for her. That she’d rather you called it The Jerry and Robin Theater. I love the sound of that. And the last name associated with Howie won’t going to be on it either. A win-win, I think.”
“I love that idea. This way, we can honor those two lovely children and not have Howie’s name on it at all. Yes, I’ll talk to Raven.”
Raven came into the room and asked her what she was going to ask her. She told her what her sister wanted to happen.
“Damn it. Can I not have a good idea anymore? Of course, I’ll help you. But I’m pissy I didn’t get to do it first.”
They were all three laughing when Brit asked if her sister was still there.
“No. She left.” There was more to it, but Sasha didn’t elaborate. Brit didn’t ask either. Whatever her sister had done, it was for a later conversation. “There is nothing wrong with your sister leaving, Brit. She can’t stay here for long periods of time. I promise you, it’s just that she left. Silly woman. If there was something more, I would tell you. However, the building is in your name, Raven. What is it you have to do to deed it to the nursing home? Or will you do that?”
“Not if I can help it. If I sign it over to them, it will cost us both in higher taxes. What I’m hoping they agree to is for the building to stay in the Addington company, and I’ll donate the time they use it to them. That way, there isn’t such a hit to the nursing home to own it, and I can deduct the use of it from my taxes. I wouldn’t usually do that, but since the nursing home is not for profit, I have to make it work for both of us.” Brit knew about taxes and how to get around them taking everything you owned. “I’m sure you have a name for it already. And I’m going to be pissed off about it as well, aren’t I?”
“More than likely. The name is The Jerry and Robin Theater. I love it.” Raven pouted, but it looked good on her. “Not my idea. None of it. My sister has been looking around and figured it out. So both of us are out.”
They played around with the things they’d need for the building for several hours after that. Occasionally she’d get back to her inventory issue, but it was nothing pressing. The things being double rented had fixed themselves over the course of the day, and she was happy. However, now she had to hire two people to work the computers instead of just the one replacement.
Since the cars were big-ticket items, she decided they had to have one person devoted to not just the rental of them but also keeping track of the inventory. Since being with Dwayne, she no longer let anyone collect the money for their projects but handled that herself. Even payroll, which was much easier than the company she’d hired to do it for her, had told her. Matthew, who was becoming an invaluable part of her business, had set up a program for her that would not just read the time clock that was now digital but would calculate what the people made weekly. It was a piece of cake after that.
“Jamie’s been working for me. Did he tell you that?” Brit told Raven he had said he was working for some pocket money. “I hope I’m paying him better than that. He’s become handy in making sure the clothing I’m selling is priced the way I want it, as well as doing spell checks o
n the descriptions. I was amazed at how many he found on just the first page of dresses. I hope you know how smart that kid is.”
“I do. Since he was in preschool, they told me he was better at figuring out things than the other students. Then when he started first grade, they were giving him work for sixth grade and upwards. I was a hold-out on having him advance until he was at a better age to be able to handle it. When he came home the first day after being put in high school at nine, he thanked me for that.”
“I bet he did.” Sippy was having a cupcake that was forever around now that she knew she couldn’t gain an ounce. “I homeschooled my boys up until they were ready. Then they skipped right over high school and were in college by the time they were just about ready to go into what would have been fifth grade for them, had they been in school all along.”
“Sawyer is hoping our kids aren’t that advanced. He said he did miss a great deal by having his high school graduation at twelve.” Brit laughed when Sippy got huffy with Raven. “He is glad he was able to do that, but he says he’d not been able to go on school trips and other things without a parent. I guess the first time he took his dad on one of the trips, he barely lived it down.”
“I remember that. Saul came home really upset about the way they’d treated Sawyer. They called him a daddy’s boy that couldn’t go to the bathroom without his daddy around. Things only a child would say to another one.” Sippy smiled then. “He showed them. Graduating at the top of his class at so young of an age has been talked about for years. My boys are brilliant, the same as my grandchildren.”
Brit thought Sippy was about the best grandma in the world. She doted on the kids when they were around and never treated them differently if they were adopted or not. Holly did the same with her great-grandchildren. Next summer, she was taking Jamie on a cruise with her and Molly, simply because he told her he’d never been on one.
“Did I tell you about the money?” She knew she’d interrupted them when they were speaking. Telling them she was sorry, she said it had only just popped into her head. “Gunner came by to ask me about some of the projects I have going. He figured with that money he found in the desk he’d gotten, I could help him with a couple of projects. Gunner and Andi were all for the idea of putting an addition on the food pantry building. Andi was telling me she and Gunner were using the money for good and to put Mr. Henderson’s name on it so his children will know. He told me how the man’s children hadn’t even gone to his funeral. They weren’t there for the sole reason that they thought he was broke.”
Dwayne: Bishop’s Snowy Leap – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance Page 9