Not Quite Over You
Page 22

He settled next to her at the island bar. He was close enough to be a distraction but not so close that she could complain he was invading her space. Dinner had not been a good idea, she thought with mild resignation. She should have suggested a coffee date at a public place. Something that wasn’t so...intimate.
Focus, she told herself. Work and only work. Work, then dinner, then she could tell him about Autumn. The plan made sense and no matter what, she was going to stick to it.
Drew picked up Walter’s quote. “We should do it. All of it. Both trailers and your retail space. I know it’s a big chunk of cash all at once, but the sooner we get the trailers making money, the better. The same for the storefront. Right now it’s just deadweight.”
The sudden knot in her stomach had nothing to do with how good-looking he was. “Are you insane? That’s a huge risk.” She reached for his spreadsheets and flipped through them until she found the one she wanted. “According to your numbers, that will take the twenty grand you’re throwing in and all my savings. There won’t be any reserves for emergencies. What if my truck gets totaled or we don’t get any bookings or there’s a tornado?”
“You have insurance for the truck.” He looked at her. “Silver, you’re turning down weddings every single week. We haven’t even started marketing the smaller trailer for parties, but I know at least a half dozen people who would be interested in renting it.”
“You say that now but interest is not the same as writing a check.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “Do it all? I’m not sure I can breathe.”
She wanted to expand, but to take her savings down to zero? Drew would be fine. He had a regular job and this house and God knew how much in the bank. This was just an investment for him, but for her, it was her whole world.
He flipped through the printouts. “Did you see this one? We have Walter work the trailer projects consecutively instead of concurrently.” He reached for Walter’s quotes and found the one that mentioned doing the work that way.
He pointed to the page. “See how it takes longer because we won’t be his only job. He would get to work on the big trailer and the retail space immediately. Once the equipment is on hand, he can do the work in about two weeks. Then we’d have that trailer up and earning money. He’d start your place the second week of the big trailer work and follow up with the smaller trailer. It spreads the work out and means the second truck purchase can be put off a little and income will be coming in.” He pointed to the line for the truck purchase. “Let’s not pay cash for those. Get a vehicle loan. You can deduct the interest and use the money we save to pad your savings until you feel more in control. Then you can pay off the trucks early.”
The bands around her chest eased a little. She went over the numbers again and studied Walter’s bid. The cost of doing them all at the same time versus doing them one after the other was nearly identical but the latter bought them time and her peace of mind. With the initial shock fading, she felt her confidence return.
“I never thought about getting a loan to buy the trucks,” she said. “That’s a good idea and it solves a lot of problems. I wouldn’t decimate my savings for one.” She flashed him a grin. “Plus I’d finance through the dealer rather than at the bank.”
He didn’t return her smile. “Silver, you know I had nothing to do with what happened at the bank, right?”
“Of course. I don’t for a second think you got in the way of me getting a business loan. You have many flaws, but dishonesty isn’t one of them.”
His expression relaxed. “I can’t believe you said I have flaws.”
“Of course you do.”
“What about you?”
“Three. I have three flaws.”
He laughed. The sound made her want to lean into him. Drew was her greatest weakness. He always had been. For a long time she’d told herself she was cured, but apparently that was simply because she hadn’t been around him.
“I won’t ask you to name them,” he told her. “Why don’t you think about the options and we’ll talk in a couple of days?”
Silver thought about how much time they’d already waited to get all the information. The refrigerator they wanted for the larger trailer was in stock, but there was only one and once it sold, it would be at least six weeks to get another one. She looked at the drawings Walter had done of what the trailer would look like on the inside. She thought about the two weddings she’d been contacted about that conflicted with dates she already had on her calendar. But if the new trailers were ready...
“Let’s do it,” she said. “The bigger trailer and my space, then the smaller trailer. I’ll finance the trucks and that will give me a cushion.”
His dark gaze locked with hers. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. At some point I either have to move forward or accept what I have. Obviously I’m not willing to do the latter. I grew this business from nothing—I’m not willing to let it stagnate now. We have a good plan and I have two brides waiting to hear back from me on booking their weddings. Both of them would be using the second trailer. This is the right thing to do.”
He smiled. “I think so, too.”
They toasted each other with their glasses, then Drew rose. “Come on. It’s still nice out. Let’s go sit on the patio for a few minutes. Then I’ll finish dinner.”
She nodded and followed him out onto his large patio. There were several chairs set up to take advantage of the incredible view. The temperature was close to eighty, with a light breeze, and the sun was low in the sky.
He pulled two chairs close together. They sat down facing the sunset. She could see the lush grass of the golf course and the animal preserve beyond. This late in the day, the animals would have already headed back to their barns for the night, but come morning, they would be out and visible.
“You have a good life,” she said. “How many people get to see giraffes over their morning coffee?”
“There is that. Just think, once we’re a franchise, you can move up here and we’ll be neighbors.”
She chuckled. “We’re not going to be a franchise.”
“You say that now, but I’ll convince you.”
“You wish.”
“I remember you being more adventurous, back in the day. Remember that party we threw up at Honeymoon Falls?”
“That wasn’t adventurous, it was reckless.” She smiled at the memory. “But it was a great party.”
It had been the last weekend before Drew had left for college. They’d invited everyone they’d known and pooled their money to buy food. All their friends had brought plenty of liquor—completely illegal, considering how most of them had barely been eighteen. There’d been a live band, illegal fireworks and lots of couples sneaking off into the bushes. Silver was pretty sure that was the night she’d gotten pregnant with Autumn.
“There had to have been over a hundred people there,” he said.
“At least. I’m still surprised the police didn’t show up.”
“It was a magical night.” He glanced at her. “And a great summer.”
“It was,” she admitted, thinking about how amazed she’d been to find herself dating Drew. Of course she’d known who he was—everyone had known him—but she’d been surprised that he’d picked her.