Page 72 of Wishing for Love

“The nanny?” West asked. “My mother. She fills us in.”

“Yes, Crystal. Thankfully this house had somewhat of a private suite over the garage and I have her living there. It’s easier than someone coming and going. I lucked out finding her. She’s out running errands this morning.”

Lucked out in more ways than one, but since his parents didn’t even know about his relationship with Crystal, the last thing he was going to do was tell his cousins that he hadn’t seen in close to twenty years.

Crystal had offered to not be in the house and he told her she didn’t have to do that. But this morning she’d said she’d get groceries and pick up some food to have here for his cousins for lunch.

Something he hadn’t thought about and was glad she had.

He asked if she could just pick up some food at an Italian place not that far away on her way back and they’d heat it.

“It makes me wonder how our mothers did it with all of us,” Laken said. “I have no clue.”

“It’s not like they were alone,” West said. “I changed my fair share of diapers just like you both did. You too, Phoenix.”

“Don’t remind me,” he said. “Guess it helped when Elsie was born. I knew how to change a diaper before and better than Maryn did.”

His cousins laughed over that. “We all have to learn somehow.”

“Why don’t we go into the formal living room,” he said. “There is more space there. My father is in court right now or he would have called in, but he’ll check in later. I’m not sure what is going on.”

Braylon grinned. “West likes to keep people guessing that way. I’ll be the one dealing with your father if we can come to an agreement. Laken, she’s going to be spending time talking to you or others and being here for a bit.”

Already he wasn’t sure he liked the sounds of this. “As I told West, I was kind of hoping for some advice and not an investor. Though, as you know, I need cash for this big order, so I’ve got a lot going on and to think about.”

“Here is the deal,” West said. “I’m not going to sugarcoat anything. It’s not how I operate, even if you’re my cousin.”

Time for the reality check. “Go on.”

“The bags you’re producing—they are great. They can be successful and all. Laken can help with that and we’ve got a marketing team too. There are a lot of things you could be doing better for sure and we’ve got the resources to guide you. But that isn’t what I’m interested in.”

He frowned. “Then what?”

“You have no idea the gold mine you’re sitting on,” West said. “Your patents and technology to turn recycled plastics into useable materials. I’m not sure why you’re not selling that material to other businesses for their products.”

“They’d be competing with me,” he said.

“Is this really about bags?” Braylon asked. “That’s why you’ve got so much invested in the material?”

He wasn’t sure why he never thought of it this way. “I wanted science to be fun. To be exciting. For people to realize that you don’t have to throw something away and forget about it. It can be repurposed for something completely different.”

“You’re doing that,” Laken said. “Extremely successfully. We’ve got a few of your bags.”

“You do?” he asked.

“I went out and bought one a few months ago,” West said. “I wanted to see what you were doing.”

“I picked one up too,” Braylon said. “We gave one to Rowan. He’s the outdoor guy and he said it’s almost indestructible. He’s got it at the beach all the time.”

“That’s great to hear,” Phoenix said. “I’ve tested it so much to get to this point.”

“That’s right,” West said. “So why keep it in a bag only? Or sure, keep making your bags and building a brand. We can help with that. But if you want to hit it big, you’ll start selling thematerials you’re making. Sell to companies not competing with bags. You can make shoes, jackets, and hunting gear. All sorts of things. And if you could do this with this plastic, why not other resources? Why not make something other than material for bags or clothing? Make another form of plastic for parts? For a product?”

“I’ve never been able to think that big,” he said.

“We can,” Laken said. “West can. That is what this is about. But you have to be open to that. It’s going to mean a lot of changes. It’s going to mean an overhaul of your manufacturing plant. You’ll need to expand. Do you have the space for it? Do you need something new?”

His head was spinning. This was not what he had thought was going to happen. “I’ve got space to expand, but I doubt it’s what you’re talking about.”

---