Page 111 of When Morning Comes Around

Sadie sighed. Dale really wasn’t capable of running the business by himself. She knew that. The plumbers and techs tolerated him, but she’d always been the glue that held things together.

“There was a time, last year, when we talked about selling the place. Maybe we should do that now.”

“From the way he was talking, you’d have to be quick about it – before he runs it into the ground.”

She covered her eyes with her hand. She hadn’t thought about that. They’d had a business valuation done, and she’d kept that figure in her mind ever since. It was a decent amount of money, and she’d been figuring it into the divorce. However, the valuation was based on the profit and loss. There was a very real danger that Dale might erode the profits and run up some losses without even trying.

Dom rested his hand on her shoulder. “Did you have any possible buyers?”

She shook her head slowly. “The only interest we had was from the employees. You know Trevor, Josh? He was interested in putting a bid together, making it a kind of co-op, where all the employees would chip in and own a share.”

“Do you think they might still be interested in doing that?” Dom asked.

She let out a short laugh. “Trevor doesn’t even work there anymore – he walked out in disgust.”

“You know, Mom,” said Josh. “Maybe you should talk to him. You and Dad aren’t the only ones who stand to lose if the business fails. You won’t be able to sell it if it’s not profitable. But for Trevor and the rest of the guys who work there, they won’t have a job or an income anymore.”

Dom met her gaze and nodded.

“You’re right, I should give him a call. Can you think of anything else that your dad might be after?”

“No. Not off the top of my head. I’ll think about it and give you a shout if I come up with anything. Are you going to see him?”

She glanced at Dom. “I’ll call him first, see what he’s thinking. He’s come all this way…”

“Don’t go out of your way for him, Mom! You didn’t ask him to come. Hey, Dom?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you a favor?”

“Sure.”

“If she does arrange to see him, will you go with her?”

Dom cocked an eyebrow at her, and she nodded. Still, he didn’t speak.

“It’s a genuine request,” Josh said. “I’m not testing to see if you’ll try to boss her around – I’m asking you to please have her back.”

Dom laughed, but there was no humor in it. “You know, at some point, the three of us need to sit down and talk about where you got this idea of everything being a test.”

Josh chuckled. “I’ll look forward to the three of us sitting down together, but I think you know the answer to that one.”

“Yeah, I reckon I do. And to answer your question, yes, I’ll be with your mom if she meets up with him. We already talked about that.”

“Thanks. Will you call me back after you talk to him, Mom? Keep me in the loop?”

“I will.”

“In fact, can I have your number, Dom? I feel like we might need to have a loop of our own.”

Dom cocked an eyebrow at her again, and Sadie chuckled.

“You can’t see this, Josh, but he’s asking my permission – even though I know that the two of you would love to gang up on me – for my own good, of course.”

Josh laughed. “That’s what I thought. I look forward to talking to you, Dom.”

“Likewise,” said Dom.

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