Page 120 of February

“If we do all of the things I have mentioned, we’ll have a year-and-a-half-long runway before we would need to even worry. Opening things up online and lowering the number of staff we have would give us additional time as well.”

“We’ve never let anyone go before,” Margery said.

“I know. But closing the Baton Rouge office will help. People won’t want to commute. A few of them could work from home, but I know at least two people who would likely leave on their own. We’d give them a severance.” Bridgette paused. “And Dad, you’d be the first hire for the sales team. I’d need you doing that full-time. You’d have to get us new local business and ensure the existing one. We need that rack space. Mom, you’re back at design.”

“And you’re in charge?” Dale asked.

“I need to be. It’s time, Dad. You and Mom haven’t made the best decisions. And I don’t say that to insult you. It’s the truth. It’s business. If we’re going to stay open, we have to do it this way.”

“If we sell, you’ll have a nice nest egg, and so will we,” Margery replied.

“I know.” Bridgette leaned back and looked over at Monica. “But you wouldn’t have given me a chance to turn this around, and I can, Mom. I know I can.”

Monica’s phone rang, which surprised her because she was sure she’d put it on silent. She looked down at the screen and saw it was her father, whose calls always went through her do-not-disturb.

“I’m so sorry. I have to take this. I’ll be right back,” she said as she stood and left the room. “Dad?”

“Hi, Monica,” he said.

“I’m in the middle of a meeting. Is it important?”

“How close are we to wrapping up Southern Hospitality?”

“Um… We’re not any closer than when I spoke to you last. Why?”

“Because we need this wrapped up, honey. I’m going to need you back at the office sooner than I thought.”

“What? Why? What’s going on?”

“I spoke with the president over at Good Day. He let me know that if Southern stays in business and goes online, they’ll be in direct competition and that we also need their card lines. I guess they laid off way too many people about six months ago when the sales numbers were bad, so they need the lines and inventory to get them through the next quarter. Of course, I didn’t know any of this when I got the phone call about Southern. Anyway, the faster we get their business, the better. Let’s make sure we give them a more-than-fair price. I can explain it to the board if I need to, given what I just heard from Good Day.”

“Wait… Now, weneedthem? I didn’t even know they existed before I came down here. How did you know they were planning on going online?”

“Your assistant mentioned it to me when I went by your office this morning.”

Monica rolled her eyes because she’d mentioned it in an email that she probably shouldn’t have sent when her assistant had asked if she needed anything. Monica had asked her to research some web designers in New Orleans, planning to give the list of candidates to Bridgette.

“Anyway, Good Day isn’t exactly Hallmark, but if we don’t get their numbers turned around, it’ll look bad to investors, and we’ll have to do more layoffs over there, so this is a quick and easy win for us.”

“Dad, they might not want to sell anymore.”

“What? Why not?”

“I told you before. I think–”

“Honey, if you give them a number, they’ll sell. Trust me; I’ve known people in their situation for decades. Just give them the number we talked about, and once they agree, call the lawyers.”

“Dad, what if they don’t agree?”

But instead of answering her question, which Monica wasn’t sure her father had even heard in the first place, he added, “Oh, and I need you back here soon because we’re going to have a board meeting.”

“We just had one.”

“Well, we need another one because I’m ready to retire, Monica. I plan to present you to the board as my replacement, and you’d need to be here for that.”

“Dad, what?” She sat down in Bridgette’s desk chair in the office, which, thankfully, was empty right now. “You’re actually retiring? I thought you’d–”

“Your mother is worried about my heart.”

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