Page 66 of Love Off-Limits
“Really?”
Perry also had an MBA and had built a very successful consulting firm. He read business plans all the time. His opinion mattered because he was family, but it also mattered because it was his job to talk to people about their ideas and help them figure out if they were any good.
He nodded. “You killed it, Liv. I was so proud of you reading that proposal.”
A weight lifted off my chest, and I took a deep breath. I hadn’t realized just how much I craved his approval. Dad had read the proposal right before he’d had his stroke, but we’d never had the chance to talk about it, though it wasn’t hard to guess what he’d thought.
He’d put Perry in charge, after all.
“That doesn’t mean I necessarily think it’s a good idea,” Perry continued. “At least, not right now. But you did really good work.”
A fraction of the joy I’d felt at his approval dimmed. “So, A for effort, but it wasn’t a proposal you’d recommend?”
“If you wanted to put the restaurant in downtown Charlotte? I’d back it myself if I had the capital. But way out here? New restaurants fail all the time. Ones in thriving metropolises that are full of hungry people. I’m just not sure it’s worth the risk.”
“But that’s just it. The location is half the magic. People will drive out here for the experience. For the views. For...I just think people will sense there’s something special about this place, and that will make the drive worth it.”
“There aren’t many venture capitalists who will back an idea rooted in magical farms and fuzzy feelings.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. The numbers are there. You saw them in my proposal.”
“And that’s half of it. But the intuition that’s telling you a restaurant out here would work? It’s telling me it wouldn’t.”
That was the answer I’d expected from Perry. I shook my head, undeterred. “That’s because you don’t love this place like I do.”
“I’m not sure anyone does, Livie. Except Dad, maybe.”
I turned and looked out my office window, to the apple orchards beyond, the tree-dotted hillside rolling into a Carolina blue sky. Daddidlove this place like I did. Which was why I’d expected him to love my restaurant idea. He’d been the first visionary—the one who had seen Stonebrook’s potential when it was nothing more than a rundown farmhouse and acres of unused land. He’d been the one to build the pavilion, to turn his failing farm into an event center that allowed him to keep doing what he loved. Ifanyonewas going to catch the spirit of what I imagined, it was Dad.
But that wasn’t what had happened. Unless he actually did love the idea of a restaurant and just didn’t love the idea ofme.
I pushed the thought away. The inevitability of a conversation with my father loomed heavily, but I wasn’t ready to face the certainty it would bring. Mom was right. I could do something on my own. Leave Stonebrook and find a different dream to chase. But I might as well rip out my own heart for how horrible that would feel.
“Can I askyoua question?” Perry said.
“Of course.”
He looked away, his jaw twitching as he gripped the armrests of his chair. “Would it be so bad if we just worked together? I know you’ve always been the one who dreamed of running Stonebrook. That it was always going to be you. But...could you be happy if I were here too?”
It was more vulnerability than I expected from Perry. And it framed our work dynamic in a completely new way.
“If we were equal partners, yeah. I think I could be. The only problem is I still don’t think managing Stonebrook is whatyouwant.” I studied the torrent of emotions flitting across Perry’s face. Something was going on with him. Something I didn’t understand. “Perry, what are you hiding from by pretending it is?”
He stood quickly with an almost violent shake of his head and moved to the door. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Perry—”
“The weather looks like it’s going to be pretty terrible this weekend,” he said, his voice raised enough to silence my half-uttered concern. “Can you reach out to the wedding party that’s booked for Saturday and discuss their options? We can put the rainfly around the pavilion if they want to stay outside for the ceremony, but I think the reception is going to have to move inside.”
I nodded. “I’ll figure it out. What about the staff picnic on the Fourth? Will that be rained out too?” I was perfectly capable of looking up the weather myself, but I was hesitant to let Perry walk away. I’d struck a nerve, that much was clear.
“It shouldn’t be,” he said, his voice still hollow. “They aren’t calling for storms until the following day. Have you heard from Flint? Is he going to make it?”
“Last I heard. And Lennox is coming, too.”
“It’s been a while since we’ve all been together.”
“Brody’s coming? I thought he was going to Pigeon Forge with Emily’s family.”
