Page 22 of Acquiring Ainsley
“You never call me this early, darling,” she said. “That’s how I know that there has to be something wrong.”
“There is.”
“Spill it.”
I took my full coffee cup from the stand underneath the machine, not bothering to add cream or sugar to the warm drink and walked to the kitchen table. I wanted—needed—my morning java at full strength. How to start this conversation?
I took a deep breath to steady myself. “I take it that you haven’t talked to Ashton lately.”
“Oh, I have. He told me everything.”
I almost choked on my first sip of coffee.“He did?”Thoughts raced through my head. What had Ashton told my mother about Trevor? I almost didn’t want to know. “When did you talk to him?”
“A few hours ago.”
“What?” I braced my hand on the back of a nearby chair. “What did he say?”
“Well, he mentioned that he hoped an infusion of capital could prop up the company. He said he’d talked to a few investors, and that at least one seemed very motivated.”
“Motivated? That’s an understatement.” I scoffed. “This didn’t bother you at all?”
“No. Should it?”
“Are you serious?” My mouth dropped open. “And you didn’t think to tell me about this, either? Maybe call me the minute you learned of this crazy idea instead of waiting for me to call you?”
“Don’t be so dramatic.” My mother sighed. “Besides, your brother is very smart. I know he’s had to do a lot lately when it comes to recent developments, but I’m sure that he has the ability to—”
“I didn’t know, Mom.I had no cluethe company was in trouble.”
“What?” She paused. “What are you talking about? He told me that he’s been sending you statements every month. That he’s kept you informed.”
I placed the phone on the table, flipped it on speaker, and held my head in my hands. The endless throbbing was getting worse. Maybe I should have started the day with a Bloody Mary instead of a coffee. They cured hangovers, right?
“I didn’t read any of the documents he sent me,” I admitted to her. It was embarrassing, but it felt like a relief to say. If I couldn’t be honest with her, who could I be honest with in life? I gulped. “Not in the last six months. Not once.”
“You have to be kidding, honey.”
“No, I’m not,” I whispered, and then took a large swig of coffee. This question had no good replies, and I knew that. “I just trusted him. You said yourself that Ashton is so smart. He’s the one with the MBA and all the business sense, so I just thought—”
“Oh, god. You reallyareserious. You didn’t know.”
“No.” I sighed. “And that’s embarrassing. Especially since dad prided himself on building such a great company.”
“Honestly, I’m not at all surprised to hear these developments about the finances for Ross Publishing.”
I tightened my grip on the chair. “Wait, you’re not?”
“No, I’m not.” She cleared her throat. “But, darling, thereissomething that you need to know, and perhaps this is as good a time as any to learn it.” She paused. “Your father didn’t have the best head for business. He was an ideas man, more than anything else. He could think big and see opportunities when others didn’t but that doesn’t mean that he was good at the execution side of things.”
“But he—”
“Whatever you thought about your father, this is the ugly truth. I know he managed to keep the company looking healthy on the outside, but when Ashton told me he was going to have to do a deep dive to find some money to keep it afloat, that didn’t shock me.”
I stood from the chair and paced the tile floor. “Well, it’s a lot worse than you think.”
She didn’t reply.
“Mom, we’re almost bankrupt.” I took the phone off speaker and put it up to my ear. “Did you hear me?Bankrupt. The company is going under.” My voice broke under the sheer weight of what I’d just said, but it was a relief to get it out there. “And soon if we don’t figure out a solution.”
