Page 61 of Trouble Me
Alan had a coughing fit before leaning back on his pillows, exhausted. Shane stood, adrenaline running high, prepared to do whatever he needed to do. But it wasn’t the first coughing episode he’d had today and Shane knew there was little he could do except offer him ice water to soothe his throat when it was over. His heart twisted watching his father deal with the chemo treatments. For some reason, the latest round had hit Alan hard.
“What can I do?” Shane asked.
Alan waved his hand. “Just part of the fun.” He closed his eyes, and once he caught his breath, opened them and looked over at Shane. “We need to capitalize on Madison Ridge. It’s an emerging area for tourism. They’ve had several write-ups in prominent magazines lately. That land is a huge part of our plan to keep Colin from selling off the company.”
Shane’s gut twisted. “I know.”
Alan sighed. “I tried talking to him, to figure out why he wanted to tear the company apart.” He paused and leaned his head back. “He’s still never said why. Just gave me reasons why he should take over.” He folded his hands in his lap. “Okay, so what do we know? Have you reached out to the owner personally?”
Shane rubbed the back of his neck. How did he tell his dad that he’d already met the owner personally? Extremely personally?
“I’ve already met the owner. Several times actually.” Shane shifted in the chair and the hair on the back of his neck stood up when Alan studied him. Chemo might be ravaging his body, but Alan’s blue eyes were clear.
“Really? How? Did you already speak to him about the property?”
Shane cleared his throat. “Well, the owner is female. And no, I haven’t talked to her about the property, though I have had a couple of up close and personal views of the house and land.” And the owner, but he kept that to himself. “Anyway, the trustee of the property is Emma Reynolds.”
Alan’s eyes widened and a hand fisted the sheet. “Emma, as in the Emma that works for us?”
“One and the same.” For a moment, Shane wished the deal would fall through. Emma was everything he wished for in a woman and had never found, even with Marlene. She was strong, smart, independent. Perfect, as far as he was concerned. In the pit of his stomach, he knew the land deal could put everything he’d had with her in jeopardy.
Professionally, he would lose a fantastic employee. One he trusted, which was hard to come by these days.
As Shane looked at his father, seeing the weariness in his body, he knew that everything lay on the line for the company.
Shit, what a mess.
“Well, that does make it more complicated. But not impossible.” Alan gave Shane a hard stare. “Present it to her as a business deal. We have some wiggle room to sweeten the pot a bit more.”
Shane nodded and ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll set up a meeting with her.” He stood and glanced at his watch. “Are you hungry? Abe said lunch would be ready soon.”
Alan shook his head. “Not right now. I would like some coffee though.”
Shane called Abe, and when the older man brought in a serving cart with coffee, Shane’s phone pinged with a text.
Emma: Need some advice. Not work related. Talk later?
He frowned. Could his situation get any worse? With a sigh, he tapped out a response.
Shane: I’ll call you later this afternoon.
The gray balls bounced before her message appeared.
Emma: Thanks, talk to you later. Hope things are going well in California.
He slid the phone in his pocket and pushed all business aside while he had lunch with his father. Studying his father’s movements, Shane had a gnawing fear in his gut. He wanted to stick around longer with Alan, but he also knew one of the best things he could do for his father was to keep business going. It would be one less thing for the elder Kavanaugh to worry over. Shane figured fighting for one’s life was stress enough.
After lunch, Alan was exhausted, and Shane had a plane to catch back to Georgia. On the ride to the airport, his broker called.
“Shane, it’s James. I’ve got some news for you on the property in Madison Ridge.” Why did the man sound like he’d just landed the winning lottery numbers?
“I heard from Tim already. She turned him down flat.”
“Well, she may not have a choice. My guess is that she hasn’t received the notice from the bank yet today.” James paused. “The bank is set to move forward with foreclosure proceedings.”
Shane’s stomach dropped. He should be ecstatic that KVN had virtually just been handed the property, and for a price much lower than they’d originally intended to pay. Instead, it just left him cold and feeling like a shit.
“Well, that’s...unexpected,” Shane said slowly.
