Part 3 (2/2)
”Not until I know more about the company.”
”Not even then,” he declared in disbelief.
”We can't buy a granite company.” It was the wrong thing to say to Chelsea, who had spent her life doing the improbable. ”Why not?” she asked. ”Because we know nothing about quarrying-”
”We knew nothing about soccer until we designed a stadium. We're still making money on that one, Carl.”
”But granite?”
”It's right up our alley. We use it all the time. Just think of the bargains we'd get for our clients.”
”Uh-huh, which would be money out of our pockets if we're the suppliers, but that's beside the point. You just said that the company is behind the times in terms of equipment. Do you have any idea how much money would be involved updating the operation?”
”No. That's another thing I want Bob to find out.”
”Don't you think he ought to find out if the company's for sale?”
”Uh-huh. That, too.” Carl sighed. ”You're incredible.” She grinned. ”I love you, too, babe.” 83 badmra Defiamw ”Not incredibly good. Incredibly bad We're not buying into a company in rural New Hamps.h.i.+re.”
”We've bought into companies in worse places,” she reminded him in a good-natured way. ”We don't have to live here to own a piece of the action.”
”We're not buying into a granite company.”
”Why not?” Her grin faded. ”Because it's in Norwich Notch? Are you as threatened by this place as my father is?” ”No,” he said calmly. ”I just don't think it's a wise business move.”
”How can you say that before you know the facts?”
”It'll cost us money to get the facts.”
”I'll pay. Just me.” ”But why?” he asked, agitated again. Chelsea had no answers. She didn't know what she'd do with a granite company. She didn't know what she'd do with Norwich Notch. All she knew was that she was drawn to the town and that the thought of having a material connection to it gave her comfort.
There were people here, some pleasant, some not so, but all different from the people at home. If she was affiliated with the granite company, she might come to know them better. In time she might even produce the silver key on its frayed ribbon. Someone might recognize it, even claim it. There was more, a thought that lingered In her mind long after she'd mollified Carl with a few light words, blown him a kiss good night, and hung up the phone. If she owned the granite company, she would be the town's major employer, in and of itself a position of power. If she rebuilt the company so that it brought a new prosperity to 84 The Pa.s.sions of Cheisea Kane the town, she would be the local hero. rrt, at would be a switch from the infant who'd been given away. She would be in a position to learn whatever she wanted and do whatever she wanted with what she learned. For all she knew, she might simply turn around, sell the company for a profit, and walk away without a single look back. By mid-April Bob Mahoney had enough information to tell Chelsea that although Plum Granite wasn't shaky to the point of impending demise, there had been no growth for nearly a decade. According to his sources, the company might have been in more dire straights had it not been for the high quality of the granite, the care with which it was quarried, and the fact that every order was filled and delivered on time. ”Then the company isn't in debt?” she asked as they walked leisurely around the Inner Harbor. Carl hadn't come along. Since her return their' relations.h.i.+p had grown more rocky. There were highs and lows now.
Inevitably the lows had to do with Chelsea's feelings about herself and Norwich Notch. They were critical issues for her, and there was no resolution in sight. Carl couldn't understand-and she couldn't explain-her compulsion to do something for, about, or with Plum Granite.
But the compulsion was there, which was why she listened closely to Bob's answer. ”The company is in debt,” he said, ”but only to the local bank. Oliver Plum is ultraconservative. He won't go to another bank, and maybe that's good. His debt is manageable. But the banker, Jamieson, is conservative, too. He won't advance Plum any more 85 Barbara Deunsky money. Plum will have an increasingly tough time meeting his expenses unless he makes a change of some kind.”
”Does your source think he will?” Bob shrugged. ”He's not imaginative. He'll start with layoffs.- Chelsea thought of the parents who couldn't afford to keep her, perhaps because one or both of them had been out of work. ”There has to be another way.”
”Not without money, and where that's concerned, the guy's backed himself into a corner. He has to modernize. He needs new equipment and new facilities. He has to go looking for work, rather than waiting for it to come looking for him. From what I understand, his men are good. He's the one who's the problem. He resists change, and that includes looking beyond Norwich Notch for the money he needs.”
”How much?” Chelsea asked, squinting up at him. The sun was bright and full of promise. It was a perfect day to discuss a challenge. ”How much to update equipment, build an on-site prep shed, and establish a system of delivery?” Bob slipped a piece of paper from his blazer, unfolded it, and pa.s.sed it to her. ”This list is crude.” She looked at the bottom line. The figure was high, though not prohibitive. ”What did your source think of the potential for a company like this?”
”He didn't think you'd lose money on the deal. Prudently done, there could be a profit. With luck, the profit could be a nice one.” Chelsea liked the sound of that, but there was a more immediate issue. ”And Oliver Plum? Will he sell?”
86 Me Pa.s.sions Of Mamm KMW Bob scratched his head. ”That's a hard one to call. The company's been in his family for a long time. He takes pride in that. The whole town does. Plum Granite is an inst.i.tution there. But he has four daughters, all married, none of whose husbands want anything to do with the business, so in essence he has no ”Why can't one of the daughters take over the business?”
”Women don't do that in places like Norwich Notch.”
”Why not?”
”Because it's a patriarchal society.
Women follow their husbands.” Chelsea made a sound that gave her opinion of that. Walking on, she said, ”Suppose I wanted to buy the company.
What would be the best way to approach it? Since it isn't a public company, there aren't any stockholders to buy out. It's just Oliver Plum. How would we get him to sell?”
”For starters, we ask him outright.
It may be as simple as that. He knows the company's in trouble. He's not stupid.” ”And if he says no?”
”We ask ourselves if it's worth the effort trying to change his mind.”
”It's worth the effort,” Chelsea said. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was. ”I can do something with that company, Bob, I know I can. I have money, and I have know-how.”
”What know-how? You're an architect, not an entrepreneur.”
”I have contacts. I can drum up the clients that Oliver Plum can't, and I can do it with phone calls, that's all. Do you know how many architects I know, 87 Bal'bam Deffasky all as hungry as I am for high-quality stone? Same with contractors. And talk of national monuments and war memorials and government buildings, all made of granite, do you know how many congressmen I know?” She had her parents to thank for that. True, Kevin would be furious if she used those contacts to make a go of a business in Norwich Notch. But Abby had been the one responsible for her learning about Norwich Notch, and if she turned a failing business into a profitable one, who could fault her? ”What about your own work?” Bob asked. ”I can do both.” Hadn't Carl said as much when he'd made an argument for her investing in marriage and motherhood? ”So. If Oliver Plum refuses to sell, what do we do?” Bob gave her a chiding look but said, ”Up our offer.” ”And if he still says no?”
”We thank him for his time and leave.” But Chelsea didn't want to do that. ”What if I want a piece of that company any way I can get it?” She didn't care whether Carl did call her obsessed. She wanted into Plum Granite. ”Come on, Bob,” she coaxed. ”This is your thing. If Oliver Plum digs in his heels, what do we do?” He sniffed in a breath. ”We try some creative compromising. We wheel and deal. We give him an incentive to go for our plan.”
”Like what?”
”Like leaving his family name on the company. Like buying him out but letting him stay on as t.i.tular head with a specified salary for X number of years. like paying him off, plus giving him an interest in the company. There are all kinds of possibilities.” 88 The Pa.s.sions of Chelaw Kmw uand if he still refuses?” Bob stopped walking and turned to face her. ”Then we drop it. And I mean that, Chelsea. I know you have a special reason for wanting the company. I don't know what it is. That's your business. And its your money that you're spending, both on Plum --Granite and on me. But I'm no Don Quixote. If we give it our all and still Oliver Plum refuses, that's it. 11 won't go tilting at windmills. You'll just have to find another outlet for that pa.s.sion of yours.”
Chelsea heard him, but she wouldn't consider failure.
Tucking the shopping list he had made into her pocket, she squeezed his arm and grinned. ”Oliver Plum will sell. I feel it in my bones. You'll have him in the palm of your hand in no time.” She took a deep breath.
”So.” She steepled her fingers in antic.i.p.ation. ”When do you make the first call?” ”He's a tough guy,” Chelsea told Cydra as they ran, one early morning, two weeks later. '@He hung up on Bob the first time. The second time, he said no before he hung up. The third time, he said no, then listened to Bob's arguments, then hung up.”
”Sweet.”
”But we're making progress. Bob and I are going up there next week.”
”He's willing to talk?”
”I don't know talk. Listen. That's something.”
”How about Carl? Will he listen?” Chelsea brushed sweat from her forehead with her wristband. ”Not yet. I'm not pus.h.i.+ng it. Things are too indefinite.”
”But he knows you're going to Norwich Notch.” 89 Bwbam DCHUSAW ”Yup.
And he knows why, vaguely- We don't discuss specifies. He gets uptight.”
”What's his problem?” Chelsea had been asking herself that a lot lately.
<script>