Pricing elasticity was something she’d studied. It was more work, but as Ali had said, if something was truly important, she’d find time. “That’s not a bad idea, Jake. I’ll look into it.”
Her phone rang, and she looked down at it. It was the bank, hopefully it was Dawson. “Sorry, I have to take this,” she said.
She headed for the exit at the rear of the warehouse as she answered. “This is Emerson.”
“Emerson. It’s Dawson. I have that information for you. Sorry it took so long to gather the checks.”
She sat down on the step by the door to the warehouse. It was the only sunny spot, evading the shade thrown by the main distillery building. “No worries. Who were they to?”
“They weren’t paid to companies. They were sent to personal accounts. That doesn’t mean they weren’t for services. Do you have a pen?”
Emerson flipped the productions schedule over. “Hit me,” she said.
“Forty thousand was to a Robert Harding. Twenty thousand to a Kim Lee. Fifteen thousand to a Henry Haverstock.”
She began to write them down, but as soon as she heard the surnames, her heart dropped to her stomach.
Holy shit.
Emerson kept writing the names and amounts, trying to fight back the tears.
Anderson Laurence.
Thomas Dunn.
She wrote down about fifteen more names.
“So, that’s the list, Emerson. I hate to do this, but we’re going to need an explanation within fourteen days as to what these payments are for. You’ll get copies of all this in writing to assist you in your investigation.”
Fighting down the wave of nausea, she swallowed deeply. “That’s a great help, Dawson,” she said, her voice too bright, too sharp. “I’ll be in touch.”
She hung up the call and placed her head on her knees.
What did you do, Dad?
Robert Harding had hounded Olivia, in and out of work, to the point of her breakdown. Disappointed groom or not, he’d shown her sister no care. Kim Lee, the sweet mother of Laura Lee, who had wanted the perfect wedding for her daughter and had threatened them with a lawsuit. Henry Haverstock had unsuccessfully reported them to the city council to see if he could get the distillery’s permits revoked.
Goddamn it.
It made no sense, yet it made all the sense in the world. The checks had been made out to the brides and grooms of weddings that were cancelled. Had her father taken out the loan in the guise of renovations to quiet the outrage aimed at the distillery and her sister?
Tears filled her eyes. It was just the kind of thing her father would do to protect them. And he’d probably had a plan for how to get them out of the mess it created.
Why didn’t you tell me what you were doing, Dad?
“Hey, Em, I was thinking about that pricing thing?” Jake said, striding toward her. “Wait, what’s wrong?” He sat down next to her on the step, and as soon as his arm went around her, she cried into his shoulder.
“Look at this.” She handed Jake the list of names and explained to him what their father had done.
“He did it for Liv, didn’t he?”
Emerson nodded. “I think so. He was too good a man to be a businessman. We all knew that.”
Silence fell between the two of them, each of them churning through their thoughts.
“So, you think the bank is going to recall this loan?” Jake said.
“I do. I talked to Connor about it, and he said—”
“Stop a sec. Connor? The Mercedes parked outside your house?” Confusion reigned in Jake’s eyes as he whipped his arm from around her shoulder, making Emerson feel even worse. “And how long have you known?”
Crap. Just crap.
“I’m sorry, Jake. I found out last week there was a loan, and I only found out today what it was for. That was the call I just took. I figured if Dad had paid for new stills, or a deposit on the renovation or something, it would have been a nonissue. I didn’t want to worry you, or especially Liv, with it if it was a false alarm.”
“Okay, I get the timeline. But how did you think it was okay to discuss it with some guy none of us know before you talked to us?” Jake’s hurt tone only served to increase the anxiety and guilt she felt.
She sighed, lifting her face to the sun for a moment. “I’m sorry. Connor is…special. We met a month ago. He’s in the liquor distribution business. I needed someone to talk to who wasn’t…vested…someone who wasn’t going to be hurt by all of this, who could be impartial.”
Silence descended again, and Emerson, exhausted, let it. They sat there so long that the sun had shifted, and they were sitting in the shade.
“What happens if they recall it?” Jake asked, quietly.
“Then we have to pay them back. I had a thought last night, which I’m still not sure how I feel about, but we could use funds from the sale of the house to invest in the business, then use those funds to pay back the loan. I don’t think that is what Dad would have wanted, but I don’t know how he intended to make this right, either.”
“Take my share. I’ll manage just fine,” Jake said.
“We can use mine, too,” Emerson said. “It’ll be enough without stopping Olivia from buying a place of her own. It’s just that I thought…naively probably…that when we took over, it would go a whole lot smoother than this.”
Jake threw his arm around her neck. “Yeah. I just created a Best in Class-medal gin, so my side of the business is going fine.”
Emerson snorted. “You are an asshole.”
“Yup. We’ll get through this, Em, I promise.”
She just hoped Jake was right.
As Connor pulled up in front of
