Page 7 of Sunset Tides
Fiona offered her a weak smile. “Thanks. It felt incredible. We’ve done everything and more, but it still wasn’t enough to pay Carriageway and cover the interest on the loan. Every year, we just fell deeper and deeper into debt. Three weeks ago, Carriageway told me they’re ready to declare bankruptcy.”
“Wow.” Lucy let out a puff of air. “So they’ve lost a lot of money, too.”
“No, that’s the scummy thing. They’ve made over a half a million dollars doingnothing.They send someone out every quarter to tell us to keep up the good work. Until recently, of course, when they told me they’re planning to declare Grindstone Farm bankrupt.”
“How can they do that?” Lucy could feel the rage building in her chest. The nerve of these guys! Milking a farm for all they could, then sinking it like it was nothing. Disgusting.
“That’s their business model. From what I can tell, they have almost thirty companies like this. Not all of them are farms, some are shops, factories…”
“I can’t believe they’re allowed to do this.”
“I couldn’t either, but here we are, living it. No matter what we do, we can’t pay off this loan. That much I’ve accepted.”
“So what? You’re just going to give up? Let the farm be sold off for parts?”
She let out a sigh. “What else am I supposed to do? When Rob contacted me, I thought his company might be able to keep things going for a bit longer. The way he explains it, if OSS takesover the debt they can restructure it, and we may not need to pay as much.”
How generous of him. Yet somehow Lucy didn’t think Rob looked like a philanthropist.
She narrowed her eyes. “Why would they do that? Out of the goodness of their hearts?”
“I don’t know.” Fiona leaned forward, resting her face in her hands. “I’m trying to figure that out.”
Lucy didn’t trust that guy as far as she could throw him, and she couldn’t throw him anywhere, because he was huge. She’d considered it carefully when she thought she was going to have to fight him. “I’m going to come up with something, Fiona. We’re not going to let them walk all over us like this.”
Fiona picked her head up. “Oh, the confidence of the young. How I miss it.”
Lucy downed the rest of her apple juice and stood. “Am I young now? You don’t need to flatter me. I’m going to help either way.”
She scoffed. “You’ll be coming in tomorrow, then?”
“Of course! And all weekend, too. We’ll figure something out. We can’t be the first farm this has happened to.”
Fiona shook her head. “We most certainly are not.”
“So there must be a way,” Lucy said. “I’ll see you bright and early.”
Fiona gave her a thumbs up. “Got it.”
Lucy practically ran out of the trailer, a fire burning in her chest.
Chapter Five
It had been over a week since Claire had seen Lucy. Normally, Lucy stopped by at least every other day to say hello, or to have dinner at the hotel. It was highly unusual for her to disappear like this.
Claire called her to check in and Lucy apologized, saying she didn’t have time to talk. She said something about the “big things” she was doing at Grindstone Farm, but she had no time to explain what that meant.
At the end of the week, Claire decided to head over to the farm and find out for herself. She finished up at the hotel early and told Chip she’d catch up with him later.
“Cutting out early? On a Friday?” Chip sat back, his mouth open in mock surprise. “What do you think this is, a low rent motel?”
She laughed. “I’m leaving The Grand Madrona in your capable hands.”
“But weneedyou,” he said with a groan. “The chef wants us to try his new menu and wine pairings tonight. You know I’m terrible with pairings.”
Claire reached over and patted him on the shoulder. “You really are. You should try to pay attention when he talks about flavors.”
Chip shook his head. “I can’t do it. I need your help.”
