Page 53 of The Pretender
Deo laughs. “What?”
“Nonna has historical knowledge and I’ve got ideas.” They up-nod. “Hey, Balt.”
“Morning.”
“What kind of ideas?” Deo asks.
“Dude, have you seen our website?”
Deo nods. “We were just talking about that.”
“Let’s put it this way—” Brogan puts their hand on Deo’s shoulder. “—I’ve been trying for at least two years to get them to let me update things and build some social media pages and stuff, but your dad was resistant and mine was just clueless. They both thought I would do too much.”
“They were wrong,” Nonna chimes in. “And stubborn. We’re Benedettis, after all.”
“Yeah.” Deo chuckles. “What kind of ideas?”
Brogan produces a folder. “I’m so glad you asked.”
Deo, Brogan, and Nonna sit at one of the desks, going over the ideas Brogan has while I take a seat at another one and dig into the ledger. I have to stop myself from swearing. It’s a mess. There’s no way they had a good handle on their finances with all these pencil scribblings. I can hardly read it.
“Please tell me there’s an actual business account and not a room piled with cash somewhere?”
Brogan snorts a laugh. “Thanks to Deo’s mom, there is. A big bank too, with online banking, but I doubt it’s ever actually been logged into. They still balance everything with a ledger and paper statements.”
“I see that.” Dragging a hand through my hair, I lean back in the seat. I need to start over and build all the processes from the ground up. I can do this. I’ve done it before, it’s just been a few years.
“Is it bad?” Deo asks.
“I won’t lie or sugarcoat it. From what I can tell, the business is operating at a loss. Sales are down dramatically.”
“You’re right,” Nonna says. “It’s been in the red for the last two years, kept afloat with family savings.”
“Why?” Deo asks. “What went wrong?”
Nonna pats her grandson’s hand. “If you ask me, it’s a lack of staying up to date on the industry and what people like. We market to the same old fuddy-duddies who bought our wine twenty years ago. We’re not relevant anymore.”
“I gave up trying,” Brogan says. “Stuck in their ways, those men. They felt our brand was classic and refined, but I think it’s outdated.”
“And they wouldn’t let you help?” Deo asks.
“Only if I did it their way, and that was a hard pass.”
Deo scrubs his hands over his face. “We need a comprehensive plan. Nuts to bolts. We need infrastructure and staff. We need a lot.”
“We’ve got one thing going well for us,” Nonna says. “The production part works nicely. We have plenty of help come harvest season and we have a few solid workers in the warehouse.”
Deo blows out a breath. “That’s a positive.” He turns his gaze to Brogan. “Can you build a website?”
Brogan pulls their head back, crossing one leg over the other. “Does the Pope pray?”
Deo doesn’t react to the humor, clearly thinking through a lot of information. “Provide an estimate, scope of work, estimated hours, and cost.”
“What?” Brogan asks. “My dude, speak normal.”
“I’m going to pay you for it, Brog. It’s a service.”
Brogan’s brow wrinkles. “We’re family. You absolutely are not paying me.”
