Page 29 of Cakewalk
“Count on it,” Courtney said, and I thought maybe, just maybe, I detected a hint of menace in her voice.
She knew something was up, and she was definitely going to find out. But at least I had until Friday evening to live.
* * *
Through some miracle,I made it to the car, then to the trailer with no coffee or cupcake casualties. I was done with the facade that I could suffer for more than thirty minutes in these heels, though.
As soon as I walked into the trailer office, I set breakfast down, then sat, kicking my heels off. Griffin watched with a raised eyebrow. I shot a look up at him. “It’s business casual from now on. I thought since this was some multi-million dollar corporation that I had to look the part, but things clearly aren’t as they seem at Griffin Enterprises.”
Griffin frowned. “That’s not the name of my company.”
“Which leads me to my next point. You need to rebrand, and fast. Reed Enterprises has a certain… reputation.”
“Itismy last name. As much as my father is… who he is, I’m not giving up my family name.”
“I’m not suggesting you change your last name. I just think distancing your business from his would be a good first step toward fixing your public image.”
I didn’t think he would go for it, but then Griffin shrugged and took out his phone. “I’ll email my assistant, tell her to put together the paperwork.” He glanced up, hazarding, “And this is you before your morning coffee?”
“Yup, so buckle up, buddy!”
He laughed, mumbled, “Lord have mercy,” then started composing his email.
* * *
Griffinand I worked late into the evening, brainstorming mission statements, business plans, and a total rebrand. He treated me like a professional, not once doubting me, or breaking our agreement about avoiding any romantic notions.
And honestly? I could hardly stand it. We were so in sync with our ideas, our line of thinking, that I almost wished he hadn’t hired me at all. At least then clothing could be optional when we were together.
Somehow Griffin left me not feeling like I didn’t know what I was doing. I initially thought I had gotten in over my head—I mean, who was I to have any useful ideas for a multi-million dollar company? But my experience as a small town resident helped me shoot down plans that I knew wouldn’t make a lick of difference, and suggest some ideas that would have been bonkers under normal circumstances.
But Calhoon wasn’t normal.
Ariana, Griffin’s assistant in Atlanta, had set up all kinds of social media, with stock photos and mottos and everything, but they were all things I knew would fall flat here. No inane statements like “Together, we can build something new” or “A new opportunity for small businesses” would ring true to the townspeople I grew up with. They’ve been given such promises before.
One only needed to remember what happened with the closed paper mill—and the lame duck council who bought the town after—to know that this town wasn’t about to place its hopes and dreams on one big company again…
So Griffin told Ariana to nix it all, and that we’d be sending her a new press kit in a week or two.
Once that was sorted, Griffin went over his plan to have a team come in from the city to evaluate and clean the land he had purchased. The chemicals from the paper mill still polluted much of the soil, and the land had turned into a veritable town dumping ground for just about anything that was too much of a hassle to dispose of properly.
“Cancel the cleanup crew,” I said, and he momentarily looked at me like I was crazy.
“Okay… But why?”
“Because you have Calhoon. The town itself can clean up the property.”
“Like… free labor?”
“No, like a volunteer opportunity. And a source of pride. As in, ‘Wecleaned up Calhoon.’”
Griffin nodded, adding, “And for every hour volunteered, I’ll vow to plant a tree in the part of the property I’ve earmarked for a park.”
“Yes! Perfect.” I started writing it down. “We’ll still want to hire an expert to evaluate the cleanup job and to handle the polluted soil. But I think this is the way to go. It’ll help us heal the old wound left by the mill.”
“Very good thinking, Jade.”
His praise left me with a big smile on my face that persisted late into the work day, and by the end, we had an action plan that I felt would change most people’s perception of Griffin.
