Page 95 of Fake It Till We Fall
Finished saying what I needed to, I exhaled completely, blowing out the stress I’d been holding onto.
Ollie was quiet for a moment. He took his time taking a sip of his coffee and rustled around in the bag of cinnamon twists for a pastry before finally looking up at me. “Homeworks has made me a very generous offer, you know?”
I nodded. I didn’t need to know the specifics of the offer to know it would be more than I could manage. “I’m sure they did, Ollie. And I know that security is important for you.” He leveled me with his gaze, but I wasn’t done. “I also know that you built that store from the ground up,” I continued. “I’ve seen the photos and I’ve heard the stories about how your first storefront was little more than a shed in a back alley.”
He sat back; I had his full attention.
“You put your whole life into that store, Ollie, and you built it into the thriving business it is today.” I also knew I had something to do with that in recent years, but it didn’t need to be mentioned. “Yes, Homeworks can offer you more money than I can. They’ll come in and put their shiny sign on the front of the building. They’ll standardize everything inside and there’ll be clean, neat shelves with matching bins and glossy posters on the wall. Just like every other Homeworks store in this country. But you know what they can’t offer?”
Ollie set his coffee down and crossed his arms over his chest. I couldn’t read him. I couldn’t tell whether I’d lost him or hooked him, so I carried on.
“Homeworks will never know that Bill Bensen buys ten gallons of dark oak stain for his fence every two years, but he’ll forget and try to order the light. Every time. A cold corporation will never know that Mrs. Woods has done all her own home repairs since her divorce three years ago, and when her ex-husband moved out, he took all their tools, so sometimes she needs to borrow something to get the job done.”
My boss opened his mouth to speak, but I wasn’t finished. “This town and the people in it deserve more than that, Ollie. They’ve given you years of patronage. You wouldn’t be where you are without them—don’t you think they deserve that personal touch?”
He nodded. “They do.”
“Then sell it to me, Ollie. I can’t offer you top dollar. That’s not a secret. But I can promise you that the legacy you built in Trickle Creek will continue. I’ll work hard to make sure the business you built remains a trusted one in this town. I’ve been running things with that same focus for the last few years. All I’m asking is that you give me the chance to keep doing that.”
Finally finished, I blew out a breath and waited.
The older man was quiet for a long time. Slowly, he took a bite of his cinnamon twist and chewed thoughtfully for a few minutes before finally speaking. “It sounds like you’ve put some thought into this, Grayson.”
I nodded.
“You know,” Ollie continued, “when I told Doris about our conversation the other day, she was pretty upset with me.”
“Really? Why?” That surprised me. Doris never had much to do with the business, and I’d only seen her in the store a handful of times. She was a nice lady and was always very friendly and kind to me, but to be honest, I was surprised that she’d noticed what the store meant to me.
He nodded. “She’s a very observant woman, my Doris. It didn’t go unnoticed by her that you were the only reason I’ve been able to focus on my recovery and take this unofficial early retirement over the last few years. She’s very thankful, Grayson.”
That touched me unexpectedly.
“Which is why she was very upset with me when I told her I hadn’t even offered you the option to buy the store.”
“What?”
Ollie nodded, unaware of my genuine surprise. “She really was,” he continued. “Especially when I told her I was going to accept the offer from Homeworks. In fact, she feels very much the same way you do.” He chuckled a little bit and shook his head. “And you know what, you both make very valid points. I just assumed you weren’t interested.”
“I’ve learned a lot about the danger of assuming things lately,” I said, shaking my head.
“You’re not wrong, Grayson. I should have just asked you straight out.”
A flicker of hope lit up deep inside. “I don’t know what they offered you, Ollie. But I have a solid business plan, some savings,and I think the bank will give me a loan. Even so, I don’t think I can come close to their?—”
“Oh no.” He stopped me. “You won’t be able to offer me what they did.”
My stomach sank.
“But money isn’t everything.” He shrugged. “And I’ll tell you what…”
I watched and waited.
“Part of me always hoped you’d be the one to take over the store.”
“Really?”
He laughed. “Of course. I don’t have a son of my own, and my girls couldn’t have cared less about this hardware business. They never did. Took after their mother, really.”
