Page 46 of Stranded with the Billionaire
“I’m a Hawkins,” she gave a crooked smile. “We take care of this town. It’s in our blood.”
Paisley took her husband’s hand in her own. “It’s done then.”
Owen put his second hand over their joined ones and nodded.
“What do you mean?” Sterling’s smile faded. “Is there nothing else that we can do?”
“The bank is done giving extensions. They’ve done all they are willing to do,” Owen took a deep breath. “We’re underwater with the loans and mortgage. We won’t make this month’s payments.”
That meant the factory would close and two hundred people would be out of work.
“What do we have to do?” she asked her parents quietly.
“We’ll take the money that would have been applied for the payment and use it for a bonus for each worker,” Owen responded. “The bank will get nothing this month but we’ll be able to help our workers a little. Unfortunately, there will be no severance packages. We just don’t have the money.”
“You and I can call the employees tonight,” Paisley told Sterling. “We’ll set up a meeting with everyone to announce the closing.”
Sterling nodded. She’d failed her community. Pendle would soon become a ghost town thanks to her and Jake Ramesly. She’d known that was probably going to be the case when she came home without any money for the payment but it hurt to hear the reality from her parents. Sterling felt like she’d failed them as well.
The family set to work, sending out notices to the bank, creditors, suppliers, customers and companies that supplied services to Hawkins’ Co. It was a late night when Sterling finally made her way up to her room, her dad bringing up her bags.
“Have you talked to Brant?” Sterling sat on the bed, tired from the ordeal of closing the family company. “How is he taking it?”
“We all knew this was coming,” Owen said quietly. “Orders are down, expenses are up. Even though he was making headway on getting us more of an online presence and procuring orders that way, Brant knows the deal. He’s been a source of strength for us.”
“I’m sorry Dad,” Sterling brushed away a tear.
Owen laid a hand on her shoulder. “You can’t shoulder this Sara. Don’t let it bury you. We all did our best but it wasn’t enough. There’s no one to blame here.”
Sterling nodded. She knew the wisdom in her father’s words, but she still felt badly.
“I’ll leave you to your mother,” Owen said gruffly as Paisley came in with clean sheets.
Wiping away her tears, Sterling helped to make up the bed. Afterward, Paisley sat beside her, putting an arm around her daughter. “Don’t worry about it. What’s done is done and we’ll figure out how to move forward. Now tell me all about this Jake you like so much.”
“You mean the man who threw my career in the trash?” Sterling said dryly.
“The very one. I know your heart,” Paisley said gently. “Hawkins have a bad habit of loving people who aren’t always appropriate at the time for them.”
“How were you not appropriate for Dad?” Sterling frowned at Paisley’s words.
“I came from a poor family. He’d been dating a daughter of the Lockman’s and they had some serious cash which was needed for the business. Instead he chose me,” Paisley rubbed Sterling’s arm. “Now stop distracting me and tell me about Jake. Is he handsome?”
“Not in a traditional sense,” Sterling sighed.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Paisley had a sad smile.
“I liked him,” Sterling wiped away another tear and leaned against her mother. She still liked him. She was angry at him. She was sad they had no future. “Do we have any ice cream?”
“No,” Paisley frowned. “I think I have chocolate chips for baking and pudding cups.”
“That’ll do,” Sterling grabbed her crutches. “Come on, let’s binge eat while I tell you all the frustrating things about Jake Ramesly.”
They sat in the kitchen, eating junk food and talking about Jake’s smile, humor, ingenuity with the silver pants, and how he kissed.
“And you never confronted him?” Paisley popped a few chocolate chips on her pudding cup.
“I tried,” Sterling said dryly. “I yelled at his cousin before calling it quits.”
