Next up was the annual Christmas Flotilla which featured a parade of decorated boats lighting up the waterway as they floated past the balcony attached to Noel’s waterfront home above the shop, one of the best views in all of Beaufort.Although the dock across the street from Cavin’s rental would have also provided an amazing view, he was grateful not to watch it there.He didn’t want to think about losing the place, especially because so far he failed to find another option in Beaufort to fit his budget—a fraction of what used to be at his disposal—even though he saved nearly every penny made at the shop.
The Christmas Candlelight Tour proved quite special, and Cavin cherished the local stories told by those in the historic homes and buildings.The Old Beaufort Jail, constructed around 1829, contained lively ghost stories and was one of Cavin’s favorite haunts.He found out the building had been relocated from its original site on Cedar Street to the Beaufort Historic Site to ensure preservation and serve as a museum.At the former location the jailer and his family surprisingly lived on the premises with the prisoners.The Beaufort Historical Association did a fine job maintaining much of the town’s history which fascinated Cavin.
On the Saturday evening before Christmas, Cavin, Noel, and the kids walked to the Olde Beaufort Farmers’ Market’s Olde Fashioned Holiday Market on the courthouse grounds.Winding pathways filled with vendors who decorated their tents festively with Christmas lights, garland, trees, ornaments, and all sorts of other trimmings transformed the area into a magical wonderland cloaked beneath a canopy of live oak trees.
Although neither Noel nor Cavin had much money to spend, and the kids were saving theirs to help save the candy shop, they each purchased a few handmade Christmas gifts.They sipped hot chocolate as they strolled from one vendor’s booth to the next, appreciating the amazing stories of how these local artisans handcrafted the unique goods they sold.They enjoyed candy apples made by one of the area farmers as they listened to a hometown musical group sing traditional Christmas carols.
When Cavin left the market, the Christmas spirit warmed his heart more than ever even as the cold crawled up his skin.Spending nearly the whole month with Noel, Levi, and Laney turned out to be more special than he could have imagined even though he had to sacrifice so much.However, peace didn’t come with a price tag, and his father tried to remind him of that by sending a proposal to buy Noel’s family’s building for development.As soon as Noel opened the packet and realized its contents, she handed it to Cavin who stood behind the front counter with her in their matching Santa hats, looking like the perfect couple.
“Right now, I don’t even want to know what the offer is,” Noel declared as Cavin glared at the documents wanting to rip them to shreds, “but I have to tell you something.”
The kids just stepped outside to flip the Christmas countdown sign to a mere two days, a process that always seemed to evolve into other sidewalk fun before the store opened on the “Eve of Christmas Eve,” as Noel’s mother always used to call it.Mrs.Madelyn was busy in the kitchen baking.Facing her fears with Cavin seemed a little easier to Noel, so as the cuckoo clock sounded behind her, she told him she planned to close the candy shop at the end of the year.
After providing an explanation and shedding several tears while Cavin held her closely, he replied, “Are you telling me I am going to lose a second job in less than a month’s time?”Cavin’s timely comment made her chuckle and eased the tension if only temporarily.
Cavin lost way more than his job when he walked away from the family business.Within the week of quitting after his father’s initial shock wore off and his attempts to talk Cavin out of his decision failed, he retaliated by cutting Cavin off from all the comforts he knew.Cavin instantly felt the impact of the losses.Admittedly, he never previously considered the magnitude of resources that he would lose as a result of his decision.
Cavin had no assets in his name—not a vehicle, house, boat, computer, bed, couch—the list went on and on.He didn’t even know if he owned the clothing in his suitcase or those at his apartment in Atlanta or any of the other belongings there.The business owned everything.His dad never paid him a salary; Cavin simply used the business credit cards to buy whatever he wanted within reason.Now his transaction attempts caused an embarrassment when he tried to pay for himself, Noel, and the kids to watch a Christmas play and then again when an employee swiped his card at the general store because his father froze the cards.Cavin had no money in the bank; he didn’t even have a personal banking account.
Someone from the car rental company came to pick up the vehicle a couple of weeks ago, and the family who owned the house on Front Street showed up at the front door early one morning and told Cavin that the company renting their home called and terminated the lease agreement.“They didn’t ask for any money back; they just said the employee staying in the house should be evicted,” the gentleman informed Cavin.
Learning that news hit Cavin hard, but then he experienced small-town hospitality at its finest after he and Noel explained the whole story to the owners later that day.Cavin couldn’t contain his tears when the cute elderly couple told him he could live in their home through the end of December without any additional charge.They said they wouldn’t say a peep to his family’s business if anyone asked.“This deal is all based on a handshake and a hug,” the lady promised Cavin.
Both Cavin and Noel shared private details with each other this month that they never trusted with anyone else, and when Noel told Cavin that she planned to meet with Walter Benson, who recently brought in a new proposal of his own for the candy shop building, Cavin asked if he could join them.
“This is the world I have lived in my whole life,” Cavin reminded her.“I might be able to help with the negotiation.”
Cavin imagined that even under the circumstances or possibly especially because of the circumstances, his dad would pay way more for the building than Walt would offer, so he decided to keep that card in his back pocket.On a positive note if one existed after hearing Noel’s sad news, two offers now existed which gave Cavin an advantage during negotiations.In that regard the business development proposition from his father could turn out to be an early Christmas gift in a year when Cavin knew he wouldn’t be getting anything else from his parents.He just needed to make sure to frame everything to his dad in monetary terms rather than letting him know that he would be doing Noel a favor on his behalf.
“I would love to have you there when I meet with Walter,” Noel answered, relief lining her shaky voice.
The next day the three sat at a long table in Walt’s conference room along with Georgia, who Cavin and Noel soon learned represented Walt as his attorney.Thankfully, neither Walt nor Georgia knew of Cavin’s prior interest in Noel’s building, nor did they know the type of work Cavin did with his family’s business.Still both Walt and Georgia appeared nervous with Cavin’s presence.On several occasions Walt suggested that he didn’t think Noel’s father would want an outside party present during the private negotiations.
Those statements waved the second red flag Cavin noticed before their meeting with Walter Benson officially started.The first to climb the pole was Georgia’s mere presence.Her being there, especially on short notice, was unusual this early in the game.Nonetheless during the meeting, Cavin remained relatively quiet because he didn’t want to play his hand too soon.He did pick up on the way Walt and Georgia carefully selected their words, and even more so he noticed the ones they failed to mention.
Two other major red flags that flapped repeatedly in Cavin’s mind occurred near the conclusion of the meeting.First, Walt and Georgia informed Noel that she had until the end of Christmas Day to either accept or decline what they described as a lucrative offer.After that, they said the amount would drop significantly.Following the meeting, Noel told Cavin the latest offer was the highest Walter ever brought to the table even after previously warning her that any subsequent offers would be lower.And the pushy deadline didn’t make sense, especially right at Christmastime, with Noel swamped in holiday business at the candy shop.
The final red flag popped up when the potential buyers stated that Noel couldn’t take the proposal home with her.They told Noel she could take her time reading over it in the conference room or stop back by to study it at the office anytime at her leisure, but they claimed they didn’t want anyone else knowing about the offer because of their top secret plans for the place.
When Cavin realized Noel was about to agree to their ridiculous terms, he demanded that they let Noel take the document home to look over it.He crafted his words carefully, trying not to mention ethical industry-specific business standards, but instead asserted that Noel deserved an opportunity to read through the details and look at the figures without feeling pressured.At that moment when Walt and Georgia locked eyes, Cavin could hear Georgia’s silent communication:The document is too lengthy, and Noel is too busy; she won’t take the time to read the fine print, nor will she understand it.
Later that night after spending time with Noel and the kids checking fun Christmas activities off their list, one by one, Cavin proceeded to read every single word of the lengthy legal proposition Walter and Georgia drafted in addition to the one that arrived from his father.
Over the years Cavin wrote countless rough drafts of such documents, and although his family’s company kept attorneys on retainer who were extremely skilled in fine-tuning the proposals, Cavin felt confident analyzing every word.In Walter’s pitch the terminology didn’t quite add up, and ironically, Cavin was grateful to have his family’s business proposition available for side-by-side comparison.Some of the language in Walter’s document was deliberately vague, especially early in the proposal, and then near the end as Cavin’s eyes grew weary, he discovered the golden nugget.
27
“Noel, I read through the proposals last night,” Cavin shared in the kitchen after saying hello to Mrs.Madelyn who let him in the front door of the candy shop thirty minutes prior to his shift.
“The proposals?Both of them?”Noel asked with a deliberate emphasis on her wording.“That huge document Walter and Georgia gave us and the heavy packet your father mailed?”
“Yes, I studied every sentence and dissected the more important ones,” Cavin explained.
“You read every page?”she questioned again, astonished.“Every word?”
“Yes,” Cavin replied.
“No wonder you look so tired.”
