"Well, yeah," Mike said. "The real issue, though, is what to do when they can't make the payments. I mean, filing that stuff with the credit companies ain't cheap. Worse, I don't have enough cash of my own to stay open like that. If they don't pay me, then I can't buy the next stuff to fix the next guy's car."
Ash just lifted a hand, begging Mike to give him a second. "If I gave you a line of credit – say, a hundred thousand dollars - could you make it happen then?"
Mike's eyes got big and his lips fell open in shock. "Fuck. A hundred grand? Shit, yeah. With that much money, I could hire an accountant and have them deal with who owes what."
"No," Ash said. "I just meant a hundred thousand dollars of revolving credit. I'm talking about just money for your clients. When it comes to buying new equipment and upgrading your shop, that would be a different deal."
Mike's brow furrowed. "What kind of deal?"
"Oh, I was thinking about investing in your business," Ash said just a little too casually. "I could bankroll some upgrades to the business, and in exchange, you would help us set up a couple of programs at Southwind. Luke was talking about doing some things with tools and stuff, but I don't know a single thing about them."
I bumped Mike's shoulder gently. "These kids we're going to be teaching? They need to learn real skills. Things like working on engines, woodworking, and how to use general power tools. Violet's going to let me convert that old barn up there into a workshop."
"Okay?" Mike asked, his head whipping between me and Ash. "How am I going to help with that?"
"You," Ash said, "are going to help us find all of the tools we need, secure the best deal on them, and give Luke a hand setting it all up. I am willing to trade my money for your expertise. Yes, it's a generous deal. I think you'll also make your business a lot more profitable and help the people in this town."
"What's the catch?" Mike asked, proving he wasn't stupid.
"You're going to tell everybody just how much Southwind is helping you," Ash said proudly. "Everybody around here thinks that Paul Simmons is the man they have to kiss up to so they can get ahead? I want to prove them wrong. You're about to become my guinea pig. Sound like a deal?"
Mike just offered his hand to Ash. "Man, for that kind of money, you coulda told me I was gonna have to suck your dick and I would've said yes. Hell yeah, I'm in. You, sir, have yourself a deal."
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ihadn't expected Ash to offer quite so much money to a guy who was basically a stranger, but I didn't want to ask about it. Billy had said that we needed to bribe the locals, and Ash was clearly willing to take that literally. The fact that he was helping out a guy who'd been so supportive of Luke had probably been the deciding factor. Ash tended to have no limits when it came to the people he cared about - and Luke was clearly one of those.
When we got home, Ash went right in to talk to Cessily so he could get a contract drawn up. A few minutes later, Darnell came out of the guest suite grumbling something about payment plan contracts, stupid business owners, and how there'd better be something on Netflix. Cy went to go find his dog, and Luke pulled me down on the couch, saying that I was going to take the afternoon off.
I did, too. Well, as much as I ever did. Berto came through at one point to ask for the city website. I had to break it to him that there wasn't one. Cats Peak, Texas, was too small to worry about such things. Instead, I told him that he could go up to City Hall - and where that was - to get anything he needed. Grumbling under his breath, he headed up the hall towards the offices. Apparently, he had taken over Cy's space, since we didn't yet have the students who would need counseling.
Later, Sissy interrupted everything when she started barking at the door. I barely managed to sit up before Faith was there, letting Zeke in. Giggling, the two kids and the dogs thundered up the stairs and went to do whatever teenagers did. Beside me, Luke just sighed, clearly deciding that he really didn't want to know what they were doing either.
Next, it was Billy interrupting so he could borrow Darnell. The security cameras were due to come in and the guys were going to need some hardware. Darnell said that he would gladly help Billy with that, but on one condition: he got to drive the car to Bonham to pick up the hardware. Surprisingly, Billy tossed over his keys without complaint, and they were gone.
That was how I ended up taking a nap on the couch in the middle of the day. I was so used to living on stress and expectations that I hadn't even noticed how much it was affecting me. After all, I'd been eating fine. I had a whole meal at least twice a day. Okay, so those meals might be child-size, but for me it was a huge improvement.
But the next morning, everything got back to normal. Faith woke up and went to school, but this time she got to wait for the bus with her best friend. A delivery showed up not even half an hour after the kids were gone. That had most of the guys heading out to deal with it, because our security cameras had arrived. If anyone else decided that they were going to break into our property, we were going to have all the proof we needed to make sure that they went to jail for a very long time.
That left one thing for Ash and me to focus on: the lingerie party. The idea was simple, but that didn't necessarily mean that the execution would be. This was going to be my first time doing anything like this, and I had never been to a Tupperware party in my life. In other words, I was completely making it all up. Thankfully, Ash's chief executive officer had a few ideas.
"You're on speakerphone, Leslie," Ash told her. "I have Violet sitting right here with me."
Sitting there was a little too accurate. My butt was on the floor and my back was to the wall. I had my tablet in my hand and was ready to take notes. Ash was in his usual chair, turned sideways so he could see me, and his phone was laying on the corner of his desk.
"You know," Leslie said, "this entire party is actually a pretty good idea. I mean, Avon does something like it, which makes recommendations feel more like a word-of-mouth thing."
"That's great," I said, "but I have never been to an Avon party. I'm supposed to put on this presentation, but I'm more used to wearing the lingerie and walking around in it than trying to explain it to people. I have a funny feeling that small-town women might find that to be a little awkward."
Leslie laughed. "Oh, definitely. What you need to do is take Ash with you. He knows exactly how we designed everything, so have him explain the support, the elasticity, and the functionality of the pieces. Ash, you also need to make sure that you compliment the women's figures, regardless of what size or shape they are."
"Oh, that's easy," Ash assured her. "Plus-size women are one of our biggest buyers. Besides, there's no reason that women with curves shouldn't be able to feel just as sexy as someone Violet's size. Making lingerie in heavy canvas or thick satin with minimal color pallets doesn't make it any more functional - if anything, it makes it less!"
"See?" Leslie said, making it clear that Ash had just proved her point. "So, what I sent you is a selection from all of our different lines. We have athletic undergarments, date night undergarments, office wear undergarments, and a swatch of all the available fabrics that Risqué uses. Violet, you just need to explain to them why we break things down into these categories."
"That sounds entirely too easy," I told her.
"Because it is," she assured me. "Your job isn't to sell the lingerie. Most of these people are going to be there for the freebies. What you need to do is create a bond. Make friends, Violet. The reality is that people like celebrities - and you are one. If they can say that their friend who is a world-renowned lingerie model recommended this, then they'll be a lot more likely to buy it. Once they wear it, they will convince their friends to buy it. The end result is an increase in revenue for the company, which makes everything I'm sending to you marketing and promotional materials. Give it away."
