The room went dead silent.
"Jesus," Frank muttered.
"I bought in," I continued. "Took on half the debt. I'm finishing the house. Six months, or I lose everything."
"Everything?" Dave's voice was careful. "What's that mean, Ben?"
"It means if I fail, this business shuts down. Payroll stops. You're all out of a job by August."
Someone whistled low. Linda's fingers hovered over her keyboard, but she didn't type.
"That's why you're here," I said. "You need to know what's at stake. And you need to make a choice."
"What kind of choice?" Dave asked.
I looked at him. "I need you to run the business while I'm gone. Day-to-day operations, the maintenance contracts, the small renovations we've got lined up. Keep the crew working, keep the lights on."
Dave let out a long breath, shaking his head. "You're asking me to hold this together while you gamble everything?"
"Yeah," I said. "That's exactly what I'm asking."
He stared at me for a long moment, then a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. Humorless, but real. "Alright. I'm in."
Linda closed her laptop with a quiet click. "I'll keep the books clean. Make sure every dollar counts."
I nodded at her. One more person betting on me.
"Everyone else," I continued, looking around the room. "You can stay here with Dave. Steady hours, steady pay. You'll have warning if things go south." I paused. "Or you can help me finish the house. Brutal timeline. Winter weather. Long hours. But if we pull it off, everyone who works on it gets a cut of the profit."
"And if you don't pull it off?" Carlos asked.
"Then I'm bankrupt, and you're unemployed."
The space heater rattled in the corner. Someone's boot scraped against concrete.
Frank crossed his arms. "You're asking us to bet our livelihoods on a dead man's dream."
"I'm asking you to help me save his widow from losing everything." I looked around the room. "But I'm not asking anyone to go down with me. If you've got families, mortgages, kids—I get it. Dave's got enough work to keep half of you busy through summer."
I paused, meeting each man's eyes. This was the part that hurt.
"But I know that might not be enough. I know some of you need more than hope and a profit share that might never come." I rubbed the back of my neck, the words sticking in my throat. "So I talked to Bill Alderman at Alderman & Sons yesterday. Told him what I'm doing. He's got openings. Good pay, steady work. And absolutely no suicide timelines. Anyone who wants to jump ship—you do it with my full blessing. No hard feelings. You've got families to feed."
Collins straightened. "You lined up jobs for us?"
"I'm giving you a lifeboat before the ship sinks."
"Jesus Christ, Ben," Dave muttered.
"And what about you?" Frank asked, his voice hard.
"I'm finishing that house."
"Even if we all walk?"
"Even if you all walk."
The silence stretched. I could see it in their faces—the mental math, the risks, the mortgages and car payments and college funds.
