“No problems that I’m aware of,” Graham says. “But he suddenly wants to stop with this one building, give it ayear, and reassess before we do any more.”
I shake my head. “Something happened. We need to find out what the hell is going on.”
“I assume you’ll call?” Graham asks.
I usually handle customer service for our work. Graham just isn’t as good at it. But I shake my head. “I think you need togoto New Mexico. That way you can check everything over. See if he’s got questions about the technology, the growing, whatever.” It goes without saying that Graham is the one to handle that. I’m better at the big picture and general schmoozing when I have to be, but Graham can get into the nitty-gritty, and we’re past generalities and chit chat with Eduardo. We need to really dig in. No pun intended.
“Fine. But you’ll come? If we need to talk him into doing more, taking the chance, thinking big, I’ll need you.”
I shake my head. “Take Ginny.”
God, even saying her name makes my chest warm. Jesus, I’m so in love it’s ridiculous.
Graham sits up straighter. “Hey, that’s right. She’s officially on the payroll now.”
She would have jumped in to help anyway, but yes, this is now her job. “Exactly. Eduardo will love her. She can help us through whatever this is.”
I’m confident she’s exactly who we need in this moment.
And it also means I willnotbe going to New Mexico this time.
I can’t be around her without saying or doing something that is not appropriate for a boss-employee relationship. And I’ve heard her. I understand where she’s coming from, and I want her to know that. I’m going to respect our roles and not do anything to make her uncomfortable.
So until I turn in my resignation, I’m going to avoid Harriet Ginger Riley.
Eduardo better get his shit together quickly.
“You really don’t want to come?” Graham asks. He gives me a grin. “Come on. Amazing food? A lot better weather? A very pretty woman who would love to see you?”
Yes, a very pretty woman who might want to see me but who’s made it clear that I can’t kiss her or tell her how much I miss her or talk about a future together as long as I’m the CFO of IES and she’s getting a paycheck with my name on it.
Though Graham isn’t talking about Ginny.
“Graham,” I say, meeting his gaze directly. “I’m not interested in Sofia.”
He sighs. “You’re an idiot.”
I decide to ignore that. “Take Jack Bennett with you,” I tell him. “He can see Eduardo’s nearly finished building, and the two of them can talk shop. Maybe it would be good for them to talk as peers. Jack can help remind Eduardo of his initial enthusiasm.”
Graham frowns. “What if Eduardo talks Jackoutof the plan?”
But I shake my head. “That won’t happen. Ginny sold Jack on the plan. He’s all in.”
I truly believe that Ginny is the missing ingredient with Eduardo. Once he talks to Ginny, he’ll come back around. He’ll probably want to build eight indoor farms instead of only six.
Jack has committed to four buildings total. His farm is smaller than Eduardo’s, and four is perfect for what the Bennett farm does right now. Then there’s room to expand with additional crops. Jack was especially excited about growing citrus fruits in Nebraska.
“Okay, I’ll call Ginny right now,” Graham says, getting to his feet.
For a moment, my mind spins with reasons I could give to be the one to call her instead. But that’s the opposite of what I should be doing. I just need to resist her for a couple of months. It shouldn’t take longer than that to get things in place for my resignation.
Ginny and Graham can get Eduardo refocused. Then he’ll get his four friends committed to indoor farms as well, we’ll keep moving forward with Jack’s, and he’ll convince four more farms around Sapphire Falls.
With the contracts for those ten farms signed and sealed, I’ll be able to meet with the investors in New York and get them on board. Once their first contribution lands in our bank account, I can pull Graham in, tell him I’m resigning, sell him my shares, and then head straight to Sapphire Falls and his sister’s front porch.
My timeline puts me kissing Ginny again by March first.
So what if it’s the second week of January now?
