Ian Finnegan was a mystery she couldn’t figure out.“Care to elaborate?”
“I do contract work for Max.We’re friends.”
“Friends?”That seemed a stretch, even for a guy who obviously spent too much time expanding the truth.Max Ruhland was a legend in this town, a hard worker from a pathetic past who built an empire around his passion for cars.People didn’t get close to Max unless he wanted them to…hadn’t he kept his success a secret for years, letting most of the town think he was still a down-on-his-luck mechanic?Katie would bet a pallet of her soups that Ian Finneganwasn’this friend, not even close.But his next words indicated otherwise.
“A few years back, I was doing some work on car engines, supercharging them, similar to what Max’s company does, but different.He liked what I produced and called me.The guy’s a legend in the performance racing business, so it was a big deal.He offered me a job at G-Racing Technologies, but I didn’t want to be tied down to one job.We settled on contract work, and I’ve been doing it for almost three years.”
Ian reallywasfriends with Max Ruhland.The man was a multimillionaire…a family man… a husband and a father… “I thought Max lived in Pennsylvania.”
“He does.A few hours’ drive from here, which makes Magdalena the perfect place to hang out while I decide what I want to do.Maybe I’ll drive and meet up with him.The main operation is still in California, and he flies out there, sometimes with his wife and kids.He has people to handle the day-to-day stuff.”
Oh, she’d heard about Max Ruhland and how he reconnected with the woman he’d never forgotten.He married Grace and was helping her raise her two daughters, and they had a child of their own.She couldn’t remember if the baby was a girl or boy…
She studied Ian, tried to put the pieces together.“So, you’re an engineer and you work on projects for Max’s company.”That did not give him credentials to look at her company or talk about efficiency and production.“What else do you do that qualifies you to look at my company?”She didn’t miss the brief hesitation or the way his gaze darted from her face to the corner of her desk before he spoke.
“I also invest in small companies.I track them, find areas for improvement.I have a knack for it.”He let out a quiet laugh, his blue eyes twinkling.“It drives my old man crazy.He still can’t understand how somebody who looks like me can sit on the board of a business and help them make a profit.It doesn’t compute.”Another laugh, and then, “I’m fine with that because I don’t fit the image for his company.And I sayhiscompany because it’s not mine.I don’t like the way he conducts business with the threats he makes to people he’s supposed to care about…like me and my sisters, so I stay away and only visit when I have to...”
“Did you know I bought your father’s house?”
“I heard about it.”
“Uncle Jack bought it from your father several years ago.”
“I heard that, too.”He shifted in his chair, cleared his throat.
“I bought it last year, Ian.And yet you never tried to contact me.If you cared about me as much as you just professed, I think you’d have been eager to call once you knew your father posed no threat to me or Jack.”She raised a brow, forced a smile.“That’swhat doesn’t compute.”
He opened his mouth to speak, closed it, waited a full ten seconds to respond.“I didn’t think it was a good idea at the time…not when you were about to be engaged.”
Ugh.He was referring to the mistake that almost happened.Katie fought the heat creeping to her cheeks, sucked in a deep breath.
“Like I said, I kept tabs on what was happening in your life and when I heard about the fiancé, well, I didn’t think it was such a good idea to reach out.”
She might almost believe him, but the engagement had been over for five months.“You’re not telling me everything, and I don’t like that.”
12
Ian took in the pinched lips, the flared nostrils, the glare.Even her body posture indicated ticked off.What would she do if he told her thathewas the silent investorandthe engineer?The possibilities that flitted through his brain included bodily harm, a string of expletives, even though the Katie he’d known hadn’t used them, and a push out the door.Anger would take over, cloud her ability to see logic, and it could threaten the company.
Ian considered his options, settled on facts.“I’m good at this stuff.I know what I’m doing.Look, you have no reason to believe me and certainly no reason to trust me, but what could it hurt?If I can look at a few things and make a recommendation or–”
“Stop.Just because you read a few articles that say we’re behind on fulfillment doesn’t mean youknowmy business.I’ve been working on this and living it since I was a child.”
True, but she hadn’t been dealing with this level of demand, and he wasn’t going to sit back and watch her business implode.“Fair point.You’ve been creating for years and are decent at marketing as well.But mass production?Distribution across the country?Isn’t that why you have an investor?There was something that made him believe in you, but that belief is only going to carry you so far.If you can’t meet quotas, do you know what’s going to happen next?”He sat up in his chair, told her the truth.“The investor’s going to start questioning, and then he might send in his own guy.And then?”There would have to be changes or Katie’s Soups would lose its relevance.
“I am well aware of my current situation and the challenges I face.However, I’m equally capable of correctingandimproving on those challenges.”
Ian took a deep breath, fought to keep the frustration from his voice.Why couldn’t she see she needed help, and he was the least threatening offer?“Fine, you want to do it on your own, go ahead.It’s just that I’ve turned companies around, and like you said, if Max Ruhland believes in me, well… Doesn’t that say it all?”Max was a legend in the business community, the racing community…definitely a legend in Magdalena.
She bit her bottom lip as if considering his words and trying to find a hole.Good luck.Max and his reputation didn’t have any holes, especially not since he’d reunited with the woman who crushed his heart all those years ago.Now he was a family man with a wife, two step kids, and a baby…living in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.Ha!No one had seen that coming, certainly not the high rollers or the Who’s Who in the racing and business world.
Max respected Ian’s work, and adding him to his resume had Katie second-guessing her decision to accept Ian’s offer.If she refused his help, then the “engineer” would need to step in, and that wouldn’t go well sincehewas the engineer.Why hadn’t he thought this out before insisting on an engineer visit?The truth pounded his brain, squeezed his gut.He’d been so desperate to “save” her company that he hadn’t considered exactly how he’d do it.And the other truth?The one he didn’t want to admit?He’d been equally desperate to see her again and hadn’t considered the ramifications of showing up in Magdalena or adding an “engineer” visit to his agenda.
It was too late to rework the plan, not that he actuallyhadone, but he did know how to help her.All he had to do was get inside the shop so he could see what was going on.He should have been stricter about the seed money, like he’d been with his other investments, and she wouldn’t have gotten into this mess.But when had he been reasonable where Katie was involved?
“Aren’t you going to tell me how much I need your help?”
“What?”He’d been so caught up with what he should have done that he’d forgotten she was a few feet away, no doubt studying him.Ian cleared his throat, glanced at the papers on her desk, and tossed out another option.“How about this?If you don’t want me to see the factory, can you show me the production layout and the production data?”
