16
Edward
“Edward, my darling!” My boss stalks into my office. “You went to Norland Park last week?”
“I did.”
“Whyever did you do that?” She sits on the edge of my desk, crossing her slim legs in front of me like a femme fatale. I do my best not to roll my eyes. Lucinda is excellent at her job. But she is always just one degree away from inappropriate.
“There was a setback with the will. My grandpa left the cottage to me, not my mom.”
“I don’t see how that’s a problem.”
“Well, there are the tenants, for one thing.”
“You mean the cottage renters?”
“They’ve lived there for years. Evicting them isn’t exactly straightforward.”
“Legally, it is.”
“Maybe. But it’s also been in my family for more than a hundred years.”
“That didn’t bother your mom.”
“And I might still go through with the sell.”
“Might?” She jumps off my desk and begins pacing around the room. “Edward, we’ve been waiting on this project for months. You can’t do this to me.”
“No need to panic. We can go ahead with what we have planned—just without the cottage.”
“Without the cottage? No, that site is fundamental to our plan. You know a good restaurant sets the tone for the whole resort. I can’t believe you’re thinking of keeping that hovel.You’ve never let me down like this before.” This comment hits. She’s right—I have totally botched things. “Is your mom still planning on selling the rest of the park?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then I think I better call her. Edward, we’re all counting on you.” She sits down in the chair opposite my desk.
“I know. But I believe there’s a way I can keep the cottage, and we can still keep our investors happy. I went on a tour with the Norland Park manager, and she had this brilliant idea for developing the woods in the southeast corner.”
“You went on a tour with the resort manager?”
“Yes. And after seeing the place in the summer months, I think we should tweak our plans.”
“You are not doing this, Edward.” Lucinda holds her hand to her forehead as if she has a headache. “I hired you specifically with the hopes of getting Norland Park.” This is no surprise. Since I started working at Steele Properties, Lucinda has often repeated some variation on this theme, making sure I know I only got the job because of her interest in my family’s property. At some level I know it’s BS—I’m more than qualified for my job. But Lucinda has repeated it often enough that I suspect she’s convinced herself it’s true.
“I didn’t say anything about backing out. I simply would feel better about our plans if they were more in line with the current resort. I have a hunch that my grandpa was dragging his feet on selling because he wasn’t comfortable changing the whole vibe of the resort. I want to honor that. I think we can do thatandmove forward with our plans. It would take just a few tweaks.”
“I can’t believe you are even suggesting this! Why would we want to maintain the vibes of a struggling resort?”
“Have you looked at the numbers? Norland Park is not struggling. Yes, it could bring in more. But it makes a tidy profit,and it has loyal guests. They have a waitlist, and it’s impossible to book a room in the summer.”
“Fine,” my boss lets out a long sigh. “I’ll humor you. What are some of these tweaks?”
“We keep the campground. No need to outprice the families that have been coming for years.”
“That isexactlywhat we want to do. The whole point of a luxury resort is to provide guests with privacy and security. They won’t experience that if they are sharing the resort with the hoi polloi.”
“I don’t know about that. Some people enjoy feeling superior. Like walking to the front of a long line.”
