Possessive Best Friend by B. B. Hamel

Author:B. B. Hamel [Hamel, B. B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-04-13T16:00:00+00:00

Shaun: They’re all in and all excited. So how does 4:30 your time sound?

Me: That’s an hour and a half.

Shaun: Yep. You can blame Jacob for that. Apparently he’s busy tonight.

Me: Oh, god. I won’t be ready.

Shaun: Do your best.

I show Dean the conversation and he only nods. “Better skip ahead,” he says, and we get back to it.

By the time 4:30 rolls around, I’m exhausted. I’ve never worked so hard or so fast on something in my whole life. We spent all day scouring numbers, researching markets, getting pricing on equipment, hourly rates benefit pay, state laws around minimum wage earners, liability insurance, everything. It’s more data than I’ve ever collated before, more data than I even knew I could put together.

But it looks good. I mean, not perfect. There are gaps here and there. But for a single day… it’s pretty solid.

“So, okay, before you get on the call, one more time. When do you project you’ll be profitable?”

“Two years,” I say. “And then I’ll be profitable. From there, we’ll hire more full-time staff with better benefits. I’ll only upgrade equipment as necessary and keep overhead as low as possible.”

“Good,” he says and grins at me. “Okay. I think you’re ready.”

“Dean, I’m terrified.”

“Don’t be. They’re your family.”

“That’s why I’m so scared.” I shake my head. “The Lofthouse clan isn’t exactly friendly when it comes to business.”

He pulls me against him and kisses my head. “I promise, you’ll be okay. Want me to stick around and coach you through it?”

“No, that’s okay,” I say. “I’ve already taken up your day. How’d you get off work, anyway?”

“Sick,” he says and fakes a cough. “Really sick.”

“Poor guy. Better go home and rest.”

“You sure?”

I nod once. “I need to do this part on my own at least.”

“Okay then.” He stands and hesitates. “Good luck, Lora. I think you’re going to do great.”

“Thanks.” I smile at him before he turns and leaves the room. I wait a long beat then look at my laptop. There’s a meeting link from Shaun in my email and I click it, my stomach doing twists and loops.

My siblings appear on my screen. Shaun grins at me and they all greet me at once, a joyous cacophony. I realize that I haven’t seen them all in person in forever. “It’s totally weird to see you all together,” I say. “Even if we’re not together.”

“I’m in sunny Cali,” Shaun says, holding his laptop up to show us the view from his balcony. It’s all sand and waves. “And you’re all jealous.”

“Not me,” Brent says. “I’m in gorgeous… Virginia. Not far from you, Lora.” He laughs. “I should’ve just come in person. Mom would’ve loved it.”

“Honestly, uh, this is probably easier over the laptop.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Jacob says.

“Seriously. Just pitch us, you’ll be fine.” Shaun grins at me. “You ready?”

“I’m rooting for you, girl,” Delia says and grins at me.

I take a deep breath and nod before pulling up my presentation. I share my screen and dive right in.

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