Chapter 1 #2
“I meant it.” No doubt Indianapolis was the opportunity she needed to advance, so why did it feel like her father was sending her away?
From his desk, Dad’s landline buzzed, and he circled around to answer it, giving Cami a moment to compose herself. After a five-word conversation with Jeremy, he returned to their little table of chocolate cupcakes and surprises.
But the short interlude gave her time to think, take her emotions in command. The city was ripe for expansion. It was a fantastic move for the company, and if she’d get her head on straight, a huge stepping-stone for her.
“What’s it going to be, Cami? You can refuse, of course, or resign, but yes, Indy is yours. You’ll be promoted to director. If things go well, vice president after two years.” Dad leaned toward her. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” Cami cleared her voice. “Yes, thank you, it is.” When Dad retired, there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind that she’d earned his office through her own merit.
She could do this…spend a few years in Indy, then head back down to Nashville.
“All right.” She sat back in her chair and opened the green folder. “Give me the details.”
Dad relaxed with an exhale and smiled. “I bought a refurbished warehouse in the center of the business district. Take what office space you need, then rent out the rest. Build out your space first, then oversee the rest. Give yourself two years to complete the build-out. But you, Cami, I’m serious, be ready by the first of September.
Get Astrid to start posting jobs for the positions you want to fill.
Make a list of potential Akron folks who might like to transfer up north. ”
Really? Who’d want to leave Nashville?
“You should talk to her about going with you.” Dad peeked into the pink box. “I think you’ll need her.” He considered the rest of the cupcakes, then closed the lid.
This was why he was so great in business, in life, in everything. Discipline. When they passed around cupcakes in the staff meeting or gathered for the quarterly office potluck, Brant Jackson proudly proclaimed he only weighed ten pounds more than in his high school wrestling days.
But when it came to Cami, his disciplined life, emotions went too far.
“Maybe,” she said. “Astrid’s been going on and on about Boyfriend proposing.” He had a real name, which Cami couldn’t recall at the moment. “I’m not sure she’ll want to go.”
“Hasn’t she been dating him for a while?” Dad made a face. “If he’s not proposed by now, he probably won’t.”
“Well, I’m not going to tell her that, Dad.” With him, business always came first. Even over family. Over his wife and daughters. But if Astrid had a chance for a happily ever after, even with a sloth for a boyfriend, Cami wasn’t going to stand in her way.
“Someone should. Get her to go with you, Cami. She’s one of the best. If I didn’t have Jeremy, I’d steal Astrid from you.” Dad pointed to the folder again. “The real estate agent sent some apartments for you to review.”
Cami flipped through the top pages, all apartment listings. Already she could tell they wouldn’t compare to her beautiful downtown loft, the one she’d customized for herself.
She read the name on the real estate agent listing. Max Caldwell.
“I-I’ll call today.” September first would be here way too fast.
“Good. Glad you’re on board, Cami.” Dad stood, indicating the conversation was coming to a close.
“I saw on the project board you’re working the Landmark Shopping Complex.
Chatted with Jared Landry the other day, and he said you’d approached him about it.
Excellent property, Cami, but I want you focused on the Indy office.
You won’t have time for a Landmark kind of deal. ”
Cami stood, reaching for the cupcake box. More than half of hers remained. But then she glanced at her lean father and changed her mind. “Dad, do you lecture Geoffrey or Mark on how to manage their lives and their jobs? Or just me?”
Dad regarded her with something she interpreted as respect. And she’d take it. “Good point. You’ve proven yourself. Do what you feel you must but, Cami, my advice is to focus on Indy.”
He was right. Of course, he was the great Brant Jackson. Already, details of the massive project had started swirling in her head. She had a lot to do in two and a half months.
“Can I ask why September first?”
“The city gave us a huge tax break if we open by the third quarter. The contractor’s bid goes to August thirtieth.
He can finish the build-out, but if we don’t get on it, give him enough time, he can’t guarantee when he can complete the work.
He has another job September first. That’s why we have a two-year goal on opening the rest of the property. ”
“Then I have work to do.” The sweetness of the cupcake soured as she walked toward the door. Then for some odd reason, she got a bit of grr in her gut and spun around. “You need artwork in here, Dad. Why don’t you let me acquire some for you before I go?”
“That’s not necessary, Cami.”
“But it is necessary. How do you work in this uninspired space?”
Dad tapped his temple. “I’ve all I need in here.”
She sighed, eyed the pink box one more time, then bid her father a good trip. “Tell Roger hi for me.”
By the time she made it back to her office, her head was pounding with details, her red shoes pinched her toes, and she felt completely void of the cheering and accolades from thirty minutes ago.
Her head swirled with details as she descended down to her real world. Budgets, staff, properties, moving, selling or leasing, moving, Annalise, moving.
Did she want to move? Dad was her boss, but she was also a valued team member, and if she didn’t want to move, she didn’t have to move.
Don’t kid yourself, Cami Jackson. If Dad asked her to move for the good of his company, which was her future, she’d do it. She ached for him to be proud of her. To level his laser gaze at her and call her daughter. She was twenty-nine years old and in so many ways, still a little girl.
Rounding the corner to her office, she bumped into Angie from accounting, who thrust a cell phone into her hand.
“Cami, I was just heading to your office. Liam and I are looking at artwork for our living room. We found this at an estate auction. We love it, but what do you think? Is it good? Is it worth the price?”
“Good for you and Liam.” She should call her friend Marta, see what she thought about her loft. Sell or lease. She was one of Nashville’s top Realtors. “Art, um, art always makes a space richer.” Cami paused outside her office to focus on the small screen.
“Well, what do you think?” Angie said.
“It’s beautiful.” Art was Cami’s other passion besides acquiring properties at rock-bottom prices then developing them just enough to sell at top prices. She’d minored in art appreciation at the University of Georgia because she loved it. But jobs in art appreciation were hard to come by.
When Dad had offered to “show her the ropes” at Akron, she’d jumped at the chance. Not because she loved numbers and spreadsheets or walking rundown properties and negotiating the best deal, but because she wanted to be near the man who seemed to hold her at arm’s length.
Hadn’t taken too long to discover she was a chip off the old block, which meant she didn’t have time to pursue her own art anymore. She used her artistic skills in contract negotiations and seeing the potential of a property.
In the meantime, she helped friends like Angie pick out pieces for their homes and offices. Cami studied the picture, zooming in on simple lines, the contrasting colors, the dynamic scene. “It looks like a Briana Jones. Did they name the artist?”
Angie shook her head, her dark hair pinned up behind her ears and flowing in a straight curtain down her neck. “Is it good? I love it, but what do I know? Liam really wants to invest in a piece of art. Do you think this would be a good one?”
“Honestly, there’s always a risk in buying artwork as an investment when you don’t know the artist. But this picture is reminiscent of Briana Jones, a student of Georgia O’Keeffe who modeled her style with a modern twist. If it’s one of hers it would be an incredible find.
Ask the seller to look for a BJ somewhere in the scene.
Briana likes to hide her signature. Often people don’t know they have expensive artwork and let it go for pennies.
Even if it isn’t valuable, if you like it, it would be a good investment. Art is meant to be enjoyed.”
“Thank you, Cami.” Angie clutched her phone to her chest. “I’ll ask, but I do love it. I’ll tell Liam it’s a Briana Jones, because I really want this.” She laughed and winked at Cami, taking steps down the hallway. “I’ll keep you posted.”
Cami closed her office door, which meant leave me be, and checked her email, but her heart more and more tangled in Dad’s news.
You’re heading up Indy.
All right. She’d do what she always did. Follow orders. Own the field. And if success in Indy got her promoted to veep, well, she was all in.
Cami opened the folder and reviewed the details, made notes, and started an email of to-dos for Astrid. She messaged Marta, who texted back right away.
Are you kidding? Really? Well, let me get to work.
Yes, get to work. It seemed the only way for Cami to wrap her heart around this sudden and jarring new direction.
Her phone pinged. Annalise. Reminding her they had a sister night.
Don’t forget. Six o’clock. Don’t be late. It’s supposed to rain, and I want to be at the restaurant before it starts. Wear sensible shoes!
Cami laughed. One time she’d worn stilettos to a garden wedding and spent the entire evening aerating the soil with her heels.
But once a big sister, always a big sister.
After their mom had died, Annalise, who was five years older, had owned the mother role.
She’d even moved home while she finished college just to be around for Cami during her final high school years.
No amount of reminders that Cami was all grown up now, a college graduate and successful businesswoman, would change anything for Annalise. And Cami loved her for it.
Cami responded, promising to be on time, then went back to her email. A new one had just dropped in from Keith Niven, the Hearts Bend Realtor who kept in touch with Akron folk about properties in the small, quaint town of Hearts Bend northwest of Nashville.
Cami clicked on the email. What are you up to, Keith?
She liked the gregarious Realtor. Perhaps he had ambitions outside of his small town.
With his good looks and energy, he’d be a good addition to Akron.
It was a wonder Dad hadn’t recruited him.
A few years ago he’d worked hard to get Dad the property on Blossom.
The old Wedding Shop. But the historical society had stepped in and ended their journey.
She jotted down his name as a potential for the Indy office, then skimmed Keith’s email.
She’d couldn’t imagine wanting anything in Hearts Bend, the town where her heart had literally, suddenly, in one afternoon, bent until it was completely broken. She’d not been back in fifteen years.
Unique property…interested in…Hearts Bend Inn.
Cami fired to her feet, nearly toppling her chair. The Hearts Bend Inn was for sale? She read the email in earnest.
There’s a unique property potentially coming on the market you may be interested in.
Mrs. Carter died. It’s rumored the Hearts Bend Inn will go up for sale.
I thought I’d reach out. You mentioned to me once you had fond memories there.
It’s not the multimillion-dollar property you usually acquire, but I thought you might want to take a look.
There it was. A little tug, the feeling of belonging. Of home. For a moment, the urge to return to the inn overpowered her. She wrestled with the sentiment but couldn’t completely stop the whispers over her heart.
She hadn’t been back to the inn since she was a scared, grieving fifteen-year-old.
She wasn’t sure she wanted to return now as a strong, confident almost-thirty-year-old.
There were too many memories, too many buried emotions.
In many ways, she wanted to forget. In others, she wanted to leave her past resting, at peace, the images, and feelings undisturbed by time.
Still, with Indy looming on her horizon, maybe a final goodbye to Hearts Bend and the inn, Mom’s favorite place on earth, would do her good. The place might be sold to someone else in the next year.
Change was imminent.
Dad had warned her to stay focused, but there was nothing in Hearts Bend to distract her. Nothing to keep her from proving she was ready and able to take over his company.
Thank you for reading Anyone But You.