19. Chapter 19 - Paxton
Not long after I returned home, just as I was about to make my way to the taproom, my phone began to ring. I didn’t recognize the number, but I reluctantly answered anyway.
“Hello?”
“This is Jade Holloman from the Carson Group calling for Paxton Lowell.”
My stomach twisted as the woman’s voice introduced herself. “That’s me.”
“Mr. Lowell, I’m calling on behalf of two of our investors, Seth Avery and Bill Stanley. Do you have a few minutes to discuss the proposal I sent over?”
“Yeah, of course. Just a second.” I crossed the living room and found a pen and a notepad on my kitchen table. “Sorry. I’m good now. Go ahead.”
“Have you had a chance to look over the proposal?"
As I spoke, I doodled on the notepad, little pictures of bees and hives. “I have. I just looked it over late last night.”
“Did you have any questions? They’re eager to get your answer as soon as possible.”
I hesitated and doodled another bee. “I probably have a lot of questions I haven’t thought of yet,” I said with a chuckle.
Jade laughed, a warm, gentle sound. “Of course. Well, they asked me to reach out today and invite you to visit the office in Santa Clara. You could meet with the investors and our attorneys, ask any questions you might have, and they’d love to have you tour a brewery nearby that’s a part of the investment group.
They’re aware it’s not exactly the same, but the partners thought it might give you some insight into what they’re proposing.
You’d be able to speak to the staff there as well. ”
I bit my bottom lip as I processed all of that. “I’m not sure. When would they expect me to visit?”
“As soon as possible. Today’s Monday. There’s availability on the calendar for meetings on Wednesday if you’re able.”
My stomach flipped and twisted again. Wednesday.
Before I could respond, Jade spoke again. “They’d also like to invite you to bring Callum Sinclair to join you on your visit.”
“Callum?” Hearing his name warmed me, even as my brow dipped in confusion.
“His article was instrumental in bringing your work to their attention and based on their research, he’d be a valuable asset in the conversation, but it’s not a dealbreaker.”
All of it felt like an avalanche bearing down on me, like things were picking up steam and I had no idea if I was going to survive it all. “Can I let you know tomorrow? Or later today, at least?”
She hummed in response. “Of course. If you could let me know whether you’d be available to visit by tomorrow morning, I’d appreciate it.”
We exchanged pleasantries and hung up, my mind reeling. I needed to get to the taproom and check on Tommy, but I needed to talk to Cal, too. I checked the time and shot Cal a text.
Paxton: Can I run something by you?
To my surprise, he responded before I could put my phone in my pocket.
Callum: What’s up?
Paxton: Can we talk tonight?
Callum: I promised my parents I’d have dinner here. After?
Paxton: That’s perfect.
After that, I finally headed to the taproom to offer Tommy some backup. When I walked in, I found Tommy behind the bar, pouring a glass for a customer.
“Hey there,” I said when he was finished. “How’s it been today?”
“Not bad. Steady.”
I nodded slowly, hesitating a moment. “Hey, I know you have Thursdays off, but…”
“Uh-oh.”
“I know. I’m sorry. It’s just… you know how we’ve been looking for grants to expand, right? Well…” I dropped my voice to a murmur. “An investor reached out. They’re interested in helping us, but they want me to come visit. Wednesday.”
He let out a low whistle. “That’s quick.”
“It is. But the planning committee is going to meet in a little over a week, so we have to make a decision soon. And if I can secure the investment funding, we’d have a real shot at being approved to buy the land.”
“You know I’ll do whatever you need me to do. I’ve got it under control.” He paused for a moment before grinning at me. “So, how’s Cal? You taking him on your field trip?” His tone was suggestive and he raised his eyebrows.
My face heated and warmth spread down my neck. “They did invite him to come along. I haven’t talked to him about it yet, though. They said they thought his expertise could be helpful.”
“Your first road trip as a couple.”
My eyes widened and I shook my head. “It’s not like that. He’s leaving soon, remember?”
Tommy hummed, but he didn’t say anything else.
A moment later, a small group of customers walked in.
We turned our focus to work, which I was grateful for.
I wasn’t ready to be quizzed about my… whatever it was I was doing with Cal, and he really was leaving in a week.
The deadlines that were bearing down on me all loomed like a heavy rain cloud and I shoved them out of my mind and helped Tommy work the taproom.
It felt like an eternity until I got a text from Callum letting me know he was on the way over, but eventually he did, and I let Tommy know I had to leave. He grinned suggestively and agreed to finish out the night on his own.
By the time I was unlocking my front door, Callum was pulling into my driveway. I waited while he got out of the car and came closer.
His brows were drawn together and he looked worried, mouth set in a tight line. “Hey there. Is everything okay?”
“Mostly. I’ll explain everything. Come on in.”
Soon enough, we were seated on opposite ends of my couch as I reiterated the situation to him. “Wow,” he said quietly. “Such a quick turnaround.”
“It is. And… they want you to come along. They said you’d be an asset to the conversation.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Seriously?”
“It’s not a dealbreaker, they said. But you’re invited. If you want to go, I mean.” I hesitated for a moment before adding my own opinion. “I’d like it if you were there, too.”
Callum gave me a soft smile and nodded. “When do we leave?”
Relief flooded through me. “Tomorrow evening, I guess. And we can head back on Thursday. Is that okay?”
“Of course.”
I suppressed a sigh of relief. “I’ll let Jade know.”
“Perfect. Now in the meantime, we should do some research on this investment group.”
“Research? Like what?”
“What other companies they’ve invested in. What happens when someone signs an agreement with them, like what to expect. You want to be prepared to make an educated decision.”
I nodded slowly. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”
“Do you have a laptop?”
“Yeah, of course. I don’t live in the Dark Ages.” I got up and retrieved my laptop before returning to the couch and placing it on the coffee table in front of us. “Now what?”
Callum took charge of my laptop and started searching for info about the Carson Group. He tried a few different search terms before he found something he seemed to think was worth reading.
“Here.” His gaze darted back and forth as he read the article he’d found. “This one talks about their successful projects. It looks like they’ve got a decent number of breweries and wineries under their belt.”
“That’s good, right?”
“It could be. It means they know what they’re doing.” He read a little more. “Let’s see if we can find anything from the owners of the places they’ve invested in.” A few more strings of search terms and he’d found an interview he was interested in. “Here.”
I read it silently, nerves building inside me.
The interview was with a former brewery owner who’d accepted investment funds—former being the key word.
He’d accepted the investment funds, and the Carson Group had required controlling interest, and then made several major changes to the business before buying him out completely.
My stomach went sour and I tried to assure myself it was just one person’s experience.
“Here’s another one,” Cal offered a few moments later, passing me his phone.
I skimmed the article, which said much the same. “Wow. Do they always take controlling interest?”
He tapped a few things into my laptop and then slid it to me. Another article, but this one was more optimistic. They hadn’t taken a majority share, but had still influenced significant changes at the winery.
We continued to research, alternating between our phones and my laptop as we both searched for more information and shared it with each other.
Most of the articles and interviews were similar—no matter what, big changes were made once the Carson Group entered the picture.
Sometimes owners stayed on in the same role, sometimes they turned into management staff, and sometimes they left altogether.
Every single thing we read ended the same way though—no matter who ran the business, once the Carson Group’s changes went into effect, profitability went through the roof.
Finally, I’d had enough. I turned off my phone screen and put it face down on the table before leaning back and letting out a long sigh.
It was nice, working with Callum together, researching and sharing information like a team.
Maybe a little domestic. Something about it made my chest warm.
I could imagine evenings like this, where we worked together on something, sharing information back and forth, planning and discussing and trying to come to a conclusion together.
I could see us working on mead flavors or researching suppliers or distribution channels.
My chest tightened as I thought about it. I swallowed hard and took another long, slow breath. I needed to shake off the comfortable domesticity of it all. I couldn’t let myself start to get too attached. Not when he was leaving in a week.