Chapter 38 Cynthia
Cynthia
Mid-July
Cynthia retrieved a notebook, along with two pencils and an eraser, from one of her suitcases stored in the staff-house storage room and hurried to the staff-house common room.
Calvin stood near a window, a shaft of sunlight glinting off his dark, shiny hair.
He turned and smiled as she stepped into the room.
“Are you sure that you don’t mind spending your afternoon off helping me with this?” he asked.
“I don’t mind at all. This sort of thing is right up my alley.”
Perhaps that was not strictly true. Economics differed from business in some important ways.
Her areas of study had been focused on theory, patterns, and trends.
Businesses relied on those components but concerned itself with their practical applications.
Still, there was enough overlap between the two disciplines that she thought she could give Calvin some useful feedback on his plans.
Just to be sure, she had made her way to the local library on her last day off to look up the terms of the GI Bill and what it had to offer him.
She crossed the room and sat on the sofa in the center.
She placed the notebook and pencils on the coffee table in front of her.
Calvin lowered onto the seat beside her, and she felt the sofa springs jounce as he shifted slightly closer.
She leaned slightly towards him, noticing a slight nick on his jawline where he had cut himself shaving.
“Still, I appreciate your willingness to give me a hand. I have a vision for the airfield, but the details on the way to the goal are a bit fuzzy.”
He flashed her another smile, but this one was accompanied by raised eyebrows and shrugged shoulders. His vulnerability was endearing, and she reached out and gave his broad, tanned hand a squeeze before reaching for a notebook and pencil.
“If you are going to apply for a GI business loan, you will need some sense of your total costs, not just that of the land,” she said. “Do you have an idea of what you’ll need to get the business off the ground?”
“Maybe I should name it Off the Ground Enterprises,” he said. “But seriously, I have been calculating the cost of equipment and materials.” He rocked forward and pulled a folded piece of paper from the back pocket of his dungarees.
She took it from his outstretched hand and read through the list. Despite his concern about the details, Calvin had been remarkably thorough.
He had accounted for the cost of the land, materials to build a hangar and a floatplane base, tools, signage, advertising, fuel, and maintenance costs to keep the unpaved runway in trim.
The total came in well under the ten-thousand-dollar maximum the GI Bill offered for rural business loans.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed his leg jiggling furiously up and down.
Cynthia turned towards him. “If your figures are accurate, you should be able to get this underway.”
His leg abruptly stilled. “Are you sure?”
“I am. In fact, you could even apply for a larger loan.” She drummed her fingers on the notebook.
“I conducted extensive research for a paper on transportation and tourism, and it seems to me that if the cost weren’t prohibitive, you might do well to consider adding the price of a small plane to the loan application. ”
Calvin’s eyes widened. “The loan could run to a plane too?”
“Aren’t there reasonable uses for one, since you’re already planning an airfield?”
“I hadn’t given it any thought since the total cost of the venture already seemed so high.”
“If you’re going to dream big, you might as well go all the way. Besides, it seems to me that the plane might prove a moneymaker that would more than justify the cost,” she said. “Aren’t there services you could offer, if you had one that might start recouping the investment right away?”
Calvin tipped his head to one side. “I expect there are folks who would be more than happy to splurge on chartering a private plane to fly them to the area even if they don’t own one themselves.”
Cynthia thought of the people she had met both through the Mayhews and also at the Maine Chance.
She felt certain that many of them would enjoy casually mentioning to their friends and rivals that they had arrived by airplane.
She could easily imagine Mrs. Mayhew enjoying the option of flying without having to go to the trouble of maintaining one.
Still, such indulgences wouldn’t take up all of Calvin’s time.
“I’m sure you’re right about that, but what could you use it for when not flying charters?”
“Parcel delivery would be an option,” he said. “Or I could try to win an airmail contract with the postal service.”
“Is that a possibility?”
“Absolutely. The USPS relies on private contracts to provide airmail service. In fact, considering our location, I could look into international airmail deliveries to Canada.”
Cynthia made a note of potential government contracts. Anything that strengthened Calvin’s bottom line would help with the loan application.
“What about sightseeing tours of the lakes, the coast, and even the White Mountains? Or offering to pull advertising banners behind your plane during the busy season? Local businesses might love the chance to get their name out there in a novel way. It seems to me that a plane would be an important source of revenue for your business.” She recalled Professor Avery mentioning once that an enterprising individual had added just such a feature to his airmail business twenty years prior.
He made a practice of charting a course over the crowded beaches during the summer months, advertising restaurants, hotels, and excursions like whale watches and deep-sea fishing trips.
“I know of a guy over in Auburn who’s selling a used Cessna for a bargain price. In fact, I have enough put aside—between my earnings here and what I’ve saved from my time in the service—to pay cash for it, if that makes good business sense.”
Given his work ethic and overall common sense, she wasn’t surprised in the least to hear he had accumulated a sizable nest egg.
It impressed her far more than the nonchalant mentions of trust funds and vast estates she had heard so often from boys at Barlow and the Mayhews’ social set.
She couldn’t help but hope that his loan would be approved and that he would make a success of all his plans.
It would feel wonderful to know she had played some small part in his future.
“Investing in a plane would show a loan officer that you are serious about your business. If you think you can come up with enough to cover the cost, I think you would be smart to go ahead and do so.”
“You really don’t think I’m crazy to give this a try?” he asked.
“Not in the least. Tourism is growing far faster than many industries in Maine. If you told me you want to open a boot factory or go into the logging business, then I would’ve thought you were crazy. But not this. Besides, if you won’t bet on yourself, who will?”
A confident grin spread across Calvin’s face. “You really are a crackerjack, aren’t you?” He reached for her hand and enclosed it in his own.
A flash of heat bloomed over her cheeks.
She wasn’t accustomed to such glowing praise about her ideas, especially from a man.
Her father had discouraged her from demonstrating her facility with mathematics, even though she had inherited the ability from him.
In group projects, her fellow students had been quick to dismiss her suggestions, even if they had no better ones to offer.
And Professor Avery had shown how little regard he had for her contributions when he failed to consider her for the researcher post.
His response to her suggestions was as welcome as it was rare.
She angled her fingers, aware of her still-new calluses as she interlaced them between his.
As he squeezed her hand, she felt more committed than ever to her decision to pursue economics and find a way to finish her degree.
She could think of no better use of her education than to help someone else plan a path to their own dreams, especially someone she thought of as much as she did Calvin.
“So, you don’t think I’m crazy either? Not everyone believes women have any business studying economics.” She stared down at their clasped hands, not sure she wanted to see the truth in his eyes.
He slid his hand away, and her heart caught in her chest. She felt his index finger below her chin raising her gaze to meet his.
“I think the only kind of crazy here is how I feel about you.” He leaned in close and kissed her.