8. Jedd #2
“No complaints. How about you? I heard about the garage, and I’m appalled. Just appalled that they would shut you down at the drop of a hat.”
I nod, not knowing what to say.
“Andy. How are you, my dear? Sue was just telling me how much she loved the last salon appointment she had.”
“Hello, Mr. Harding. Tell Mrs. Harding I said thank you. I’m so glad she was happy with her service.”
“I will. Okay, come on back to my office. Jedd, you said you wanted to talk about the commercial loan request again, to see if we can’t help you finance expanding the garage?”
I nod and follow him through the cubicles set up on the left side of the building.
Mr. Harding’s office is the only one on this side of the teller line.
He ushers us into the smaller space but doesn’t blink an eye at Andy being here.
Everyone in town is familiar with our friendship and well-versed in our never-ending prank war.
Mr. Harding sits down behind the desk and pulls a folder out of the top drawer.
He opens it up and flips through a couple of pages.
“I printed out the profit and loss statements that you sent over last night and then I ran a couple of numbers before you got here.” His eyes squint behind the frames of his glasses.
“And?” I ask, locking down the need to fidget. It’s like sitting in front of a parent when you’ve wrecked their car and come home after curfew.
“The good news is, we’re able to partially approve the loan request. The bad news is that leaves you short on funds to cover the full expansion.”
It’s a swift kick in the gut. Even if I emptied my meager savings, retirement accounts, and every cent from my bank account, I wouldn’t be able to afford the land and the renovations.
Mr. Harding must see the crestfallen expression on my face. “I’m sorry, Jedd. The amount of money that you’re requesting is substantial, and the conservative bank policy makes it a hard qualification at your current income level.”
I nod dumbly. The buzzing in my ears makes it hard to think.
“Okay. Thank you.” I stand to leave, the need to get out of the bank urgent and fierce.
Andy’s hand on my arm stops me in my tracks. “One second, Jedd.”
I drop back down to my seat. “Mischief?”
“I just have some questions,” she says to Mr. Harding, ignoring my look.
“Of course, what can I answer for you?”
“What about a cosigner? Would that improve his chances of being approved for the whole amount?”
“Andy …”
She waves an imperious hand at me, silently telling me to shut up. I’ll argue with her later about whatever idea she has about cosigning for shit.
“Well, it would depend on the credit worthiness of the co-applicant, but it has the potential to help, with the right person of course.” He looks at her keenly, a small smile on his face.
I already know she has fantastic credit. She also has a higher profit margin because I refuse to charge an arm and a leg for labor like some of the larger shops in the area.
Car repairs are fricken expensive—and stressful—and if I can help the people of my town out by keeping my labor costs lower, even while paying my employees a fair wage, then that’s what I’ll do.
I can’t justify raising the prices so that I make more money, regardless that we charge a fraction of what other garages do.
My moral high ground got me into this mess and created the catch twenty-two I’m in now.
“And what if he had an additional investor for the expansion? Someone to not only cosign, but to contribute to his income? Would that help.”
Mr. Harding looks at her with an appreciative gleam in his eyes. “Of course that would go a long way to helping the bank qualify Jedd for a loan of the size he’s requesting.”
“Okay. We’re going to talk and then Jedd will be in touch. Thank you so much, Mr. Harding.”
She stands, and I stumble after her. She completely steamrolled the conversation at the end there, and while her questions were good, she had no right to imply that she’s going to cosign a loan for me, or that she would potentially invest in the garage.
I work up a steady steam of mad by the time we exit the bank. Snagging her wrist, I tug her after me toward the gazebo in the town square.
“What the hell was that?” I bark.
“What do you mean?” She flashes me an innocent look.
“Oh, don’t give me that shit, Mischief. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“Jedd. You know that I’d do anything for you. Why won’t you let me help?”
The frustrating irritation runs out of me faster than water down the drain. “Mischief, it’s not that I don’t want help. It’s more than that.”
Her green eyes stare directly into me. “Tell me what it is then.”
“It’s my shop. I should be able to figure it out. I shouldn’t need to run to my family—or you—anytime I need help, ya know?”
She nods. “I do know what it’s like. Your dad offered to buy my shop for me when I was fresh out of cosmetology school.”
I double take. “He what?”
“He and your mom sat me down at Ma’s and offered after I graduated. They knew that I wanted a place of my own eventually and that my boss was an asshole.”
Warmth runs over me. Dad and Mom—when she was alive—treated Andy like she was part of the family. I assumed it was because they were aware of her situation at home, but the fact that my parents wanted to help tells a different story. Andy was theirs, just as much as me and my brothers are.
Just as much as she’s mine.
I know how much money it took her to buy her space and then outfit it for the salon—it was a substantial amount. The fact that my parents wanted to help makes me so damn proud of my family. But why didn’t she tell me?
As soon as I have the thought, I know the answer.
Pride. Pride shines like a beacon out of the woman sitting next to me. She wouldn’t have told me because she’s stubborn and prideful, sometimes to her own detriment.
Sounds familiar, huh?
I shake my head, shutting down the inner voice. “I didn’t know that.”
It’s her turn to shrug. “I asked them not to tell you guys. Your family has always been there for me. But I get wanting something more than anything and wanting to do it on your own. But I also know the comfort that comes from having the safety net when it’s needed.
Let me be your safety net because right now you need it. ”
She’s right. I do need the money. But I don’t want to be one of the takers in her life.
Her mom was a taker until she bailed out of town the second Andy turned eighteen. Alex is the biggest taker, and she’s got Piper—and now a custody case—to worry about.
I don’t want something as arbitrary as money hanging over our friendship. I don’t want my woes for my business to have the potential to ruin our friendship. I’d never let anything as stupid as money come between us, but what if she would? What if she came to resent me for needing her help?
I pull her under my shoulder and move us toward one of the benches in the gazebo.
“Thank you, Mischief. But I can’t let you help me—at least not right now.”
“What do you mean?” She turns to face me. Some of her hair sweeps across my beard, and I fight the continual urge I have to bury my face in her neck and just breathe her in.
“You have Piper to worry about right now.” I hold my hand up to silence her when she opens her mouth to argue. This woman lives to argue with me. Sometimes over the dumbest shit too.
“Custody cases can get expensive. You need to save that money in case you need it for Piper. She’s more important than my shop.”
A determined gleam shoots into her green gaze.
“Me loaning you the money outright isn’t the only option.
What about the loan? It would take at least forty-five days for the first payment to be due, and I can cover that the first few months until the shop is back up and running without making a dent in my finances. ”
I blow out a breath. “I wouldn’t feel right taking the money from you.
I wouldn’t want something like that to come between us.
” To ward off the inevitable push back, I continue, “Money is a sensitive subject, and as much as I want to jump at the chance to expand my shop. I don’t want to let something like that hang between us. ”
She shakes her head, the green of her eyes softening. “You’re such a dumbass, Jedidiah.”
My head jerks at the insult. “What the hell does that mean?”
She gets that mischievous smirk on her face. The one that means I’m in deep shit. The same one that sent me tumbling ass over elbows for her when we were kids.
“It means you’re stupid for thinking that I’d ever let something as trivial as money come between us.
You think that I’m jumping into this without thinking about it, but I’m not.
I can cover the cost of your loan, if for any reason you end up not paying it back—which I have serious doubts of ever happening.
And I would never hold something as stupid as that over our friendship. ”
Her reading my mind is the first thing she’s said since coming to the gazebo that I agree with. We’ve been in and around each other so much that knowing what the other is going to say, think, feel, and do is instinctual between us.
The fact that she’s throwing it in my face makes me want to kiss the smirk off her lips. To finally figure out what she tastes like, even though I know it will become an addiction.
“I’ll think about you cosigning, but I’m going to figure out the total cost of what it would take to expand.
” I have a preliminary budget, but that was based on my pie in the sky dreams. There are definitely places I can cut costs to still expand and then gradually add in the extras.
“That’s the best I can agree to right now. ”
She nods. “Once you know the numbers, you’ll let me know, alright? And then we can figure out what to do?”
I nod. Unable to deny this woman anything. She wants my secrets? The details of my life down to what I ate for breakfast? I’ll give it all to her.
Seeing as she already has me wrapped up heart and soul, it seems stupid to try to keep anything from her.