Chapter Two #2
“Sir, the chandeliers for the music hall are being delayed by at least three weeks,” an overweight gentleman with glasses said from behind him. “And there was an issue with the oil lamps.”
“There’s a situation at the Kelvington Park,” a short man with black hair said from behind the overweight man. “One of the glass panels on the greenhouse broke and we can’t find a replacement that will fit.”
“Mr. Milton,” another man called out. “The architect for the hospital has sent a second draft, but it’s double the price that was originally discussed.”
“Mr. McKinnon is in your office, sir, and he’s been there for nearly twenty minutes.”
“Right, well,” Sam said as he turned to face the group on the second-floor landing.
“I’m sure Mr. McKinnon will understand that I do not control the railroads, despite trying to.
” There was a low rumble of chuckles, and while Sam never knew whether they were genuine or not, it didn’t bother him in the least. He reached behind his back for the brass handle of the solid pine door that led into his offices.
“Gentlemen, I will read every report and answer every question before I leave here today. But I will be taking my meeting with Mr. McKinnon alone. Also, this is Billy Squires.” He nodded at the boy.
“My newest employee. If he wants to be.”
“What?” Billy asked as the other gentlemen nodded and drifted back down the stairs. “You want to hire me?”
“I do.”
“To do what?”
“Odds and ends at first. I don’t really know what you’re good at yet,” Sam said as he opened the door to his office. “But for now, why don’t you go downstairs and find a Mr. Tompkins and tell him about yourself.”
“About myself?” the boy repeated. “Why?”
Samuel took the baskets from his arms.
“So that he might be able to get an idea of where to put you.”
“Oh. All right,” the boy said as he turned away, still seemingly confused.
Samuel grinned and entered his office. The room was large, light, and warm, as a fire crackled beneath a marble mantel. A tall, auburn-haired man stood there, seemingly perturbed at having had to wait.
“Milton.”
“Ah, McKinnon,” Sam said as he dropped the baskets he was carrying onto his desk, before walking over to shake the man’s hand. “How are you?”
“Well, although I don’t particularly like being kept waiting.”
“Nor do I like keeping you waiting. However, you’ll have to take it up with the conductor, I’m afraid.”
“Yes, well, there’s no helping the trains, I suppose. But I’m not here to talk about train schedules. I have an issue with the proposal you sent me.”
Ah, yes. Samuel had been expecting that.
“Really? You don’t think it’s a fair offer?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, but you implied it,” Samuel said. “Then how about an increased return off the initial investment by say, five percent?”
“I had a different idea. How about you keep that five percent, including the initial return, and instead open a confections counter in your arcade?” McKinnon said.
That caught Samuel by surprise, and it must have been apparent because McKinnon continued.
“To be honest, Sir Logan is a little apprehensive about expanding the operation right now and I have to agree. It wouldn’t be wise to expand when we don’t have the clientele. ”
The mention of Logan Harris caused the image of Jane Atherton to suddenly appear in his mind. He had to shake it away to continue concentrating.
“I thought your sales were good?”
“Oh, they are. But we’re only selling to the people in Glencoe to Glasgow and all the villages in between.
We want to expand our sales, and we would rather do that before we expand manufacturing.
So, I was thinking, instead of taking you up on your offer to invest in manufacturing, why not instead make HoneyPot Candies the official candy of Milton Properties? ”
Sam turned his head and smirked.
“That’s a different deal entirely. What’s the split?”
“Fifty-fifty.”
Samuel raised his eyebrows, rarely caught by surprise.
He could usually guess a dozen counteroffers, but a fifty-fifty split from sales was curious.
Standard practices concluded that the house only takes twenty-five percent.
And he knew that Graham knew that too, which meant he was after something else.
“What’s the catch?”
“No catch.”
“There’s always a catch.”
McKinnon shook his head as his hands went behind his back.
“The way I see it is, your arcade will soon be the epicenter of shopping in this city, a must stop for people visiting. If it is as successful as everyone believes it will be, I think attaching HoneyPot Candies to the Milton name could be a sort of branding.”
“Branding?”
“Yes. I want the names of HoneyPot Candies and Milton Enterprises to be synonymous. When someone hears one, they think of the other and vice versa.”
It was a clever idea to cross-advertise like that, but Samuel wasn’t convinced.
“And you’d be willing to give the house fifty percent of sales?”
“In the Glasgow location, yes.”
“The Glasgow location?” Samuel repeated. “It’s the only location.”
McKinnon shrugged.
“So far, Milton. But if I know you, and I have come to believe that I do, I doubt one location will be able to satisfy you for long.”
McKinnon didn’t need to know Samuel personally to know that. It was perhaps as well known as the colors of the Saltire. Samuel Milton’s ambition had become legend throughout the highlands. The man was insatiable.
“And the percentage I’d see at this imaginary second location?”
“Zero.” And there it was. The catch. “You’d still be making fifty percent from the Glasgow location.”
“Edinburgh’s a larger city.”
“Yes, but you’re not operational in Edinburgh, are you?” McKinnon asked. “It would be a win for both parties.”
It was an intriguing idea, which were the most dangerous kinds.
If there was one thing Samuel loved, it was an innovative, out-of-the-box view.
Usually, his financial team dreaded ideas like that, but as far as he could see, this didn’t really have a downside.
Hell, there wasn’t even a guarantee that he would open an arcade in Edinburgh.
Still, a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush.
He held out his hand.
“Fifty-fifty then. Have one of the clerks draw it up.” The men shook on it. “Although I’ll be sure to look like the winner of this deal at first, I think you might end up the victor. It’s a clever idea.”
“Would that I could claim it. Logan came up with it.”
The second mention of Logan caused Sam to pause. He really should mention his meeting with the Athertons now.
“Ah, actually, funny thing happened to me down at the train station today. I ran into Sir Logan’s cousins.”
McKinnon frowned.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Sir Logan Harris. I serendipitously ran into his cousins at the train station. We were on the same train from London. I must admit, I thought it a little surprising that Sir Logan didn’t send a carriage for them, but I offered them my own to see them to Glencoe.
The rain being absolutely brutal and all.
” McKinnon was staring at him like he had sprouted another head out of his neck.
“What? Have I crossed some social faux pas or something?”
“No. It’s just that, Logan doesn’t have any cousins.”
Sam cocked his head.
“What do you mean? Surely the man has cousins. Everyone does. Any even if they’re not directly the sons or daughters of his parents’ siblings, there are distant cousins, and second cousins and cousins through marriage.”
“Yes, but that’s why it’s so well known. At least to everyone in Glencoe. I’ve known the Harris family for years and I’ve never even met an aunt or an uncle.”
Samuel frowned and turned to glance out of the large square window that overlooked the city.
“But then, who did I loan my carriage to?”