Chapter Thirteen #2
was he wanted her to believe in him, to see he’d done more with his
life than wander the country, moving from job to job for the past
six years. To know he’d had a goal and worked toward something
constructive during that time.
But if she hated his plan, then that
was it. He really didn’t want her to hate it.
“I want to expand into
hard cider production.” She opened her mouth and he held up a hand.
“Let me explain what I’m thinking, and then you can ask
questions.”
He took a deep breath and dove in.
“The Gravensteins we grow in the north orchards are good apples for
making hard cider. The hard cider beverage industry has exploded in
popularity in the past dozen years and all indications point to its
continuing growth. I want to use a slow fermentation process so the
final product will retain optimum flavor. We can also experiment
with adding your boysenberries for an apple/berry product. If all
that works like I think it will, I’ll plant an orchard of pears to
produce pear cider.”
He reckoned it was a good sign she
wasn’t laughing outright. He figured he was pretty good at reading
her expressions and could tell she was intrigued.
She nodded slowly. “Go on.”
“I’d apply for a liquor
license so we can serve our label, Cider Mill Hard, at the farm
café and bottle it to sell on the retail side. I’d also want to
sell to local retail outlets and bars. Owen said he’d carry Cider
Mill Hard on tap at Easy Money, and I plan on approaching other
places in Sisters and neighboring towns to do the same. Once we’re
on our feet and the operation is running how I want it to, I’ll
approach distributors about expanding into the Central Valley and
Bay area.”
“You’ve thought this
through.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I have. I worked at
a hard cider outfit in Minnesota so I have experience. I’ll email
you my business plan.”
“A business plan,
really?”
“Yeah, really. This isn’t
something I came up with yesterday. I’ve been thinking about this
since I was in prison.”
A look of confusion crossed her face,
but she kept silent.
“Spit it out. I’ve given
you the heart of the idea. If you have questions, ask them. If this
is going to work, we have to be upfront with each
other.”
She pulled on a thread on the cuff of
her faded denim shorts, and her brows scrunched down. She sighed,
then looked him straight in the eye. “If you had a plan coming out
of prison, why’d you disappear for six years?”
“I needed to
breathe.”
“And you couldn’t breathe
here.”
He shook his head. “I know it sounds
lame, but no, I couldn’t. I was so fucking angry. I think if I’d
come back to Sisters, I’d have burned down the town. Being caged in
that seven by ten cell messed with my head. I don’t know how to
explain it other than to say I needed to be free to work off the
mad. I wanted to come back to you, but I knew it wouldn’t’ve been
good for either of us.”
He turned to her. “I was convicted for
a fucked-up crime I didn’t commit. Do you know what it does to a
man to be so powerless? Someone engineered my guilt, and I was sent
to a cage. I wasn’t living, I was existing. I was so fuckin’ pissed
off, I was getting in fights with other inmates, which only made
things worse.”
He could still see the dull gray walls
of his cell and hear the clang of metal doors locking. And the
smell. He’d never forget prison stench for as long as he
lived.
“I had to rein in the rage
before it got me killed. Pop came to visit me. He told me not to
waste my time inside, because then whoever did this to me would
win. He also told me he and Clara had hired an attorney and were
working another angle to get the charges against me dismissed. I
don’t know how they could afford that high-priced lawyer, but they
did it.”
He narrowed his gaze when he caught a
flicker in her expression. “Tell me.”
“Tell you
what?”
“Whatever you’re holding
back. How’d they pay for the lawyer?”
She sighed, then told him, “Gran and
James took out loans against their shares of the farm, and Antonia
Reynoso cashed in some investments.”
“Shit. Fucking shit.” He
stabbed his fingers through his hair. “I wish they hadn’t done
that.”
“They did what they needed
to do, and it worked.”
He gave a curt nod. “I need to pay
back Clara and Antonia, and make it right with Sawyer since that
money would’ve been part of his inheritance.”
“The payoff for them was
getting you released. I’m pretty sure they’re not concerned about
the money, but that’s up to you.” She fiddled again with the loose
string on her shorts, but her gaze remained on his.
“Other
questions?”
“You worked all those odd
jobs all over the country. It’s strange to hear you were
researching hard cider production and even developed a business
plan.”
“I wanted to do something
that interested me and would help make the farm more profitable. I
worked on the idea of producing hard cider as my senior project for
my degree. Then when I got out of prison, I added to the concept.
And even when I wasn’t working directly on it, I learned something
useful from every one of the jobs I had.”
Her eyebrows arched. “You have a
degree? In what? When’d you do that?”
“I have a bachelor’s in
business administration.” He liked having her undivided attention,
and to surprise her. “I’d already taken almost all my general ed
requirements at the community college before I was sentenced. The
prison has a program with Sacramento State to get degrees online.”
He shrugged. “I had to do something with my time or I would’ve lost
my mind. I couldn’t let the fuckers who put me in prison destroy my
entire future.”
He stared out the windscreen. The rain
had stopped and the sun was breaking through the parting clouds to
reveal patches of deep blue sky. “I know I hurt you, and I’m
sorry.”
Her expression turned blank and he
wished he had the words to make it better.
“It doesn’t matter
anymore.” He felt the distance between them stretch as she asked,
“Tell me more about your plan. Where would you set up the
operation? Are you thinking of constructing a separate
facility?”
This he could talk about all day. Why
he couldn’t face her for six long years, though, was too knotted up
for him to fully explain.
“Not a separate facility.
The cider mill would be perfect. A lot of what you currently
operate with can be used in hard cider production, but we’d have to
add on a few more steps. We’d need stainless-steel tanks. You
already have the presses and pasteurization equipment in place.
We’d have to wall off the area to keep it clean, but could have a
viewing window where people can watch the process. It’d be another
draw to bring in visitors. Later we might add a tasting
room.”
“Okay so far. How do you
propose financing it? State licensing is expensive, and the
stainless-steel tanks alone could be over fifty thousand. Add in
the construction work and we’re heading toward a hundred thousand.
I’d thought of expanding into hard cider production down the road,
but didn’t want to take on the debt needed to finance the
project.”
“I’ve got a significant
portion of the start-up cost in savings.” Her brows went up. “Any
debt we take on will be structured so you’re free from any
liability.”
“If the revenue generated
is put toward earnings for the entire farm, then liability will
also be shared.”
Like hell. No way would he put her or
the farm at financial risk, but he’d argue that point later. “We’ll
figure out the details down the road. Like I said, I’ve got the
cash for initial startup.” At her questioning look, he explained,
“I’ve been planning this for a while. I’ve got a couple hundred
thousand invested so if I needed to, I could finance the startup
and keep the remainder in reserve.”
“A couple hundred
thousand? How could you possibly have that much money
saved?”
He shrugged. “I needed money if I was
going to present you with a viable plan. This was my goal, so
everything I saved, I invested.”
“That’s still a
lot.”
“What can I say, I picked
good investments and dumped almost everything I earned into them.
Besides, what did I have to spend money on? Bud doesn’t eat
much.”
“And neither do you,
apparently.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “You’ve been
thorough.”
“Yeah. I’ve been working
on it for a while. My target date was to come home and be ready to
put the plan into operation this fall. With your approval, of
course.”
She gave him a measured look. “I
thought you only came home because James was dying.”
He held her gaze. “My plan had been to
come home at the end of September after the summer fishing season
was done and I’d sold my boat. The timing would’ve worked since it
was after apple season winds down. Pop’s condition sped up my
timeline. I told you that first night, I’m home for
good.”
She shook her head.
“You still don’t believe
me.”
“I don’t know what I
believe anymore. I’m surprised you didn’t clue me in sooner, as in
years sooner. You want to undertake a major expansion of the
business that’d involve me and what I’ve built here, but you didn’t
want to give me a heads-up?”
He tilted his chin. “I wanted to talk
with you in person. I’d talked with Pop and asked him not to say
anything. I’d mentioned it to Clara because she’s the property
owner, plus she’s savvy. I understand you’ve built up the retail
side of the farm and it’s your baby. I don’t want to step on your
toes, and I wanted to see if my plan was feasible given your
current operation. It is, so that’s where I am.”
“What would you do with
all those plans if I’m not interested?”
“You’re interested. I can
read you pretty well, Laney. You’ve always had trouble hiding what
you’re thinking. But if you’re really opposed, I’d find someplace
else to set up.”
“I’m not opposed. As I
told you, I was considering hard cider production, but further down
the road.”
“What you’ve got at the
farm works perfectly. Cider Mill Farm already has a reputation for
providing guests with a good time. I haven’t seen your sales
numbers, but your retail area is well laid out and organized. The
fact is hard cider production dovetails perfectly with what you’ve
already got going. That there’s space in the mill for the expanded
operation is an extra bonus.”
“You’re talking about a
project that brings major changes to the farm and could take years
before becoming profitable. How do I know you won’t need to breathe
someplace else again?”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
His gaze held hers. “Look, I know you don’t trust me. I get it.
I’ll prove you can trust me.
“I’ll start by saying I’m
home, and I’m staying.”