Chapter Twenty-Six
When the Rubber Meets the Road
Rachel gave her hair a final twitch and smoothed the waist of her cashmere sweater. It felt like she’d been flying at full speed since Wednesday night. After dinner with Lisa and Lottie, she’d hit the ground running.
Her talk with Jess had been emotional but productive. Rachel couldn’t remember ever feeling as positive about their relationship as she did now. Their argument and the fallout had been particularly gut-wrenching, but it seemed to clear the air and bring them closer.
Fortunately, her sister had also agreed to help with the ‘grand romantic gesture’ as Lottie was insisting it be called.
And god bless her stylist for fitting her in last night. Rachel ran a hand through her now far shorter hair. Her shoulder length hair had been replaced with the relaxed, tousled waves of an inverted angled bob. The closely clipped back felt neat under her hand but was super short.
When she’d quickly texted photos of the new hair style to Jess, Lottie, Lisa and Alex, the approval had been swift and unanimous. They all agreed the shorter cut framed her face perfectly, the angle of it highlighting her jawline.
Now all she had to do was get used to it. It was startling to see every time she looked in the mirror, but happily each time she did, she found something else to like about it.
Rachel hadn’t stopped there. After the joy of realizing that Lottie’s amazing blue gown was an almost perfect fit, she decided to change her office wear for today’s big meeting.
She swapped her normal buttoned-up business suit skirt and blazer for a burgundy sweater and black pants.
Still professional, Lisa assured her, but a little softer.
So far, her plan seemed to be going smoothly.
Jess was coordinating with the vendor to get them access to the estate today without Cal knowing.
It cost a bit more for the rush job, but it was worth it.
If it went according to plan, she could pick up the surprise for Cal tomorrow, right before the gala.
Now, hopefully, today’s meeting with Cal’s parents went as well. Seeing herself differently had certainly bled over into the project. Thankfully, Cal was too busy overseeing preparations for the gala, so she only had to contend with Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald.
She entered the conference room, greeted Cal’s parents ,and took a seat next to Seth.
After the reports were distributed and her laptop was displaying, she glanced at Seth who gave her and encouraging nod.
Taking a deep breath, she launched into the presentation, confident in the company’s findings.
This part was straightforward. It was the deviation at the end of the meeting that had her stomach in knots.
She could feel Seth nodding along as she went through the slides. She hoped he would still be as agreeable as when she strayed off the approved path. She hadn’t shared her plans with him, convinced he would veto her idea. She just had to hope he could see the merits in the end.
The official report was fairly short, but packed with data, as was the presentation.
She made sure to refer the Fitzgeralds’ to the printed copies before them.
At one point, both made notations on the report.
Rachel wished she could glimpse what they’d written.
What she would give for just a brief insight into their thoughts thus far.
As she finished, Seth smiled at her. The presentation had gone exactly to plan. While she closed down her laptop and thought about how to segue into her objective, Seth turned toward the Fitzgeralds.
“I realize that was a significant amount of information we just went over, so please let us know if you have any questions now, or down the road as you digest the material. You have some strong options to choose from for White Hall Estate. And again, please let me thank you for your business. It has truly been a pleasure working on this project.”
“Thank you both,” Mrs. Fitzgerald said. “It’s clear a lot of work went into this. We obviously made the right decision to collaborate with Connor & Associates in shaping our family’s future as we try to act in the estate’s best interest.
Mrs. Fitzgerald kept talking, but Rachel’s brain had stalled on those words. ‘The estate’s best interest.’ There it was. Her way in. Surely it was a sign from the universe. The project was always about serving the estate’s needs.
“There is one more piece of information,” Rachel interrupted.
She grabbed the folders she’d tucked underneath her laptop and distributed them to Seth and the Fitzgeralds.
She inhaled deeply and explained. “As you say, this project is about doing what is best for the estate. With that in mind, I’ve prepared a supplemental report evaluating the creation of an on-site distillery.
“Oh, not this,” Mrs. Fitzgerald threw her hands up.
“Rachel.” Seth’s voice was low, but the warning was clear.
She didn’t look at him, fearful it would derail her from her goal.
“Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald, you made it clear from the onset of this project that you want to do what is right, what is the best option, for your family’s land and for its legacy.
Not including the possibility of a distillery would be negligent on my part.
As you will see from the numbers, this option has a very strong financial upside. ”
“Did Alaric put you up to this?” Mr. Fitzgerald interrupted.
“No, he did not,” she replied calmly. “In fact, he does not know I included it.” It did not escape her notice that Mrs. Fitzgerald was actually paging through the report.
“Although,” Rachel continued. “A substantial portion of the specifics detailed here are from his five-year plan, verified with the data and forecasts I provided.”
Mrs. Fitzgerald looked up at Rachel’s words, closing the report. “Your research backs up Cal’s wish to capitalize on our family history with a distillery?”
“It does,” Rachel said. “I would add further that his marketing approach using that family connection is an excellent strategy.”
She wondered if Mrs. Fitzgerald was aware her hand was trailing lightly over the White Hall Distillery title on the report. Was it possible Cal’s mom was not as opposed to the idea?
Mr. Fitzgerald stood, buttoning his suit jacket, his face set. “You have overstepped,” he announced.
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Rachel replied, relieved her voice sounded calm when she was a bundle of nerves. She likely just lost her job, but she kept her head up, knowing she did what was right.
Mrs. Fitzgerald contemplated the report in front of her, before standing as well. “We asked you to research the three options we gave you.”
Rachel screwed her feet to the ground and replied, “Which we certainly did. But on numerous occasions, you said you wanted to make the best choice for the estate.” Rising to her feet, she indicated the distillery report.
“I’ve researched and analyzed all the options.
It would be irresponsible to not present a solution that more completely fulfills the project objectives. ”
Looking at Mr. Fitzgerald, she said, “This isn’t about Cal. However, with him at the helm of distillery project, I have full confidence that the business would meet the financial projections laid out in the report. If not exceed them.”
Mr. Fitzgerald stepped back, indicating his wife should precede him. “We’re done here,” he announced.
Mrs. Fitzgerald stood still, her eyes boring into Rachel’s. Then she turned without a word and the couple exited.
The moment the door closed behind them, Rachel wanted nothing more than to collapse into her chair, but she knew the fight was far from over. Wiping her hands against her thighs, she faced Seth. From the tightness of his jaw, she could tell he was upset.
“You presented a report to our clients that was not vetted through me,” Seth declared standing. “Worse yet, you presented an option that clearly is an outstanding issue between the Fitzgeralds and their son. Why would you antagonize them further?
“Because from here, Rachel,” he continued, his voice stern. “It looks like you’re intentionally alienating our clients. You do still remember that the Fitzgeralds are our clients, and not their son, don’t you?”
“Seth. Forgive me for not sharing the distillery report with you.” Rachel led off.
“And yes, I realize the Fitzgeralds are our clients.
I got the idea of the distillery from Cal, but I did the proper research to verify the numbers.
Upon reviewing the data, I had to do what was right for the project.
“The Fitzgeralds were explicit from the first meeting and have mentioned it several times. They want to do what serves the best interest of the estate and, by extension, their family legacy. The distillery is that option, not just from a family history perspective, but from the numbers and expansion possibilities.”
Rachel inhaled deeply and prayed for bravery. “Only presenting on the three options, while satisfying the requirements, does not give the full picture. Restricting the project like that is shortsighted.”
Seth’s face gave nothing away as she justified her decision.
She added another prayer that Seth would understand.
“My job was to present the optimal choice.
I gave the Fitzgeralds all the information on the three options they brought but I also went beyond that, as the consultant, and gave them the strongest answer.
“I realize you were the primary and had reservations about having me on the team. But if you look through the reports, you’ll see that I’m right.
The distillery angle has less risk, better financial upside, and still holds on to the family’s legacy in a way that the other three options could never do. I stand by what I submitted.”
Rachel didn’t dare move, reminding herself to stop talking.
She had no idea what would happen next with Cal and White Hall Estate, but professionally she was proud of her efforts.
She’d made her case. It was up to Seth to either see her argument had merit or send her packing.
When the silence stretched between them, she began to worry she might hyperventilate.
Seth spoke as Rachel started to wonder if she could endure the silence. “I’ll look over the data,” he intoned. “I can’t say that I agree with what you’ve done or the way you did it.”
“I truly apologize, Seth.”
He held up his hand, silencing her. “That said, I can acknowledge that if you had approached me with this idea, I probably wouldn’t have let you present it. And perhaps that is the more troubling thing about this.” He paused before adding, “I’ll need to give that some more thought.”
His eyes were sharp as he said, “But Rachel, don’t ever do it again.” He shook his head with a grin tugging at his lips, “Or perhaps come argue with me first. I want to think I’m open enough to listen to other ideas—or at the very least a persuasive argument,” he said.
Reports in hand, he headed for the door. As he opened it, he glanced back, “Oh and Rachel.” He waited until she’d looked at him. “Good job.”
Only when the door had closed behind him did Rachel allow herself to collapse into the closest chair, a wide grin on her face.