the help they could get.
14
Mike still couldn’t believe it had happened. The fire. The fracturing of Powertools.
But here he was, with Kate, Joe, and Morgan, while Neil, James, Devon, Dave, and Kayla were on their way home. This time for good.
Eli, Tom, and Ms. Brown fussed over the four crew members as they filled them in on the tragedy that had struck Bare Natural, and specifically Kayla. Her brother Gavyn was married to Ms. Brown’s daughter Amber. The more Mike thought about it, the more he realized they were really one big intertwined family.
He should have recognized that before. But in crises like these, it became obvious.
Ms. Brown made tea and coffee, and offered them breakfast, though no one had the appetite for it right then. Mike kept hearing Kayla’s wail echo through his memory and knew he’d have nightmares where she cried out and he couldn’t reach her, just like he couldn’t at that moment.
“Well, shit.” Eli ran his hands through his hair. “This is terrible timing but…”
Joe narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, why did you call earlier if you didn’t know about the fire yet?”
Eli looked to his dad, who nodded. “Go ahead. No reason to let bad news overshadow the good.”
“If you have something positive to talk about, we’ll take it.” Kate rested her cheek on Mike’s shoulder. He ran his hand up and down her arm. If he hadn’t had her by his side, this morning would have been far worse. So he concentrated on being grateful for that at least.
“All right. Giovanni must have stopped by after the wedding and stuck this in the door. I threw it on the counter when we got in because I was focused on other things.” Eli slid a packet of papers, ensconced in a black plastic sliding bar report cover across the table to Joe and Mike. “I hope you don’t mind, but I peeked at it after…you know…and I thought you’d want to see it right away. Honestly, I couldn’t sleep after I looked at it, but I waited as long as I could to call Joe. I figured if you were still knocked out you would ignore me.”
Joe opened the cover, then shut it. Then opened it again.
His jaw dropped before he handed the plan to Mike.
There, right at the top of the page, was a proposed budget of three point two five million dollars for Giovanni’s shop and a connected entertainment complex including a small tattoo-themed hotel, a couple restaurants, shops, an ink museum, and other attractions. Holy shit.
Their potential cut alone had a hell of a lot of zeros after it.
“We’d have to flip five years’ worth of houses to make a profit like that.” Joe pinched the bridge of his nose. “But I can’t do this. Not now. Not by myself. I’d need Mike as my partner, at the very least, to even think about accepting a job on that scale.”
“We can’t desert Dave and Kayla. Especially not now that they’re going to need so much help to clean up and rebuild.” Mike scrubbed his hand over his face. Why the hell had the perfect opportunity shown up at exactly the wrong time?
“Listen to me, boys.” Tom cleared his throat. “Sometimes we get so used to how things are, we don’t see how they can be different, so here’s an idea for you…”
Ms. Brown put her hand in Tom’s and smiled at them as if she already knew what he would say.
“Maybe the best way you can help Kayla and Bare Natural right now is to take this deal and make it work.” Tom shushed their objections. “Hear me out. I know she has insurance, but there’s going to be miles of red tape and it’s going to take time to sort through. Months before they can be up and running at the same capacity again. Next season if she’s lucky. The advance from this project would be enough to get them started. Hell, you could even afford to pay Dave, Devon, Neil, and James’s salary as Powertools to work on the reconstruction. And as good as you both are at construction shit, being able to give them that—the gift of time and financial independence while they’re healing and rebuilding—that might be the most valuable thing you can do for your friends.”
Mike felt the air whoosh out of his lungs.
Because Uncle Tom was absolutely right.
Kayla and Dave, along with James, Devon, and Neil, would benefit more than even Joe and him from the opportunity