Читать книгу Blue Ridge Reunion - Mia Ross - Страница 13

Chapter Four

Chelsea spent several hours framing Paul’s proposal in as positive a light as she could manage without actually inventing facts. To avoid creating the impression that she was somehow personally invested in the project, she called it Barrett’s Mill Restoration and played up the potential she’d observed during her tour. Five minutes before her presentation, she was still tinkering with the conclusion, choosing her words carefully to ensure they’d leave a lasting impression on her very pragmatic audience.

“A one-of-a-kind enterprise like this will fill a small but lucrative niche in the furniture market,” she stated with confidence, clicking through slides of projections alternated with the most flattering photos from the property. “Barrett’s Mill Furniture isn’t a new venture, but rather the relaunch of an old, well-established business rooted in the Blue Ridge area. The product line will meet the desire of modern customers to feel connected to the nostalgia of days gone by. Backing this unique project would not only benefit Shenandoah Bank and Trust in the profit column, but gain us a valuable reputation as a firm that recognizes potential and invests in the future of our customers.”

When she was finished, Chelsea set down the projector remote and took her seat midway down the polished conference table. Hoping to appear calm, she folded her hands in front of her upright tablet and waited.

Twelve pairs of eyes blinked at each other, roaming around the gathering but studiously avoiding her. Then, almost in unison, they all turned to the man seated in the place of honor at the head of the table. Her father was wearing a thoughtful expression, but from a lifetime of experience, she knew that didn’t mean a thing. As a child, she’d quickly learned it was the normal, relaxed position of a handsome face that disguised a shrewd mind and gave away nothing.

As the silence stretched beyond thirty seconds, Theo Barnes let out a low chuckle. “Not all at once, now. We need to keep this civilized.”

Nervous laughter flitted around the posh conference room, trailing off when he turned his dark eyes on her. At work, she wasn’t his daughter, simply another bright employee charging her way up the corporate ladder, and he treated her accordingly. “You think this is a sound idea?”

Direct and precise, she reminded herself. He responded best to confident answers, even when he disagreed. “Yes, I do.”

“And the numbers?”

“Bear me out, as you can see.”

To prove her point, she pulled up the projection that showed Paul’s business breaking even in two years and turning a profit within three. They were shaded toward the optimistic end of the spectrum, but having witnessed how committed he was to making the mill work, she had no doubt he’d find a way to honor his obligation to the bank. Nodding, her father swiveled his gaze around the committee, silently asking for their input.

“Chelsea, I have to say, I’m very impressed,” said Alex Gordon, a good-looking colleague who dressed like a younger version of her father. Seated to his right in the heir-apparent chair that should have been hers, he gave her a smile that held more than a hint of personal admiration. “Your attention to detail is impeccable, as always.”

“Thank you.”

But you’re not getting a third date, she added silently. Two had been more than enough, thank you very much. Her dad was convinced Alex was the financial genius of his generation, and in her saner moments, she acknowledged he was just the kind of man she was looking for. Polished and self-assured, he shared her interest in all things logical. There just wasn’t a spark between them, at least not for her. Which was probably for the best, because as her father’s hand-chosen protégé, Alex pushed every one of Chelsea’s competitive buttons.

And she had a lot of them.

Now that the discussion had begun, one loan officer questioned her calculations, which Chelsea assured him were accurate. Another doubted the ability of such an out-of-the-way business to earn enough money to repay their loan. She patiently reminded him that the online component would minimize any disadvantage caused by the mill’s remote location. On and on it went, and by the time they were done, she’d been pummeled for nearly half an hour.