Better Not Love Me (14 page)

"Derek, from Mr. Z's called me. He didn't know who else to talk to since you weren't around. Riddell is closing the Spokane store."

Chapter 26

Nate stepped back from his cabin window just as Amelia walked away from the man she was seated next to on the dock. Nate did not know the man, but there was a strong level of comfort between the two, that much he could see even in the distance. The way he held his hand behind her back to protect her from slipping on the ramp up the dock, this was a practiced move from a known entity. 

Before seeing the kiss, he convinced himself that the man was just a family friend or maybe even a brother or cousin, but those hopes were dashed by one kiss at the end of the dock. It was like he was watching it happen to someone else in a movie. Reality couldn’t be this cruel.

Anger burned inside him. He knew that he should never have trusted his feelings about her. He should have just stayed away. He'd done a good job of it for many years, and now with the convenience of the woman next door, he'd let his guard down and let her in. He wanted to let her in. He wanted to experience her in a happy place. He thought that she felt the same. In fact he knew she felt the same. Until now. Until that terrible movie played out on the dock. He'd seen enough.

He emptied the drawers of his dresser and tossed his clothes into a bag. He texted Chloe to come back to the cabin. He'd explain when she arrived. They needed to go home. This supposed vacation was ridiculous. A waste of a summer, stumbling through the awkward first steps of a relationship that never had a chance to get off the ground. 

He didn't want to think of his hurt feelings. He was a man of course, but why would she make love with him and then, not three hours later, kiss another man? He thought the connection was strong. What kind of person would do that? Not the kind of person he wanted. Not the person that would fulfill him. This was not who he thought Amelia was.

Disappointed. He was tremendously, pit-of-your-stomach, down-in-the-dumps, disappointed.  

He flew about the cabin, locking windows and turning off the water and electrical systems. He'd send someone to winterize the place after he was gone. But he needed to go now. Head back to Dallas and start his life again. It wouldn't be so bad, really. Riddell would have him back. He had only been on a short sabbatical after all. 

There was nothing keeping him at the cabin. He was done. He wasn't sure if he ever wanted to come back.

He heard the click of the back door latch. Chloe was home. Good. He needed to break the news to her right away. He stepped into the kitchen, ready to break the news to his daughter. She wouldn't be happy, but maybe after some time, she'd understand too.

But it wasn't Chloe.

The sun from the window shone brightly on Amelia's face. Her tears, glimmering in the sun. She looked frail and young with her arms crossed, clutching herself. Nate felt the instant desire to hold her, to sooth whatever had made her this way, but he resisted. He was confused too.

"Nate," she said. "I need your help, but I can't ask you until I tell you what I did. And after I tell you, I'm afraid you won't want anything to do with me."

Chapter 27

Spokane, Washington

Mr. Z's Toy Store

Derek Conway paced back and forth in the small back office of Mr. Z's Toys. His path weaved through boxes of unopened merchandise. Trains, remote control helicopters, puzzles, foam footballs, art supplies and plastic dolls from the latest blockbuster movie had arrived days earlier. But a letter from Riddell Industries had also arrived. The toy store's parent company sent letters or emails quite often and as the manager of the store, Derek dutifully read each correspondence and complied with the instructions. Until today. He hoped he would never have to do what this letter requested, but he knew he had no other choice. It wasn't up to him.

He had already tried to call his friend and former boss Amelia Cook, but she was unreachable after leaving the company a few months back. Her phone just went to voicemail. He tried showing up to her home last night, but she wasn't there either. A neighbor said she'd been gone for over a month. If only he could talk to her, she would know what to do, he thought. He even called Josh, who promised to pass along his message if he happened to see her, but that was a long shot he said. They weren't exactly on the best terms these days Josh told him. Josh explained that Amelia was on vacation with the kids for the summer and he didn't have any plans to see her. So that avenue was closed too.

Derek heard the bell above the door jingle, which prompted him to return to the floor of the store. Betty, his part-time clerk, had already greeted the guest by the time he had stepped onto the worn hardwood floor and through the antique shelves bursting at the seams with toys. Despite himself, he admired the mahogany shelves and recalled distastefully the long hours re-staining and polishing the shelves to a high gloss.

"Our store is as much about presentation, feeling and nostalgia, as it is about our merchandise," Amelia had told him when he complained about laboring over the store's fixtures. "We're just caretakers of the legacy of this store, and it's our job to keep it just as it should be."

As it should be
. . . that's the problem, Derek thought. Those Riddell big wigs in Dallas want to take all that away. The letter said as much.

Derek had been the Spokane store manager for nearly a year, but he'd been an employee for much longer. Years ago, when he was in high school he met Edwin Klein and his wife Mary, long before their story gained national attention. At the time, Derek was looking for a present for his sister, Avery, and found the perfect one at Mr. Z's. It was an easel for painting. She was a wonderful artist, who needed to be challenged and use professional tools to do it. The trouble was he didn't have the money to pay for it. In fact he didn’t have anything—no one in his family did. They were homeless and living in a shelter called The Annex. The Kleins had nothing to gain from helping Derek, Avery or their mother, Lori, but when they found out the family was in such need, they went out of their way to help and in doing so, changed the Conway family forever.

Edwin and Mary found the Conways a beautiful condo in Brown's Addition. The plan was to let the family live there for a year while the owners of the building completed a missionary program in West Africa. The couple that owned building had rented out three of the units while living in the fourth. The couple was worried about leaving the fully-furnished apartment empty for a year until Mary offered them a solution that would both curb their worry and help put the Conway family back on its feet.

That one year, turned into three years. Long enough for Lori to save a sizable deposit toward a small house. During that time, Derek took a few classes at the community college and worked at Mr. Z's part time when he was able. Derek was away finishing his degree in Seattle when Edwin tragically passed. Being away during that time was something Derek had always regretted. But he tried to make up for it by returning to Mr. Z's and working for Amelia.

He knew Amelia was unhappy at the store and about how Riddell was running things. She worked so hard every day and was required to visit the chain stores across the country too. The happy, easy-breezy woman he had first met was long gone by the time she decided to leave the business earlier this year.

Derek was the logical choice to run the store when Amelia left; and he was proud to take over. He didn't have the responsibilities that Amelia had once taken on though. He was only in charge of the flagship Spokane store, which was not just a retail outlet, but also a tourist attraction. People in town for a conference or a basketball tournament would always make a trip to see where "the much revered Edwin Klein" had worked. And Derek was proud to share stories about his friend Edwin and maybe sell a toy or two as well.

Derek committed himself to carry on the legacy of Mr. Z's Toys. It wasn't about profit and greed. It was about helping bring people together. It was an old-fashioned notion, he knew that, but one he knew was right and good. After everything the Klein's had done for his family, it was the least he could do for them. 

So today, faced with the very real threat that all of that legacy could be taken away, Derek was at a loss. He couldn't believe it was over.

Then the bell above the door rang again.

Amelia was back.

Chapter 28

Amelia read the letter over for the third time. Her brow began to ache as she concentrated on the words and contemplated the letter's intent. Derek and Nate stood at the counter awkwardly eyeing each other. Amelia had chuckled at Derek's reaction to seeing Nate. For years the two employees shared a mutual distain for their boss. Derek did a double take, then threw Amelia a very questioning look as if to say,
you brought the Dark Side with you?
She didn't take the time to explain her change of heart about Nate, so it appeared Derek did his best to pretend he wasn't bothered by him. After all, Derek still saw him as the enemy, though he wasn't hiding it well.

"So what do you think?" Derek asked, pointing at the letter.

Amelia carefully refolded the letter and placed it on the counter. She took a deep breath and crossed her arms defiantly. She couldn't believe it. They were really closing the store.

"I think that I screwed up," she said. "This never would have happened if I had stayed."

Amelia had never considered her departure from the company as consequential. She simply abdicated her responsibilities with little thought as to who would take her place or what may happen to the business once she left. She immediately felt selfish for only thinking of herself.

Nate, who had yet to read the letter, picked it up and quickly saw the problem.

"So, it says here that Riddell wants to liquidate the store and sell the building, then focus their brand on the chain stores."

"Yeah, those awful cookie cutter stores you made," Derek said to Nate.

Nate ignored the dig. It was true that he was the driving force behind the chain store model, one that had succeeded in many other applications, just not Mr. Z's. It was a fundamental element of business in corporate America, simply replicate the same inexpensive model over and over again in different locations. A uniform design meant using the same materials which reduced costs and helped customers feel familiar with the layout since they would see the same thing each time they entered a store. Small things like square footage might change, but the basic elements were always the same.

The Spokane store was always different from the chain stores. In fact, they looked nothing alike. This was always a sticking point with Riddell. Amelia had to argue for the store to go untouched and she'd won that battle because she refused to even entertain the idea. She had creative control over the Spokane location in her contract. But without a contract or a say, she was powerless. Riddell wasn't asking for a remodel, they wanted the Spokane store gone.

"Why even call the chain Mr. Z's when the namesake store is gone?" Amelia asked.

"I think that's the whole point," Nate said.

"I don't understand," she replied.

"This is a tactic during failed M&A—sorry, mergers and acquisitions," he said. "You gradually make subtle shifts in the acquired business that drive the results you want. It doesn't seem obvious at first to those on the outside, but over time it becomes pretty clear. In this case, they are driving the business under. They want it to fail. The five-year deal that Edwin signed has expired, just like your contract Amelia. Riddell doesn't owe Mr. Z's anything."

"Why would they do this?" Derek asked. "This store is the whole reason the chain stores were created."

"Yes," Nate said, "but it's not driving sales to those locations and it never has, so it's expendable. You've got to look at the entire chain, not one single store. The cost to run this location is ten times more than a chain store. Those are real dollars."

"But if we fail, they all fail, right?" Derek asked. "There's got to be something we can do."

Amelia was fuming. She had no connection to Riddell Industries. She already quit and left. And with that went all her decision-making authority, not that she had much to decide before. Nate dictated nearly everything. Yes, it was the flagship store, but obviously the fat cats in Dallas didn't care about that at all. They'd probably never even visited this place.

The store could not close. There was no way she was going to let this happen. She wouldn't allow Edwin's store to be crushed, but what could she actually do about it?

Nate was their only hope and she wasn't sure if he could even go back to Riddell again. He said he was on a leave of absence or sabbatical, but what exactly did that mean? Could he just make this go away?

"Isn't there something you can do about this Nate?" she asked. "If you've seen this tactic before, then maybe you can get them to stop the nonsense."

Chapter 29

Nate looked at the signature on the bottom of the letter—Graham Barnes—his boss. If Amelia thought Nate was a pain to work for, then she would really hate Barnes, Nate thought. The man was a notorious blowhard who you wouldn't want to invite to your meetings because he'd monopolize the entire time telling exaggerated stories about "workin' in my daddy's oil field." He was an insufferable bore who had made a name for himself at Riddell in operations and logistics. He was sharp, no doubt about it, but he also tended to leave a path of destruction in his wake. This characteristic endeared him to other executives at Riddell. If you needed to clean up a mess or rid yourself of a problem, you called Graham Barnes. He wielded the ax with great pleasure.

Nate had actually served as a buffer between Mr. Z's and Barnes many times. The man didn't have any affinity for the stores at all. Nate guessed that his disdain for the stores stemmed from a childhood devoid of toys and a loving family, although he had no evidence of this. Just pure gut instinct. Who dislikes a toy store?

The fact that Barnes was leading the charge on this closure order wasn't good, but Nate wasn't going to tell Amelia and Derek that. Not yet. He didn't want them to know that the cause was most likely hopeless. If corporate wanted the Spokane store to close, they would get it. They had the right to direct any changes they wanted to their stores. Nate had even considered closure a few years back when margins got tight, but decided to give it a few more quarters to improve. It did improve, albeit slightly, and he never took any action on the closure.

"Let me make some calls and see what I can find out," Nate told Amelia. He then stepped out onto the sidewalk to make the call.

The truth was, months earlier Nate might have made the same decision that Barnes had made if the numbers worked. It was all about the bottom line at Riddell and it didn't matter what you had to do to get good results. The shareholders demanded performance, regardless of the method.

Nate looked at the façade of the store and the big empty windows that held the annual holiday displays. It was beautiful and there was history in the place, but history doesn't sell. Cheap toys with bright flashing lights from China sell. This is why he pushed for the chain model in the first place. Low cost overhead meant more profit. The Spokane store was grand, but impractical.

So, no, he wouldn't be bothered if the store closed. But he did care for Amelia. He owed her. For her, he would try although he knew the chances of success were slim to none. He knew how much Amelia cared and he wanted to make her happy, even after her lapse in judgment with Josh the day before. He thought back to the kiss he saw and how ready he was to pack up and leave. It made him sick to think about.

But the fact that she came clean to him almost immediately afterward took some of the sting out, but not all. He felt like there was still an unseen connection between Josh and Amelia that he couldn't replicate. The connection was obvious—Marcus and Susanna. Where did he fit into that situation? Amelia and Josh have kids together. They shared something that no one else in the world can claim.

He thought of his late wife, Stephanie, and the connection that they shared—their daughter Chloe. His daughter looked like Stephanie and it almost pained him to watch her grow up and blossom into a woman who looked more and more like her mother. Despite the circumstances Nate felt like he was open to love—to Amelia's love—but he didn't want to hurt her or take her away from something or someone else if that's what she wanted.

He wondered if a connection between parents could ever really be severed. Or was it always waiting to be reconnected when the time came? Is Josh waiting for Amelia to be his again? Or is Amelia wishing for his return? The kiss indicated that yes there was something there, even if she denied it.

Nate couldn't return to his love Stephanie. She was gone. But Amelia's Josh was still there. Waiting. He had to trust her that there was nothing going on between them. And who was he to be demanding anything from her anyway? But he did have a right to question, just as Amelia had a right to question him, that's how a relationship worked.

He knew that she would be watching him as he looked into this store closure order. She would be waiting to see if the old Nate showed up or if the man she met at the lake would take up her side and fight. Would he take the shot like his grandfather encouraged him to do? Or would he miss and avoid the pain and potential for a letdown.

Nate knew the answer, but would she believe him?

* * *

Graham Barnes let out a loud cough directly into the receiver. Nate held the phone away from his ear to avoid direct contact with the sound.  The phlegm gurgled and rolled around until Barnes cleared his throat and ceremoniously spit out the mucus to places Nate obviously couldn't see over the phone. The effort was for show, Nate was certain of that. What a jerk.

"Nate Rosen, you old S.O.B," Barnes' voice rattled as he spoke. Nate was ten years junior to the man. Why was he dubbed the
old S.O.B?
"I thought you were off somewhere on a vision quest or something of that nature. Word round these parts is that you're finding your inner child at sea or some nonsense."

Nate wasn't certain how his leave of absence was portrayed to his colleagues after his departure. He was sure he had never used the phrase "vision quest" or told anyone that he was trying to find his inner child at sea. When he left, he didn't say goodbye to anyone or explain why he was leaving. He just filled out a form in HR and left. Obviously in the absence of communication, people filled in what they wanted to hear.

Barnes wouldn't have remembered anyway, Nate was certain of that.

"Oh, I just took the summer to spend some time with my daughter, Chloe. I believe you met her at the company barbecue last spring."

Nate recalled that event clearly. Barnes was ogling one of the young interns playing volleyball and absentmindedly ran into Chloe, spilling a plate of food into her lap. Chloe's shirt and shorts were covered with barbecue sauce and potato salad. She was humiliated and didn't have a change of clothes. As a result, Nate and Chloe left the event immediately. Barnes, the big oaf, never uttered one word of apology. His silence spoke volumes.

"You know, Rosen, I meet a lot of people," Barnes said. "Can't say I recall your daughter."

"No problem," Nate said, ignoring the man's idiocy. "I'm calling about Mr. Z's. Sounds like you've taken over my responsibilities on Riddell's behalf. This is a lot of responsibility added to your plate, but I'm sure you're up for it."

Nate knew that buttering him up was always a good strategy even if he didn't feel the man deserved any kudos. He'd always wondered what really propelled such a person to higher and higher posts at a company, especially when they're universally disliked.

"You know," Barnes said. "You left that little business a real mess. I mean a real dilly of a mess. Had to call myself off the bench to save the day with that one. Save it or trash it, that's what I always say."

"Trash it?" Nate asked.

"You said it. We can't be in the business of being in every business," Barnes said. "You catch my drift?"

"I'm not sure I do."

"I guess that's understandable. That's why I'm the top dog," he said. "You see, this toy franchise is a loser. I've been telling you that for years, but you wouldn't listen. It was a loser from the day our dear founder, Walt Riddell, signed that contract with that Edwin fella. Money and mercy. Pathetic. Nobody gives a crap about some mom-and-pop toy store malarkey. That's why it's dying on the vine. The whole dang thing."

Nate could see the handwriting on the wall. Barnes couldn’t help but spill his guts if it made him look smarter, and Nate was all too happy to let him show his cards.

"So you're intentionally tanking it?" Nate asked.

"Hey, now we don't use terms like that," Barnes said. "We're exploring potential income streams in a variety of ways, attempting to recover and expand our investment in this fine small business—at least that's what the Mr. Z's Corp. Annual Report will say."

Nate knew that corporate line was code for exploring an exit strategy. He wanted to ask Barnes if he had ever seen one of the Mr. Z's Toys franchise locations or even visited the Spokane store, but he knew the answer would be no. Why would he ever visit? Nate estimated that Mr. Z's occupied Barnes' thoughts for no more than five minutes a day. And that was being optimistic.

Barnes was positioning the company for a bankruptcy filing. It was obvious. Nate himself had done the very same thing with another line of business—a chain of auto part stores—years ago. You make moves to ensure failure, but you have to be crafty about it. It's not ethical by any means, and a smart auditor might uncover it if you're not careful. Obviously Barnes was being careful. Riddell was a large enough company with dozens of subsidiaries which operated nearly 50 retail brands across the globe. Losing one line of toy stores was nothing to Riddell, especially one that was bleeding cash.

Another strategy is to simply sell the company, but doing so meant opening the books and explaining to investors why you had been pumping cash into a business that you were trying to get rid of. Instead, you feign ignorance to your poor business decisions and ultimately let the store fail and write it off. 

"So, when's your vision quest over with?" Barnes asked, with a chuckle.

He was trying to rile Nate and continued.

"And I'm not sure what you're planning to come back to. Your position's been filled. By me. I kinda like getting my hands dirty again and two jobs pay better than one. HR says I've gotta take you back at some point, but I can stick you wherever I see fit. I'm still working that all out. So when's it gonna be?"

"I'm still hunting the Great Whale at sea, like you said. It's going to be a while," Nate said, playing into the earlier jab.

"What's that now?" Barnes replied, sounding a bit surprised.

"You have a nice day, Graham. Good luck with your bankruptcy. And don't worry, I'll be back soon enough."

He hit the button to end the call. Nate wasn't sure how he was going to break the news to Amelia and Derek. Riddell was definitely dumping Mr. Z's.

It wasn't just the Spokane store they would close. Every Mr. Z's Toys was done.