As soon as I’d taken my first bite, Scarlet and my dad came in.
“Mr. Dawson,” Scarlet said.
I began to wonder if I was being punked.
“Ms. White, Mr. Dawson,” I mimicked back.
Dad shook his head.
“I’m going to grab some food,” he said and left us.
“You all packed?” I asked.
“Almost. We should be ready by the time the movers get here.”
“When you see all those boxes stacked up, it makes it seem all too real, doesn’t it?”
“I agree. But I’m looking forward to the move. It’ll be good to have all the kids together. It makes me wish I had brothers and sisters growing up,” Scarlet said.
“What are we doing today?” I asked, getting back to business.
“We’re working out the logistics of everything associated with the move.”
That made sense.
Dad came back with his food, and we were joined by my uncle, grandmother, mom, and Mary Dole. As they got settled, Yelena and Pam’s mom, Lacy, came in. If that wasn’t enough, Granny, Johan, and Zoe joined us. I was mystified as to why those last two were here. Finally, Megan came in.
Dad kicked off the meeting.
“With David leaving and a lot of us moving to Malibu, I felt we should all get together and discuss plans for the transition. I know some of you need to get back to work. With that in mind, I will turn it over to Mary and Granny to talk about the restaurants.”
Mary took the lead. She managed both Granny’s West and Our House for Granny and me. The three of us had partnered to get them started.
“You probably don’t know this, but sixty percent of all new restaurants shut their doors the first year, and eighty percent by the fifth year. Our industry is a tough one to be in. So far, we’ve exceeded all our business-plan projections to this point. I’m confident that we are on track to beat the odds and will be in business for a long time.”
“I take it you’re staying with us, now that Tom has taken over his former law office,” I said.
“That’s the plan,” Mary assured me.
There had been rumors she might move to Chicago since Tom’s office was there, and Tracy was going to USC in the fall. Mary remaining here to manage the restaurants would provide stability to keep everything moving forward.
“At some point, we might consider opening some other locations. I’ve been approached about possible sites in other nearby towns,” Granny said.
“Do you think we can handle something like that?” I asked.
“Not yet, but at some point, we will be. I just wanted to plant the seed,” Granny explained.
Mary and Granny had to get back to work, so they left.
“Carol, you’re up,” Dad said to my mom.
“With me moving to California, we need someone to run this office. Lacy is in the process of getting her broker’s license. Until that happens, I will remain the broker of record.”
“Do you plan to open an office in Malibu?” I asked.
“Not yet. Ashley and I have arranged to get our agent’s licenses so we can sell real estate in California. We were able to take classes for the basic licenses online and will take the test once we get to California. We’ve been in contact with a local company and will work for them to begin with. To get my broker’s license, I have to take several more classes. I’ll wait until we get settled to do that,” Mom explained.
“Welcome to the joys of management,” I said to Lacy.
“I’m not sure whether I should be happy or not,” she admitted.
“You’ll do fine,” Mom assured her. “Besides, I’m just a phone call away.”
“I’m going to get back to work,” Lacy said and left.
“Take some food for the agents,” I said as she walked out.
“Thanks, I will.”
Real estate agents were like teenage boys: they never passed up free food. That was why my mom always put on a feed if she had an agent open house for one of her listings. My childhood hope that she would bring my brother and me some leftovers had been given up years ago.
“John, you want to fill David in on the farms?” Dad asked.
“Sure. With your grandmother retiring and moving with Rob and Carol to Malibu, we had to come up with a workable solution since Yelena didn’t want to take it on herself.”
“Too much work for an old woman,” Yelena said.
I snorted out a laugh. That tough old bird could handle it. I’d seen her bossing around the Mennonite farmhands we hired for the heavy lifting. I had no doubt she could run the day-to-day without a problem.
“You’re not old,” I explained before I got on her wrong side, even though she was in her 80s.
“You good boy.”
I’d take that.
“As you know,” Grandma Dawson interjected, “Zoe has been working for us at both the farm and the convenience store part-time. She and Johan plan to get married in a few weeks. I talked to them, and they’ve agreed to help Yelena out. They’ll be moving into the farmhouse with her.”
“What’s the plan after you two finish college?” I asked.
Johan and Zoe both were going to State for school. Johan was planning to get an Ag degree, while Zoe was enrolling in their Pre-Veterinary and Medical Science program. She planned on moving up to their veterinarian school after she got her undergraduate degree, or sooner if they opened up that possibility.
“We hoped you would let us take over the farm for you,” Johan said.
“Can you convert our barn to have stalls for the horses, or will you need a new barn built?” I asked.
Zoe’s face lit up, and she squeezed Johan’s hand.
“We can make something work,” he said.
“Good, because if I was crazy enough to get into the restaurant business, I might take a gamble on a horse-breeding venture,” I suggested.
“I know just the horse to start with,” Zoe said, about to jump out of her skin with excitement. “He was just foaled and can’t leave his mother for four to six months, which would give us plenty of time to get ready. We can buy him now, though.”
“We’ll set up a separate company for that,” Dad reminded me.
“I trust Ms. Dixon can handle that. Should we say we do this fifty-fifty? I put up the cash, and you two do all the work?” I asked.
Zoe turned her pleading eyes to her future husband.
“Happy wife means a happy life,” Uncle John offered.
“We have to buy him now, though. The farmer told me someone else might be interested but didn’t have the cash right now,” Zoe explained.
I recalled how upset Zoe had been when her parents made her sell her horses because they didn’t want to take care of them when she left. Seeing her happy made my day.
“Tell Megan what has to be done, and she’ll arrange payment.”
Megan led Zoe and Johan out to the office area to take care of that. I had a suspicion that Zoe wanted to go see her horse this afternoon.
“The only other business-related pieces are the running of your other businesses and the charities,” Dad said.
“Are you still planning to be my CEO?” I asked Dad.
“That’s probably best, with Scarlet going to work at the management company in LA. Megan wants to stay here and run the office. John will be close if she needs someone to help, and I’m not around,” Dad said.
With my dad and Uncle John watching over everything, Megan would be okay.
“Will she need to hire someone, or can she handle everything herself?” I asked.
“We were thinking maybe a floater like Angie was. Work part-time at the real estate office and help Megan as needed,” Mom said.
“What about the charities?” I asked.
“Your grandmother suggested Mr. Orange from the Homeless Coalition. He has run a charity and knows how to fundraise and write grant proposals. He’ll take over at the end of the month,” Dad said.
“Do we have enough money to pay him?” I asked.