Chapter Twenty
The phone call Monday morning shocked Joe right out of his low spirits, but created a whole new dilemma. Bob Moir, calling on behalf of the California Olive Oil Producers, offered him a job. In Napa. Close to home. Close to his friends and family.
Joe hung up the phone with a promise to consider the offer, then slumped in his chair and stared into space. Why wasn’t he overjoyed? He’d never intended to stay in Santa Barbara, only came there because he’d been so desperate. This was an actual job offer, one that hadn’t required a favor to get.
So the olive business was never exactly what he’d intended to get into. But he had to admit a deep fascination with it.
Also a deep fascination for a certain woman involved in the business. But that had nothing to do with this.
He glanced at his watch. He and Tara were supposed to meet at ten to look over her proposal for high density planting. She’d finished it and had asked him to look at it before she presented it to Tyrone.
He went to her office. They hadn’t yet seen each other since he’d dropped her off at her home in Hope Ranch Saturday morning. She sat behind her desk, her mouth drawn into a downcast line, eyes fatigued as she gazed at her computer monitor. Yet she didn’t seem to be doing anything, just sitting there…staring.
Much like him.
He sighed, knocking on the open door before moving into the office.
She looked up at him, her face neutral. “Good morning.”
“Hi. Ready to review your proposal?”
“Yes.”
It was all stiff and formal business as he reviewed what she’d done. “I’d suggest changing this projection,” he said. “It seems a little optimistic.”
She nodded, saying nothing. Not even a glimmer of argument. Disappointment tugged at him.
He suggested a few other changes and additions she hadn’t thought of. “I’m going out to the mill for the rest of the day,” he told her. “Anything you need me to do?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Okay.” He started out. “Oh, before I go…here’s the deal on the soap producing.” He turned around and tossed a folder on her desk.
She grabbed for the folder. “So? How does it look?”
He shook his head. “Sorry, Tara. It sounds like a good idea, but economically it’s not feasible. The oil refinery would have to be practically right next door for it to be economically viable. The cost of shipping all that pomace hundreds of miles to have the oil extracted, then to the soap factory, pretty much eats up any potential profit.”
“Oh.” Her face fell. Then she tipped her head to one side. A hint of color brushed her cheeks and a flare of temper darkened her eyes. He could guess she was thinking he’d just said that because he was pissed off about what had happened at the ranch. “Are you sure? Did you…”
“I’m sure,” he said. “Check it out if you want, but when you see the numbers, you’ll agree.”
He hated having to disappoint her, but what he said was the truth—there was no way they could make it economically viable. He had to be honest, whether she liked it or not.
She pressed her lips together and gave a short nod, then turned back to her computer, blinking. Dammit, she was on the verge of tears. That was so not like her. Christ.
Joe’s chest ached and his gut churned for the entire drive out to the mill where he met with both Blair and Juan about some of the new equipment issues.
Tara tossed the file Joe had just given her onto her credenza and folded her arms across her chest. She regarded it blackly.
He was just being an asshole. She should have known what happened out at the ranch was going to affect how they worked together. She wouldn’t have thought he’d be that petty, that he’d nix an idea just to get back at her, but that’s what it seemed like.
Damn him.
The corners of her eyes stung and she blinked. God, she couldn’t cry over this. That was just wimpy-assed. She was a strong, independent businesswoman. She could find a way to make that pomace idea happen. She’d go through his research and find a way. But first she had to get back to the high density planting. Grandpa’d said they could talk about it Friday and she had more work to do based on Joe’s feedback.
She narrowed her eyes. He wouldn’t have suggested making changes that would trash the proposal, would he? He couldn’t be that vindictive?
No. She took a deep breath. Even as he’d pointed out things to her, she’d known he was right. She’d missed some things, overstated some projections. She knew exactly what she had to do to make it perfect.
“Tara?”
She looked up to see Fiona standing in the door.
“Yes?” She forced a smile at the controller.
“I need your signature on these.” Fiona walked over and laid some documents on the desk.
“What are they?” Tara frowned and picked one up.
“New signing authorities.”
Tara’s eyes skimmed over the print. “Oh. Why are we doing this?”
“Joe suggested it. He noticed a while ago we didn’t have much in the way of safeguards to prevent employee theft. We’re going to change some other things too. Didn’t he tell you?”
“No.” She rubbed her forehead. “No, he didn’t.”
“I’m sorry.” Fiona’s brow creased and she blinked rapidly. “I should have told you…I’m really sorry, Tara, but I…”
“It’s okay.” She smiled reassuringly at Fiona. God, the woman acted like she expected Tara to slap her or something. Was she really that intimidating?
She sighed.
“It’s okay,” she said again. She signed the papers and handed them back. “It’s a great idea. Something we should have done a long time ago. And by the way…” She hesitated, then plunged on. “I heard you were very helpful with the tax audit. From both the external auditors and from Joe. They were very impressed with your knowledge and attention to detail. So thanks for that.”
“Thank you.” Fiona blinked at her. Tara groaned inwardly at her surprise. Clearly, she didn’t hand out enough praise to the people who worked for her. “I…”
“Yes?” Tara waited.
“I think I could contribute a lot toward helping to grow the business,” she rushed on. “I know you’ve wanted to do a lot on your own, but since Joe’s been here, I’ve felt that maybe I could have more of a role in the management of the company.”
Tara drew in a long, slow breath. She nodded. “I think you’re right,” she said quietly. “I’ll set up some time in the next few days for us to sit down and talk more about that.”
Fiona smiled, nodded and left. Tara thunked her head down on her desk. He’d put things in place to prevent employee theft. She was so screwed.
The idea had circled around and around in Sasha’s pounding head all weekend. On Sunday, she’d used Tara’s computer to work on a résumé. Monday morning she held it in her hands. And then she drove to the Southern California Museum of Art. She paused outside on the sidewalk, took a breath, then went inside.
She didn’t need a job. But for some reason she wanted to show Nick she wasn’t just a spoiled princess who sat around the pool all day. She could make a real contribution.
They’d never hire her. It was a crazy idea.
But an hour later, when she emerged from the museum, she’d been offered a job. A real job. A job she’d gotten all on her own. A bubble of excitement swelled inside her, but she tried to keep it down. Getting too excited about something just led to disappointment.
She walked down the street to the Youth Action Center, found Nick in his office.
“Um…hi. Can I talk to you for a moment?”