Read Online Homecoming by Elizabeth Jennings - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Elizabeth Jennings
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seen doing something .
It would be nice if Russell White could come out and oversee the construction of a lava break, but of course he’s busy with the Carson’s Bluff deal. So I guess that means we’ll have to go through the added expense of hiring an outside engineer. Pity.
On a happier note, I was golfing the other day with Walker from AmeriBancorp, and he said that if we add golf links to the Carson’s Bluff executive retreat, he’ll have the bank sign up for six weeks a year at the premium rate. It’s beginning to look like the Carson’s Bluff property will pay for itself in the first year and be turning a healthy profit in the second. Of course, everything depends on the final sale price and on the cost of restructuring, which is Russell White’s lookout.
By the way, Walker also gave me (in confidence) an interesting tidbit about White. It seems he asked AmeriBancorp for a second mortgage, which was rejected after the bank checked his credit rating.
Looks like White has been making a series of very bad investments playing the arbs, hoovering up bad stocks. He’s in debt up to his armpits. I passed on word to our Personal Finances Office to turn down any requests for a loan from White. Are we doing the right thing in entrusting the Carson’s Bluff project to him?
Federica hasn’t checked her email box for four days and she’s done something to make her emails bounce, so all messages are undelivered. What’s going on?
Paul
INTERNAL MEMO: Mansion Enterprises
From: Paul Cobb, Executive Vice President
To: Russell White
Russell,
Finances really needs those estimates on the Carson’s Bluff property. Factor in a fourteen-hole golf course and make sure it’s far enough away from the helipad.
Paul
Jack watched Federica out of the corner of his eye as he negotiated the dark switchback road up to the Folly.
She looked somehow smaller, curled up close to the door.
Goddammit, Horace was right. Of course he was right. If a big international conglomerate bought up the Folly, it would change the pace of life in Carson’s Bluff forever. Mansion Enterprises was pure unadulterated poison. For him, his family, his friends.
But that didn’t make him feel any better about having Federica Mansion curled up like a lost waif in the corner of his van. She was shivering. He switched on the heat.
The ride up was endless and yet too short. He pulled up in the Folly’s driveway and killed the engine. Federica already had the door open.
Her words came out in a rush. “Thanks for the ride, Jack. Don’t worry about me tomorrow. I’ll have Newton drive up and—”
“Whoa, there.” Jack clamped a hand on her wrist. It was small, delicate and soft. “Not so fast.”
“Let me go, Jack.” Federica twisted her hand, but his grip was too tight. He could almost feel the tears vibrating in her throat. “ Let me go !”
She was hurting herself.
Jack released her wrist and she shot out of the van and into the night.
Federica rushed up the drive. She pounded up the steps then stopped when she reached the veranda. Though the night had turned cool, she hated the thought of cooping herself up in the Folly.
She sat down on the top step, looping her arms around her knees and letting the tears fall. She rested her head against her knees until the tears slowly receded, then lifted it again. Soon, the bright, starry night sky stopped being a blurred, watery mass overhead.
She looked up at the heartless sky. The swollen pale moon was waning. It had been a full moon back in Singapore. She’d watched it traversing the sky for hours, huddled in the requisite pale beige armchair, staring out the picture window of the thirtieth-floor penthouse suite.
I wish I had another job , she thought dully. Another life . But she didn’t. This was the only job she had. And the only life, for that matter.
Federica tried to concentrate on what needed to be done. She should get onto negotiations right away. She’d wasted
It would be nice if Russell White could come out and oversee the construction of a lava break, but of course he’s busy with the Carson’s Bluff deal. So I guess that means we’ll have to go through the added expense of hiring an outside engineer. Pity.
On a happier note, I was golfing the other day with Walker from AmeriBancorp, and he said that if we add golf links to the Carson’s Bluff executive retreat, he’ll have the bank sign up for six weeks a year at the premium rate. It’s beginning to look like the Carson’s Bluff property will pay for itself in the first year and be turning a healthy profit in the second. Of course, everything depends on the final sale price and on the cost of restructuring, which is Russell White’s lookout.
By the way, Walker also gave me (in confidence) an interesting tidbit about White. It seems he asked AmeriBancorp for a second mortgage, which was rejected after the bank checked his credit rating.
Looks like White has been making a series of very bad investments playing the arbs, hoovering up bad stocks. He’s in debt up to his armpits. I passed on word to our Personal Finances Office to turn down any requests for a loan from White. Are we doing the right thing in entrusting the Carson’s Bluff project to him?
Federica hasn’t checked her email box for four days and she’s done something to make her emails bounce, so all messages are undelivered. What’s going on?
Paul
INTERNAL MEMO: Mansion Enterprises
From: Paul Cobb, Executive Vice President
To: Russell White
Russell,
Finances really needs those estimates on the Carson’s Bluff property. Factor in a fourteen-hole golf course and make sure it’s far enough away from the helipad.
Paul
Jack watched Federica out of the corner of his eye as he negotiated the dark switchback road up to the Folly.
She looked somehow smaller, curled up close to the door.
Goddammit, Horace was right. Of course he was right. If a big international conglomerate bought up the Folly, it would change the pace of life in Carson’s Bluff forever. Mansion Enterprises was pure unadulterated poison. For him, his family, his friends.
But that didn’t make him feel any better about having Federica Mansion curled up like a lost waif in the corner of his van. She was shivering. He switched on the heat.
The ride up was endless and yet too short. He pulled up in the Folly’s driveway and killed the engine. Federica already had the door open.
Her words came out in a rush. “Thanks for the ride, Jack. Don’t worry about me tomorrow. I’ll have Newton drive up and—”
“Whoa, there.” Jack clamped a hand on her wrist. It was small, delicate and soft. “Not so fast.”
“Let me go, Jack.” Federica twisted her hand, but his grip was too tight. He could almost feel the tears vibrating in her throat. “ Let me go !”
She was hurting herself.
Jack released her wrist and she shot out of the van and into the night.
Federica rushed up the drive. She pounded up the steps then stopped when she reached the veranda. Though the night had turned cool, she hated the thought of cooping herself up in the Folly.
She sat down on the top step, looping her arms around her knees and letting the tears fall. She rested her head against her knees until the tears slowly receded, then lifted it again. Soon, the bright, starry night sky stopped being a blurred, watery mass overhead.
She looked up at the heartless sky. The swollen pale moon was waning. It had been a full moon back in Singapore. She’d watched it traversing the sky for hours, huddled in the requisite pale beige armchair, staring out the picture window of the thirtieth-floor penthouse suite.
I wish I had another job , she thought dully. Another life . But she didn’t. This was the only job she had. And the only life, for that matter.
Federica tried to concentrate on what needed to be done. She should get onto negotiations right away. She’d wasted
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