Better Not Love Me (23 page)

Chapter 45

Spokane
November, nearly one year later

Amelia sat at the head of a long boardroom table. The bank that had put the deal together had allowed her to use their largest conference room for the first official Board Meeting of the new Mr. Z's Toys, Inc. No more Mr. Z's Corp., which was simple because that company, under the constraints of Riddell Industries didn't exist anymore. The new company would be headquartered in Spokane, where it all started.

There were four men and two women sitting in high-grain leather chairs around the table looking at Amelia. Waiting for the meeting to start. But there was one empty chair. Nate's chair.  She tried not to look at it. The empty place was reserved still, an enormous reminder of everything that had happened over the last year.

Amelia had been early for the meeting, as she had been for every meeting for the past year. It had become her standard. She was even early for the meeting that Nate set up without her knowledge, with the investors who funded the purchase of the nearly bankrupt Mr. Z's Corp. The investors had been surprised when she showed up for the meeting and not Nate. But they knew why he wasn't there. They all knew what had happened to him.

She had to hand it to Nate. The guy had a head for business. Since the day he left the cabin, he'd been working the phones trying to round up funding for an effort to purchase Mr. Z's Corp. which included the flagship Spokane store and the chain stores across the country—all 50 of them. Over the years, as the head of Mergers and Acquisitions at Riddell, Nate had made many enemies, namely the people he had outsourced, fired or reassigned. Many of whom chose to leave instead of becoming part of Riddell. But when Nate called these investors—those who didn’t hang up on him—learned that Nate wasn't part of Riddell anymore. In fact, these former enemies were being asked to become allies. Strange bedfellows indeed.

With each investment came a seat at the table and a promise to enact some revenge on the corporation they despised. Many of them got a kick out of sticking it to Graham Barnes, who was forced to sell the company at a considerable loss to Riddell. What Nate hadn't told them was that Walt Riddell himself had joined the cause as well, albeit through a proxy. There was no way that these investors would believe or trust Nate if Walt was sitting at the table across from them. Being frail and old wasn't enough to convince them that there wasn't some devious plot in the works. So Nate had proposed a proxy—Amelia.

Amelia retained 51 percent of the new Mr. Z's Toys, Inc. while the remaining investors, her Board of Directors, controlled 49 percent. That 49 percent, was currently staring at her across the table, waiting to hear what was next for the new company. But she wasn't ready. Not yet.

Walt had gifted the resources to Amelia. No strings attached. It was really a paltry sum to such a wealthy man. But he was happy to help, especially after what had happened to Nate.

Amelia had big plans for Mr. Z's Toys now that she would be able to call the shots alone. She knew the Board of Directors was anxious to hear how she planned to turn the company profitable again. It was their money on the line if she was wrong. Nate's earlier convincing could only go so far.

Amelia had to make several promises to make this deal work. The most important promise was to the people outside this room—Marcus and Susanna. It was a tough sell when she told them she was returning to the corporate world.

"It'll be different this time," she had told them. "I won't be absent. It's not the same as before."

Remarkably, they trusted her. She loved them and wasn't about to let them down. Josh was on her side too. He agreed to support her in any way he could, from a distance. She'd relied on him quite a bit over the last year, but their romantic connection remained a distant memory. They were friends. Parents. Nothing more.

Amelia fiddled with an old piece of paper on the table in front of her. It was a note written by Mary Klein years ago about how Mr. Z's should really be operated. She took inspiration from her parents Lloyd and Harriet Zimmerman. Everything from sincere customer service practices to how the shelves should be arranged was covered in this little note. It was sort of a mom-and-pop business mission statement. She treasured the document. Amelia had utilized the fundamental elements of the note as she built a recovery strategy for the new Mr. Z's Toys, Inc. She hoped the Board approved of the message because she wasn't sure she could be successful if she didn't follow Mary's advice.                                                                   

The group assembled around the table was growing anxious. All of them had flown in from places other than Spokane just for this meeting. She didn't like to keep them waiting.

Just then the final member of the Board entered the room.

"You're late," Amelia said.

"Sorry," Nate said. "This kidney your son gave me has a mind of its own."

Chapter 46

Nate died that day in Dallas. At least for a few moments.

No heartbeat.

The medical professionals who rushed to save him performed no less than a miracle. To put it simply, Nate had a heart attack. His body was weak from the previous surgeries and cancer. Had he not been a fighter, he would not have survived the trauma.

The doctors concluded that Nate needed more than what dialysis could provide. He needed another kidney, but the same challenges remained. What hospital transplant committee would agree to give an organ to Nate? Chloe was tested, against her father's protests. Amelia offered too. Neither was a match.

And then another volunteer came forward: Marcus.

Marcus' outlook on life changed after that night at the Annex when he defended Denny against Logan. The big chip on his shoulder was gone. He'd gained confidence and proved to himself that he was worthy of being in this world. When presented with the chance to save Nate, to let another live, he didn't hesitate. He needed to help.

The odds were incredibly long that the two were even a match, but by a stroke of luck or another miracle, they were compatible. Given the extenuating circumstances around Nate's previous illnesses and his general good health previously, the Transplant Board allowed the surgery just six months after Nate had the heart attack in Dallas. It was extremely unorthodox, but it worked.

His dialysis routine would never end, but it was a small price to pay for life.

* * *

Amelia stood and started her presentation, one that she'd been rehearsing night and day for weeks in front of a mirror.

"Over the last few years, Mr. Z's lost its core purpose," Amelia told the Board of Directors. "We expanded beyond what we were ready for and lost why the stores were built in the first place. Our new company will rectify that in every way possible."

Amelia pressed a button on a remote control and a PowerPoint appeared on the screen opposite her. On the screen was a picture of the Annex and then one of St. Mark's Church.

"The reason Mr. Z's Toys gained national attention was for giving. Selfless, unquestioned giving. And it's going to save us again."

Amelia told the familiar story of how Edwin Klein gave away Mr. Z's entire inventory one Christmas Eve. A move of desperation from a store that was finished. That act became the trademark of Mr. Z's, but the company failed to capitalize on it.

"Each store will now partner with a local charity and donate a portion of its proceeds there each month. During the holidays, our busiest season, we'll double that effort to have a greater impact."

One of the Board members spoke up.

"But the stores failed. There's no profit to donate."

"You're correct," Amelia replied. "The chain stores did fail. But they failed because we didn't differentiate them from the competition. They were slick and polished. Unremarkable. And located in strip malls in the suburbs. That's not Mr. Z's. Our stores will be in downtown locations, in historic buildings. We'll become part of the neighborhood and provide products and customer service that can't be matched at any big box store."

She clicked the remote again. An image of the Spokane store appeared. Then an abandoned building in Chicago. Then others from New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta.

"Rehabbing these buildings with the charm and nostalgia of our Spokane store is just the beginning, but it's hard to understand if you don't see it for yourself."

She set the remote on the table and walked to the window of the third-floor conference room.

"Will you join me at the window?"

The Board members stood from the table, walked to the window and peered out. The location of this conference room selected wasn't by chance. Amelia wanted the Board to see the real store in action. Below them was the flagship Mr. Z's Toys store. A thin layer of snow blanketed the street. The large green Z was the most prominent feature of the storefront aside from the large glass windows that at the moment were dark.

A crowd, in jackets and scarves was assembled down below. Store manager Derek took Amelia's cue from the conference room window and flipped the switch. A bright, green and red holiday display illuminated half of the windows. A large sleigh and requisite reindeer flew across the space—suspended by wire.

A green-and-white scene of children playing on a sledding hill filled the other side window. The crowd cheered at the reveal of Mr. Z's annual holiday window display. Over the past few years, the surrounding stores and businesses had made an effort to keep up with Mr. Z's, and created holiday displays too. One by one, they illuminated their scenes as well. The passersby stopped to take in the entirety of the displays.

"We're a little early this year, since it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but I wanted you all to see how much these stores can mean to the communities we're in," she said. "The window displays are a symbol of what we stand for. Do they take up retail space? Yes. But what we're selling can't be stocked on a shelf." 

The Board members gathered their coats and headed down to street level, eager to see the displays themselves. Nate and Amelia were left standing at the window, arms wrapped around one another.

"You did great, honey," Nate said. "I'm so proud of what you've done."

"We've got a lot of work ahead of us," she said. "Let's not forget that."

"How about we just enjoy this for today and get back to work tomorrow?"

"I can handle that."

Chapter 47

The next summer

Amelia dug her toes into the warm sand in front of Nate's cabin, which she now considered her own cabin too. The hot August sun blazed overhead. Nate was to her left, pounding a beach umbrella into the sand for shade. Unlike the summer two years ago, Amelia didn't have weeks and weeks to soak up the sun. In fact today was just the first full day she'd made it to the cabin all summer.

She handed Nate a bottle of sunscreen and turned her back toward him.

"You need this sun block pretty bad," he said. "You'll get fried out here."

"There's not a lot of sun indoors," she said.

"No, I suppose not."

The plan this summer was similar to last. Reconnect. Except this time the gap between Amelia and her children was smaller. Throughout the past two years, as she worked to run the new company, she attended school functions for the kids and limited her out of town travel, even as Mr. Z's Toys, Inc., took on building rehab projects across the country. She hired good people to manage the work and focused herself on customers and community relations.

Amelia and Nate also had additional members of their expanded family to reconnect with, although they were far from distant. Chloe was spending the summer at Amelia and Nate's house in Spokane before heading off to college in the fall. They had gotten the chance to spend a lot of time together, which was nice. Chloe and Susanna continued to strengthen their bond from their previous stay at the lake. Nate enjoyed having all "his girls" in one place too.

Today Susanna and Chloe were lying on towels on the dock. They were tanning, but also recounting their adventure tubing behind the boat that morning. Nate had steered the boat into a wake and launched the girls high in the air to the terrified wail of Amelia. The girls loved it and asked to do it again. So they did it again. And again.

"Hey, Mom!" Marcus called from the deck above. "Did you pack the barbecue sauce?"

"It's in the garage fridge," she replied.

Marcus had volunteered to make dinner tonight, with assistance from his girlfriend, Denny. Marcus delayed his enrollment in school after donating the kidney to Nate. He needed time to recover and was doing well. Nate had of course argued against the donation, but that was just his style. He didn't want anyone to risk themselves for his sake. But Chloe and Amelia convinced him that it was the best course of action. It was Amelia's opinion that really turned the tide. If she was willing to accept the risk to Marcus, then Nate would have to as well.

But it went unsaid that Marcus needed it too. It was his way of giving back and moving on from the tragedy at Rocktop Lake so many years earlier. The debt was now paid.

Nate's dialysis continued three to five times a week and he had monthly check ups with an oncologist and a kidney specialist. So far so good. The cancer had not returned and the new kidney was functioning as it should. It couldn’t have turned out better.

Nate finished putting the sun block on Amelia's back.

"Do you want me to do your back too?" she asked.

"No, I'm OK," he said. "I've got to head up and get on that conference call with the distributor in Mexico. We need that merchandise for the grand re-openings in Los Angeles and San Francisco. I'm afraid they aren't going to make it in time."

"They're going to be great events, just like the others," she said. "But make it quick. What was our agreement?"

"I know, Boss, only 30 minutes of work a day, tops," he said. "Maximize our down time, then back to the grind next week."

"This deal works in my favor too," she said. "It means I get more of you to myself this week."

She leaned over and kissed him. She put her left hand on his cheek and couldn't help but admire the large diamond on her ring finger.

"Just this week? How about for the rest of our lives?"

He kissed her again.

"I'll take that deal too," Amelia said.

She surveyed the scene in front of her. She was happy. Her family was happy. There was nothing more she could ever ask for.