Will shrugged. “I mean, it’s not the only reason.”
I glared at him. “But it’s a real benefit. Guys, Conroe can’t keep relying on seasonal rodeos to keep it afloat. There needs to be some sort of big business in the area unless we want our hometown to collapse and be just another small town that sunk.”
Bryce leaned back. “We could open up a manufacturing plant.”
My face fell flat. “For what? Parts we need for the refinery?”
Will blinked. “I mean, why not? If something goes wrong with the machinery, we’re going to need to order out the parts anyway? Why not just keep it in-house?”
I shook my head. “Which is only going to mean more money we don’t have right now.”
Bryce pointed at me. “We’ve got the money, that’s not an issue. The bank is just playing it safe right now because we don’t have the reputation yet that Dad had with them.”
I groaned. “That still doesn’t help us now, Bryce. And we need help now. Plus, we’ve got our headquarters at the bank already underway. That’ll be up and running in two, three months. What is that going to be for if we just agree to keep the refinery here?”
Bryce grinned. “You said it yourself: we could still hold our conferences here, and that alone would bring some money and temporary jobs into Conroe until we got our ducks in a row.”
Will chuckled. “Or, are you having second thoughts about everything?”
I scoffed. “I don’t know what I am anymore. But, I do know what our purpose is. And that’s to bring this damn refinery to Conroe. So, we’ll have to make it work.”
Then, it hit me. “Wait a second, guys.”
Will blinked. “Uh, oh.”
Bryce chuckled. “Oh, I love this part.”
I paused. “What part?”
Bryce barked with laughter. “The part where an idea hits you and you dig us out of this shithole.”
Will leaned forward. “I’m ready to get out of this shit. Hit me with it.”
I blinked. “Wait, seriously?”
Bryce rolled his eyes. “Come on, man. Spit it out!”
I held up my finger. “All right, but hear me out the entire way, okay?”
Will nodded. “Got it.”
Bryce nodded in tandem. “Shoot.”
I drew in a deep breath. “We’ve been trying to take out a business loan this entire time, and it’s giving us nothing but a headache. But, what if we switched the kind of loan we take out entirely?”
Will narrowed his eyes. “Like, a conventional loan?”
Bryce’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding.”
I sighed. “Just listen, okay? The three of us co-sign it, so all of our credit scores are pulled. We’re all in the green, our personal assets aren’t subject to as much scrutiny as business assets are, and we’ll get a great interest rate because the market is tanking right now for conventional loan purchases.”
Will licked his lips. “All right, I’m with you so far.”
I smiled. “Then, we turn around and use that loan to fund the building of our own refinery. We can use the money from selling off our Houston headquarters for the down payment on the land, use the money from the loan to build exactly what we’re looking for, and we can bypass the bullshit of this business loan altogether.”
They sat silent for a pretty long time, and it made me nervous. But then, Bryce cleared his throat.
“Before I agree, I want us to crunch real-time numbers. I want us to speak with Mr. Derecho and get actual prices for the kind of land around Conroe we’d need to make something like that work.”
Will nodded. “I can talk to our accountant about helping us crunch those numbers, so then we can see what kind of payment plan we’re getting into and what kind of investment we can assume we’ll be making.”
I leaned back in my chair. “And depending on those numbers and how they shake out, we might even be able to liquidate a few things in the company that we’ve been talking about liquidating in order to fund any hiccups along the way so surprise monetary fixes don’t sink us as badly as they would right now.”
Bryce grinned. “I like this. I like this a lot. Will, when can you—?”
He held up his finger. “Hey there, Mr. Langley! I wanted to chew your ear about something for a second.” Will muted himself so he could speak with our business accountant, which left Bryce and me at the brainstorming table.
“Bryce, is Luna home?” I asked.
I saw him crane his neck. “Yeah, she’s in here with Willow and the kids.”
“Tell her to give Mr. Derecho a call. Have her gather information on plots of land that would suit what we’re trying to build and do. Then, have her call me.”
He nodded. “I can do that. And in the meantime, I’m going to head over to the bank and take a peek at the renovations. I’ll send pictures?”
“I’d love that, thanks. Also, are you free tomorrow for lunch?”
“I am, and I’ll make sure Will is, too.”
“Good. I want to shake this scenario out as quickly as possible. Because if we’re going to re-file for a conventional loan, I have to catch that business loan paperwork before it goes into underwriting.”
He grinned. “Should I have Mr. Derecho also look up a few houses for you to take a look at? Or, are you still considering my offer of building something on the ranch?”
I chuckled. “One step at a time. Let’s get this damn refinery back home first. Then, we can talk about stuff like that.”
He clapped his hands, rubbing them together. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll go talk to Luna right now.”
Will unmuted himself. “Our accountant said to get him the numbers as quickly as possible, and then he could have amounts for us down to the penny, depending on how much we wanted to take out as a conventional loan.”
I smiled so hard that my cheeks hurt. “Great. And I’ll get to work on my end with chasing down leads and halting the paperwork for that business loan.”
After our video conference was said and done, I drew in a deep breath. I leaned back in my home office chair and slid my hands through my hair, feeling lighter on my feet than I had in a long time. That was how I knew I was making the right moves. That was how I knew we were finally making the right decisions. Because this no longer felt like a burden. It now felt like fun.
I’ll find a way to get back to you, Luna. Even if it means selling off everything I have.
And come hell or high water, I’d make sure Luna never left my side.
Even if I had to go toe to toe with her father in order to get her.
18
Luna
One Week Later
I laid there in bed with the sun peeking through the curtains. It had been a week since Bart had left for Houston, and he was no closer to coming back. This conventional loan he and his brothers decided to execute required more upfront paperwork to fill out, and it was becoming a hassle for everyone involved.
So much so that his brothers handed over temporary power of attorney just so Bart could get through all of the signings.
My phone started ringing softly at the corner of the bed, and I rolled over. I didn’t want to get up and work today; I felt too distressed. Bart should’ve been home by now, and with every day that passed, I expected his next phone call to be one of goodbye. The longer he stayed in Houston, the more I worried that he would end up making the choice to plant the refinery there. Or give up on this and stay with his office. Or simply not want to come back at all because he loved it there.