He gestures me down the hall. “Come on down to my office.”
“Thank you.” I hate this sensation, those stomach-spinning jitters of standing on a cliff edge trying to decide whether or not to jump. The same feeling Chloe says means I’m in alignment with the universe, or whatever.
I follow him in and take a seat across from his desk, where pictures of his kids and his grandkids sit. “Great pictures.”
“Thanks. Are you married?”
“No.”
“So no kids, then?”
“Nope.” I bite the inside of my lip to keep the justifications from pouring out, which is really uncomfortable because I rarely have to do that in Los Angeles, where it’s accepted that women are powerful and careers come first.
He puts a hand on my business plan and smiles. “I read through your plan, and I’m so very impressed with your creativity and ingenuity.”
“Thank you.” Wow, I’m way out on a ledge here. And this doesn’t feel like the universe saying yes. It feels like all those angels Chloe prays to are clutching their hair screaming what the fuck are you thinking?
Mr. Gunderson looks at the proposal and turns the pages. “Your projected numbers look amazing, and your credit score is stellar”—he smiles—“I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that high.”
I laugh, one of those nervous laughs that’s a dead giveaway for stress, and I feel heat touch my cheeks.
He closes the proposal and clasps his hands on top of it. “I’m very sorry, Laiyla, but we aren’t going to be able to give you the loan.”
That’s a kick in the stomach. I can’t breathe.
I force my lungs to open and pull oxygen. “Can I ask why?”
“This whole community took Otto’s death hard, including me. We spoke quite a bit when he’d come into the branch to do his banking, and we built up a friendship of sorts. Your grandfather loved this community because of its small-town friendliness and slow pace. This plan of yours would change all that.”
“I guess I didn’t see that as a drawback. The resort will bring jobs to locals and tourists to the stores and restaurants.”
“The clientele you’re catering to with this proposal are the rich and famous. The rich and famous would bring undesired complications—security issues, celebrity groupies, that kind of thing.”
“Not necessarily—”
“Let me finish.
” His tone was friendly, but I still felt chastised. This was beginning to feel like a discussion with my parents. “To be honest, the proposal you brought me would never be approved by Otto if he were alive. He loved making a place for families at the lake. Where kids could scream and play without bothering anyone, where families could come together and decompress from hectic schedules.”
“That’s not any different from what I’m proposing,” I insist.
“The prices you would have to charge to make this plan work would preclude the average family from renting from you.” He sighs out a breath. “I assume you know how your parents got started in the hotel business.”
I actually don’t think they ever sat me down and told me about the birds and bees of the hotel industry. “They retired from stressful jobs and wanted a business that would keep them busy without the stress.”
“Not exactly.”
A spark of irritation flares. Who is this man to presume to tell me about my own family? “Then how, exactly?”
“Otto gifted your mother a boutique hotel in Santa Barbara when you were born. He’d hoped it would entice her to give up her long hours as an attorney so she could spend more time with you.”
I’m stunned. Slack-jawed stunned.
“Unfortunately, not only did she not stay home with you, she turned the charming boutique hotel into the first of a cookie-cutter hotel chain catering to the wealthy. Which is also why he willed you the lake property, because he knew exactly what your parents would have done with it.”
“I’m not my parents, and I have no intention of doing that. My proposal is to keep it as a houseboat rental facility. The only difference is that it would appeal to a wealthier demographic. We have LA and Santa Barbara around the corner. This would bring a lot of money into the community, which is why I came here. I know my grandfather banked with you, and I wanted to give a community bank the opportunity to be involved.”
“You’re right, this is a community bank, and I know my clientele. This community would absolutely not be onboard for this type of development in their backyard. Maybe if you’d spent more time here, rather than just a few summers, you would understand. Your grandfather really wanted that, for you to become part of this community.”