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Theodosia put her arms around a sad looking Holly and gave her a gentle hug. “You’re going to bounce back, I know you will. Your gallery’s divine and there are plenty of great artists out there who are probably dying to be represented by you.”
“You think?”
“Yes, I do.” Theodosia took a step back. “But Holly, there’s something troubling me, something I’ve been meaning to ask you about.”
“Uh-huh?”
“You received a good-sized sum of cash not too long ago. From your silent partner, Jeremy Slade. It was an investment of, I believe, two hundred thousand dollars.”
Holly looked suddenly panicked. “Oh jeez, I had a feeling you were going to ask me about that eventually.”
“And that’s a problem?” Theodosia said.
Holly looked like she was ready to cry. “Actually, it’s turned into an enormous problem.”
“What’s wrong? Something to do with the gallery?”
“If you really want to know, and I guess you do, I used some of Jeremy Slade’s investment money to pay for Philip’s lawyer.”
Theodosia knew this was fairly unethical but decided to hold her criticism for now. Instead, she said, “Does Philip know about this?”
Holly flinched. “Philip just figured the guy charged super reasonable rates.”
“Oh my. And what did this lawyer do for Philip?”
“Worked to get Philip’s liquor license. You know my life’s dream has always been to own a successful gallery and have lots of art openings. Well, the Boldt Hole is Philip’s ultimate dream.”
“I get that, I really do,” Theodosia said. “But a lawyer’s fee couldn’t have been more than, what, two or three thousand dollars?”
Holly shifted from one foot to the other looking uncomfortable. “I guess.”
“But you’ve been lamenting how broke you are. So I have to ask, what did you do with the rest of the money?”
Holly’s chin quivered. “I gave some to Philip.”
Theodosia was stunned. “What? Holly, how much of Jeremy’s investment money did you give to Philip?”
Holly hunched her shoulders forward in a protective gesture. “One hundred and sixty thousand dollars?”
“Is that a question or an answer?”
“An answer. And I knew all along I was wrong to do it,” Holly wailed. “But you don’t know how desperate Philip was! And now that his liquor license has come through... well, he needs everything in place so he can open quick. It’s kind of do-or-die at this point.”
“Dear Lord.” Theodosia said. “Are you telling me the money’s all gone?”
Holly squirmed. “Pretty much.”
“What on earth did Philip use all that money for?” Theodosia demanded.
Now Holly hung her head. “He bought tables and chairs, kitchen equipment, and a wine collection.”
“So you furnished his restaurant? Wow. Does your investor know about this? Does Jeremy Slade know that you handed over the bulk of his investment to Philip?”
“No!” Holly blinked back tears. “And please don’t tell him, because I’m going to try and work something out. Unfortunately, I haven’t figured out exactly what to do, short of throwing in the towel and declaring bankruptcy.”
“Please don’t do that,” Theodosia said. “Bankruptcy would be a point of no return. You’ve been able to build your business thus far, now you have to rebuild it. What you need to do is buckle down. Bulk up on inventory—find some hot new artists to represent—and work on finding some qualified buyers. Start building a database—I can help you with that—and do some advertising, even if it’s just sending out postcards. One hundred and sixty thousand dollars is a huge sum, but I know you can recoup it. Take it from me—just like life, business can turn on a dime.”
“I get that. And I know Philip will be making some serious money real soon. In fact, that’s why...”
