“She’s the big-name celebrity that is going to post aesthetically pleasing images on her social media site and get the word out.”
“And what’s my role?” I asked.
“You’re good with a hammer and growing things.”
“Wait, you’re actually serious?” I didn’t see this power move from Cy coming.
“Yes, at first, I just wanted to save our childhood home. But then I got to thinking and looking at comps on these other secluded vacation destinations. And I figured?—”
Dial interrupted him. “You figured this would be a feather in your cap. Bringing tourism to Hume. Local businesses would profit. Your constituents would love you.”
“Hold up,” I interjected. “How much profit are we talking about?”
“I don’t know. That’s where Dial comes in. She’s the numbers gal.”
Dial paced back and forth. “There would be the initial investment. Your mystery investor could help absorb someof that cost. And then renovations to ensure the house can accommodate multiple guests. A build-out of several tiny guest houses. We’d need staff, housekeeping, a chef, and maintenance crew. Very rough estimate we’re talking a couple million dollars. And that’s just to start.”
“Split five ways.”
“A million dollars each?” I guffawed.
“We can reduce that considerably with sweat equity.”
“Whose sweat exactly? Because I’ve never seen you swing a hammer, let alone build anything,” I asked.
“We could take a loan against the house. Maybe Figs and Twine,” Cy said.
“No, not Figs and Twine. I’m not sacrificing a sure thing to roll the dice on a maybe.”
“I kind of agree with Edison. The money would have to come from outside of the nursery. Because if we lost that mom and dad would never let us forget it.”
Cyrus raised his hands in the air. “Okay well you’re the accountant so figure it out. We have this house and collectively we could take loans out on our individual properties. And if it all goes to shit, we can just move back into our childhood home. One big happy family.”
“You joke, but that could be a real possibility.”
“Don’t act like you’re not foaming at the mouth at the thought of us all under one roof, momma’s boy.”
“Hey—”
Dial interrupted my objection. “I need to crunch the numbers before we seriously consider this.”
“That’s all I’m asking.” Cyrus rubbed the whiskers on his chin.
“This would be a heavy lift. We all have full-time jobs.” I hoped to ground the conversation back in reality.
“I’m ready to be a weekend warrior if you are.” Cyrus was a great salesman, but I suspected when it came time to roll up his sleeves he’d be MIA.
Dial had a familiar twinkle in her eyes similar to when she suggested we push Cyrus out of Figs and Twine. “It does sound exciting.”
“And this could be something for Maple and future generations. Figs and Twine and this resort spot. That’s major moves.” Cyrus was adding the cherry to the sundae.
“We could just buy the place and do nothing,” I suggested.
“Don’t be a baby Eddy.”
I looked to Dial for support.
“Is that a counterproposal?” she asked.
