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I resented that I had to defend myself or justify any part of it to him.
“Everyone in town knows this place as Mullins Cove Marina,” he argued. “You said you wanted to restore this place. Why would you change the name?”
A groan of frustration slipped out as Derek’s eyes darted between the two of us. I sucked in a sharp breath and tried to push forward. “Everyone knew the old marina as Mullins Cove. This is something new. Yes, it honors what was here before, but also while moving forward into the future. Derek? Help me out here?”
“Oh, uh…” He tensed up and ran his hand through his hair. “Well, to be honest…Mullins Cove Marina does have a slightly nicer ring to it than MHM Marina.”
Great. Just great, I thought to myself. Here I was, helping these guys out by sinking large sums of money into a business I could have run just as well on my own, and they were splitting hairs over whether or not I even deserved to have my name on the door.
“And what is all of this over here?” Keith added, pointing to the plans.
I looked to the spot where he was waving his hand. “That’s for the environmentally safe wastewater disposal, which was something previously being overlooked. And this is for the restaurant.”
“Restaurant?” he huffed. “Why the hell would we want to complicate things by serving food?”
“We’re not complicating things,” I replied through clenched teeth. “We’re maximizing our potential profits.”
Keith looked at his brother and laughed. “I don’t know what you thought you were getting yourself into with all of this, but my granddad never ran his business this way. He cared about putting food on the table and providing a service to this lake and the community he cared about. We’re not trying to be some big fancy operation.”
I narrowed my eyes over him, feeling like a rice cooker that was about to burst. “No offense, but your granddad ran a business that couldn’t afford to repair its own structural damage to survive. We’re trying to plan better so the marina can thrive. What I’m proposing offers even more service to that same community he loved so much, and in an even bigger and better way.”
“That’s some California talk right there. Not everything has to be bigger and better, you know. What’s wrong with keeping things simple?”
“Maybe this seems complicated to you, but it is actually very simple to me,” I fired back. “If you had actually read the business plan like you said you did, you’d know that.”
“I read it,” he grumbled. “I just missed a few things, apparently.”
“You only saw what you wanted to see. Like you always do with everything…and everyone,” I sighed under my breath.
“What’s that supposed to mean!?”
“Nothing,” I told him. Things were bad enough as it was. I wasn’t about to open that can of worms with him. “Look. I could have done all of this without you. I wanted you to be a part of it, but if you’re just going to fight me at every turn, this isn’t going to work. I do have a very successful shop running back home, so I can assure you I am not as naive and clueless as you’re trying to imply I am.”
A few of the construction workers passing through overheard our bickering and started shaking their heads. One of them snickered, “Jeez, I wish these two would get a room.”
I started seeing red and was just about to go off on them when Derek interjected.
He stepped forward, holding his hands in the air. “Alright, let's all just take a breath. Keith’s right that maybe there are a few details to discuss, but Lana…You’re also right. This place needed some improvements, and with your generous funding and good ideas, I’m sure this place will be in good hands, no matter which direction you go with it.”
“Maybe you can talk to your brother here and make him understand that,” I hissed.
Derek likely noticed the same thing I did, which was that Keith was about to open his big mouth and set me off all over again—pushing us even further behind. But once again, he was quick to intervene.
“Actually, I think that’s enough talking for right now. I have a better idea,” he grinned, crossing his arms. “The way I see it, there’s only one way to solve this.” He pointed through the window to the two kayaks tied up on the bank. “Kayak race.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I laughed incredulously. “I’m trying to work. I’m not going to stop everything and play around on the boats with him. I hardly see how that would solve—
“You’re just worried about losing,” Keith argued with a taunting smirk. “You may know the big LA waves, but you’ve been gone for too long, and you don’t know anything about our town or this lake anymore. You know, after I beat your ass in a boat race, you’d have to admit all of that, and let go of some of your ideas for this place.”
My brows peaked. “So you’re saying that if I did win your stupid little race, you’d go along with my ideas and stop arguing with me over everything?”
“I’d have to. It’s only fair,” he stated plainly. “But that’s not going to happen because there’s no way you’ll win.”
I glared at him, musing about how perfect this was. Of course, Keith Mullins would think he’d win because I was just some feeble little woman, right? How could I possibly beat him? Despite how frustrated I was that serious business decisions were being reduced to wagers on kayak racing, I decided this was the only way to put him in his place once and for all.
“Fine,” I chirped with a tight smile. “I accept the challenge. Kayak race it is.”
The construction workers who were so fed up with us moments ago dropped everything they were doing and followed us out to the lake. Keith and I each climbed into our respective kayaks, picked up the oars, and positioned ourselves to take off with a man behind each of us to give the starting push.
