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Brock looked like he wanted to roll his eyes at Micah’s nonsense. “I’ve known about your conflict for days. You should have disclosed the information when you made your pitch. You know that. It’s a pretty basic business principle.”

“Conflicts?”

If Micah kept asking insipid questions this talk would either take all day or he’d burn himself out and I could escape. Not sure which way we were leaning, but I hoped the latter.

“Her grandmother. Magnolia Nottingham.” Brock gestured in my direction as if we didn’t all know who he was talkingabout. “I have to wonder if you treated us to an actual business pitch or if you launched a desperate Hail Mary.”

That Yale education of his had paid off. He was right on target here.

“Well, actually”—Micah enjoyed a goodwell, actuallyand fit one in here—“I’ve thought about this since you filled me in, Brock. The familial relationship should make it more likely for the women to agree to sign on and eventually sell. Doing so would guarantee the owner’s granddaughter’s happiness and financial future. A clear win.”

Wrong.Nothing about this would sit well with Gram. Even ignoring the business deal, she would hate Brock and find Micah ridiculous. She might even tell him that. Would probably use that word because “ridiculous” was one of her favorites.

“But we don’t have an agreement, tentative or otherwise. We don’t even have a statement of interest.” Brock’s fingers wrapped around the stem of his wineglass. Much tighter and the crystal would shatter. “That’s why we’re here. To prevent this deal from exploding.”

It’s cute he thought there was a deal to blow up.

“The ladies have been unavailable due to their workload.” The only truth in that sentence was the part about Gram and Celia having a workload. Everything else was meant to shore up my stall. I needed these two satisfied enough to leave. Up and gone.

No way could they talk to Gram before I could get a handle on the poison issue. If she heard the pitch and didn’t agree, and I hoped she didn’t, it was time for a new job. Those law school loans weren’t going to pay themselves.

“We’ll need to see the business assets. Equipment. Buildings. We’ll also need to review the financials. Sales records. Loan documents, if any. Profit and loss statements, corporate documents, and those are just to start.” Micah nodded, clearly satisfied with his assessment.

No way was any of that going to happen. Ever. My only option might be to come up with another pitch, this time with a business I had no relationship to and turn Micah’s attention there.

Sure, no problem.

“I’d like to tour the bakery tomorrow,” Brock said.

This just got worse and worse. “Tomorrow is a problem because of a large order they have to produce and package.”

“A large order?” Micah looked entirely too happy. “Then we could watch them work.”

Yeah, no. “I can arrange for another day, but it might be more efficient if you went back to DC then returned once everything is set up.”

Even I was impressed with that suggestion. I worked in a variation of one of Micah’s buzzwords—“efficiency.”

“I’m not leaving town.” Brock’s smug expression suggested he knew he had the upper hand.

Micah looked at his watch. “You two work this out. I have a call on the Simpson project.”

I had no idea what that was, but I secretly thanked this Simpson person or business for the distraction. “I don’t want to keep either of you. I can text with more information once I have it.”

Micah nodded, clearly no longer paying attention to anything except the message on his watch. He got up and left without saying anything else.

Unfortunately, Brock stayed.

“I know this is a ruse,” he said.

Yes. Totally. “Of course not.”

“Then I’ll expect a written status report tomorrow. The two of us will go over it together, before approaching Micah. If you’re lying, and I think you are, there will be consequences.” He stood up. “Enjoy your day. You’ll be busy.”

He had no idea.

Chapter Nineteen

I spent the rest of the afternoon driving around, wondering how I was going to get out of this NOI-related mess. A side trip to the Krispy Kreme with the drive-through helped. Hot doughnuts served through your car window and meant to be eaten immediately. Pure magic and one of the best things about this town. The weather, Gram, and these doughnuts formed the perfect Winston-Salem trifecta.