approach to me has nothing to do with the fact that your former partner is my late wife’s cousin?’
Sophie had expected that question and worked out her answer in advance. ‘Eva suggested you as a potential investor, I admit. But I researched your company before I decided to approach you. I’m not looking for nepotism. I’m looking for someone who sees a good investment that fits in with their own business plans.’
‘I see.’ He steepled his fingers. ‘What about the fact that Eva’s leaving the company? How do I know that everything at Plans & Planes isn’t going to take a massive nosedive without Eva at the helm?’
It was a fair question and Sophie wasn’t going to take it personally. ‘The impact of Eva’s departure on the business is mainly financial.’ The impact on her was another matter: Eva was Sophie’s best friend as well as her business partner and she’d miss Eva hugely. ‘Eva’s deputy, Mara, has worked for us for the last three years and she’s ready to step into Eva’s shoes on the travel agency side,’ she explained. ‘Mara has the experience, the knowledge and the capability to take that part of the company forward. I’m staying to manage the event planning side and the new weddings abroad service, so there’s continuity of management.’
He made a couple of notes. ‘If the business is flourishing, why do you need an investor?’
‘Because, as I’m sure you’re aware, Eva is moving to New York with her fiancé.’ Aidan had been headhunted by a top New York advertising agency and the opportunity was too good to turn down. ‘So she needs me to buy out her half of the business.’
‘And you have no savings you can use to buy her out, Miss Firth?’
She had, until two months ago. She took a deep breath. ‘No.’
‘Why?’
Telling him the truth would make it sound as if she was trying to manipulate him. Plus it was between Sophie, her brother and her sister-in-law. She wasn’t going to break their confidence. ‘Personal reasons,’ she said.
‘Won’t your bank give you a loan?’
She winced inwardly, knowing how bad her answer was going to sound, but she wasn’t going to lie. ‘No.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Because your financial management isn’t good enough?’
‘There’s nothing wrong with my financial management,’ she said patiently. ‘The business is doing well.’
‘Then why don’t you have savings, Miss Firth?’
‘Personal reasons,’ she repeated.
‘That, Miss Firth, is tantamount to telling an insurance company that you’re a businesswoman. It’s too vague. They’ll need to know precisely what business you’re in so they can assess the risk.’
‘I’m not asking you to insure me, Mr Wallis. I’m asking you to invest in the business.’
He gave her a cool, assessing look. ‘Miss Firth, if you want me to invest in your company, you can’t hide behind “personal reasons”.’
Maybe she could tell him some of it. Broad brush rather than details. ‘All right,’ she said reluctantly. ‘Since you ask, I lent my savings to someone I love very much.’
‘Then surely you can ask that person to return the money, now you need it for yourself?’
‘No.’
He frowned. ‘Why not?’
Because the money had been spent, and her brother and sister-in-law were already under enough pressure. This was their fourth attempt at IVF, and she didn’t want to make it any harder for them than it already was. ‘I can’t explain more without breaking a confidence.’
‘So you’d rather see your business go under?’
‘Of course not. We have four staff and a roster of reliable temps, and I want them to have job security.’
He shrugged. ‘Then ask for the money back so you can buy out Eva’s share of the business.’
They were at stalemate. Or maybe there was another way round this. ‘Do you have siblings, Mr Wallis?’ she asked, already knowing that he did but not knowing how close he was to them; not every family was as close as hers.
He inclined his head. ‘Two.’
‘If they needed you, would you hesitate to help?’ she asked.
‘Of course not.’
Just what she’d hoped he’d say. ‘Then I can safely say you would’ve made the same decision I did, in those circumstances,’ she said.
‘Given that I don’t know the circum—’
His mobile phone shrilled, cutting him off mid-word. He glanced at the screen, as if about to hit the button to decline the call, then frowned.
‘I apologise, Miss Firth. I’m afraid I need to take this.’
From the expression on his face, this was definitely a private call, Sophie thought. ‘Shall I wait...?’ She indicated the reception area outside his office.
He looked grateful. ‘Thank you.’
Sophie left Jamie’s office, sat down on one of the chairs and closed her eyes.
The bank had already said no. It was pretty clear that Jamie Wallis, her plan B, was going to turn her down. So now she needed to work out a plan C.
Crowdsourcing? No. It’d make her look as if the business had run out of money. Which it hadn’t.
Offering shares in the business to the rest of the team? But Mara was about to get married and the other three were saving up the deposit for a flat. None of them had any spare money, much less the ability to raise a loan to buy out part of Eva’s share in Plans & Planes.
And Jamie’s suggestion of asking Matt and Angie to return the money was completely out of the question. Her brother and sister-in-law had been eligible for one free cycle of IVF treatment; it hadn’t worked and they’d already used up all their own savings and taken out a loan to pay for the next two cycles, which had also failed.
OK, so there were no guarantees that the fourth cycle would be the lucky one, and if it had been purely a business decision Sophie probably would have decided that the risk was too great. But this wasn’t a business decision. How could she possibly have stood by and watched their hearts break when she could do something to help? So she hadn’t hesitated on offering to fund another cycle of treatment. She’d said it was a loan that Matt and Angie could repay whenever, but she’d always intended to quietly forget about the money. If the IVF worked and they had the baby they so desperately wanted, it would be the best repayment she could ask for.
* * *
‘So let me get this straight,’ Jamie said, scowling at the phone. ‘You’re telling me that Cindy broke her leg skiing yesterday, so she won’t be able to walk, let alone work, for at least another two months. And you can’t offer me a temporary replacement for her because the nanny who took over while she was on holiday is already on another assignment, and everyone else on your books is already either on an assignment and can’t possibly be moved, or has gone down with a virus.’
‘I’m afraid so, Mr Wallis. I know it sounds like a feeble excuse, but it’s quite a nasty virus. It takes a couple of weeks to get over it. I’m so sorry,’ Felicity, the agency manager, said.
‘Effectively you’re leaving me in the lurch.’ Was there anyone in his staff he could ask to switch roles temporarily? He could hardly ask one of the resort team to move to London for two months, especially with Christmas coming up. There was nobody suitable in his London team, either. Those with children already had enough on their plates and he couldn’t expect them to neglect their own children for Sienna. The ones without children didn’t have the relevant experience. Short of asking his mother to help—and