Sullivan laughed and winked. “Well, in that case…” He wrapped his arm around her, tugging her in close. She stared up at him, her heart breaking for the pain she could see hidden behind the strong wall he projected. His mother had died two years ago after a long, cruel fight with cancer. But nothing got better after her death; it only got worse.
Her heart bled for him. “Everything’s going to be all right, Sullivan. You’ll see.”
His brows drew together as emotion filled those breathtaking eyes. “I know it will. Because one day we’ll get married and I’ll give you the life you’ve always wanted. Make you the happiest girl in the world.”
“I already am the happiest girl,” she said.
The heartbreak faded with his warm smile. “Yeah, but you’d also really like the wedding and the dress and all that girly shit.”
“You’re right,” she said, lifting up her head until she brought her mouth close to his. “I would like all that girly shit.”
This time, she kissed him, and she wouldn’t let him pull away when he groaned again.
A car door slamming brought Clara’s attention back to the work in front of her. She blinked, surprised to find tears on her face. Before Sullivan’s mother died, everything had been easy between them, simpler, with a whole world ahead of them. Back then, Sullivan was different. She’d been different. More carefree and not so guarded. She missed that old version of herself.
Her office door burst open. She was unsurprised when Amelia and Maisie strode in. She’d called them a half hour ago. “I’ve got good news and bad,” she announced, getting right to the point of the meeting. “What do you want first?”
“The good,” said Maisie, taking a seat on the tufted chair in the corner by the window.
Amelia sat on the armrest. “Yup, always the good first.”
Clara took a big, deep breath, steadying herself before addressing them again. “This morning, two other distributors reached out with offers to represent us.”
“No shit?” Amelia asked, eyes huge.
Clara nodded. “True.”
“Wow,” Maisie said with a bright smile. “That is amazing news.”
“It’s the exact news we’ve been waiting for,” Clara agreed. “But that said, the terms are terrible.”
Maisie’s smile fell. “That’s the bad news, then?”
“Exactly,” Clara confirmed. She pushed away from her desk and rubbed her eyes, careful not to smudge her mascara. “Ronnie sent over his terms too.” When she dropped her hands, she glanced between her sisters and added, “All of the contracts definitely benefit the distributors more than us and give them far more control than I’d like.”
“We definitely don’t want that,” Amelia said. “This is our company. Our beer. Pops’ beer.”
“Hell yeah,” Maisie agreed. “What can we do now?”
“It’s simple,” Clara explained, rising and moving to the window, looking out at that big tree again. “We need leverage to lessen their profit margin. All three companies have offered us a 28 percent profit margin for the distributors’ share, which would give us seventy-two percent of the profit. We need to get that number closer to twenty-five or less so we end up with seventy-five percent of the profit.”
From behind Clara, Maisie asked, “Okay, ignoring profit margins, do any of the distributors stand out?”
Clara turned back around. “Ronnie’s looking like our best shot. His company knows how to sell craft beer. They made Moose Ridge huge in a very short time. They’ve got everything we need, including a brand manager responsible for Foxy Diva’s product line. Most importantly, they’re financially strong and growing.”
“But the profit margin?” Amelia asked.
“But the profit margin is a problem,” Clara agreed, moving around to sit on the edge of her desk. She folded her arms and told it to her sisters straight. “I don’t want to rush this and accept whatever deal they throw at us. We need a better offer, but we need leverage to ask for a better one.”
Maisie nibbled her lip then asked, “All right, how do we do that?”
“And there lies the problem,” Clara said, dead serious. “Do either of you have any ideas?”
“Oh, this is bad,” Amelia said, the color draining from her face. “You always have ideas.”
“Don’t faint on me,” Clara said with a soft laugh. “We’ve got this. Something will come to me. It always does. We just need to think bigger. We need more buzz, more exposure, more reasons that will have these distributors fighting over us. The offers all expire in a month, so we’ve got time to turn this around in our favor.”
“Oh, that’s good,” Maisie said.