Of Love and Corn Dogs
Page 5
“So what you’re telling me is that I have to bail you out,” Darwin finally said as Kent wound down his presentation.
The members of the KK Enterprises board turned to one another and began to whisper, occasionally glancing between Kent and Darwin. A few of them straightened their paperwork nervously. Darwin’s stomach knotted at the thought of being in this position. He dreaded telling Kent no, because he felt certain their relationship wouldn’t survive. So far though, nothing in Kent’s presentation had swayed Darwin’s opinion. The fact that his own board had told him they’d back whatever decision he made hadn’t helped in the least. But as always, the buck stopped with him, and he wouldn’t risk Kincade International or the wellbeing of his employees on guilt of potentially widening the rift that existed between Darwin and his sibling.
“Well, no, not bail us out,” Kent replied, scratching his head. “More like invest in our company. It will help keep everyone employed while we work to develop this product.”
As he scrubbed a hand across his face, Darwin tried to figure out what he would tell his brother. The product he pushed seemed like crap—putting it nicely. While making their products more environmentally friendly had been something he stressed at Kincade, Kent’s idea involved a composting garbage disposal. On the surface, it did seem like a viable product, but further study showed that unlike other companies that had invested considerable time and effort into making and marketing their product, the people Kent had gotten involved with had cut too many corners, making the product cheap and unreliable.
“How much did you spend on this?” Darwin asked.
“That’s the great thing. I got in for only one point three million dollars. This thing will be worth a hundred times that.”
Darwin groaned and slumped in his chair. He couldn’t believe Kent’s board would actually go along with this idea. He took a moment to look around the table, the expectant faces staring at him. Eight men and two women surrounded the large oval table, with Darwin at one end and the rest of them huddled on the other side. The fact that his brother stood in front of him, and with the backing of his board, pitched an idea that would never work viably made Darwin wonder how much trouble they were actually in.
“I’m sorry, Kent. I’m afraid we’re going to have to say no.”
Kent’s expression spoke volumes—hurt, anger, and pain.
“Can you excuse us, people?” Kent asked his board members. They stood, gathered their papers, and shuffled out of the room. Darwin could hear their murmured words as they passed by—he was arrogant, cared for no one but himself, how could he turn his brother away—but their condemnation didn’t change the facts. The decision hadn’t been personal. He’d always given Kent anything he’d asked for.
Kent should have been running the family corporation. He studied hard, got good grades, but then it all went downhill fast after he fell in with some friends who were only interested in having a good time. That started the problems between their family, which finally culminated in Darwin being named CEO. When he’d taken the reins, Darwin had known next to nothing. He’d depended heavily on his staff to teach him day-to-day operations. Kent wouldn’t have needed to do that. But his brother hadn’t been given the company, Darwin had.
“So you’re just going to say no, huh?” Kent demanded as he stormed across the room, coming to a stop at the large picture window that gave a magnificent view of Lake Michigan. “You aren’t even going to look at the proposal?”
Darwin sighed. “I did. I went through everything you sent me with a fine-toothed comb. On paper, the concept sounds amazing, but the company’s track record speaks for itself. They’re not developing the product as they claimed. They’re looking for a sucker to take it off their hands, and you walked in and gave them exactly what they needed.”
“Because I can make something of it,” Kent promised. “Their idea is sound, but I know they gave up on it too early. I want to take this and make something out of it. My R & D team tells me that with a few changes, they can turn it into something that will have a huge impact on companies and communities that are struggling to be more green. To do that, we—I—need your help.” Kent paused for a minute, resting his head against the glass. He took a deep breath, turned around, and said, “Take over my company, become chairman, whatever, but we need this project to keep our people employed. I’ll step down or do something else, but don’t hurt them. They’ve worked so hard on this, and they’re so close to perfecting it.”
Over the years, Kent had given many impassioned speeches, but the words were always about how it would impact him—how he could do something and make it better. This Kent? Darwin couldn’t be sure he’d ever met this man. He’d known his brother long enough to be sure of his sincerity, and that made his next words easy to say.
Darwin sucked in a deep breath, stood, and leveled his gaze at Kent. “I’ll give you one year. We’ll give KK Enterprises an injection of funds once, and, Kent, be sure you understand this will be the only time. I’m not going to ask you to give up on this fool’s errand, but if you’re serious about keeping your company afloat, this isn’t the way to do it.”
Kent rushed toward Darwin and hugged him tightly for a moment, then he stepped back, his excitement plain to see. “You don’t know what this means. We can make this work. I know we can. I have an incredible team behind me, and they all say the same thing: Gen-tech has a great product, but they mothballed it and never looked beyond their own ideas for it. Our plans are to take it in a different direction. Make it something viable and, hopefully, moneymaking.”
His brother’s expression told Darwin he had another idea for the disposal beyond what his plans called for. He had a moment of panic as he thought about how Kent might have played him, but he didn’t think so. He had never seen Kent this excited about a project. In fact, this Kent seemed…different. More sure of himself, but still more comfortable in his skin than Darwin remembered. Maybe he would be throwing good money after bad, but he wanted to trust Kent.
“I’ll get Heather to have legal draw up the contracts,” Darwin said, the words heavy from his mouth. “Remember, this is a one-time investment. I don’t know how you’re going to pull off this miracle, but I hope to hell it works out for you.”
“It will,” Kent promised. “When we announce it to the press, I want you there with me. Without you, none of this would be possible. Thank you isn’t strong enough to show our appreciation.” Then he paused, dropped his head, and placed his hands on the conference table. Darwin took a seat next to him and watched as Kent slid his fingers across the polished surface. “Dee, do you want to take over the company? I know I said you could, and if you want it, then it’s yours.”
His brother used to call him Dee when they were kids, but he hadn’t done it in years. Kent continued to surprise him. Before Kent had started KK Enterprises, the two of them had fallen out over their parents naming Darwin successor of the company, and other than giving him what amounted to a severance package, they’d basically left Kent out in the cold. Darwin had tried to talk to him on numerous occasions, to explain he’d known nothing about their plan and would be glad to name them co-owners, but his brother’s stubborn attitude had made conversation impossible.
Then came the day Kent had announced he’d started a new company. Darwin’s pride had been overshadowed by the fact Kent had showed up at his door looking for skilled personnel. He’d demanded Darwin allow him to speak to the employees, so they could decide which Kincade they wanted to work for. Kent had argued he should be allowed the opportunity since their parents had forced him to start over on his own.
Darwin had fumed at the outrageous request. He’d told Kent in no uncertain terms that he didn’t have a legal leg to stand on, and that he would not allow him to speak with the employees. Kent’s anger had been a sight to behold. Before Darwin could call security to have him removed, Kent had stormed off, vowing to never speak to Darwin again. The thought he’d lost his brother caused Darwin’s heart to
ache, but he knew he’d done nothing to warrant Kent’s anger.
Six months later, Kent had been arrested for drunk driving, and he’d called Darwin to bail him out. He’d talked about the situation with Dean, who’d told him that he should see the call as Kent’s olive branch, an opportunity to start mending their fences. Grudgingly, Darwin had gone.
That had started the new phase of their relationship. Kent had told him he no longer wanted to be a part of Kincade International. He’d insisted he understood why their parents had named Darwin as their successor instead of him, and that he wanted to become his own man, free of the shadow of their shared name. While Darwin had wanted to protest that Kent’s name had opened the door for him to start his own company, he’d bit his tongue and stayed silent.
Their relationship had thawed after that, though it had never returned to what they’d had as kids when Kent had accepted with dignity, if not outright acceptance, his younger brother tagging along everywhere. But, at least now they talked on occasion.
For Kent to stand there today and offer his company to Darwin proved one thing: the man before him was not the same guy who had been so distant for so many years.
“No, I don’t want to take over your company. It’s your life’s work, and I love seeing you passionate about this, especially the part where you’re going to take care of your people first.”
Kent ducked his head slightly, then slid into one of the chairs at the meeting table. “I understand now, you know,” he said softly. “For you, it’s always been about the people. For me, it’s been the profit at any cost. Making myself look good, even though others were doing the work. It’s why Mom and Dad left the family business to you, because you shared their vision. I didn’t. I’ve been a real asshole to you, and I hope you’ll be able to forgive me one day.”
Darwin surreptitiously pinched his leg to prove he wasn’t dreaming. The pain cleared his head a little. “You’re serious?”
“As a heart attack. Mila took me to task one day after we unveiled some product. I don’t even remember what it was. She told me how ashamed she was when I stood in front of everyone and told them about my new product. She said every word out of my mouth was either my, me, or, at one point, Kent Kincade. There’s nothing quite like talking about yourself in the third person to piss off your wife.” Kent shook his head and chuckled.
Darwin loved Mila—long dark hair, lashes most women would kill for, and a figure that had many men assuming she was merely a trophy wife. She set them straight with a business acumen that showed people she shouldn’t be underestimated. She’d earned the position of COO.
“She told me flat out that if I couldn’t see the people who had worked so hard to make the item, the ones who helped to get it ready, or hell, even the janitors who cleaned up after every shift, then she didn’t want to be a part of the company. She walked out of our house that night, angrier than I’d ever seen her. I wasn’t sure if she’d left me, the company, or both.
“I sat there, seeing the constant reminders of her, and realized how lost I would be if I never got her back. Then as I went up to the bedroom, I passed by her office. She had her laptop open, something she never does. My guess is that she’d done it intentionally, but she denies it. Anyway, I went in to look. Did you know she had a file on every employee? Birthdates, spouse names, anniversaries, kid’s names and ages, hobbies. A huge list of facts about everyone who worked for KK Enterprises and their family. If you introduced me to Megan Jones, who’d been with the company for three years, I would have had no clue who the hell she was. Mila did. She made it her business to know. So I sat down at the workstation and started going through what she had.”
Darwin watched as his brother spoke about the things he’d learned. His expression shifting from discomfort to acceptance of his journey of discovery. This lesson had been sorely needed. He wished that Kent could have learned it from their parents, but the fact that Mila finally got through to him showed him that maybe his brother really had turned his business and his life around. He sure wished it could be so. He had a glimmer of hope that maybe this new Kent could be counted as a brother again, instead of a distant acquaintance.
Kent began counting off on his fingers, his expression pained. “Tom Kennedy came to work for us because his son had leukemia and he needed good insurance. Martin Torrance lost his wife about a year after he started working for us. Ann Jameson’s son graduated at the top of his class in high school and would be off to MIT the following year. Her calendar had notes of who to call, who to send cards to, and stuff I don’t even understand. I knew her secretary helped keep it all up to date and organized, and I wanted to thank her, but then I realized…I didn’t even know the woman’s name. Hell, I was shocked when I found out it was a man named Tony, and I’d talked to him several times.
“I called Mila that night and told her how sorry I was. How much of a bastard I’d been, how callous, how she should have better. And it dawned on me. This was what made Mom and Dad so successful. They cared about their employees, and they showed it. I didn’t. Martin’s wife got a huge bouquet of flowers for her funeral because Mila sent them. Ann Jameson’s son got a congratulations card with a five-hundred-dollar gift certificate. If the only reason Tom Kennedy stayed with us was for insurance, then something had to change. I had to change. And I promised Mila I would.”
And Kent had. Now that he looked beneath the exterior, Darwin could see the change. His brother wore it well. Where before he’d been driven to prove how great Kent could be, now he cared about his employees. He seemed to be learning how important a good crew was to the success of a company. Without his own people, Darwin never could have made it past the first year. When his parents had died, he couldn’t have been more adrift. But his staff knew their jobs, they were patient with him, willing to help him learn every aspect of their responsibilities, so that he knew what they did.
“Mila came home that night, and over the next few months, she and I spent hours together so I could learn who worked for me. Do you know that Robert Carson cried when I wished him a happy birthday? He worked for us for six years. He’d been responsible for eight of the products we had on the market, and I didn’t even know the man’s name. I invited him to lunch, and we talked about what he’d been working on. His excitement excited me.
And Darwin could see it in every gesture Kent made, hear it in each word, and his heart beat a little faster at the changes he witnessed. This Kent would have been given Kincade, no doubt. Their parents would have been so damn proud to see how the two of them had grown up.
“I went home that night and kissed my wife like she should always be. I told her that she had to be the most amazing person on the planet to put up with someone who had an ego my size, and that I didn’t deserve her at all. And I made an admission that should have landed me in divorce court. I told her that when I married her, it had been solely for her looks. It took me months to realize the brains that she had, too. And that realization had me offering her the COO job. Best decision ever.”
“And what did she say when you told her you’d married her for her looks?”
Kent blushed. “She stroked a finger over my chin, then told me she’d married me for the same reason.”
Darwin broke out with a laugh. “I’m really glad things are going your way. There is one thing that Mila worked out that Mom and Dad never did. Our parents made the employees feel valued, but never really gave them the chance to feel like family. When I started, I wanted to bring them in on more things, let them know their opinions mattered as much as their loyalty. I started holding monthly lunches, where we’d sit and talk. No business, just about how things were going. I think it made a huge difference.”
Kent nodded. “Mila is teaching me about respecting the people who work for us. Turnover has dropped, employee morale is at an all-time high, and they’re always exceeding their quotas.” He ducked his head again. “I wish I had learned that years ago. Who knew Mom and Dad were on to something?”
“Your people are outside,” he reminded his brother.
Kent sighed. “Can’t we just forget they’re there? I’m finally talking to you like I should have years ago. I’m so sorry for all the shit I piled on you. You didn’t do anything to earn it at all.”
Darwin’s heart swelled. He’d been angry at his brother’s animosity, but he missed having Kent in his life. He threw himself at his brother and clung tight to his waist. It wasn’t businesslike, but he didn’t care. There’d been many times since Dean died that he’d wished he could talk to Kent. He’d even picked up the phone a time or two. He wasn’t sure if it had been pride or stupidity that had made him put it back down. Probably both.
“I miss you, Darwin,” Kent whispered, his breath blowing against Darwin’s ear.
“Me, too.”
The two men broke the clench and stepped back. Darwin wondered if Kent felt as awkward as Darwin did.
“Before we let them back in and tell them you’ll give us a transfusion—and just so we’re clear, I won’t ask a second time, I promise—tell me something that I’ve missed because I had to go be stubborn.”
Darwin thought for a moment. He knew what he wanted to say, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready to share his news with anyone other than Henley at the moment. He peered at his brother and saw nothing but honest curiosity. Darwin drew in a deep breath.
“There’s this restaurant I used to go to. It’s called Asiago—”
“I took Mila there for our anniversary. They’ve got great seafood.”
“Yeah, it also had a waiter named Roy.”