“You know…this gives me an idea,” Trevor says, laying the book down in the center of the table and pressing his palms on either side. He flicks his gaze up to Cody in a second, and Trevor has a big smile on his face—which must give Cody the same worried feeling it does me, as we both turn sideways to look at him, sucking in our lips.
“Geeze, relax you two,” Trevor chuckles, and we both exhale, though I can tell Cody still has a guard up—an enormous one. “How close are you to paying off the loan?”
Cody’s eyes shoot wide, and I look down to avoid him. I don’t want him to know how much I shared with Trevor, and I’m not sure where Trevor’s going with his questions.
“Come on, just tell me. I can dig through my dad’s files and find out on my own, but I have an idea that could help you, so how about you just tell me now?” Trevor says, a little bit of his old attitude toward Cody slipping out.
Cody seems to brush it off, though, as he pushes his lips tight in thought. “Sixty grand,” Cody says, and I choke a little at the amount. I knew it had to be high, otherwise Cody would be able to pull together enough cash to pay it off, but I didn’t think it would be that impossible.
“Okay, okay,” Trevor says, tapping his finger to his lip, thinking. “What’s your drop-dead date?”
Cody shoots his gaze to me, and I just shrug and mouth “Sorry,” admitting my part in Trevor’s insight to his personal finances.
“I’ve got this month, maybe a little more,” Cody says, his voice sounding defeated.
“Perfect,” Trevor says, and both Cody and I stare at him, not understanding. “Man, you two are so negative!” Trevor laughs. He flips open to a blank page on my book and starts to list out some bullet points. When he’s finally done, he tears out the page and folds it in half, putting it in his pocket.
“Okay, here’s the deal. I need to get my eyes on that contract, but I’m pretty sure we can fix this thing. We’ll need Charlotte’s drafts, maybe a few more, and a business plan that will show Jim how much more money he stands to gain by partnering with your assets rather than buying you out completely. We’ll show him a planned re-opening, market studies—which I can help with—and renovation plans,” Trevor says, his words coming out so fast it’s taking Cody and me both several seconds to catch up. I see the reluctance in Cody’s eyes the moment I come to the same conclusion.
“But…I don’t want to be Jim’s partner. No offense, Trevor, but I don’t want anything to do with your dad,” Cody says as he folds his arms in front of him, bracing himself for Trevor’s disappointment. But it doesn’t come.
“Absolutely. That’s the catch; my dad always puts a drop-dead date in his contracts. But if we can get him to change that—either buy you more time, or void it completely—before you sign the new agreement, then you can walk away and only have to deal with the debt—no deadline,” Trevor says, waiting for us to understand.
“But I’ll still owe him?” Cody asks, shaking his head.
“Right, you will,” Trevor says. Both Cody and I are waiting for him to continue, unsure of what the growing smile on Trevor’s face means. “It’s brilliant, really, and I think it’s going to work. He’ll have to submit a new timeline for your payments as part of the investment, and, as long as we make the payout more appealing our way, it will be a no-brainer for him to sign.”
The garage is completely silent while we all just look at Trevor. I’m nervously picking at the corners of my fingernails, and Cody is rubbing the back of his neck trying to work through the math in his head and make it match up with Trevor’s legal loopholes. Our silence is stunted by the jarring sound of a heavy hood thumping to a close, and we all turn to see Gabe standing in front of us, engine oil smudging his hands and face.
“Well, asshat, what are you waiting for? Makes perfect sense to me,” he says to Cody, who just throws a towel at him in response.
“Asshat?” Trevor asks, looking at me.
“Yeah, apparently, it’s a hat you wear on your ass, and it’s what you call someone when they haven’t earned full ass**le yet,” I say, and the garage erupts in laughter as soon as I’m done. My cheeks are red, and I’m trying to retrace my words, when finally Gabe lets me off the hook.
“She’s right. That’s what it is—but goddamn is it funnier when she says it!” Gabe says.
The laughing round continues for another minute, then Trevor looks at Cody. “Well, asshat?” he asks, and I hear Gabe’s stifled laugh behind him. Cody looks at me for confirmation, and I smile. This is what Trevor does, and there isn’t anyone better—even his own father. And it might just be Cody’s only shot. Cody seems to understand the look in my eyes, and he reaches for Trevor’s hand again, giving it a firm shake this time.