The House (27 page)

Elliott Thompson said, “These are hard economic times.” Frustrated, Claiborne Rochester pursed his lips in obvious agreement. Like David, the men were angry and hurt. Edward had been good to them. Now he was dying. Anna flexed her fingers and propped them in teepee fashion them upon the table.

“Yes, and despite all, the company has been doing well,” she said. “Edward knows that good economic weather is not constant. He’s worked hard to establish and maintain strong relationships with the companies and people with whom Manning Ventures does business. I will continue nurturing these connections while cultivating new ones.” The eyes around the table fastened their attention on to Anna’s every word, she growing surprised at the ease with which she spoke. “My motto, as a mother has always been, ‘
If it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it.
’”

“But that’s just the point, Mrs. Manning. You’re a mother and a wife, with not a whit of experience running a company that’s about to be incorporated.” The man speaking sat to Anna’s left and was across from Claiborne Rochester. His skin was stark white, with not a hint of pink. What little remained of his hair was blonde fading into white, as were his eyebrows and goatee. Must be Harrison Filbert.
Thoroughly white. And arrogant.
Bryce had said.
But it’s all a bluff
. Anna breathed in and prayed she could apply what Bryce and Edward had taught her.

“Your concerns are justified, Mr. Filbert. But my aim is for Manning Ventures to continue making money. Anything less, I would have sold it to the highest bidder. And I will do just that if I fail to provide you a reasonable profit.” The men around the table flinched. Just the response she was aiming for.

Anna continued. “Selling Manning Ventures would eliminate your roles as trustees and stockholders. You’d receive checks and your ownership dissolved upon cashing them. You most certainly wouldn’t be sitting here now.”

“And how am I to know that what the highest bidder would pay me is no less than what you’ll produce, maybe even more?” Harrison Filbert would not let it go.

“You don’t. But that’s the risk we all take,” Anna said. All eyes returned to her.

Hesitant to speak until now, the gentleman on Anna’s right said, “You have a point, Mrs. Manning.” The gnarled fingers of his dark hands stood knotted upon his cane.

“Please, call me Anna.” Instincts said the man speaking was Chester McGee. That meant the man to her left, the one who had mentioned the absent Mrs. McGrath, was Ephraim Hennessey. Hennessey was also the company’s largest investor.

Chester McGee said, “We all would agree that what you’ve said sounds good—fine and dandy some might say.” The low rumble in McGee’s voice sounded as if he were about to start a sermon. “But, the fact remains that you are not a businessperson. You have no experience in running even a corner store.”

And neither is running a home for over thirty years child’s play, Anna wanted to scream against the lump expanding in her throat. McGee’s poor paraphrasing of what she had said left little doubt of his archaic and patriarchal views of women. His tone bordered on misogyny.

“Chester has a point.” Ephraim Hennessey spoke
.
“What’s your plan for taking Manning Ventures into the future, the nuts and bolts of
mothering
the connections Edward’s made, and
raising
new ones, as you say?”

Anna was about to explain her plans for guiding Manning Ventures forward when the door to the back of the room opened.

“Well, she’s here,” Hennessey smiled with expectant relief. Pierce Dawson, whose chair was only steps from the door, turned around. The remaining four men pulled their eyes from Anna and directed their attention to the door. The mood around the table went from joyful reception to surprise and dismay when without his cane, In man entered the conference room. He had not used the cane during their recent times together. Only now did she realize he had not been using the cane—he seemed different now—leaving Anna to realize that Inman had fully recovered from the car accident.

He strode to the end of the table, and sat in the chair that had been awaiting Mrs. McGrath. Anna gave a low groan. A second stretched into what felt like ten minutes. And then Inman turned to face her. Anna would not look at him.

Pierce Dawson leaned toward Inman. “So where’s McGrath?”

Inman said to everyone, “She’s asked me to take over the management of her investments.” Again he tried to connect his gaze with Anna’s. Again she refused him.

“And who the hell are you?” said Elliott Thompson, who appeared livid.

“Inman Hayes.”

Anna forced herself to breathe. Had he known when agreeing to represent Helena McGrath on the board that Manning Ventures was Edward’s company—the Edward Manning to whom she was married? Anna quaked at the thought that she had slept with In man while he bore the knowledge that he would be sitting on the board of her company.?

Chapter 38

In intricate but clear fashion, Anna listed the steps she would take to ensure the continued success of Manning Ventures. “Financial markets and world consumers demand personal availability and a clear understanding of their needs along with user-friendly methods of ascertaining the services we have to offer. Edward established and maintained contacts over the years by traveling and meeting individually with potential customers. He strengthened those connections through phone calls and the use of the Internet. I will be doing the same. Recent improvements of chat sites and video mailing allow me to talk to various customers across the globe on a weekly basis. Bryce and I agree,” She glanced back at him, smiling. He flashed a thumbs up. “We want to use the same technology to attract our smaller customers as well.”

In a low tone, Ephraim Hennessey responded as if speaking for the totality of the men around the table. “This sounds nice. Much of it I don’t even know about. Can’t begin to understand how it works. Internet, chat sites. It’s all beyond me. You’ve laid it out well.” Hennessey gave a sweep of his hand. “But as Chet,” otherwise known as, Chester McGee, “—pointed out, you haven’t run as much as a corner store, and not even a lemonade stand with your kids.” It was as if Hennessey had not heard a word Anna had said. They viewed not the plan as problematic, rather the person delivering it, a woman. I should have sent Bryce to address the men, and never shown my face, Anna bemoaned to herself. She simmered as Inman, silent and still, watched the men nodding their heads amid the brewing din of murmurs circulating the table.

Again, she was about to speak when with a curious and solemn air Inman said, “Running a home takes a lot of ingenuity and perseverance. It’s a 24/7 job. And rarely do you have an adequate budget.”

“What did you say?” Pierce Dawson appeared stunned.

“Forgive me,” Claiborne Rochester broke in, “Mr. Hayes, is it? No one’s knocking the gifted ability of raising children, and keeping a home afloat. Most of us here owe our successes, how few or ample, to the women in our lives.” Again heads nodded in agreement. “But as you so aptly put it, their importance is in the running of a home, not a business.”

“There’s a lot of money involved here,” Dawson chimed.

To which Inman argued, “The person who knows what to do with a little money will know how to manage a lot of money.”

Across from Dawson, and to the other side of Inman, Elliott Thompson’s demeanor shifted from confusion to what seemed carefully managed rage.

Harrison Filbert declared, “You can’t be implying that the running of a home is more than mere housekeeping. That being a wife and mother entitles or engenders one with the capabilities of man aging a company.”

“Have you not listened to what she said?” Inman demanded. “Or did you simply dismiss the messenger because of her gender?” Like the six other men, he sounded incensed, indignant, but for a very different reason. “Have you ever run a home?” Inman said. Filbert leaned back as if struck, his eyes blaring with consternation. “Better yet, have you made a grocery list week after week? Do you know how much a pound of butter costs?”

“I fail to see the point,” Ephraim Hennessey said then turned to Anna. “Anna, we are all quite certain that Edward Manning provided generously for his family.” Hennessey was old enough to be her father. And albeit she had invited him and the others to address her as Anna, she wanted to reprimand Ephraim Hennessey’s condescending tone as he spoke her Christian name. His patronizing air reflected blatant disrespect for her place in the company.

“It’s not like she’s starving,” interjected Thompson as if Anna were not present. Everyone laughed except for Inman and Thompson.

“My point exactly,” Inman said. He stood. Though calm, he spoke with firm conviction. “If a man like Edward Manning would leave his wife the company he spent his life building, then it means she must have managed his home and raised his children, amid his frequent absences, in a way of which he approved.” The men fell quiet and attentive. “All of you have benefitted generously from Edward Manning’s guidance of this company.” Inman knitted his brows. “You trusted him with your money and it paid off. His decisions were sound. What makes you doubt his present decision to place his wife in charge of the company? Are you jealous that he didn’t put one of you there?” A low rumble rose from among the men. “Or are you afraid that this woman might best you? Is that clouding your judgment? Something is.”

“I don’t like this.” Elliott Thompson stood and joined Inman. “We’ve had two major changes slammed upon us. One came a week ago with Manning’s letter stating that his wife now owns the company, and then...” He looked over at Inman. “Today, Helena sends you to take her place on the board.”

Inman smiled as if prepared for the entanglement. His attack had turned the tide. “What troubles you about my presence?” In man said to Thompson. “That Mrs. McGrath as chosen not to attend board meetings, or that she chose me to represent her?”

“Both.” Elliott Thompson stared at Inman. “We were doing fine until Manning decided to up and die, and give his company away in the process.”

“My husband didn’t choose to die.” Anna’s throat burned.

“I’m sure he didn’t.” Thompson turned to her. “But we all know he hasn’t shown much respect for you either. All the women he’s had. Is this his way of trying to buy his way into heaven, repent for his wayward lifestyle?”

“That’s enough.” Inman threw Thompson a hardened stare. Anna wanted to drop into the chair and bury her face in her hands, better yet, leave the room. She felt Bryce’s warm hand settled upon her shoulder.

Inman said, “This is about business, not our personal lives.”

“And who made you head of this board?” Thompson’s indignation swelled upon his dark, chiseled face.

Ephraim Hennessey’s voice emerged from the noise and emotion encircling the table. “Money and emotions are tightly interwoven. And where Edward Manning’s concerned, we all have questions about both.”

Thompson added, “Manning’s decision to give Anna the company has more to do with his own guilt than his concern for our investments.”

“What if it has to do with both?” Inman again.

Anna swallowed hard and took in a deep breath. Bryce’s hand shifted to her back. She forced herself to remain standing.

“We’re not some priests.” Thompson’s words were bitter.

Anna had rather not run Manning Ventures if she would have to face Elliott Thompson on a regular basis. She was frightened.

Inman’s voice pierced the noise of confusion. “If you’re more concerned with Edward Manning’s personal life than remaining committed to a company that has brought you sizable profits in a down market, and looks to do the same in the future, then perhaps you’d better sell your shares. Pull out. Now.”

Anna lost her breath.

“And whose side are you on?” Harrison Filbert, nearly white as a ghost, looked from Inman to Anna, and then back to Inman.

“The same one as everyone here including Mrs. Manning,” Inman said. Anna grew ever more anxious. She had never heard Inman refer to her as Mrs. Manning. Why is he telling the men to pull out? Anna thought. Manning Ventures needs their monies.

Inman sidestepped Filbert’s question. “I’ve examined the quarterly statements as Helena asked of me. Manning Ventures has a lot of potential.”

“But I’m not hearing money,” Claiborne Rochester noted.

“And potential does not make money, nor guarantee it,” Ephraim Hennessey chimed once more, making plain his investment in the argument.

“No, it doesn’t, Ephraim.” Inman spoke with condescension as had Hennessey when addressing Anna. He seemed to know all their names, appeared quite comfortable in confronting the men. The sinking feeling that had abated earlier threatened to overtake Anna once more. “Potential says a whole lot to investors who are looking to get in on the bottom floor,” Inman ended.

With both hands gripping the curved handle of his cane, Chester McGee leaned forward. “And what are you suggesting?”

“He’s threatening us!” Thompson shouted.

“I’m telling you what you’d already know had your accountants read the proxies and spreadsheets Edward’s provided.” Inman was stern. Anna grew dizzy. Bryce helped her sit down. Inman said, “All of you have depended on Edward Manning to invest your money and honestly inform you of what he’s doing.” He surveyed the faces around the table. “Unlike most investors, he’s done just that. And you’ve turned a profit.”