Coming Home to Love (Lakeside Porch Series Book 2) (11 page)

She slid onto the bench on George’s side of the booth and extended her hand across the table. “Patrice LeBlanc,” she introduced herself.

“Justin Cushman. Thank you for joining us on short notice.” He pressed her hand in both of his. It was not a come-on, she knew, but acknowledgement they needed to join forces quickly to solve serious problems.

“How is Joel doing?” she asked him.

“My nephew is healing well, thank you, and hopes to be out of the hospital very soon. He’s asked me to assume his place on the board indefinitely, and I take the role very seriously.”

“You’re from Tompkins Falls yourself, aren’t you?”

He nodded. “And I fully appreciate that the loss of the college would be catastrophic for the city. I trust, as an alum, you’re also interested in saving the college?”

I like a man who doesn’t waste time
. “How do you propose we do this?”

“What followed,” Justin told Sydney later, over tuna steaks, “was a hard-hitting strategy session. George is not a power player, but he’s discerning and thoughtful, a good balance for Patrice. She’s fiercely loyal to the college and quick to defend. And excuse. George has a way of breaking through her denial to the truth of the matter.”

Sydney folded her hands. “He’s a data person and a realist. She’s emotional and forceful.”

“Exactly. And they’re the two longest serving and most influential board members.”

“Did they like your suit?” Sydney fingered the sleeve of the jacket of his new, custom tailored Italian wool suit. She gave a sexy growl of approval.

Justin grinned. “Neither of them noticed. They heard my ideas, though, and I believe we’re very close in our preferred strategy. Our session in Tompkins Falls next week with the full board should be productive.”

“And very tense,” Sydney said.

“There’s a lot riding on this, for a lot of people.”

“And you’re up for it?”

“Yes.” Justin reached for Sydney’s hand and held it with both of his. “Your support and guidance mean a great deal, you know.”

Sydney layered her free hand on his. “I’m in your corner. I may sound flippant when we talk about your college, but I want you to succeed. To be honest, Justin, I think you have a great deal to offer higher education.”

“Really?”

“Think about it. You have faculty experience, you’re a visionary leader, and you have a financial network that you can activate in a New York minute.”

Sydney took a swallow of sparkling water. “Now tell me more about your woman. I like what I’ve heard so far. I have a hunch she can be a confidante for you with this college business.”

“You’re serious?”

Sydney raised both eyebrows. “Yes, but only if you involve her.” She leaned forward. “And remember ‘involve’ does not mean ‘talk at’.” She offered a smile to soften the sting of her criticism. “Mark my words, Justin.”

Chapter 6

“To me, Justin, putting your name on some buildings is different from being the leader of a college where you’d be proud to send your kids for their degrees.”

Justin opened his mouth, frowned, and closed it again.
She’s right.

He’d bent her ear long enough about upgrading the networks throughout campus and renovating the library, perhaps putting the Cushman name on the library and on a new laboratory sciences facility.

“You’re right, Gianessa. That’s a completely different perspective. I haven’t thought of myself as a leader of this college. And that’s the real need, isn’t it?”

Gianessa shrugged.

Justin recognized that shrug. It was the shrug smart partners used when they had reached the truth first and were graciously giving the slower partner time to catch up. He smiled at the irony. He was usually the one giving the gracious shrug.
Sydney was right.

“From what you’ve said, yes, there’s a big problem at the leadership level,” Gianessa said. “Good facilities are important, I don’t deny that, but without leadership . . .” She shook her head, as if pretending she didn’t know where to go with the thought.

“Without strong leadership the college can’t move forward. I must say you’re a perceptive listener. My ego and my tendency to think in dollar signs have been blinding me.”

Gianessa tipped her head and answered with her Mona Lisa smile.

“Let’s think out loud together. How did the college get into this mess?” He stepped to the porch doors and gazed at the choppy water of the lake on this gray afternoon.

He answered his own question. “Until now, the president has been just a fundraiser, and the provost has simply focused on faculty satisfaction, not on curriculum or standards.” He pressed his forehead against the cool glass. “A college is no better than its curriculum and the quality of its faculty. At Tompkins College the curriculum is hopelessly disjointed and out of date. I think if I asked the faculty, each one of them would tell me about their favorite course, but no one would be able to tell me what the college curriculum is or what its purpose is.”

Gianessa touched his arm. “So what do you
really
think needs to happen?”

Suddenly he knew. “The best possible outcome is for the faculty to rally around a new, meaningful curriculum they believe in, that we can sell to potential students and their backers—the parents that are supporting them through their four years of undergrad and the workplaces supporting their grad programs. And to the companies and businesses that will hire them.” He turned to her with a confident smile.

“That’s clear and exciting.” Gianessa gave him one of her dimpled smiles.

His heart raced.

“It is, isn’t it? And we don’t have to be traditional about it. Why not let students finish in three years, take summer classes, go abroad, and continue to take classes online?”

“Brilliant, Justin. How are you going to make all that happen?”

Justin studied her face.
She’s really good for me. Very different from Sydney. Together, she and Sydney are my sounding board.
“First, I need to bring a consultant in to stir the pot, make the faculty realize they have the answer.”

Gianessa cocked her head. “You’re serious? If they have the answer already, why involve a consultant? Does the consultant have a better answer?”

“Excellent question. I think—no, I think none of us has the complete answer at this moment in time. I think we’ll find it together—the faculty, the best thinkers in the field and, to some extent, me.”

“But not the consultant?”

He shook his head. “He’s going to stir the pot.”

She looked puzzled. “Then why do you need him? Or her. Can’t it be a her?”

Justin shook his head. “He needs to be a stuffy, obnoxious, highly credentialed know-it-all. Young and ambitious.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You’ll see.”

“You’ve got a plan?”

“I do now, thanks to you.”

“Can you share it?”

“Yes. While the consultant is stirring the pot—and by that I mean proposing an absurd concept for what a college is and does—I’ll get current with the best thinking and sit down with the faculty one-two-three at a time, perhaps with the provost initially to see how that goes. I’ll ask questions and listen to their ideas. I’ll ask what’s most effective about their program, their curriculum, their teaching. It’s important, don’t you think, to have their strengths as part of the foundation for any innovation?”

“Of course it is. In physical therapy we don’t just ask what’s not working. We also assess range of motion and observe what’s working well. We use the client’s strengths when we define the baseline and prescribe treatment.”

“Yes, I remember, when you first gave me a massage at the spa, you commented on my investment in fitness, and you encouraged me to work toward that again as part of getting well.”

“Exactly.” Gianessa’s eyes danced with excitement. “That was a big asset for your recovery, and you didn’t seem to realize it.”

“I’ve never seen that particular smile.” He moved into her space, stroked her cheek, and drew her into a powerful hug. “You’re my muse, are you?”

She wriggled into a more comfortable position in his arms. “We are good together, Justin.”

“In so many ways,” he said with a sexy growl.

“You have vision, and look at the energy you’ve brought to the new therapy suite at the spa.”

“The entire team has pulled together to make that happen. I think it’s more than my vision and the dollars behind it. I think their dedication to Joel is motivating them most of all.”

“Sometimes lately you have flashes of humility that I never expected from you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean your awareness that you’re not the only force making things happen. When I met you I wondered if you were an egomaniac, but you’re not.”

Her words hurt, but they had the ring of truth. “Perhaps I was then. I’d like to think I’m changing.”

“Tell me about the big picture for your college. Or don’t you have a vision yet?”

Justin frowned.

“Do you see it as an ivory tower? Do you expect your students to interact with the world they’re going to work in and contribute to for the rest of their lives? Or something else?”

“You’re right. I’m an educator, and I need to be weighing in on the fundamental nature of a college. It won’t do to just have the consultant to propose something stupid. As I’m delving into what the experts say, I have to develop my own vision, and, of course, see what the faculty are thinking. And revise the vision using their input.” He brought her closer, too close, and she wriggled away again. “And I hope I can talk it over with you as we progress?”

“I want that, too. I want your strategy to work. I want to know what you and your faculty choose as your vision.”

Justin caressed her cheek. “You’re sure you can’t get out of those massages tonight and come with me to the faculty dinner? I know it’s a weeknight, but . . .”

She glanced at the grandfather clock and gasped. “No, and I’ve got to leave for the spa right now. Another time, I’ll come with you to one of your shindigs. Will you drive me please?”

She grabbed their coats while Justin found his keys.

“I’ll hold you to it, and we’ll have brunch tomorrow as planned? You can do it even though it’s a Friday, yes?”

“Yes.” She beamed at him, and his heart soared. “I have Friday and Saturday off.”

“What are you doing Saturday?” he asked as they started down the stairs.

“We three chicks are going on a thrift-shop adventure.”

“Tony’s giving us a little time to ourselves.” Phil closed the door to Joel’s hospital room.

“He’s a wise man sometimes,” Joel said to his AA sponsor. “What’s on your mind?”

“The entire drive to Rochester, Tony told me about the construction that Justin is masterminding. Something is setting off alarm bells for me. I need to talk about it to know if it’s a problem or if I’m overreacting.”

“Let’s hear it. Tell me about the construction.”

“No, I’ll let Tony do that. It’s your uncle I want to talk about.”

Joel smiled grimly. “What’s he doing that’s setting off alarm bells?”

“He’s dropping a bundle on this garage makeover. According to Manda, he’s also got a suite indefinitely for the two of them at that ritzy boutique hotel in downtown Rochester so they can use it anytime they visit you and don’t feel up to driving all the way back to Tompkins Falls. Plus he’s driving a rental BMW two-seater. He’s having suits custom made in New York. And I understand he’s completely stopped his life’s work. How long is his money going to last?”

“One minor correction: he just returned the rental and bought a new, top-of-the-line, four-door Saab. But why are you worried about all that?”

“Because I don’t want you taking responsibility for him when he goes broke. That’s the kind of thing you would do, Joel.”

“It is the kind of thing I would do, but it’s not going to happen. He’s not going to go broke.”

“I also want to know if he gambles.”

“No, he doesn’t gamble. He’s deliberate with his money.”

“Ease my mind, Joel. I don’t need to know the details of his finances, but the last time I saw someone spend money like that, it was a high-roller in AA who had a drug problem and a gambling problem, too. It wasn’t pretty when he killed himself a few million dollars in debt. Am I overreacting?”

Joel nodded and motioned for Phil to come closer. “Get comfortable. You’re making me nervous standing there wringing your hands.”

Phil chucked his coat on the back of a chair and shoved it closer to Joel’s bed.

Joel reached out a hand and gave his AA sponsor a proper handshake.

“You’re right,” Phil said. “We should have started with a handshake.”

“That alone told me how upset you were about whatever was on your mind. Now I understand what and why.” He waited until Phil was settled in the chair before telling him, “Justin’s net worth is measured in billions. I don’t know how many, but I know he’s smart in how he manages it. He loves his money. He loves spending it on himself and on the people and causes he cares about. He hates gambling.

“He’s making a huge shift right now, from piling up more to figuring out how to use his money to benefit other people. At least that’s what I intuit from what he’s said about closing his twenty-year-old venture capital business. Without the business, his current income is limited to return on investment. That annual figure, even in an off year, is way more than the income of everyone in Tompkins Falls, including me and you, put together.”

Phil laughed from his belly. “I contribute heavily to that equation.”

“Justin’s biggest financial problem right now is when to establish residency in the U.S. and what that will mean for taxes, which is why he’s squatting in my apartment at the moment.”

“But he does intend to live here, you think?”

“Yes, I’ve come to believe that.”

“What’s he going to do here?”

“His first big project is this therapy suite for me at the Manse. And I understand he’s doing it in a way that has potential as an accessible luxury suite for future guests. Once a strategist, always a strategist. His second big project to benefit mankind will be a holistic rehab center for those with chronic illness, to be built according to Manda’s vision, possibly located on Cady’s Point, but that’s on hold right now because Lorraine has changed her mind about selling. And third, he might decide to pour money into Tompkins College if he believes it’s a viable institution. Personally I’d rather see him exercise leadership at the college, if it turns out to be viable. But he hasn’t asked me, and he probably won’t ask me.”

“Good. So you’re not worried about him?”

“I’m plenty worried about him. I’m just not worried about his money.”

Phil gave a dry laugh. “Then I’m right to hear alarm bells going off around him?’

Joel nodded. He turned his head to look at the pictures on his rolling table. A framed photo of his sister taken a few months before Christie was killed, and a snapshot of Manda.

Phil cleared his throat. “Are you going to explain that statement or keep me in suspense until something terrible happens?”

“Did I ever tell you about my sister, Christie?”

“Many times. You were very close to her and she died in that horrible crash when you were a teenager. And that triggered your drinking and drug use, I believe.”

“Yes. Justin’s brother Josh was Christie’s and my dad. Josh was driving that day, and he was drunk when the SUV went off the road.”

Phil leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “You never told me that detail, Joel. Why not?”

Joel choked on the answer. “I guess it’s too much to bear, even now. I think people knew, but I never saw the papers or the news around then because I was in bad shape in the hospital for a long time. But I was in the car and I could smell the booze on him. Bridie was worried and Mom was yelling about how erratically he was driving.

“When Justin came home to bury them and to make sure I was taken care of, no one took care of Justin. He and I never talked about the accident or my dad’s drinking. Even when I was out of control with drinking and using, even when I crashed a car into a bowling alley at three in the morning, he never said, ‘Your dad was an alcoholic. You are, too, and you need help.’ I don’t think he ever accepted that Josh was an alcoholic, even though there was more than enough evidence. Denial is powerful.”

“And you think Justin is one of us, too?”

Joel nodded. “He’s been dry for quite a few years. But I’m seeing some craziness that worries me.”