The Billionaire's Fortunate Accident

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Stone

I dreamed of her that night, and it had been beautiful. Still, I woke with a headache. A couple of aspirins helped with that problem before I walked into the meeting with our cousins, the Gentry brothers.

The Gentry brothers had given us the startup money to get Whispers Resort and Spa going. Since opening and prospering from the venture, we’d grown in size. Warner had added two sister destinations to our family of resorts in Ireland, where he, his wife, and children lived.

Each of us was supposed to do something to further the group’s accomplishments as a whole. Everyone else had done their part. I was the only one who hadn’t added a single thing to the list of milestones that seemed to be growing each year.

Tyrell, Jasper, and Cash — the Gentry brothers — had come from Carthage, Texas, to hold the meeting. All my brothers were there too. Even Warner had flown in from Ireland for the yearly meeting.

Baldwyn took charge as we all sat at a large round table. “This meeting will come to order now that we’re all here.”

Patton took the minutes as he sat to the right of Baldwyn. “I’ve got the attendance written down. Tyrell, will you begin?”

“I’d love to, Patton.” Tyrell opened the folder in front of him. “We’ve expanded the ranch to include the sale of only organic fruits and vegetables, using heirloom seeds that are non-GMO certified. My wife, Ella, has helped on this project as well. Thus far, our reach is only as far as our own lone star state of Texas. But we’ve projected inventory and sales that are expected to increase with each passing year. We hope to sell nationally within five years and globally within ten.”

I clapped along with everyone else at our cousin’s major accomplishment. The men in my group seemed to have ideas exploding in their heads at all times. While it seemed that I couldn’t come up with a single one, no matter how hard I tried.

I wrote down that my cousins’ ranch would now be producing organic, heirloom, non-GMO fruits and vegetables — as a chef, I thought that information might come in handy to me someday.

Patton congratulated Tyrell, “Great job, man. Now we’ll hear from Jasper.”

“Yeah, I’ve got some big news.” He wore a grin that revealed more than he’d said so far. “My wife, Tiffany, and I have overseen the production of bull sperm, and we’re now selling it on the Australian market. They’ve been wary of bringing in American genetics to their Australian herds. But I talked one rancher into it, and the stout calves born from our bulls’ sperm and their cows have proven profitable. We’re selling to over a hundred Australian ranchers now, and that number is growing all the time.”

Clapping along with everyone else, I wondered how he’d come up with that idea. But I didn’t ask.

“Another great job by the Gentry brothers,” Patton exclaimed. “How about you, Cash?”

“Well, mine’s a little different. See, I’ve gone in another direction. My wife, Bobbi Jo, and I have gone into the whisky-making business. Whisper Distillery is just in the beginning stages, but we’ve already gotten a lot of press attention out of the Dallas area. And a few bars have already reached out, wanting exclusive rights to the spirits we’ll be producing. By next year’s meeting, I should have some amazing numbers for y’all.”

Jotting that down, I figured that’d be helpful if I ever opened a restaurant. “So, would I be able to get you to make something exclusive for my place too?”

“You’ve got a restaurant now?” Cash asked with a wide grin on his face. “That’s awesome, Stone. I can’t wait to check that out. And of course, we can come up with anything you want, cousin. We can work together on the fine spirits you’d like to serve at your place. What’s it called?”

Baldwyn cleared his throat, drawing the attention off me. “He hasn’t opened anything yet, Cash. My guess is he’s just asking about that for right now.”

My face was hot with embarrassment as I looked down at my notebook without saying a word. There was a valid reason why I didn’t often speak up during our meetings. I had nothing to offer, and everyone knew that.

Patton moved on quickly. “Baldwyn, what have you and Sloan been up to this past year?”

“My wife and I have made some great adjustments to the daycare at Whispers Resort. We’ve added some specialty classes for each age group. Now, our employees and our guests can leave their children in the care of our highly accomplished staff and feel great, knowing that their kids are not only being entertained but are actually learning things too.”

And my oldest brother has gone so far as to come up with an idea to make kids smarter. Great.

“One of the selling points to our guests is that there will be Spanish classes, so their kids will learn another language. A pretty essential language for Texas. But our teachers won’t be teaching traditional Spanish either. They’ll be teaching the Tex-Mex that’s spoken around here.”

Another round of applause. I joined in, feeling pretty shitty about myself. I had nothing to say, once again. If I tried, I would only come up with some lame ideas that would earn me blank stares as they all sat in silence. And then we’d adjourn. Only then would I be set free of this embarrassment.

“My turn,” Patton said as he looked at each one of us. “Alexa and I have come up with a theme and range of products for the major chain Rooms for You. As you all know, my wife is a massage therapist. She came up with the idea of being able to purchase the things one needs to have a great massage and spa experience right at their own home. From the massage bed to the plants, water features, and sound systems that bring the whole thing together, we’ve designed and produced everything you will need to entirely transform one room in your home into a place of complete relaxation.”

I had a question about that. “Won’t you need an actual person to do the massages, Patton?”

“No, you won’t. We’ve designed a weighted blanket that has different settings, so you can get the type of massage you want. It’s filled with tiny stainless-steel balls that move on miniature tracks. I have to hand it to Alexa, really, for coming up with the idea and creating a prototype that we were able to get a manufacturer to produce in large quantities for us.”

“Sounds pretty cool,” I had to admit. “I bet it’s pricey, though.”

Patton nodded. “Right now, it is. But, like everything else, with time, the price will come down as we find cheaper ways of building it. Our clientele generally has the money to buy things that help them relax, though.”

Baldwyn asked, “Do you have an exclusive with the store Rooms for You?”

“No. They’re just the only one who said they’d pick it up.”

“Well then, I say you put some products in one of the available spaces here at the resort. Why not directly sell to our guests as well?”

I couldn’t believe Baldwyn had had a genuinely great idea as he just sat there, listening to what our other brother had come up with. I felt like a total i***t, sitting amongst such great minds.

Patton added something to his notes then looked at Warner. “Okay, Warner, your turn.”

“Cruises.” Warner held up a picture of a large yacht. “Whisper Cruises will take guests from America to Ireland where they will stay in any one of our three bed and breakfasts.”

“I thought you only had two,” I blurted out.

“We’ve just added a third one,” Warner said with pride.

“So, you have two accomplishments this year.” My chest caved in with how stupid I felt.

“Orla found an abandoned farm outside Dublin, which we bought. We built small cottages that reflect a much older version of how the Irish used to live. It’s rustic living, but so far, the guests love it. So, we have the two castles, and now, the Irish farm. And with this yacht that can carry up to thirty guests at a time, we can bring more people to our part of the world — in style.”

I was really out of my league here. And I was sure they all knew that as well. But no one had pointed it out yet, which I was thankful for.

“Way to go, Warner. You guys are rocking over there.” Patton turned his attention to Cohen. “I know you’ve been busy with the kids now that Ember is pregnant with twins, but I bet you’ve got something for us.”

With a shake of his head, Cohen had no idea how happy he’d just made me. “Not really, Patton. I’ve had my hands so full that I’ve had just enough time to manage my duties here at the resort. But since the doctor ordered Ember to bedrest, and she’s been stuck on her back all the time, she came up with this amazing idea. A baby hammock. It’s a tiny hammock, just like a full-size one. You can hang it from hooks that you screw into either side of any wooden doorframe. Plus, there’s a small battery pack that moves a mechanic arm back and forth to gently rock the baby. You can take this anywhere, and it’s so compact that you can simply stash it inside any typical diaper bag. It’s like having a rocker always at your fingertips.”

Holy s**t! I’m going to be the only one without a single f*****g idea of any kind.

The dreaded moment came when there was no one left to speak but me. Patton smiled as he said, “Brilliant, Cohen. Your wife is one smart woman. Now onto you, Stone.”

All eyes on me, I began to sweat. “Well, first, I’d like to congratulate you all on your major accomplishments this year. I come from good stock. So it seems.” I chuckled, even though no one else did.

Tyrell raised one brow as he asked, “Have you come up with anything you’d like to cook and sell here at the resort? I know you don’t have a whole menu yet, but you could start with one simple or not so simple food that you could sell right here. You know, like the way Cinnabon sells the one item. Or Chic-Filet sells their thing. You could begin with one thing. And I’m sure you could build a menu around it in no time at all.”

“One thing, huh?” I didn’t know what that one thing would be.

“And give yourself a timeline, Stone,” Jasper added. “Say, a year, to get this one thing going.”

Cash went on, “I’m sure you can find a little area at the resort where you can set up a few small tables and chairs to let the guests sit down and enjoy your food. It’s a start, right?”

“The gift shop has free room,” Baldwyn was quick to offer.

I wasn’t about to open some little piece of crap inside the gift shop. “I don’t think so.”

“You don’t think so about what?” Patton asked. “The whole idea? Or just the gift shop?”

“Kind of the whole idea.” I was met with blank stares. “I mean, it is a good idea, Tyrell. Don’t get me wrong. But I have something a little different in mind.”

“Great!” Tyrell shouted as he clapped his hands loudly. “You’ve got an idea then. Tell it to us. Give us some insight into what you want to do, Stone.”

Warner looked at me with knowing eyes. “He doesn’t have it mapped out yet.”

“Not yet,” I agreed.

Cohen chewed his lower lip then said, “One year, Stone. Give yourself just one year to come up with something that you can add to our group. We’re not here to squash anyone’s dreams. We’re all here to help lift each other up. Feel free to talk to any of us about anything that comes to mind. No idea is too stupid to run by one of us, at least.”

Nodding, I knew my time had come. One year — time to stop messing around and get s**t done.