Free Winner Takes All by Jacqui Moreau

“What?”
    “Nothing. Go on. You met with a woman from Wyndham’s today.”
    “Yes, she presented their case to me and I thought what she said was worth discussing further. This was her first presentation, but she pulled it off very well. Her facts and figures made sense.”
    “This gets stranger and stranger,” she said thoughtfully. “I wonder why Wyndham’s would send a neophyte to court such an important sale. I was expecting a call from Mr. Wyndham or from his son at the very least.” She paused for a moment. “I believe I’m almost insulted.”
    “I don’t know what they were thinking—perhaps they recognized her talent—but as I said, she did an excellent job. I don’t think Mr. Wyndham or his son Ethan could have been more convincing.”
    Loretta knew Cole was not the sort to have his head turned by a pretty face. Yes, he dated the Lucys of the world, beautiful women who seemed jaded to her, but they were also intelligent people who could hold a reasonable conversation or tell an entertaining story. For this reason, she wondered about the woman from Wyndham’s. Could she have caught her son’s eye? Was that why they were having this discussion?
    “All right,” she said, opening her menu. She didn’t want Cole to know how very interested she was. “Fill me in.”
    He opened his menu and glanced at it, quickly deciding that he was in the mood for salmon. Then he ran through the proposal Eva had made over lunch, pausing to explain in depth her theories on touring the collection and the strategic importance of Nashville. “She was insistent that she could create more public awareness and woo more customers.”
    “She sounds like a very good saleswoman,” Loretta said unimpressed. She had met many good saleswomen in her life. That didn’t say anything, however, about the quality of the product.
    “That’s what I thought. But then she mentioned figures. According to her, Wyndham’s would be willing to take a ten percent seller’s commission.”
    She closed her menu. “Ten percent?”
    “Ten percent.”
    “But that’s five percent less than Davidge’s or Brooks’s.”
    “I know.”
    Loretta took a sip of wine and did some fast calculating in her head. “That could mean the difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
    “It’s worth looking into,” he said, indicating to the waiter that they were ready to order.
    Within seconds the man was at their table with a cordial smile on his face. “What can I get you today, ma’am?”
    It took only a moment for the Hammonds to place their orders. After the waiter was moved on to the next table, Cole returned to business. “You haven’t signed anything yet, have you?”
    “No, no, we’re not that far along yet. Mr. Cartwright and I are still discussing terms, although I do think he has certain expectations. Naturally, this proposal raises some interesting possibilities. Mr. Cartwright told me that the commission rates were nonnegotiable and Mr. Kimble from Brooks’s said the same thing.”
    “Wyndham’s is smaller and they’re trying to get a more significant piece of the pie. They have to work with smaller profit margins until they establish themselves in the big leagues.”
    Loretta nodded. “I wonder if Mr. Cartwright will be open to negotiation now. Nothing like the threat of good healthy competition to get a vendor to bring down his price. Vive le capitalism.”
    “But you will meet with Wyndham’s?” he asked, trying not to sound as if the decision mattered to him. “I assured Ms. Butler that nothing had been finalized yet. She had a strong case, Mother. Hear her out.”
    Cole rarely made requests of her. “I’ve got Kimble from Brooks’s tomorrow and a million meetings for the Fashion Ball. It will have to be sometime next week. Is that all right?”
    He nodded. “She’s sending a formal proposal over tomorrow. I’ve told Philip to take a look at it before passing it along to you. Like I said, I think you’ll