Laura's Big Win

Laura’s Big Win

WINDMERE series –
book
one

Michelle Tschantré

Smashwords
Edition

Laura’s Big Win

Copyright © 2010 by Michelle
Tschantré

All rights reserved.

{2nd Edition © 2014}

Cover Design & Formatting by:Laura
Shinn Designs

http://laurashinn.yolasite.com

Smashwords License
Notes:

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Thank you for respecting the hard work
of the author.

Laura’s Big Win
is a work of
fiction.

Though actual locations may be
mentioned, they are used in a fictitious manner and the events and
occurrences were invented in the mind and imagination of the
author. Any resemblance of characters in this story to any person
living or dead is strictly coincidental.

Dedicated to:

…the survival of love.

Preface

In Windmere Series, Book 1, “Laura’s
Big Win”, the reader meets Laura Nessing and Ryan Williams, two
people with deep emotional voids in their hearts. The common thread
is the place called WINDMERE, a former private estate, maybe with
some magic included, but certainly with dynamic relationships as
things evolve between Laura and Ryan, each filling the void in the
other’s life, unsure about many things but sure in the growing love
each has for the other. Many of the characters one meets in Book 1
also play parts in subsequent releases, such as Score One for
Angela, and Magnetic Love: When Opposites Attract.

Chapter 1 – Ryan, In The
Beginning

Ryan Williams happened to be an only
child, but by neither his nor his parents choice. The baby who
would have been his brother never made it into the world, and the
miscarriage with his mothers general condition dictated there would
be no replay. The good news was that his parents, however they may
have favored him, always set high standards, not unrealistic
standards, but ones he could reach only by stretching his
boundaries. And he stretched regularly. Always attracted to a
challenge, he took AP courses in school, ran the lonely man’s sport
of cross country, played football and basketball as well. Ryan
always managed to find a part time job, whether at the resort his
parents owned and operated, or in the off season doing deliveries,
whatever it took. Someone having a hard time with their own kids
asked his parents one time how they talked him into going to
college, and his father replied “We never talked about if he was
going; we just talked about where. ‘If’ never came up.”

An observant learner in the school of
business, Ryan quickly learned that to really get ahead of the
pack, he needed something the pack didn’t have, and he reviewed his
assets. Other than the somewhat small resort his parents owned and
operated, there wasn’t much in his asset stack. Too, he believed
they would probably expect him to come home after graduation and
help run the place; after all, he did consider his life up to that
point to be a result of their care, and although they didn’t really
look at it that way, he felt he at the least owed them some time
back.

Ryan considered his future potential at
some length. He was aware that he did not have the resources to
start out on his own, that he would have to find some means of
leveraging what was available to him already, which was limited to
what his parents already controlled. He was also acutely aware that
their assets represented their financial future, so whatever he
did, he would have to ensure their protection. After studying the
options at some length, he realized that possible expansion of the
existing operation was probably out of the question. It would be
costly at very best, and there were already plenty of rooms
available in the general area. The other problem was that the site
was limited both in physical size and by being at the end of the
access road; that’s when he realized the biggest asset of the site,
limited access. ‘Privacy,’ Ryan thought, ‘is what I can use.
Suppose I make this a privacy issue, maybe a security issue, even
put in a control gate so traffic is limited. I don’t have to sell
the sun and water; everyone here does that for me. Suppose I sell
seclusion and security; we’re already at the end of the road, so I
can control that, and the other side of the site can easily be made
inaccessible. We can spruce up a little, maybe add a gate house,
and charge accordingly.’

The summer of his senior year in
college he worked on his plan while helping out his parents around
the resort. It wasn’t that he didn’t see the women lounging by the
pool watching his tall, muscular form walk by. It was simply that
he reasoned there would be time for that later; he had other things
to do. At the end of the summer, he presented his plan to his
parents, even telling them the risks involved. To protect them, he
had devised a property exchange deal where they would sell the
property to him, a bank would hold the mortgage, and Ryan would be
on the hook through his own corporation to repay that money. His
parents realized he had covered all the bases, including hiring
them back to run the operation until they wanted to retire. That
way, their assets were well protected should anything go wrong.
They were impressed that their son had seen some potential they had
never suspected existed, and after looking at all his homework,
decided they should support him in his efforts. The real change was
nine months away when he would return full time to make the
alterations and take over the operation.

Ryan initiated internet advertising,
staying away from the lengthy mundane chat about tennis courts,
water sports, and things like that, and instead touted benefits of
“comfort and security with all the amenities for yourself and your
friends in our family compound.” He was well aware how much it
sounded like a similar site up in Hyannis Port that everyone knew
about, and liked the comparison for the exclusive tone it set. e
was awareHeBetter still, he noted the exclusive clientele, and the
limited openings remaining available for the summer, even though he
actually had no real bookings at the moment. The physical work took
place during May while the facility was shut down, and with Ryan
there as much as he could with school still in session, things took
shape quickly because of the intense and interlocked planning he
had done. His parents were briefed each Sunday before he returned
to campus on what was to take place the next week, and things
unfolded like an inflatable toy, including inflating the new
poolside toys. Memorial Day saw him out of school except for final
graduation in June, the new gates turned on, and an immaculate used
Mercedes Limo in the drive for the runs to the local airport.
Knowing the best internet sites on which to advertise had been
mostly good research, with a little luck thrown in; within 24 hours
of the web site opening, bookings came in like birds on wing,
including credit card numbers, reservation fees, the works. If he
was at all nervous, Ryan did not show it on the surface, strolling
through the guests with a smile and confident stride, as often as
not drawing a lustful glance over the shoulder from a wife or
girlfriend on the prowl. But this was business, and Ryan understood
the requirement of keeping his life and that of the business as
separate entities.

Although they operated year round, the
three summer months were critical in profitability for the year, or
so Ryan thought. In the past, the resort had operated year round
because of the temperate climate, but the “off season” bookings
were a little more scarce, and while they did bring in a net
positive bottom line, it was as much to keep good employees working
as to make a significant profit. What Ryan had not anticipated was
that his business plan had all been based on the former operation.
This new operation had a life of its own, and a much different
business plan. High end spenders vacationing there with their
“friends”, mostly female, saw the potential for using this place as
a tax write off for secure business meetings in the fun and sun, an
opportunity frequently pointed out by Ryan as soon as he saw the
direction things were taking. Sensing a growing opportunity, Ryan
took some of the revenue flood and built a media center adjacent to
the main dining room but with access to the pool. It could seat
maybe 40 persons comfortably, but was appointed with materials that
could withstand patrons right out of the pool returning to a
presentation after a poolside lunch and a quick dip. The attraction
was immediate, and their fall bookings went to maximum. Ryan was
aware of the success, but was particularly pleased with himself the
day the local airport manager called to thank him personally for
the private plane landing fees he had been collecting that summer,
and into fall. It was, he said, a bonanza to their small
operation.

One of the fallouts of the successful
migration from public resort to private playground was this young
man’s growing reputation among other resort owners as having not
only the foresight and knowledge to make the change, but the
internal fortitude to pull it off while still attending class. Ryan
was now full time, as were his parents, but he realized there was a
lot more fun in creating this place than in operating it. He didn’t
mind the daily operations, and frequently found things to improve
on, but the routine didn’t stimulate him and he soon discovered the
“need” to hire a manager to handle many of the daily routine items.
His parents understood the need, and were in many ways grateful for
the additional young staffer who could handle things on a 24/7
basis. Ryan saw to it that the pay scale was more than adequate,
since he wanted little or no turnover in staff. And one day, when a
competitor called about hiring his management services, Ryan took
the bait. His only stipulation was that he not be hired to work
against himself; he considered that to be a conflict of interest,
regardless of how many promises were made, and could not allow
himself to do it. But that didn’t keep people from calling anyway,
and after a couple of successful business turnarounds, he had a
whole new direction on his plate.

Three years into the new business plan,
Ryan realized there was more he needed to know, particularly about
financing things and how to protect himself and his parents if
nothing else. A number of his alliances had now grown into
multi-million dollar operations with overlapping layers of
financing that seemed just a little hazy to him. After considering
how to approach the situation, he changed his working arrangement
to part time and at the ripe old age of 25 enrolled in a two year
MBA program at his alma mater. It was almost strange to be back in
class again, particularly since he was a little older than the
majority of students. Many of them had simply stayed in school
after graduating from four years, and the vast majority had no real
clue how business actually functioned in the daily activities of
the world. Ryan soon learned that a number of the faculty were
equally limited in actual application, but the courses he needed
most, finance, were frequently taught by business persons who had
retired and elected to teach part time for something to do. Ryan
quickly became rather a pet student, but he worked hard at not
letting it interfere with learning. The first year passed quickly,
especially with commuting home now and then to help earn his keep,
and a limited number of consulting jobs on the side when he felt
the need to get away for a few days. Financially he was in good
shape, but when the student teaching job came open, he was
encouraged to take it by his professors. He often reflected back
that they were just trying to get even with him for being in their
classes, but it was in good fun and certainly a new challenge for
him. Being in front of people was no problem, but doing a different
routine every day and staying ahead of the class was a new
challenge he relished as a mind exercise.