Beautifully Knight (Jordan Knight Fanfic, Liadan #5)

Dough and Dodgeball

-NATE-

I groaned as I sat at my parents' kitchen table and the rows and columns of numbers displayed on the laptop screen in front of me began to make my eyes cross. Blinking, I scrubbed a rough hand over my face and slouched down in my chair.

Following years and years of dreaming and planning, my wife and I were finally on the verge of opening the doors to Crescendo Classical. We had almost everything we needed in place—great teachers, wonderful instruments, a challenging curriculum and all the passion in the world—we just were short on funds.

I'd run the numbers in my Excel sheet a thousand times, but I still couldn't find a way to cover the gap and every financial expert that I'd consulted with had told me the exact same thing—the price that Michelle and I had set for tuition was too low and we wanted to accept too many scholarship students. Time after time, advisors leaned across their desks and told me that the combination of my former heartthrob status and current position as one of the most-listened to radio show and podcast hosts along with my wife's prestigious education at Berklee and career as a composer was more than enough to justify setting a tuition level that rivaled even the most sought-after private schools in Boston. In their view, Michelle and I were walking examples of success in music and the performing arts and that would be more than enough to pique the interest of wealthy parents. With an effective marketing strategy, we could charge whatever we wanted and easily earn a return on all of our costs plus collect a sizable endowment.

Money problems solved.

There was just one problem with that though—Michelle and I weren't trying to profit off our school. In one sense the advisors were right, we had been incredibly successful in our careers. I'd saved and invested my money from my early years and continued to earn a sizable salary from the radio station I co-owned with my best friend. Since Rosalia had started kindergarten five years ago, Michelle had also returned to work and cultivated a successful career as the lead songwriter of multiple award-winning hits. We already lived a comfortable life. Thus, we had a more charitable vision for Crescendo.

Building off our location in the building that had once served as the local children's theater before they'd been donated a newer location, we wanted to create a community learning environment where everyone was welcome, regardless of background or paying ability, and all kids with musical and performing arts ambitions could have an equal chance of attending. It seemed like such a simple concept—so simple that we'd actually devised it fourteen years ago on our wedding night while snuggling together on the couch and scarfing down chocolate cake.

However, for reasons unbeknownst to me, it didn't come across so simply to investors who often told us we had to make up our minds on whether we wanted to run a charity or a successful private school. The first time one had made that impossible either-or scenario it'd upset me and even now after the tenth time of hearing it, it still made my blood boil. I just wasn't so sure anymore that they were wrong. Maybe our vision was unrealistic and I was obstinately grasping for straws. I wasn't ready to give up just yet, though. There had to be some sustainable way to generate money that I was overlooking. There just had to be.

"Everything alright over there, twinsy?"

I glanced back over my shoulder to see my twin sister stirring the pot of homemade pizza sauce on the stove. She took a taste off a spoon and then sprinkled more sugar.

"Yeah, fine. I'm just sick of looking at spreadsheets," I sighed and pushed the lid of my laptop downwards. "No matter how long I stare at them, the numbers never change."

"Oh?" Maria tilted her head. "Anything I can help with? You know the foundation—"

"You've already helped a ton, Maria, I couldn't ask you for anything more," I shook my head quickly before she could start her usual spiel about the Knight-Holloway Foundation's donation abilities.