Page 163 of Always Meant for You
I turn toward her, the truth rising in my chest. I can feel it pressing upward. I want to speak, but the door from the kitchen swings open. Preston and Logan return with four steaming mugs.
“We’d like to cut right to the chase,” Logan says, setting the cups on the table.
Preston sits beside his husband, takes a sip of coffee, and folds his hands. “We’d like to partner with you on two fronts. The food pantry and with our six upscale restaurants.”
“We’d also like your input on menu development,” Logan adds.
Mabel leans in. “Can you tell us more about that?”
Preston lights up. “You let us know what you’re growing, and we’ll build our menus around that.”
“You want to go full farm to table?” she asks.
“That’s actually how we found Elverna,” Logan says, sharing a look with his husband.
“I wanted to search theFarm to Tablehashtag, but I typedMabelby mistake,” Preston explains. “And up popped this woman with a wedge of artisan cheese from Sperry Dairy in Elverna.”
Logan sits back. “From there, we were hooked.”
“And that, gentlemen,” Mabel says, lifting her mug, “is the power of a hashtag.”
Logan and Preston hold up their mugs and clink them with Mabel’s.
She looks my way. “This sounds terrific, doesn’t it, Cal?”
The tension eases a bit more. “It does.”
She beams at me, and I’m caught in her sunshine.
I’ll be okay.
“There’s more,” Logan says cautiously. “And don’t feel you have to answer right away.”
My pulse kicks up.
What else could they want?
“More?” Mabel repeats.
“We want you, Mabel,” Preston says.
She sets down her mug. “Me?”
What the hell?
My chest tightens. I’m back on high alert.
She rests her hand on my leg below the table.
“We wouldn’t dream of taking you away from the co-op,” Preston explains. “We’d like to bring you on as a consultant with flexible hours. You could work from wherever you want.There would be some travel to our restaurants, but you’d set the terms.”
“What would you want me to do?” she asks, her voice steady, but I can feel the buzz beneath it. She’s intrigued.
Preston leans forward, eyes bright. “What you’ve built in Elverna is remarkable. We’d love for you to help us share our story to show our guests where their food comes from. The families behind it. The history. The heart. Bring the co-op into the city and help connect it to our staff and our diners.”
Mabel blinks. “You want me to run your social media?”
“That’s exactly what we’re asking,” Logan says. “We’d fly you out to Chicago and St. Louis. Let you experience each location, meet our teams, and shape the story however you see fit.”
