Page 17 of The Hampton Beach Café 4
Frances took a deep breath as she looked at the sales figures that Clarkson held out in front of her. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She had been hoping to make a half-decent profit when she sold the café, but the numbers she was seeing were nowhere near what she had been expecting.
She snatched the phone from his hands.
As she scrolled and processed the information, she couldn't help but compare the numbers to the money she had spent on the café so far…
She muttered under her breath. “I'd barely break even.”
Clarkson noticed her disappointment and patted her hand as he tried to offer some reassurance.
“Well, there are some other factors to take into consideration. Your venture has a very loyal customer base thanks to a certain handsome someone and his network of influencers across the country—and your lovely coffee, of course,” he said with a wink. “The location is pretty good, it's unique in this town, and the demand for small businesses is on the rise. And you have the lovely Vincent selling his knick knacks for all sorts of money to big-time art dealers.”
“You heard about that, huh?” she asked, her attention snapping to his face.
“Sure did,” he said. “I've used Lauren Daniels before to decorate some choice homes I sold. I'm on her list. You‘ve attracted lots of good attention, so chin up.”
Frances nodded, trying to remain optimistic, but the numbers didn't lie, and she couldn't really be certain that Vin would want to stay in the café after they all found out she was selling out…
“Come on now, don't worry. You know I'll do my best to get you the best offer possible. Off the books, of course, you have to remember not to mention it to Kennedy. It would be against my ‘no hometown sales’ policy to be officially involved, and that wouldn't go well for either of us.”
She didn't like it, all this hiding stuff from people. It felt like a sticky weight on her shoulders, like carrying a heavy boulder made from taffy.
“I appreciate your help, but I need to think this through on my own. I don't really want to talk about it right now,” Frances said, burying her head in her hands.
Clarkson chuckled. “Anything for you, Frances. Maybe once this is all over, you'll reconsider my offer for a date?”
Dropping her hands, she lifted her gaze to Clarkson, ready to tell him exactly where he could go. Then she saw the playful smile on his face—he was teasing her. Even after all these years, he still acted like the adolescent football captain who could do no wrong.
Frances shook her head, smiling now. “Don't hold your breath.”
TEN
She took a deep breath and swallowed hard—it felt weird not to have told Lucinda about the plan to get Kennedy's DNA. The only thing that felt weirder than not telling her was, well, telling her.
Maybe she should be taking that as a sign that she shouldn't be doing it…
The jingle of the brass bell above the door signaled that it was way too late for that now.
With Kennedy back in town, she had organized to come around and pick up the photos she had left behind, and to participate in a tasting session for some new desserts that Alex was planning.
They were involving Vincent and Lucinda as well, so it wasn't quite so strange to be sitting around asking the poor woman to suck on a long-handled swab.
Frances had very carefully created five foam stands to hold an array of four cotton swabs on their long wooden sticks. Each stick bore a sticker wrapped around the middle with a number written on it. Each arrangement had a different color sticker to designate whose was whose. Not that it really mattered beyond Kennedy’s…but she supposed that Alex probably should actually get some benefit from the taste testing too.
“Hi!” she said brightly. “Welcome to the experiment!”
Why had she said that!? That made it sound so weird…her heart rate sped up as Kennedy looked her up and down.
“Hello, please don't experiment on me, I'm happy to give you feedback, but I didn’t sign any release form, so…”
Oh lord, that made it worse. Frances felt her stomach squirm with guilt over the plan she was about to enact.
She laughed too loudly. “Oh, you’re so funny. Come on and sit down.”
Alex arrived at the counter and smiled, calling out to Lucinda and Vincent to come and join them.
Luckily for their little scheme, Kennedy had been free at the quietest time of day to come by and partake in the selection process of two new flavor additions.
To be honest, Frances wasn't entirely sure what the flavorings were about, as she hadn't paid much attention to Alex's side of the plan. He wanted to get some feedback, and she wanted…Kennedy's saliva.
