Page 107 of The Rebound
“I do. And my intuition tells me that he’s right. And that the two of you would make a pretty good thing.”
I say nothing, trying to ignore how happy her words make me.
“I was just soobtuse,” she continues. “I mean it’s obvious now that I think about it. You should have seen him the day you first came to the café. He was so rattled. I mean, as soon as you left you were all he could talk about.”
“Really?”
“Well, he didn’t say anything good. It’s more that he wouldn’t let it go. He wouldn’t letyougo. Eventually, Ollie had to tell him to shut up, which is not a very Ollie thing to do. I think that spooked him. And then later he always did one of two things when you showed up. He’d either magically appear or run up the stairs like a frightened rabbit. I should have put two and two together.”
“So you’re not mad at me for spilling your biggest secret?”
She raises a brow. “You think a crush on Luke was my biggest secret?” she asks, and I smile. “Can we stop talking about it now?” She pouts. “It can just be a thing we laugh about five years from now from the headquarters of my food empire.”
“Is that your new plan?”
“It’s what Jess seemed to think. She left me with some very detailed marketing plans.”
“That sounds like her.”
Beth sits back, the giant silver earrings she’s wearing jingling with the movement. “And are you going to tell me how your interview went or are we going to do what I used to after mine, which is pretend they never happened?”
I laugh. “The interview went fine. They said someone would get back to me in a few weeks, but who knows.”
“It’s so weird to think that your life could change again so quickly. Just like that.”
“I know.”
“I wonder what it would be like if you stayed,” she muses. “I’d probably have to convince you to be my business partner.”
“I wouldn’t know the first thing about owning a business.”
“No, but you’re confident.”
“So are you.”
“I have a different kind of confidence,” she says ruefully. “Don’t think I don’t know that. I have optimism. You have drive. It’s very different. But I don’t think even you could save me.”
“With the café?” I frown. “Are things going badly?”
“No,” she says. “Yes. It’s pretty simple to explain. Outgoings are high and incomings are low. I’m losing money every day now.”
“There must be somewhere you could cut costs. Maybe Luke could—”
She shakes her head, cutting me off. “Luke’s already given me a huge discount on the space, not to mention free labor. He makes a show of helping out as if I’m doing a favor to him but we both know it’s because I can’t afford to bring on anyone else. Do you think he gets up early on a Sunday morning out of the goodness of his heart? He says he gets free coffee but he’s usually a one-cup-a-day guy and as you can see from his stomach he doesn’t exactly pack away the carbs.” She sighs. “Ollie’s already doing too much. Plus she never asks for a raise and it’s not like she gets any tips. I just thought the village would get behind it, you know? I thought they’d be excited about somewhere new. Everyone’s always complaining that nothing opens.”
“You sound like you’re thinking about closing.”
“That’s because I am. I thought about a fundraiser but people only have fundraisers for places they actually like.”
“Beth,” I protest.
“It’s true! And I’m sad about it. Of course, I am. And not just because it’s my money. I mean,” she grimaces. “It’s mostly because it’s my money. No one likes to be broke but if I pull the plug now it won’t be too bad. At least I won’t get into any more debt. And the more I think about it, the more I ask myself, would it be so bad to let it go? To see through the summer season and then close up shop? I read that a lot of big-time Wall Street guys won’t even look at you until you’ve got a couple of failed businesses under your belt.”
“That’s true. It’s experience.”
“So that’s what I’m going to chalk it up to. I tried my best and I failed. More importantly, I failed without dragging anyone down with me. Which is more than a lot of people can say.”
“That’s a very positive way of looking at it.” But I have to admit I’m impressed by her words. By her resolve. “I don’t think you’re a barnacle, Beth.”
