Page 19 of Building Romance
“What’s eating you, kid?” Al asks as he leans over the bar to pour more martini into my glass. He drops two olives in there for good measure and stands back as he assesses me.
“I signed the contract,” I announce.
The space falls silent.
“Wait. What?” Drew asks. “When were you going to tell us this?” I cringe a little. I had wanted to call him but he’s been so supportive of my fight against McDowell’s that I knew he’d talk me out of it and I really need this. Fletch had made one change from our agreed-upon stipulations, a lien on my equipment for two years. If the café goes belly up, he would be able to retain them for sale to pay off the money spent on covering my loan. I admit I don’t love being tied to the McDowell’s any more than I already am, but it seemed fair and Winston didn’t have any major issues with that when we chatted.
I sigh as I take in everyone’s faces. Are they disappointed in me? “I just did it. Before coming up here. He had it couriered over this afternoon.”
“And you didn’t think to mention this to anyone here?” Margie asks. “Did you have a lawyer look it over?”
“Yes. Winston looked at it,” I say. My big brother is a lawyer for a nonprofit that rescues animals.
“Are dogs involved?” Drew asks, his voice laced with sarcasm.
I glare at him.
“I thought you’d all be happy. I’m going to be in the City Bake-Off competition. I’ll be on television. This is huge for Cam’s Café,” I explain.
“We thought you were going to bring McDowell’s down, not join with them,” Hutch states to a round of nods from my friends.
“Keep your enemies closer, right?” I say with a shrug.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Bray says with a look of concern. Shit. Now, I’m worried. Did I just make a deal with the devil himself? Possibly. But can I flip the script on him? Also possible.
“Listen. The new plan is to get close to Fletcher McDowell and then find his weak spot and exploit the hell out of it,” I explain.
“Like counterintelligence?” Kasen asks.
“Exactly. If I can learn more about what they plan to sell at this new place down the street, then I can change up things at the café in a way that hurts their bottom dollar. Plus, I got them to pay off my small business loan,” I say with a grin.
“No way,” Hutch says.
“Way,” I reply and he gives me a high five.
“OK, that’s one thing,” he says.
“Exactly. Now, I need to come up with a cookie, a cupcake, and a pie for this competition,” I say as I grab some chips from a bowl on the bar.
“Chocolate,” Ava says without looking up from where she’s making the tenth tic-tac-toe board on a napkin.
“Cookies?” I ask.
“All of them,” she says.
“S’mores,” Carly suggests.
“Oh, yeah. Mom’s right, s’mores,” Ava says, looking up this time to give me a big grin.
“I’ll consider that one. Any other brilliant idea?” I ask as I look around.
“Something with alcohol,” Cornelia says as she raises a glass of wine.
“Yeah, something with bourbon or whiskey,” Troy chimes in. And just like that, everyone is saying flavors from bubblegum to lingonberry. I type notes on my phone, hoping that one of these crazy flavors will lead to a brilliant idea because those strawberry margarita cookies were a hit.
By the time happy hour dies down, I’m feeling better and more confident in my decision.
“You know, Fletcher isn’t a horrible human,” Al says as he wipes the bar clean.
