Vivi shook her head. “Very little. The smoker, the industrial ovens and the electrical equipment were all soaked and the electrics fried. And even if they could be rewired, they are now a health risk. The crockery and cutlery have been washed and boxed but that’s not worth a whole lot. The furniture in the restaurant all needs to be replaced and the entire building needs to be repainted. It’s going to add up to tens of thousands of dollars, Cam.”
Cam picked up her clipboard and flipped through her papers. When he grimaced, Vivi’s stomach sank to her toes. “Basically, you’re looking at setting up a new restaurant, Viv.”
She nodded. “I know.”
“Can Joe take out a loan, approach his bank?”
Vivi wrinkled her nose and placed her elbows on the table, holding her face in her hands. “I’d like him to, but he’s close to retirement age, Cam. I’m asking him to take out a huge loan to rebuild a restaurant when it makes better sense for him to take the insurance money and invest it.”
It was hard facing the truth but Vivi had experience in dealing with the reality of the situation, not the fantasy. Okay, she was living a fantasy life with Cam in his lovely house in the best area in town, but that would end. Real life wasn’t housekeepers and fancy cars, a hot man in her bed, a full-time dad for Clem. Her future reality would be dropping Clem off with him for weekends, having him around for Clem’s birthday parties, discussing their daughter’s progress on the phone.
She could look at the future and see it clearly...and Rollin’ didn’t have much of a chance. In fact, if she gave Joe permission to retire—she knew he was only sticking around because of her—it would cease to exist. It was looking increasingly likely that she’d have to find a new job, in a new kitchen, run by people who neither knew her nor cared about her. She wouldn’t be able to bring Clem to work, to take time off when she needed to, and wouldn’t have the freedom of being her own boss.
“I think this is it, Cam.”
Vivi felt his big arms surround her, felt the kiss he placed in her hair before he bent his head to place his cheek against her temple. “We’ll find a way, Viv. Let me help.”
She wanted to allow him to pick up her clipboard and wave a magic wand, throw some money at the problem and restore Rollin’ to what it was. He was rich enough to do that, astute enough to make it work. But if he did that, if she allowed him to take over, it would just be another thing she lost control over, another part of her life that she’d have to share with Cam. Rollin’, her job here and the people were hers. She’d washed every dish, learned every recipe, developed her own. She’d nagged and moaned and laughed with her staff, mentored them as Joe had mentored her. This kitchen was her domain, the one place she had complete hold over. If Cam became involved, because he wasn’t the type to sit on the sidelines, she’d lose autonomy.
She might as well go and work for another restaurant.
“I can help you, Vivianne. Let me,” Cam whispered in her ear.
But then it wouldn’t be hers. It would be his because Vivi knew that he who held the cash exerted the control. She shook her head and patted the arm that was hooked around her waist. “Thank you but...no. Everything comes to an end, and this, I think, is the end of this journey.”
She felt Cam stiffen and he jerked away from her. She slowly turned and saw the disappointment on his face and, worse, the hurt in his eyes. “Why won’t you let me help you? I invest in companies, in case you’ve forgotten, and I’d like to invest in you.”
If she wasn’t sleeping with him, if she wasn’t the mother of his child, would he still be making the same offer? If she came to him as a stranger, would he be jumping in as eagerly as he was now? She didn’t think so. “It won’t work, Cam.”
“Why the hell not?”
Vivi folded her arms and made herself meet his eyes. “Because then it wouldn’t be mine. It would be yours.”
His sexy mouth thinned. “I don’t understand.”
“If you threw a vast amount of money into this place, you would then become my boss, and this wouldn’t be my happy space anymore. While I don’t own any shares in this business, Joe treated me like a partner, not an employee.”