The look of shock is still clearly written on her face. Her silence is also a bit deafening. Shit, I should have taken Leo’s advice a little more seriously and not jumped out of the gate with trying to throw money at what I see as the problem.
“Talk to me, babe.”
“I,” she says, then closes her mouth before continuing. “I just don’t even know what to say to all of that. I understand that you’re trying to help, I really do, but I just need time to think about everything you just said. I don’t like taking handouts. I’ve made this business what it is today with hard work.”
“I understand that, babe, I really do. I just want to help, and this is the one way I know that I can help.”
“Can you give me a few days to think some things over? That will give me time to talk to Lacey and see what she thinks. She might not own the bakery, but it’s something we’ve talked about a few times. She’d love to buy into it, but that is years down the road for her. Being a single mom has its limits and she can only do so much right now.”
“If that is what you need, then I’ll be patient,” I tell her, and will myself to give her that.
12
Harper
The morning rushis finally over, and I feel like I can breathe again. My mind has been racing since my call with Nathan last night, and I still don’t know what to do.
“Spill it,” Lacey says from the doorway between the front area and the kitchen.
“It is scary sometimes how you know when I’m mulling something over.” I laugh.
“You have so many tells, girl. From the lines you get between your eyebrows, to how quiet you’ve been all morning. I think even the customers know you’re dealing with something big. Not to mention, I know you’re missing a certain hunky billionaire.”
“He made a suggestion last night and I don’t know what to think of it,” I tell her.
“And?” she says, rolling her hand, asking for me to elaborate.
“He wants me to come to California for a week. Suggested I hire some extra help so that you aren’t overworked. He even offered to become a silent investor in the bakery to supply the cash to cover the additional payroll expenses.”
“It isn’t a bad idea, the hiring extra help, that is. We’ve been talking about how we need more help anyway, so this would be that extra little push to take that step. I don’t know if taking his investment offer is necessary, but the extra capital doesn’t hurt, either. We could maybe upgrade some of the equipment like you’ve wanted to do,” she suggests.
“I guess.” I think about what she’s just said. It would be nice to have new equipment, the ovens we have in here are going on twenty years old and I’ve had to replace more parts than I want to think about, but when I priced out new ones, there was no way I could afford them, as they are about thirty thousand dollars each for the big commercial-size that we need. “I told him to give me a couple of days to think about things, talk to you. Maybe I’ll go talk to my dad and see what he thinks when I’m done here today.”
“That sounds like a solid plan, but in the meantime, if you want to plan a vacation, I know we can get some help in here to give you the time away. You know my mom will gladly come help out, and I’m sure we can post a help wanted sign and have others that can at least work the front end. It isn’t like our register is a complicated system. The hard part is back here in the kitchen. I can be in charge of decorating and my mom can be in charge of baking everything.”
“You think so?” I ask, allowing just a little bit of excitement to build. The idea of a vacation is very appealing. I haven’t taken one, basically in forever.
“I know so, hold on, I’ll call my mom and ask her. You can hear for yourself that she’s more than willing to help,” she tells me and pulls out her cell. She taps the screen a few times before I hear the call ringing. “Hello, Lacey,” my Aunt Rita answers the phone. “Hey, Mom. I’ve got you on speaker and am here with Harper.”
“Hey, Harp,” she greets me.
“Hi, Aunt Rita,” I return the gesture.
“The reason I’m calling is to assure Harper of something. She’s trying to take a little vacation, but we’d need some help down here at the bakery. I told her that you’d be more than willing to help cover with the baking and I could handle all the decorating. Please tell her that I’m correct,” Lacey says to her mom.
“Of course! I’d love to come down and do some baking! Just tell me when and I’ll be there with bells on,” Aunt Rita exclaims.
“Told you,” Lacey says, smirking at me. “That’s what I thought. Thanks for confirming, Mom.”
“You’d be okay with the early hours?” I confirm. Many people don’t realize just how early I have to be up and at the bakery in the morning to have things hot and ready to go for everyone when we open. While some things can be made the day before, some items are just so much better when they’re fresh. Plus, we tend to go through almost everything within the same day, and it isn’t unusual for us to run out of items before closing time, so there’s nothing left for the next day.
“Won’t be an issue at all. You know I’m a morning person, plus, I’ve worked an early morning or two in my life.” She laughs. She was a nurse at the local hospital for thirty-plus years and always worked the day shift for as long as I can remember.
“Thanks, Aunt Rita. We’ll keep you updated on what ends up happening and if I decide to go.”
“Sounds good. I’ll look forward to your call,” she says before Lacey ends the call.
“That wasn’t so bad. Now to hire part-time help,” she says, pulling out some poster board we keep in the office, along with a couple markers.