With that, Brice takes his seat again with a huge smile on his face and shoots me a wink.
"Has Gary had any problem taking over for you while you’ve been gone?" Dad asks.
"Nope. I figured he wouldn't."
"When are you going to put him out of his misery and let him take you out on a date?" Dad asks, making Brice's whole body stiffen.
"Dad, I'm not talking about this. The last person I need to be dating is my CFO, and that's if I was dating anyone at all.”
Fortunately, he doesn't get a chance to reply because people start signing in. They look a bit startled to see both of us, but just like Dad taught me, I put on my business face and wait to start the meeting exactly on time.
After I begin the meeting, I turn it over to my dad who goes over his meeting yesterday and the contract that was negotiated. While he’s talking, I monitor who is scribbling town notes and paying attention, as opposed to those who are just there in the belief that showing up is enough.
When my dad finishes, Gary turns the meeting over to me."Kayla, how are things going in Small Town USA?"
"They’re going. Yesterday, I took a tour of the town. WJ's, as you know, features in much of the town’s history, and has its roots here, so that's a big component. I was thinking each place would be unique, featuring local history and ranches instead of the Rock Springs ones."
"That makes franchising a bit difficult," someone says, but I didn't see who.
"Not really. The reclaimed wood wall would be the same across all locations, but the brands would be the ones from local ranches."
They launch into talking about ways to promote the locations and such, and my head begins to pound. I close my eyes for just a moment, but Brice kicks me under the table with a look of concern on his face.
"Okay, I have an appointment to get to, so I need to run. But feel free to keep chatting about all this," I say, signing out.