Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 138881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 556(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 556(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
“That’s…huge,” I say. That is an understatement. Bits of the conversation start to line up. “And you’re going to turn it into a bakery?”
She grins, the kind of smile that acknowledges the idea’s a little out there. “I didn’t ever plan on opening a bakery here. I don’t know if you recall, but after the incident”—she stops to sketch air quotes—“the town’s online gossip column titled their article Old McMabel and the Four Animals of the Firehouse Apocalypse. Their most popular piece ever. Which was ridiculous since the math was wrong. There were six animals that day.”
That day I met the gorgeous, spunky spitfire in this firehouse and offered to help her clean up the mess of syrup, pancakes, and bacon caused by the farm animals she’d been overseeing as a sanctuary volunteer. While we corralled and cleaned, I plotted how to ask her out. Then I learned she was Theo’s sister, home from college, and I shelved the plans for a date.
“For what it’s worth, I didn’t know about the headline,” I say, in case that eases the sting.
“Thanks. But everyone else did. I haven’t really wanted to set up roots here, or a business. I still don’t, but this is my best shot at a shopfront. Honestly, my only shot. It could be a stepping stone. It has a kitchen with two industrial-size ovens, so I can use those, for sure. We even tested them out, and they work. But the space needs some pretty serious work.”
“Well, it is a firehouse, not a bakery.”
“I know, but the prior owners did some work on it, so it’s not like it needs a complete reno,” she says, then offers a small smile. “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“And they involve brilliant brothers,” Theo adds, as he finishes another bite of the bread. “When she got the deed, she asked me if I had any ideas for how she could cover the cash for the extensive updates. Since I am the king of dealmakers, I told her to meet me here. Then I called you.”
“I had some savings,” Mabel points out, with that slight defensiveness I saw yesterday. Or, maybe it’s pride? “But it’s all gone into marketing my bakery in the city. It’s so competitive there, though, with so many storefronts and ghost kitchens and pop-ups to contend with. I’ve been trying to get a loan to open a bakery there, but I’ve had no luck. And the kitchen I rented is going keto. Now I finally have a space, and that solves one problem, but the upgrades are a whole other issue.”
She sounds hopeful and sad at the same time. Makes sense when she keeps getting close but never close enough. My heart hurts for her.
“She won’t take money from me,” Theo says.
“You have law school loans. Plus, Mom and Dad would never let me hear the end of it. The golden child had to bail you out. Maybe try a real career like law.”
“They wouldn’t have to know,” Theo says.
“They’d find out. It’s what Mom does,” Mabel says. I feel like a bystander to a private family convo. “But I need an investor if I’m ever going to be able to do this. I need…” She stops and takes a big breath. “Capital.”
Theo’s shit-eating grin grows as he turns my way, and I’m no longer a bystander. I’m the main party. I figure what is coming next, right before he says, “That’s you, man. That is fucking you. You love to bake too, and you want to open a bakery.”
But that is the someday plan. “I can’t open a bakery now, Theo. I’m busy. I have a kid. A J-O-B. You might recall it’s with the Golden State Foxes, the team you manage. I don’t have time to run a bakery now.”
Theo’s entirely unfazed by my argument. “Which is why Mabel’s offer is perfect for you.” He turns to his sister. “She has experience running a bakery. She has the time to run it. She even has, of all things, a firehouse with a kitchen.” He swings his gaze to me. “And you, man? You have the desire and the cash.”
This is all happening real fast, and I’m not so sure I’m the logical conclusion to Theo’s arguments. After all, Mabel is a property owner now. I point to the structure she just inherited. “But if she has an asset, won’t that make getting a loan easier?”
Theo lifts a finger as if to say, Good point. “Sure, that’s an option.”
“And I can definitely do that,” Mabel says with a wince. “But I do have my regular orders to fulfill. Like this huge wedding cookie order. If I wait around for bank financing, which can take forever, I’ll be losing potential money.”
Ah, so she needs a friend with cash sitting around. “So I’m the money?” I ask, feeling a little like the dude everyone comes to in a heist flick to back a crazy plan.