Jamie looked shocked, then his eyes narrowed. “I thought we could finally discuss what happened between us and clear the air. Clearly, I was mistaken.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an appointment.”
She pushed past him, forcing him to take a step back, annoyed that she’d let him get to her as she marched up to the reception desk.
“Susan, I have an appointment with Andrew.”
The receptionist had watched the whole show and her eyebrows were nearly touching the top of her forehead.
“Of course, Stephanie. I’ll let Andrew know you’ve arrived. Are you okay? Could you I get you a drink of water?”
“I’m absolutely fine.”
“Right then, I won’t be a moment.”
Susan picked up the phone while keeping an eye on the door and glancing worriedly at Stephanie. Her voice low, she spoke for a couple of minutes.
Why was Jamie still loitering? She could feel his eyes on her back and she wanted to yell at him to leave her alone, but there were several other people in the bank as well as the overly interested Susan. There was no way she was going to cause more of a scene than the one that they’d already witnessed.
Fortunately, just as her nerves were stretched to the breaking point, Andrew arrived. He gave Jamie a pointed look which indicated that Susan had not been slow in filling him in on what had transpired and, if there was any doubt, the tell-tale flushed cheeks of the receptionist confirmed it.
“Come into my office, Stephanie, and we can discuss the shop in private.”
Stephanie followed him down the small corridor, seething at Andrew’s stupidity. Now everyone, including Jamie, would know why she was at the bank today. And by this afternoon, a good deal more of the residents of Prossers Bay would also know. Andrew closed the door and settled her into a chair as if she was an invalid.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m sure whatever Susan told you happened out there is grossly exaggerated.”
“Oh. Is it?”
“Andrew, I’m here to see about getting a loan to lease a shop in town and open a café.”
“Ahhh. I’d heard you were looking around again. Do you think a café’s viable? We have the resort and the bakery, as well as the restaurant outside of town. Not to mention the hotel, which also has a restaurant.”
“The café is something completely different from all of those. I intend to bake a lot of home-made things to reduce costs but it’s somewhere to stop for a chat or a coffee that doesn’t exist in Prossers Bay. At least not the way I intend to do it.”
“I see how determined you are. Have you got a business plan?”
Stephanie proudly pulled out the paperwork. She’d worked on this for so long and she knew it could work. She just had to convince Andrew, who seemed intent in putting all sorts of doubts into her head.
Andrew studied the numbers and the details thoroughly before sitting back and making a steeple out of his fingers.
“I’m not wholly convinced in your ability to carry this off. Not when I still believe there’s too much competition, but you’ve been very thorough. I took the liberty of pulling up your files, when I knew you had made the appointment. You have a healthy savings plan. Is this what you intend to use for the start-up?”
Stephanie realized that she’d been holding her breath. “Yes. Not all of it, though. I want to keep several thousand for a buffer so that I can pay my bills while I build the business.”
“That sounds very wise.”
“I’ve worked in a few cafés before. I know how competitive it is and how much money it takes to get it up and running. I also know how hard it’s going to be, but I really want to do this. Please say ‘yes’.”
She hated the pleading tone and the way Andrew was regarding her as if she was a little crazy.
He tapped his fingers on the table. “I’ll need to go over the figures in more depth. It’s a shame that you have no collateral. We’d have to use the assets you purchase if anything goes wrong.”
“I totally understand, and don’t worry about the bank’s money. It’ll be totally safe.”
Andrew laughed. “If I had a dollar for every time I’d heard that I would have retired some time ago.”
They both stood and shook hands, then Andrew walked her through the bank to the front door. Thankfully, Jamie had left. Stephanie leaned towards Andrew. “I’d appreciate if you didn’t let this get out until everything’s signed up.”
Andrew blustered, “I wouldn’t dream of breaking a confidence.”
Really? “Thanks, Andrew. See you soon.”
She left him on the top step with his feathers a little ruffled, but she had other people to talk to about this and, despite Andrew’s assurance, she knew how things worked in Prossers Bay. The word would spread like wildfire, if it hadn’t already.
She needed to talk to Abby. Right now.
Abby was eating her lunch at the same house where Liam, her newly adopted son, had been found. There was a large deck around the back, with a beautiful view of the bay. A large umbrella protected her friend from the sun. Abby looked up from the book she was reading and smiled.
“Hi, Steph. How did the meeting go?”
Stephanie stopped a few feet from the table, feeling the color drain from her face.
“Oh, my gosh, how did you find out so soon? Did somebody call and tell you where I was?”
Abby whipped off her sunglasses. “No one called. What’s happened? And, why are you so upset? You said you were going to shoot off for an hour over lunch time because you had a meeting.”
Stephanie slumped into the seat next to Abby. “Damn, that’s right. I thought the gossip mongers had been out in force and you’d found out what I was up to before I plucked up the courage to tell you.”
Abby put down her sandwich. “Is this about Jamie?”
“No, not at all. Well, maybe a little. Seeing him reminded me why I left him and Sydney. I had a plan, and somehow I let it slip through my fingers. This time I have only myself to blame. I’ve decided to do something about it, and how I do that concerns you.”
Abby had been nodding her approval, then her eyes widened as she understood what Stephanie was saying and where the conversation was heading.
“Ahhh. Here we go again. Another staff member bites the dust.”
Stephanie’s heart tugged at letting her friend down, but Abby wasn’t angry. That wasn’t her style. “I wish I could say it wasn’t true. I will say that it won’t be any time soon, so you’ll have plenty of time to find a replacement.”
“Are you leaving Prossers Bay?”
“No way. This is my home and I couldn’t imagine moving away again. Once was more than enough. You know I’ve always wanted to open my own café, and it seems like I’m actually doing it. I went to see Andrew at the bank, although I’m not convinced he’s going to cough up the money. But, even if it does happen, it’ll still take a while to get things organized.”
“Oh, Stephanie, I’m so happy for you. That’s awesome. I know how much this means to you. Whereabouts are you looking at opening it?”
“I haven’t totally decided. There’s a couple of places that would do, but I’m leaning towards that empty store next to Mary Anne’s. I think it might be perfect.”
“Yes, yes, I know the place and you’re right, it’ll be perfect. If there’s anything I can do, please let me know.”
Stephanie felt the prickle of tears at her friend’s understanding. “Abby, please don’t be kind. I feel bad for you, especially after losing Megan to the resort.”
“Hey, don’t be silly. We all knew that cleaning other people’s houses wasn’t something that you two would want to do forever. I was lucky to have you for as long as I did. I’m honestly happy for you, and everyone else who loves you will be, too. We all have to follow our dreams, and this is your time. Tell me, how do you feel about it?”
“Ecstatic. Scared as hell. It’s not a for
egone conclusion, so I don’t want to build myself up for disappointment. And, no matter what you say, I feel terrible for doing this to you and I worry how you’ll manage.”
“I’ve been meaning to replace Megan. This is the push I needed to get off my backside and do it. I don’t suppose you have an idea yet of the time frame?”
“Not really. Andrew thinks I should hear next week about the loan, if not before. But then I have to put an offer on the shop, which needs to be accepted, and then, of course, I’ve got to get the business set up with furniture and an industrial kitchen. I’ve done a lot of research. I do know it’s going to take quite a while, possibly a month or two, depending on the loan.”
“Maybe we could all get together and brainstorm about it?”
“Sounds good to me. You can tell me all about hiring staff and give me some tips on running a business.”
“I would have thought that all this time of working together and watching my mistakes might have put you off.” Abby laughed. “But there’s a lot to be said about being your own boss. It certainly makes a difference having the right staff and I think Megan will definitely be a help to you there.”
Stephanie nodded. “Megan should be an expert with the number of staff she has, and she may have some leads for suppliers. I feel bad about not telling her about all this, though. She’s going to be upset that she wasn’t the first to know, especially since she told me as soon as she was thinking of having a career change. I just wanted to find out if it was a possibility financially, and know in my own mind that I was ready to take on the challenge.”
“Megan will be delighted for you, and to have some input. You’ve been ready for a long time. I’ve seen how depressed you’ve been, going home to that small apartment above the store to your microwave meals, when we all know how much you’ve been itching to get back into cooking.”
“Really? I thought I was hiding it well.”
“I am the queen of depression remember? Or should I say was.”
Stephanie smiled at her, happy that the heartache of countless miscarriages was all behind her friend. Finding Liam had changed her life and brought Abby and her husband Max together once more. They had been dark days prior to that, and Stephanie had been very afraid for her. Now, Stephanie was the one needing help and she knew Abby, Megan and Jeanne would be there for her.
“You’re right, Abby. I don’t know how many times I’ve thought about getting something with a decent kitchen, but I had to save every penny for the shop.”
“Everything that’s important to you takes time, trust me on this. You’ll need the right staff.”
“Yes, I’ve been thinking about that. I’m not sure how many I’ll need, but from the start, at least one more person, especially if I’m going to do all the baking.”
“I don’t envy you the early starts.”
Stephanie laughed. “It’ll be hard to get back into that, but I’ve done it before. As you know, when I left Prossers Bay, I worked in a bakery in Dunedin, and then a café in Sydney, and I often had morning shifts. It’s actually a nice time of the day, really quiet and you can get a lot done with no one to interrupt you.”
“It’ll be great to see you baking again. It’s been such a long time.”
“It feels like forever to me. I’ll have to get your brownie recipe and practice again. I’ve hardly cooked since I moved back to Prossers Bay. I’m bound to be rusty.”
“I’m sure it’ll come back to you easily enough. It’s a shame that you had to give up on your dream for this long, and that Jamie didn’t appreciate how much this meant to you.”
Stephanie nodded. “You know, I actually thought I’d gotten over it. I thought that seeing him might remind me, but that I could deal with it. Now I’m thinking, that since we’re never getting back together, why would I hesitate? Why am I putting obstacles in the way of something I’ve always wanted to do when financially I’m probably ready?”
“Maybe you lost your self-confidence?”
“I think you’re right. That, and being scared of failing. But you always fail if you don’t try.”
Abby leaned over and wrapped her arms around her. “I’m so proud of you.”
Stephanie suddenly felt very emotional and decided to change the subject.
“When’s a good time to get together?”
Abby released her and smiled knowingly, but merely answered, “I’ll call the girls and see when they’re free. I know that Megan and Jordan are flat out at the moment.”
“When aren’t they? Anyway, thanks for organizing that, and for being this understanding. We’ll, I guess I’d better get on with the cleaning, since I’m so far behind and thanks for changing houses. Not having to clean at Doc’s while Jamie’s in town makes life a lot easier.”
“Any time.”
They stood together and hugged each other tightly once more.
As she left, Stephanie felt lighter than she had in a while. She should never have doubted that Abby would be in her corner, encouraging her to fight for what really mattered. No matter how awful she felt about leaving Abby’s cleaning company, the feelings of finally doing something positive with her life was beginning to have an effect. A weight was lifting, and if she could only avoid seeing Jamie again until he left Prossers Bay, she would actually be ridiculously happy. If it all went according to plan.
That brought her back to earth with a jolt. Not much in her life had followed any resemblance to how she thought it would pan out, or how she’d wanted it to. Which wasn’t always the same thing.
Even before Jamie proved to not be the man she’d fallen in love with. The man she’d spent her adult life following from Dunedin to Sydney, working crap jobs and studying small business when she could fit it in, and putting her own dream on hold, while he became the doctor she’d always imagined him to be. Only he never did give her the chance to do the same.
It had taken a long time to realize that only she could change things, so she’d ended up back where she started, with nothing to show for her sacrifice, except an increasing hole in her already bruised heart.
Her parents had passed away four years ago, not long after Stephanie had moved to Sydney. Stephanie had been a surprise late in life. She did have a much older brother, Joshua, but he was living and teaching in England and she hadn’t seen him since the funerals. Because of the age gap, and the fact that he’d left to travel extensively and not return apart from a couple of vacations, they were not very close.
When her mom died suddenly, her dad had followed a few months later. He’d been in his seventies, but she’d often wondered if he died because of a broken heart, since they’d been devoted to each other.
She’d once imagined that she and Jamie would be like that. Unable to live without each other, and not really needing other people. How wrong she’d been. If it hadn’t been for her friends she would have felt more alone than she did.
Stephanie shook her head. Her brain seemed to be on a vicious carousel with every mirror looking at her past. Maybe she couldn’t afford to get too excited about the shop, but she wasn’t going down this maudlin track. With an effort, she vigorously went to work on the next house, with the idea of pushing her thoughts so far to the side that she’d forget about everything for a short while.
Chapter 6
A few days later, Stephanie opened the door to the vacant shop and smiled at the mess in front of her. The old second-hand business hadn’t been touched for years and the place was filled with dust and scraps of paper. It also reeked of something she wasn’t sure that she wanted to know the location of.
A counter cut across the back wall in an ‘L’ shape and although it was pitted and filthy, it had potential.
Further on was what had passed for a kitchen. Gross was an understatement, as was impractical. Everything would have to be removed to make way for what Stephanie had in mind.
She could picture the shiny new range and hot plates, a walk-in refrigerator and hanging pots and pans.
&nbs
p; “You look so happy. I can finally see what this means to you.”
Stephanie literally jumped, and her heart raced with the fright but it didn’t seem to slow after she realized that her intruder was Jamie. He was in his sweats again, and looked like he’d been out on one of his runs.
“Sorry I didn’t knock. I saw you come in here and put two and two together after overhearing your conversation with Andrew,” he said sheepishly.
“I knew it! Look, I’m still waiting on the loan. Please don’t say anything to anyone just yet.”
“I’m assuming that your posse knows?”
“Well, yes. I had to tell Abby and you know how it is with us four.”
“I do. Don’t give it a second thought. The town won’t hear it from me.”
Thanks,” she said awkwardly.
“I can see you all set up in here. I know you’ll be good at it.”
“I’ll need to be better than good to pay the loan. I keep getting terrible visions of failure and I’m hoping that’s not a sign that I shouldn’t be doing this.”
“You will be far better than good. No one cooks like you do, and you’re smart and practical.”
Stephanie blushed. For all the things Jamie didn’t say, he’d always praised her cooking to anyone who would listen. The rest was nice to hear as well, and he hadn’t finished.
“I’m sorry that you didn’t get to do this when we were together. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately and we should have been able to work something out. I think I was scared of you being successful and not wanting to come with me when I decided where I wanted to go next. Crazy, really, when you came home anyway.”
She looked at him in wonder. He really did get it now, and she had a clearer understanding of why he would feel like he had. It was all about his childhood—being in control, and also having respect from people and feeling good about himself. Deep down, hadn’t she known that? Yes, but she’d had needs as well.
They both had their insecurities, and together neither of them had been able to overcome them. Maybe they had to be apart to grow up. They were both to blame.
Prossers Bay Series Page 25
