by Jean Oram
She took a step back, smoothing the front of his jacket. If she moved in with him she’d never make it in for her early morning baking sessions. Right now she lived across the street from Frankie’s grandfather’s old building where her restaurant was housed which meant she could roll out of bed any hour to get work done. If she lived with Frankie she’d be too tempted to stay snuggled against his warmth, particularly on cold, black mornings such as today and she needed to stay on top of her business if she expected to be able to expand it as planned.
“I need to see you more,” Frankie said. “I miss you.”
“I’m right here.” She turned away, running a damp cloth over the counter. She needed to finish up the brownies, resterilize the counter, then prep and package breakfast sandwiches for the morning crowd.
“No, you’re always flitting about, hurrying from one thing to the next.”
“Frankie, it’s—”
“I know. This business is your passion and the first years are important, but you’re going to burn out.”
“I’m fine.” Stifling a yawn, she tossed him the bag of gumdrop hearts that would go on top of tomorrow’s brownies, hoping he’d let the subject drop. “Help yourself.”
He set the unopened bag on the counter. “You’re exhausted.”
“There’s a lot going on tomorrow. And anyway, it’s worth a few late nights and early mornings if it gets my loans paid off early. I’m so close to getting through the last of the micro loans already.” Then she’d feel successful. Then she’d be able to be an equal in her partnership with Frankie instead of always the one in need.
“And then will you chill out and enjoy what you have?”
She ignored his question.
“You still want to open a second place, don’t you?” He crossed his arms over his chest as he studied her. “Is this about more income? Because making more work for yourself won’t make you rich.”
“I’m not looking to get rich, just pay off my debts.” She struggled under the intensity of his gaze as she placed her baking bowls in the dishwasher. “If I expand, in five years I’ll be way ahead of the game.”
“Why can’t the success of this place be enough?”
“I just … it sounds silly but I need to prove that I can do this.”
“You already have.” Anger was starting to edge his voice.
“Frankie, it feels like everything was given to me. The micro loans, the building—”
“You’re paying rent on this place. You’re paying back the loans. You’re in here every day of the week killing yourself. Your brownies won a national baking competition. People come here because they love your food, your place, your service. They don’t have to be loyal to you. We’re a nice town, but not that nice. This success is yours. It’s time you owned it.”
Mandy brushed off his kind words as tears pricked her eyes. It wasn’t just the need for success that kept her working so hard, but how could she explain the real reason to Frankie?
She pulled the first batch of brownies out of the oven, then loaded in tomorrow’s extra batch. Frankie fell silent as she worked and she became immersed, moving on to the next step in her morning routine.
“I’ve waited half my life for you,” he said quietly.
She paused to look at him, hands still in the bin of lettuce she was washing.
With hands flat on the island, eyes level with hers, Frankie said, “If you expand, you’re telling me to wait at least another five years before I’ll ever truly have you in my life.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “I’m in your life.”
“Do you really actually love me, Mandy?”
“What kind of question is that? You know I do.”
They stared at each other for a moment.
Frankie fidgeted with the bag of gumdrops. “Sometimes I feel as though you use this place as a way of avoiding me.”
Mandy’s throat tightened. She loved Frankie with all her heart and had since they were teens. It had been a big step allowing herself to finally trust in their love. She’d turned her best friend into a lover and he’d been a huge part of helping her make her dream of running her own restaurant come true. How could he ever doubt how much she cared?
She bit her lip and focused on rinsing the lettuce, fighting back the pain in her chest. She needed to push hard to make her restaurant as profitable as she could, needed to expand. Why didn’t he see that? She needed it so she could be with him. Because if she moved in with him, then a proposal would come. That meant a wedding. She couldn’t afford a wedding, and her family sure as heck wouldn’t be paying for one. Frankie was doing okay with his car restoring business, but it wouldn’t be fair to have him pay for their entire wedding—especially when he wanted to build a bigger shop and move to doing the work full-time. Not when he’d already done so much to help her get to where she was now. It was her turn to pull some weight.
“Move in with me,” he said again. “I miss you. We can spend more time together. I won’t be rushing home in the mornings to let Heart outside. You won’t be hurrying home to feed Portia.”
“You think my cat and your dog will get along under one roof?” she joked, trying to deflect the conversation.
“We can move into my place. There’s plenty of room.”
His place was tiny, but she knew she’d fit right into the space, loving how she’d be tucked tight against her man.
“I’ll think about it,” she said, finally.
“What’s there to think about?”
“I can’t afford it.”
“Your expenses won’t change,” he said with infinite patience. “We’ll actually end up further ahead because we’ll be sharing rent—well, my mortgage.”
“So, you’re looking for a sugar mama to pay your mortgage?” She gave him a saucy smile, but he remained serious.
“Mandy.” He reached over and stilled her working hands. “This isn’t how love works. When two people love each other, they spend as much time together as possible. We barely spend more than a few hours a week in the same room, and when we do all we talk about is work. It’s not healthy and we need to make some changes.”
Change meant losing. Losing income. Losing the chance to be an equal. Losing the chance to make it all back to the man she loved. Losing the chance to help him reach his own dreams.
Mandy, unable to speak, continued to work, head bent low.
* * *
Mandy sat in her office, joining the conference call that would determine whether the other Wrap It up chain owners would approve her plans for expansion or not. Crossing her fingers and taking a deep breath, she put a smile in her voice and greeted the other women.
Ethan popped his head through the office door, using one crutch to support himself—not a bad day for her brother who was still recovering from a bad car accident last year. “Hey, are we out of tomatoes?”
She frowned at the disruption and placed a thumb over the speaker on her phone. “Check the crate under the island.”
“Already did.”
“We can’t be out.”
“About a dozen got frozen in transit. Forgot to tell you I tossed them.”
She was going to have to talk to the trucker about how to handle produce in the winter. “Another shipment comes this afternoon. We’ll have to make do until then.”
Her brother nodded and went back to the kitchen. She lifted her thumb from the speaker and listened to the ladies chat about their month and a few changes they had in mind for their own restaurants. They’d all banded together when the original franchise owner had tried taking them all for a ride. They’d come out on top in the end, and in the process had become not only business partners but life-long friends that trusted each other implicitly.
“So, Mandy?” Blair Diggs asked. “When are you going to share your award-winning brownie recipe with the rest of the chain?”
Mandy chuckled at the running joke. “I don’t know, how are the weather conditions in Hell?”
&nb
sp; The women roared with laughter and one of them groaned. “Blueberry Springs is too far to go to get my hands on those things.”
“Yeah, but it’s better for your figure that way,” another replied. “We can’t eat too many.”
“So,” Mandy said, “Did you have a chance to read over my projections? What do you ladies think about me opening another location?” An awkward silence stretched over the line and her stomach fell into a crumpled mess in her pelvic region. “Did you get my proposal?”
“I got it, but I’m just not sure expanding so soon is a good idea,” Lexi said. “It was exhausting running two places when I gave it a go. I was worried and stressed all the time.”
“Right, but this is a different situation,” Mandy said. Lexi’s expansion had been fraught with bad luck, bad timing, as well as fudged projections from the old owner. Mandy had checked all the angles and done the math several times over. She knew it could work—all she needed was the approval of her fellow brand owners.
“Mandy, I just don’t think the timing is right. It’s too financially risky.” It was Diana, the owner of the flagship restaurant. “You’re just getting your feet under you. Opening a second place may sound like a good idea, but it’s going to spread you too thin. You’re not going to be able to physically keep up with the demand of two places.”
“How many hours a week are you spending in your restaurant right now?” Blair asked.
What a question. It was easier to work out how many hours she wasn’t spending here.
“If you haven’t hired a manager,” Blair continued, “and don’t feel safe leaving it for a one week vacation, then you aren’t ready to expand.”
Vacation? What was that?
“I can leave this place for a few days.” She was sure of it. Although her best employee—her brother—wasn’t exactly the most reliable person. She’d considered hiring a manager, but wasn’t really sure what she’d do with her time if someone else was managing things. Managing was her job. Plus, paying another employee would interfere with paying down her debts as fast as possible.
“I need to think about it a bit more,” Blair said.
The others quickly agreed and Mandy breathed a sigh of relief. Her plan was still a possibility.
“You need to think about how expansion would affect your everyday life as well, Mandy,” Blair said. “Talk to everyone tomorrow?”
They all agreed on a time and hung up.
Mandy stared at the silent phone, feeling defeated. She made her way into the restaurant to prepare for the lunch crowd, her heart not in it. She was sure she didn’t have to be here every day, she just chose to be. Why couldn’t the women see that?
Standing behind the pick-up counter, she wondered if Frankie would come by for his usual soup and sandwich. He’d been pretty hurt when he’d left that morning.
Smiling, she served her regular customers, loving the way her place was filling up with her regulars as well as a few new faces.
“Mandy Mattson?” a man asked, butting into line.
“The line starts back there,” she replied, pointing.
“Actually I was hoping to speak to you. I’m Theodore Chase with the Hungry Man grocery chain. I’d like to chat about the possibility of our two companies working together.”
“I already have my suppliers, but if you have a price list I don’t mind taking a look.” She handed the customer she’d been serving his change and called the next person in line.
“Actually, we were wondering about your brownies. The ones that won nationals.” He indicated a stack of brownies under the glass dome to his right. “The whiskey and gumdrop ones.”
“You’ve tried them?” She didn’t remember seeing him in here before.
“Love them. We’d like to carry them in our store.”
“Ethan? Can you take over?” Mandy asked, leading Theodore through the kitchen and into her small office, barely daring to breathe at the possibility of a new deal. “Sorry, there’s not a lot of room in here.”
The man took the chair wedged between the door and her desk. “Basically, we’d like to try once a week shipments,” he said, smoothing his thinning hair over his crown. “We have forty successful stores across the country and would like to try selling your brownies in three local outlets. A three month trial.”
“How many brownies per week for each store?” She held her breath, hoping for a big number.
“Forty half dozen packages. Per week, per store to start.”
She was going to need a better cocoa supplier. And possibly cheaper butter in order to boost her profits. And more ovens. A lot more.
There went any profits.
“Don’t your stores have their own bakeries?” she asked, considering her competition.
“Yes, but we would stop making brownies for the duration of your contract. You’d be our exclusive brownie supplier.”
“Why?”
“Because we’ve tried yours. And honestly, we’ve tried replicating the recipe and can’t figure it out. Yours also have a blue ribbon. Why not deliver the best to our customers?”
She sat back, stunned. This could be huge.
“Will you buy them outright or am I on the hook for expired goods?”
“It’s all in the contract.” He began rifling through his briefcase. “You would be responsible for your own packaging, delivery. Bring them to us ready to sell.”
Mandy looked at the spreadsheets he laid in front of her as well as the offer. If packaging and delivery didn’t cost too much, she could make a tidy profit—solving some of her money worries. The problem was, she’d need a bigger kitchen which wouldn’t come cheap.
“When do you need to know by?”
“The offer is good until the end of the month.”
If she could swing a way to produce that many brownies in a short window of time each week, she might be able to really get things moving in her life as well as marry her best friend before he got tired of waiting.
Maybe.
* * *
Mandy let herself into Frankie’s house, scratching his big dog, Heart, behind the ears as she sought out her boyfriend.
“Frankie?” she called. “Guess what?”
“I’m in the kitchen.”
“That is a total turn-on by the way. Being in the kitchen.”
“Too bad for you I’m wearing clothes.”
She leaned against the doorway. “That can easily be remedied.”
“You big tease. I know as soon as I get some food in you you’re going to crash on the couch.”
“You’re probably right.” Stretching, Mandy let out a yawn. “I’m bagged, and tomorrow’s going to be crazy busy.”
Frankie handed her a plate of his homemade mac ’n’ cheese from the microwave.
“Thanks.” She sat at the table. “Did you already eat?”
He nodded.
She dug into the food, happy it was something different than the sandwiches she usually ate at her restaurant. “Mmm. Comfort food. I needed this.” Trying to tell herself she wasn’t disappointed that Frankie had already eaten—it was after nine at night, so of course he’d eaten—she bolted down her meal. She needed to make some changes in regards to her eating habits. She ate too late, then ate too much, too fast. Since opening her place she’d gained five pounds, despite being run off her feet every day.
“What was I supposed to guess?” Frankie asked, joining her at the table. She loved this part of her day. It didn’t happen often, but sometimes she managed to sneak away from work before he turned in. Tomorrow was going to be busy and, technically, she should still be working, but she needed Frankie to know he was a priority. Plus, she wanted to share her latest news.
“Hungry Man asked if I’d supply them with my whiskey and gumdrop brownies.”
“Get out of town!” Frankie got up and gave her a massive hug, lifting her out of the chair. But when he let her go again, she could see the worry in his eyes. Which meant they were set for another argument abo
ut how hard she worked.
Instead, he sat and said, “That’s great news.”
“It’s a real compliment, but I don’t know if I can do it.” Mandy pulled her hair out of its ponytail, shaking out her mane. Frankie’s eyes darkened with desire and she felt herself blush. She’d never get enough of how he looked at her.
“Of course you can,” he said.
“What happened to me working too hard?”
“You looking to fight?” He tugged her hand, pulling her onto his lap. “Maybe there are other ways to get your success without opening another restaurant, Mandy. Something less likely to wear you out.”
“It’s only a three month contract. The overhead probably won’t even allow me to break even. And if it doesn’t work out, I’ll have all this extra equipment and nothing to do with it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Where am I going to bake over seven hundred brownies in one day? They have to be delivered fresh.” And how was she going to make sure her restaurant stayed on track if she was busy working on this? She’d need more staff to fill the hole her absence would create.
“The community center rents out their industrial kitchen. You could bake a ton of brownies in there in a few hours.”
“Why didn’t I think of that?” She grabbed his chin and pulled him to her for a kiss.
“There’s a reason to keep me around, now isn’t there?”
“Of course there is.”
“Then why don’t you move a few things in here with me? I have lots more ideas just waiting for you to ask.”
She hesitated.
“I’m serious.”
She nodded, unable to face him.
The playful tone in his voice vanished. “Look.” He pushed her off his lap so he could stand. “You need to do some serious thinking about you and me and where you want this to go. If we’ve already run our course as a couple, I need to know now—not after I’ve spent several more years waiting for you.” He walked them to the door, helping her into her coat, avoiding her eyes. “You have a big day tomorrow, get some rest.”
