by Jean Oram
"Did you talk to Blueberry Springs?" Frankie asked, his voice a low grumble from the other side of the room. His tone made Mandy's body react in a way that felt a lot like lust and she shook it off while shooting him a look. She'd already had this conversation with Seth; Frankie needed to shut his whiskey-flavored pie hole.
A phone rang in another room and Seth ignored it. "I did," he replied, turning to Frankie.
"And did they agree to not approve another dining establishment until Mandy's was on its feet?"
"They did not."
"What?" Mandy whirled on Seth. "But you said—" She struggled to recall their exact conversation. She straightened as she realized he hadn't actually said anything specific, only that he was going to talk to them and see about having an amendment or a stay or whatever it was called put in place. After, he'd said the meeting had gone well, and she'd assumed that meant they had agreed to everything he'd requested.
How dumb was she to not have asked for specifics?
He shrugged. "They said they'd take it into consideration, but..." He shook his head. "It's not really something they like to do. I would consider joining your local chamber of commerce and attending council meetings to speak out against any other developments until you're well-established."
"Shit." Mandy stood, her heart hammering her ribs so hard, she thought they were going to crack. "Are they against me opening a restaurant?"
"No, no. It's all good."
Mandy took a moment to collect her thoughts, aware that her sense of relief might cause her to prematurely let down her guard. "What am I going to do if a chain moves in that actually knows what they're doing?"
She stood so she could pace, if needed, and Frankie came to her side. She went to shake him off before realizing he hadn't touched her.
"Were you planning to tell me any of this?" she asked Seth. "I trusted you to keep me in the loop."
He stood and lightly touched her arm, holding her furious gaze. "You can trust me. I'm a little behind and I admit I could communicate better on some issues, but I've learned a lot working with Lexi on her second outlet. I have a plan to pull it out of the gutter and the lessons I've been learning there have already begun to benefit you."
They stood in silence as Mandy mulled over his words. "The news says the franchise is in danger."
Seth ran a hand down his face and sighed. "They've been hounding me like bloody sharks."
"Is there blood in the water?" Frankie asked.
"No!" Seth exploded. "There's no fucking blood in the fucking water! That's what I keep telling everyone! And all this nonsense is making it hard to get my work done!"
Mandy stepped back as Seth threw a little temper tantrum. Frankie eased himself in front of her. "Take it easy," he said in a low, calm voice.
Seth turned and kicked a box, sending it sliding across the room. He muttered swear words and drove his hands through his hair. "Look," he said, facing them again, his demeanor calmer. "Lexi's store can fail and Wrap it Up will still survive. It is not a sign that the whole thing is about to collapse. It is a healthy brand. It's what people want and you opening a new store is a sign of faith." He threw his hands up and gave a short, stressed laugh. "Hell, who knows! Maybe this will be great publicity."
He hurried to one of the boxes. "In the meantime, I have something for you." He opened the flaps and grabbed a brochure along with a manila envelope. He handed her the envelope first. "Before I forget. More documents—including the disclosure statement you signed the other night. That means no talking to the press about what's going on with other franchisees or the chain." His face grew grim. "You can always swing those conversations around to highlight what you're doing, but never hint that others aren't doing well. Always swing it to highlight the positive." He tapped the envelope. "And be sure to read the recommendations, as there are some useful tips."
She poked at a couple of the pages without pulling them out of the envelope. "What about my kitchen equipment?" She met his eye. "If that stuff is delayed by three more days, you'll be in breach of contract according to the delivery schedule we both signed." She may not have done a good job of standing up for herself in the past, but this man wasn't just messing with her, he was messing with her best friend. "If my backlogged equipment isn't there and ready to be installed by your men on Wednesday, I'll be forced to take pointers from Lexi." Her knees grew shaky at the threat and she held her breath to keep herself from falling over.
Seth paled and a sheen of perspiration broke out on his forehead. "Of course," he said, his voice strangely light. "I'll call my distributor first thing in the morning and give them a what- for." He passed her a trifold brochure and did a Vanna White-style hand gesture over it.
Mandy cautiously opened the brochure and tried to hold in a soft gasp. It had a photo of her, all business-like, with her hair amazingly glossy and smooth. She looked exactly like the person she'd always struggled to be.
"This is so amazing," she whispered, unable to look away from her image. She stood straighter, lowering the brochure. He couldn't smooth everything over that easily. "If you require an extension I need you to—"
Frankie's shoulder pressed against her back, distracting her as he tried to read over her shoulder. He grabbed the brochure from her. "You spelled 'Blueberry' wrong."
"I'll get them reprinted. Anything else?"
She looked Seth deep in the eye. "You said this was a business in a box and anyone could run it."
"Anyone can."
"Then why is Lexi failing—especially if she already had a location that was succeeding?" She held up a hand to quiet him. "I understand a bigger place opened next door, but still. Anyone can run one."
Seth ran a hand through his hair. "I already told you: mismanagement."
"And what do I know about management or mismanagement? I'm just a waitress with grand aspirations."
Seth paled again and he let out what sounded like a swear under his breath.
"A damn fine waitress," Frankie added, "who manages that whole restaurant—the best one in town, I might add."
Mandy shot him a grateful look with a hint of shut-the-hell-up. She couldn't believe she just blurted out her little secret. He obviously had fallen for her 'upgrading' of her résumé during the application process.
"Then you do know management?" Seth asked carefully.
"I don't have formal training. What if..." Doubt swamped her like a rowboat caught in an ocean storm. She began shaking her head, leaning away from the men. This was too much. She needed to shut up, go home, think this through, then bury her head under her pillow and cry herself quietly to sleep.
"You won't blow it," Frankie said faithfully.
She turned to him. "Frankie, be realistic. Just because I want to succeed at this doesn't mean I'm going to blow it out of the water. Hard work isn't the same as knowledge." She sucked in a shaky breath, trying to beat back her fears as well as her tears. Why had she even tried to be the woman in the brochure? That woman had been touched up to look like the real thing—all capable and fancy—but the real Mandy was freaking out for being in way over her head.
"What about some training?" Seth asked, looking from Frankie to Mandy, eyebrows raised. "There are management courses. Restaurant management courses. Online. Here at the city college. What do you think you need?" He turned to a bookshelf and rifled through books.
Mandy paused, mulling over the idea like a crow with a shiny new something.
Oh, who was she kidding? She didn't have time to take a friggin' degree in how to start her own business! This place was supposed to be open by the time fall classes commenced.
Besides, she couldn't afford college even if she could find the time. And what if she flunked out? What if she couldn't do it? She'd be the old fart failing in the back of the class. She probably couldn't even remember how to write an essay or study for a test.
Why had she let the excitement take over when Seth told her she could be part of the team? Why hadn't she kept her head and s
tayed realistic? Now she was leaping into a troubled franchise like a two-year-old into a mud puddle.
She collapsed on the couch, exhausted. Overextended. Overwhelmed.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Seth pushed a heavy hardcover into her hands. Numbly she looked at it. A textbook on restaurant management. Great. So she could see how much she didn't know. Really freaking brilliant.
He slipped another book on top of it: Even Dolts Can Run a Franchise: The How to, Why to, and What to. Mandy laughed, despite herself.
She was losing her mind. The stress had finally caused her to snap.
"Are you calling me a dolt?" she joked feebly.
"They're good books. Borrow them for as long as you need. You can learn almost everything you need to know online, for free, from the comfort of your couch. But these will help fill out your knowledge gaps. We'll amend your agreement and you can open after college training—there will still be interest on the loan you took out, as well as annual fees though."
"Um, no! No, I'm okay. We can go ahead," she said quickly. She swallowed her fears, as well as the temptation to start shallow breathing. She had to go ahead as scheduled. She needed an income to pay for everything she'd set up so far, and she needed it now. She couldn't afford to chicken out.
"You sure?" Frankie asked.
"I just had a little moment." She tried not to wince, thinking how she'd gone from tough gal to wimp in a matter of seconds. Good luck being taken seriously ever again.
"You sure?" Seth asked. "It's not a problem to delay. In fact—"
"It's fine." She stood and gave him her best tough gal stare down. "Trust me."
He watched her, arms crossed. "I do. Always have. But do you trust me?"
And despite everything she'd read in the papers, she did. She trusted him more than she trusted herself.
Chapter 12
This was it. Tough gal had got things moving along enough that she could officially quit her job. The job she'd had for years. Her security blanket. Her home away from home. Her only source of income. (She tried not to panic too horribly at that thought.) But her new place was going to require her to be there twenty-four-seven from now until its opening at the end of next month.
The excitement and apprehension swirling together in Mandy's gut almost made her hurl. Her own Wrap it Up was scheduled to open in less than two months and there was still so much to do in order to open those doors by the end of August. She didn't have all the kitchen equipment, but it had been trickling in since her little chat with Seth.
Mandy reminded herself to hold her drink, smile at all the people at the lovely quitting party Benny was holding in her honor and enjoy the moment. This, right now, was the moment when her life changed.
Today she was no longer a waitress. No longer a nothing.
And it felt good. She wanted to give a cheery Queen's wave to the party dwellers and ride off into the sunset.
She smiled at her brother, Ethan, who had that nervous look in his eye—the one he always had before his surgeries. She was doing this to change his life, too. He was on his feet with several new web jobs but she also had a secret plan to wrangle him into using her new, almost-installed kitchen to help her prep a few meals for Jen's excursions. She'd had to beg, plead, and whine, but in the end Jen had agreed to try offering a bit of catering for the summer months and see what happened. Even though neither of them would be making a profit for some time—if ever.
Yeah, she'd be changing her future and her brother's, too. Try and stop her, world.
She stepped from the corner where she'd been watching people and her Great Aunt June grabbed her wrist.
"Mandy!"
Mandy gave her aunt a big hug. "So glad you could make it."
Her aunt pulled in her friends, closing the circle around Mandy. Mandy caught Benny's pleased smile and thumbs-up from across the restaurant. "This is all so terribly exciting!" said her aunt, cheeks glowing.
"Isn't it?" Mandy agreed. June squeezed her sideways into her arms.
"Our little Mandy's no longer just a little old waitress, now she's a business owner. With her very own restaurant."
Mandy smiled sheepishly.
June released her with an extra squeeze and gave her a little punch in the bicep. "So? Do relatives get free eats?" She raised an eyebrow and batted her eyelashes a few times.
"If I did that," Mandy laughed, "I'd have to charge those who weren't family—or like family—fifty dollars a sandwich just to keep the doors open."
"I thought you were selling wraps, dear?" one of the friends asked.
"Sandwiches and wraps. Well, there are submarine sandwiches, too."
"Those are rather large, aren't they? I can't eat that much."
"You can order a half."
"How does that work?" asked another, her face puckered in confusion.
Oh, for heaven's sake. Had none of these old biddies been to a Subway?
"It's very simple. And delicious. You'll love it. It's like Benny's BLT, only..." She wanted to say 'Better' but seeing as Benny was holding this party, it wouldn't be right to diss his food.
"Not as dry? Bigger? On buns?" the circle of women prompted.
"You'll have to come and try it out."
"Oh, we will," they chimed, nodding.
"Just make sure you keep the bacon crisp," one added. "That chewy stuff is hell on dentures."
Aunt June said, "I've never known anyone to start her own restaurant. With a big chain. My." She gave Mandy an awed look and placed a hand against her neck as she studied her niece. "Our Mandy. I would never have guessed." She grabbed Angelica, who was passing by. "Angelica, we were just saying we'd never have guessed Mandy had what it took. Did you see it in her when she was dating Oz?"
Mandy felt her cheeks heat as Angelica—the woman who could have been her mother-in-law if life had gone differently—contemplated Mandy.
"Well, she has always had grand aspirations, hasn't she?" She gave Mandy a smile that was a little too tight.
Like none of them had ever done anything they regretted to try and keep a guy when they were young and stupid? Mandy tried to excuse herself from the group, but her aunt held her arm.
"Well," Aunt June said in a low voice, "we all need something to keep us busy and if one doesn't have kids..." She reached into her handbag to sneak a swig from her bottle of Peach Schnapps and allowed the others to fill in the blank.
They all nodded as if they had puppet heads connected to one string, their eyes on Mandy. "So true," they said sadly, and someone tsked.
"I heard Mary Alice's nephew is moving back," offered one woman. "He likes food."
They ran an appraising eye over Mandy, trying to determine if she would be a good fit with this nephew. The overweight nephew who never left the couch. Righhhhht. No, thank you.
"And there's Frankie, of course," Aunt June suggested, her eye on Mandy.
Mandy rolled her eyes. "Ladies, I don't have time to worry about men when I'm starting my own business."
"That's what Mary Alice said," laughed Liz, who'd joined the group, "when she took over the convenience store back when she was first married. She had a baby later that year!" They all joined in the laughter.
"I'm not having a baby," Mandy said, cheeks burning, and she slipped from the group, trying to aim for Jen, who had just come in, looking slightly out of place with her purple streak and awkward stance. Despite living in Blueberry Springs for two years, the girl still didn't seem to quite believe she'd been accepted.
"Mandy," said Liz, catching Mandy by the elbow, her I'm-a-reporter-for-the-local-paper-now voice in full effect.
Mandy turned, forcing a smile. Honestly, why had Ed hired her? Sure, she was good at getting the news, as she had her finger on the pulse of Blueberry Springs, but she also had her lips on the bullhorn, meaning she turned that news right back out into the world so quickly, she made the newspaper redundant.
"I was wondering when you'd like to talk to the paper some more abo
ut your new venture and upcoming grand opening."
"Would it include a photo?"
"If you want."
"And another spread when I hold the grand opening?"
"Yes."
"Discounted advertising?"
Liz's eyes snapped to Mandy's and her mouth drew a thin line. "Lookit, Mandy. You'd already be getting free advertising with the two articles. And I already published a shot of you and that guy shaking hands. Don't push it."
Mandy laughed. "All right. Fine. I'd love to." She pressed a fresh business card into Liz's hand. "Call me tomorrow."
Liz handed the card back. "I know your number, Mandy."
"That's fine. Keep the card," she said, backing away. Why the hell had she purchased five-hundred of those things? She may have saved ten bucks by ordering double, but really? Five-hundred? She'd be lucky if she needed five.
She landed against something soft and large. She turned to see Mary Alice about to embrace her. "There's the girl of the hour!" She tipped her head toward the door as she released Mandy. "There's Frankie, if you're looking."
And there he was, scanning the place with his bright eyes. Looking for her. She felt her spine straighten with anticipation. She smiled at Mary Alice and purposefully moved in the opposite direction of Frankie.
She aimed for Jen again, hoping to save her from the paint department manager, who was hitting on her with clueless persistence. Then she could mosey over to Frankie. Man, the old ladies were getting to her. She and Frankie were best friends. Best friends were happy to see each other arrive and it was natural to go over and say hi, wasn't it?
"He won't wait forever, you know." Mary Alice whispered loudly to Mandy, snatching her by the arm.
"Jesus! Mary Alice, you scared me." Mandy placed a hand on her chest and shook her head.
"The women. They've always just been diversions," she whispered.
Just then, Beth's grandmother leaned in to whisper something, her glass of sherry tipping dangerously close to Mandy's white sweater. "Kickstarter," she muttered secretively.
"Kickstarter what?" Mandy blinked and shook her head. What the hell was with the code? A party game?
