“How about getting out in the sun and taking in the vitamin D?”
He rolled his eyes. “Sure, Doc. Any other pseudoscience you have for me?”
“It’s not fake science, it’s—never mind. Just get outside for a while, okay? I’ll be in meetings this morning since Jinny apparently screwed up our books.” She growled, ready to tear into something. “I told Rachel we shouldn’t hire her. And now look.”
Daniel frowned. “What did Jinny do?”
“More like whatdidn’tshe do. File our monthly state and quarterly taxes for the past six months. And that makes me think maybe our accountant isn’t doing what I pay him to do either.”
“I think Paul was waiting for you to call him for help so he could get into your pants.”
“Daniel.”
“What? You know your accountant’s a douche.”
“Yes, but he’s a cheap douche who’s usually pretty good at his job.” She didn’t have time for this.
Daniel watched her scramble to find her keys then pulled them out of the silverware drawer.
“What were they doing in there?”
“You put them in there yesterday, staring into space. I wanted to see how long it would take you to remember.”
“Jerk.”
Her brother grinned. “Yeah, so I’ll just be here, wasting my brain. And yes, I will weed the back garden like I was supposed to do Saturday. If you’ll give me five bucks for coffee.”
“Fine. There’s a little cash left in the jar.”
A monster cookie jar that never held any cookies because her brother ate them straight from the bag before she could fill the monster’s mouth.
“Right. So, uh, where are you going today, exactly?” At her raised brow, he said, “In case I have an emergency, I like to know where you are.”
He looked defensive, and young. She softened. “I’m meeting Ellie in the university district at her office to go over the kale designs in half an hour. Oh man, I have to move,” she muttered to herself, noticing the time. “Then I’m meeting with a potential new client at Storyville, the Pike Place one, at noon. After that, Lila and I might do lunch, and then I’ll be back, probably around two thirty-ish.”
“Gotcha. Break a leg.”
“Something else we can’t afford, not with the water heater on the fritz.”
Hustling to her first meeting, she made it with minutes to spare.
Ellie Ruger, a budding foodie expert who’d made a huge splash with her organic kale chips, had decided to branch into nutrient-dense superfoods, making them more accessible to regular people who usually put the wordsuperin front ofman. She’d picked the right city because Seattle was known for growing smaller businesses into big ones, and everyone loved an entrepreneur.
Personally, Kenzie thought the food tasted like crap, but Rachel swore by it. Lila refused to take sides.
“Hey, Ellie. I’ve brought you some samples to look at.” Though Kenzie could easily have emailed her the ideas they’d tossed around, she found that a more personal encounter helped flesh out new ideas and identify problems early in the process.
Fortunately, Ellie, though a millionaire on her way to earning twice what she’d earned last year, didn’t buy into her own hype. She’d been working with Kenzie before she’d hit it big, and she believed in loyalty earned.
“Oh, good. Hey, I saved you some carrot-and-guava balls.” The cute blond smiled and pushed a plate of sample foods toward her. “Tell me what you think.”
Hell. Kenzie should have sent Rachel, but with Rachel and Lila working on a deadline for a local moving company, oddly not Vets on the Go!—and there I go thinking about Evan again—she’d been the only one to do the job.
An hour later, and feeling the need to down a few Snickers to stem the rush of vitamins heading down her gullet, Kenzie hurried downtown to find a place to park. Half an hour later, the queasy feeling had left her, and she headed toward Storyville, one of her favorite coffee shops. A caffeine junkie, Kenzie liked a good bean, and the smooth taste of freshly roasted coffee always hit the spot.
Especially after broccoli-cheddar-onion bites and chia-filled whatever.
Once inside, she sought Rob Talon, her future dream client, and sat with him. He pushed a cup of coffee toward her.
