“Tomorrow’s another day,” I told her. “We’ll try to do better.”
She made a contented sound and closed her eyes. I headed off into the sunset, toward the downtown skyline and the interstate.
Chapter Four
I was still feeling optimistic when I walked into the office the next morning. That only lasted until Rachel raised her eyes from the computer screen and pinned me with a look. “Really, Gina? I invited you to come along yesterday, and instead of saying yes, you went behind my back to spy on me?”
I hung my coat on the rack by the door and took my time making my way over to the sofa. Edwina, sensing the tension, stayed close to my ankles. “I wouldn’t call it spying,” I said, despite the fact that it was exactly what I’d done. “More… curiosity.”
She snorted. “And you couldn’t have satisfied that curiosity by coming along when I asked you to? You could have seen the inside of the building that way, too.”
“But I would have had to deal with Kenny and Daniel to do it.” I sat down and tried to look contrite. “Look, I know how it must have looked?—”
“It looked like you didn’t trust me,” Rachel interrupted. “Like you think I’m not capable of taking care of myself.”
She waited for me to tell her that that wasn’t what I thought, and of course I couldn’t.
“It isn’t that I don’t trust you,” I tried. “It’s just… Kenny and Daniel.”
She didn’t answer, and I added, “Yes, I’m worried. About you. About the bar. About the two of them getting you into something that could blow up in your face.”
At least she had the decency not to tell me that there was no chance of that. At least, I told myself, she saw the possibility that it might.
“So you decided to stake out the place like I’m some kind of suspect?” she asked instead.
“Of course not,” I answered. “I don’t suspect you of anything. I don’t suspect them of anything, either, really. Not other than being stupid and careless, anyway.”
Her face darkened, and I added, “Come on, Rachel. You know Daniel’s history. You worked for David for years. You know how many times my dearly departed ex had to bail Daniel out of one failed business venture or another.”
She didn’t say anything, but I could see from her expression that she did remember, even if she didn’t want to admit it.
“There were the Christmas trees,” I reminded her. “And the vintage motorcycle business.”
That one had ended with a warehouse full of rusty Harley Davidsons that Daniel never got around to restoring, that had to be auctioned off to recoup costs. At a loss, of course. A loss to David.
“And then there was the food truck. The one selling ‘Chinese-Irish fusion cuisine,’ as if anyone sane wants to eat French fries, rice, and deep-fried chicken smothered in peppers out of a paper bag.”
Rachel’s lips twitched.
“And don’t forget the diner. The one where he couldn’t make rent because he’d spent all the startup capital on a vintage jukebox and Naugahyde and a neon sign that spelled ‘Daniel’ wrong.”
She winced. I saw the chink in the armor and leaned forward. “I promise I’m not trying to control your life, Rachel. But Daniel has a pattern. And now Kenny’s involved, and you know as well as I do that Kenny’s track record isn’t great.”
Rachel was quiet for a moment, and then she made a face. “Two high schools and at least one college, wasn’t it? And he’s been through half a dozen jobs or more since then, that never went anywhere.”
I nodded. “He’s stupid enough to throw his entire inheritance into this bar, and then they’ll spend it all on making it look perfect, and if the customers don’t show up, they won’t have any kind of buffer for utilities and rent two months later. And if that happens, Daniel’s going to come to you for the cash to keep it afloat.”
“I’m not putting any money into it,” Rachel said firmly.
“You say that now, but when he looks at you with those puppy dog eyes, and tells you that he’ll pay you back next month…”
Rached shook her firmly. “I won’t, Gina. And I certainly won’t jeopardize what we’re building here, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”
I guess it was partly what I was afraid of, now that she’d brought it up. And really, now that she had, it was not as if I had a whole lot of room to talk about solvent businesses, was it? We were anything but solvent—or rather, the only reason we were solvent was because of my own inheritance from David. We were nowhere close to paying bills and salaries with money earned. Yes, Zachary got paid, and Rachel did, too—unlike me, she didn’t have a hefty inheritance to fall back on—but I hadn’t taken a dime out of the business myself.
“I should just stop talking now,” I said, and Rachel nodded.
“That might be best. Not that I don’t believe in you, but you did start this business on a whim without much of a plan.”
