‘And if you go with the idea of different-coloured equipment for each workstation, then you don’t want colour on the walls,’ Chloe chipped in again.
‘Exactly.’ Anya smiled at Chloe and it seemed their little spat was over now they’d decided to unite against him.
‘Buttermilk,’ Matt said. And they all turned to look at him. ‘It’s a bit warmer in my experience, less clinical-looking.’
‘Buttermilk,’ Harry repeated with a nod of his head even though he had no idea which of the two shades that was. He smiled at Matt. ‘Thanks.’
‘How’s it going?’ Issy asked as she came to stand behind Harry’s chair. ‘Are you winning?’
‘We’re getting there.’
Her gaze turned slightly unfocused as though she was looking at something over his head. A small frown creased her brow. ‘Hey, Kat, isn’t that your dad?’
They turned as one to stare out the window. Sure enough, Gavin Bailey was standing on the pavement outside the Nicholsons’ empty shop with two men. Harry had no idea who the tall, thin man on the left was, but there was no mistaking Trevor the estate agent’s beaming smile and generous frame. Harry looked across the table at Kat, whose naturally pale complexion had turned positively ghostly. ‘Kat?’
Without a word, she shoved her chair back and ran hell for leather out of the café and across the road.
‘What the he—’ Matt cut himself off with a quick glance at Freya. ‘Heck is that all about?’
Harry shook his head as he pushed his own chair back. ‘I have no idea.’
But he was sure theheckgoing to find out.
26
Trevor was already unlocking the front door of the Nicholsons’ shop as Kat ran across the road, barely pausing to check for traffic. ‘Dad, wait!’ she called out.
The three men stopped and turned to face her. Trevor greeted her with his usual beaming smile, her dad with wide-eyed panic that quickly morphed into a weak, guilty smile.
Simon Partridge, the Java Brava area manager, raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised to see her. He recovered quickly, offering her his hand and a polite smile. ‘Katrina, I was led to believe you were indisposed and therefore not able to join us today.’ The smile turned wintery as he shot a look at her father.
Kat shook his hand out of politeness, but spoke to her dad. ‘Can we have a minute, please?’
‘Simon doesn’t have a lot of time, Kat, can we do this later, please?’
‘No, I think here and now is just fine.’
Her father sent a sickly, apologetic smile towards his boss. ‘Please, Simon, you and Trevor go on ahead and I’ll be with you in just a moment.’
‘Yes, do come on in,’ Trevor said, pushing the door open and gesturing for Simon to enter. ‘As I’m sure you’ll appreciate, this is a prime bit of real estate in a very sought-after location…’ His sales pitch faded away as he walked inside.
When Simon hesitated, Gavin placed a hand on his arm and urged him towards the door. ‘Really, it’s a family matter. Give me two minutes and I’ll be with you.’
The moment Simon had reluctantly walked inside, Kat’s father rounded on her. ‘What on earth do you think you are doing, embarrassing me like that in front of Simon?’
‘What on earth do you thinkyou’redoing?’ Kat shot back. ‘I thought we’d settled this when I told you I wasn’t interested in running a second franchise?’
Her father sighed and he seemed to slump into himself like a deflated balloon. ‘I’d already pitched the idea to Simon before Christmas because I assumed you’d be on board with it. I couldn’t back out without losing face and it’s already been a difficult year for the business so I needed something to prove myself.’
‘What are you talking about? You never said anything to me about there being a problem.’
‘Profits are down year on year and that’s never a good thing in a business like ours.’
Kat frowned. ‘But how are they down? I don’t recall there being noticeably fewer customers over the past year than previous ones?’
‘I know, but our costs are higher and Java Brava have set some challenging targets for the year.’
‘But everyone’s costs are higher, that’s down to the economy and the pressure on energy prices. Surely every franchise across the board must be in the same boat.’
