“I just said the money wasn’t there,” Kora narrowed her gaze. “So no, we’re not ready for that.”
Hope furrowed her brow. “All right.”
She kept her mouth shut, watching, waiting, and asking questions here and there. Once the service started for the day, Hope helped to serve and cook here and there, but she also stepped out to talk to people who were waiting in the line.
The line that literally wrapped the entire way around the block.
Theentireblock.
Hope walked it. Slowly, talking with patrons, most of whom were return customers, who wanted to get whatever the special was that day because Kora was always whipping up something new and fresh. She didn’t hear one bad thing about Kora and the food truck. Except they wished they could have it more often.
By the time Hope made it back to the truck, the line was moving quickly, Kora called out orders like the boss she was, and Hope knew without a doubt that this food truck wasn’t suffering a financial crisis. She nodded toward Cadence to get her attention.
“I need to call Ange and have a chat with her.” Hope crossed her arms.
“Personal or…?”
Hope winced. “On camera. You want to get hold of Rex?”
Hope could easily do that, but she figured this way there was one more person in the mix so that everyone was prepared for both sides of the phone call. Normally, she’d just walk to find Angelica wherever she was, but right now, she was miles away. Which felt very odd.
“Okay.” Cadence stepped away and was on her phone immediately.
Hope continued to observe as Kora cooked and the line moved. At this rate, they’d probably run out of food beforethey ran out of customers. Had they even begun to brainstorm solutions for that problem? Or was Kora so focused on customer service and food quality that she hadn’t paid attention to a simple solution for more income?
She’d wait to find out, because it was just as important to know what Kora would do when she had to close the line.
“Hope! Give her a call.”
Hope pressed her lips together and slid her phone out of her back pocket. She hadn’t expected that to happen so quickly. And she’d gotten way lost in her own thoughts. Pressing Angelica’s name, she lifted the phone to her ear and let it ring.
And ring.
And ring.
“Chef Lawrence,” Angelica’s voice echoed through the speaker.
So they really had told her this was about work and not business. Hope hated that, but it did at least help somewhat when it came to filming. At least, she hoped it did. “I’m out here with Kora and the truck, which sounds like the name of a girl band, if I’m being honest.” Hope chuckled at her own joke, knowing that Angelica wouldn’t be amused at all. “And, well, I don’t see how this food truck is losing money. At all.”
“What do you mean?”
Hope could hear the reception phone ringing, but Angelica didn’t pause the conversation to answer it. Voices murmured in the background, and Hope had to wonder exactly who was nearby to listen in on Angelica’s half of the conversation.
And once again, she was struck with the fact that they were so far apart.
“This truck is popular, more popular than I’ve ever seen a food truck.” Hope glanced over her shoulder at the line that continued to grow. “They’re going to run out of food before they run out of customers.”
“Have you checked their profits so far?”
“No, I haven’t wanted to disturb their process, and I didn’t bring an iPad to check the rest of them while they worked. I should have.” Hope bit her lip and rolled her eyes at herself. “I was hoping you’d looked at them.”
“Not yet. I’ve been dealing with a bigger issue here.” Angelica sighed, and Hope heard so much more in that small noise than she probably should have. It wasn’t just about The Montford. This was about something personal. But Hope wouldn’t dream of asking about that while they were being recorded.
“I’ll see if I can steal an iPad and tally up today’s income and expenses.” Hope ran her fingers through her hair. “I asked Kora about plans for the future, and she mentioned a second truck and catering, but she also mentioned that the finances weren’t there. I don’t think she does as much of the finances as she implied before.”
“You’re right about that,” Angelica murmured. “I’m not sure anyone actually looks at numbers, trends, or statistics here. It’s all such a mess.”
“Late nights in the office then?” Hope asked, adding that tease back into her tone.
