Curse Eva right now and her damn pointed questions. Hope wanted to say no, she really did, but she couldn’t. Because she wouldn’t ever lie to Eva. “Yes, that’s something I’d like.”
“Does Ange want to marry you?”
“Eva!” Hope laughed a little. “Like I said before, it’s not something we’ve really talked about in depth. And lately, all we’ve talked about is filming.” Hope started to push Eva toward the edge of the bed. “Now, get up, get dressed, we’ve got a full day ahead of us.”
“Fine.” Eva pouted slightly, but she did step onto the floor and raised her hands above her head in a languorous stretch. Hope envied that. If she tried that, she’d surely pull a muscle or five. Climbing off the mattress, she moved to start her day.
Because what else could she do?
They couldn’t talk about marriage.
Not now.
“Kora!” Hope called Kora over to the dining hall, pulling her out of the kitchen.
She could already feel the annoyance from Kora over it, but she didn’t care. They did actually have to sit down and talk about what was going on with the food trucks and the hotel. Because the two were intimately connected, even if they operated completely separately. Which, quite possibly, was the biggest problem they needed to solve that week.
“What do you need, Chef? We’re in the middle of prep.”
“They need to learn to do it without you, first. Second, you and I need to talk.” Hope led Kora over to a table that she already had set up. The purpose of meeting at this time was twofold. Hope wanted to see how the rest of the crew would function without Kora there.
“Talk about what? There’s nothing wrong with my process.” Kora pointed back toward the small kitchen and large storage area where all of the food was kept.
“Nothing is wrong with your process.” Hope tried to give her a gentle smile to ease the obvious tension she was feeling. “I’m not here to rip everything you do to shreds. There are a few improvements you can make, but they’re really minor.”
The wall of exhaustion that she had been waiting for all morning hit hard. And she had very little patience to deal with unsteady emotions. Because all she wanted to know was why Angelica hadn’t trusted her enough to just come talk to her in the first place. Had she fooled herself into thinking they were a whole lot closer and more intertwined than they actually were?
“What changes?” Kora’s nervous voice reached Hope’s ears and instantly pulled her back into the moment.
“Come sit down. Please.” Hope walked directly over to a small table meant for two people and sat down. She wasn’t sure if she’d make it through service today without a break. Well, she knew she would because it was her job. But if she’d had the option, she would have happily stayed in bed a whole lot longer.
Kora finally slipped into the chair across from Hope with a huff. She really didn’t want to be there.
“We need to talk about finances,” Hope started.
“Isn’t the truck making money?” Kora asked.
“Yes, it is. That’s not… that’s not really the concern.” Hope ran her fingers through her short hair and sighed. “It’s the only thing with a balance sheet in this entire hotel that makes sense. You, somehow, understand business finances. Did you study them anywhere?”
“There was a math class in high school I took.” Kora shrugged slightly. “I took that to get out of another history class.”
Hope snorted lightly at that. “I probably would have done the same thing. Maybe. Well, I probably would have taken another home ec class.”
Kora didn’t smile. In fact, she barely even responded. Hope sighed lightly. She was off her game for sure, but she didn’t really have any other way to begin this conversation.
“You have a talent with business finances, and Theo is decidedly lacking in that talent. Ms. Shields and I spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening attempting to teach him the basics and I’m still not convinced he grasped a lot of it. But you seem to have that skill.”
“What are you suggesting?” Kora pulled a face like she knew she wasn’t going to like what she was about to be told.
And she probably wasn’t.
“I want you to take over the financial strategy for the hotel for a while.” Hope crossed her arms.
“But I’m a cook. That’s it.”
Hope cocked her head to the side and gave Kora a hard stare. “No, you’re not. You are basically an owner and operator of a very profitable food truck. The only reason the truck has succeeded in the way it has is because Theo has given you free rein to do whatever you want with it. When’s the last time he actually checked in with you?”
Kora shook her head.
