“When’s the last time he gave you input on it?”
“He hasn’t,” Kora murmured quietly.
“Exactly my point. You can run this hotel far better than he can.”
“But I don’t want to.” Kora tightened her grasp on her arms, crossing them even tighter over her body as if to protect herself from this conversation. “I don’t want to be a hotel manager. I want to cook.”
Hope sighed. “You already do more than just cooking, and you know that.” She paused for good measure, making sure that Kora agreed with her on that point. “If you don’t want to manage a hotel, that’s fair and completely understandable. I have nodesire to manage a hotel either. That’s why I leave that part of this job up to Ms. Shields.” Hope’s lips quirked slightly. “And it’s why she leaves the cooking to me. But not every partnership is an equal partnership.”
Hope nearly stuttered on those last words.
“Or at least it’s not always equal. Sometimes one person has to give more than the other during certain periods of time. Theo is planning on hiring a management firm, but he doesn’t even know where to begin in telling them what to do or what needs done. He’s also planning on hiring a financial accountant. He needs that immediately, and you have the skills.”
“Chef…” Kora frowned, nearly trembling. “I don’t want to do it.”
“It’d come with a pay raise, of course, since the workload is more. And, Ange and I think that if you work the numbers right, you could score yourself a second truck for the hotel. One that stays here permanently to run both lunch and dinner service and one that travels around town to serve the community.”
Kora’s lips parted in surprise. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. But you’re going to have to take the lead on that, because right now Theo isn’t capable of figuring all that out. If that’s something that you want, then you’re going to have to step up and take on more responsibility, in multiple ways.” Hope finished the talk and stared directly at Kora, waiting for some kind of answer or indication of whatever she was going to decide.
The silence was loud but also calm. She knew that Kora was digging through all the thoughts and ideas that Hope had just handed her.
“Let me know tomorrow what you decide. All right?” Hope placed her hand on the top of the desk. “Because you could save the Montford if you want to.”
“I’m not a hero.”
“No one wants to be a hero, Kora. Sometimes, the role is just thrust upon us.” Hope stayed right where she was, listening for Cadence’s direction to tell them what to do next. Because she was done with the conversation. At least for now.
Chapter
Thirty-Four
“Kora’s agreedto take over your finances for right now,” Angelica sat across the table from Theo. She felt as though she’d spent all week right here, doing nothing more than running numbers, correcting numbers, and attempting to teach him the very basics of what he should already know.
She still wasn’t sure how he’d made it for this long.
“Oh?” Theo asked, seemingly confused by that statement.
Angelica furrowed her brow and nodded. “She has a grasp on a bit more than the basics, and Hope’s discussed with her what needs to be done. She doesn’t want to do it permanently though, so you’re still going to need to hire someone to work with them.”
“And you’re sure I can afford it?” Theo worried his lower lip.
“I’m sure that you can’t afford it.” Angelica gave him a hard stare. They’d already done this dance a number of times, and as much as she understood that it was damn difficult to admit that she needed help, Theo seriously needed help on this front. “I’ve also worked through the schedules and staffing so you can see how you can more easily function with about two-thirds of the staff that you currently have.”
“Two-thirds?” Theo squeaked.
“It’ll cut costs dramatically. Here.” Angelica pushed her iPad over so that he could look at it more directly. “This is how you will fill the gaps with fewer people.”
She pointed out each of the ways, explained all of them, and then sat back and waited. Theo was going to have to figure out at some point that reduction in staff meant laying people off.
“Okay. I’ll think about implementing this.”
“No,” Angelica corrected. “Youwillimplement it. Today. Come on. We’re going to run through the employees, figure out who’s staying and who’s going and then I’ll sit with you while we have those conversations.”
“You mean fire them?” Theo paled.
“Lay them off.” Angelica tapped over to a list of employees. There were a few that she could definitively say needed to go, but the rest, she’d leave to Theo’s discretion. “No one likes these days, but they must be done.”
