“Of course I know that.It’s also not a good idea to get involved with people who aren’t trustworthy.You’ve heard that, haven’t you?”There, what do you have to say about that, Mr.Morals?
“True, though people do change…and sometimes they’re better than they were before.”
Ah, a challenge.Katie forced a smile.“And sometimes they’re worse.”
He turned back to the drawings, jotted a few more notes, before he asked, “Is the guy out of the picture now, or are you still working with him?”
Is that what he really wanted to know, or was he asking if she was still involved with Jackson?“He doesn’t advise me any longer.”
He kept his head bent, continued studying and making notes, and Katie had just begun to relax when he asked, “He’s not advising you on a business level, or…”
“I haven’t seen him for months.I’ll agree to whatever you want, Katie.Live wherever you want, and you should keep the soup business going.That was selfish of me to suggest otherwise.We can hire a nanny for the kids.Anything.Can’t you give us another chance?Jackson had been willing to do anything, but it hadn’t been enough…it would never be enough because he was the wrong man…
“Okay, then.”
Darn, she’d just divulged that she was unattached.“What about you?”
He looked up, his lips pulling into a slow smile.“I’m not consulting with anyone or having an office romance.It’s kind of hard to do when I work on my own most of the time.”
“I’m sure.”
“Do I look like a watercooler pickup kind of guy?”
She shook her head, annoyed with herself for sharing too much.“I’m sure you don’t have to do anything.From the looks at O’Reilly’s, you can just stand there, and the women will flit around you.”
“Flit?”He laughed.“That’s a very interesting visual.Somewhat accurate.”Another laugh, a sigh.“Truthfully, I’m not much into ‘flitters’.”He settled his gaze on her, spoke in the softest voice.“I prefer someone who can have an intelligent conversation and isn’t afraid to put me in my place when I need it.”
It was Katie’s turn to laugh.“You were never one to accept criticism, constructive or not.And–” She stopped, tried to pull back the words and the memories, but it was too late.
“You were the only one who ever called me on my BS.Straight up, no sugar, full of it.No one had ever done that before or since, and maybe that’s why…”
Tell me more, she wanted to say.Tell me what you were going to say.Did she really want to know?What difference would it make?All of it was so long ago.Too much damage had been done, too much heartache, betrayal, and she never wanted to feel that way again.
Ian cleared his throat, eased the plans toward her, and began pointing to areas on the drawing.“You don’t need to build a warehouse.You should just put a large cooler next to the area where you prepare the meats and vegetables.You’ll save time by not going to the warehouse whenever you need a bag of carrots or whatever.Put your supply close to where it’s going to be used.”
“Okay.Makes sense.”
A nod, and then “I really am good at this stuff.So, what do you think?Will you let me help you?”
13
Katie debated whether or not to let Ian into the factory.She didn’t want to invite him into any other part of her world, but what if he were able to help?What if he could avoid problems with the engineer?Wouldn’t it be worth it?It took her a full day to consider the pluses and minuses of his proposition, and she finally acknowledged that she’d do anything to fix the issues with the company—even enlist Ian Finnegan’s help.
She called him the next morning, and they agreed to meet at seven that night, when the building was quiet, and no one would see him.She’d like to pretend he looked out of place when he asked questions about a machine, or a process, and that those questions were random and not well thought out, but that wouldn’t be true.He asked about the product flow as he scanned the length of the building and the various stations.“There’s quite a bit of wasted space here.The distance between prep and cooking is costing you time.If we move them closer together, you’ll be more efficient.We’ll clock how long each process takes, and we’ll identify the bottlenecks.”
It was one thing to know how to make a signature soup people wanted to eat, but finding a way to get it to those people?That was the challenge.
“What do you think about a large cooler at the start of your process?We can then create several production lines, each one dedicated to a small group of soups with similar processes and ingredients.That way, your product can move quickly to the next step.”
Katie listened to Ian’s laid-back recommendations, relaxed when she acknowledged he wasn’t pushing his ideas on her.He was providing information and giving her the choice to do what she wanted.But what he said made sense.The mandidhave a knack for efficiency, and he certainly knew how a manufacturing plant operated.If she listened to his suggestions, maybe when the engineer showed up, there’d be minimal questions and fewer issues.Did she want to trust Ian Finnegan’s instincts and recommendations?No, but she wanted Katie’s Soups to succeed, and her gut said this man could help.
After the third meeting at the facility, she invited him to her house to continue working on recommendations for efficiency improvements.If they kept meeting at the shop, even if it were after hours, someone would eventually notice Ian’s truck in the parking lot.The foreman had on occasion shown up for various reasons, and she wouldn’t risk him seeing Ian in the building.How would she explain his presence?There would be too many questions and no good answers.
So, she’d done what she had to in order to continue their workandkeep her association with him private.When she invited him to her place, he’d hesitated a second too long before he accepted.I’m getting hungry,he’d said.Would you like me to pick up something?
Sure.The word was out before she could yank it back.Katie rarely ordered takeout and mostly lived on her homemade meals unless she was traveling.It would be a nice change to eat something she hadn’t created.
Okay, see you at seven?
