In pure shock, I walk up the steps to the stage to shake Mayor Sheffield’s hand while he offers me the keys to the shop.
As if I’m having an out-of-body experience, I stand there while pictures are taken, my hand in the mayor’s, both of us posing with the keys as the cheers continue.
I did it.
I won the bid.
Rudder’s Sweets is mine.
Now it’s time to prove to the town that Iamthe right person for the job.
“What a day,” Aunt Kitty says as she kicks her feet up on the coffee table and leans back on the pink velvet couch in the living room. “What was that old hack of a man talking to you about after he was satisfied with the amount of pictures that were taken of him?” Aunt Kitty snags a toothpick from her porcelain toothpick holder and starts shuffling it around her teeth.
“He was handing me all the paperwork, telling me about the work that needs to be done in the shop to bring it back to code. Apparently some things were left undone while Ira was sick, so I have to make sure I take care of them. But that shouldn’t be a problem because I can do the labor, we’ll just have to work on getting the materials and whatnot. He also said the town business society would like to see an update to the storefront with paint, new windows, and some other things. It’s all in the binder.”
“Sheesh, that’s a lot of work.” She picks at her front tooth. “Good thing you won the bid to help pay for it.”
I sit down next to her and flip through the paperwork, going over the quotes they’ve received for some of the repairs, as Aunt Kitty’s words sink in.
“Wait, what do you mean good thing I won the bid?”
“For the money,” she says, flicking the toothpick into the small trash can that she keeps next to the couch.
Slowly I turn toward her. “I don’t understand. There was no bid for money.”
“Then what was the bid?”
“The bid was what we wrote up together, telling the business society how we would be able to take over the shop and financially support our endeavors.”
“Financially support?” she asks, looking incredibly puzzled. “I thought we were putting together a loan application saying how much we wanted.”
I sit taller, panic starting to take over. “Please tell me you’re kidding. Like this is some sort of weird joke of yours. You…you sat down with me, Aunt Kitty. You helped me fill out the application. You said we had at least twenty thousand dollars for renovations. We knew that would be enough because I could do the work myself. Please, please tell me we have that money.”
Confusion tugs at her brow.
Her lips purse with thought.
And oh fucking hell, I don’t think I’m going to like what I hear next.
“I said we wouldneedat least twenty thousand dollars.” She shakes her head and then points at her chest. “I don’t have twenty thousand dollars. Do you?”
“Oh my God.” I press my hand to my forehead, my panic sinking in, planting itself deep in my chest. “Aunt Kitty, I signed a contract saying that I had the money for this project, that I’d dothe best I could to preserve the shop and maintain the history of it. How…how can I do that if I don’t have the money for it?”
“Well, can’t you ask them for the money?”
“No!” I shout and then stand. “I can’t ask them for the money. They’re not a bank. They’re a society of people who like to tell other people what to do with their businesses. They keep people in line, apparently people like us who think they can take on a project like this but have no right to do so.”
“Hey.” She points at me. “We have a right to do so. You’re better than all those other schleps out there.”
“Those other schleps probably have the money that they promised they had in their bid for the business!” I shout. I flop down on the couch and press my hands to my head. “I can’t believe this. I’m going to have to go back to Mayor Sheffield and tell him I can’t do it. He’s…he’s going to probably just nod and say, ‘Sounds about right.’”
“Oh stop that, you’re not handing back those keys. That shop belongs to you.”
“Not if I can’t make the required updates. I can’t even open the store until the renovations are done.”
“Well, isn’t there money in the store we can use? Shouldn’t there be some sort of on-hand cash?”
You would think.
