“Can you write that up and send it to my ex?”
He snorted. “You think that would get him back?”
“Oh, I hope not. I do not want him back. Not even a little bit. I’ve got my kids, and my life is straightening itself out. Someday, my finances will, too, but that divorce was worth every penny I paid.”
He picked up his coffee cup. “Here’s to moving on.” He smiled. “And making new friends.”
She clinked her cup against his. “Cheers to that.” She sipped a little, then went back to her omelet. She wasn’t going to waste a bit of that deliciousness. “So you’re Italian, huh? Is that where your love of food and cooking comes from?”
“Probably. I had two nonnas who loved having me in their kitchens. Some of my earliest memories are of being with them and making something.”
“That’s great. I don’t really think of you as an Italian chef, though.”
“That’s on purpose. I didn’t want to get pigeonholed, you know? And I love all kinds of food, so why limit myself.”
“I can understand that.”
He gestured with his fork. “You know, what we do is not so different. We just create in different mediums.”
She would never have thought something like that, but it was sweet of him to say. “That’s kind of you to say. I can’t wait to get started on your logos. I already have some ideas.”
“Is that a polite way of saying you’re ready to go home?”
“No, no. I’m not going anywhere until my plate is clean.” She smiled at him. “I’m enjoying talking to you, too.”
“Same here.” He looked over at the dogs. “Archie looks pretty content to stay a while longer. Do you have a dog, too?”
“No. For one thing, during the school year, I’m gone all day. For another, I wasn’t kidding when I mentioned my finances. The divorce attorney was ridiculously expensive. My budget doesn’t really allow for anything extra at the moment. I’m only here because my sister owns that house. This is my first vacation in a long time.”
“And I’m making you work.”
“I was already working. And you’re feeding me. I’m happy to create some logos for you.”
“I guess I should ask what you charge for a thing like that.”
She’d been hoping not to talk about money. “I don’t really know. Like I said, I’ve never done a logo before. I should probably research that and see what the going rate is. That’s not a very professional answer, is it?”
“I don’t know, but it’s an honest one and I can respect that. How do you charge for most things?”
“With something like the book illustrations, I generally calculate how much time I think it’ll take me and then figure it out from there based on an hourly rate.”
“Okay, so do you want to keep track of your hours and charge me accordingly?”
“I could, but I have no idea how many hours it’s going to take. I’d rather come up with a set price.”
His eyes twinkled. “And I’d rather pay you for the time you put in. I might not like the first examples. I might be very hard to please. I could be the worst customer you’ve ever had. You have no idea.”
She laughed. “You’re right, I don’t. Okay, I’ll track my hours like I do with a regular commission and let you know, but let me do the sketches first and see if you want to even proceed. For the future, though, is there an amount you don’t want to go over? I’ll be able to keep an eye on things that way.”
“If it approaches five grand, give me a heads up.”
Her eyes widened. That was so much more than she’d expected. “Um, yeah, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”
He cleared his throat softly and forked up another bite of omelet. “Frankie, I think this is the start of great things.”
She just grinned and ate the rest of her omelet.
ChapterThirty-Five
