She laughed. It sounded genuine, which helped ease a little of my tension. “Alright, let’s go take a look around, shall we?”
As soon as we were outside, Licorice cawed from the top of the nearest streetlight. It was a nice reminder that I wasn’t alone.
“Did you have a chance to look at the information I forwarded about the properties?” Janis asked after she locked up her office and led me across the street toward a building on the corner. If I took the place, I’d have a great view of The Den, and that made me happy. I liked knowing Gideon would be so close.
“A little,” I said. “But there’s only so much you can learn about a place without seeing it. I mean, I’ve been inside a couple of the places already, but…” I shrugged. Okay. That was a bit of a white lie. I’d only really had my eye on this one.
“But you weren’t looking at them as possible venues for your own business,” Janis finished my thought for me. “Okay. Well, let’s see what we can find, shall we?”
Janis’s keys jangled as she unlocked the door and waved me inside. The business had been closed since I’d arrived in town, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. My pulse quickened when I crossedthe threshold. My gaze darted around the small restaurant as I tried to take it all in at once.
My first thought: the place was perfect… or it would be with a little TLC. It’d obviously been used for a coffee bar/bakery in the past. The furnishings and finishes were a bit worn and tired, but it was so much better than it’d looked online.
While Janis turned on all the lights, I walked through the seating area. It was small but functional. I’d want to paint the walls, change the light fixtures, and I still hadn’t decided whether to offer coffee and keep some tables, or do something totally different. I could sell unique gifts or fancy food or who knew what. Then again, I could start with tables and adjust what I offered as I built my business and got a sense of what people were looking for.
Was it strange that I was already mentally moving in?
Janis watched me take pictures of the space from various angles before waving me behind the counter.
“As outlined in the previous tenant’s lease agreement,” Janis started, making me think I really needed to examine whatever paperwork she gave me to sign, “all equipment remained with the property. So if you want it, we can write it into our agreement.”
“I guess it depends on what condition it is in,” I hedged.
“Oh, everything is in excellent condition. The espresso machine was only a year old when Betina and Ted decided to go on vacation and never came back.”
“That sounds ominous,” I muttered.
“The coffee grinders, and blenders, and, of course, the point-of-sale system are all here, too,” Janis continued.
Everything seemed fine, but what I was really interested in seeing was the kitchen. So, I left Janis and made my way there. It was larger than I’d expected. At least half of the footprint of the building was dedicated to the industrial kitchen, and it wasgorgeous. I opened one of the ovens and peered inside. It was clean. The whole place was. But before I got too excited, there was something I needed to know.
“Why did it close?” If Ravenstone couldn’t support a bakery in the past, I needed to rethink my plan.
“Don’t worry. Nothing bad happened.” Janis laughed and patted my arm. “The Larsons decided to winter in Brazil so they closed up last fall, thinking they’d return in the spring. Instead, they fell in love with Rio de Janeiro and decided to stay. They finally let me know this week that they weren’t coming back. You’re the first person I’ve shown the place to.”
I poked around the rest of the building, checked the upstairs apartment, and looked at the parking stall and dumpster behind the building. Everything I saw made me like the place more. It wouldn’t take any time at all to get things the way I wanted and open the doors.
My heart started beating faster. Was I really going to do this?
“If there isn’t anything else you want to see here, should we go? There are still a few properties down the street and?—”
“I…” I shook my head. I swallowed. “I think this is the one.”
“How wonderful!”
“But I guess I have some questions,” I said, running my hand over the stainless-steel countertop. “I couldn’t help but overhear you talking to someone about their lease agreement when I first got to your office today. It seemed like they were unhappy.”
“Nothing underhanded happened,” Janis assured me, patting my arm.
“Oh, no… I didn’t mean to imply anything like that…” I said quickly.
“No, of course not.” She didn’t sound at all bothered. Then she leaned in, as if sharing a secret. “Honestly, I don’t think the sale will go through now. But when Roy won the brewing contest, he decided to expand his business. He made an offer onone of the properties I lease. It was ideal for what he’d planned because it’s right next door to the Black Feather Brewery. I didn’t even have to think about accepting his offer. It was an automatic yes.” She sighed. “It’s such a shame about what happened.”
“Yeah, the whole town was shocked,” I said, not wanting to talk about how I was there when Roy’s body was discovered. But at the same time, I was way too curious about what Janis was saying to steer the conversation away from Roy.
“So even though there was a lease, Roy could still buy the property?” That seemed underhanded.
“Well, Roy had said she could still stay in the building she uses until her lease expired. He’d wanted to build something on the open field. He didn’t think he’d need to demolish anything, even though he was planning something big. At least not right away.” She shook her head. “But with his death, I don’t know if the sale will go through. The offer to purchase had been submitted, but there were still a few conditions on the sale that hadn’t been removed yet.”
