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“That’s right, dear, stick it to the man,” Jan cheered, holding up a fist.
Jess bumped it with her own.
“Here’s my proposition: What if Dan and I sponsored your tent? We’ll sell our jars, per usual. But what if you made a special pastry or two using the jam to sell alongside us?”
“I love it, I’m in,” Kevin said, now standing at the counter next to Jan with Honey cuddled up in his left arm.
“She wasn’t asking you,” Jess replied through gritted teeth.
“But I am the boss—”
“Are you?” Jan teased. “If I’ve been hearing Calvin correctly, it sounds like Jess has been running the show.”
Kevin sputtered but couldn’t seem to get out any real words.
Jess gave her a mischievous smirk. “I knew I liked you.”
“We businesswomen have to stick together,” Jan said with a wink. “So what do you say? We could also do some kind of deal with the bikes. Buy a bike, get a jar of Mel’s Hot Raspberry Preserves for free.”
“Throw in a pastry and that sounds like a sweet deal,” Jess said.
“Literally,” Zach teased, handing Jan her latte with a jam jar traced into the frothed milk at the top. Jan shrieked, throwing her head back in laughter at the latte. She leaned over the counter and planted a sloppy kiss on Zach’s cheek.
“Don’t tell Blake you just did that or he might murder you,” Kevin joked.
“Oh, he’s as harmless as this little puppy here,” Jan said, ruffling Honey’s ears.
Jess exchanged numbers with Jan and agreed to be in touch about what she was thinking for the jam-inspired pastries by the end of the week. Jan departed the shop with her half-finished latte in hand, leaving the jars of jam for her to experiment with.
She sighed at the lack of customers in the shop. “This is so depressing. We’re never going to make it out of the red.”
“Don’t worry, it’s the lunch lull,” Zach explained as he wiped down the espresso machine. Jess noticed a massive lipstick stain on his cheek and tapped her own to warn him. He blushed and wiped it with the back of his sleeve. “Slower afternoons are normal for a coffee shop.”
“Yeah but we’re a bakery, we offer so much more than a regular coffee shop.”
“Jessica, don’t fret,” Kevin chimed in. “I’ve sold more bikes this week than I did the entire month of May. Let’s not worry too much about it yet, yeah?”
She frowned and crossed her arms. There had to be something more she could do to get customers through the door. There had to be.
Kevin stepped over and lifted one of Honey’s paws. “Don’t be sad, Mommy. We’ll be allllll right,” he said in a high-pitched, childlike voice.
Jess rolled her eyes, and Kevin’s attention shifted to something moving outside the shop window. He froze for a beat, then held Honey out to Jess. “Take her, will ya? Someone just rolled up with a bike.”
She smiled, eyes on her puppy as Kevin headed outside. “Hi, my little Honey. Were you bored all day tied up near the big scary bike man?”
The dog licked her face, paws on her shoulders. She bounced, patting Honey’s back like she was a baby.
Kevin stepped back into Port Wheels and came up to the counter. “Hey, customer wants a kanelbullar and a caramel macchiato to go.”
She frowned. “They didn’t want to come in and order themselves?”
“Nah, they have a nasty dog. Didn’t want to scare Honey.”
“But you said they had a bike?”
Kevin hesitated. “They have both?”
Jess placed Honey on her bed near Kevin’s desk, then crossed the shop and washed her hands. She plucked the pastry from the display case and stuffed it in a paper bag with napkins.
