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His sigh was unreadable. Was he annoyed with me? Mad? Did I wound his massive ego by questioning him?
He folded his hands on the table in front of him. “Well, first, I did just say, ‘Go work on my parents’ ranch.’ And second, whether you commute or just live up there, you’re gonna have to make a change if you want something to happen in your life. I can guarantee you the job, Nova. It’s up to you if you want it.”
I didn’t even know what to say. It was a real opportunity to get some hours in, but up in Bakersfield? I was looking for something closer because I wouldn’t be able to afford living somewhere while I worked.
“Why don’t you just spend a day up there first?” he asked. “Then you can decide.”
“Well, that’s a better plan—”
“And if you’d rather live up there, my parents have plenty of room in the guesthouse. A few of the employees live there full time. You should come up tomorrow. I’ll give you a tour of the ranch and you can meet a few people. I think you’d probably like Jack—Dr. Stevens.”
Did things suddenly start moving fast? “Uh, no, I don’t think I can this weekend. I have a test on Monday and... Well, no, probably not.”
“Every minute isn’t going to be tied up, you know. And you still have Sunday to study.”
“I have things to do tomorrow.” That was true because I told Levi I’d go to lunch with him. I didn’t want to cancel that, did I?
“Okay,” Austin shrugged. “But if you decide it’s something you’d like to check out, let me know.”
He took his last two bites of food, and because he pushed the plate aside and finished off his water, I knew my break time was up. I’d barely eaten my food, and after he gave me a hard time about it, he asked Robin for the check.
“Thanks for joining me,” he said. “Can this happen every Friday?”
I smiled when he did, but replied, “Not unless you come on the tail end of my morning shift.”
“Every other Friday, right?”
“Yes,” I answered, feeling a little awkward he knew that. He was perplexing. I felt he liked me, but his demeanor sometimes challenged that thought.
He was gathering the papers he’d set on the seat next to him, and stuck them back into a folder.
Curious, I asked, “What kind of work do you bring with you?”
“This is just something for fun.”
“Fun?”
“I doubt it’s the right time to discuss it, but it’s a market analysis. For this restaurant.”
I eyed him carefully. “What do you mean?”
“Sometimes I take on a business and give it a makeover. Financially. I look at what it has to offer and if certain changes will make the business do better.”
I stared at him again before I exclaimed, “What? You’re-you’re gonna take over this business and-and—”
“No, I’m not taking it over. I restructure the business plan; draw up some pros and cons, and pretty much brainstorm what will make it thrive better. Finances are a big part of it. Sometimes I do it for businesses that are going under, just to see if there’s any chance we can do something to save it from bankrup—”
“This place is not going under,” I retorted angrily. “We’re doing just fine.”
He took a moment to gauge my reaction. I was fully prepared to battle whatever he threw at me, but instead, he added, “You asked what work I had with me, and I guess I could have made up something else, but maybe I thought you’d be open to the idea. I’m sure you love your aunt, and being that you’re here so much, I thought you’d be interested in improving the family business. You don’t want her to have the chance to make this place everything she hoped it would be? There’s a lot of potential here, but sometimes you need the right person to make it happen.”
“And that’s you,” I stated somewhat dourly.
“Well, it is what I do.”
“Oh, that’s one of your jobs? Restructuring businesses?”
“One of my jobs, huh?”
“Yeah, the other week your buddy said, ‘Which job are you gonna share?’ like it was some big fricken’ joke.”
“I do have a few jobs, I guess. The track, the ranch, and the side job of restructuring.”
“You’re a busy guy.”
“Sometimes. Usually just when I choose to be.”
Robin set the check on the table, and after she left, Austin pulled out his wallet and placed a twenty and a ten with it.
“So, what do you think about coming up to the ranch next weekend?” he asked. “Can I plan for that? Maybe you should come for two days. I’ll pick you up when you’re done with work on Friday, and then I can take you back home on Sunday when I go home, too.”
I was still spinning from our previous conversation, so I didn’t respond right away.
“Well,” he sighed. “It was nice having lunch with you, Nova. At the very least, I’ll see you next week when I stop in to eat, and if you decide you want to, I’d be happy for you to join me in Bakersfield. Have a good weekend,” he smiled.
He was about to get up but I told him to wait, so he settled back into his seat. “What kind of plans do you have for the diner?” I asked.
He raised an eyebrow, possibly surprised I was hooked on that instead of the ranch. I didn’t know what he was thinking. He was so damn hard to read.
“I’d rather not have you bite my head off for something you might not want to hear. Business-wise, I couldn’t care less. If you were just another business deal, it wouldn’t faze me one bit. But since we’re friends...”
He gave me a goofy smile, which eventually forced me to smile as well.
“Since we’re friends, I’d rather not have you upset with me,” he finished.
“I won’t be.”
He raised another eyebrow, seeming to question me on that.
“I won’t,” I repeated adamantly. “I just want to hear some of your ideas.”
“Okay, but keep an open mind...” He shuffled through his pile of papers in the folder and pulled one out, handing it to me. “Cons. Start with the negative, and then I’ll flatter you with the positives.”
I feigned a smile as I glanced over the list. Mostly they were changes to the building itself—the windows, an addition, and improving the parking lot.
“These are all great observations,” I said. “But Meryl doesn’t have the money to make any changes, Austin. It’s not that we don’t want to be a better business, we’re just not able to right now. We can’t even afford to hire the two more waitresses we need.”
“I realize that, but that’s where I come in. This is just the start, the ideas. I can help make the funds available to Meryl, she can make the changes, and when the business is pulling in the money that it deserves, she gradually pays back the loan.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You get a cut too, right? I mean how else would you make money on this.”
“Yeah, usually I get a fee. But it’s negotiable, and right now I’m not interested in that.”
“And what about the loan? Which arm do they want of Meryl’s because she kind of needs them both.”
“I’ve taken care of that, and the loan will be very fair.”
“You’ve already done the financial numbers?”
“Yes.”
He shuffled through his papers, and handed me another sheet. I read it over, nothing surprising me much, but something caught my eye.
“The price for the sign is outrageous.”
“At least it’d be seen. You’ll be able to compete with other businesses when people exit to eat, or head over here from the amusement park.”
I took a moment to think it over. “But an addition? We barely fill what little space we have.”
“You’ll fill the space. With the marketing and advertising changes, you’ll fill the space. Trust me, it’s all in equal balance. You make the changes to fit what the diner can offer. You have to measure out the potential and then figure out which changes to make.”
I sighed. “This is all...very comprehensive. I don’t think Meryl will want to talk to you, though. She’s had other people on her case about selling the business. It makes her mad.”
“She was a little perturbed,” he smiled.
“You already presented this to her?”
“Earlier.”
“And?”
“And she didn’t say much. I could tell she wanted to do it, but I understand how hard it is to make those kinds of decisions.”
“And you didn’t try to talk her into it? Sell your plan?”
“No,” he chuckled. “I’m not a salesman, Nova. I form the plans. Normally businesses come to us for help.”
“So, you just decided to do the work without even being asked to? Why?”
“It was interesting to me. I automatically notice things when I enter a business, and ideas develop. I like the challenge.”
“And did Meryl say she was going to get back to you?”
“I left her a copy and told her I’d be back next week, or she could call me.”
I sighed to myself. Here was this guy I was totally hooked on, and it turns out he was just around to dive into another business venture? I wasn’t sure what to think, but I did look at my watch and say I needed to get back to work.
“Don’t you want to look over the pros?” he asked with a tiny smile.
I paused, but eventually took the paper from his hand. My hackles kind of went up when I saw that it was a very short list, probably a fourth of the cons list.
But I read the first line, Staff is incredible, and had to smile. The rest was simple enough—great food and drinks, very clean and well managed, fair prices, family friendly, and exceptional service. I guess those were the important parts of a restaurant, and I couldn’t complain.
“The heart of this business is already what it should be,” Austin told me. “The food, the people, and the service. The other things—aesthetics that will entice people to come in here—will just be simple changes to the surface. But those changes are what will bring Clover’s the business it deserves.”
“You like the name?” I pointed to the sheet of paper.
“I do. It’s different. What’s the significance?”
“It was my mother’s name.”
“Ah, I see.” He paused before glancing at his watch. “Speaking of moms, I gotta head north. It’s my mom’s birthday, and we’re having a party for her tonight.”
“Oh, that’s nice. How funny, though. My mom’s birthday is tomorrow.”
He studied me for a few seconds, and even though I had smiled when I said it, I think he felt sorry for me.
“Well, have a safe drive,” I said, standing up from the table when he didn’t respond. “I hope you have a good weekend.” He slowly stood, when he did, I added, “Do you want me to cash you out?” I went to pick up the check and his money, but he put a hand on mine to stop me.
“No, that’s fine,” he replied.
His skin against mine made my body prickle with heat. As a distraction, I looked at the thirty bucks and chuckled. “She didn’t charge you for mine, you know.”
“I noticed that, but I always leave a tip.” He removed his hand from mine.
“Eighteen dollars? That’s a very nice tip. Especially since she’s barely come over here, just to leave us alone.”
I was instantly embarrassed for saying that, and I could tell he knew that. But that smile of his... God, it melted me.
“I’ll see you next Friday, Nova.”