The next day, Dani walked confidently into City Hall, armed with her famous cookies, prepared to go head to head with Margie Templeton, the gatekeeper for all information on permits and new business clearances. The bank’s loan statement had just come through, so she had made copies to bring in to the woman who ran the office with an iron fist. Emailing with her was driving Dani batty, and she really hoped that meeting face to face would smooth the flow of communication.
Dani knew from Mrs. Grady’s intel that Margie was the key. Forewarned was forearmed. Margie had thirty-four years of experience and was indispensable to the Community Development Department. Given the recent cutbacks in city government, Margie had taken steps to improve her job security. She kept information flowing from her office under firm control. She had developed an annoying habit of emailing slowly and only including the next immediate step of the process.
No outlines, no information on the next few steps so she could multi-task while waiting a week and a half for the loans to go through… Dani fumed impatiently as she waited on a vinyl chair outside her office for the woman to return from her lunch break. The sign said, “Back at 1 pm,” and it was now 1:37. Trying to keep her cool, but inwardly bristling over the further waste of her time, Dani rose quickly at the sound of someone coming through the door. It was not Margie who walked in, however; it was Mayor Jenkins. The older man with distinguished silver hair, and a not-so-distinguished potbelly, brushed past her into Margie’s office. Not finding her there, he started muttering about long lunches, inefficiency, and payroll cutbacks.
“Where is that blasted woman?” he blurted out.
Seeing her chances at an expedited grand opening dwindling if Margie got fired by her blustering boss, Dani cleared her throat.
“Excuse me? Mayor Jenkins?”
He turned, startled, taking in her presence for the first time.
“If you’re looking for Margie,” Dani continued in her sunniest voice, “I believe she just ran down the hall to make some copies of my business plan. It seems her copier isn’t working. I’m sure she’ll be right back.”
“Hmph!” With a disgruntled glare at the copier in the corner, he sighed and sat down to wait next to her. “So young lady, what kind of business are you planning to open?” he asked with his campaign grin hastily plastered on his face.
“I’m hoping to get the go ahead on a not-for-profit restaurant supporting veterans. It was my aunt’s dying wish.” She offered the mayor a cookie from the carefully arranged plate of bribes she held on her lap.
“I’m sorry for your loss. I hope you’re finding everything that you need here.”
“Margie has been very helpful.”
At just that moment, the elusive Margie rushed out of the elevator. Her sharp linen suit managed to look fresh as she moved in impatient strides towards her office. She pulled up short and ran a hand over her carefully coifed French twist when she saw her visitors. Dani jumped into the silence, as Margie’s eyes rounded at the sight of the Mayor waiting outside her office.
“So, were you able to copy those papers downstairs? I’m so sorry for the trouble,” she said with the an overly bright tone and a wink concealed from the man on her left. Hoping Margie would play along, she smiled encouragingly and gestured to her office. “Maybe we could go over the next step in the process now. I was just telling Mayor Jenkins here about how excited I am for the restaurant to open.”
Margie slowly agreed. “Yes, dear. They are right here in my purse. Let’s go have a look.”
“Just a minute, Margie,” interrupted the mayor.
Both women froze.
“I need the minutes from the last development council meeting. No one else can track them down, and Bob is in my office waiting for me.”
With a nearly audible sigh of relief, Margie opened the nearest file cabinet and extracted the required document.
“Here you go, sir. Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“Thank you, Margie.” With his good humor restored, he added, “And good luck with your restaurant. Just what this town needs, young people invested in its future." He leaned in to take another treat before adding, "These cookies are delicious! Let me know when you get the opening scheduled.”
Recognizing the words from the most recent election’s stump speech, Dani merely smiled and nodded, aware that he’d already dismissed her. He turned and left the office.
Margie collapsed into her chair, as Dani followed her the rest of the way into the immaculate office.
"I can't believe I was late! But Jean just became a grandmother and insisted on showing me all 75 shots of the little guy that she had taken on her iPad over the weekend, not to mention 4 videos of him sleeping. Sleeping! But, how could I say no?" Then recalling her audience, she pulled herself together and replaced the relaxed smile with a professional but blank mask. "What can I do for you, Miss?”
“That's it? No 'thanks for saving my hide'? No 'gosh, that was close,’ or ‘I'm so grateful'?" Incredulous that her risk would go unrecognized, Dani pushed. "He was ranting about inefficiency and payroll reductions! I covered for you!" Margie visibly blanched. Dani, more confident now that Margie knew the score, continued, "He seemed pretty happy about my plan to open the restaurant – The Sunshine Café. Hopefully that rings some bells since I have been emailing this office for weeks. How do you think he'd react to hearing that my plans had been delayed by this office?"
A flicker of recognition crossed her face, followed quickly by suspicion. "What are you getting at, Ms. Carmichael?"
Dani was impressed the bureaucrat knew her name without checking the file. "I want you to do something for me."
"I can't break any laws for you," Margie warned.
With a dry laugh, Dani replied, "I'm not asking you to. All I want is information. This is the thirteenth time I've been delayed, for the sole reason that I didn't know what to prepare for next. I need to be able to multitask and use my time better. Please, just tell me everything else that I need to do, so I can get on with it!"
After a brief pause, Margie turned to the third filing cabinet, bottom drawer, and pulled out an outline with the title, "How to Start Your Own Business." She made a copy on the miraculously healed copy machine and passed it across the desk, before carefully returning the original to its file.
With a smile, Dani asked, "Is there anything else you think I might be able to use?"
Sighing as if she was in pain, Margie handed over lists of preferred vendors and specs for zoning requirements. With a giddy smile, Dani passed her the bank statements, which she noted immediately disappeared into a folder neatly labeled with The Sunshine Café and a complete address. Thankfully Margie was competent, if a bit paranoid. Carefully storing the precious documents in her large purse, Dani prepared to leave the office. Impressed with the woman's organization, if not her efficiency, Dani offered the plate of cookies as a thank you gesture for the wealth of information Margie had parted with.
"Don't you dare leave those here. Do I look like I need any extra desserts?" The sour look was still firmly etched on her face, as she gestured to her plump waistline.
"Well, thank you again for all of your help today. I really do appreciate it."
Margie just shot her a baleful glare as Dani made her way out of the office, arms laden with her bulging purse and plate of cookies.
Turning back at the door, Dani whispered, "Don't worry, Margie. Your secret is safe with me. I won't tell a soul." Smiling, she strode into the hallway feeling like she'd finally gained a foothold in the quicksand.
Dani left City Hall with a bounce in her step, a nearly full plate of cookies and optimism burning a hole in her purse. She couldn't wait to get home and dive into reading through everything. She had planned on popping in to one of the nearby restaurants, bustling with the downtown lunch rush, to grab a bite. Now she just wanted to get straight to work. As she hustled around the corner to get to her car, she almost tripped over a pair of legs sprawled out on the sidewalk.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, bobbling her plate of cookies.
"Pardon, ma'am," the young man apologized, as he tucked his legs back crisscross. "Can you spare some change or food?"
With a glance, Dani took in his half grown out buzz cut and fatigue pants, as well as the "Homeless, Will Work For Food" sign propped against his torn and threadbare rucksack.
"I'm sorry. I don't have any cash with me, but you're welcome to these," she said, gesturing to the plate of cookies she'd managed not to spill.
"Thank you much, ma'am. I appreciate that." He carefully took just one cookie from the tray and bit in. He surprised her by savoring the bite, instead of wolfing the cookie down whole when, judging by the sharpness of his cheekbones, he had to be hungry.
"Mmm, one of the best I've ever had."
"One of?" Dani probed, intrigued by this man's reactions and his slow drawl.
"Well, it's real buttery with plenty of dark chocolate to balance the sweet. It's real good, but my mama's were crunchy, with walnuts and a touch more vanilla. Those cookies were heaven on earth fresh from the oven, and even better a day later if you could manage to leave a few."
Impressed by his astute analysis of the flavors and his obvious appreciation for food, Dani again offered the plate.
"If you enjoyed it, you're welcome to more. Take the whole plate."
He looked at Dani skeptically.
"Are you sure they weren't meant for someone else, ma'am?"
"Someone else turned them down," she replied with a grin. "They're all yours, soldier."
His answering grin faded at the mention of his obvious former profession, but he accepted the plate all the same and tucked in.
"What's your name?" Dani asked, curious to know more about the young man she'd literally tripped over. Something in her gut told her that fate wasn't quite done with her today.
"James, ma'am, but everyone calls me Jimmy. What gave me away, as a soldier I mean?"
"A few months-old buzz cut, and an insistence on calling me 'ma'am' despite the fact that I can't be more than 5 years older than you. Where did you serve?"
"Iraq. Two tours." Jimmy's face closed up tight.
Dani was anxious to turn the conversation, aware of the younger man's discomfort.
"You seem to know food," she commented, pulling his attention back to her.
"Yes, ma'am. I guess you could say that. I was raised behind the counter at the diner in my hometown, while Mama cooked. She made certain I could hold my own in the kitchen. By the time I was 15, I was working the line and helping with the weekend baking."
"Sounds like a pretty good setup."
"It was, until my stupid ass, pardon my language ma'am, decided I should go see the world and serve my country. Joined up with the marines and.....well, here I am."
"I'm going to get nosy. Well, nosier I suppose. Why aren't you back in the kitchen with her, now that you're home?"
"Mama passed away while I was deployed. Never sick a day in her life, then goes and has a heart attack six months after I leave. I wasn't there for her. That kills me. I just...I just can't go back there." He swiped at his eyes as if he could erase the welling tears.
Dani nodded taking it all in. Every impulse was telling her to trust this young man and take a chance. Every impulse, except for the very large lump in her throat reminding her that the last time she had trusted a man, it had gone very, very badly. Her heart still hadn’t recovered from that breach of trust, but she couldn’t change who she was just to avoid the difficult things in life. She was a helper, and when she felt called to help, she was going to do it. If she ended up disappointed, well that was life. She had many other instances where helping someone had filled her soul and repaired her heart. She saw an opportunity to help this young man and she meant to act on it.
"Do you mean it?"
"Mean what, ma'am?"
"Your sign. Will you work for food? I can't guarantee much of a salary up front, but I can guarantee some damn good food."
"You don't know a thing about me, ma'am. Begging your pardon, but I'm not a good bet for long term employment. I've got problems…”
“Jimmy, believe me. I think you'll fit right in. If you're willing to try, the job is yours. I need help in the kitchen getting my restaurant off the ground. You need a flexible understanding boss, and that’s me." She wrote down her name and the address of the café on a scrap of paper with her phone number. "Think it over. If you're interested, come on by for a tryout. We'll see if we can work together.”
Jimmy stared at the scrap of paper in his hand with disbelief. "Thank you, ma'am. Even if this doesn't work out, this is the first bit of hope I've had in a long time...And damn if it doesn't feel good."
Nodding at the fresh smile beaming out of his young face, Dani replied, "Trust me. Show up. I've got a good feeling about this." With a parting wave, Dani made her way to her car grinning until her cheeks hurt. It was a very good day.