“Oomph,” Sadie said as she collapsed into a chair in the dining room after the restaurant had closed and the dishes were washed, dried and put away. This was how it had been every night since the restaurant had opened and she’d collapsed into bed at the end of each day.
Tripp looked up from the ledger he was scribbling in and smiled. “You look exhausted,” he said, reaching for her hand.
“So do you.”
As tired as she was, she still enjoyed seeing Tripp’s face light up as he got to make the dishes he’d put on the menu. She was glad that after this loan payment, they’d be able to hire some help, as Suzanne had to get back to the twins and Sadie could use some rest herself.
The one thing she was worried about was Tripp, but he’d agreed that when they had some help and things were settled down, they could close two nights a week and try to recover. But for now, they were still getting started and things were critical.
She’d asked him earlier in the evening if they could go over the finances, as Suzanne had insisted. The bank manager would be coming in a few days, and she’d decided that it was better to know than not know—especially if they were in a pickle—and Tripp had agreed.
She poured another cup of coffee and watched him, his hair falling over his forehead as he studied the books, so concentrated that he seemed to have forgotten she was sitting next to him. She sat quietly as he looked at the figures, re-totaled the columns and went back to check once more.
He set his pencil down and sat back in his chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose and pushing his hair back out of his eyes.
“Tripp, what is it?”
She leaned forward, her elbows on the table, hoping for the best.
He slid the ledger over to Sadie and leaned back again.
“Sadie, you ran your own business. Did you do the books?”
“Yes,” she said, picking up the pencil. “Would you like me to go over this?”
“Would you mind? I need to make sure that I’m right about this. Even though I hope I’m not. I’ll get some more coffee while you’re taking a look.”
As the kitchen door swung behind him, Sadie turned slowly to the ledger he’d prepared. Her heart sank and the butterflies in her stomach took flight. It didn’t take long to see that they were almost in the red for this month, far from making enough to pay the loan installment.
She sighed as Tripp returned and sat back down, his elbows on the table and his chin in his hands.
“Is it as bad as I think it is?” he said, shaking his head slowly. “I thought that people were enjoying the food, loving the restaurant. And we seem to be full all the time.”
She set the pencil down slowly in the center of the binder and looked up at him, his green eyes narrowed with concern. She didn’t want to break his heart, but she knew that something had to change and decided it was best just to say it. Again. She wouldn’t be a good partner if she didn’t.
Her heart skipped a beat. Was that what he thought? That his food wasn’t good? “No, no, Tripp. It’s not that. Not at all.”
She took his hand as he turned his face toward hers. “It’s a wonderful menu. People really enjoy it. But I think there are a couple of things happening.”
“What do you mean?” He plopped his chin into his hand again as his elbow rested on the table.
“Yes, we are full. But you know as well as I do that the dishes on the menu take quite a while to prepare. And customers have been content waiting with the bread we serve, but they wait a bit for their order, and they linger as the restaurant is so lovely.” Her heart calmed a bit as she saw a smile spread.
“I’m glad they linger, and I’m glad they like what we serve them.” He shook his head once more, tapping the ledger. “But we won’t be able to serve them anything if this continues.”
Sadie thought back to the comments of the customers about Tripp’s trail food—how many times they’d requested it. She’d shared it with Tripp, but at the time he’d dismissed it. Now that they were in dire straits, she hoped he’d be a little more open to the idea.