Jo’s stomach growled. The kitchen crew had gone home, and Candy had locked the diner. She sat alone at the counter with her laptop, a cold cup of Sumatran Empress, and a spreadsheet she’d been staring at for far too long.
It was Rocky’s cash flow projection. She had to learn how to use this model he created. He’d offered to help her, and since she had a question, she picked up the phone. Although it was dark outside, it wasn’t that late. She tapped Rocky’s number, and he answered on the first ring.
“Jo, what a surprise. What’s up?”
He sounded pleased she’d called.
“I need help,” she replied. “This cash flow spreadsheet you created is amazing, but I wanted to change some numbers, and I think I might have messed up your formulas. I have several questions. Do you have a few minutes to talk me through it?”
“Where are you?”
“I’m still at the diner,” Jo said. “We just closed, so I thought I’d finish what I started earlier before going home.”
“Why don’t I come by the diner? I can be there in a few minutes.”
“If it’s not too much trouble, I’d appreciate that.”
Jo hung up and stretched with a sigh of relief. Help was on the way.
The numbers were bad. Not catastrophic, not yet, but bad enough that she’d been staring at the same columns for twenty minutes, trying to find money that wasn’t there.
The manufacturer had taken her investment and delivered nothing usable. Rocky’s letter to the attorney had bought her time on the contract, but the money was gone. Her second mortgage payment was due in six weeks, and the crowdfunding campaign hadn’t launched yet. Even with some preorders on the new shopping section of her website, she was running on fumes.
Minutes later, Rocky appeared at the front door, and Jo let him in.
“I’m so glad you could come. Would you like anything to eat or drink?”
“Thanks, but I just finished a pizza with Sailor. Let’s see what’s going on with that spreadsheet.”
They bent their heads together over the laptop. Jo pointed out her errors, and Rocky went to work correcting them.
He tapped a few keys. “We’ll lock these formulas, so they can’t cause trouble again for you. Now, what did you want to change?”
“This section,” she said, indicating it. “Since I don’t know what sales will be, I want to test different funding levels. Can you do that?”
He quickly made the changes for her. “There you are. See how easy it is now?”
“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver,” she said, beaming with appreciation.
The back door opened and closed. Only two other people had a key to the back door, and one of them was Candy.
Jo whirled around on her stool.
“It’s me. I saw your light on,” Blue called out, coming through the kitchen hallway. When he saw Rocky, a scowl clouded his face.
“Oh, hi,” she said, rising. “I didn’t expect you.”
Blue wore jeans and a henley, which meant his shift had ended. Ignoring Rocky, he deposited a paper bag onto the counter. “I brought you a sandwich from that new place on the boardwalk. Turkey and avocado, the kind you like, in case you haven’t eaten yet. I went by your house first, but it was dark, so I came here.”
Clenching his jaw, Blue shot an accusatory look at Rocky.
“Thank you.” She didn’t know what else to say. Though she was surrounded by food, she hadn’t eaten since lunch.
She turned to Rocky. “Thanks for the spreadsheet rescue. I think I’ve got it from here.”
Rocky slid a questioning glance at Blue. “I can stay if there’s anything else you need help with.”
She understood what he meant. “No, I’ll be fine.”
