“Oh, I’m really glad he liked it.”
“I’m sure that he would be thrilled if I just brought some home, but I want to go a step further. A lot of the reviews mention that your drip coffee tastes like something different. I know you might not want to share something that makes your coffee shop special, so you can say no, but I really would like to offer it at my shops too.”
It took me a while to digest what she was saying. In all of my years, I made all of my own opportunities. I never had one askedof me like this. I had no idea what sort of money Riley would be offering, but if it was anything like how she had worked with me for the franchise, it would be more than fair.
“I don’t mind sharing it at all. I just ...” I took a second to think of my words. This was somethinggoodfor once. I almost wanted to ask her again if she was sure about doing this. She waited patiently while I thought, and I knew I couldn’t make her wait forever. “Thank you,” I said. “I’m glad we can work together.”
Riley smiled and started detailing her plans, and my worries finally receded. I focused on figuring out how much of my blend I could get to her right away, and when I could take some time from the front to make more.
It took a few hours to get everything settled, but when it finally was, my head was spinning at the rate Riley wanted to pay me, and the fact that this happened at all.
Piper was still at her table, frowning at her computer.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
She blinked and looked up. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
“I’m fine. This was a good meeting.”
“Good.” She shut the laptop. “Just got some character questions that I don’t wanna answer.”
“Put work away for a little bit.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice. Is the hotel ready?”
“Not yet, but I have other plans.”
“Business plans?” she asked.
“No. I think you’ll like it.”
“Let’s do it then,” she said as she chucked the computer into its bag. She gave Riley a wave before we walked out of the shop.
“So, is this the part where you tell me what the meeting was about? You guys were talking for a while.”
“She wants to buy my blend.”
“The good one?”
“Hers is good too.”
“It is, but yours is really something else.” She smiled over at me, and I swore the sun shone through the window, making her grin brighter.
My heart skipped a beat and I had to remember what we were talking about.
“It’s for all of her coffee shops too. Which is triple what I usually sell, and she’d be paying me a lot for it.”
“Theo, that’samazing. I didn’t know people could even buy it. Maybe I should do that.”
“That would mean you could make it at home, so no. And I’d never considered selling it, or that anyone would want it.”
She turned to me with narrowed eyes. “Say that again?”
“Sorry. No negative talk in front of you.”
“How about at all?”
“I’m working on that,” I added. “And you’ll be proud of me. I only questioned it once, but I didn’t harp on it like I usually would’ve.”
